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How the Life of Gentile Believer CS Lewis Honored Jews
On one of my office walls hang the pictures of eight Messianic Jewish Luminaries and, below them, is one lone picture of C.S. Lewis.
People who come into my office often ask, "Who is that?" Although many people don't know what he looked like, every time I tell them who it is, a smile comes across their faces.
I have loved the writings of C.S. Lewis since I was a small child at Christian summer camp. One of the activities we had was story time when a counselor would read one of the Chronicles of Narnia books to us. It wasn't long after that that I read the entire series myself. When I got older, I read more of his theological stuff such as Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters. He is one of my favorite writers of all time and always seemed to communicate with such ease and grace.
While most believers are familiar with his works on some level, very few people know about his Jewish wife and the impact she had upon him. Joy Davidman Gresham was Lewis' second wife, his first having passed away from dementia. Joy was of Jewish descent and had come to believe in Messiah after being an atheist for most of her life. Lewis wrote of her:
"In a sense the converted Jew is the only normal human being in the world. To him, in the first instance, the promises were made, and he has availed himself of them. He calls Abraham his father by hereditary right as well as by divine courtesy. He has taken the whole syllabus in order, as it was set; eaten the dinner according to the menu. Everyone else is, from one point of view, a special case, dealt with under emergency regulations ... we christened gentiles, are after all the graft, the wild vine, possessing 'joys not promised to our birth'; though perhaps we do not think of this so often as we might" (foreward to Smoke on the Mountain).
While I balk a bit at the expression "converted Jew," we must remember the time in which C.S. Lewis lived and wrote. From that perspective the respect and honor that he gives the Jewish people is profound and progressive and his words about Gentiles are sobering and certainly in line with the apostle Paul's warning, "Do not boast against the branches. If you boast, remember you do not sustain the root, but the root sustains you" (Rom. 11:18).
He expresses a similar sentiment while commenting on the gospel story of the Syrophoenician woman:
"I think to myself that the shocking reply to the Syrophoenician woman (it came alright in the end) is to remind all us Gentile Christians—who forget it easily enough or flirt with anti-Semitism—that the Hebrews are spiritually senior to us, that God did entrust the descendants of Abraham with the first revelation of Himself" (The Quotable Lewis, 348)
After Joy passed away from cancer, Lewis continued to raise her two boys, Douglas and David. While Douglas would go on to become a follower of Messiah like his mother, David became an Orthodox Jew and eventually took up the profession of a schochet (ritual slaughterer).
While he still lived with C.S. Lewis, Lewis would provide him with kosher food, which was no small task in 1950s Oxford, England. This was certainly a testament to Lewis' character and his compassion for the Jewish people.
On Nov. 22, 1963, Lewis passed on into the world of truth. May his writings continue to inspire us all, and may the humility he expressed as a Gentile believer toward the Jewish people be an example to us in the body of Messiah today.
Toby Janicki is a teacher, writer, and project manager for First Fruits of Zion (ffoz.org). He contributes regularly to Messiah Journal and has written several books including God Fearers: Gentiles and the God of Israel. You can reach Toby atoutreach@ffoz.org.
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Recently it was announced that Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize for Literature. In light of this, I thought I would share about the connection between Bob Dylan and Messianic Judaism.
For many years the background (or "wallpaper") on my computer's desktop screen was a blurry picture of a man in desperate need of a haircut, wearing tefillin [worn by Jewish men during daily prayers]. People often say, "Cool picture, but who is that?" When I tell that it's Bob Dylan at the Western Wall attending his son's bar mitzvah, I get a mixture of reactions that range from "I didn't know he was Jewish" to "Who's Bob Dylan?"
I was first introduced to Bob Dylan at, of all places, a Christian summer camp. Although I was too young to realize the impact Dylan had had on the culture and politics of the 1960s, I thoroughly enjoyed his anthemic songs such as "The Times They Are A-Changin'" and "Blowing in the Wind."
When I got home from camp. I was pleased to find a few of Bob Dylan's records among my father's record collection, but what surprised me the most was the gospel album entitled "Slow Train Coming." Unbeknownst to me, Dylan had produced three gospel albums from 1979 to 1981 after a born-again experience through which he said Jesus came and visited him personally. I immediately wondered whether he was still a believer.
