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Hebrew for Christians
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Current Online Articles
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The following articles by John J. Parsons explore various facets of the Jewish roots of the Christian faith, covering a wide range of issues, including questions about Torah observance, the relationship between the followers of Jesus and Israel, and much more.
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When studying the Jewish roots of Christianity, certain questions often arise regarding the nature of the “Church,” the nature of “Israel,” and the relationship between them. Do Gentile Christians become “Jewish” on account of their relationship to Jesus? Does the “Church” somehow replace the Jewish people in God’s plan as the “new Israel”? Exactly how should we understand the relationship between the Church and Israel?
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In this short article, John Piper attempts to cajole his fellow pastors to take their duty to study the original languages of the Scriptures seriously. I would qualify Dr. Piper’s comments, however, by insisting that the study of Hebrew must take priority over the study of the Greek text of the New Testament (though of course both are important).
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After all, the Greek text of the New Testament derives its authority and veracity from the Jewish Scriptures, and not the other way around. In other words, while it's possible that the Hebrew Scriptures are true and the Greek Scriptures are not, it's impossible for the Greek Scriptures to be true if the Hebrew Scriptures are not. Too many Christian theologians go at this backwards, reading the Greek New Testament as the interpretative filter for the study of the Hebrew text. The hermeneutical primacy of the Hebrew text should be evident to all who study the Scriptures seriously.
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Why did God create the universe with both the possibility and the prevalence of suffering and evil? Surely an all-loving, all-knowing, and all-powerful God could have created a world free from the harrowing pain that plagues us all. The question is not academic, since suffering in our lives can lead to bitterness and chronic depression. Pointless suffering can lead to eventual madness and spiritual suicide, so it is vital to attempt to understand its function in our lives and find hope in our struggles.
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The devil’s logic is based on compromise, calling evil good and good evil, hissing out a seductive appeal to supposed esoteric knowledge, claiming superiority to the commonsense truth claims of experience, pragmatically justifying human atrocities, barbarity, and even cold-blooded murder for the sake of political expediency. It’s the prevailing dogma of the princes of this world, and it is at work in the halls of power today.
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Both the physical world and the world of subjective values are inescapably known or apprehended by means of the ideal. The ideal world haunts everything we see, do, and experience. It is known in the laboratories of scientists as they seek to create the “perfect sphere” just as it is known in our private moments of shame and confession that we do not live as we ought.
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Some people tend to regard the God of the “Old Testament” as a God of wrath, but the God of “New Testament” as a God of love. Such a perspective reveals a deficient understanding of the overarching unity of Scriptures - and of the very plan of God to redeem the world.
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Moses foretold the coming of the Mashiach as one who would “be like me,” namely, a Deliverer, Prophet, Lawgiver, Teacher, Priest, Anointed One, and a Mediator between God and man who (like Moses) would offer himself to die for the sins of the people. This brief article presents several ways in which Jesus is truly a “Second Moses.”
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Read more >
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Jewish tradition sometimes refers to two Messiahs who will deliver the Jewish people from galut (exile) and usher in the long-awaited Messianic era. This short article looks at the life of Joseph as the archetypical pattern for the one who would be the fulfillment of Israel’s suffering Mashiach.
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The Jewish Bible provides several lines of prophetic evidence that demonstrate that Yeshua haNotzri (Jesus of Nazareth) is indeed the promised Savior of Israel. Prophecies concerning his place of birth, his lineage, his rejection by klal Yisrael, and his sacrificial suffering as Mashiach ben Yosef are provided in this brief survey.
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This exploratory article raises some questions regarding whether the Torah of Moses is immutable (as is held by traditional Orthodox Judaism) or whether it is (itself) subject to overmastering purposes and plans of the Lord. In other words, is the word “Torah” to be linked to the covenant made with the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai, or is it perhaps grounded in a deeper covenantal purpose of God that is intended to embrace all of humanity?
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When Jesus died, the enormous paraochet (veil) that separated Hakodesh (the holy place) from the Kodesh Hakodashim (Holy of Holies) in the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. Why is this significant for those who look to Yeshua as their Savior?
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The Hebrew word mitzvah means "divine commandment" (mitzvot is the plural form). Although the word is sometimes used broadly to refer to Rabbinic (Talmudic) law, in its strictest sense the term refers to an explicit commandment given by the LORD in the Torah. In this article, I provide Rambam’s list of 613 commandments, and offer New Testament correlations, when applicable.
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Read more >
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Some people tend to find nuanced distinctions abhorrent and seek "either/or" answers to complex questions. Unfortunately, it's just not that simple when it comes to understanding the role of Torah in our lives as Messianic Jews and Christians...
