Whats the Difference?

[Nossa-the-Lame]

Hello all! First time on this forum. I just got a couple of questions. What is there difference between being a "normal" christian and being a messianic jew? How do messianic jews view jesus as compared to "normal" christians? Do messianic Jews believe in the trinity, or do they view it differently? If you are a messianic jew, are you consideed christian or jewish? If these questions hav been answered, please let me know where, I checked the FAQ thread, so these are things that I thought of after reading it.

God Bless!

[Sephania]

, I checked the FAQ thread, so these are things that I thought of after reading it.

God Bless!;)

[simchat_torah]

hehe, maybe you missed the last sentance Erin:
I checked the FAQ thread, so these are things that I thought of after reading it.
;)


Well, Nossa, let me see if I can help a bit...
What is there difference between being a "normal" christian and being a messianic jew?
Outside of what's listed in the FAQ, what specific questions do you have?
How do messianic jews view jesus as compared to "normal" christians?
Most messianics view him pretty much the same.
Do messianic Jews believe in the trinity, or do they view it differently?
Some do, some don't. There are many many varying thoughts concerning the make-up of G-d in Messianic Judaism.
If you are a messianic jew, are you consideed christian or jewish?
Again, Messianic Judaism is rather diverse. For example, I consider myself a Jew. JewishHeart, another messianic member of this forum would probably say he's a christian primarily.

Shalom,
yafet

[Sephania]

How do messianic jews view jesus as compared to "normal" christians?

shalom Nossa, perhaps if you could tell us how "Normal Christians" view Jesus we could make a comparison? :)

[Nossa-the-Lame]

Er, I mean, do Messianic Jews feel that Jesus is the son of God, and therefore believe in the trinity? Or do they think he is just the messiah, nothing more or less? Sorry if some of my questions are broad, I have a tnedency to do that ;)

Oh another question! Well, more like a couple. And I know one of these could probably be answered best elsewhere, but here it goes:

Firstly, was it true that when jesus came that he made it so that the old covanent was no longer needed, or was that something done to get converts to christianity? And do messianic jews believe in heaven and hell?

[Nossa-the-Lame]

Oh, another kinda silly question: Do messianic jews practice the same tenets as other Jews, other than believing that Jesus was the messiah?

Also: Do messianic jews believe in the devil/lucifer/satan?

God Bless!

[simchat_torah]

do Messianic Jews feel that Jesus is the son of God
yes and therefore believe in the trinity?
Not all do...
Or do they think he is just the messiah, nothing more or less?
Some beileve that, yes.
Firstly, was it true that when jesus came that he made it so that the old covanent was no longer needed...
No, he did not abolish the Old Testament. Not according to Messianic Judaism anyway.
or was that something done to get converts to christianity?
That's definately one possibility.
And do messianic jews believe in heaven and hell?
Yes.
Do messianic jews practice the same tenets as other Jews, other than believing that Jesus was the messiah?

Some do.
Do messianic jews believe in the devil/lucifer/satan?
Yes.

[Nossa-the-Lame]

Thanks ST and to all who have helped try to answer my questions! I still got a couple more, hope I am not being bothersome ;) Is there some way I can find out on the net if there is a local MJ synagoug where I live? THat way I can talk to someone in person and get more answers. Thanks again!

God Bless!

[simchat_torah]

hope I am not being bothersome ;)Not at all.Is there some way I can find out on the net if there is a local MJ synagoug where I live?Where do you live? I can post a fe of them in your area/state.

[mjterry87]

Something I want to clear up is that not all messianics are Jews. I myself am not a Jew but a Gentile. I do not want to convert to Judaism, and have no plans to because then that would mean I would have to say that I don't believe in Yeshua. Infact 90% of us here on the MJ form are gentiles! The main difference between Christians and Messianics is that we follow the Torah, and believed that Yeshua preached it. Where as Christians don't really follow the Torah, just what Yeshua preached, even though it is the Torah, they eat unholy food, and don't celebrate the biblical holidays.


Shalom :wave:

[ShirChadash]

Some links that may be helpful:


http://www.umjcwebs.net/_umjcdirectory/search_directory.asp

http://iamcs.org/Directory.php?Country=USA

http://www.yashanet.com/messcon1.htm

[brentsbaby612]

Something I want to clear up is that not all messianics are Jews. I myself am not a Jew but a Gentile. I do not want to convert to Judaism, and have no plans to because then that would mean I would have to say that I don't believe in Yeshua.