Along the way I found the book Restless Pilgrim: The Spiritual Journey of Bob Dylan, coincidentally at my father's house. In it, the author describes a man who has often been misunderstood on his biblical faith journey. The entertainment business would not accept the fact that their cultural icon had become a believer in Messiah Jesus.
While Dylan preached to his crowds in 1979 about the need to repent and turn to the Lord, it was him that fans and critics viewed as Judas. It is not surprising that after only three gospel albums, which included three years of relentless persecution from the media, Bob Dylan hid his face from the public eye. Author Scott Marshall writes in his book of these years:
Perhaps the second verse of Dylan's 1962 song, "Mixed-Up Confusion," best summarizes the situation: "Well, there's too many people/And they're all too hard to please."
Yet besides the newspaper critics and the fans, probably the biggest obstacle that Bob Dylan faced was trying to be a believer in Jesus and still actively practice his Jewish roots. As difficult as this is for Jewish people today, it was even harder in the early 1980s. To most people it was either belief in Jesus or Judaism:
Seemingly, every foray into the Jewish arena is interpreted as flat-out return to Judaism, a renunciation of the truth of Jesus Christ that he confessed more than two decades ago.
Here's a great example of this apparent dichotomy. In the fall of 2001, Dylan spent the holiest day of the year, Yom Kippur, at an Orthodox synagogue in Encino, California. Then he began his tour in early 2002 with the overt gospel tune "Hallelujah, I'm Ready to Go," a song that speaks of a "wonderful Savior to know." The next night he opened with the song "I Am the Man, Thomas." This song covers the story where the Jesus reveals Himself to a doubting Thomas and declares:
"Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen, and have yet believed" (John 20:29)
For Dylan, it was not an either/or scenario between Judaism and Christianity. He was comfortable with a world that drew from both.
As I read the story of Dylan's spiritual life, I began to appreciate him more and more. I saw a man who struggled with his identity much as we do today—stuck in between Christianity and Judaism. As with Dylan, many misinterpret the actions of those in Messianic Judaism as either too Jewish or too Christian.
For me, in Dylan's words I often find the heartbeat of a man who at times seems to know the Master better than I do:
"Even so, as far ahead of the pack as Dylan traveled, there's something almost first-century about him. It's not hard to imagine Bob Dylan sitting under the teaching of the Master on a Palestine hillside, listening attentively, questioning respectfully, analyzing thoughtfully. Could it be that this is where Dylan has been getting his insights all along?"
Over the years, Dylan has continued to infuse the biblical text into his songs. It is estimated that between 1979 and 1990, 67 out of the 80 songs he wrote contained allusions to the Bible. As a person, Jesus Himself was not known to answer questions in a straightforward manner.
So too, with Dylan, who dodges them left and right. He has developed it into such an art that any imitation of this style is often labeled "dylanesque." It seems the only way to find out what's in his head is to listen to his music:
If it's really all right there in the music, then Bob Dylan is without a doubt a man who continues to express faith in Jesus while holding on to his Jewish heritage.
Toby Janicki is a teacher, writer and project manager for First Fruits of Zion (ffoz.org). He contributes regularly to Messiah Journal and has written several books including God Fearers: Gentiles and the God of Israel. You can reach Toby atoutreach@ffoz.org.
3 Reasons Why you should read Life in the Spirit. 1) Get to know the Holy Spirit. 2) Learn to enter God's presence 3) Hear God's voice clearly! Go deeper!
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With Rosh HaShanah and the beginning of the High Holidays only a few days away, I thought I would review some of my material on this from the perspective of a Christ follower.
It should be of no shock that the early believers, both Jew and Gentile, celebrated the festivals of Israel even after coming to Messiah. This included the celebration of Rosh HaShanah and fasting on Yom Kippur.
Yom Kippur is to Judaism what Christmas is to Christianity; just as many Christians go to church on Christmas—even if they never enter a church throughout the rest of the year—so too, most Jews fast on Yom Kippur and attend synagogue services. It is a cultural and spiritual landmark. Not surprisingly then, we find a passing reference to this fast in the book of Acts:
"Now when much time had been spent, and sailing was now dangerous because the Fast was already over, Paul advised them, saying, "Men, I perceive that this voyage will be with disaster and much loss, not only of the cargo and ship, but also our lives"(Acts 27:9–10, NKJV).
