One of the men who signed the Declaration of Independence lost his faith because he read scripture the wrong way. What I have read about his history is that he read the bible and then looked at the world around him. When he saw that the world did not appear as he thought scripture said he lost his faith.
For those of us who believe scripture, scripture is the final authority. When we read scripture and then look at the world we must keep in mind that scripture is correct. The world or what we think we know of the world is the part that is incorrect.
From what I read the founder looked at the people called Jews and saw that they were not fulfilling any Bible prophecy concerning Israel. He was correct about that part. So he decided that scripture was incorrect. The correct path would have been to look at the Jews and find out why they did not match the teachings of scripture.
Romans 11:1-2a
11 "I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew.."
John 10:27
"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me".
I do not know if he would have had the historical information that we do today. So let us not just blindly follow the blind, but see the truth.
The modern day Jews are a curious people or peoples. On the surface they claim to be Israel, but in official writings and a number of authoritative published works they prove otherwise.
"Strictly speaking, it is incorrect to call an ancient Israelite a 'Jew' or to call a contemporary Jew an 'Israelite' or a 'Hebrew.'" "The Jewish Almanac", Compiled and Edited by Richard Siegel and Carl Rheins (New York: Bantam Books, 1980) 3
That is quite the admission. Jacob's brother was Esau. Esau's descendants became known as Edom. Esau/Edom in scripture is the forever enemy of not only Israel, but also Yahweh God himself.
Romans 9:13 "As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated." (See also Malachi 1:3)
"Edom is in modern Jewry." Jewish Encyclopedia, 1925 edition, Vol. 5, p. 41 and several other years.
About 9% of today's Jews are from Esau/Edom. These are the Jews who claimed Abraham as their father, "but were never in bondage to any man", John 8:33. About 1% of today's Jews are Sephardic. That leaves roughly 90% of today's Jew's history to talk about. Perhaps you have heard the terms Ashkenazi Jews or Khazar Jews? These Jew's history is well recorded and validated by several sources. They are also not Israelites.
"In Part Two, Chapters V-VII, I have compiled the historical evidence which indicates that the bulk of Eastern Jewry - and hence of world Jewry - is of Khazar-Turkish, rather than Semitic, origin.", from the chapter Race and Myth, page 199, "The Thirteenth Tribe", by Jewish author Arthur Koestler, a New York Times Best Seller in 1976.
The Khazars were not "Semites." They were an Asiatic Mongoloid nation. They are classified by modern anthropologists as Turco-Finns racially (Dr. Benjamin Freedman, Facts are Facts, p. 41).
"KHAZARS: A Mongolian people who embraced Judaism and flourished from the 8th through the 10th centuries on the territory extending between the Don and the Volga rivers, and the shores of the Black, Caspian, and Azov Seas. The story of the existence of such converts to Judaism reached the Jewish statesman Hasdai ibn Shaprut of Cordova in the 10th century. As a result, Shaprut wrote a letter which was ultimately received by Joseph, king of the Khazars... In his reply, king Joseph gave a detailed account of the history of the kingdom of the Khazars..." (The New Jewish Encyclopedia, 1962).
"Though a fierce Jewish nationalist, proud of wielding the "Scepter of Judah," he cannot, and does not claim for them Semitic descent; he traces their ancestry not to Shem, but to Noah's third son, Japheth; or more precisely to Japheth's grandson, Togarmah, the ancestor of all Turkish tribes. "We have found in the family registers of our fathers," Joseph asserts boldly, "that Togarma had ten sons, and the names of their offspring are as follows: Uigur, Dursu, Avars, Huns, Basilli, Tarniakh, Khazars, Zagora, Bulgars, Sabir. We are the sons of Khazar, the seventh..." (Arthur Koestler, The Thirteenth Tribe, p. 72).
Why is this important? Most churches today have created a separate view of today's Jews that ignore scripture and actually get us into trouble with Yahweh God! 2 John is virtually ignored today.
2 John 1:7-11
"For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds."
2 Chronicles 19:2
"Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate Yahweh? therefore is wrath upon thee from before Yahweh."
Tell me what makes more sense considering who is really the Israel of scripture?
People who say that are Jews, but spit when they hear the name of Jesus Christ.
People who, if they have any religion at all for the past almost 2000 years, have been Christians and have fulfilled every prophecy intended for Israel.
Christ did not fail.
Romans 11:1-2, John 10:27
The information quoted and much more is easily found on line. Now you know more than your preacher at church knows about today's people called Jews. Most Jews today do not even know this. The quotes above are just a few of many. Do your own research and then look for God's sheep, true Israel. Scripture tells us who is Israel and who is anti-Christ. Do not spiritualize scripture as it destroys meaning. Look for those who hear his voice and for the most part look only to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as their God and Jesus Christ their savior.
1 John 2:23 "Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also."
Let scripture speak on this and many other subjects. You will find truth.