S1 E14: The Second Jewish War and the Birkat Haminim!

07/03/21 • 37 min

On Messianic Judaism

In this episode, we ask questions about the Second Jewish War, its "messiah" Bar Koziba, and its rabbi, Akiva.

What made the revolt so inevitable?
What made it such a milestone in Jewish, including Messianic Jewish, history?
Did this war really cause a parting of the ways between Christianity and Judaism?
What happened to the Messianic Jews who lived at that time – the Nazarenes, Ebionites, and others?
And – were the Messianic Jews really singled out as heretics in the curse on the “minim”?

In this episode, we ask questions about the Second Jewish War, its "messiah" Bar Koziba, and its rabbi, Akiva.

What made the revolt so inevitable?
What made it such a milestone in Jewish, including Messianic Jewish, history?
Did this war really cause a parting of the ways between Christianity and Judaism?
What happened to the Messianic Jews who lived at that time – the Nazarenes, Ebionites, and others?
And – were the Messianic Jews really singled out as heretics in the curse on the “minim”?

Previous Episode

S1 E13: Ebionites, Nazarenes, and More

In this episode we explore the lives and situations of Yeshua's Jewish followers in the period between the two great Jewish Wars, which ended in 70 and 135 CE respectively. We ask and answer:

Where did Jewish disciples of Yeshua live?
Did they interact with other Jews? With Gentiles?
Did they have communities of their own? And what were these communities like?
What distinguished their beliefs and way of life from other Jews and Gentile Christians?
What was the reaction of the Jewish and Gentile Christian worlds to them?

This is a critical period in the history of the Nascent Messianic Jewish Movement, and one that is vastly under-reported in both Jewish and Christian histories. You will enjoy quotations from both Jewish and Secular sources of the day, however, which tell us that this Movement was far from insignificant!

Next Episode

S1 E15: What They Said: Christian Writings and the Nascent Messianic Jewish Movement

In this episode we look at attitudes and prejudices apparent in Christian writings mainly between the Second Jewish War and the Council of Nicaea. As we take a look at the key authors in particular, we will see a continued hardening of Christian attitudes towards Jews, an increasingly strident supersessionism, and the increasingly difficult theologies and attitudes that Jewish disciples in Yeshua would have to deal with if they were to have any dealings with the majority church.
In particular, we will look at Ignatius, Barnabas, Justin Martyr, Tertullian. This episode might seem to record the doom of the Messianic Jewish Movement, but have no fear. Future episodes will document their perseverance from other sources.