"The Fast" referenced here is Yom Kippur. Daniel Stökl Ben Ezra assumes that Luke would not have used the term "the Fast" as a calendaric reference unless he himself was keeping the fast and assumed that his readers were as well:
I cannot help but draw the conclusion that Luke himself and his implied readers observed Yom Kippur. Why else would Luke use a "Jewish calendaric reference for a secular problem?" He clearly presumes that his readers will understand what he is referring to.
Scholars speculate that the readers of Acts were Gentiles like Luke himself. In order for Luke's readers to understand such a passing reference, they must have been observing Yom Kippur. Indirect evidence can be found in the book of Revelation.
The book of Revelation is packed with allusions to the rituals and themes of the high holidays. The apocalyptic imagery—the day of judgment, the books of judgment, the blast of trumpets, the Temple scenes, and so forth—are all borrowed directly from the traditional observance of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. John addressed the book of Revelation to seven communities in Asia Minor, constituted predominantly of Gentiles.
If those communities were not celebrating the high holidays along with the Jewish community, they would have been ill-prepared to decipher the book of Revelation, just as the church is today. Records of Gentile believers celebrating Yom Kippur appear in later church literature. The late second-century Epistle to Diognetus rails against Christians who observe Jewish laws such as "the Fast." Origen mentions Christians fasting on Yom Kippur:
Whence also we must say something now to those who think that in virtue of the commandments of the Law they must practice the fast of the Jews (Homily on Leviticus 12:2 [Barkley]).
He mentions another case, again involving Caesarean Christians, in his Homilies on Jeremiah, proving that this is not an isolated instance; there must have been at least several groups of Gentile Christians in the third century still celebrating this major feast day of Judaism. In the late fourth century, John Chrysostom is still denouncing those who "join the Jews in keeping their festivals and observing their fasts."
Further witness to this phenomenon can be found in the fifth-century medieval church practice of the Fast of the Seventh Month. This fast formed part of the Ember Days and was one of the most solemn days of the church's liturgical year. Scholars see this fast as the result of the Christianization of Yom Kippur.
In other words, because many Christian Gentiles were celebrating Yom Kippur, as the church began to split from Judaism, Christianity slowly transformed it into a solely Christian fast in the month of September. This is similar to the transformation of Passover into Easter.
The fifth-century theologian and pope Leo the Great wrote: "We proclaim the holy Fast of the Seventh Month, dearly-beloved, for the exercise of common devotions, confidently inciting you with fatherly exhortations to make Christian by your observance that which was formerly Jewish" (Sermon 90:1).
In this we once again see that many Gentile believers celebrated Yom Kippur, so much so that it remained even after the parting of the ways began to take place between Judaism and Christianity.
Toby Janicki is a teacher, writer, and project manager for First Fruits of Zion(ffoz.org). He contributes regularly to Messiah Journal and has written several books including God Fearers: Gentiles and the God of Israel.
It's often said, "There is only one race—the human race." While the phrase has become almost cliché in repetition, it happens to be 100 percent accurate, both scientifically and theologically speaking.
From Ferguson to Baltimore, Tulsa to Charlotte—and on college campuses from coast-to-coast—a great divide is sweeping America. It is fueled largely, if not entirely, by half-truths and outright lies. Truth is irrelevant. Only the narrative matters. When "Hands Up Don't Shoot™" can do so very much to further "the cause," it matters not that it represents a holocaust-denial-level of detachment from reality.
Which tells you everything you need to know about the cause.
This is by design. These embers of racial division are purposely fanned to a red-hot flame by certain political leaders, "social justice" warriors and "community organizers"—cut principally from the same ideological cloth—in order to permanently ingrain a turbulent level of cultural division based solely upon the varying shades of people's skin. This, in turn, is intended to provoke widespread governmental dependency and, thus, one-party political control in perpetuity.
