Are Messianic Jews considered Christians?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mike1w
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
Mike1w said:
I just wanted more information. Worm can…??? * sigh *
Click to expand...
Don’t be sad, it’s a complex question. What makes a Christian Christian? In general, it’s an acceptance that Jesus was the Messiah and Son of God. So Messianic’s are Christian by that definition. Since some of them were also Jewish (most are not) and still observe the Jewish law (which even those that were Jewish don’t fully do) then they claim they are still Jewish as well. The problem is from the Jewish perspective, they are not. Judaism is a proscribed way of living including its worship. Messianic Jews do not worship as Jews…thus, they are not Jewish.

This is one of those topics where “Your mileage may vary” really applies. 😂
 
Kaninchen said:
Right, so Christians define Judaism?
Click to expand...
I’m speaking about Messianic Jews and how they see themselves. They may or may not consider themselves to be “Christians” in the sense that they have changed religions. They don’t believe they have changed religions, but they believe they are maintaining their Judaism as God meant it to be by believing in the Messiah that was sent. In the early days after Christ, Messianic Jews were considered another sect of Judaism, and that’s how they see themselves. I can only tell you of how they, for the most part, see themselves to be.
 
Is this question supposed to be about how Judaism is both a religion and a bloodline of Abraham or is it about heresy? You definitely can’t be both in a religious sense.
 
Kaninchen said:
Right, so Christians define Judaism?

Why on earth should we take that kind of approach seriously?
Click to expand...
You’re very defensive about this,

I think people are just giving different ideas on this. How about you give your definition of it means to be Jewish, as it’s so unacceptable for a Christian to have an opinion on this.
 
Kaninchen said:
Why should anybody else care?
Click to expand...
Maybe you should ask the OP or others that question. It seems to be quite a controversy, though, especially as the nation of Israel is trying to define who can have citizenship or not. Maybe that’s where some of this stems from.
 
Mike1w said:
Are Jews who have accepted Jesus as the Messiah still Jews? Are they Christians, or both Jews and Christians?
Click to expand...
Like it it or not Messianic Jews are Christians. Some may be Jewish ethnically but generally speaking as much as they like to play Jew they are Christians. Their beliefs at their core are Evangelical.

I put it this way. Take Evangelical Protestant. Add a smattering of Hebrew and Jewish trappings. Call the Lord by his Hebrew name and voila. Messianic Jew.

I saw a video of a Messianic concert and while I cannot fault the music they had an actor dressed up as a High Priest. I can only shake my head sadly.
 
Polak said:
I don’t know, given that Jews can’t seem to agree on who Jews are amongst themselves.
Click to expand...
Don’t worry, we can see our way through your smoke and mirrors, we’re good at it, we’ve had a lot of experience.
 
Salibi said:
If this quote doesn’t exemplify Jews I don’t know what does.
Click to expand...
Sorry, but I’m offended by this remark. There’s a saying that where there’s 4 Jews there’s 5 opinions, but that’s meant to be respectful, not derisive. In other words, for example, in discussions of theology, all those gathered are meant to bring out all opinions for discussion, whether it’s the person’s own opinion or not. All viewpoints are to be discussed and taken into respectful consideration.
 
Really? I thought it was a joke. Apologies to you and @Kaninchen.
 
Salibi said:
Really? I thought it was a joke. Apologies to you and @Kaninchen.
Click to expand...
'sallright, we all miss-speak from time to time and don’t get our message across.

I’m very good at doing just that! 🙂 🙃
 
Kaninchen said:
I’m sorry everybody but "who decides?"
Click to expand...
I believe that the nation of Israel is faced with this question as they try to determine who is eligible for citizenship. Otherwise, I think we need to take into consideration how each person views themselves. I don’t think Christians should decide who Jews are, but on the other hand, Messianic Jews say that they are still Jews. This is something we’ve discussed several times on CAF. It surely wouldn’t be up to me to sort this out.
 
Well the water is a little murky here. The world we live in isn’t so black and white. Christianity and Judaism separated from each other a long time ago and yet there exists this relationship between the two religions which makes movements like Messianic Judaism possible. Keep in mind that after the destruction of the Temple the Jews really lost a big part of their identity. In order to distinguish themselves from Christians, Judaism became strictly Unitarian despite the fact that before this there were many different ideas about God spread about across various movements, it was the rabbis who established Jewish orthodoxy (although some of those heterodox ideas did resurface in Kabbalah). Alan F. Segal writes about this development in his work “Two Powers in Heaven: Early Rabbinic Reports About Christianity And Gnosticism”. So basically, in my view, Messianic Judaism is heterodox Judaism and heterodox Christianity. In many ways it also inhabits a grey area, a religious movement without any particular identity.
 
Last edited:
Kaninchen said:
Or are Jews allowed to decide who is a Jew?
Click to expand...
Well apparently you guys can’t even agree on that. A Conservative Rabbi will tell me something different than what an Orthodox or Reform or Reconstructionist Rabbi might tell me. But then even Rabbis inside the same movement will say different things sometimes.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top