messianic judaism
More Christians are adopting aspects of Jewish affinity. What is driving the trend?
My research focuses on one aspect of Jewish affinity as seen in Messianic Judaism, a loose movement of congregations and associations that hold evangelical beliefs and adopt Jewish-like practices. In North America, scholars have viewed it chiefly as a "new religious movement" or as a controversial branch of Judaism. As a result, few studies explore its largely evangelical Christian base. My work is the first to focus on these "gentile believers" in North America.
Recently, I curated a multi-author installation that takes a globally comparative approach to the topic. The Hebraic Style in Christian Nationalism is up now on The Christian Nation Project website. My contribution details my conversation with Moshe, a Messianic leader in Oregon. We cover the Jewish covenant and the US Constitution, spiritual jurisdications and geographic borders. Most of all, we talk about freedom.
Some other questions and issues I've covered include:
My research focuses on one aspect of Jewish affinity as seen in Messianic Judaism, a loose movement of congregations and associations that hold evangelical beliefs and adopt Jewish-like practices. In North America, scholars have viewed it chiefly as a "new religious movement" or as a controversial branch of Judaism. As a result, few studies explore its largely evangelical Christian base. My work is the first to focus on these "gentile believers" in North America.
Recently, I curated a multi-author installation that takes a globally comparative approach to the topic. The Hebraic Style in Christian Nationalism is up now on The Christian Nation Project website. My contribution details my conversation with Moshe, a Messianic leader in Oregon. We cover the Jewish covenant and the US Constitution, spiritual jurisdications and geographic borders. Most of all, we talk about freedom.
Some other questions and issues I've covered include:
- What draws non-Jews to Messianic Judaism? See my article on "born-again seeking" in Religion: "Born-again Seeking: Explaining the Gentile Majority in Messianic Judaism." Read an abstract here. Download the article here.
- Should gentiles in Messianic Jewish congregations keep the laws of Torah? Parsing the debate and the attributes of 'mimetic discipleship' in the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute.
- What can Jewish affinity, and its implementation in local congregations, reveal about race- and identity-making in North America?
- An essay I wrote in Religion & Politics gives a brief overview of some trends related to Messianic Judaism. My recent explainer piece on Jewish affinity in The Forward may also be helpful.
With Sarah Imhoff (Indiana University, Bloomington), I've authored two recent articles about DNA testing and religious identity, comparing American Judaism and Messianic Judaism
- “Lineage Matters: DNA, Race, and Gene Talk in Judaism and Messianic Judaism” is forthcoming in Religion and American Culture (2017)
- “Lost, Hidden, Discovered: Theologies of DNA in North American Judaism and Messianic Judaism" has just come out in Leonard J. Greenspoon's edited volume Mishpachah: The Jewish Family in Tradition and in Transition (Purdue University Press, 2016).