Messianic Judaism Research

Hello, All....

I need your help. I am in the process of conducting written surveys for a research paper for a college course. My thesis is: the Growing Conflict within Messianic Judaism: The Definition of Messianic Judaism. Part of the research process involves the survey and interview of at least 10 people. I personally have been reading about and studying Judaism (from a Messianic perspective) for about four years now. My real intention with this study is to ultimately inform colleagues about this topic as if they have never heard of Messianic Judaism.

I admit this is my first time producing this type of paper and the approach is scholarly. I plan to show the similarities and differences of the platform statements of the most popular (or reputed) Messianic Jewish organizations such as the UMJC, MJAA and the J4J. I also plan to show the tension that (historically) has or currently does exist within them. And I also intend to focus on those who observe or practice Messianic Judaism - both Jews and Gentiles and both discover and reveal how they define Messianic Judiasm, and what it means to them. I have a written survey prepared and have managed to get some responses from a few Messianic Jewish forums, however I would like to have more than the required number of responses in order to complete this section of my paper.

I am sincere and my approach towards this study is as an investigation of personal interest to me. My questions are mainly true/false, or else yes/no/not sure. I was wondering if anyone here would be interested or willing to participate in this, it would really help me out. Also: the more, the merrier...I will gladly accept/include anyone's opinion on Messianic Judaism at this point. All responses are welcome and encouraged. Thanks for your time.

Sincerely,

Tsefiya

Zayit said:

Shalom and welcome to our forum. May I ask what college or Uni you are going to and what type of class this is for. This is just FMI of course.

You said that you have been studying MJ for four years but from what you wrote above it seems ( to me) that you consider J4J as 'Messianic' when in fact it is a Jewish evengelization organization who doesn't represent any congregations. Whereas MJAA and IMAC & UMJC do.

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Thank you very much for your reply. I've been reading about and studying Judaism (from a Messiainic perspective) for about 4 years independently. My knowledge is still pretty elementary in that I have jumped around quite a bit, the bible, both OT & NT are my foundation, but I've also read/studied the Apocryphal texts, the Talmud, Jewish Kabbalah, and Zohar. I did at one time consider conversion, but then I wondered about my belief in Jesus (Yeshua) and realized I couldn't. It was only after two years into my studies before I even realized Messianic Judaism is in fact a branch of Judaism, whether its recognized as such or not by the mainstream.

I am actually attending a Christian-based University branch, but not necessarily for that reason. I am attempting to complete a degree in Human Services based on my employment needs at the time, and also primarily because it allows me to study God. Interestingly, one of the first questions I asked my instructor was if the institution offered any courses focusing on Judaism. The closest they have to this is OT History and a course on World Religions. Also, I should mention that I feel my resources are somewhat limited because I live in a small town (Fairbanks) in Alaska. (I'm attending Wayland-Baptist Univ. and I was actually baptised Methodist, but not exactly raised in the church).

I do agree that J4J is evangelistic and not representative of Messianic Judaism. What I have discovered in the course of this study for this paper, is that surprisingly, both Christians and Jews share confusion with regard to the tenets of J4J, and can't quite define their principles (because they don't actually affiliate with any denomination or movement). I found that interesting, and I apologize for having listed them with the other orgs, UMJC, MJAA, etc.

Because I am new here at Christian Forums and because their rules state this, I can't offer my email so that I could send you the survey which is in Word format and have you reply that way. I am not sure if I can send an attachment through this forum (which I doubt) but I would consider asking the questions themselves here. They are basically true/false, and yes/no/not sure type of questions. The responses I gather will be used for the survey summary portion of my paper, as well as for my own personal study (and those that I have received so far have been thought-provoking and interesting).

If you are still interested and willing to participate in this, just let me know. Also, if you have any suggestions or know of a better way to approach this, feel free to comment. Thanks for your reply and interest. God Bless.

Tsefiya

Buccaneer said:

K what exactly do you need?

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Thanks for replying. I've been surveying (or attempting) to survey those who observe or practice Messianic Judaism for a research paper for a college course. This study requires that I survey and/or interview (at least) ten people related to the topic. However, I have received a number of wonderful responses from Christians and Jews both, as well as Messianic Jews and Gentiles. And I believe this will make for a more thought-provoking study. I have a survey that is in Word Format, which I would like to send via email, but because I'm new here and due to the rules of Christian Forums I can't list my email. I would be willing to post the questions here. They are basically true/false, or else yes/no/not sure types of questions. Thanks again for replying.

God Bless
Tsefiya

visionary said:

MJ is wonderful in that it is not set in concrete, and is still impressed within the movement with the leadings of Holy Spirit. There is still a lot of study to see if it is so. There is a lot of work to find the apostalic faith, which Mj is dedicated to following, in true Chrsit like style and undestanding. While your survey of the gathers in this forum will not even touch on the rainbow color that can be found within the MJ faith, I would say that as long as you understand that nothing is in concrete, and just because you did a survey you will not have but a glimmer of what it is really aout.

What type of questions do you have?
Why are you doing a yes/no formate when we ourselves are still defining what we believe?

We are not at the level where we have pat answers. Hopefully, we will continue to be a movement that is following the Holy Spirit through to the return, still learning with each sprinkle of the latter rain until the harvest is in.

Not only that, but within this forum, we have those who have been in for years to those who were just lead here. Since we come from many faith backgrounds, we still retain differences that show where we came from and how far we have been lead.

One of the most unique and qonderful things is that when you come here, you are told "Welcome home, pull up a chair and get yourself a nice warm drink and stay and chat awhile, things get lively, but that's family."

So to you I say :"Welcome Home prodical son."

Visionary

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Thank you very much for replying. I do agree that MJ is wonderful and that yes, it most definitely is not set in concrete. And even though I am gathering information based on the assignment requirement (which is as a scholarly study written for colleagues who have not studied/read about Messianic Judaism at all), I am also gathering information and asking questions based on
my own interests. I do not intend to present my research as a final definitive statement on MJ, I only want to show it's history and the tenets or principles of the most prominent organizations such as UMJC and MJAA. The questions on the survey are not intended to accurately define Messianic Judaism, but once I compile my research and summarize it, I hope to present what MJ means not only to the orgs, but also to individuals. Also, the survey examples that I was given (also a part of the assigned structure) presented yes/no or else true/false questions. I believe that the end of my research will show that there actually is no consensus on MJ at all.

Here are a few examples of my questions:
1. Messianic Judaism is Christianity with a "Jewish" flavor. True. False.
2. Messianic Judaism is a movement of people whose ethnic or racial heritage is Jewish (they were born or raised in a Jewish household). True. False.
3. Modern Messianic Judaism originally began as the result of the Christiain Church's organizaed Evangelical missions and Jewish conversion to Christian belief. True. False.
4. Modern Messianic Judaism originally began in the first century A.D. during the time of Jesus (Yeshua). True. False.

The survey is in Word format and I had thought of sending it via email, because I'm not sure if I can send attachments through this forum. However, I suppose I could post the questions here it that's permissible. Feel free to offer suggestions. If you are still interested in participating please let me know. Thanks again for your reply and God bless.

Tsefiya