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Within the Messianic Community at large, there is a lot of discussion as to whether a follower of the LORD Jesus should be “Torah Observant” -- that is, obligated to follow the various mitzvot stipulated in the Sinai Covenant. In this brief essay, I look at the meaning of the word “Torah” and try to show that it is a function of (or response to) something more basic, namely, the covenantal acts of the LORD God of Israel.
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Often Christians think that the "Old Testament" is virtually irrelevant today, since the doctrines of the Church are made explicit in the New Testament writings. However, this is a serious mistake, as the following short article will demonstrate.
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All-to-human idealizations, whether they take the religious or humanistic form, are nothing but trash talk when it comes to understanding a divine love that reaches down in compassion to heal and save those who are shattered by life in its concreteness.
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Shiv'im Panim laTorah: “The Torah has 70 faces.” This phrase is used to indicate different “levels” of interpretation for each pasuk (verse) of the Torah. This brief article explains the meaning behind the dictum and an overview of basic Jewish exegesis.
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Traditional Judaism regards circumcision as a “rite of passage” into covenant relationship with the LORD, a type of “giving birth” to a member of Israel, the very family of God. Indeed, according to some of the Jewish sages, being born and circumcised a Jew is sufficient to warrant a place in the world to come. But should a follower of Jesus the Messiah undergo ritual circumcision?
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Faith of any kind itself must have an object-- whether it is (minimally) the truth status of a proposition or (in more Biblical terms) a positive trust in the character, purposes, and love of the LORD God Almighty....
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The phrase “touch not my anointed” is sometimes appealed to as a means of defusing criticism of supposed authority figures within the church. See why such an appeal is fallacious and an example of bad interpretation.
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Judaism is not dogmatic regarding eschatological matters, and the various Rabbinic traditions have never reached consensus regarding the issues of life after death and the future state of the world. However, most discussions on the issue include a basic division of the world into two spheres: the Olam Hazeh and the Olam Habah.
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Was Jesus really born on December 25th, or does Scripture allow us to infer a different time for His advent here on earth? Two arguments are presented here: one for the traditional date of late December, and the other for a date duing the festival of Sukkot.
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Many people raised in Gentile churches consider the Name of the Lord to be “Jesus” with a surname of “Christ.” Although this is based on a misunderstanding, the designation “Jesus Christ” is actually of Jewish origin.
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A brief article intended to sketch some differences between the typically “Greek” conception of truth and the “Hebraic” conception of truth.
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A Messianic friend recently remarked to me, “Jews don't need to convert to Christianity; they just need to be “completed,” like the Apostle Paul who became a completed Jew.” Now what do we make of such a statement?
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I am sometimes asked whether it is "kosher" for a Christian (or Messianic Jew) to get a tattoo or body art. In addition, I regularly receive email requests from various tattoo artists asking me to give them “the Hebrew lettering for such-and-such a word.” It is my hope that this brief article will express my convictions regarding this subject.
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Popular Christian journalist Joseph Farah (of worldnetdaily) appears to have recently endorsed the policy that the torture and interrogation of POWs is sometimes appropriate - if by so doing the “greater good” is thereby promoted. Read my critique of this position and why I think the underlying sentiment of his viewpoint is fallacious and contrary to the truth of the Scriptures.
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A Hebrew word translated “folly” is kesilut, perhaps better understood as stupidity (the Greek word used is μωρια). The “wisdom of this world” is ultimately based on fear that leads to the desire to control others. Sometimes, as in the case of warfare, it leads to acts of violence and murder. Human reason designs and schemes in order to obtain its self-serving ends, whereas heavenly wisdom understands that there is no further “end” in sight than that of the LORD Himself and His Presence.
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Other Articles...
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The following additional articles you might find helpful. Most of these are from one of my favorite authors, Soren Kierkegaard.
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An excerpt from Kierkegaard’s book “The Sickness Unto Death” that provides an incisive analysis of the modes or ways we choose to embrace our existence. The self is defined as a conscious “synthesis” of the infinite/finite, the temporal/eternal, of freedom/necessity, all in relationship to God, who is the Source and End of self-conscious life. We will be in a state of “despair” when we attempt to deny any one of these paradoxes and thereby choose to understand ourselves apart from relationship with God. We are at the “crossroads” of the eternal and the temporal, and we can only know ourselves for what we are when we surrender to God for each irrepeatable choice of our lives.
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(bavat eino), the “pupil of God’s eye” (Zechariah 2:8), a term of endearment God uses for no other nation on earth. This short article lists a few of the reasons why the genuine Christian should love and support the physical descendants of Abraham, the Jewish people.
