Friday, 22 February 2019

Is the Church Pagan?

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I hope you are edified by these excerpts from one of my articles:

From its infancy the church has struggled with the influences of paganism. While still attached to her Jewish roots, she was threatened by gnosticism, legalism and the integration of pagan practices. But those roots, nourished by the soil of Torah, contained inherent resistance to idolatry. The ten commandments begin with "You shall have no other gods before me, (to) bow down to them nor serve them."

Today, nearly 20 centuries later, many layers of custom and theology have been added. Is the church of today essentially pagan? How should we, as Yeshua’s Jewish and Gentile followers who deeply appreciate the Hebraic origins of His kehila, view the charges of some that the church has become hopelessly pagan and must be rejected? Let us look at some of the basic criticisms.

Why is the topic of this article crucial to all of us? It is because the Church and Israel must be rightly aligned to fulfill God's purpose. This also means the right alignment of the Church with the Messianic Jewish part of Israel (which is also part of the Church). When there is pride and arrogance of one toward the other, this purpose is not fulfilled. Romans 11 is addressed to Gentile Believers who are to follow Paul's example in making Israel jealous. The salvation of Israel simply will not be effected without the whole Body of the Messiah. Messianic Jews will not gain the favor of the Christian community for this important purpose if they do not have a right evaluation of the Church.

The rest of the article can be read here.