Conclusion

The conclusion summarizes the main arguments of the book. It explores themes such as the rationale of the Judaizing Evangelical revival and how it relates with wider discussions of religious change. It debates how social markers gender and ethnicity are intertwined in the case of the Judaizing Evangelicals in Brazil. At the micro level, it reveals how former Charismatic Evangelical women gradually adopt a set of religious norms in their daily lives through a curious negotiation of their Charismatic Evangelical pasts and the strict rules of Orthodox Judaism. At the macro level, describes the birth of a new tendency within Christianity that differs from similar Christian philo-Semitic movements such as Messianic Judaism and Christian Zionism. It concludes by stating how the rise of Judaizing Evangelicalism pushes forward key issues related to contemporary Christian philo-Semitism and World Christianities. Rather than an emic concept, it suggests that Judaizing Evangelicalism should be understood as an analytical concept that describes an unique interaction between Jewish and Christian monotheisms.

The Rise of Philo-Semitic Attitudes and Zionist Discourses in Christianity

This chapter explores the rise of philo-Semitic attitudes and Zionist discourses in World Christianity. By comparing the similarities and the differences between different Christian Philo-Semitic attitudes, it provides a categorization of Messianic Judaism, Christian Zionism, and Judaizing Evangelicalism. An overview of the Brazilian religious field is also offered, where particular focus is given to the growth of Charismatic Evangelicalism in the country. The chapter also investigates background information including the social structuration and the origins of “Judaizing Evangelical revival” within the community under study. The chapter concludes by situating the Judaizing Evangelical community within the emerging philo-Semitic attitudes and Zionist tendencies in World Christianities.

JESUS AS A SPECIAL MESSIAH

The problem in this essay lies in the issue of the Messiahship of Jesus which is thought to contain defects. Jesus is deemed unworthy of the title "Messiah" because his profile does not match the description of the Messiah in the Old Testament. The writing of this article aims to compare the concept of Messianic Judaism and its unique fulfillment in Jesus. The method used is a literature study of texts about the Messiah in the Old and New Testaments and relates them to Jesus' profile as the Messiah. As a result, Jesus as the Messiah in the New Testament did not meet the expectations of Judaism because Jesus presented a unique or different profile of Messiahship. The conclusion of this paper covers two things. First, Jesus as the Messiah must be understood from the Eschatological aspect. Second, the profile of Jesus' Messiahship is unique and goes beyond the "Messiahic" tradition of Judaism.

Messianic movements and the sacralization of the territory

This article focuses on contemporary Messianic Judaism. The author deals particularly with the Chabad and Gush Emunim movements, which have established many settlements in the West Bank, Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip, and Golan Heights. These settlements not only satisfy a vital need for living space but are also the expression of strong Messianic tension. This tension produces a mundus imaginalis (Corbin), the boundaries of which come between heaven and earth, between the biblical contours of the Promised Land and the harsh reality of a territory marked by war. The object of analysis is the toponymic politics developed by these Messianic movements in order to sacralize the territory in view of the coming of the Messiah.

Method in Ecumenism

Method can mean either the steps taken to achieve church unity or the principles appropriate to the study of ecumenism. Most ecumenists have sought organic unity; they have hoped that agreement on the issue of authority would further this end. This turned out to be impossible, and recently there has been a shift from epistemology to pneumatology. This shift allows for a third option beyond the claims of Catholicism and Orthodoxy, on the one hand, and Magisterial Protestantism, on the other, as regards ecclesial continuity. We can think of the creation of the church as the reinstantiation of primitive Christianity in the wake of Pentecost. Messianic Judaism provides telling warrant for pursuing this option. This shift also provides fresh hope for ecumenism by moving beyond conciliar conversations about doctrine, and calling instead for gift-sharing—that is, the realistic sharing of what we actually think are gifts for the common good.

A Disciple in Damascus

The story of Saul of Tarsus's switch from enthusiastic support of mainstream Judaism to joining and preaching the new messianic Judaism of the Jesus followers of his day invites probing into what the concept of phronesis meant both to Paul and to those who knew Scripture, especially the prophets. Close reading of the accounts in Acts and Philippians about his dramatic change of identity and his own self-doubts underscores the importance of understanding how the monotheizing process changes how one thinks brought Saul the student of Gamliel to become Paul the apostle of Christ and how that set the Jesus movement on a path that changed the world.

The Radical New Perspective on Paul, Messianic Judaism and their connection to Christian Zionism

The Radical New Perspective on Paul distinguishes between two subgroups of believers in Christ in Paul’s time: gentile believers and Jewish or Judaean believers. The same distinction is utilised in supporting contemporary Messianic Judaism, which presupposes an ongoing covenantal relationship between God and contemporary Jews that exists over and above Christianity. Many proponents of Christian Zionism, a Christian movement that envisions the Jews’ return to the land of Israel, utilise aspects of both the Radical New Perspective on Paul and Messianic Judaism in support of their beliefs. Ironically, while the Radical New Perspective on Paul is a certain product of post-holocaust theology, Christian Zionism can be perceived as a perpetuation of a kind of imperial theology that brings injustice to Palestinian people, especially in view of a post-imperial South African context. While none of these connections are inevitable, to point out the relationship between these approaches to identity serves to rethink some of the preconceived notions behind them, as well as some of the (unintended) consequences that arise from them.