Messianic History

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Most Christians I think are aware of the Messianic history of the church in the first century. Some people are even aware of the various "movements" of the last century of the Jewish people to following the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua of Natzeret.

What I think most people are unaware of is approximately 1800 years of history inbetween. Even for myself this is something I need to study a lot more of. Much of the history is largely remembered as a history of persecution.

There are the various Talmudic writings on the "Minim". Its acceptable for a Jew to be an Athiest, a Hindu, or even a Muslim; but in Israel today the only unallowed faith for a Jew who wishes to immigrate is a Faith in Rabbi Yeshua of Nazareth, the Messiah.

Likewise there has rarely been an acceptance of Jewish believers among the Gentile community. Few people are aware for instance that the Spanish Inquisition started to get rid of Messianic "Heretics" who were believed to be polluting Christianity. Messianic Jews were mostly likely to be executed while Orthodox Jews and Muslims were typically expelled from the country.

Besides the persecutions there is a lot of other rich history. Again most of this is the history of the Western Church and much more was occurring among Jews communities of North Africa, the Middle-East and East Africa. If you have any more stories and histories from this long time period, please share!
 
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Most Christians I think are aware of the Messianic history of the church in the first century. Some people are even aware of the various "movements" of the last century of the Jewish people to following the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua of Natzeret.

What I think most people are unaware of is approximately 1800 years of history inbetween. Even for myself this is something I need to study a lot more of. Much of the history is largely remembered as a history of persecution.

There are the various Talmudic writings on the "Minim". Its acceptable for a Jew to be an Athiest, a Hindu, or even a Muslim; but in Israel today the only unallowed faith for a Jew who wishes to immigrate is a Faith in Rabbi Yeshua of Nazareth, the Messiah.

Likewise there has rarely been an acceptance of Jewish believers among the Gentile community. Few people are aware for instance that the Spanish Inquisition started to get rid of Messianic "Heretics" who were believed to be polluting Christianity. Messianic Jews were mostly likely to be executed while Orthodox Jews and Muslims were typically expelled from the country.

Besides the persecutions there is a lot of other rich history. Here is a link to a brief list of some famous Messianic Jews who influenced (Western) church history.

For hundreds of years the Bishops of the churches in Judae and Samaria were Jewish. There is one account of a debate between two Messianic Jews and 22 rabbis during the Disputation of Aragon which laster a year from 1413-1414 and resulted in the conversion of over 5,000 Jews to faith in Yeshua.

Again most of this is the history of the Western Church and much more was occurring among Jews communities of North Africa, the Middle-East and East Africa. If you have any more stories and histories from this long time period, please share!
Can we read about this ourselves somewhere? Sounds very interesting to my mind.
 
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For historical documents of the existance the Messianic type of believers we often have to look within "heresy" documents written at that time.

Inquisicion

CONCORDIAS
HECHAS, Y FIRMADAS
entre la jurisdicion Real, y
el Santo Oficio de la

Inquisicion.
DECLARATIONS, Acts and Edicts of the royal Jurisdiction, and the Holy Office of the Inquisition
Valencia, 1568 (collection of the Author).

EDICT OF FAITH

"We Doctor Andres de Palacio, Inquisitor against the heresy and apostolic perversity in the city and kingdom of Valencia, etc.

