Why don’t Jews believe in Jesus?
Judaism in Five Minutes - Sarah Imhoff
Adam Gregerman [+]
Saint Joseph's University, Philadelphia
Adam Gregerman, Ph.D., is Professor of Jewish Studies in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies and Associate Director of the Institute for Jewish-Catholic Relations at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, PA. He is the author of Building on the Ruins of the Temple: Apologetics and Polemics in Early Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism (Mohr Siebeck, 2016) and numerous book chapters and articles in journals such as Theology Today, Journal of Ecumenical Studies, Modern Theology, Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations, and Interpretation.
Description
This chapter discusses the origins and growth of a first-century Jewish movement focused on a preacher and miracle worker named Jesus and the increasingly bold claims made about his religious status after his death. As his followers began to argue for his messianic and later supernatural and even divine nature, the Jews who heard this message seem not to have been persuaded that the messianic age had dawned or that a man executed by Rome had any special role in salvation. Furthermore, as Gentiles increasingly joined this movement, the Jewish membership in the movement shrank and believers increasingly dropped observance of Jewish law, minimizing the appeal it may have had for Jews.