Before we answer this, I’m wondering if you are hearing things like this. Any response?<\/i><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Scot,<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
This is unbelievably forward of me. I am a reader of your blog. I<\/p>\n
have a question about New Testament history, perhaps you can point me to<\/p>\n
a resource or might want to write about it on your blog sometime.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I belong to a message board for evangelical Christian mothers. An<\/p>\n
increasing number of the members are intrigued by “Messianic worship”<\/p>\n
and quite a few have found congregations in which they can worship in a<\/p>\n
more Jewish fashion while upholding their Christian beliefs. They begin<\/p>\n
to refer to Jesus as Yeshua, replace Christmas with Hanakkah, replace<\/p>\n
Easter with Passover, start keeping Sabbath starting at sundown on<\/p>\n
Fridays, and dream of becoming fully Torah observant.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Some believe Christians are \/commanded\/ to do this. Convincingly one<\/p>\n
woman explained that Acts 15:19-21 points to the idea that Gentile<\/p>\n
believers were being directed to abstain from a few key things in the<\/p>\n
short term and for long term teaching (v. 21) they would naturally hear<\/p>\n
Moses (the Law) expounded upon in the synagogue…and therefore learn to<\/p>\n
keep the rest of the Law.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Others believe that when we are saved, Torah is written on our hearts,<\/p>\n
and we will be “prompted by the Spirit to live Torah.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
They believe that the reason this is news to most Christians is that<\/p>\n
anti-semitic pressure arising from events between AD 70-300 caused an<\/p>\n
intentional stripping of Jewishness from the beliefs of the church.<\/p>\n
Here is how one woman (who is a rabbi in a messianic congregation) put it:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
With the destruction of the Temple in 70AD there was a revolt that<\/p>\n
the Messianic believers missed because they had heeded Jesus’ words<\/p>\n
and fled to the mountains. They were accused of being traitors to<\/p>\n
the Jews. So they stayed and participated in the next revolt until<\/p>\n
the rabbis named a general messiah and then they had to leave. This<\/p>\n
caused a strong split between the messianic church and traditional<\/p>\n
Judaism. Combine that with it being dangerous to be Jewish and the<\/p>\n
teachings of the Church became radically anti-semitic. The<\/p>\n
*intentional goal* was to strip everything Jewish looking, sounding<\/p>\n
or rooted from the Gospel and the NT writings. This is the first<\/p>\n
time you hear teachings that Jesus came to start a *new* religion<\/p>\n
instead of radically reform the Jewish understanding of Torah<\/p>\n
(interpret it correctly); or that Sabbath was *changed* to Sunday;<\/p>\n
that Torah didn’t apply to believers. Through 70AD and until this<\/p>\n
shift began there was an understanding of everything being rooted in<\/p>\n
Torah. If you study church history you can see the transition.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
This really has my head spinning because as a Protestant (and generally<\/p>\n
leaning to New Covenant theology, to boot) I’ve believed that a blessing<\/p>\n
of the New Covenant is to not have to follow the Law of Moses, but the<\/p>\n
law of love.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I’m suspicious when people find a new way of looking at things after<\/p>\n
2000 years of viewing the situation differently. But the explanation is<\/p>\n
plausible. On the other hand it also sounds a little<\/p>\n
conspiracy-theory-ish. It’s always tempting to believe that the truth<\/p>\n
has been suppressed and subverted until MY group rediscovered it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I just don’t have the background to know. Does any of this ring a bell<\/p>\n
for you? Can you point me to a resource?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Thanks very much. Please excuse me if I’ve been terribly presumptuous<\/p>\n
in writing to you!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Before we answer this, I’m wondering if you are hearing things like this. Any response? Scot, This is unbelievably forward of me. I am a reader of your blog. I have a question about New Testament history, perhaps you can point me to a resource or might want to write about it on your…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gospel"],"yoast_head":"\n