For some reason, my whole life I've gone back and forth on this. There has been a part of me that has always really wanted to know about things I've missed in the NT because I'm not Jewish, and don't really have a great perspective on what being Jewish in the NT meant to those who lived/wrote it. Furthermore, I'd like to know certain things that seem fine to us, but shouldn't have seemed fine to the NT characters - like baptizing in the name of the Trinity. Where is the Jewish precedent for some of these things? How Jewish was Paul, really? What cultural and Biblical themes am I missing? Does the Transfiguration have any Jewish meaning? Are there any Jewish customs that we see in the Epistles that help explain problem passages, like in Galatians or Revelation?
On the other hand, whenever I look for books on this subject, all I get is Messianic Judaism apologetics, dispensational nonsense, and secular criticism denying any validity to the Gospels. This leads me to think that I should just stick to Calvin and Luther and ignore the Jewish heritage of the Scriptures and just read them as has been interpreted by the Church, and not the faithful in the Old Covenant, since we'd be going backwards not forwards. Something about that seems wrong, but on the other hand, I'm wondering what choice I have.
So is there any benefit to actually learning about the "Jewishness" of the NT and Christ? If so, what is it, what would it look like to reflect that value in our churches while remaining faithful to our tradition and the Scriptures, and are there any books people might point me to that aren't dispensational or MJ? Thanks!
On the other hand, whenever I look for books on this subject, all I get is Messianic Judaism apologetics, dispensational nonsense, and secular criticism denying any validity to the Gospels. This leads me to think that I should just stick to Calvin and Luther and ignore the Jewish heritage of the Scriptures and just read them as has been interpreted by the Church, and not the faithful in the Old Covenant, since we'd be going backwards not forwards. Something about that seems wrong, but on the other hand, I'm wondering what choice I have.
So is there any benefit to actually learning about the "Jewishness" of the NT and Christ? If so, what is it, what would it look like to reflect that value in our churches while remaining faithful to our tradition and the Scriptures, and are there any books people might point me to that aren't dispensational or MJ? Thanks!