The Woman, Her Male Child, the Dragon, and the Rest of Her Offspring: A Non-Supersessionist Reading of Revelation 12
It bears stating at the very beginning of this study that it reflects a non-supersessionist understanding of Revelation 12. Sadly, though the most natural way to take the imagery found in Rev 12 is in a non-supersessionist way, that is far too often not the case. We hope that the following treatment helps to level…
Read MoreLaw-Observance Among Jewish Christians: Benefiting from Augustine’s View
Abstract: While some church fathers are guilty of antisemitism, many authors have recognized that Augustine’s stance towards Jews and Torah is nuanced. After examining Augustine’s view on the law and its development, this article shows that although Augustine disapproved of Jewish practice, his view was uniquely positive among his contemporaries because he understood a Jewish-gentile…
Read MoreSupersessionist Teachings in Children’s Biblical Literature
The teachings of supersessionism, the idea that the Church has replaced Israel, have ingrained themselves so deeply into mainstream Christianity that they are almost inescapable. Children’s biblical education literature is no exception. Because of deep-rooted supersessionist traditions and interpretations, a type of supersessionism that I call “subconscious supersessionism” can become prevalent, especially during childhood. Very…
Read MoreFinding Messiah: A Journey into the Jewishness of the Gospel, by Jennifer M. Rosner
Reviewed by Jason F. Moraff Jen Rosner has gifted us a gem. In Finding Messiah: A Journey into the Jewishness of the Gospel,1 she invites Christians to (re)consider the history that led to the divergence between Judaism and Christianity into discrete traditions and its impacts on understanding the gospel. She introduces her predominantly Christian audience…
Read MoreFrom the editor – Issue 40
Community, by its very nature, lives in the past, present, and future. Community rests upon an extended narrative that retells its reason for being and the roots of its character. It lives in the present shared life of its members and neighbors. And it prepares to meet the future with integrity and vigor. In…
Read MoreCrisis, Reaction, and Hope: Jewish Adaptations to Past Adversity
Introduction As we contemplate a post-Covid-19 world, we must never forget that the Jewish people are survivors, with a history of adapting to change in reaction to the most extreme life-threatening circumstances. No matter how often the Jewish people are perched on the brink of destruction, their spirit and calling have ensured their continued existence.1…
Read MoreLeviathan and Exegetical Imagination
The Bible is more than simply a theological resource; it can also serve, like J.K. Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them, as an indispensable introduction to the magical beasts of the biblical world.1 Leviathan, an enormous mythical sea-creature with seven heads, is one of the most significant of these biblical beasts, bearing eschatological…
Read MoreMessianic Jewish Synagogues: Coping with Covid
Introduction In the first of our three-part Kesher series on Tomorrow Together, Rabbi Elliot Klayman explored how the Jewish community historically has dealt with world-shaking traumatic situations that directly affected the Jewish world. In this second part of our three-part series we will survey how the modern Messianic Jewish congregational movement has adapted to…
Read MoreThriving, Not Just Surviving: Reconceiving Community for a Better Tomorrow
Rabbis Klayman and Nichol provide excellent retrospectives on Jewish communal stability amidst the crises of yesterday and today. They speak of past and present. In the current essay, however, my focus will be on community structures suited to a better tomorrow. Just as the quality of a building is determined by how well it…
Read MoreToward a Messianic Jewish Doctrine of the Atonement
Atonement is the Christian doctrine of reconciliation with God through the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It lies at the very heart of Christian faith. And yet, surprisingly, doctrinal orthodoxy has never prescribed a particular or exclusive way of answering the question of how, exactly, that state of “at-one-ment” with God—of being…
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