Two Messianic Jews

Joseph Culbertson is a PhD candidate at Asbury Theological Seminary studying Hebrew Bible. He earned an M.Div. in Messianic Jewish Studies from The King's University. He published "Rediscovering My Gentile Roots" in Kesher: A Messianic Jewish Journal (link to the article).

This article is the topic for our interview with Joseph where he describes his journey from the Church to Hebrew Roots to Messianic Judaism and back to the Church. We touch on issues of Jewish and gentile identity, Jewish tradition, One Law/Hebrew Roots, and what the bible says about distinctions and expectations. Joseph provides perspectives built on deep study of the Bible and personal experience. Enjoy!

In this interview, we are joined by Michael Jones, founder of Inspiring Philosophy to respond to Rabbi Michael Skobac’s objections regarding the reliability of the Gospels.

To support our work in responding to counter-missionaries, you can visit https://www.twomessianicjews.com/donate

We carefully examine several of Rabbi Skobac’s key claims, including:

1:15 — The Gospels are religious propaganda, not history

18:03 — Mark, Matthew, Luke, and John did not write the Gospels

32:18 — Yeshua’s disciples did not speak Greek

36:57 — The Gospels were written too late to be reliable

48:40 — No ancient sources outside the Gospels corroborate the accounts

Michael Jones addresses each objection with thoughtful analysis, drawing on biblical scholarship, Jewish and Greek history, and historical evidence from the Gospels.

For a deeper dive, check out Michael’s full series on the reliability of the Gospels

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We just participated in our first TikTok livestream with @hellomrsrachel She has us on to discuss FAQ’s for Messianic Jews after the amazing response to her video explaining that she is a Messianic Jew. That video now has over 246,000 views! Here is the recording! If you have TikTok, we encourage you to follow her channel!

To support our work in strengthening the faith and identity of Jewish followers of Messiah, you can visit https://www.twomessianicjews.com/donate

0:00 Intro

4:17 Are Messianic Jews Jewish or Christian or both (ethnically & religiously)? 

11:15 Do we believe that Jesus is fully divine and fully human?

22:43 Why do Messianic Jews still follow the Law?

33:28 What pressures have you felt (if any) from Christians to assimilate and/or stop practicing Judaism? 

40:09 How do you respond to the claim that Messianic Jews are only practicing Judaism as a strategy to convert other Jews?

46:40 Should the Church assimilate to how Jesus lived as a Jew?

Note: For clarification, our view and the view of the Messianic Jewish community is that you are Jewish if you have a mother or a father who is Jewish. We emphasized matrilineal descent in this video because each of our mothers are Jewish.

Just weeks after October 7, 2023—the worst moment in Jewish history since the Holocaust—Pastor Jeff Durbin of Apologia Studios released a video discussing the massacre. In it, he argued that Jewish people who do not believe in Jesus are not truly Jewish and are not God’s chosen people. Instead, he claimed that Christians are the true Jews—that Christians are Israel. Through this video, Pastor Jeff Durbin fuels and spreads antisemitism. The video you are about to watch is a Messianic Jewish response, correcting the gross errors Pastor Jeff makes and offering a careful exegesis of the biblical passages he misuses to support his claims.

To support our work in combating antisemitism and replacement theology, you can visit https://www.twomessianicjews.com/donate

0:00 – Responding to Pastor Jeff Durbin taking advantage of October 7th to promote replacement theology

7:00 – Showing why Pastor Jeff Durbin’s interpretation of Romans 2.27–29 is incorrect and exegeting the text

26:53 – Responding to Pastor Jeff Durbin’s antisemitic comments

29:43 – Showing why Pastor Jeff Durbin’s interpretation of Romans 9:6 is incorrect and exegeting the text

46:24 – What God says about Israel in the Tanakh

47:31 – What Paul says about Israel

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Resources:David J. Rudolph, “Zionism in Pauline Literature: Does Paul Eliminate Particularity for Israel & the Land in His Portrayal of Salvation Available for All the World?” in New Christian Zionism Fresh Perspectives on Israel and the Land, ed. Gerald R. McDermott (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2016), 167–194.

Mark D. Nanos, “‘The Gifts and the Calling of God Are Irrevocable’ (Romans 11.29): If So, How Can Paul Declare That ‘Not All Israelites Truly Belong to Israel’ (9.6)” SCJR 11 (2016): 1–17.

