So I'm Jewish... but haven't I been all along?
Most of my friends have identified me as a Jew for around a decade now. While I always accepted that I have a Jewish heritage and ancestry, I tended to play it down since I didn't fully understand it. I've studied Jewish ethics for over 10 years as well as re-evaluated the meaning of the New Testament from a Hebraic, not Christian, mindset. I learned a lot, but I still brushed off, with a laugh and a blush, my friends calling me Jewish.
A few years ago, I gave up the label of "Christian" because of the churchianity ascribed to it that I no longer fit at all. For some reason, I still held onto the comfort of identifying with Christians, though usually those that were free-thinkers for the most part, and in high-critique of much of what goes on within the Church-system. I understood their disagreements witb the church system, and their drive to want to represent the heart of God as presented by Jesus. But I still did not "fit" with their theology. So I continued to search and learn.
Two years ago, I found through my studies that Messiah did not need to be Deity, nor did a Hebraic reading of the New Testament find evidence for such. An agent or emmissary of the God of Israel, but not God. The more I learned of the history of Christianity's traditional theology, and the known history of certain changes to the NT text, the more I felt a rift between myself and Christianity. But I continued to hold on to identifying with Christianity, through some sort of sideline I suppose.
This last week, with the encouragement of quite a few of my friends, I finally accepted that I'm Jewish. Looking into my geneaology, I've been surprised to find that is more true in lineage than I thought before. One of the main factors that helped me come to terms with this is that I was finally able to see that believing Yeshua not to be Deity is a very non-Christian thing to do. Despite that I had tried to reconcile the two for several years, even after learning where Trinitarian theology came from, as well as the development of Christos (Man-God Messiah) theology. The beauty of it is that I also was able to approach Yeshua without Christian bias, and truly find a Messiah from a very Jewish study of him.
I'm not just a Noachide, I'm a Jew. My understanding of Yeshua has been found not Christian in the least, but fits well within the understanding of Judaism - something I'm can now understand is very difficult for a Jew raised in anti-Christian studies to see, having gratefully been able to approach the NT without bias. Now I'm seeking to learn to articulate what led me to who I am now.
To my surprise, many of those who understood my Jewish stance, some of which even called me Jewish, have had a hard time now that I have accepted that I am. What strange creatures we can be. I hope that time will be quick with showing them that I am still the same person I was last week. I did not adopt Judaism, I merely admitted to being something that I was already living as. Perhaps the Kippah(Yarmulke) is a bit strong for them. But haven't I been wearing Tzit Tzit, using a prayer shawl, and celebrating Jewish Holy Days for quite some time now?
A few years ago, I gave up the label of "Christian" because of the churchianity ascribed to it that I no longer fit at all. For some reason, I still held onto the comfort of identifying with Christians, though usually those that were free-thinkers for the most part, and in high-critique of much of what goes on within the Church-system. I understood their disagreements witb the church system, and their drive to want to represent the heart of God as presented by Jesus. But I still did not "fit" with their theology. So I continued to search and learn.
Two years ago, I found through my studies that Messiah did not need to be Deity, nor did a Hebraic reading of the New Testament find evidence for such. An agent or emmissary of the God of Israel, but not God. The more I learned of the history of Christianity's traditional theology, and the known history of certain changes to the NT text, the more I felt a rift between myself and Christianity. But I continued to hold on to identifying with Christianity, through some sort of sideline I suppose.
This last week, with the encouragement of quite a few of my friends, I finally accepted that I'm Jewish. Looking into my geneaology, I've been surprised to find that is more true in lineage than I thought before. One of the main factors that helped me come to terms with this is that I was finally able to see that believing Yeshua not to be Deity is a very non-Christian thing to do. Despite that I had tried to reconcile the two for several years, even after learning where Trinitarian theology came from, as well as the development of Christos (Man-God Messiah) theology. The beauty of it is that I also was able to approach Yeshua without Christian bias, and truly find a Messiah from a very Jewish study of him.
I'm not just a Noachide, I'm a Jew. My understanding of Yeshua has been found not Christian in the least, but fits well within the understanding of Judaism - something I'm can now understand is very difficult for a Jew raised in anti-Christian studies to see, having gratefully been able to approach the NT without bias. Now I'm seeking to learn to articulate what led me to who I am now.
To my surprise, many of those who understood my Jewish stance, some of which even called me Jewish, have had a hard time now that I have accepted that I am. What strange creatures we can be. I hope that time will be quick with showing them that I am still the same person I was last week. I did not adopt Judaism, I merely admitted to being something that I was already living as. Perhaps the Kippah(Yarmulke) is a bit strong for them. But haven't I been wearing Tzit Tzit, using a prayer shawl, and celebrating Jewish Holy Days for quite some time now?