The Nicene Creed of 325 ended with only one phrase on the Holy Spirit: [We believe] “in the Holy Spirit.” Due to the issue of Marcionism, the bishops at Constantinople in 381 added a new section on the Spirit, which included the words “who has spoken through the prophets.” Why was this necessary, and what…
The Rev. Dr. Gerald McDermott serves as Distinguished Professor of Theology at Jerusalem Seminary, priest-in-residence at Holy Cross Anglican Church in Crozet, VA, author of Israel Matters, and editor of The New Christian Zionism and Understanding the Jewish Roots of Christianity. Read more from Gerald at his Patheos blog.
Did Jesus Reject the Land Promise?
This article is part of a series on Jesus the Jewish Messiah by Gerald McDermott. Click here to view other articles in this series. In Luke 21:24, Jesus prophesied that one day Jews would have sovereignty over the land of Israel. They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all…
Jesus and the Jewish Covenant
This article is part of a series on Jesus the Jewish Messiah by Gerald McDermott. Click here to view other articles in this series. Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and will be given to a nation producing the fruit of it. (Matthew 21:43) Did Jesus…
Did Jesus Reject the Temple?
This article is part of a series on Jesus the Jewish Messiah by Gerald McDermott. Click here to view other articles in this series. He who swears by the temple swears by it and by Him who dwells in it. (Matthew 23:21) It has been something of a Christian consensus that Jesus rejected the temple…
Jesus and Jerusalem
This article is part of a series on Jesus the Jewish Messiah by Gerald McDermott. Click here to view other articles in this series. Then the devil took Jesus to the holy city. (Matthew 4:5) As I have written in previous posts in this series, it was only a few decades ago that I started to…
Jesus and the Jewish Commission
This article is part of a series on Jesus the Jewish Messiah by Gerald McDermott. Click here to view other articles in this series. Jesus sent off the Twelve after commanding them, saying, “Don’t take the road for the Gentiles and the city of the Samaritans. Keep on going instead to the lost sheep of…
Jesus and Leviticus
This article is part of a series on Jesus the Jewish Messiah by Gerald McDermott. Click here to view other articles in this series. Go and show yourself to the priest and bring the offering which Moses commanded (Matthew 8:4, alluding to Leviticus 14:21). In a previous article, I wrote that Leviticus is the book most…
Jesus and the Jewish Sects
This article is part of a series on Jesus the Jewish Messiah by Gerald McDermott. Click here to view other articles in this series. The scribes and the Pharisees have been sitting on Moses’ seat. Therefore practice and protect everything they tell you, but don’t practice their works (Matthew 23:2-3). Most Anglicans know that there…
Did Jesus Wear Tassels?
The men of that region recognized him and sent out to all the country nearby and brought to him all those who were sick. They begged him that they might touch merely the tassels of his garment. And all those who touched it were healed (Matthew 14:35-36). Why would Gentiles in what is now Jordan…
Did Jesus Reject the Jewish law?
This article is part of a series on Jesus the Jewish Messiah by Gerald McDermott. Click here to view other articles in this series. I have not come to abolish but to fulfill (Matthew 5:17). In his 1526 lectures on Jonah, Martin Luther taught that Jesus attacked Judaism and “abolished the Law through His Holy…
Holy Saturday and the Easter Vigil: A Collect Reflection
Holy Saturday O God, Creator of heaven and earth: Grant that, as the crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb and rested on this holy Sabbath, so we may await with him the coming of the third day, and rise with him to newness of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen….
How to Avoid the Deadly Sin of Gluttony this Lent
Last week when I was in Egypt a young earnest Anglican asked me how Anglicans fast. I was giving nine lectures on Anglicanism to sixty Egyptian Anglican bishops, priests, deacons, and their wives at a Coptic retreat center outside of Cairo. Bishop Mouneer Anis, bishop of Egypt and leader of the Global South, was my…