Matthew Thiessen, “Paul’s Argument against Gentile Circumcision in Romans 2.17–29,” Novum Testamentum 56, no. 4 (2014): 373–391.

Matthew V. Novenson, Paul, Then and Now (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2022), 91–117.

Ryan D. Cullman, Apostle to the Foreskin: Circumcision in the Letters of Paul (Berlin: de Gruyter, 2023), 148–196.

Ryan D. Cullman, "(Un)Making a Theological Mountain Out of a Cardiological Mohel: Heart-Circumcision in Paul’s Epistles,” Journal for the Jesus Movement in its Jewish Setting, no. 10 (2023): 89–105.

“Are Christians ‘the True Jews?’”

“Is the Church the ‘True Israel’?”

Our interview with Michael Jones of Inspiring Philosophy addressing the question: “Is the New Testament Antisemitic?”

For an excellent movie documenting October 7, 2023, and the antisemitism that has been raging since, watch October 8

Link to buy the Budoff Haggadah

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Over 100 years ago, Philip Cohen published the first issue of "The Messianic Jew: Organ of the Jewish Messianic Movement." We read the introductory article to this Messianic Jewish publication to discover the beautiful heart Cohen had for Jewish followers of Yeshua to express their Jewish identities. He casts a vision and an aim for Jewish believers that ultimately results in Jesus being made known, reigniting the Jewish consciousness of Jewish believers, and partnering with the Gentile Church to help us fulfill this vision. You can access this issue of "The Messianic Jew" here.

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What if I told you that many major Christian denominations have formally denounced replacement theology? What if I told you there is a brand new version of replacement theology that is taking over the internet? Find out more listening to this presentation about replacement theology and one law theology!

To support our work in combating replacement theology, you can visit https://www.twomessianicjews.com/donate00:00 Introduction00:55 What is replacement theology?3:34 What is post-supersessionist theology?6:30 How to interpret the bible as a post-supersessionist9:49 Three Kinds of Replacement Theology10:45 What is punitive supersessionism?27:50 What is economic supersessionism?34:12 Neither Jew or gentile... Galatians 3:2835:35 Who is the 'Israel of God' in Galatians 6:16?41:45 Things Replacement Theologians Say43:35 One Law Theology/Hebrew Roots is Replacement Theology48:12 Things One Law/Hebrew Roots People Say50:00 Not all the Torah is for Everyone50:53 Erasure of Gentile Identity54:40 Christians are Correcting Replacement Theology

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We dispel common myths about the Council of Nicaea and express gratitude for the Church successfully defending the deity of Yeshua in the face of a very influential heretic named Arian. We also talk about the decision to disconnect Easter and Passover (which I think is okay!).

To support our work in strengthening the faith and identity of Jewish followers of Messiah, you can visit https://www.twomessianicjews.com/donate00:00 - Introduction3:15 - What did NOT happen at the Council of Nicaea5:42 - Historical Context of the Council of Nicaea7:39 - Who was Emperor Constantine?12:43 - About the Council of Nicaea17:00 - The Council Disconnecting Passover and Easter31:22 - Who was Arius?34:12 - Arguing with Arius42:12 - The Nicene Creed46:50 - A Messianic Jewish take on the Nicene Creed49:20 - What is the Trinity?57:18 - The Beauty of the Nicene Creed and the Shema; The Church and Messianic Judaism1:04:25 - We should appreciate the Church

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Marcion was the "arch-heretic" who argued there is a good god and an evil god, the Tanakh (the Old Testament) is not scripture, and edited portions of the New Testament. He was the first influential heretic that the Church had to guard a biblical understand of God and the Tanakh as God's word. The Messianic Jewish community should appreciate the Church for successfully defending God and His scripture.

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We walk through Romans to see why the Messianic Jewish community has come to exist and what our purpose is as a community. We focus on texts in Romans 1, 3, 9, 11, and 15.

To support our work in strengthening the faith and identity of Jewish followers of Messiah, you can visit https://www.twomessianicjews.com/donate

We have come to exist because:00:00 - Introduction00:38 - The Good News: Yeshua is the Jewish Messiah2:12 - The Good News is for Jewish People3:25 - Unity and Distinction Within the Body of Messiah10:30 - Unity and Distinction Within Israel17:55 - Messianic Jewish Community: A Double Witness

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