The following is a reproduction of my 1997 doctoral dissertation demonstrating that modern “Messianic Jewish Congregations” are actually evangelical Christian congregations, not Jewish.
As such it represents my perspective in 1997 before my return to a Jewish way of life in 1999. Please see my Wanderings 1967-2025 for context.
Both the 2000 print version and 2012 ePub are available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Messianic-Jewish-Congregations-Business-Gentiles-ebook/dp/B0097GFOTK/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0
Messianic Jewish Congregations: Who Sold this Business to the Gentiles?
Preface to the 2012 eBook Edition: Quite a bit has transpired in the world and my own life since the publication of Messianic Jewish Congregations by University Press in 2000. As a 1997 dissertation, its research and writing represented a “waypoint” in my religious journey. Raised in a Jewish home, I ended my teen…
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Chapter 1 – Who Sold this Business to the Gentiles?
My father once told me the story of a Jewish man who visited a Christian church. Among the many activities that were strange to him, he took a special interest in the procedures that surrounded the collection of numerous monetary offerings. On leaving the church service on that occasion the Jewish man asked his Gentile…
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Chapter 2 – The History and Theology of Messianic Judaism
Messianic Jews see themselves as having a different if not separate history from the Gentile Church. As the “Who Sold This Business to the Gentiles” story indicates, Messianic Jews believe that “something has happened” to bring about this different history. In an effort to understand that “something” some Messianic Jews have attempted a reconstruction of…
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Chapter 3 – An Emerging Identity
Although the believing Jew had been absorbed into the Gentile-controlled church and independent Jewish congregations disappeared from view after the fourth century, there were those within church life who were known as both Jews and Christians. Arnold Fruchtenbaum comments: The nineteenth century saw at least a quarter million Jews come to Christ, and many of…
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Chapter 4 – The North American Expression
The reemergence of Messianic Jewish congregations in the late twentieth century North America is not directly linked to the Messianic Judaism of the first through fourth centuries nor to the European Messianic developments such as that of Rabinowitz or the London Mildmay Mission. Rather, it is an outgrowth of evangelical Protestantism that flourished in the…
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Chapter 5 – The Israeli Expression
In the previous chapter, we noted that the twentieth century Messianic congregational movement is not directly linked with the first century Jewish disciples of Jesus. Both the American and Israeli Messianic congregations are modern phenomena linked more closely to evangelical Protestantism. Nevertheless, the reappearance of Messianic Jewish congregations in Israel after an absence of 1,600…
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Chapter 6 – The Future for Messianic Jewish Congregations
The central issue facing Messianic Jewish congregations is context, especially as it relates to Jewish evangelism. Of course, fulfilling Yeshua’s Great Commission is not the only reason for congregational life. Congregations also serve to provide a sense of identity and community and become the source of discipleship and spiritual growth for believers. Certainly, this should…
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Appendix
This is a sample of the survey that I sent out to 210 North American Messianic Jewish Congregations in 1996. Ten survey forms were returned for incorrect addresses and sixty-two were completed and returned by congregational leaders. MESSIANIC CONGREGATION SURVEY Congregation Name ______________________________________ Address _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ Survey Participant name? _________________________________ Position in congregation? _________________________________…
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Bibliography
Books Aviad, J. Return to Judaism. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1983. Bellah, R. The Broken Covenant. New York: Seabury Press, 1975. Bellah, R., R. Madsen, W. M. Sullivan, A. Swidler, and S. M. Tipton. Habits of the Heart. New York: Harper and Row, 1985. Biale, D. Power and Powerlessness in Jewish History. New York: …
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