Jewish Christianity

[Shirtless]

Hey guys! A while back I posted an article on abortion written by a Rabbi. The article talked about how a fetus is traditionally a "partial life" until birth. But Rabbis also have a strong belief against abortion, unless the fetus will cause the death of the mother. I found the article refreshing and enlightening!

We would all be kidding ourselves if we said that Rabbis weren't the best experts as far as the Old Testament goes. A Rabbi's job is to study the Torah, everyday (except on the Sabbath), in the original Hebrew, for all of his life. A Pastor or a Reverend just gives a few sermons on Sunday, he's not really an expert. Nor is a Priest the best expert available, since he studies the Latin Vulgate, and he's always aware that what the Church says should not be questioned anyway.

I think that Christianity should get back to it's Jewish roots more. Some of the biggest problems in misinterpretation of the Bible comes from our lack of knowledge of the cultural context. Many Messianic Jews have written books saying that the reason why Jews often don't accept Christianity, is because they look at the current Christian establishment, instead of the Jewish Yeshua. Jews for Jesus has this DVD out called "Christ in the Passover" which might be a good start. Perhaps you could frequent aish.com or jewish.com for info on questions you might have.

Here's an enlightening article on stem cell research written by Daniel Eisenburg, which addresses both sides of the issue:
http://www.aish.com/societyWork/science ... hical$.asp

I would also suggest checking out what they have to say about abortion.

[Mastermind]

What do you mean by "going back to our jewish roots"?

[Shirtless]

Not "our" roots..."it's" roots. Meaning, Christianity's roots. When you think about it, Christianity is a sect of Judaism.

[Mastermind]

Its roots then. what do you mean by it?

[Shirtless]

Well, I don't mean we should adopt Jewish culture for ourselves, what I mean is...

*that we constantly debate about what the Bible says or what it doesn't say in the Old Testament, without taking into acount the vast amount of knowledge and studying that countless Rabbis and Jewish scholars have done for the last 3,000 years, especially because Jewish Religious leaders study the Torah in the original Hebrew, which makes nothing lost in translation. Scholars are good, but they're often secular and skeptical, and Gentile religious leaders often don't know enough anyway. In short, ask the Rabbi!

*that the New Testament was written (with the exception of Luke, I think) by Jews, written about a Jew, and to some extent, written for Jews. All this taking place in a Jewish culture should indicate that understanding the cultural context would help clarify a lot of passages, and even make a better story!

*Buddhist, Hindu, Jewish, Chinese, etc cultures see Christianity as a "western thing". They don't know that it wasn't always that way, and the 1st century Jewish environment was quite opposite from ours, it was a lot more like Japan in fact, and seeing as Japan is a rather spiritually lost country since the war, it would be a pretty good idea to highlight it!

[LittleShepherd]

Early Christianity was actually quite counter-culture to both Jews and Gentiles of the time. I agree that understanding the cultures of the time helps to clear some things up, but the main thing it seems to do is highlight just how different Christianity really was.

From my reading of the Old Testament, however, I can also see just how much Christianity <B>does</B> resemble oldschool pre-legalistic Judaism. The Old Testament has some great passages concerning the proper treatment of your foreign neighbors, and how you should be kind and hospitable to other people. A far cry from the "They are all unclean!" sectarian mentality predominant in Jewish society by the time Jesus finally arrived.

I also hear this stuff about Judaism not being a missionary religion. My big question is this -- then why did God send Jonah to preach to and convert the Ninevites? Ninevites were not Jews. Ninevites hated and killed Jews. This is the most blatant example of God sending someone out to preach to non-Jewish peoples that I know. It shows that even in ancient times, God extended his love and mercy to the Gentiles!

When you see how God worked in the lives of Jews, and then look at Jewish society and just how different it was when Jesus came around...in a way, yeah, Christianity was a lot like a throwback to an earlier, less legalistic period of Jewish history. Even so, it still flew right in the face of everthing the current Jewish society held dear.

It's a lot to think about.

[kateliz]

Christianity is not a sect of Judiasm, it's the progression of it with a new name! They are not separate religions in any way! I think we lose sight of this obvious fact all too easily. I mean, think of it! What was Judiasm? It was the way in which God intereacted with His people. What is Christianity? The same thing. The only difference is that God interacts with His People, (the Body of Christ,) differently now that the Messiah has come. Same "religion", just different expressions of it! Pre-Messiah times were handled differently than post-Messiah times. It's as simple as that! But of course it's important to strongly note the differences, as LS pointed out. And it does bug me that Christians are so ignorant of the former "look" of their "religion." There's just so much to learn that's important! I haven't studied on it seriously yet, and I should.

[Felgar]

I agree Kateliz... We do worship the same God, absolutely.

[Shirtless]

...in a way, yeah, Christianity was a lot like a throwback to an earlier, less legalistic period of Jewish history.

Amen! I've read things about the status of women in Jewish culture of the time and it amazes me that some are so ignorant to call Paul, of all people, a sexist. Sadly, the radical views of equality were suppressed by, *ahem*, the powers.

And it does bug me that Christians are so ignorant of the former "look" of their "religion." There's just so much to learn that's important! I haven't studied on it seriously yet, and I should.

Here would be a good place to start: http://www.tektonics.org/audio/audio.html

Or, go to the main page and find Bible and Culture.

[kateliz]

Thanks, I'll check it out.