"To all faithful Christians, both men and women, chaplains, friars and priests of every condition, quality and degree; whose attention to this will result in salvation in our Lord Jesus Christ, the true salvation; who are aware that, by means of other edicts and sentences of the Reverend inquisitors, our predecessors, they were warned to appear before them, within a given period, and declare and manifest the things which they had seen, known, and heard tell of any person or persons, either alive or dead, who had said or done anything against the Holy Catholic Faith; cultivated and observed the law of Moses or the Mohammedan sect, or the rites and ceremonies of the same; or perpetrated diverse crimes of heresy; observing Friday evenings and Saturdays; changing into clean personal linen on Saturdays and wearing better clothes than on other days; preparing on Fridays the food for Saturdays, in stewing pans on a small fire; who do not work on Friday evenings and Saturdays as on other days; who kindle lights in clean lamps with new wicks, on Friday evenings; place clean linen on the beds and clean napkins on the table; celebrate the festival of unleavened bread, eat unleavened bread and celery and bitter herbs; observe the fast of pardon (Day of Atonement) when they do not eat all day until the evening after star-rise, when they pardon one another and break their fast; and in the same manner observe the fasts of Queen Esther, of tissabav, and rosessena; who say prayers according to the law of Moses, standing up before the wall, swaying back and forth, and taking a few steps backwards; who give money for oil for the Jewish temple or other secret place of worship; who slaughter poultry according to the Judaic law, and refrain from eating sheep or any other animal which is trefa; who do not wish to eat salt pork, hares, rabbits, snails, or fish that have not scales; who bathe the bodies of their dead and bury them in virgin soil according to the Jewish custom; who, in the house of mourning do not eat meat but fish and hard-boiled eggs, seated at low tables; who separate a morsel of dough when baking and throw it on the fire; who become, or know of others who become circumcised; who invoke demons, and give to them the honour that is due to God; who say that the law of Moses is good and can bring about their salvation; who perform many other rites and ceremonies of the same; who say that our Lord Jesus Christ was not the true Messiah promised in Scripture, nor the true God nor son of God; who deny that he died to save the human race; deny the resurrection and his ascension to heaven; and say that our Lady the Virgin Mary was not the mother of God or a virgin before the nativity and after; who say and affirm many other heretical errors; who state that what they had confessed before the inquisitors was not the truth; who remove their penitential robes and neither remain in the prison nor observe she penance imposed upon them; who say scandalous things against our holy Catholic Faith and against the officials of the Inquisition; or who influence any infidel who might have been drawn towards Catholicism to refrain from converting; who assert that the Holy Sacrament of the altar is not the true body and blood of Jesus Christ our Redeemer, and that God cannot be omnipresent; or any priest holding this damnable opinion, who recites and celebrates the mass, not saying the holy words of the consecration; saying and believing that the law of Mahomet and its rites and ceremonies are good and can bring about their salvation; who affirm that life is but birth and death, and that there is no paradise and no hell; and state that to practise usury is not a sin; if any man whose wife still lives, marries again, or any woman remarries in the lifetime of her first husband; if any know of those who keep Jewish customs, and name their children on the seventh night after their birth and with silver and gold upon a table, pleasurably observe the Jewish ceremony; and if any know that when somebody dies, they place a cup of water and a lighted candle and some napkins where the deceased died, and for some days, do not enter there; if any know of the effort of a Jew or convert, secretly to preach the law of Moses and convert others to this creed, teaching the ceremonies belonging to the same, giving information as to the dates of festivals and fasts, teaching Jewish prayers; if any know of anyone who attempts to become a Jew, or being Christian walks abroad in the costume of a Jew; if any know of anyone, converted or otherwise, who orders that his dress shall he made of canvas and not of linen, as the good Jews do; if any know of those who, when their children kiss their hands, place their hands on the children’s heads without making the Sign (of the Cross); or who, after dinner or supper, bless the wine and pass is to everyone at the table, which blessing is called the veraha; if any know that in any house, people congregate for the purpose of carrying on religious services, or read out of bibles of the vernacular or perform other Judaic ceremonies, and if any know that when someone is about to set out on a journey, certain words of the law of Moses are spoken to him, and a hand placed on his head without making the Sign (of the Cross). And if any know of anyone who has professed the Mosaic creed, or awaited the coming of the Messiah, saying that our Redeemer and Saviour Jesus Christ was not come and that now Elijah was to come and take them to the promised land; and if any know that any person had pretended to go