Christianity is Jewish?

paulvipond · Christianity is Jewish?

I would interested to have everyone's response to the following artricle:
"Christianity is Jewish By Rich Nathan

Almost everyone who is part of Vineyard Columbus knows that I was raised in a conservative Jewish family in New York City. As a child I went to a Jewish parochial school. When my parents transferred me to public school, I supplemented public school with Hebrew school. I also attended Hebrew high school and was bar mitzvah at age 13. My self-identity is that I am a Jew who believes that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah and the Saviour of the world.

It is quite clear to any observer that Christianity and Judaism moved in two very different directions after Jesus and his early Jewish followers. In my opinion, many of the most serious problems that the church has experienced over the last 2000 years could have been avoided if the church did not repeatedly cut itself off from its Jewish roots. In bringing correction to the church, many people have tried to remind church leaders that Christianity is Jewish.

In saying Christianity is Jewish, I must immediately communicate what I am not saying:

1. In the current political environment, by saying Christianity is Jewish, I am not saying that we followers of Jesus need to support Israel right or wrong. Nor am I suggesting an anti-Muslim tilt towards our foreign policy, or towards the prospect of Palestinian statehood. Christianity is Jewish is not a political statement.

2. In the current worship music environment, I am not suggesting that we need to get back to certain “Hebraic” styles of worship. It was popular, particularly in the 1970’s and 80’s, in certain charismatic circles, to suggest that the use of minor key worship, models of the tabernacle, and Jewish dance steps were somehow more spiritual or more “biblical” than other forms of worship expressions. Saying Christianity is Jewish is not a statement regarding worship style preference.

What would be gained by recovering the Jewish roots of Christianity?

1. The beauty of block logic. Greek logic which has been the chief influence on the Christian church over the last 18 centuries uses a tightly contained step-logic whereby one argues from premise to conclusion in a rational, logical fashion. Jews, both in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament, made use of block logic. Concepts were expressed in self-contained blocks of thought. These blocks of thought didn’t necessarily fit together in any obviously rational or harmonious pattern. This way of thinking opens the door for paradox or antinomies (apparent contradictions) as one block stands in tension with another block.

The church has had difficulty with the block logic of the Jewish scriptures. We constantly try to cut the tension by opting for one side of the truth versus the other. So, for example, it says in Exodus that Pharaoh hardened his heart, but it also says that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. We say either God did it or Pharaoh did it. It can’t be both! The same is true with scriptures that deal with divine sovereignty and those that deal with human responsibility, and scriptures that suggest that God is one yet somehow three. By affirming the way Jews in ancient times thought, the church would not be tempted to cut biblical tensions or reject certain aspects of the truth in favor of other aspects.

2. God is in everything. Jews in biblical times did not make a distinction between sacred and secular areas of life. They saw all of life as a unity. God was involved in the birth of a baby and God was involved in the death of an old person. Farmers recited special prayers as they tilled the soil. The apostle Paul, reflecting his Jewish background, wrote, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10.31). Jews recited prayers over wine, in the presence of thunder and lightning, and they even blessed God for their capacity to use the bathroom.

When the church has forgotten that Christianity is Jewish, it has drawn a sharp distinction between the sacred and the secular. As a result, many Christians wonder where God is in their work places. Christians often see work as “just tent-making,” enabling them to earn enough money so that they can get onto “God’s work” at church or in evangelism. The Christian world also became divided between clerical and lay people, and between secular and sacred institutions. Imagine what would happen to the average Christian if we saw our walk with God not being exhausted by “spiritual” activities such as prayer and fasting, but as involving the whole of our lives: our entertainment choices, what we ate, our sex lives, our spending choices, our work, etc. Imagine a world in which God is in everything, not just “spiritual” things.

3. Unity vs. Dualism. Following the Greeks, much of the church held to the perspective that there are two worlds – the visible material world and the invisible spiritual world. The invisible spiritual world was said to be higher than the visible material world. The Greek philosopher, Plato, likened the body to a prison for the soul. The goal of salvation was to escape the body and to live as a pure spirit forever.

Jews in biblical times had a very different view. According to the Jews, the world was good. Material was good. To the Jews, a human being is a dynamic body/soul unity called to serve God with all of our beings within the physical world. The ultimate goal for Jews was not escaping the body and living forever as pure spirit in a spiritual world called heaven. Rather, the goal was to live in a resurrected body on a new (renewed) earth.

Imagine what would happen to people in the church if we took on a more Jewish view of our bodies and of material creation. Perhaps we would be more mindful of our diets. And since salvation takes place in the body, perhaps sexual holiness would make more sense to us. Since material creation is valued by God, perhaps we would also exercise greater creation care. Environmentalism would not just be for tree-huggers! It would be the natural response of Christians to our understanding of the world.

4. The Individual vs. Community. Severed from its Jewish roots, the church has continually tilted towards an emphasis on the individual’s own relationship with God as opposed to the more Jewish emphasis on the community of faith. One of the early movements in Christianity was monasticism, which literally means “to be alone” or to “live in solitude.”

When the church is cut off from its Jewish roots, Christians tend towards “Lone Ranger” Christianity. Christians begin to believe that the church is a luxury, not a necessity and that we can successful grow as believers on our own.

Jews living in biblical times thought of themselves as being part of a people. When they talked to God, they used the plural “we,” not the singular “I.” That’s why Jesus (a Jew) taught us to pray, “Our Father in heaven,” not “My Father in heaven…” The Bible teaches that when a person comes to Christ, they are immediately grafted into the church. Our growth, our learning, and our salvation is eternally bound up with our relationships in the community of God’s people.

In sum, many of the problems of contemporary (and historic) Christianity would be solved by remembering this one simple fact: Christianity is Jewish!"

For myself reading about how a first century Jew [as opposed to a 21C one] would have understood some of Jesus' teaching has been very helpful. Particularly in the area of what it meant to be a disciple in Jesus' day and what a rabbi believed about his disciples.

countrydancer · Christianity is Jewish?

I would say Christianity has its roots in Judaism and fulfills it. The best parts of Christianity over the years have never denied their Old Testament roots and most of the thoughts expressed in the article I agree with and always have done. I believe many Christians would do so and have done so in the past. So what's the problem?

Eli

Things to be gained by recovering the Jewish roots of Christianity?

1 Ritual Sacrifice for the atonement of sins. Lev 3/4 and onwards
2 Circumcision as a sign of covenant Lev 12:3
3 Reliance on "tradition" and "interpretation"
4 Rigid observance of dietary laws (careful with that seafood!)
5 Rigid observance of Sabbath keeping. Ex 20:10
6 Obsessive veneration of whichever rabbi takes your fancy. Matt 23:7-8
7 Separation of men and women in worship.
8 Separation of women from any meaningful role in the church.
9 Looking forward to the coming of the Messiah
10 ...and so on...

On the plus side (as ever, tongue firmly in cheek...)

1 Men get to have the final say at home (and everywhere else*)
2 Women get to wear hats (and so do men, except when worshipping)
3 No Tithing (Currently, there are no priests and no temple to benefit.)
4 You get to correct 2000 years of Christian thinking by claiming seniority

For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party. They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach. One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, "Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons."This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth. To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work. Titus 1:10-16

Two thousand years and some things never change
Sad

Christianity, whilst having ROOTS in the Jewish people, is blatantly not Jewish. Jesus said ... "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6

But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, "If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?" We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! Galatians 2:11-17

Pretty self explanatory, I would have said.

* Except when it's "Mama" who's speaking Laughing

paulvipond