Messianic Apologetics

Addressing the Theological and Spiritual Issues of the Broad Messianic Movement

Messianic Apologetics

What makes the Sabbath unique, is that unlike the annual appointed times, Shabbat is something that takes place every week. Like many who grew up in evangelical Protestant homes, we had not thought too much about the Sabbath in our previous Christian experiences, and simply assumed that we were keeping the Sabbath—at least in spirit—by going to Church on Sunday. While Christian fellowship and worship on Sunday were edifying experiences—at least for us during the 1980s and early 1990s—once a person experiences his or her first Messianic Jewish Shabbat service, you begin to be stimulated in ways you never realized.

Messianic Apologetics editor J.K. McKee has developed the workbook The Messianic Walk to specifically aid in acclimating people to today’s Messianic movement. This resource is a primer, divided into six units, covering: (1) The Messianic Experience, (2) Shabbat, the Appointed Times, Jewish Holidays, (3) Kosher and Torah-Based “Means of Grace,” (4) The Contours of Jewish Evangelism, (5) Our Place in the Congregation, and (6) A Survey of Messianic Theology. The Messianic Walk has been written in an as user-friendly and easy-to-read style as possible, as it introduces students to the Messianic congregational experience as it has developed by the third decade of the Twenty-First Century. It is a resource intended to be used in the new members classes of today’s Messianic congregations, either on its own or in concert with other materials.

One of the biggest, divisive issues in contemporary theology, involves women in ministry. There are denominations which support females serving alongside of males as co-leaders of the assembly, ordained as pastors, and there are other denominations which strongly oppose females serving in such a capacity. When it comes to marital relationships, there are those who believe that a husband leads the family while the wife follows behind him, and there are others who support partnership marriages where husband and wife are co-leaders of the family. How should today’s Messianic movement best approach this?

Is the ekklēsia an actual separate entity known as “the Church”? Or, is ekklēsia no different than the assembly of Israel itself—which takes Bible readers back to the mixed multitude of physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the welcomed persons from the nations, who received His Ten Words and Instruction at the base of Mount Sinai (cf. Exodus 12:38)? Did Yeshua the Messiah come to found a separate group of elect called “the Church,” or did He come to rebuild and restore His Father’s assembly of righteous ones (cf. Matthew 16:18; Jeremiah 33:7, LXX), restoring the Kingdom to Israel (cf. Acts 1:6)?

This volume of Messianic Apologetics’ Confronting Issues series, Why Hell Must Be Eternal, necessarily takes up some of the uncomfortable discussion that has gone on in evangelical Christian theology regarding eternal punishment, and how it affects our contemporary Messianic faith community. Annihilationism is not a viable form of eternal punishment, as it constitutes the same basic belief of any atheist or agnostic, who thinks that after death he or she will enter into total nothingness. At the same time, there have undoubtedly been exaggerations and over-exaggerations of hyper-literal models of eternal punishment that exclusively focus on descriptions of it being fire and smoke, as opposed to outer darkness or banishment from God’s presence.

This installment of the Confronting Issues series by Messianic Apologetics, To Be Absent From the Body, has brought together some important information and critical FAQ entries from the Messianic Apologetics website. There are definite questions of human dignity and worth to be evaluated regarding the intermediate state. This volume addresses this subject quite well. If you have a relative, a friend, or another loved one who has passed away knowing the Lord—you can be assured that he or she is consciously in His presence right now—but is also quite eager to return to the Earth to see His Kingdom restored!

Email Update List
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Instagram
Threads (Instagram)
Apple Podcasts
Spotify