into a trance and wandered in heaven and that an angel had conducted him over green fields and told him that was the promised land which was being saved for all converts whom Elijah was to redeem from the captivity in which they lived; and if any know that any person or persons be children or grandchildren of the condemned, and being disqualified, should make use of public office, or bear arms or wear silk and fine cloth, or ornament their costumes with gold, silver, pearls or other precious stones or coral, or make use of any other thing which they are forbidden and disqualified to have; and if any know that any persons have or possessed any confiscated goods, furniture, money, gold, silver, or other jewels belonging to those condemned for heresy, which should be brought before the receiver of goods confiscated for the crime of heresy. —All these things, having been seen, heard or known, you, the above-mentioned faithful Christians, have, with obstinate hearts, refused to declare and manifest, greatly to the burden and prejudice of your souls; thinking that you were absolved by the bulls and indulgences issued by our holy father, and by promises and donations which you had made, for which you have incurred the sentence of excommunication and other grave penalties under statutory law; and thus you may be proceeded against as those who have suffered excommunication and as abettors of heretics, in various ways; but, wishing so act with benevolence, and in order that your souls may not be lost, since our Lord does not wish the death of the sinner but his reformation and life; by these presents, we remove and suspend the censure promulgated by the said former inquisitors against you, so long as you observe and comply with the terms of this our edict, by which we require, exhort and order you, in virtue of the holy obedience, and under penalty of complete excommunication, within nine days from the time that the present edict shall have been read to you, or made known to you in whatsoever manner, to state all that you know, have seen, heard, or heard tell in any manner whatsoever, of the things and ceremonies above-mentioned, and to appear before us personally to declare and manifest what you have seen, heard, or heard tell secretly, without having spoken previously with any other person, or borne false witness against anyone. Otherwise, the period having passed, the canonical admonitions having been repeated in accordance with the law, steps will be taken so give out and promulgate sentence of excommunication against you, in and by these documents; and through such excommunication, we order that you be publicly denounced; and if, after a further period of nine days, you should persist in your rebellion and excommunication, you shall be excommunicated, anathematised, cursed, segregated, and separated as an associate of the devil, from union with and inclusion in the holy Mother-Church, and the sacraments of the same. And we order the vicars, rectors, chaplains, and sacristans and any other religious or ecclesiastical persons to regard and treat the above-mentioned as excommunicated and accursed for having incurred the wrath and indignation of Almighty God, and of the glorious Virgin Mary, His Mother, and of the beatified apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul, and all the saints of the celestial Court; and upon such rebels and disobedient ones who would hide the truth regarding the above-mentioned things, be all the plagues and maledictions which befell and descended upon King Pharaoh and his host for not having obeyed the divine commandments; and the same sentence of divine excommunication encompass them as it encompassed the people of Sodom and Gomorrah who all perished in flames; and of Athan and Abiron who were swallowed up into the earth for the great delinquencies and sins which they committed in disobedience and rebellion against our Lord God; and may they be accursed in eating and drinking, in waking and sleeping, in coming and going. Accursed be they in living and dying, and may they ever be hardened so their sins, and the devil be as their right hand always; may their vocation be sinful, and their days be few and evil; may their substance be enjoyed by others, and their children be orphans, and their wives widows. May their children ever be in need, and may none help them; may they be turned out of their homes and their goods taken by usurers; and may they find nobody to have compassion on them; may their children be ruined and outcast, and their names also; and their wickedness be ever present in the divine memory. May their enemies vanquish them and despoil them of all they possess in the world; and may they wander from door to door without relief. May their prayers be turned to maledictions; and accursed be the bread and wine, the meat and fish, the fruit and other food that they eat; likewise the houses they inhabit and the raiment they wear, the beasts upon which they ride and the beds upon which they sleep, and the tables and napkins upon which they eat. Accursed be they to Satan and to Lucifer and to all the devils in hell, and these be their lords, and accompany them by night and by day. Amen. And if any persons incurring the said excommunications and maledictions, should persist therein for the space of a year, they should be regarded as heretics themselves, and shall be prosecuted by the same process as against heretics or suspects of the crime of heresy. Given on the _____ March, in the year of our Lord God, one thousand five hundred and twelve."


