Are Messianic Jews considered Christians?

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Are Jews who have accepted Jesus as the Messiah still Jews? Are they Christians, or both Jews and Christians?
 
An interesting question. Opinions again seem to differ. I know some of them see themselves as Jews, still celebrating their culture and Jewish traditions and customs, but also believing in Jesus. They believe it’s normal for Jews to believe in Jesus.

There are religious Jews who disagree with that and state that once you believe Jesus is the son of God, you are not Jewish.

I remember watching a heated debate about this on youtube, from an archived episode of, I’m going to say, the Sally Jessy Raphael show? I think it was called that. on the show, there were members of the ‘Jews for Jesus’ organisation, basically Jews who believe in Christ, and there were others, a priest I think, and a rabbi who was very much against them and told them they can’t consider themselves Jewish if they accept Christ, but they were adamant they were Jews who believe in Christ, and that he had no right to tell them they were not Jewish.
 
I wouldn’t call them protestants, since they didn’t arrive as a sect on based on the reformation.
 
If you say so. Generally however it is common to refer to Christians who aren’t Catholic or Orthodox as Protestant. Unless you’re aware of another term for those who formed after the Reformation?
 
Not trying to be unpleasant but that should bother me, why?
 
no, but messianic jews, if anything, are protesting non-Jesus Judaism. I guess that could be considered. Usually, protestant churches are considered those that specifically formed during the reformation in “protest” over errors, both real and imagined, inside Latin Catholic Hierarchy. If you call them Christians, I believe they would encompass a singular, otherwise non-categorized, sect. Not all sects formed after the reformation are labeled mainline protestant. Many consider themselves evangelical or non-denominational. But that wasn’t the question. I simply wanted to know if Messianic Jews are Christians, Jews, or both.
 
Conversion to Judaism is definitely possible outside that, but from those people I know who have done so they are still seen as partial outsiders. That’s anecdotal, though, so I wouldn’t assume that’s the rule.
 
Don’t talk to us (relatively) tall blue-eyed blondes in that tone of voice! 😆
 
There is exactly one thing that makes a person a Christian: a valid Trinitarian baptism.
 
As someone who was involved in Messianic Judaism for over 20 years, although not Jewish myself, I think you’d have to ask them individually how they viewed themselves. Of all the ones I knew (and I was involved nation-wide in conferences within America), all would still consider themselves to still be Jewish. Some denied being Christian because of historical “Christian” persecution of the Jews, but they mostly considered themselves just as Messianic Jews.
 
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Autumn-Smoke said:
As someone who was involved in Messianic Judaism for over 20 years, although not Jewish myself, I think you’d have to ask them individually how they viewed themselves.
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Who decides whether anybody else should care? Are Christians to decide who is a Jew? Or are Jews to decide who is a Jew?
 
That’s why I said each person should be asked how they view themselves.
 
Mike1w said:
I wouldn’t call them protestants, since they didn’t arrive as a sect on based on the reformation.
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No such restriction applies to the term “Protestant” as it generally used by English-speaking Americans at large. For instance, the Seventh Day Adventist Church (founded in the mid-nineteenth century) and the Assemblies of God (founded in the early twentieth century) are both correctly described as “Protestant” in standard English.

The Pew Research Center, a prominent polling organization in the field of religion and politics, follows this rule. As far as I know, no one has ever accused it of misusing the term. You can read on its website (link below):

How does Pew Research Center measure the religious identity of survey respondents and the religious composition of the U.S.?

Answer: Generally, we rely on respondents’ self-identification. A key question we ask in many surveys is: “What is your present religion, if any? Are you Protestant, Roman Catholic, Mormon, Orthodox such as Greek or Russian Orthodox, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, atheist, agnostic, something else, or nothing in particular?”

… Respondents who answer by describing their religion as “something else” are asked to specify further. Many of them provide answers suggesting they belong in one of the existing categories, and they are categorized accordingly. For example, after first saying “something else,” many respondents specify that they are Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, etc., and are subsequently categorized as Protestants.

 
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