Archive for category Messianic Judaism
A Picture of Judaism in Israel
Posted by Joel in Messianic Judaism on August 14, 2010
Is Jewishness a function of religion, culture or nationality? According to the High Court, it is all of them at once.
In a fascinating legal decision that touches on the very core of Jewish/Israeli identity, the country’s supreme legal authority ruled last week that a woman who converted to Christianity and immigrated to Germany could not regain her Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return, even though two Orthodox rabbinical courts – in London and in Tel Aviv – had determined that she was Jewish.
However, in their precedent-making decision, the three justices – Neal Hendel, Elyakim Rubinstein and Hanan Meltzer – gave the woman the option of regaining citizenship if she could prove to the Interior Ministry her renewed commitment to the Jewish people.
Editorial: A path back to Judaism.
I think it is pertinent, especially to the discussions we have in this country about what is an American (in regards to religion)…
Jewish-Christian Resources on the ‘Net
Posted by Joel in Criticism, Messianic Judaism on August 6, 2010
Ancient Jewish Accounts of Jesus
Josephus, Celcus, Tertullian, Talmud, Toledoth Yeshu – full texts with introductions..
Several books on Jesus and Judaism collected by Messianic Jews
– incl. Christianity in Talmud and Midrash by R. Travers Herford
and Jesus Christ in the Talmud, Midrash, and the Zohar by Gustav Dalman
(which both deal with the censored Talmudic passages about Jesus)
TRENT – Traditions of the Rabbis in the Era of the New Testament
– earliest traditions dated and explained, esp for NT relevance
PreviewInto His Own – Primary Jewish sources for background of the NT
You can find more ancient Jewish resources here.
Apostle Peter in Late Rabbinic Judaism
Posted by Joel in Messianic Judaism on July 27, 2010
I am not so concerned with how the Apostles are treated, so much so how Christ is treated in Judaism… The blog linked to below will be doing a series of posts on the Apostle Peter in Rabbinic Judaism. The first part focuses on a medieval Rabbi who believed that the Apostle wrote Nishmat prayer.
ht.
What is interesting about both this prayer, the legend and the blog ht’d above, is that they leave off a very important part of the legend,
A curious legend circulated in medieval France and Germany to the effect that Nishmat was composed by none other than the Apostle Peter, who is said to have built the Christian Church in order to remove Christians from the Jewish community, while believing himself that only Judaism is the true faith. (Here)
Maybe they’ll get that part later, but if we are going to be true to history, we should note that Judaism and Christianity, siblings, had a very strenuous association.
Should We Celebrate a Passover Seder?
Posted by Joel in Messianic Judaism on April 12, 2010
Rev. McCain points a question to the Lutherans, but really, to us all:
“Is it appropriate for a Lutheran congregation to celebrate a Passover Seder? This is not an unimportant question since the practice has become rather widespread in our Synod. In fact, it has even been promoted (complete with Eucharist!) by the Synod’s Board for Evangelism (A Passover Haggadah for Christians , ed. Bruce J. Lieske, no date). But can it be historically or theologically sustained?
“The historical question is rather complex, as the history of liturgical forms generally are. To begin with, we have no manuscript of a Seder Haggadah which is early than the tenth century A.D. (Siddur Rav Saadya Gaon ). Nearly a millennium exists between the time of Jesus and the earliest extant text. Passover Haggadoth have never been standardized but have always been shaped and reshaped by circumstances and time. The ritual has been extraordinarily versatile since the tenth century A.D. and in all likelihood was just as versatile in the preceding centuries. The claim that any ritual now in existence is identical with that used by Jesus is both anachronistic and historically suspect.
Read the rest here:
CyberBrethren-A Lutheran Blog » Why Christian Congregations Should Not Celebrate a Passover Seder.
Various sects of Christianity are ‘discovering’ their ‘Jewish/Hebrew’ roots not realizing at sometimes, those very Jewish things originated long after the time of Christ. While we should, I believe, endeavor to not forget that Christianity was a sect of Judaism, we are very much Christian. While our Eucharist is connected to the Passover Seder of the 1st century, as are our other rites and doctrines (of perhaps should be) we cannot forget that the Church took a different route, namely to follow Christ.
Pastor: No Such Thing as a Completed Muslim
Posted by Joel in Islam, Messianic Judaism on March 20, 2010
We’ve discussed this before, but it does pop up every now and then:
There are Messianic Jews but there is no such thing as a completed Muslim, said a pastor who is an expert in Christian and Islamic theology.
Contrary to what some mission leaders think, J.D. Greear does not accept the equal comparison between Jews who come to accept Jesus as their savior and Muslims who become Christian. Messianic Jews are sometimes called completed Jews, but it would be incorrect to apply the term to Muslims.
The Nicene Creed and Messianic Judaism
Posted by Joel in Creeds, Messianic Judaism on February 10, 2010
We are repairing the broken pieces, standing between church creeds and rabbinic discussions, and trying to make them whole.
So says this post. You might want to read the entire thing, which is an interesting take on the Nicene Creed.
2012 – Sham or bam?
Posted by Rory Roybal in False Prophets, Messianic Judaism, Prophecy on February 2, 2010
There’s an avalanche of hype about 2012, but is it just another sham or the beginning of the end?
In addition to the well-publicized ‘last date’ of the Mayan calendar cycle, some claim the Jewish Kabbalah books of Zohar predict the beginning of the seven year tribulation at the same time, as well as a prophecy by the Catholic ‘Saint Malachy’ about the next Pope being the final one.
However, Christ said that before the Great Tribulation, “many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many” (Matt. 24:11).
You pick it.
More at Zohar and the Arrival of the Jewish Messiah in 2012.
