Messianic Judaism

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Early history of Messianic Judaism

Messianic Judaism predates Christianity by several decades, and Christianity evolved from the Messianic Judaism of the first century. Jesus and his disciples (talmidim) were all Jews; furthermore, as the Bible clearly states He came to earth to be the pr Paul's letter to the Roman church addresses this matter, and he urges them to remember that they are like a "wild olive tree, grafted in" among the Jews, and warns them against "conceit", particularly as it is the Jewish root which supported their Christian branch. (Romans 11:17,18,25)

However, by the time of the Council of Nicaea in 325, Christianity was both anti-Judaic and anti-Semitic. Messianic Judaism was presumed by many to have died out after the Council of Nicea. However, in the records of the Inquisition there are accounts of Jewish believers in Yeshua who were persecuted by the inquisitors well into the 12th and 13th centuries, but as persecution from the Roman church became stronger, Messianic Judaism became almost invisible to history.

Criticism of Messianic Judaism

Criticism of Messianic Judaism is predicated on the assumption that Judaism and Christanity are implacably incompatible: one must be either a Jew or a Christian: there is no such thing as a Jewish Christian or a Christian Jew. Attempts by groups like Jews for Jesus are seen in this light as outrageously deceptive.

The Central Conference of American Rabbis has stated: "For us in the Jewish community, anyone who claims that Jesus is their savior is no longer a Jew and is an apostate. Through that belief she has placed herself outside the Jewish community. Whether she cares to define herself as a Christian or as a 'fulfilled Jew,' 'Messianic Jew,' or any other designation is irrelevant; to us, she is clearly a Christian." In acknowledging Jesus and the Christian Scriptures, these congregations are accepting many other theological concepts contrary to the Jewish belief system, including original sin, the devil and demonology, “vicarious blood atonement,” and the trinity, Margolis said.

One rabbi said the following concerning Messianic Judaism: “Messianic congregations are Christians portraying themselves as Jews,” said Rabbi Richard Margolis, the leader of Temple Beth Sholom in Melbourne and a member of the Jewish Federation board of Brevard. In an e-mail, he added, “The issue is deceit. This is a deceptive missionary movement, organized and heavily funded by evangelical Christians whose sole purpose is to convert Jews to (fundamentalist) Christianity. There is nothing Jewish about any of this.” “I have great respect for the authentic Christian tradition and maintain an ongoing program of interfaith activities in our community,” Margolis said. “But I cannot countenance couching fundamentalist Christianity in Jewish symbols.”

Robinson states that "converts to Messianic Judaism are usually shunned by their Jewish families of origin and are excluded from the local Jewish community."

Many people, see Messianic Judaism, as the Church's last resort to convince Jews to accept Jesus as their messiah. Anti-missionaries, Jews who try to counter the work of Messianic missionaries have reported being assaulted. The Jewish community has produced several groups to counter Messianic Judaism, which it sees as Evangelical Christianity disguised in Jewish garb, such as, Jews for Judaism, Outreach Judaism, and produced the Lets Get Biblical Series, a tape series produced by Outreach Judaism. The Jewish community often perceives Messianic Judaism as Christianity hijacking Judaism in order to convert Jews and misrepresenting Judaism to gain converts. They believe that Messianic Judaism is a corruption of the most deeply spiritual rituals and customs that honor Judaism's connection to God through Torah. Dr. David A. Rausch, associate professor of church history and Judaic studies at Ashland Theological Seminary, Ohio, summed up the attitude of many Jewish people in the comment he was given by a member of the Jewish Defense League: "These Messianics are the Nazis - the spiritual Nazis. They pretend to be Jews and use traditional Jewish symbols to trap children and the unsuspecting." The sentiments are not confined entirely to Judaism; the same author was told by a Christian missionary: "To these "Messianic Jews" Jewishness means Judaism, a rabbinic Judaism of the Ashkenazic flavor. They neither have a real knowledge of Jewish history or of Jewish-Christian history, nor do they possess a good handle on biblical exegesis. Like the Ebionites of old they will finally blend into Judaism and deny the Messiah."