Yet, even at its core the idea of racial division—of race itself—is a myth. To sub-divide humanity based upon nothing more than varying levels of skin pigmentation is to rely upon the weakest of genetic markers.
And "race" really does signify nothing more than skin color.
Science dispels the Myth of 'Race'
In a Feb. 5 Scientific Americanarticle titled, "Race Is a Social Construct, Scientists Argue," journalist Megan Gannon writes, "Today, the mainstream belief among scientists is that race is a social construct without biological meaning. And yet, you might still open a study on genetics in a major scientific journal and find categories like 'white' and 'black' being used as biological variables."
"In an article published today (Feb. 4) in the journal Science," continues Gannon, "four scholars say racial categories are weak proxies for genetic diversity and need to be phased out."
"It's a concept we think is too crude to provide useful information. It's a concept that has social meaning that interferes in the scientific understanding of human genetic diversity, and it's a concept that we are not the first to call upon moving away from," notes Michael Yudell, professor of public health at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Under the latest genetic research, race is "understood to be a poorly defined marker of that diversity and an imprecise proxy for the relationship between ancestry and genetics," he adds.
While not directly involved with the research, Dr. Svante Pääbo, a biologist and director of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany, agrees wholeheartedly with its findings. "What the study of complete genomes from different parts of the world has shown is that even between Africa and Europe, for example, there is not a single absolute genetic difference, meaning no single variant where all Africans have one variant and all Europeans another one, even when recent migration is disregarded."
Still, as the researchers likewise note, "Assumptions about genetic differences between people of different races have had obvious social and historical repercussions." Indeed, there are those on both extremes of the political spectrum with a vested interest in making sure these social and historical repercussions remain as inflamed and catastrophic as possible.
"Race" is a divisive means to a selfish political end.
It is not a scientific reality.
God's Final Word on 'Race'
We love labels. We love to pit people against one another and lump them into neat, fixed little categories of put-upons, most often based upon outward appearances: black vs. white; Hispanic vs. Asian; tall vs. short; skinny vs. fat; old vs. young; abled vs. disabled, and so on.
Yet these divisions are artificial. They're man-made. Every human being is created by a holy God, in His image and likeness, and imbued by Him with infinite worth and import. There is only one true and transcendent physical division, and that division was both created and intended by God to become reconciled as one flesh through the holy bonds of marriage—this, to propagate the human race: "So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them" (Gen. 1:27).
Male and female. The XY and the XX. Immutable distinctions with a beautiful and bountiful difference. That's it. All other physical divisions, especially racial divisions, remain artificial.
Our bodies, you see, are merely outward shells. As the great Scottish author and theologian George MacDonald once wrote, "Never tell a child 'you have a soul.' Teach him, 'you are a soul; you have a body.'"
We are souls. We have a body—an outward shell or "Earth suit" as one of my favorite professors used to say. Why on God's Earth are we so deceived to believe that we must separate ourselves and hate one another based upon superficial, almost cosmetic outward appearances?
"Now I urge you, brothers, to closely watch those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the teaching which you have learned, and avoid them" (Rom. 16:17).
To be sure, Christ Jesus alone can dissolve these divisions. "For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is generous toward all who call upon Him" (Rom. 10:12).
These are not financial riches, but riches of love, life, spirit and salvation.
As a man with an Italian wife, a black sister-in-law, a Filipino uncle and biologically-related half Filipino cousins, a step-grandmother who illegally immigrated from Mexico, biologically-related half Mexican aunts and uncles, and dozens of foster brothers and sisters from across the globe, I have learned firsthand throughout my life that "race" is truly meaningless—it's less than skin deep.
Until we learn this as a nation, we will remain a nation divided.
Yes, love is the answer. "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another" (John 13:34).
There is no political fix to this problem.
It's a spiritual problem, requiring a spiritual fix.
And His name is Jesus.
3 Reasons Why you should read Life in the Spirit. 1) Get to know the Holy Spirit. 2) Learn to enter God's presence 3) Hear God's voice clearly! Go deeper!
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The Shema is universal. It applies to Jews and Christ followers. (Flickr )
What the Universal Shema Represents to Christians, Messianics
Deuteronomy 6:4 is one of the most important prayers in Judaism: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God. The LORD is one."
