I knew my life would change after I became a Christian -- but I was also surprised by how much remained the same. I thought I was giving up Judaism...but Judaism, the religion, and being Jewish are two different things. Somehow, I never stopped believing that Jewish spaces suddenly ceased to be my spaces. My… Continue reading Why I still consider myself Jewish
My phone pinged with an email notification from my freelance editor at Patheos, regarding the news of Mike Pence honoring the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting victims by inviting a Messianic rabbi to say a prayer at a rally. Naturally, that prayer invoked mentions of Jesus -- or rather, as he is known in Messianic circles, Yeshua… Continue reading The inherent deception of Messianic Judaism
For every post I write that encourages Christians to stop targeting Jews with evangelism, someone always comments, But don't you want the Jews to be saved? I understand what the comment is asking -- supposedly it's a Christian's duty to make sure that everyone hears the Gospel, so they can have fire insurance before they… Continue reading Why targeted evangelism is a bad idea
Being misunderstood sucks. I'm not a big people-pleaser by nature, but it does bother me when I'm disliked for the wrong reasons. This doesn't happen too often, but the following scenario has happened to me more than once: New Jewish acquaintance: "So you grew up Reform, but then converted?" Me: "Basically, yeah." Them: "So you're… Continue reading Christians: let the Jews speak
This week I had an article published on Sojourners: When I was studying biblical counseling at a conservative Baptist seminary five years ago, a student invited me to a Passover Seder on campus. I was reluctant to respond because the student was a Messianic Judaism major and the Seder was being hosted by his department.… Continue reading How Some Christians Mistake Honoring Jewish Culture With Appropriating It
Last week I had the privilege of being a guest on Gutsy Christianity, a radio show hosted by Rosa A. Hopkins. We discussed my memoir, Confessions of a Prodigal Daughter, what drew me to the Episcopal church, why I don't identify as a Messianic Jew or "Jew for Jesus," and how sometimes Christians misrepresent Jewish… Continue reading Interview: Gutsy Christianity
Last week I had a great discussion with A Jew and a Gentile Walk into a Bar Mitzvah on their podcast. As you can probably guess from the title, the show literally consists of a Jewish and gentile host whop regularly dissect various interfaith issues. On this episode, I discuss My book, Confessions of a… Continue reading Podcast: A Jew and a Gentile walk into a bar…mitzvah
Much of my work consists of pointing out the ways that Jews and Christians can learn from each other, based on their shared history in Scripture. Today, however, I want to point out some of the ways that the two faiths differ in their theologies. These differences go a lot deeper than simply “Jesus” and… Continue reading The biggest theological differences between Judaism and Christianity
I have written before about what I believe it means to practice Christianity "Jewishly": that is, by asking hard questions and expressing spiritual doubts. But there is another, and perhaps more important, way of doing Christianity "Jewishly" -- one that doesn't involve rebranding Jewish theology, or the mistranslation of certain texts so they appear to… Continue reading The Bible’s optical illusion: Jesus or Israel?
One thing that scared me away from the chaplaincy program at seminary was the requirement of having the support of a specific denomination. I lived under the “It’s not a religion, it’s a relationship” banner at the time, so the thought of having to align myself with a “religious” label abhorred me. My academic adviser… Continue reading Why the Episcopal church?