Most of us do not believe that to be Jewish means that you do not believe in Yeshua. I for one feel that the belief in Yeshua is, in fact, Jewish! Christianity is just the fulfillment in Judaism. They are one in the same and both need each other.
Shalom/ BB

[mjterry87]

I agree, but I just have no plans on converting, because with my faith in Yeshua, I am grafted into the Jewish family of G-D's chosen people.

[ShirChadash]

Yeshua is the filling-full of Judaism, yes.

[brentsbaby612]

Yeshua is the filling-full of Judaism, yes.

^_^
:scratch: So if Judaism was a donut(eclair to be percise^_^ ) the torah would be the pastry and Yeshua would be the cream filling? (yes, yes, I am a dork ^_^ )

[ShirChadash]

uhm... :scratch::sorry:^_^^_^^_^

[Nossa-the-Lame]

Not at all.Where do you live? I can post a fe of them in your area/state.

Well I live near Sacramento California, I did a litle search of my own and went to the one supposedly in Sacto, and when I went there it was not, nor was the website up or either of their phones lines in use. That was the only one I believe in my area, I will continue to search, and/or possibly find out what happened to the synagouge. But any help with trying to find any others would be most helpful :)

God Bless!

[Nossa-the-Lame]

Ok, found the same congregation, but with a different phone number and different adress. I emailed the Rabbi, I think. If anyone comes up with anything,that is most appreciated.

[By Grace]

Ok, found the same congregation, but with a different phone number and different adress. I emailed the Rabbi, I think. If anyone comes up with anything,that is most appreciated.
You might also try calling some of the congregations in your Yellow Pages. I live in a rural area and couldn't find a Messianic synagogue anywhere close by, so I started calling churches from the Yellow Pages who didn't advertise being a certain denomination (Baptist, Methodist, etc.). I found one small congregation that worships on the Sabbath (because it's the Sabbath, not just to be different), and talked to one of the staff members on the phone. Turns out they are primed to learn more about the biblical holidays! They currently don't celebrate what she called the "pagan holidays", and she said she was very interested in what I was learning about the biblical holidays. I'm very excited about visiting this congregation soon, and hopefully they will be interested in growing in the right direction on this. That doesn't mean I want to "convert" them all to Messianic Judaism, per se, but I think it's a wonderful opportunity for us to learn together and challenge each other in the search for Truth. From talking with her, it sounds like they are more open-minded than most churches in this area about learning directly from Scripture, rather than taking as factual all the misconceptions we've been fed all our lives.

[Sephania]

Do messianic Jews believe in the trinity, or do they view it differently?
It is viewed differently by most "learned" Messianic believers, it depends on the religious background I have found of how this is looked at.
If you are a messianic jew, are you consideed christian or jewish? It depends on who's doing the calling. Most in traditional Judaism will call us Christians, or heretics ;) and some call us Hebrew Christians ( of those who are Jewish) and there are Christians that call us Judaizers because of what we believe, so really the only ones that refer to us as Messianic are those who are Messianic themselves. I prefer to be called a follower of Y'shua, the living word, because you can believe all you want, and even the demons believe, but they do not follow, following, thus considered a "work" will show what is truly in your heart, words aren't worth the paper or air they are printed or spoken on, unless you are HaShem of course! :)

[Sephania]

Oh, another kinda silly question: Do messianic jews practice the same tenets as other Jews, other than believing that Jesus was the messiah?

Also: Do messianic jews believe in the devil/lucifer/satan?

God Bless!
Not silly, it is good that you want to learn!

By tenets I understand you to mean the way we live? because a "tenet" is a beliefs and of course this would be different. I have seen differing "grades" of MJ's, some are just starting out so are expected to be at the grade school level, however I have seen many stay there in their "comfort zone" and not seek to move forward.
Some "commonalities" between MJ's and those who do practice Judaism

1. Keeping Shabbat ( observations vary in Judaism and MJ)
2. Celebrating or commemorating the Appointed times of the L-rD and the holidays of importance to the Jews, i.e. Tisha B'Av, Purim, Chanukah,Yom, Yerushalyim, etc)
3. Prayers and Blessings ( Liturgy and Siddur ( order of services) similar
4. Celebrations of life, Bris, Bat/Bar Mitzvah, Wedding, Death, Mourning
5. Eating Kosher ( to some this is called "Biblical Kosher" which really isn't Kosher, but some follow this in MJ, other eat the same foods as Orthodox.
6. Love, concern, heart, prayers for Israel, and especially for Jerusalem. Another very strong common bond.
7. Study of Hebrew, Torah and living by Torah in all aspects of your life. ( Again varying degrees).

