David Brickner

Last updated
David Brickner
Born (1958-09-29) September 29, 1958 (age 65)
Beverly, Massachusetts
NationalityAmerican
Education Moody Bible Institute

Northeastern Illinois University

Fuller School of World Mission
Known forhead of the Messianic Jewish missionary group Jews for Jesus

David Brickner (born September 29, 1958) is an American ordained Baptist minister [1] who has been head of the Messianic Jewish missionary group Jews for Jesus since 1996. [2]

Contents

Background and family

Brickner was born in Beverly, Massachusetts.[ citation needed ] Brickner describes himself as a fifth-generation Jewish believer in Jesus. [3] His mother was raised as a Jewish Christian, the descendant of a Hasidic rabbi in Russia, and his father was raised as a traditional Jew. [4] [5] He has two children, Isaac and Ilana. [6] [7]

Education

Career

Brickner began his career as a missionary with the Chicago branch of Jews for Jesus. He led the New York City branch until May 1996, then was elected by a council of his peers as the organization's second executive director. Brickner has been in ministry for over thirty years and has appeared many times on secular television and radio programs. [8]

Controversial statements

On August 12, 2002, representatives of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the National Council of Synagogues signed a joint statement that Catholics should no longer try to evangelize Jews because they "already dwell in a saving covenant with God." Evangelical groups, including Jews for Jesus, strongly objected to the statement. A Los Angeles Times article reported that "the controversy has touched a nerve that underlies religious relations." The article went on to say, "And the ever-controversial Jews for Jesus movement, which believes that Jesus is the Messiah that Jews have been waiting for, also stepped in. David Brickner, the group's executive director, said the bishops had 'crossed the line' and betrayed their responsibility to spread the Gospel. 'Jews need to hear the Gospel. Period. Excluding my Jewish people from Christian witness is theologically and biblically untenable, yet this is exactly what American Catholic bishops' did, Brickner said." [9]

Brickner was reported to have said on 17 August 2008 that the deaths in the Jerusalem bulldozer attack were God's "judgment" for Jews having failed to convert to Christianity. [10] [11] The comments created further controversy because they were made at the Wasilla Bible Church, where Sarah Palin is a member; Palin was chosen a week later to be the Republican candidate for vice-president in the 2008 United States presidential election. [11] [12] Political analysts speculated that Brickner's remarks would cause the Republicans to lose Jewish voters. [13] In an interview with NBC news David Brickner responded to this assessment of his guest speech by saying "That's not what I was saying ... That's not what I believe. The violence is evidence that sin has marred our human condition and because of sin and non belief, God's judgment rests on all humanity." [10] [14]

Books

Musical albums produced

Related Research Articles

Christianity began as a movement within Second Temple Judaism, but the two religions gradually diverged over the first few centuries of the Christian era. Today, differences of opinion vary between denominations in both religions, but the most important distinction is Christian acceptance and Jewish non-acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah prophesied in the Hebrew Bible and Jewish tradition. Early Christianity distinguished itself by determining that observance of halakha was not necessary for non-Jewish converts to Christianity. Another major difference is the two religions' conceptions of God. Depending on the denomination followed, the Christian God is either believed to consist of three persons of one essence, with the doctrine of the incarnation of the Son in Jesus being of special importance, or like Judaism, believes in and emphasizes the Oneness of God. Judaism, however, rejects the Christian concept of God in human form. While Christianity recognizes the Hebrew Bible as part of its scriptural canon, Judaism does not recognize the Christian New Testament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messiah</span> Saviour or liberator of a group of people

In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of mashiach, messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a mashiach is a king or High Priest traditionally anointed with holy anointing oil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jews for Jesus</span> Messianic Jewish organization

Jews for Jesus is an international Christian missionary organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, that is affiliated with the Messianic Jewish religious movement. The group is known for its proselytism of Jews and promotes the belief that Jesus is the Christ and the Son of God. It was founded in 1970 by Moishe Rosen as Hineni Ministries before being incorporated under its current name in 1973.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messianic Judaism</span> Jewish Christian new religious movement

Messianic Judaism is a modern-day syncretic sect that considers itself Jewish. Many Jews and Jewish authority figures, both in the United States and Israel, consider it a part of Evangelical Christianity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Messiah in Judaism</span> Savior and liberator of the Jewish people

The Messiah in Judaism is a savior and liberator figure in Jewish eschatology who is believed to be the future redeemer of the Jews. The concept of messianism originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible a messiah is a king or High Priest of Israel traditionally anointed with holy anointing oil.

Christianity and other religions documents Christianity's relationship with other world religions, and the differences and similarities.

Adherents of Judaism do not believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah nor do they believe he was the Son of God. In the Jewish perspective, it is believed that the way Christians see Jesus goes against monotheism, a belief in the absolute unity and singularity of God, which is central to Judaism; Judaism sees the worship of a person as a form of idolatry, which is forbidden. Therefore, considering Jesus divine, as “God the Son”, is forbidden. Judaism's rejection of Jesus as the Messiah is based on Jewish eschatology, which holds that the coming of the true Messiah will be associated with events that have not yet occurred, such as the rebuilding of The Temple, a Messianic Age of peace, and the ingathering of Jews to their homeland.

A number of religious groups, particularly Christians and Muslims, are involved in proselytization of Jews: attempts to recruit or "missionize" Jews. In response, some Jewish groups have formed counter-missionary organizations to discourage missionary and messianic groups such as Jews for Jesus from using practices that they say are deceptive.