Nullus omoveat sub pena excommunicationis.


(Item: Of no avail is the confession made to the confessor for procuring absolution from the sentence of excommunication to which the heretic might be subject, from the time the crime is committed.)

(Item: All who know anything of the things mentioned in this present edict, or of other heresies, and do not coma forward to denounce and declare the same, are hereby excommunicated and may not be absolved by their confessors.)

El doctor De Mandato sue
Palacio, inquisidor. Reverende paternitatis,
Petrus Sorell, notarius.
 
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visionary

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You sure you're not confusing a Marrano (Crypto-Jew) with a Messianic in this last instance?
Are you saying that Marrano's were christians in Jewish costume.??? Do Jews convert? Do they preach and have house to house bible studies??

I am not disagreeing that Marrano were persecuted, but that when it come to herding in the heretics for a burning... being catholic christian was the only acceptable type to not qualify as a heretic.
 
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Messianic Judaism and the Early Church
Messianic believers often cite the fact that Jesus and all his disciples were originally Jewish. They argue that Gentiles had a place within the the Jewish context of the faith, evidenced by the recorded biblical debate of having the new Gentile converts follow Jewish law and the decision by the Jerusalem Council to forego the requirement of proslyte conversion for Gentiles to be included in the faith.

Messianics further argue that as a result of persecution, the Early Church adopted a minimalist perspective to win converts so as to survive, and in so doing, had inadvertently minimized the importance of converts following Apostolic law, and the importance of the Jewishness of the faith, evidenced by the reducing of the Passover Seder to a simple service of flat bread and wine, removal of the understanding of mikvah (baptism) in conversions, and by the later adoption of pagan customs in the worship practices of the new adherents. They argue that followers of Christianity were erroneously anti-semetic in their approach to Judaism, well before Constatine came to power and legalized the approach of the Gentilized church, and cementing the Jewish-Christian split.

http://experts.about.com/e/m/me/messianic_judaism.htm
 
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"…We gather that this system was adopted by the Nazarenes, the leadership of the visiting teachers being given to Peter, while James the brother of Jesus was elected Nasi, or president of the Supreme Council, both on account of his kinship to the Messiah and his noted piety." (Schonfield, Hugh (1938). The History of Jewish Christianity From the First to the Twentieth Century. Book out of print, pp. 14-15.)
 
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Are you saying that Marrano's were christians in Jewish costume.??? Do Jews convert? Do they preach and have house to house bible studies??

I am not disagreeing that Marrano were persecuted, but that when it come to herding in the heretics for a burning... being catholic christian was the only acceptable type to not qualify as a heretic.
No no, Marranos were Jews who pretended to be Christian. If they were Christians in Jewish costume they would be Messianic, no?

I think the document from the Inquisition cited above is fairly typical of the persecution of a Jew who was a Marrano. There is no evidence of this person ever being a believer in Christ as their personal saviour, and as evidenced by the practices of this man, he more than likely remained a Jew until his death. My family come from such a heritage, so I have access to a family oral tradition that talks a lot about survival by hiding one's true religion from the Catholics. It was a way of life passed down through the generations that still has some effect today.

I know this might come across as critical, but it's not. I've been studying this for years, and it's a favorite topic of mine with obvious personal interests. I honestly don't think there was ever in history a Messianic movement like the one today, where Jews and Gentiles mix together in a distinctively Jewish flavoured congregation with a restorationist (repristination?) approach to doctrine. I'm not convinced from scripture or history that Gentile believers ever adopted Jewish customs in total, although perhaps some customs were adopted for a time before the 3rd Century. I also think that the list of Messianic Jews you gave, although outstanding and the best list I've seen on the web, really is a list of Hebrew Christians, as most of them adopted the way of life of the church at the time and fellowshipped in traditionally Christian denominations.

It is interesting to note that the first Hebrew congregation of the modern era was very well received by the Church at large, and this paved the way for the modern Messianic movement, which has been a generally good development in the church.

Some day I'd like to discuss Acts 15 with people who attend Messianic congregations to see what the teaching is currently around the congregations and how it compares with my perspective, but sadly, that is impossible in this forum.
 
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Some day I'd like to discuss Acts 15 with people who attend Messianic congregations to see what the teaching is currently around the congregations and how it compares with my perspective, but sadly, that is impossible in this forum.
maybe it can be placed in the general forum with an invitation for us to come there and participate? If worded with its intent, those who usually pitching with comments will refrain so that you may have an indepth discussion without too much interference.
 
