Editing Messianic Judaism (section)

==Theology and core doctrines==
{{See also|Oral gospel traditions}}
===The Trinity===
Many Messianic Jews affirm the doctrine of the Trinity: [[God the Father]], [[God the Son]], and [[Holy Spirit in Judaism|God the Holy Spirit]] as three representations of the same divinity.<ref name="UMJC_StatementOfFaith"/><ref name="IAMCS_Belief"/><ref name="GraftedInSoF"/>

# God the Father: Messianic Jews believe in God, and that he is all-powerful, omnipresent, eternally existent outside of creation, and infinitely significant and benevolent. Some Messianic Jews affirm both the [[Shema]] and the Trinity, understanding the phrase "the {{LORD}} is One" to be referring to "a differentiated but singular deity",<ref name="Kinzer2010"/> and "eternally existent in plural oneness".<ref name="IAMCS_Belief"/>
# God the Son: Most Messianic Jews consider Jesus to be the Messiah and divine as God the Son, in line with mainstream Christianity,<ref name="UMJC_StatementOfFaith"/><ref name="IAMCS_Belief"/> and will even pray directly to him.{{sfn|Berkley|1997|p=129|ps=: "A more rapidly growing organization [than Jews for Jesus] is the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America which seeks to incorporate many of the trappings of Judaism with the tenets of Christianity. Its congregants assemble on Friday evening and Saturday morning, recite Hebrew prayers, and sometimes even wear ''talliot'' (prayer shawls). But they worship not just God but Jesus, whom they call Yeshua."}} Many also consider Jesus to be their "chief teacher and rabbi" whose life should be copied.<ref name="FFOZ"/>
# God the Holy Spirit: According to some Messianic Jews, the Spirit is introduced in the Old Testament, is the inspirer of prophets, and is the spirit of truth described in the New Testament.<ref name="IAMCS_Belief"/>

===God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit===
# God the Father: Some Messianic Jews profess only a strict view of monotheism, rejecting [[Trinitarianism|Trinitarian]] doctrine<ref name="Kerstetter"/> and [[Arianism|Arian]] doctrine.
# Jesus the [[Son of God]]: Some Messianic Jews, who reject Trinitarian doctrine and Arian doctrine, believe that the Jewish Messiah is the son of God in the general sense (Jewish people are children of God) and that the Jewish Messiah is a mere human, the promised Prophet. Some Messianic Jews believe Jewish Messiah is the pre-existent Word of God, the mighty God, and the only begotten God. Some congregations do not directly ascribe divinity to Jesus, considering him a man, yet not just a man, fathered by the Holy Spirit, who became the Messiah.<ref name="JC_IYG"/> Even others consider him "Word made flesh" and the "human expression of Divinity".<ref name="LevH"/>
# The Holy Spirit ({{langx|he|רוח הקודש}}, {{transliteration|he|ruach ha-kodesh}}) refers to the divine force, or to the word or spirit of God.<ref name = "JC_T" />

===Scriptures and writings===

====The Bible====
Both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament{{efn|The name of the New Testament is often translated back into Hebrew as {{transliteration|he|"Brit Chadasha"}}. This directly means "New Covenant", however "Testament" is traditionally taken from the Latin translation of {{transliteration|he|Chadasha}} ({{lang|la|"testamentum"}}), and therefore can mean both English words.}} are usually considered to be the established and divinely inspired biblical scriptures by Messianic Jews.<ref name="Beit Simcha"/> <!-- Next 
 two sentences both rely on GraftedInSof for now -->With a few exceptions, Messianic believers generally consider the written Torah, the five books of [[Moses]], to remain in force as a continuing covenant, revised by Jesus and the Apostles in the New Testament, that is to be observed both morally and ritually. Jesus did not annul the Torah, but its interpretation is revised through the Apostolic scriptures.<ref name="GraftedInSoF"/>

