Theological, Ecclesiastical And Evangelistic Changes For The Church Regarding Israel

Having the privilege to serve in the military has allowed this writer the opportunity to be exposed to the pluralistic society in a way which has exposed him to the beauty of the diversity enjoyed in American culture. One aspect of said diversity is the interaction which has taken place amongst the Christian and various world religions who also wear the same uniform in defense of America. It was the pleasure of the writer to attend a local synagogue in which his Jewish brothers and sisters welcomed him with open arms. The local congregation of Jewish believers went out of their way in order to ensure their newest visitor understood the flow of service and the significance of the ritual which took place on the first Shabbat or Sabbath of the month. The following essay will serve to detail the worship experience as well as how it and other beliefs of Judaism compare/contrast with the Christian faith.

Years ago, a man was crucified for saying he was God’s Son. His name was Jesus Christ. Those who followed his teachings were named Christians; and Christians soon resented Jews for their sinful act. This tension between Christians and Jews lead to increasing hatred for one another. Not too long ago, anti-Semitism was common. Anti-Semitism led to the death of an entire population during the Holocaust. Luckily, the church has taken measures to rectify this anti-semitism with the publication of Nostra Aetate. In 1965, the Vatican II Council completely transformed the church’s policies and theology with this document. Nostra Aetate signifies “In Our Time.” Indeed, in our time, the ill sentiments towards Jews have changed tremendously. Nostra

Reflect on several ways in which the contemporary nation state of Israel may be viewed by various Christian communities.

Since the beginning of the Judaism, the Jewish people have been subject to hardships and discrimination. They have not been allowed to have a stabile place of worship and have also faced persecution and atrocities that most of us can not even imagine. Three events that have had a big impact on the Jewish faith were the building and destruction of the First Great Temple, the Second Great Temple and the events of the Holocaust. In this paper, I will discuss these three events and also explain and give examples as to why I feel that the Jewish people have always been discriminated against and not allowed the freedom of worship.

In the Luis de Carvajal reading, the idea of what it means to be a Jew is explored. To provide some background, Luis de Carvajal (the Younger) was a crypto-Jew, or a secret Jew, who lived in New Spain during the time of the Inquisition. He was burned at the stake in December 1596, after being convicted of observing Jewish religious practices. The reading as a whole fundamentally delineates Luis’ desire to embrace his religion during a time in which people of the Jewish faith either had to either convert to Christianity or suffer persecution. Ultimately, Luis de Carvajal’s memoirs entail the concept that being a Jew involves the following: being loyal and devoted to the religion; carrying on Jewish traditions; feeling or developing a community with fellow Jews; and believing in one God and having a personal connection with Him.

Have you ever noticed that when people talk of Jews, at least in a protestant church, that the Israelite legalism, rituals, dress and hair standards are the first things to mind? The topic of Judaism may come with stereotypical opinions and “Christian Judgement” that are without merit or understanding. Judaism, by a Christian worldview, had to change after Pentecost, since the animal sacrifice to atone for sin Christ completed on the Cross. However, Judaism does not accept this truth of Christ and His work on the cross, but Judaism remains in the world. So, what was this change in Judaism and when did it take place? There have been numerous fluctuations within Judaism, only the theme constructed in this essay has its foundations around the most important facet of Judaism- the Temple. With the Temple in the forefront of this essay, we will discuss the modifications that Judaism went through, at what time, different perspectives that the destruction of the Temple had, and how the Christian sect views these vagaries. The Temple destruction of A.D. 70 converted the Jewish faith in its singular fashion, while, at the same point, the Jewish faith never had a total change by always changing throughout time.

The church in Rome was composed of both Jews and Gentiles, and both parties had different views about the Roman government. In Jewish theology, they believed that the Messiah would deliver them form the clutches of a tyrannical government (Roman Government). The gentiles on the other hand, had a less zealous distrust for the Roman government, for they didn't feel oppressed by the government before Christ came, because they weren’t Jewish and didn't believe that the Messiah would deliver them from an oppressive Government. When Paul wrote to the Jewish Romans, I could imagine that the Jewish pre-supposition about Christ delivering them from the Roman government was a bit challenging for them, especially when Paul told them to obey the authority of the Roman government. Like the Founding fathers, the Jews thought a revolution would be wonderful thing but why wasn't it? And why must they respect governmental authority if Gods Authority is greater?

