Arnold Fruchtenbaum

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Arnold Genekowitsch Fruchtenbaum (born September 26, 1943) 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.

Contents

Biography

Fruchtenbaum was born on September 26, 1943, in Tobolsk, Tyumen Oblast, Siberia, Russian SFSR to Henry (a photographer) and Adele (Suppes) Fruchtenbaum. [1] Fruchtenbaum's ancestors were leaders in a Hasidic group in Poland. His grandfather was known to have the whole Tanakh memorized in Hebrew by age 18 and had been the one to call the final edict on the debate ruling the consumption of tomatoes as kosher for their community in Poland. [2] After the Nazi invasion of Poland, the Fruchtenbaum family had fled to the Soviet Union, where Fruchtenbaum's father was falsely accused of being a Nazi Spy. Before Fruchtenbaum was born, his Jewish father was released from a communist prison in Siberia. [3] After World War II, the family returned to Poland and lived in the Jewish ghetto (There have never been Jewish ghettos in Poland. Neither before nor after World War II) where Fruchtenbaum had his first encounter with the name of Jesus during an encounter with a mob. [2] In 1947, by means of the Israeli underground who bribed border guards, the family escaped to Czechoslovakia. But then a year later, after the communists seized power in Czechoslovakia, the family posed as Greeks and escaped from behind the Iron Curtain to West Germany. There, the Fruchtenbaums were kept in British Displaced Persons' Camps where Henry Fruchtenbaum taught his son the traditions of Orthodox Judaism and where their family came in contact with a Lutheran minister and his daughter who visited the camp to bring food and clothing. This minister would eventually connect Fruchtenbaum and his mother with the American Board of Missions to the Jews (ABMJ; today, Chosen People Ministries) in New York and greatly influence Fruchtenbaum becoming a Messianic Jew. Fruchtenbaum and the family then moved to New York in 1951 where they lived in a Jewish section of Brooklyn. [4] At age 13, Fruchtenbaum came to believe that Jesus was the Messiah after attending Hebrew-Christian meetings with Chosen People Ministries. But his father opposed Fruchtenbaum's faith and forbade him to read the Bible, attend meetings, or otherwise meet with Messianic Jews. The family moved to Los Angeles in 1958. [3]

In 1962 after being forced to leave the family home because of his faith, Fruchtenbaum began his college education at Shelton College in New Jersey until 1965. He then transferred to Cedarville College in Ohio where he graduated with a BA degree in Hebrew and Greek in 1966. He then moved to Israel where he studied archaeology, ancient history, historical geography, and Hebrew in his graduate studies at the American Institute of Holy Land Studies and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. [5] During this time, he witnessed the Six-Day War in 1967.

Later that year, Fruchtenbaum returned to the U.S. and entered Dallas Theological Seminary to continue his studies in Hebrew and the Old Testament. He also began working as a minister with Chosen People Ministries in Dallas, Texas until 1971. On June 29, 1968, Fruchtenbaum married Mary Ann Morrow, a graduate of Gordon College in Massachusetts. Three years later (1971), he graduated with a Master of Theology degree from Dallas Theological Seminary. He and his wife then moved to Jerusalem, Israel and settled in Jerusalem to work with a local church and train young Israeli Jewish believers for Christian service. Because of their work, however, religious authorities in Jerusalem pressured the Fruchtenbaums to leave after working at the Messianic Assembly for three years in 1973. [3]

During the two years following, Fruchtenbaum served as a minister and as editor of "The Chosen People," a monthly publication with Chosen People Ministries in New Jersey and the same publication that the Lutheran minister shared with him in West Germany. Then in 1976 he joined the staff of The Christian Jew Foundation in San Antonio, Texas as associate director for one year. [6]

Fruchtenbaum originally was of the view that Jewish converts should attempt to integrate with local Gentile congregations, but later came to regard separate Jewish congregations as valid. [7] In Messianic Jewish congregations, Dr. Fruchtenbaum has written, the leader should not have the title 'Rabbi'. [8]

At this time he struggled with the issue of discipleship and perceived a need for biblical and theological training for Jewish Messianic believers. This was discussed with other leaders and this turned into the ideas for Ariel Ministries. In late 1977, Ariel Ministries, based in San Antonio, Texas, was established with the mission to "evangelize and disciple our Jewish brethren." [9] Fruchtenbaum is the founding director of Ariel Ministries and continues in this role and as a speaker at conferences. [6]

He travels internationally throughout Europe, Israel and the United States. This has given him a broad knowledge of the messianic movement. He completed his doctoral dissertation, Israelology: The Missing Link in Systematic Theology at New York University in 1989. [10] Fruchtenbaum has published a number of books and recorded many biblical studies.

