The Hebrew Roots Movement Is NOT Original Christianity

By Theodore Shoebat

The Hebrew Roots Movement is NOT original and historic Christianity. I did a video on this subject:

If the Hebrew Roots Movement is original Christianity, then where are the historic Hebrew Roots churches in Syria and Egypt?

In the Scriptures it says, “The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia.” (Acts 15:23)

So we know that the Apostles put churches in Syria, so when we go to Syria to see the oldest Christian communities, how come none of them are Hebrew Roots?

You will say that that came as a result of Constantine, but show in the historical record, when and how the Hebrew Roots were replaced. You will not find it, because there is none.

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P.S, Note From Walid Shoebat
Be careful, there is a difference between the Hebrw Roots Movement from simply Christians being Messianic. For example, Zola Levitt (who passed away) is Messianic and his teaching is different from what we call Hebrew Roots teaching. There is no problem in connecting the relationship between our faith and the Jewish faith, but the Hebrew Roots Movement is going downhill into denial of the Trinity.

But much of what is said has already been documented in much of the Church history. Pesach (Passover) is Pasch and is known as the Paschal Mystery and has always been part of the Christian fabric. The Hebrew Roots gets into all sorts of dangerous theological errors.

Some in the HRM are way over the edge in their denial of the Trinity and seem to know Jesus only in the flesh. As we will see, this movement is an idea, a view, an attitude, or a philosophy; a shared concept that Jewish traditions and Judaism are far superior for the church, a sure fire way to a deeper sanctification and with some, possibly even salvation.

It’s hard to define the HRM because it is so diverse and made up of so many disparate groups and individuals. It’s a moving target. It’s a vast smorgasbord of everything from scholarship, as in the Jerusalem School of Synoptic Research, to so-called Third Questers, to individuals practicing subjective pop (make-it-up-as-you-go) Judaism. It can even include the medieval mystical Kabbalah, with its esoteric numerology. More often than not there are no distinctions made between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant or between the Bible and the Talmud. This movement can impose legalism with a vengeance or in some instances may simply suggest Jewish practices that they say will give us deeper insight and understanding as well as make us more “authentic” believers.

Here, then, is a loose definition of the Hebrew Roots Movement. It is a very modern movement that insists that we must resurrect first-century Judaism (our Jewish Roots) and the milieu and lifestyle of first-century Jews and impose them on both Jewish and non-Jewish believers. This is not just an academic study to better understand Scripture and its setting but is rather a movement of restoration that claims that the church has moved off its Jewish foundation and must return to a more Jewish way of life to be authentic.

Although there is great benefit in studying the archaeology, geography, sociology, religion, and customs of the ancient biblical world, it does not follow that we must reinstitute and copy those times, replete with language, customs, and even dress.

It is obvious in much of the HRM that it’s not just the study of the first century for interpretation, information, and illumination that carries the day but keeping the traditions and practices of the Jewish Talmud, which was completed long after Jesus in the years 400-500 ( The Encyclopedia of Jewish Religion , Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York, 1965, p. 374). Actually, there are two Talmuds, namely the Babylonian Talmud and the Palestinian Talmud. The Talmuds vary in many of their customs, traditions, and practices.

Jewish believer Stephen Katz expresses his concerns when he says, “Much of the Jewish Roots Movement is actually based on later Jewish/rabbinic tradition. More importantly, the question of whether Gentiles need to add Jewish lifestyle and return to Jewish roots was settled by the Jerusalem Council described in Acts 15. The remarkable news of the Gospel is that, in Y’shua, Jews and Gentiles have direct access to God” (“The Jewish Roots Movement: Flowers and Thorns,” March 1, 2001).

In practice, many promoters of the HRM draw their content more from Talmudic Judaism than from Old or New Testament Judaism.

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