Jesus-Judaism
The Judaism of Jesus Messieh
By Pastor G. Reckart
Copyright 1998 All Rights Reserved
Defending The Jewishness Of The Church
Changing The Minds Of A GenerationJudaism was a name given to the Jewish religion several centuries before the birth of Jesus. The religion of the Jews is identified as the practice of the Law as given to Moses. It also includes the belief in the writings of the prophets and that is why these books are part of the Old Testament. The central theme of the whole Old Testament is Christ. The hope of the Old Testament saints was the future coming of Messieh. This hope was the focus of all of the faith from Abel unto John the Baptist. Anyone who understands the Scriptures will acknowledge that the climax of the whole Jewish religion known as Judaism, is Jesus.
When Jesus came, he was to establish and create the Kingdom of God. This would be the new Judaism religion of the Jews and all of Israel. Jesus did start and was the founder of New Testament religion. This religion was from the source of the old Judaism of the Law and the prophets. We are secured in this faith by the words of the Apostles who said we (the New Testament Church) are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets. And we are additionally secured by the words of the same Apostle that: "no other foundation can any man lay then that which is laid."
The Jewishness of the Church is a Biblical fact. And because it is Jewish, it is a religion that is correctly the Judaism of Jesus. There is no sin or evil in this finding of fact. But,
Since the rise of Adolph Hitler and Natzism, there has risen an infectious hatred for Jews and anything associated with the Jewish religion. While Jesus and the Apostles both disagreed with the modified Jewish religion under the control of the Pharisees and Saduccees, they did not hate them. They did not disassociate themselves from the Temple, from practice of the Law, and from their respect and honor of the Prophets. In fact, both Jesus and the Apostles practiced the Law and the doctrine of the New Testament Church side by side, both together. The evil was not in the Law or the Prophets but in the men interpreting them and enforcing the Laws according to their own traditions. Pure Judaism was an honorable and respectable religion. Anyone who can find fault with that statement, has mental problems.
When Jesus established and built his Church it was upon his own identity as the Messieh, the Son of God, the King of Israel and as the Lord from heaven. His Kingdom which was the Church, was to be Jewish in birth, in identity, and in religion. Only a fool would deny this. And such fools would of necessity be influenced by Natzi hatred. How a person can claim to be a Natzi and hate Jews and then say they love Jesus is insane. They should be so treated, carefully, believing nothing they say. But it is those with these attitudes who attack the identity of the Church as New Testament Judaism.
Judaism is a Jewish religion.
The Apostolic faith of the early Christians was a Jewish religion.
Therefore, the New Testament Church is the Judaism of Jesus.The Catholic church may be credited for most of the anti-Jewish hatred in the world. It was the source of Luther's hate and rants against Jews who denied Jesus. Luther was a Catholic monk from the order of St. Augustine. Because of Jewish hatred against Jesus, the Apostles, Mary the mother of Jesus, Christian Churches, and Christians: as found in the uncensored Babylonian Talmud, Luther became enraged and wrote his "Lies Of The Jews", and inflamed Hitler into a Jew killer. Luther got his Jew hating from a mysterious ancient Catholic named Ignatius.
Practicing hate against Jews who themselves hate Christianity is not the Biblical way of Jesus or the Apostles. And to practice this hate to the point of denying the New Testament Church is the Judaism of Jesus, transends all intelligence of a Godly man or woman. The true Godly will not oppose the Judaism of Jesus.
The Catholic church attitude of hate toward Jews has softened in the past one hundred years since the sensless murder of six million Jews in Hitler's death camps. But the hate has not softened toward use of the name Judaism to describe the Jewisness of the religion of Jesus.
There are many who have taken in hand to prove that use of the name "Judaism" is evil and wicked and should not be associated with New Testament Jewish religion, but these are fools of their own ignorance. These are not men of valor nor men of exploits for the Kingdom of God. Nor can they ever be truly ordained into a New Testament ministry because they are not true New Testament Men of God.
When Jew haters and those who detest the name Judaism make their speeches, write their blasphemies, and attack the characters and reputations of good men, they do so to elevate themselves in the eyes of other Jew and Judaism haters. Since these are the ones they seek to impress, let us not lose sight of the fact they do not speak for those who love Jews and who love the Judaism of Jesus which we call the Church.
