Jews for Jesus and other Jewish messianic movements claim people can believe in core Christian tenets and still be Jewish. Their followers use this assertion to lure Jews to Christianity. However, the Christian theological concepts promoted by such movements, like belief in Jesus as God, the son of God, and the Messiah, Man as created in Sin, the Christian conception of Hell, and the New Testament as divinely inspired, categorically run counter to Jewish beliefs.
Big Ideas
- Many of the basic tenets of belief of Judaism and Christianity are not compatible with each other.
- Messianic movements promise relief from difficult conditions.
- Evangelical attempts to convert Jews to Christianity undermine the progress of Judeo-Christian relations.
Essential Questions
- Can one be Jewish and believe in Jesus?
- What conditions tend to underlie messianic movements?
- Can religious groups accept each other’s differences without undermining their own belief systems?
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