Sure seems that it is to me, but curious on other's views.
djmantix:
Paul certainly was. His teachings violated both Judaism and Jesus... bit of a double-whammy there.
Alice:
Multiple reasons. Most organized Messianic Groups are known to be fronts for fundamentalist protestant mission groups. Very VERY few (typically less than 10%) of members can claim to have any valid Jewish ancestry or experience. Most such groups have as a stated goal the conversion of Jews (if they themselves are Jewish... what conversion is there? Such a claim can only be taken as the intent to destroy classical Judaism)
To declare Jesus the Messiah is to call G-D a liar since Jesus did not fulfill the Jewish Messianic prophecies.
In short -- despite the trappings being the same, the theology and culture could not be any more different.
It'd be like a bunch of white guys of purely European descent dancing around a fire and calling themselves Completed Cherokees -- and I would consider that bigoted and racist towards the Cherokee Nation (hence my issue with the Order of the Arrow in Boy Scouts).
djmantix:
Paul certainly was. His teachings violated both Judaism and Jesus... bit of a double-whammy there.
Alice:
Multiple reasons. Most organized Messianic Groups are known to be fronts for fundamentalist protestant mission groups. Very VERY few (typically less than 10%) of members can claim to have any valid Jewish ancestry or experience. Most such groups have as a stated goal the conversion of Jews (if they themselves are Jewish... what conversion is there? Such a claim can only be taken as the intent to destroy classical Judaism)
To declare Jesus the Messiah is to call G-D a liar since Jesus did not fulfill the Jewish Messianic prophecies.
In short -- despite the trappings being the same, the theology and culture could not be any more different.
It'd be like a bunch of white guys of purely European descent dancing around a fire and calling themselves Completed Cherokees -- and I would consider that bigoted and racist towards the Cherokee Nation (hence my issue with the Order of the Arrow in Boy Scouts).