The Historical Role of X-tianity and Islam

As the response to my earlier magnificent post has been underwhelming, I find myself asking some pertinent questions and groping for reasonable answers: How can this be? How can writing of this quality, insights of this originality and topics ripped from today's headlines be utterly ignored? All this while inferior, hackneyed, repetitive blogs garner J-Blogosphere wide attention, comments and honor?

The only reasonable explanation I could come up with is that the long passage of the Rambam was inaccessible. And so, quite apart from it's centrality to my thesis of the danger of false messiahs and doomsday predictions, even gentile ones, I present a translation of the pertinent Rambam now that is fascinating and provocative in its own right. Enjoy and, FCOL, discuss.

"If he did not succeed to this degree or he was killed, he is not [the redeemer] promised by the Torah. [Rather,] he shoud be considered as all the other proper and legitimate kings of the Davidic dynasty who died. G-d only caused him to arise in order to test the multitude. As it is written [Daniel 11:35], "Some of the wise men will stumble, to purge, to refine, and to clarify, until the appointed time, for it is yet to come." Jesus of Nazareth who aspired to be the Mashiach and was executed by the court was also spoken of in Daniel's prophecies [Daniel11:14], "The renegades among your people shall exalt themselves in an attempt to fulfill the vision, but they shall stumble." Can there be a greater stumbling block than [Christianity]? All the prophets spoke of Moshiach as the redeemer of Israel and their savior, who would gather their dispersed ones and strengthen their [observance of] the mitzvos. In contrast [the founder of Christianity] caused the Jews to be slain by the sword, their remnants to be scattered and humiliated, the Torah to be altered, and the majority of the world to err and serve a god other than the L-rd. Nevertheless, the intent of the Creator of the world is not within the power of man to comprehend, for [to paraphrase Yeshayahu 55:8] 'His ways are not our ways, nor are His thoughts our thoughts. ' [Ultimately,] all the deeds of Jesus of Nazareth and that Ishmaelite [i.e. Mohamed] who arose after him will only serve to pave the way for the coming of Mashiach and for the improvement of the entire world, [motivating the nations] to serve G-d together, as it is written [Zephaniah 3:9], "I will make the peoples pure of speech so that they will all call upon the Name of G-d and serve Him with one purpose." How will this come about? The entire world has already become filled with talk of [the supposed] Messiah, as well as of the Torah and the mitzvos. These matters have been spread among many spiritually insensitive nations, who [now] discuss these matters as well as the mitzvos of the Torah. Some of them [i.e. the Christians???] say: "These commandments were true, but are not in force in the present age; they are not applicable for all time." Others [i.e. the Moslems???] say: "Implied in the commandments are hidden concepts that cannot be understood simply; the Messiah has already come and revealed them." When the true Messiah king will arise and prove successful, his [position becoming] exalted and uplifted, they [I.E. X-tains and Muslims] will all return [repent] and realize that their ancestors endowed them with a false heritage; their prophets and ancestors cause them to err."

בא המבדיל והעמידן על אח
"Those who cannot tolerate Havdala cannot appreciate Qedusha"