Browsing by Author "Ahonen, Jukka"

This thesis is an analysys of the concepts of the ecclesiology of Joseph Shulam (1946–), and the ways how it seeks to transform Christian theology and praxis as it is shown in his published writings. In the first chapter, I present an introduction to Messianic Judaism, its history and core theological issues. Messianic Judaism is a form of Judaism that holds that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, standing in the middle ground between Judaism and Christianity. Its core theological issues revolve around negotiating and reconciling between the theological priorities of Judaism and Christianity. In ecclesiology, this is shown in the different models of conceiving the people of God as a community of Jewish and non-Jewish followers of Jesus, and the role of the majority of the Jewish people who do not believe in Jesus as the Messiah. The second chapter is an analysis of Shulam’s theological paradigm of roots. Shulam understands the essence of roots to be the correct understanding and living out the teachings of the Bible. The correct understanding is based on a concrete and indexical relationship between the biblical revelation and reality. Traditional Christian creeds and allegorical, spiritualizing interpretations are rejected as unbiblical ”human doctrines” that alienates the biblical text from faith rooted in reality. In the third chapter, I analyze the three core elements of Shulam’s ecclesiology: God, Israel and the Church. The spiritual life of the people of God is based on the conviction that there is only one God who is the Creator and Father of all living beings and this faith is meant to unite all humankind and restore it to its original wholeness. The Messiah, whom Shulam considers divine, is God’s instrument for enabling people to live in relationship with God. Israel is the physical, ethnic people of Israelites, nowadays known as Jews. Israel is the elect people of God, and by election Shulam means being chosen for the mission to restore the knowledge of God and erase the darkness of idolatry. The Church is the fulfillment of this mission and the extension of Israel that is made of Gentiles who join the ”commonwealth of Israel” and become heir to Israel’s spiritual blessings through faith in Messiah together with the Jewish believers. The practical significance of Jewish tradition for Messianic Jews and Christians is analyzed in the fourth chapter. The most central issues are synagogue as a social setting, hermeneutics, the identity of Gentile believer, and how to apply Jewish halakhah to Messianic Jews and Christians. Shulam considers ”the seat of Moses” in Matthew 23 a basis for Rabbinic Judaism, the heir to the Pharisees to have an authority to interpret the Scriptures and make halakhic rulings that are, to some extent, binding even for followers of Jesus. The fifth chapter is devoted to conclusions. Shulam’s call for a revision or, as he calls it, ”restoration”, is a multifaceted program, but it revolves around the Christians’ relationship to Jews and the idea of Israel. Israel, the Jews, still have an identity as a people of God, holding a divine calling to teach the Torah to the nations, and Orthodox Jews are the heirs to this calling today. This does not remove their need to believe in Jesus as their Messiah and Saviour. But Christians who believe Jesus as a Messiah should, in Shulam’s understanding, abandon their denominational Christian traditions, and embrace their faith as a form of Judaism with Jesus at its center.