====Jewish oral tradition====
There is no unanimity among Messianic congregations on the issue of the Talmud and the Oral Torah. There are congregations which believe that adherence to the Oral Law, as encompassed by the Talmud, is against Messianic beliefs.<ref name="Brown-CPM-Talmud"/> Similarly, there are congregations which deny the authority of the [[Pharisees]], believing that they were superseded, and their teachings contradicted, by Messianism.<ref name="RabbiYeshuaRab"/> There are adherents which call rabbinic commentaries such as the [[Mishnah]] and the [[Talmud]] "dangerous",<ref name="RabbiYeshuaRab"/> and state that followers of rabbinic and [[Halakha|halakhic]] explanations and commentaries are not believers in Jesus as the Messiah.<ref name="RabbiYeshuaRab"/><ref name="BT"/> Other congregations are selective in their applications of Talmudic law, and may believe that the rabbinic commentaries such as the Mishnah and the Talmud, while historically informative and useful in understanding tradition, are not normative and may not be followed where they differ from the New Testament.{{sfn|Burgess|2006|p=308}}<ref name="CTOMC-SoF-4"/><ref name="MJRC2"/> Still others encourage a serious observance of Jewish [[halakha]].<ref name="Fischer"/>

====Messianic Bible translations====
{{Main|Messianic Bible translations}}

====Messianic publications====
{{unsourced section|date=December 2024}}
[[David H. Stern]] has released a one-volume Jewish New Testament Commentary, providing explanatory notes from a Messianic Jewish point of view. Other New Testament commentary authors include [[Arnold Fruchtenbaum]] of Ariel Ministries, who has written commentaries on the Epistles, Judges and Ruth, Genesis, and 7 systematic doctrinal studies.

===Sin and atonement===
Some Messianic believers define [[sin]] as transgression of the Law of God and include the concept of [[original sin]]. Some adherents atone for their sins through prayer and [[repentance]] – the acknowledgment of the wrongdoing and seeking forgiveness for their sins (especially on [[Yom Kippur]], the Day of Atonement). Disagreeing with these rites and practices, other Messianics hold to a belief that all sin (whether committed yet or not) is already atoned for because of Jesus's death and resurrection.{{sfn|Goble|1974|pp=4–6}}

===Evangelism and attitudes toward Jews and Israel===
<!-- Using GraftedIn as source for entire paragraph for now. Could use another -->Messianic Jews believe God's people have a responsibility to spread his name and fame to all nations. It is believed that the Children of Israel were, remain, and will continue to be the chosen people of the God, and are central to his plans for existence. Most Messianic believers, whether Jewish or non-Jewish, can be said to oppose [[supersessionism]] (popularly referred to as [[replacement theology]]), the view that the Church has replaced Israel in the mind and plans of God.<ref name="GraftedInSoF"/>

According to certain branches of Messianic Judaism, Jews are individuals who have one or more Jewish parents, or who have undergone halakhic conversion to Judaism.<ref name=MJRC_Status/><ref name="MJO"/>{{primary source inline|date=February 2022}}

====One Law theology====
One Law theology (also known as "One Torah for All") teaches that anyone who is a part of Israel is obligated to observe the Covenant and its provisions as outlined in the Torah. Dan Juster of Tikkun, and Russ Resnik of the UMJC, have argued against the One Law movement's insistence on gentiles being required to observe the entirety of Torah in the same way as Jews.<ref>[http://www.umjc.net/umjc/dmdocuments/onelaw_movements_abridged.pdf One Law Movements; a Challenge to the Messianic Jewish Community] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928060523/http://www.umjc.net/umjc/dmdocuments/onelaw_movements_abridged.pdf |date=2007-09-28 }} January 28, 2005</ref> Tim Hegg{{who|date=February 2021}} responded to their article defending what he believes to be the biblical teaching of "One Law" theology and its implications concerning the obligations of Torah obedience by new Messianic believers from the nations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.torahresource.com/EnglishArticles/OLMResponse.pdf|title=One Law Movements A Response to Russ Resnik & Daniel Juster|access-date=2007-09-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080407072746/http://www.torahresource.com/EnglishArticles/OLMResponse.pdf|archive-date=2008-04-07|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Coalition of Torah Observant Messianic Congregations (CTOMC) likewise rejects bi-lateral Ecclesiology in favor of the One Torah for All (One Law) position.<ref name=CTOMC_SoF/>