Known as the Shema, from the first word "hear" (שמע), it is a declaration that the LORD is Israel's God alone, that He is their King, and that they will listen and obey His voice. It is said twice a day in the daily services of the synagogue and it is also the last prayer said upon dying. Many Jewish martyrs breathed their last breath while uttering this declaration of faith.
In Jewish thought, the Shema also represents the hiddenness of God in the world. How so? The prayer is Israel-centric. It is not "Hear, O nations," but "Hear, O Israel." It is a declaration that the LORD is the God of Israel. It's not saying that He's not the God of the whole Earth, but that's not the focus of the prayer. In that sense, it represents the current state of exile, where God has revealed Himself to Israel but not to every nation on the Earth.
The good news is that this revelation of God is coming in the future. In the Messianic Era, Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) will return, and the knowledge of God will flood the Earth. Habakkuk tells us: "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea" (2:14). In that day everyone will know the God of Israel. This knowledge began spreading when Yeshua extended the message of the gospel to the Gentile nations but it will not be fulfilled in its entirety until He returns.
So is there a universal Shema? Rashi (the great medieval Jewish Bible commentator) commenting on Deuteronomy 6:4 writes:
"The Lord is our God; the Lord is one:" The Lord, who is now our God and not the God of the other nations—He will be [declared] in the future "the one God," as it is said: "For then I will restore to the peoples a pure speech that all of them may call on the name of the Lord" (Zeph. 3:9), and it is [also] said: "In that day it will be—'The Lord is one,' and His name is one" (Zech. 14:9).
The full verse from Zechariah 14:9 reads: "And the Lord will be king over all the earth. In that day it will be—'The Lord is one,' and His name is one." This represents the fullness of the Shema message. God is king and He is the one God not only of Israel but of all of the nations on the Earth.
For now, the Jewish people and those who join them recite a truncated version of this promise. We recognize that in this era God revealed Himself to the Jewish people and it is through them that the knowledge of God is spreading over the whole Earth. This will then be culminated in the Messianic Era when the LORD will be the one God of the Earth, He will be king over all, and all will obey His voice.
It is therefore interesting that Zechariah 14:9 is recited three times a day in the synagogue toward the end of each service at the end of a prayer called the Aleinu ("It is our duty," עלינו). The second half of the Aleinu prayer focuses on the kingdom when all nations will bow before God and worship Him alone:
Therefore, we will hope in You, O LORD our God, to see quickly the majesty of Your strength, to cause idolatry to pass from the earth, and the idols will be utterly cut down, to repair the world in the kingdom of Shaddai. And all humankind will call on Your name, to cause all the wicked ones of the earth to turn to You. All of the world's inhabitants will recognize and know that to You, every knee will bow and every tongue will swear allegiance (Is. 45:23).
Before You, O LORD, our God, they will bend their knees and fall, and they will give glory to Your precious name. They will all receive the yoke of Your kingdom, and You will reign over them, quickly, forever and ever. For the Kingdom is Yours, and forever and ever You will reign gloriously, as it is written in Your Torah: "The LORD will reign forever and ever!" (Ex. 15:18). And it is said: "And the LORD will be king over all the earth. In that day it will be—'The Lord is one,' and His name is one" (Zech. 14:9).
In my mind then, the daily prayer services in the morning (called "Shacharit") and the evening (called Ma'ariv) become a picture of the story of redemption. The Shema, recited early in the service, represents God's original revelation of Himself at Mount Sinai to the Jewish people, while the Aleinu, recited at the end of the service, represents the final revelation of the LORD to the whole in the kingdom of heaven. May it be soon and in our days!
Toby Janickiis a teacher, writer, and project manager for First Fruits of Zion –www.ffoz.org. He contributes regularly toMessiah Journaland has written several books includingGod Fearers: Gentiles and the God of Israel.
3 Reasons Why you should read Life in the Spirit. 1) Get to know the Holy Spirit. 2) Learn to enter God's presence 3) Hear God's voice clearly! Go deeper!
Has God called you to be a leader? Ministry Today magazine is the source that Christian leaders who want to serve with passion and purpose turn to. Subscribe now and receive a free leadership book.
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