These are some of the similarities in the differeing "Sects" of Judaism ( including MJ) you can compare this to What you know of all the myriad of demominations of Christiainity for yourself.

Hope this has helped. :)

Shalom!

[Nossa-the-Lame]

Allrighty, thanks again for all yoru help so far, I am learning a lot ;) Just some background info about myself, so that you guys know approximately how much I know about judaism, my fathers side of the family are jewish. They are non-practicing, but still. I celebrated Chanukka, and Passover, along with all the normal christian holidays. I also had a bris(I didn't learn of this until ysterday!!!), and if it wasn't for the fact that I grew up in an area with a jewish population of my father, I would hav been raised jewish. So I do know some in's and outs of judaism.

Ok, 2 new questions for you guys, well ;) :

1)Who/what is Hashem? It keeps on geting referred to.
2)What is are the differences between Messianic Gentiles and Messianic Jews? It was explained before, but then when I tried re-reading it I got confused.
and 3)What does Shalom mean ;) ? Hello or Goodbye or both?

[Sephania]

3)What does Shalom mean ;) ? Hello or Goodbye or both?
See first entry in this Thread:
http://www.christianforums.com/t692666 (http://www.christianforums.com/t692666)

1)Who/what is Hashem? It keeps on geting referred to.
Read through thread, see my post #4
http://www.christianforums.com/t731020


2)What is are the differences between Messianic Gentiles and Messianic Jews? It was explained before, but then when I tried re-reading it I got confused.

One is Jewish and the other not. :)

[Nossa-the-Lame]

As Homer Simpson so plaionly put it..."DOH!!!!" Alrighty, thanks for answering my questions, you guys must get this stuff all the time. If I can think of anything more, this is place I will ask, thanks again!

Shalom ;)

[Sephania]

bevakasha! :)

[Nossa-the-Lame]

Ok I thought of some new stuff, so here it goes:

WHat is considered "work" on shabbat? I remember my grandpa telling me that when he was a boy and living in NYC he had a job delivering papers to peoples homes. He said that when he delievered papers on shabbat, as soon as he arrived to Jewish peoples houses, they would pay him to do very simple tasks, like turn lights on/off, help maybe clean dishes, stuff like that. So in today's society, what is considered work? Driving a car, turning lights on/off, cooking, cleaning, etc etc.

Also, what does bevakasha mean? :P

[Nossa-the-Lame]

Bleh thought of yet another question to the endless list of problems also known as my brain :P

WHat are the kosher laws? WHat exactlyconstitues as kosher? I know you are not supposed to eat pork, but I know there is more to it than that.

What also happens when you break one of the kosher laws?

Thanks again and Shalom!

[Sephania]

Ok I thought of some new stuff, so here it goes:

WHat is considered "work" on shabbat? I remember my grandpa telling me that when he was a boy and living in NYC he had a job delivering papers to peoples homes. He said that when he delievered papers on shabbat, as soon as he arrived to Jewish peoples houses, they would pay him to do very simple tasks, like turn lights on/off, help maybe clean dishes, stuff like that. So in today's society, what is considered work? Driving a car, turning lights on/off, cooking, cleaning, etc etc.

Also, what does bevakasha mean? :P
I take it you are speaking of your maternal grandfather? as you said your grandfather was Jewish? NOssa,we have a Halacha ( the way to walk or live according to Torah) forum here within the MJ forum, you will find lots of info on Kosher, Shabbat keeping and other interpretations of the Law of Torah here -------> http://www.christianforums.com/f359

I understand the asking of a gentile to do these tasks as a delivery boy he was already breaking the Sabbath but paying him money then? :scratch: Hmm, I really don't believe in causing someone else to break the Sabbath even if they don't know what it is. but hey, what was done is done.

I will say that the work that is expounded upon in the Talmud as to what you can't do on shabbat, goes back to the building of the Mishkan and the "work" that involved as well as what HaShem gave as prohibitions. I think that there are 39 things you can't do, or catagories of things that have to do with the building of the Mishkan. I will go see what I can find for you.

Also, what does bevakasha mean? You said thank you, and this is a way of saying you are welcome, but actually it means I gotta go now! :D

[Sephania]

What also happens when you break one of the kosher laws?

Thanks again and Shalom!
The Kosher Police come to your home, lights flashing, and storm through your house to your kitchen and strip your refridgerator bare! You will be considered unclean as long as that food is in your body. Just pray that you aren't having a Ham and cheese sandwich at the time as that is double the penalty!

[Sephania]

:sorry:






:D





^_^












:sorry: