Was Jesus Christ a Jew?
According to the Christian scriptures, Jesus was raised as a Jew and engaged in the religious practices of Judaism. But as a self-appointed rabbi, he also interpreted the Jewish scriptures in ways that were at odds with the leading religious authorities of his day, the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Jesus was a Jew like Martin Luther was a Catholic, or perhaps like a Samaritan is a Jew. At some point, differences in doctrines and practices become too great to maintain the illusion of unity. If Jesus did all that Christians claim he did, he must be considered an apostate Jew, which effectively means former Jew. When only one person is “right” and everyone else is “wrong”, the question arises: who is “rejecting” whom?