In the defense of their hate, these, like Luther and Hitler before them will go to the antisemitic statements of Ignatius. This is their hero for Jew-hating attitides. And this is their champion in opposing the name Judaism being applied to the Church.
What About Jew Hating Ignatius:
Who really is this person called Ignatius? Why are all the dogmas of the Catholic Church are found tucked neatly into this man's alleged writings? Was this man real? Was his writings tampered with? Just what did he write that we can be sure he wrote?
Why is it, the men and Churches who want to attack Pastor Reckart and his teachings about the Jewishness of the New Testament Church run to Ignatius? Why do they go grab the antisemetic spirit of Ignatius and try to prove the Church had no Jewish birth, no Jewish beginning, no Jewish identity, therefore Pastor Reckart is teaching a false doctrine? Why do some listen to these personal attacks against the Pastor and our Church and not come tell the Pastor they are being made? Why do these gainsayers try to make Christianity into something non-Jewish? What is the real purpose behind men who deny the foundation of the Church with a Jewish Jesus (founder); 12 Jewish Apostles (foundation); and 120 Jewish believers (first members)? The first Church ever to exist was fully Jewish. The Church was born on the day of Pentecost and there were there but Jews. This Jewish olive tree can never be altered into a Christianity that is non-Jewish. Anyone who would be persuaded against the Jewishness of the Church based upon the writings of Ignatius is a deceiver! I view anyone who holds conversations with those attacking me or our Church and does not tell me as a traitor. Will such people also embrace the Catholic Church which Ignatius makes the true Christianity? If not, why then use this man's antisemitism to attack me as the Pastor and our Church doctrine?
Ignatius is said to have lived about 100-110 AD. We know little about him and cannot prove such a man ever existed. It is claimed he wrote 15 letters. Some believe 7 of them are authentic and 8 are forgeries. Some believe the 7 that are authentic have been reworked and interpolated with falsehood. Some believe all 15 are forgeries. I believe all 15 are forgeries.
The first mention of the Catholic Church is found in the letters of Ignatius. The Catholic Church sure likes that. It is in the letters of Ignatius that the development of diosean Bishops over several local Churches is first observed. This is the seedbed of the hierarchal papal system that developed amd formed the Catholic Church in 325AD at the Council of Nicaea. There is no doubt all 15 letters are frauds and the contents when examined demonstrate this to the honest heart. Who is this Ignatius? What was his race, his former religion, and in what local Church congregation was he a member? We do not know these things because they are carefully censored. When we examaning Ignatius we can see right away he had an agenda, a plan that when put in place would separate the Jewish Church from its navity and make it into a Gentile Church. He would take local congregations under a Pastor and make these Churches subject to Bishops who would rule them with a rod of iron. He would make sure the hierarchy was empowered with the authority to give life or take it. If there had been no Ignatius there would have been no Catholic Church and no inquisition. Millions of lives could have been saved. But the forged writings of one man took more authority over the minds of Church leaders then the Word of God. It was this mysterious wolf who entered in and devoured and scattered. When anyone desires to destroy the Jewishness of the Church and attack at the Judaism of Jesus Messieh, they RUN TO IGNATIUS! When anyone wants to give authority to Bishops over local congregations they RUN TO IGNATIUS!
Ignatius mentions the Catholic Church before there was a Catholic Church"
Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude [of the people] also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church. (The Ante Nicene Fathers, vol. I, p. 90, chap. VIII, entitled "LET NOTHING BE DONE WITHOUT THE BISHOP"
For Bishops etc.
The primary concern of Ignatius is to strengthen obedience to the Bishops and Presbyters and Deacons - the church seems to be forming a hierarchy in this period :
Eph. 2 : "..and that, being subject to the bishop and the presbytery, ye may in all respects be sanctified."
Eph. 4 : "Wherefore it is fitting that ye should run together in accordance with the will of your bishop,"
Poly.6 : "Give ye heed to the bishop,"
Smyr.8 : "See that ye all follow the bishop, even as Jesus Christ does the Father, and the presbytery as ye would the apostles; and reverence the deacons, as being the institution of God. "
Tral.3 : "In like manner, let all reverence the deacons as an appointment of Jesus Christ, and the bishop as Jesus Christ, who is the Son of the Father, and the presbyters as the sanhedrin of God,"
Against Judaizers, Docetics,
Ignatius attacks Gentiles who convert to the Jewish New Testament religion and sets forth antisemitism against Jewish identity and elements of the Jewish Christian faith. He wants the Christian faith to be non-Jewish and that is an absurdity:
Mag. 10 : "It is absurd to profess Christ Jesus, and to Judaize. For Christianity did not embrace Judaism, but Judaism Christianity ..."