Messianism is the belief in the advent of a messiah who acts as the savior of a group of people. Messianism originated as a Zoroastrian religious belief and followed to Abrahamic religions, but other religions also have messianism-related concepts. Religions with a messiah concept include Hinduism (Kalki) Judaism (Mashiach), Christianity (Christ), Islam, Druze faith, Zoroastrianism (Saoshyant), Buddhism (Maitreya), Taoism, and Bábism.

Chosen People Ministries (CPM) is an evangelical Christian nonprofit organization which engages in proselytization of Jews. It is headquartered in New York City and currently led by Mitch Glaser, who was raised Jewish and converted to Christianity.

Criticism of Christianity has a long history which stretches back to the initial formation of the religion in the Roman Empire. Critics have challenged Christian beliefs and teachings as well as Christian actions, from the Crusades to modern terrorism. The arguments against Christianity include the suppositions that it is a faith of violence, corruption, superstition, polytheism, homophobia, bigotry, pontification, abuses of women's rights and sectarianism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dual-covenant theology</span> School of thought in Christianity

Dual-covenant or two-covenant theology is a school of thought in Christian theology regarding the relevance of the Hebrew Bible, which Christians call the Old Testament.

The books of the New Testament frequently cite Jewish scripture to support the claim of the Early Christians that Jesus was the promised Jewish Messiah. Scholars have observed that few of these citations are actual predictions in context; the majority of these quotations and references are taken from the prophetic Book of Isaiah, but they range over the entire corpus of Jewish writings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hebrew Christian movement</span> 1800s–1900s UK and US religious movement

The Hebrew Christian movement of the 19th and early 20th centuries consisted of Jews who converted to Christianity, but worshiped in congregations separate from denominational churches. In many cases, they retained some Jewish practices and liturgy, with the addition of readings from the Christian New Testament. The movement was incorporated into the parallel Messianic Jewish movement in the late 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Baron (Messianic leader)</span> Hebrew-Christian and Christian missionary to Jews

David Baron (1855–1926) was a Jewish convert to Protestantism and co-founder of the Hebrew Christian Testimony to Israel (HCTI) missionary organisation.

This is a glossary of terms used in Christianity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christianity in the 1st century</span> Christianity-related events during the 1st century

Christianity in the 1st century covers the formative history of Christianity from the start of the ministry of Jesus to the death of the last of the Twelve Apostles and is thus also known as the Apostolic Age. Early Christianity developed out of the eschatological ministry of Jesus. Subsequent to Jesus' death, his earliest followers formed an apocalyptic messianic Jewish sect during the late Second Temple period of the 1st century. Initially believing that Jesus' resurrection was the start of the end time, their beliefs soon changed in the expected Second Coming of Jesus and the start of God's Kingdom at a later point in time.

Penina Taylor is an American-born international Jewish inspirational and motivational speaker, life coach, and author. She became well known for the story of her spiritual journey, but now speaks on topics related to personal growth and marriage, as well as spirituality. Penina is the Executive Director of the Shomrei Emet Institute for Counter-Missionary Studies, and the founder of Torah Life Strategies. Shomrei Emet was briefly affiliated with the counter-missionary organization, Jews for Judaism, Jerusalem, during 2008.

Arnold Genekowitsch Fruchtenbaum is a Russian-born American theologian. He is a leading expert in Messianic Judaic theology and the founder and director of Ariel Ministries, an organization which prioritizes the evangelization of Jews in an effort to bring them to the view that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah. He lectures and travels widely.

References

  1. ↑ "Meet our New Executive Director, Jews for Jesus Newsletter, July 1996
  2. ↑ Jews for Jesus Hit Town and Find a Tough Crowd, Michael LuǍo, July 4, 2006, The New York Times
  3. ↑ David Brickner, "Elephant in the Room," Christianity Today, May 2004
  4. ↑ Burnett, Louise (September 22, 1980). "Disorderly conduct or free speech? An interview with David Brickner". Christian Legal Society Quarterly. 1 (4): A3.
  5. ↑ Broadway, Bill (March 1, 1997). "Looking at Christian Evangelism From Both Sides; Messianic Jew's Mission Unwelcome In Some Quarters". Washington Post.
  6. ↑ Rosen, Moishe (July 1996). "Meet our New Executive Director". Jews for Jesus . Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Chosen People Missionary Sues Jews For Jesus". The Rosh Pina Project. Archived from the original on 2015-06-10. Retrieved 2013-11-16.
  8. ↑ David Brickner
  9. ↑ "Catholics Called Wrong Not to Evangelize Jews," The Los Angeles Times, September 2, 2002
  10. 1 2 The full transcript Archived 2011-11-05 at the Wayback Machine and audio recording Archived 2011-07-28 at the Wayback Machine of the Aug. 17, 2008 speech is on the Wasilla Bible Church website.
  11. 1 2 Harris, Ben (2008-09-03). "McCain team: Palin rejects views of church's Jews for Jesus speaker". Jewish Journal. Retrieved 2008-09-07., "Palin attended Anti-Jewish sermon given by Jews for Jesus founder 2 weeks ago". Israel e News. 2008-03-09. Archived from the original on 2008-09-06. Retrieved 2008-09-07.
  12. ↑ Pulliam, Sarah (9 September 2008). "Jews for Jesus director defends remarks". Christianity Today. Archived from the original on 7 February 2009. Retrieved 4 September 2009.
  13. ↑ Smith, Ben (2 September 2008). "Jewish voters may be wary of Palin". Politico. Retrieved 4 September 2009.
  14. ↑ "Jews for Jesus Head Defends Speech, by Domenico Montanaro,Sep 9, 2008 http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/09/09/1368740.aspx Archived 2008-09-11 at the Wayback Machine
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.