In the summer of 1987 in Washington D.C. (USA), there was held an Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan Washington. Partaking in the conference were representatives of various Protestant churches, Roman-Catholics, together with Moslems and representatives of Jewish organizations. The Conference concluded with an official statement (published in "Interfaith Connector" Vol. 8, No. 2) which stated:

"We condemn proselytizing efforts which delegitimize the faith tradition of the person whose conversion is being sought. Such tactics go beyond the bounds of appropriate and ethically based religious outreach. Examples of such practices are those common among groups that have adopted the label of Hebrew Christianity, Messianic Judaism, or Jews for Jesus. These groups specifically target Jews for conversion to their version of Christianity, making claim that in accepting Jesus as the savior/messiah, a Jews 'fulfills' his/her faith. Furthermore, by celebrating Jewish festivals, worshipping on the Jewish Shabbat, appropriating Jewish symbols, rituals and prayers in their churches, and, sometimes, even calling their leaders 'Rabbi', the seek to win over, often by deception, many Jews who are sincerely looking for a path back to their ancestral heritage. Deceptive proselytizing is practiced on the most vulnerable of populations - residents of hospitals and old aged homes, confused youth, college students away from home. These proselytizing techniques are tantamount to coerced conversions and should be condemned."

In 2008 the Israeli Supreme Court, ruled Messianic Jews can immigrate to Israel.

Jews for Judaism claims that Messianic missionaries have used deceit to trick Jews into converting, such as not mentioning that Messianic Jews believe Jesus is God to people who they evangelize to to.

Messianic organizations get most of their funding from Evangelical Christian organizations. In fact many Messianic organizations are former Evangelical Christian missions to Jews. For example, Messianic Jewish Alliance of America, one of the most well known Messianic organizations, was originally named the, Hebrew Christian Alliance of America, an Evangelical Christian organization geared towards spreading Christianity amongst Jews. Chosen People Ministries, another Messianic organization was originally named the, American Board of Missions to the Jews. Another organization called Jews for Jesus, which some identify with the Messianic movement, was founded in 1973 by Martin Meyer Rosen, an ordained Baptist minister. He had been a missionary for several years in the past geared towards converting Jews to Christianity, when he was unsuccessful he came up with Jews for Jesus.

Support for Messianic Judaism

The Unification Church is arguably the biggest supporter of the main ideas of Messianic Judaism. It promotes a bridge of understanding between traditional Jewish concepts and the New Testament idea that Jesus (Yeshua) was the Jewish Messiah.

Unificationism maintains that Jesus "came to his own people, but they accepted him not" (Gospels) Indeed, it is official UC theology that God prepared the Jewish people for 2,000 years primarily to be ready to accept the Messiah when he came. It was the mission of John the Baptist to "make ready for the Lord a people prepared" (OT, Gospels). When John fell into belief - possibly because of jealousy towards Jesus - this posed a stumbling block to Jewish acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah.

The church portrays itself as a "Completed Testament" religion, coming on the foundation of New Testament Christianity and Old Testament Judaism. Its theology argues that Jews who accepted Jesus as the Messiah were correct to do so, and that when the Messiah comes again in the last day it behooves both Jews and Christians to accept him. Needless to say, this view is almost universally rejected by modern Jews and Christians.

See also

• Philosophy
• Jewish philosophy

External links

• Yeshua: High Star - Messianic Jewish believers in Israel - Israel's Channel 2 news carried this report on the Messianic Jewish movement on 23 February 2007. It gives great insight into the movement, and some of the difficulties faced by its followers. (9 minutes; streaming video at YouTube.)
• What would you say about a country that persecutes a group of citizens only because of their religious beliefs? - Israel's Channel 10 news carried this report on the State-sanctioned persecution of Messianic Jews. (12 minutes; streaming video at Google.)
• Notable Messianic Jews
• [1]
• [2]
• [3]
• [4]