Will the "messianic Jews" please explain why they refuse to admit they are really Christians?

Like all fundie their raison d'être is to scam.

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"Messianic Jews" insist they are Jewish simply because they want to convince Jews to convert (to Xianity).

This is why they try convince them that one can be both.

Many people, Christians and some Jews as well, erroneously believe that just as one can be Black and Christian, just as one can be Oriental and Christian, one can also be Jewish and Christian. It is not true. The Jews are not a race. There is no genetic code passed from either mother or father to the child that makes that child a Jew. Even if all, or some, of the genetic code in a child could be proved to be of Jewish Origin, that would not make the child a Jew. Jewish law determines who is a Jew, and Jewish law is quite clear. If a person's mother is a Jew, and that person has not converted to another faith, then that person will be considered fully Jewish, so long as that person wishes to identify solely as a Jew. Although one cannot convert to become a member of a race, for example one cannot convert to become an Oriental or an African-American, one who converts to Judaism does, indeed, become fully a Jew. Similarly, if one converts from Judaism to another faith, one is no longer a Jew.

they have a right to go by any name, but will a leopard shed its spots?

let them call themselves what they want. you'd be spending your energy better by educating real jews how not to fall in that trap.

edit

i don't think facts will actually convince the christians who want to believe that christianity is the "new judaism", they so want to live in a reality where jews accept jesus and the prophecies they believe in will come true. they will not accept that some of those prophecies were doctored to fit this world view and that some were mis-translated.

they have weird interpretations of jewish customs that fit their world view (like the 3 matzas in pessach representing the trinity etc).

the issue that needs to be addressed is the education of the jews. the "secular" jews in israel and many jews in the diaspora do not get a proper foundation in judaism and when they start looking for spirituality, messianism offers to fill in that gap.

FIREBALL - they *exist*. They are, right now, knocking on EVERY Jewish home in my area!

They have already traumatised my 14 yr old cousin, by posing as Orthodox Jews to gain her trust - then asking her how she would feel if all her family ended up in hell because she 'failed' to help them 'find christ'.

They are appalling. They are liars. I can only assume that many people don't take it seriously because like FIREBALL, they can't quite believe that anyone would be so vile as to use the name of a religion to CONVERT people OF that religion.

Want to read about how Messianics are targetting young Jewish children?

Read THE MISSIONARY POSITION

at http://www.ajewwithaview.com/

The only one I've ever known well admitted she was a Christian. I'm not sure the premise of your question is correct.

Some may not mention it while evangelizing, and that's bad.

All may consider themselves both Jews and Christians, which is not kosher.

But I've never heard one deny they were Christian.

Messianics are a teeny segment of belief in Jesus. In fact, it is about 200,000 in the entire US and about 8,000 in all of Israel.

Why not be concerned with the religion that claims to follow the same God of Abraham that is inciting a religious wars in various middle eastern countries to eradicate the Jews they despise?

This tiny group of Messianics isnt going to make Jews change, you know that. In fact their tactics rarely are appreciated and even illegal in some of Israel.

Its because they believe in Jesus but, still want to keep the Jewish rituals and practices of their ancestors.

BTW, If you were to ask this question without all the bigoted comments you might get an answer from a Messianic Jew.

Edit: LOL I love it when the only person that corrects him for bigotry gets the negative rating. God Bless you.

I think they are interesting, because Jesus himself was Jewish and came with a message for Jews, you know what I mean? All Jews believe in a Jewish messiah, it's just that Messianic Jews believe he already came, and he was Jesus.

Because they have also been victim of antisemitism. In fact, they are very courageous people, because Jesus was actually a semite not an aryan.

Christianity is a sect of Judaism. The first Christians were Jews, and they met in their local synagogue.

Jews who become Christians and who want to maintain a lot of the traditions and heritage of their Jewish upbringing often identify with the messianic Jewish movement and call themselves that. Others simply become Christians and leave their Jewish heritage behind.

Christians are very interested in the Jewish roots of their faith. Real Christians don't have any bad intent for the Jews. Sure, they're interested in evangelizing them, but evangelism is core to the Christian faith so there's nothing unique about a Christian's ministry to his Jewish friends -- it's no different than how he would approach someone of any other faith.

because they don't want to associate themselves with Christians.

o yeah, also its because they believe in different things from the mainstream christians.