Jewish Christians

Jewish Christians (sometimes called also "Hebrew Christians" or "Christian Jews", but see below for differences) is a term which can have two meanings, an historical one and a contemporary one. Both meanings will be given below, from a Christian context.

The term "Jewish Christians" is often used by contemporary Christians in discussing early Church history. Major Christian denominations readily admit that Jesus, his Apostles, and all or essentially all of his early followers were Jewish. Hence the 3,000 converts on the Pentecost following the Crucifixion described in Acts 2 were all Jews, plus some proselytes (who were always called that and not "Jews"). The history recorded further in the book of Acts shows all converts to Christianity to have been Jewish prior to the discussion of the conversion of the Roman officer Cornelius in Acts 10. The only division within the Church at that time was between Hellenistic and non-Hellenistic Jews (Acts 6). However, after the conversion of Cornelius and his acceptance as a Christian, there was now another group — Gentile Christians. Much of the early controversy in the Church was over the issue of whether Gentiles could enter the Church directly or ought to first convert to Judaism. Note that this controversy was fought between largely between opposing groups of Christians who were themselves ethnically Jewish. Those who felt that this conversion to Judaism was a prerequisite for Church membership were eventually condemned by Paul as "judaizing teachers".

This was related to a larger issue (which is still discussed today) — were Jewish converts to Christianity still in fact Jews themselves, or had their acceptance of Jesus as Messiah in contravention to the established Jewish leadership caused them to have voluntarily ceased being Jews? If so, the term "Jewish Christian" is something of an oxymoron.

"Jewish Christians" today are persons who are ethnically Jewish but who have become part of a "mainstream" Christian group which is not predominantly based on an appeal to Jewish ethnicity or the Law of Moses. This term is used as a contrast to Messianic Jews, a majority of whom are ethnic Jews who have converted to a religion in which Christian belief (often of a very evangelical nature) is generally engrafted onto Jewish ritual which would, to outsiders at least, typically resemble Judaism more than Christianity.

A well known Hebrew Christian is the theologian Arnold Fruchtenbaum, the founder of Ariel Ministries (http://www.ariel.org/). He is not generally known as a Messianic Jew but is not unhappy about being labelled as one either.

Many Jewish leaders regard this movement, represented if not typified by groups such as "Jews for Jesus", as more of a threat to legitimate Judaism than the one posed by efforts to convert Jews to a more mainstream Christianity, which have been ongoing for centuries; "Messianic Judaism" is largely a phenomenon of the latter part of the 20th century. Others disagree and feel that cultural assimilation rather than any form of conversion is the greatest enemy now facing Judaism.

Similar groups

There are important similarities and differences between "Jewish Christians" (or "Hebrew Christians") and "Messianic Jews". Jewish Christians identify themselves primarily as Christians. They are (mostly) members of Protestant and Catholic congregations, (usually) are not so strict about observing kosher or the Sabbath, and are (generally) assimilated culturally into the Christian mainstream, although they retain a strong sense of their Jewish identity which they, like Messianic Jews, strongly desire to pass on to their children. Messianic Jews consider their primary identity to be "Jewish" and belief in Yeshua to be the logical conclusion of their "Jewishness". They try to structure their worship according to Jewish norms, they circumcise their sons and (mostly) abstain from non-kosher foods, and (often) observe the Sabbath. Many (but by no means all) do not use the label "Christian" to describe themselves. The boundary between the two movements is blurred; because of the differences between the two movements, it is not fair to treat them as one, any more than one would treat Baptists and Methodists as a single entity, for example.

Related articles

See also

Navigation

  • Art and Cultures
    • Art (https://academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Art)
    • Architecture (https://academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Architecture)
    • Cultures (https://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Cultures)
    • Music (https://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Music)
    • Musical Instruments (http://academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/List_of_musical_instruments)
  • Biographies (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Biographies)
  • Clipart (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Clipart)
  • Geography (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Geography)
    • Countries of the World (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Countries)
    • Maps (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Maps)
    • Flags (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Flags)
    • Continents (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Continents)
  • History (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/History)
    • Ancient Civilizations (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Ancient_Civilizations)
    • Industrial Revolution (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Industrial_Revolution)
    • Middle Ages (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Middle_Ages)
    • Prehistory (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Prehistory)
    • Renaissance (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Renaissance)
    • Timelines (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Timelines)
    • United States (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/United_States)
    • Wars (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Wars)
    • World History (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/History_of_the_world)
  • Human Body (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Human_Body)
  • Mathematics (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Mathematics)
  • Reference (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Reference)
  • Science (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Science)
    • Animals (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Animals)
    • Aviation (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Aviation)
    • Dinosaurs (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Dinosaurs)
    • Earth (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Earth)
    • Inventions (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Inventions)
    • Physical Science (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Physical_Science)
    • Plants (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Plants)
    • Scientists (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Scientists)
  • Social Studies (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Social_Studies)
    • Anthropology (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Anthropology)
    • Economics (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Economics)
    • Government (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Government)
    • Religion (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Religion)
    • Holidays (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Holidays)
  • Space and Astronomy
    • Solar System (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Solar_System)
    • Planets (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Planets)
  • Sports (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Sports)
  • Timelines (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Timelines)
  • Weather (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Weather)
  • US States (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/US_States)

Information

  • Home Page (http://academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php)
  • Contact Us (http://www.academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Contactus)

  • Clip Art (http://classroomclipart.com)
Toolbox
Personal tools