When I was in high school, I heard the late Bishop Grady R. Kent minister on the Jewishness of Jesus and of the gospel. The pure and simple truth taught by this man of keen understanding and insight made a deep impact on my life and has since brought me to a full appreciation of the heritage of my Christian faith in the ancient religion of the Jewish people.
I have devoted much of my intellectual and spiritual life to research, writing, teaching, and preaching the truth about Christianity’s historical and theological emergence from the matrix of biblical Judaism. I have come to realize that the church has been robbed of its rightful heritage with and among the Jewish people. As a result of the Judaeophobia, anti-Judaism, and anti-Semitism that have characterized Christianity for some nineteen centuries, the church collectively and believers individually have been denied the rich understanding of and relationship with God that could and should have been theirs if the church’s inherent Jewishness had not been either outright denied or benignly neglected by Christian leaders.
Surely it is time to restore the church’s lost legacy. As we prepare for the coming of Messiah, Peter’s teaching in the earliest days of the church echo in our ears: "And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things. . ." (Acts 3:20, 21). To understand what is to be restored, we must make a careful, detailed search of scripture and history to determine what has been lost, damaged, or covered over. Then, restoration can begin.
For thirty-five years, I have studied and written extensively on various aspects of this theme, analyzing the historical and scriptural Jewishness of earliest Christianity and the need for restoring the church’s ancient heritage. At the urging of many of my colleagues, I have endeavored to collate some of my essays and lectures on Christianity’s Hebrew foundations and publish them in this book.
Definition of Terms
When we use the term Judaism, we speak of biblical Judaism, a Judaism that is grounded in the Torah, the written Word of God, in contrast with Rabbinic Judaism, which is based both in scripture and in the traditions of the sages and rabbis. While much can be learned from the Talmud and from rabbinics to expand our understanding of God’s Word and of Judaism, our faith must ever be established in the Hebrew Scriptures, both the first and the second testaments, which are able "to make us wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus" (II Timothy 3:15). Our use of the term Judaism, then, connotes the system of praise, worship, and service that was manifest among the Hebrew prophets, kings, and sages from the time of Genesis to Malachi and perfected and extended to all mankind by Jesus the Messiah.
When we speak of the Jewish roots of Christian faith, we are talking about the biblical foundations of Christianity, which happen to have been from and of the Jews (John 4:22). We could perhaps more accurately use the term biblical roots; however, merely to use the term biblical does not convey our meaning clearly, for virtually all the diverse cultural manifestations of Christianity consider their doctrines and practices to be biblical. To be truly biblical is to think and act Hebraically, as Jesus did during his incarnation. We, therefore, emphasize the biblical roots of our faith as they were cultivated in the soil of Judaism and among the Jewish people.
Many practices of today’s Judaism are biblical, however, others are merely cultural additions to biblical faith. We do not encourage Christians, therefore, to become culturally Jewish, to adopt the appearance or lifestyles of contemporary Jews. We do urge Christians to allow their faith in Jesus to manifest Judaic principles in their lives, to cause them to become Jewish in heart, and to help them support the international Jewish community.
Maintaining Our Equilibrium
The quest to restore the church’s biblically Judaic heritage is an exciting effort that draws clear lines between scriptural truth and the accretions of human tradition. This effort represents the ultimate reforming and restorative work, perhaps the final restoration in preparation for the coming of Messiah. Because of the momentous and historic nature of this work of restoration, it is imperative that those who share the vision–and work toward its fulfillment–maintain their equilibrium both theologically, spiritually, and practically. We simply cannot afford the luxury of extremism. This effort is so important to the health and renewal of the body of Messiah that we cannot allow it to be marginalized by losing our balance. We cannot allow the pendulum to swing from the extreme of the antinomianism of the Christian past to the other extreme of legalism, where we seek to acquire or maintain status before God by obedience to the law rather than by grace through faith only in the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
Many Christians lose their balance and find themselves falling for everything, being blown away by every wind of teaching (Ephesians 4:14). Some fall into some heresy, and they can’t get up! They like the comforts of their "ego trip" or their "holier-than-thou" status. They are like the Corinthians who simply delighted in hearing some new thing and indulging in spiritual excess (I Corinthians 14:26, 40). Paul gave a lesson on balance to this Gentile church, addressing its history of extremism, flights of fancy, and immaturity. His fear was that they would be "beguiled from the simplicity that is in Christ" (II Corinthians 11:3). He appealed to their familiar Olympic tradition, urging them to be like athletes who strive for mastery–"temperate in all things" (I Corinthians 9:24, 25). Temperance is the art of maintaining the balance between extremities. Neither abstinence nor indulgence is the answer. Temperance finds a happy medium, a safe position that is both reasonable and practical and does not bring offense to others. Temperance in all things is the law of the New Covenant.
