Shofar Sounds: Thoughts From the Editor

John D. Garr, Ph. D.

Restoration and Theological Non-Negotiables

Every religion has those foundational principles which for that faith are sine qua nons. Without those beliefs and practical ways in which they may be manifest, the religion is no religion. This is true of both Christianity and Judaism.

For those of us who are reclaiming the Hebraic heritage of Christianity, what are the fundamentals of our faith and practice that we dare not compromise in the face of the changing winds of pluralism and revisionism? What are those basic tenets of our Judaeo-Christian heritage which should weather the storms of challenge from a veritable flood of "new" innovative ideas or old repackaged concepts? What are the foundational principles of our faith that we cannot change even in the interest of the most noble of causes, including world peace and inter-faith dialogue? In short, what are the theological issues upon which we would and should stake our very lives? What are our theological non-negotiables?

The problem for most people is sorting out the priorities, being able to understand what is central to faith and what is peripheral. Often we find believers majoring in minors and minoring in majors. Some are swept off their feet with a wind of teaching that elevates some esoeteric, non-essential belief to a level of involability. Very often, this is something that is grounded in a soulish, flesh-gratifying, self-promotional ego-trip of glorified self importance. When this occurs, virtually any other principle, including even the most basic of biblical faith, can be compromised in order to preserve the inviolability of their chosen "hobby horse."

Being able to identify what is foundational to our faith is a mark of maturity. Those who have come to "the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" are not blown about by every new wind of teaching. On the other hand, they are not afraid to challenge the status quo and follow the cloud of divine insight that moves to ever new horizons. They are able to distinguish the still small voice of God from the siren song of deception both from their own human impulses and from the devices of those who lie in wait to deceive.

Being on the cutting edge of a move of God places one in a most uncomfortable and vulnerable position. The necessity of being open to new insight makes one’s mind more accessible to challenges of deception. This is especially true of those Christian Hebraists who are seeking a full restoration of the faith of Jesus and the apostles. The effort to restore the Jewishness of Christian faith can easily become an extreme philo-Semitism that is oblivious to the theological dangers to Christian faith that rabbinic Judaism espouses. No idea should be embraced simply because it is "Jewish" or because some rabbi of history or the present has propounded it.

We must remember and cling to the motto of those Christian Hebraists, the reformers of the sixteenth century: sola scriptura, and to its adjunct, sola fide. Our experience must rest solely on the authority of Scripture and solely on the basis of faith. Rabbinics have great value in our quest to recover the Hebraic foundations of our faith, but only when they elucidate Scripture and build our faith in God and our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus himself recognized and lived by this principle. He readily engaged in practices developed in Second Temple Judaism that enhanced the Biblical Judaism from which they emerged. On the other hand, he did not hestitate to denounce those rabbinic ideas that circumvented or "made void" the very Word of God.

As Christians, our theological non-negotiables must include not only belief in monotheism, the existence of one God, the Creator and Sustainer of all things, but also in the deity and Messiahship of Yeshua (Jesus of Nazareth). Our faith rests on that fundamental declaration that came from the lips of the Apostle Peter, which Jesus himself said was the foundation of the church: "You are he, the Messiah, Son of the Living God." Attempts to minimize or deny the deity of Jesus is tantamount to the destruction of Christian faith. This spirit of accommodation leads to the next step: denial of the Messiahship of Jesus. Denying either of these seminal truths undermines the very foundation of Christian faith. Those who have confessed that Jesus is Lord, believing in their hearts in his resurrection (Romans 10:9), and subsequently deny this truth–be their motive every so sublime–have "crucified the Son of God afresh and put him to an open shame" (Hebrews 6:6).

Judaism rests upon pillars of faith that Jews must maintain at all cost, even to "sanctifing the name" of God through martyrdom. Likewise, Christianity is founded on principles upon which we must stake our lifes: our theological non-negotiables.

Dr. John D. Garr, founder and executive director of Restoration Foundation, has pioneered research, writing, and teaching on the Hebrew foundations of Christian faith for more than thirty years. His international ministry has enlightened believers of various communions, teaching them the historical and theological emergence of Christianity from the matrix of biblical Judaism. John and his wife Pat, with the support of their sons, John, Timothy, and Stephen, are working to promote Restoration Foundation.

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