Jewish Christians: Messianic Judaism

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Messianic Judaism
During the 1970s, in the United States, there was a rise in the movement of Jewish Christians known as Messianic Judaism. Messianic Judaism was formerly known as Jews for Jesus, which was organized by a man named Moishe Rosen. The primary focus of Rosen’s group was to focus on expressing their beliefs in Jesus. Messianic Judaism was created as this “exciting vision of Christianity that worked around traditional views of a faith alien to Jews” (Ariel 319). Like Rosen’s movement, Jews for Jesus, Messianic Judaism’s intention is to present Jesus as the Messiah. Not only do they want to show their attitudes towards Christianity, but they also want to identify themselves as the first Jewish followers of Jesus. Considering themselves as evangelical premillennialists, their view has proven them that they are the Chosen People of God.
Many Jews and Christians have reacted negatively towards this movement. These groups find it strange to have both a Christian and Jewish approach. Furthermore, they each state that they are having difficulty maintaining Jewish identity, “Messianic Jews are not only crossing established religious boundaries, but are seen to be allowing themselves to be fundamentally affected by a context of organized social relations” (Kollontai 198). Traditional Jews feel that Messianic Jews cannot commit to two faiths because of how different each one is. The main problem is “it struggles in its years to secure its legitimacy within the larger evangelical movement” (Ariel 320).
It is believed that in Messianic Judaism’s doctrine, Jesus is the Messiah of Israel, the savior of the world, and the Son of God (Loren), also known as Yeshua. The background history of Yeshua is that he was of Jewish descent, w...

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...ant after accepting Yeshua as their messiah.

Works Cited
Agus, Jacob B. "The Messianic Ideal and the Apocalyptic Vision." Judaism 32.2 (1983): 205-14. Academic Search Premier. 24 Nov. 2012.
Kollontai, Pauline. "Messianic Jews and Jewish Identity." Journal of Modern Jewish Studies 3 (2004): 195-205. Academic Search Premier. 25 Nov. 2012.
Skyes, Loren. "Messianic Judaism: Questions and Answers." Shema. Congregation Shema Yisrael. 26 Nov. 2012 .
Yaakov, Ariel. "A Different Kind of Dialogue: Messianic Judaism and Jewish-Christian Relation." Cross Currents 62 (2012): 318-28. Academic Search Premier. 25 Nov. 2012.
Yangarber-Hicks, Natalia. "Messianic Believers: Reflections on Identity of a Largely Misunderstood Group." Journal of Psychology & Theology 2nd ser. 33 (2005): 127-39. Academic Search Premier. 24 Nov. 2012.

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