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maybe it can be placed in the general forum with an invitation for us to come there and participate? If worded with its intent, those who usually pitching with comments will refrain so that you may have an indepth discussion without too much interference.
My brother....that would be nice, but in about 10 seconds that thread would be derailed into people calling us Judaizers. We couldn't really discuss it in peace.
 
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While "Messianic Judaism" is a relatively new term, the foundation of faith in the feasts and sabbath and dietary laws all were more or less still kept through the centuries. They were Sabbath-keepers, as were those who broke off communion with Rome after the Council of Chalcedon, namely the Abyssinian, the Jacobites, the Maronites, and the Armenians and the Kurds, who kept the food laws and denied confession and purgatory (Schaff-Herzog The New Encyclopædia of Religious Knowledge, art. Nestorians and Nestorianer above). Can we not identify with them?
 
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Vis? Where's the link? I am especially interested about the even that took place in Judea and Samaria.
I am especially interested about the even that took place in Judea and Samaria.
The Churches in Gaul, appear to have been facilitated by the heavy concentration of Jews around Marseilles and Genoa, over the period 100-300 (see Gilbert Atlas of Jewish History, Dorset Press, 1984, map 17). These communities were obviously in contact with the heavy concentrations of Jews in Ephesus and Smyrna. The movement up the Rhone from Marseille to Lyons the Metropolis and centre of communication for the whole country, is no doubt a result of the Jewish participation in commerce. The demands of the community are probably what prompted the dispatch of Pothinus and Irenæus to Lyons, from Polycarp in Smyrna. Thus there was a Sabbath-keeping Church established in Lyons prior to the persecution of Marcus Aurelius in 177. Lyons was the centre of the Churches in Gaul when Irenæus was bishop. The Churches of Gaul wrote to Rome over the Quartodeciman controversy (see Eusebius Hist. Eccl., V, xxiii) in support of the Asian bishops concerning the introduction of Easter.
 
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The Athingians (or Athingani) of the ninth centure, were held by Cardinal Hergenrother, to have stood in intimate relation with Emperor Michael II (821-829) and he states that they held the Sabbath (Kirchengeschicte, 1, 527). The Athingani were a sect in Phrygia, who were referred to as Melchizedekites by Timotheus of Constantinople in his Reception of Heretics (see ERE, art. Sects, Vol. XI, p. 319b). Whitley says here that they:

observed the Sabbath day; as they touched no one, they were popularly called Athingani. This reads as if they observed the Jewish rules of cleanliness, but the information is too scanty to trace their origin and tenets.
 
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Dugger and Dodd quote Mosheim as saying:

In Lombardy, which was the principle residence of the Italian heretics, there sprung up a singular sect, known, for what reason I cannot tell, by the denomination Passaginians. ... Like the other sects already mentioned, they had the utmost aversion to the discipline and dominion of the Church of Rome; but they were at the same time distinguished by two religious tenets which were peculiar to themselves.

The first was a notion that the observance of the Law of Moses, in everything except the offering of sacrifices, was obligatory upon Christians; in consequence of which they ... Abstained from those meats, the use of which was prohibited under the Mosaic economy, and celebrated the Jewish Sabbath. The second tenet that distinguished this sect was advanced in opposition to the doctrine of three persons in the divine nature (Eccl. Hist., Cent 12, Part 2, Ch. 5, Sec. 14, p. 127: as quoted by Dugger and Dodd, emphasis retained).


Dugger and Dodd go on to say:

That the Cathari did retain and observe the ancient Sabbath, is certified by Romish adversaries. Dr. Allix quotes a Roman Catholic author of the twelfth century, concerning three sorts of heretics - the Cathari, the Passiginians, and the Arnoldistae. Allix says of this Romish writer that -

'He lays it down also as one of their opinions, 'that the law of Moses is to be kept according to the letter, and that the keeping of the Sabbath ... and other legal observances, ought to take place. They hold also that Christ, the Son of God, is not equal with the Father, and that the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, these three ... are not one God and one substance; and as a surplus, to these errors, they judge and condemn all the doctors of the Church and universally the whole Roman Church ... (Eccl. Hist. of the Ancient Churches of Piedmont, pp. 168-169, cf. Dugger and Dodd, pp. 227-228).
 
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