I ask this question because I was listening to a talk show where the guest is a Jew who had become to believe that Jesus Christ was the Messiah. He still considered himself a Jew. But what really got me was his telling of a tale from his youth. He said that he once asked his Rabbi whether Jesus was a Jew. The Rabbi said yes. He also said that Jesus was considered to be a reformer and perhaps even a Prophet. But that the Rabbi never wanted to talk about Jesus again.
Now I understand why Jews do not want to talk about Jesus Christ. It is widely assumed that the basis of Western anti-Semitism is Christianity.
But this still begs the question: If Jews who believe in Jesus Christ as a Prophet continue to be Jews, do they become non Jews if they go one step farther and believe that Jesus was the Messiah? Or do they become non Jews if they believe he was the Son of God?
Again, I thought that the meaning of being a Jew primarily was the same as being Irish or German or French. Doesn't the concept of being a Jew mean that one is a descendant of Jews - tracing all the way back to ancient Israel? Accepting such a definition, it seems irrelevant to being Jewish whether a Jew believes in Jesus Christ.
Now I understand why Jews do not want to talk about Jesus Christ. It is widely assumed that the basis of Western anti-Semitism is Christianity.
But this still begs the question: If Jews who believe in Jesus Christ as a Prophet continue to be Jews, do they become non Jews if they go one step farther and believe that Jesus was the Messiah? Or do they become non Jews if they believe he was the Son of God?
Again, I thought that the meaning of being a Jew primarily was the same as being Irish or German or French. Doesn't the concept of being a Jew mean that one is a descendant of Jews - tracing all the way back to ancient Israel? Accepting such a definition, it seems irrelevant to being Jewish whether a Jew believes in Jesus Christ.
Comment