The fallacy of that statement is this: Christianity is Judaism! Since Jesus was a Jew, to profess Jesus would be professing a Jewish religion which Jesus started. After all the very word "Church" has a Jewish root. The very terms Kingdom of God and Kingdom of Heaven both refer to the Messianic Davidic Israel over which Christ would reign. To say Christianity is not Jesus Judaism is to start a new Christianity apart from Judaism which is what the Catholic Church did. Ignatius takes the word Christianity and gives it a non-Jewish identity and poses this against a Jewish one. Let me rephrase his statement and you will see what I mean:
It is absurd to profess Christ Jesus and claim to be in a Jewish religion. For those who became Christians did not embrace anything Jewish, instead it was the Jews who accepted a non-Jewish Christianity.
Christian mysteries
Ignatius calls his religion 'the mysteries of Jesus Christ':
Tral. 2 : "It is fitting also that the deacons, as being [the ministers] of the mysteries of Jesus Christ, "
he also describes the Ephesian as being 'initiated' in the 'mysteries of the Gospel' :
Eph.12 : " Ye are initiated into the mysteries of the Gospel with Paul, "
Ignatius hopes to personally attain Christ by death
Ignatius is prepared to die because he expects to become a disciple:
Rom.4 : "so that when I have fallen asleep, ... Then shall I be a true disciple of Jesus Christ, when the world shall not see so much as my body. ... But when I suffer, I shall be the freedman of Jesus Christ, and shall rise again emancipated in Him. "
In fact, by death he actually expects to 'attain Christ'
Rom.5 : "And let no one, of things visible or invisible, envy me that I should attain to Jesus Christ. Let fire and the cross; let the crowds of wild beasts; let tearings, breakings, and dislocations of bones; let cutting off of members; let shatterings of the whole body; and let all the dreadful torments of the devil come upon me: only let me attain to Jesus Christ. "
He expects he will be the 'last one' to attain, being 'out of due time' (similar to Paul's phrase), to attain to God :
Rom.9 : "But as for me, I am ashamed to be counted one of them; for indeed I am not worthy, as being the very last of them, and one born out of due time. But I have obtained mercy to be somebody, if I shall attain to God."
Ignatius is hoping to reach Christ at the moment of death, and become the last one of those who died, like Paul before him, who have personally attained fellowship with the trinity Godhead upon his death- whatever that may really mean, its a classic Gnostic idea. He also plants the seed that upon death a person goes to heaven and does not sleep in the grave until the resurrection.
Jesus Christ ancient and eternal
Ignatius writes of Jesus like a person who has been to the Council of Nicaea who who knew what took place there :
Mag.8 : "who has manifested Himself by Jesus Christ His Son, who is His eternal Word, not proceeding forth from silence, and who in all things pleased Him that sent Him. "
New revelation of the eternal Son of God, second person in the trinity
To Ignatius, his new Jesus is being 'revealed' in the Christian mysteries :
Mag.6 : "Jesus Christ, who was with the Father before the beginning of time, and in the end was revealed."
Ignatius' emphasizes that Jesus was a God with the Father before the beginning of time and was in the end revealed. This is the germ that brought forth the disease of the trinitarian mind.
Christian Initiation is 'raising'
Ignatius writes of the disciples being raised from the dead -
Mag.9 : "...and therefore endure, that we may be found the disciples of Jesus Christ, our only Master--how shall we be able to live apart from Him, whose disciples the prophets themselves in the Spirit did wait for Him as their Teacher? And therefore He whom they rightly waited for, being come, raised them from the dead. "
note well that 'He' (Jesus Christ) raised 'them' (the disciples) from the dead when he came i.e. when Christ was revealed, the disciples themselves were raised.
Above we saw he specifically describes the Ephesian as being 'initiated' in the 'mysteries of the Gospel with Paul' i.e. the Ephesians were initiates, like Paul, (and possibly like Ignatius) into the 'mysteries of the Gospel'.
I think that this 'raising' refers to the successful Gnostic initiation into the ' mysteries of the Gospel' of Paul and other disciples like Ignatius.