Balance is maintained in our physical bodies by two small organs in the inner ear. In like manner, it can be said that our spiritual balance is effected to a large degree by the still small voice in our inner spiritual ear that seeks to maintain our equilibrium and keep us on track. It is the Spirit of God that gently woos us and keeps us centered in God’s will. When we hear his voice, he will never lead us into the dangers of excess.
There is one surefire way to avoid the extremes of legalism and antinomianism. The New Testament must always be for us the lens through which the "shadows" found in the Old Testament Scriptures are brought into picture-perfect focus (Colossians 2:17). Our faith must always remain Christocentric, grounded in the person of Jesus Christ. To deviate either to the left or to the right is to lose our equilibrium and our effectiveness in sharing this restoration truth with our fellow believers in Messiah.
The restoration of the Jewish roots of our faith has the potential to be one of the greatest blessings that we have experienced since the church lost its "Jewish connection" some nineteen centuries ago. Extremism and unbalanced approaches to this restoration, however, can do much damage not only to the restoration itself but also to the spiritual condition of those who are so engaged. I encourage you, therefore, to read carefully chapters 6, 7, and 8: "A Perfect Sacrifice," "Christ, Our Righteousness," and "Raised Again for Our Justification." Without a clear understanding of New Testament foundations, one treads dangerous ground in exploring Judaism and can easily be enticed by his own immaturity into legalism, elitism, and judgmentalism. The church’s one foundation is the Jesus Christ, the risen Lord, and believers are justified before God only by grace through faith in him. As we build upon the bedrock-firm foundation of his teachings, we will find ourselves enriched by God’s system of praise, worship, and service that was revealed in Judaism and perfected by Messiah Yeshua.
Acknowledgments
The publication of this book would not have been possible without considerable input from many close personal friends and colleagues. I would like to honor and offer my deepest gratitude to those who have shared their lives, minds, and spirits with me over the years.
Foremost among these was my mentor, the late Bishop Grady R. Kent, a devout man of pioneering insight who developed many of the fundamental ideas contained in this book in the 1940’s and 1950’s, at a time when there was little understanding in the church about its biblical Hebrew foundations. His teaching kindled a fire in my heart that has burned incessantly for over thirty-five years.
I am deeply indebted to my late father, Rev. D. E. Garr, a faithful pastor and overseer with over sixty-five years of service to the body of Christ, for his balanced and rock-solid theological perspectives and his dignified, unassuming approach to every aspect of life.
Other scholars, teachers, and ministers who have shared insights that have helped develop and polish many of the concepts contained in this book include Dr. Marvin Wilson, Dr. Karl Coke, Dr. Howard Morgan, Dr. Clifford Denton, Dwight Pryor, Rev. Isaac Rottenberg, Rev. Robert Somerville, Dr. John Looper, Dr. Terril Littrell, Dr. Leon Mohammed, Dr. Doug Wheeler, Randy Felton, David Bivin, Dr. Brad Young, Dr. Bill Bean, Clarence Wagner, Rev. David Andrew, Arnella Rose, and Dr. Ron Moseley. Each of these has not only supported me intellectually but has also undergirded me with their prayers, love, and sound advice.
I am also indebted to Dot McCoy and Lynn Ray, two ladies like Dorcas and Phoebe in Bible times who have a burden for biblical insight and the gift of giving to support cutting-edge ministries. Their generous contributions have largely made possible the publication of this book.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, my family has given me their unwavering love and support, sacrificing time and comforts to facilitate my research, writing, teaching, and ministry. My wife, Pat, and my sons, John, Tim, and Steve always insist that I can do more.
I salute all these and countless others who have significantly impacted my life for Christ. May God grant each of you his eternal shalom.
Now, enjoy!
Fraternally in Messiah
John D. Garr
Passover, 1998