Two thousand years ago, the birth of Jesus, arguably the most influential man the world has ever seen, altered history forever. Christians know him as the Messiah, the son of God who came to save all of mankind, and for others, he may just be a great teacher and person of history. It is the latter that Reza Aslan attempts to shed an unbiased light on by comparing the Jesus that modern Christians believe in to the Jesus that Aslan believes would have fit into first-century Palestine: a violet revolutionary, dedicated to the eradication of the Roman government in Israel and the deposition of the rich priestly class. Aslan paints a portrayal of Jesus using knowledge of the time period, Scripture that has been taken out of context and misinterpreted, and most of all, the author’s imagination and powerful rhetoric to cover up his faulty argumentation. In his book Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, Reza Aslan recreates an interesting but purely speculative image of the historical Jesus through exploring the political and social history of first-century Palestine, the life and teachings of Jesus, and the development of early Christianity.

By identifying the special bond between Christians and Jews through the Hebrew Scriptures, the church is trying to bind the wounds of anti-Semitism that had existed in the church for centuries.

Levine’s book titled The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus proves to be a highly informative resource when trying to understand the intricate relationship between Christianity and Judaism. Levine’s primary objective seems to be a desire to address the idea that there is a vast, irreconcilable disparity between the beliefs and practices of Christians and Jews. Levine’s central argument focuses upon a common misperception of this dissimilarity: it is the result of Jesus being in direct opposition to Judaism. Furthermore, she contends that only a decided openness and interfaith dialogue between Christianity and Judaism can truly provide the most complete and compelling portrait of Jesus’s life and work. To me, the most edifying facet of Levine’s argument was her call to anchor Jesus within the historical and cultural context in which he was teaching in order to best understand his work and his message. Levine not only provides support for this idea throughout The Misunderstood Jew, but near the end of the novel also offers up ways in which both Christians and Jews can reconcile these two ostensibly conflicting perceptions of Jesus. Therefore, in this essay, I will analyze Levine’s arguments regarding the importance of historical/cultural context in Chapter One and Chapter Four while synthesizing it with her solutions presented in Chapter Seven.

     After learning about the Holocaust, I’ve asked myself many times how this could have happened. Why would anyone believe it’s acceptable to massacre an entire people? This is my reasoning for writing my paper on how Christian theology influenced anti-Semitism. Much of the Holocaust appears to have it’s beginning with Christian theology. I will begin my paper with the early writings of Christians and continue chronologically until after World War II.

God’s goodness and mercy far transcends the comprehension of the most brilliant human mind! He “who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth”(Psalm 113:6).Yet in His infinite love for us He stoops down to reveal Himself to us by a multitude of illustration, types, and shadows, so that we may learn to know him. This paper will describe what is meant by the Kingdom of God; examine the religious philosophy of the various sects of Judaism during the Second Temple period: Pharisee, Sadducees, Essenes, and Zealots, describe the religious philosophy and political philosophy of each sects, it will also describe how the Messianic expectation differ from the Messianic role that Jesus presented, and include an exegesis of

Throughout the history of Judaism, Jewish people have faced ongoing persecution and discrimination. Despite these conflicts, the faith remains alive, strong, and continuously growing. Like many religions faced with adversity, Judaism has had to assimilate its faith to survive in an ever-changing world. One significant moment of change in the Jewish history, the fall of the Second Temple, had the opportunity to destroy Judaism, but the Jewish people bonded together and reformulated their religion in order to save their faith. The falling of the Second Temple marks a distinct change in the Jewish faith through the modification of ritual practices to accommodate their new mobile lifestyle. This change would forever impact the Jewish

Christianity and Judaism are major world religions which, though they worship the same God, have marked differences which have caused two thousand years of strife and animosity between the two religions. In his book We Jews and Jesus, Samuel Sandmel likens the link between Judaism and Christianity to a type of parent-child relationship, saying, “Early Christianity was a Judaism; within a century after the death of Jesus it was a separate religion. It was critical of its parent, and hostile to it, and elicited from its parent reciprocal criticism and hostility.”1 Opposing views of Jesus Christ caused the initial rift between Judaism and Christianity and is the primary source of the tension between

Over thousands of years, the religion of Judaism has evolved. With years of suffering, persecution, and dispersion the Jews’ religion stays constant. When researching the religion, the history is extremely strong, and the doctrine of the religion dates back thousands of years. With such a vast history, one might want to examine the change into modern society.