Ariel Ministries

Fruchtenbaum is the founder and director of Ariel Ministries. [11] Ariel Ministries was created on December 1, 1977, in San Antonio, Texas to evangelize and disciple Jewish Christians while emphasizing the importance of Bible doctrine and theology. Their name, "Ariel," means "Lion of God" in reference to Messiah Yeshua as the Lion of Judah. [12] Ariel Ministries has branches in Australia, Canada, Germany, Hungary, India, Israel, New Zealand, and the United States and partners with Gafen International and Messiah Comes.

Theology

Fruchtenbaum is a Messianic Jew who believes that the Bible is inspired by the Word of God and is inerrant and is the authority in all things related to faith and practices and all of which it speaks. He believes in the full deity of Jesus Christ.

His theology is largely traditional dispensational with some variation only in detail. The eschatological viewpoint retains a role for Israel and Jewish believers in his view of future theology. [13]

Dispensationalism holds that God is faithful to keep His promises to the Jewish people... Dispensationalism makes the most sense biblically because it takes the Bible literally unless the text indicates otherwise, and that is a safe position to be in.

— Arnold Fruchtenbaum, "Dispensationalism and Covenant Theology: Q & A", Bible Prophecy Blog (July 24, 2010)

Fruchtenbaum continues to teach based on what some call a "Midrashic Hermeneutic", his particular focus is on the Judaic background of the Gospels. [14]

Works

Books

Bible commentary series

Chapters and articles

Systematic theology correspondence courses

Source [28]

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. The Christian God consists of three persons of one essence, with the doctrine of the incarnation of the Son in Jesus being of special importance. Judaism emphasizes the Oneness of God and 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">Gospel of Matthew</span> Book of the New Testament

The Gospel of Matthew is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people but is rejected by them and how, after his resurrection, he sends the disciples to the gentiles instead. Matthew wishes to emphasize that the Jewish tradition should not be lost in a church that was increasingly becoming gentile. The gospel reflects the struggles and conflicts between the evangelist's community and the other Jews, particularly with its sharp criticism of the scribes and Pharisees with the position that through their rejection of Christ, the Kingdom of God has been taken away from them and given instead to the church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judaism</span> Ethnic religion of the Jewish people

Judaism is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion. It comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jewish people, having originated as an organized religion in the Middle East during the Bronze Age. Contemporary Judaism evolved from Yahwism, the cultic religious movement of ancient Israel and Judah, around the 6th/5th century BCE, and is thus considered to be one of the oldest monotheistic religions. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of observing the Mosaic covenant, which was established between God and the Israelites, their ancestors. Jewish religious doctrine encompasses a wide body of texts, practices, theological positions, and forms of organization.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jewish eschatology</span> Area of Jewish theology

Jewish eschatology is the area of Jewish theology concerned with events that will happen in the end of days and related concepts. This includes the ingathering of the exiled diaspora, the coming of the Jewish Messiah, the afterlife, and the resurrection of the dead. In Judaism, the end times are usually called the "end of days", a phrase that appears several times in the Tanakh.

<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> Modern Christian religious movement

Messianic Judaism is a modernist and syncretic movement of Protestant Christianity that incorporates some elements of Judaism and other Jewish traditions into evangelicalism.

<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 Jewish people. 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. However, messiahs were not exclusively Jewish, as the Hebrew Bible refers to Cyrus the Great, king of the first Persian empire, as a messiah for his decree to rebuild the Jerusalem Temple.

Judaism teaches that Jesus of Nazareth was not the Messiah nor "the Son of God". In the Jewish perspective, the way Christians see Jesus goes against monotheism, a belief in the absolute unity and singularity of God, which is central to Judaism; the worship of a person is seen by them as a form of idolatry. Therefore, considering Jesus a deity is forbidden according to Judaism. 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.

Systematic theology, or systematics, is a discipline of Christian theology that formulates an orderly, rational, and coherent account of the doctrines of the Christian faith. It addresses issues such as what the Bible teaches about certain topics or what is true about God and His universe. It also builds on biblical disciplines, church history, as well as biblical and historical theology. Systematic theology shares its systematic tasks with other disciplines such as constructive theology, dogmatics, ethics, apologetics, and philosophy of religion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hebrew Roots</span> Biblical religious movement

The Hebrew Roots movement is a religious movement that advocates adherence to the Torah and believes in Jesus, whom they refer to by the Hebrew name Yeshua, as the Messiah. The movement emphasizes and promotes the belief that the Torah was never abolished by Jesus, but was instead meant to be permanent . However, they do not embrace obedience to the Talmud.

