What's the difference between a Christian and Messianic Jew?

Answer 1

"Messianic Jews" are ***NOT*** Jewish.

This is taken from the reference section of this article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews_for_Jesus

1. “"We believe that Jewishness is a birthright. It is inherited from our parents. Our people are not of one culture; we have diverse cultural expressions (Ashkenazi/Sephardi, Georgian/Russian, Ethiopian, Persian, etc.). Our people are not of one religion. While Judaism might be the traditional religion for many Jewish people, Jews are still considered Jewish even though they might be atheists or even if they embrace other beliefs. Those who say that Jews who believe in Jesus are errant Jews or misguided Jews are entitled to their opinions. But they are not entitled to negate our Jewishness. We are Jews by birth and that cannot change."
2. "There is virtual unanimity across all denominations [of Judaism] that Jews for Jesus are not Jewish." (Kaplan, Dana Evan. The Cambridge Companion to American Judaism, Cambridge University Press, Aug 15, 2005, pp. 139-140).
3. "For most American Jews, it is acceptable to blend some degree of foreign spiritual elements with Judaism. The one exception is Christianity, which is perceived to be incompatible with any form of Jewishness. Jews for Jesus and other Messianic Jewish groups are thus seen as antithetical to Judaism and are completely rejected by the majority of Jews". (Kaplan, Dana Evan. The Cambridge Companion to American Judaism, Cambridge University Press, Aug 15, 2005, p. 9).
4. Jewish groups:
o "To make the record clear, Jews for Jesus is a Christian missionary organization – period." Jews for Jesus: Jewish or Christian? You Decide, Jews for Judaism website, retrieved September 11, 2006.
o "Messianic Jewish organizations, such as Jews for Jesus, often refer to their faith as fulfilled Judaism, in that they believe Jesus fulfilled the Messianic prophecies. Although Messianic Judaism claims to be Jewish, and many adherents observe Jewish holidays, most Jews regard Messianic Judaism as deceptive at best, fraudulent at worst. They charge that Messianic Judaism is actually Christianity presenting itself as Judaism." (Balmer, Randall. Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism, Baylor University Press, Nov 2004, p. 448).

Now let’s review Jewish law. Most Jewish scholars agree that you cannot convert away from Judaism (there are a minority who say you can convert away). However, this by no means implies that a Jew who joins another religion has the same standing as a Jew who has remained Jewish. A Jew who practices another religion, whether it be Christianity (in any of its forms, including Messianic "Judaism"), Islam or anything else, is known as an "apostate." An apostate is someone who has removed themselves from the Jewish people by joining another faith. The apostate cannot be buried in a Jewish cemetery. Nor can the apostate be counted for a minyan, the minimum of ten adult Jews (or adult Jewish men, depending on one's denomination) needed for saying certain prayers. For nearly all practical purposes, they have the same status in the Jewish community as non-Jews. The only differences is that they do not have to undergo a full conversion to rejoin the Jewish community, though there is a process known as "Teshuvah" that they must go through to come back to the Jewish community with full Jewish status.

So, once we delve into Jewish law we see that a Jew who joins another religion, though still Jewish, has ostensibly the status of a non-Jew and is no longer able to participate as a full member of the Jewish community. The apostate has the weakest of all grasps to their Jewish identity, they are Jewish by birth but otherwise have no position in the Jewish community.
This then brings us to a discussion on the difference between "doing Jewish" and "being Jewish." By "doing Jewish", I am referring to someone who is actually practicing Jewish beliefs and laws. By "being Jewish", I mean someone who has been born Jewish. Now, there are many people who are born Jewish but are not practicing Judaism. For instance, if a Jewish person murders a family, the Jewish person may be "born Jewish" but certainly was not "doing Jewish" as murder is a violation of the Ten Commandments.