Flesh vs Spirit
Ignatius often distinguishes between the carnal (physical, after the flesh) and the spiritual -
Eph. 8 : "They that are carnal cannot do those things which are spiritual, nor they that are spiritual the things which are carnal; ... But even those things which ye do according to the flesh are spiritual; for ye do all things in Jesus Christ. "
Mag. 13 : "Be ye subject to the bishop, and to one another, as Jesus Christ to the Father, according to the flesh, and the apostles to Christ, and to the Father, and to the Spirit; that so there may be a union beth fleshly and spiritual. "
Poly.1 : "Maintain thy position with all care, both in the flesh and spirit. "
Poly.2 : "For this purpose thou art composed of both flesh and spirit, that thou mayest deal tenderly with those [evils] that present themselves visibly before thee. "
Mag. 13 : "...so all things, whatsoever ye do, may prosper both in the flesh and spirit; in faith and love; in the Son, and in the Father, and in the Spirit; "
Phil. 7 : "For though some would nave deceived me according to the flesh, yet the Spirit, as being from God, is not deceived."
Eph. 10 : "...so no plant of the devil may be found in you, but ye may remain in all holiness and sobriety in Jesus Christ, both with respect to the flesh and spirit. "
Jesus, son of man and Son of God
Eph. 20 : "...and in Jesus Christ, who was of the seed of David according to the flesh, being both the son of man and the Son of God, "
Smyr.1 : "...He was truly of the seed of David according to the flesh, and the Son of God according to the will and power of God; "
Ignatius is describing dual natures of Christ, an eternal God side and an earthly fleshly side - on the eternal side he is Son-of-God, the second God of rank under the Father, on the fleshly side he is seed-of-David. Here it is alleged that a pre-existing God the Son came down to earth and was manifest in the flesh of the seed of David. Thus, Christ was wrong to say it was the Father in him doing the works, because according to Ignatius it was the eternal pre-existing Son of God in Christ doing the work. Here we get our first glimpse in the separation of Jesus from being God manifest in the flesh, the seed of David (1Tim 3:16), to being a second God of the triune trinity that was later to develop. What Ignatius did was introduce a totally different interpretation to the title "son of God." He made this "son of God" into a pre-existing person who was created by the Father and with the Father, before his incarnation. The fact is, the term "son of God" is the same as "son of the Blessed" used by the High Priest in Mark 14:61. Here, and in all Jewish literature concerning the Messieh, the terms "son of God or son of the Blessed" is synonymous with "MESSIEH." He who claimed to be the MESSIEH was recognized by Jewish leaders to be the SON OF GOD or SON OF THE BLESSED. When the High Priest asked Jesus if he was the Son of the Blessed, he was trying to extract from him a statement that he was the long-awaited Messieh prophesied in Daniel 9:25-27. When Jesus confessed he was the Son of the Blessed, the High Priest then tore his clothes and said they needed no further witnesses to declare he had blasphemed and was worthy of death. Ignatius comes along and destroys the Jewishness of the term "son of God" and gives it a totally non-messianic meaning. This led to the creation of the second God of rank in the triune trinity and calling Jesus the Son of God, the second personality in the trinity. Who ever wrote the forgeries under the name Ignatius had a carefully plotted purpose. How anyone can accept the 15 letters as authentic questions the very integrity of the one making the claim.
The two natures expressed here can be shown in this example:
of the flesh - spiritually seed of David - son of God The Flesh of Christ
Ignatius wrote at length of the flesh of Christ, claiming the Eucharist or Communion bread actually became the flesh of Jesus:
Rom.7 : "I desire the bread of God, the heavenly bread, the bread of life, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who became afterwards of the seed of David and Abraham; and I desire the drink of God, namely His blood, which is incorruptible love and eternal life. "
Smyr.6 : "They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they confess not the Eucharist to be the flesh of our Saviour Jesus Christ, which suffered for our sins, and which the Father, of His goodness, raised up again. Those, therefore, who speak against this gift of God, incur death in the midst of their disputes. "
The foregoing is a demonstration that anyone who uses the rantings of Ignatius to claim the Jewishness of the Church is false is following an insane man. Anyone who claims the Church being Jewish is false is not a true believer in the Church. The word Church has a Jewish origin and anyone who attempts to make Christianity something not Jewish has gone outside of the Word of God.
Pastor G. Reckart
August 1998