The Messianic Jewish Alliance of America (MJAA) is a Messianic Jewish denomination with roots in the Hebrew Christian movement. Founded in 1915 as the Hebrew Christian Alliance of America, it adopted its present name in 1975. It follows on from the International Hebrew Christian Alliance between the Hebrew Christian Alliance of Great Britain and that of America.

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.

Jon Douglas Levenson is an American Hebrew Bible scholar who is the Albert A. List Professor of Jewish Studies at the Harvard Divinity School.

Second Temple Judaism is the Jewish religion as it developed during the Second Temple period, which began with the construction of the Second Temple around 516 BCE and ended with the Roman siege of Jerusalem in 70 CE.

Daniel C. Juster is an author and advocate of Messianic Judaism. He has served in the Messianic Jewish movement since 1972.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Israel College of the Bible</span>

Israel College of the Bible, also known as ONE FOR ISRAEL Bible College is a private Hebrew-speaking Messianic Bible college in Netanya, Israel. It is an independent academically accredited institution.

References

  1. ↑ "About us > Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum". The Messiah in the Temple. Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2015-12-09.
  2. 1 2 "Finding Messiah: A Hasidic Jew, a Missionary's Daughter, and a Bit of Calvinistic 'Luck'" . Retrieved 2018-10-23.
  3. 1 2 3 "About Dr. Fruchtenbaum". www.ariel.org. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
  4. ↑ Ellis, Mark (31 October 2013). "Finding Messiah: A Hasidic Jew, a Missionary's Daughter, and a Bit of Calvinistic 'Luck'". Christian Post . Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  5. ↑ "Faculty". Pasche Institute. Archived from the original on 2015-12-24. Retrieved 2015-10-08.
  6. 1 2 "Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum, Founder and Director, Ariel Ministries". Archived from the original on 2016-08-24. Retrieved 2016-08-13.
  7. ↑ Gallagher, Eugene V; Ashcraft, W Michael (eds.), "Messianic Judaism", Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America, p. 213
  8. ↑ Stern, David H (1992), Jewish New Testament Commentary, Clarksville, MD: Jewish New Testament Publications, p. 68, ISBN   965-359-008-1 .
  9. ↑ "Intensive Bible Teaching from a Messianic Jewish Perspective | Ariel Ministries". www.ariel.org. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
  10. 1 2 "How Jewish is Christianity" (book page). Zondervan. Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2015-10-08.
  11. ↑ "About Dr. Fruchtenbaum". Ariel Ministries. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  12. ↑ "Ariel Ministries history". Archived from the original on 2019-02-22. Retrieved 2018-11-02.
  13. ↑ Munayer, Salim J.; Loden, Lisa, eds. (2011). The Land Cries Out: Theology of the Land in the Israeli-Palestinian Context. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books. p. 98. ISBN   978-1-6109-7335-9 . Retrieved 2015-12-11.
  14. ↑ Missler, Chuck. "Midrash Hermeneutics". K house. Retrieved 2015-12-11.
  15. ↑ A Passover Haggadah. OCLC   36769511 – via Worldcat.
  16. ↑ Fruchtenbaum, Arnold G. (1970). "Jewishness and Hebrew Christianity". Google Books. Retrieved 2015-12-11.
  17. ↑ Hebrew Christianity. OCLC   1095462 – via Worldcat.
  18. ↑ Jesus was a Jew at Worldcat. OCLC   1206128 – via World cat.
  19. ↑ Biblical Lovemaking. OCLC   12396463 – via Worldcat.
  20. ↑ Footsteps of the Messiah. OCLC   9643104 – via Worldcat.
  21. ↑ Israelology. OCLC   28605283 – via Worldcat.
  22. ↑ Messianic Christology. OCLC   40578053 – via Worldcat.
  23. ↑ A Study Guide of Israel. OCLC   45401666 – via Worldcat.
  24. ↑ The Messianic Jewish Epistles. OCLC   53814334 – via Worldcat.
  25. ↑ Fruchtenbaum, Arnold G. (March 2007). Judges & Ruth. Ariel Ministries. ISBN   9780976525233 . Retrieved 2015-12-11.
  26. ↑ Fruchtenbaum, Arnold G. (2009). The Book of Genesis. Ariel Ministries. ISBN   9781935174004 . Retrieved 2015-12-11.
  27. ↑ "A Biblical Theology of The Church" . Retrieved September 6, 2016.
  28. ↑ "Correspondence Courses - Ariel Ministries". Archived from the original on September 8, 2016. Retrieved September 6, 2016.

Sources

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