Similarly, we can see examples of this in the Jewish Bible. The prime example of this would be the Jews who worshipped the Golden Calf at Mount Sinai. These individuals were unquestionably Jewish by their birth, thus we can argue that they were "being Jewish." However, were they "doing Jewish?" The Bible is quite clear that these individuals, though born Jewish, were not practicing Judaism. The worship of the Golden Calf, though it was a monotheistic form of worship, was clearly a violation of the Biblical law regarding the making of idols. Thus, they were not "doing Jewish." Similarly, in the Prophets we see countless reprimands of people who were undeniably Jewish by birth, but had entered into apostasy by worshipping gods such as Baal and Ashtoret. They were not "doing Jewish" but "doing pagan" and had violated the very underpinning of Judaism. That they were "being Jewish" by their birth was clearly not sufficient. One must also "do Jewish" in their actions.
Along the same lines, many of Jesus' original followers were unquestionably born Jewish. However, by adopting non-Jewish beliefs, such as thinking that Jesus was a god (a violation of several places in the Jewish Bible, Numbers 23:19 and Hoshea 11:9 provide a few examples of this), were no longer "doing Jewish." The same is true for individuals in the Messianic movement today. The Messianic movement was created by Christianity, and its beliefs and values reflect Christianity. By practicing Messianic "Judaism", the individual who was "born Jewish" is no longer "doing Jewish." They have removed themselves from the Jewish community by their practice and beliefs. Unfortunately, too few of these individuals have an understanding of the difference between "being Jewish" and "doing Jewish", mistakenly believing that they can both believe in Jesus and still have the same status in Jewish community as before. They not only have lost status, but also have lost the practice of Judaism. As has been pointed out in the Talmud, the emphasis for us is on the action, the "doing Jewish."

Answer 2

Messianic Jews are Christians. They are not a recognized denomination of Judaism.

It was actually started by the Southern Baptist Church in 1990 as a way to make it easier to reach out and convert Jewish men and women. But the Messianic Jew movement is not Jewish, never was Jewish, and never will be. Also Messianic Jews are not recognized as Jewish under the State of Israel's Law of Return.

Answer 3

Messianic Judaism is a sect started with the aim of converting Jews to Christianity by tricking them into thinking they can still be jews anfd believe in Jesus as the Messiah. Not possible, both beliefs are completely contradictory.

Christians are just that- th epeople wgho believe in Jesus as the Messiah. They don't pretend to be Jewish.

Answer 4

Messianic Judaism is a religious movement of Jews and non-Jews whose adherents believe that Jesus of Nazareth, whom they call by the Hebrew name Yeshua, is both the resurrected Jewish Messiah and their divine savior.[1][2]

While Messianic Jews practice their faith in a way that they consider to be authentically Torah-observant and culturally Jewish, their Jewish identity is attacked by Jews,Jewish denominations,[9][10][11][12] and many Christians.[13][14][15][16] do not consider Messianic Judaism to be a form of Judaism. Messianic Jews are also not considered Jewish under the State of Israel's Law of Return. [17]

to answer your question of messiance jew vs christianity- it's what the poster above said. Although not all believe that... someone asked a question a few days about all messianic jews and if they study/believe from that.

Also most christians don't celebrate Passover (which they should) and other "jewish" holidays... if you're a messianic jew- most likely you still celebrate those holidays.

Answer 5

Some, not all, messianic Jews, are of The Church(saved). That means their place in Heaven is assured. But, like in any other "denomination" of man's invention, there are those who are not. The messianic Jew is one who is of The Nation of Israel(a Jew) but who accepts that Jesus The Christ is the Messia and The Way to God. They still,for the most part, follow the old Jewish ways in their worrship.

Those who come to God in The Way He prescribes( Jew or Gentile) receive His free gift of Salvation. Those(Jew or Gentile) become part of The Body of The Chruch of which Jesus The Christ is The Head. Those(both Jew and Gentile) are the ones of The True Christian Faith. only those of The Church will enter Heaven.

Answer 6

Messianic Jew: A Simple Definition
A Messianic Jew is a Jewish person who believes that Yeshua (Jesus) is their Messiah. Some people think that a Jewish person who believes in Jesus is no longer a Jew. But what could possibly be more Jewish than believing in the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua?

I think they are one in the same except for most christians aren't jewish.

Answer 7

The Messianic Jews still follow the OT, whereas Christians believe that since Jesus died, they don't have to follow it. The Messianic Jews still use the OT as their book.

Answer 8

Nothing- Messianic Judaism is just a Christian movement adopting the trappings of Judaism in order to trick uneducated Jews into converting to Christianity. In reality the majority of Messianic Jews have zero connection to Judaism. In the end- it is just another Christian sect.

Answer 9

Messianic Jews were Jewish before they accepted Yeshua as their Messiah. Others had different backgrounds. Both are Christians, by definition.
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Answer 10

Christians have been imposing their beliefs on Jews for 2000 years. Some have finally given up and have decided to "join" us. However, they CANNOT join us as long as they believe in a man-made god, the ultimate heresy!
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Answer 11

The rituals are different. But fundamentally, I don't think there's a real difference.

Although they do HAVE a Torah on display, they actually pray out of a special prayer book which is NOT the OT.