====Two House theology====
Proponents of [[Two House theology]] espouse their belief that the phrase "[[House of Judah]]" in scripture refers to Jews, while "the [[House of Israel]]" refers to the [[Ten Lost Tribes]] of Israel, or [[Ephraim]]. Where scripture states the House of Israel and Judah will again be "one stick" ({{bibleverse||Ezekiel|37:15–23|KJV}}), it is believed to be referring to the End Times, immediately prior to the [[Second Coming]], when many of those descended from Israel will come back to Israel. Advocates of this theology postulate that the reason so many gentiles convert to Messianic Judaism is that the vast majority of them are truly Israelites. Like One Law groups, the Two House movement has many superficial similarities to Messianic Judaism, such as their belief in the ongoing validity of the Mosaic Covenant. While much of the Two House teaching is based on interpretations of Biblical prophecy, the biggest disagreements are due to inability to identify the genealogy of the Lost Tribes. Organizations such as the [[Messianic Jewish Alliance of America]] and [[Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations]] have explicitly opposed the Two House teaching.<ref>MJAA position paper:[http://www.mjaa.org/files/EphraimiteError.pdf The Ephraimite Error] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070722041050/http://www.mjaa.org/files/EphraimiteError.pdf |date=July 22, 2007}}</ref>

====Supersessionism====
Historically, Christianity has taught [[supersessionism]] (replacement theology), which implies or outright states that Christianity has superseded Judaism,{{citation needed|date=November 2023}} and that the [[Mosaic Covenant]] of the Hebrew Bible has been superseded by the [[New Covenant]] of Jesus, wherein salvation is brought about by the grace of God, and not by obedience to the Torah.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nabion.org/html/supersessionism.html |title=Supersessionism |publisher=nabion.org |access-date=8 December 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722181903/http://www.nabion.org/html/supersessionism.html |archive-date=22 July 2011}}</ref> This is generally complemented with the concept of God having transferred the status of "God's people" from the Jews to the Christian Church. Messianic Jews, in varying degrees, challenge both thoughts,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.messianicassociation.org/ezine05-replacement.htm |title=Winds of Doctrine: Replacement Theology |first=Pete |last=Koziar |publisher=messianicassociation.org |access-date=8 December 2010}}</ref> and instead believing that although Israel has rejected Jesus, it has not forfeited its status as God's chosen people. Often cited is {{bibleverse|Romans|11:29}}: "for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable". The core of supersessionism, in which the Mosaic Covenant is canceled, is less agreed upon. Though the [[Mitzvah|mitzvot]] may or may not be seen as necessary, most are still followed, especially the keeping of Shabbat and other holy days.

===Eschatology===
All Messianic Jews hold to certain [[Eschatology|eschatological]] beliefs such as the End of Days, the Second Coming of Jesus as the conquering Messiah, the re-gathering of Israel, a rebuilt [[Third Temple]], a [[resurrection of the dead]], and many believe in the [[Millennialism|Millennial Sabbath]], although some are Amillenialist. Some Messianic Jews believe that all of the [[Jewish holidays]], and indeed the entire Torah, intrinsically hint at the Messiah, and thus no study of the [[Eschatology|End Times]] is complete without understanding the major [[Jewish Festivals]] in their larger prophetic context. To certain believers, the feasts of [[Passover|Pesach]] and [[Shavuot]] were fulfilled in Jesus's first coming, and [[Rosh Hashanah]], [[Yom Kippur]], and [[Sukkot]] will be at his second. Some also believe in a literal 7000-year period for the human history of the world, with a Millennial Messianic kingdom prior to a final judgment.<ref name = "Kinzer2018" />