My Thoughts on Messianic Judaism

Messianic “Judaism” is a branch of syncretistic Evangelicalism that combines elements of Rabbinic Judaism, mostly ritual, with Evangelical theology. That is, a Messianic will pray with a siddur and perhaps wear a tallit but believe in the Trinity, original sin, substitutionary atonement, and the inerrancy of Scripture. This makes the endeavor, ultimately, appropriation of Jewish

Jesus Spoke Greek and so did the Pharisees

If you enjoy this post, consider like and sharing it on social media! Follow me on Facebook. Follow me on Twitter. Follow me on Youtube. One of the implications of a post-supersessionist reading of the New Testament within Judaism is to regard the corpus of literature now associated with Christianity as a corpus of Second Temple Jewish writings,

Paul the Ambassador: An Introduction

If you enjoy this post, consider like and sharing it on social media! Follow me on Facebook Follow me on Twitter Follow me on Youtube My own thinking on Paul has been influenced by the work of three Jewish authors. I was influenced early on by Hyam Macoby’s Mythmaker. After considerable research into Paul studies, I now realize

The Talmud and the Parting of Ways Between Judaism and Christianity

If you support my work, consider supporting me on Patreon. Follow me on Twitter and Facebook! The story of the oven of Akhnai is a classic story in Rabbinic Judaism because it demonstrates the foundations of the Rabbinic system in action. It is often read as a story that emphasizes the importance of rational thinking and rejecting superstitious, simplistic

Judeo-Christians in the Talmud: Ya’akov the Heretic

If you support my work, consider supporting me on Patreon, you’ll get exclusive content, including early access to my upcoming book, “Jesus the Nazarene: The Talmud and the Founder of Christianity” as well as future books! Follow me on Twitter and Facebook! I have an upcoming book exploring the issue of what the Talmud has to say about

Jesus and Hanina Ben Dosa

If you support my work, consider supporting me on Patreon, you’ll get exclusive content, including early access to my upcoming book, “Jesus the Nazarene: The Jewish Heretic Behind Christianity” as well as future books! Follow me on Twitter and Facebook! This post will offer a comparison between Jesus’ life in the sources with that of Hanina ben Dosa, a Galilean

Justin Martyr, the “Memoirs of the Apostles” and the New Oxyrhynchus Fragment

If you enjoy this post, consider like and sharing it on social media! Check out my book, Jesus the Nazarene: The Talmud and the Founder of Christianity, on Amazon, purchase it here. Follow me on Facebook. Follow me on Twitter. Follow me on Youtube. I’ve been thinking quite a bit about the Synoptic problem, especially in light of the discovery

Sufi Judaism: Compassion and Generosity

Chapters 4-5 of The Guide to Serving God begin to discuss specific character traits associated with the way of Torah. The first is compassion. This is crucial because God himself is compassionate (Exodus 34:6; Deuteronomy 4:31; Jonah 4:2, etc.). Being compassionate is one of the benefits of observing the mitzvot (Moreh Nevuchim 3:39). Avraham notes

Sufi Judaism: Character Attributes

The more intimate path described by Maimonides in the first chapter of the work leads to the pursuit of character trait refinement. These attributes flow from each other so that working on one trait will lead to another. For example, one who works on becoming more compassionate will become more generous. Refining one’s traits leads

Brief Thoughts on P.Oxy 5575, the Sayings of Jesus

Every so often a discovery is made that shifts our collective understanding of a given topic. Recently, such a discovery was published in the most recent volume of the Oxyrhynchus collection of papyri. The small fragment, P.Oxy 5575, contains within it the earliest quotations from both the Sermon on the Mount and the Gospel of