Graduate Course Descriptions

Biblical Studies

Torah Living in the Spirit
Beginning from the Pauline teaching in Romans, we will look at how Paul was influenced from the teachings of Yeshua and the perspective later represented in the Synoptic Gospels on Torah living in the Spirit.  We will also look at the new studies that speak about the application of Moses in the New Covenant with regard to universal Torah and specific applications of Torah to Jews.  Then we will survey the rest of the New Covenant Scriptures to see how they speak to this issue.

Isaiah the Prophet and Messiah
“The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy” (Rev. 19:10).  The eighth century prophet Isaiah addressed the backslidden nations of Israel and Judah during the reigns of five kings of Judah to warn them of pending judgment while offering them the hope of an eventual return from Babylonian exile as a fire-refined people that God could use for his divine purposes.  Integral to God’s intentions for Israel and her mission was Israel’s acknowledgement of God’s appointed Anointed One, the Messiah.  The leadership the Jewish Messiah would afford the ultimately yielded holy nation of light-bearing priests would bring the world under the sway of Israel’s prophetic testimony of Jesus and effect global redemption. Isaiah’s Hebrew text is thoroughly investigated to exhibit the heart and purposes of God for Israel and all mankind.

Paul and the Rabbis:  Romans and Galatians
Paul’s two most “Jewish-focused” epistles are examined in terms of their Jewish historical and theological backdrops.   Was Paul an advocate or adversary of Jewish religion, the Torah, and the uniqueness of Israel in God’s plan for the ages, the Missio Dei?  The contemporary implications of these letters in terms of Jewish and Gentile identities in Messiah, the legitimacy or illegitimacy of the perpetuation of ethnic and cultural heritages, and corporate life in the Yeshua-believing community are probed and discussed in depth.

Messianic Charisma:  Luke and Acts
God's own appointed Anointed One, the Messiah Yeshua, walked and talked in the heart of the Jewish communities of Judea and Galilee in the power and demonstration of Holy Spirit anointing.                  That same anointing carried over into the Apostolic Church as the Jewish apostles and myriads of other Messianic Jews walked and talked in the power of the Spirit.  The course analyzes the critical dimension of "walking in" or "being led by" the Holy Spirit and the effect of that anointing upon the quality of the teaching and preaching of the Word and impact upon the larger Jewish communities found in the Gospels and the Book of Acts.  Contemporary applications are made to modern opportunities.

Hebrew Prophets and Yeshua
An analysis of the Messianic hope in ancient Israel treating the primary historic, contextual, theological, and philological issues, as well as dealing with the traditional Jewish interpretation of key Messianic prophecies. Attention will also be paid to the concept of “Messiah” in late Second Temple times, from the Qumran Community, incipient rabbinic literature, and the New Testament writings.

Jewish Studies

The Spectrum of Jewish Religion
This course introduces the student to the broad spectrum of Jewish religious belief and practice as observed through the centuries and into modern times.  An analysis is offered of the impact of cultural history upon Judaism which has led to its constant evolution and innovation.  Modern Jewish dispositions toward Jesus and Christianity are evaluated in light of traditional Jewish, American Jewish, Israeli and contemporary Messianic Jewish faith expressions.

Jewish Cultural History
Jewish culture has developed over the four thousand year process of living in a world that has militated against the perpetuation and survival of Jewish peoplehood seemingly from the time of Abraham until now.  The multiplied threats to Jewish cultural existence have been faced down over the centuries by Jewish creativity combined with cultural borrowing to construct a sustainable Jewish civilization.  This course chronicles and evaluates the history of the development of Jewish culture in terms of Jewish communal life, literature, and the underlying sense of the Jewish mission.

Jewish Thought:  Literature, Mysticism, Philosophy
This course follows the evolution of Jewish intellectual thought as observed in light of cultural developments within the Hebrew Bible, as evidenced in the "alien" life experience in the diaspora (dispersion), the classical sense of religious persecution endured by Jewish masses in the galut (exile) for millennia, and modernist attempts to craft a new Jewish way-of-thinking to suit contemporary agendas.  The Talmud(s), Codes of Law, Kabbalistic writings, and a myriad of Jewish philosophers will be introduced in light of contributions each made to providing structure for sustained Jewish identity.

Avodah:  The Art of Jewish Worship
Traditional, classical and contemporary Jewish forms of worship are scrutinized, utilized and analyzed in this course to evaluate their impact upon the Jewish worship experience.  The course includes a class visit to a highly liturgical synagogue service.  The legitimacy of the usefulness of Hebraic liturgy for Messianic Jewish worship will be considered in view of the New Covenant charismata and the classical objective of utter reliance upon the Spirit in the traditional Pentecostal and Charismatic worship service.

The Oral Law:  Rabbinical Guide for Survival
The historical development of the rabbinic Oral Torah, including the principle transmitters of the Oral Torah in the post-Second Temple centuries, an analysis of the Oral Torah’s treatment of the Written Torah with a discussion of the authority of Oral Torah for rabbinic Judaism, a summary of the contents of the Mishnah and Talmuds, a close reading of selected passages in the Mishnah and Babylonian Talmud with an emphasis on Talmudic reasoning, along with a sampling of selections of haggadic material in the Babylonian Talmud.

Historical/Theological Studies

The Divine Perspective:  God’s Revelation in Scripture
This course combines a perspective on hermeneutical (interpretive) approaches to the Bible with doing theology from a Messianic Jewish perspective.  Revelation is only effective if we agree on the approach of interpretation.  We will examine other approaches and seek to give a case for a specific Messianic Jewish approach.  This will lead to surveying the major issues of theology where a Messianic Jewish approach is truly representative of biblical revelation.

Luke to Luther:  Church History in Messianic Perspective
A study of how Christians from the first-century birth of the Messianic Jewish community to the Reformation perceived the mission of God in the world, conducted Kingdom expansion and dealt with the cultural contexts of ancient Christianity. Schools of biblical interpretation, liturgies, renewal movements, and significant challenges to the integrity of the faith, including Gnosticism, Supersessionism (replacement theology), other major doctrinal disputes, as well as the political, social and cultural dynamics are examined.  The rise of Islam and the Muslim conquests, the Crusades, Spanish Inquisition, and foundational currents for the Reformation are historically evaluated in light of Christian self-understanding and in view of the correlative Jewish experience and response.

Reformation to the Renewal Era in Messianic Perspective
Reformation theology represented a massive change in Christian thought on many fronts, e.g., the interpretation of Christian history and tradition, the role of science and philosophy, hermeneutics and the principles of missions.  This course considers the contributions of key individuals, movements, and issues that have characterized Western Christianity since the sixteenth-century.  Of particular interest in this course is the role of Israel and the Jewish people in Protestant theology and the related Jewish experience in Western Christian society in modern times.

The Eschaton and Messiah’s Second Coming
First century Jewish eschatology was a response to the understanding of the prophets among Pharisees, Essenes and Zealots.  The kingdom teaching of Yeshua was in response to his own Jewish context. This course surveys Yeshua’s teaching on eschatology particularly with regard to the second coming and the meaning of the Kingdom.  The investigation extends to Kingdom understanding in Acts, to Paul’s understanding of the “last days,” and the “mystery” of the Church and to John’s apocalyptic Revelation.  

Defending Jewish Faith and Practice
A historical and topical review of Jewish objections to faith in Jesus as Messiah, including in-depth analyses of: alleged anti-Semitism in the New Testament; the persecution of Jews in Church history; the Holocaust perceived as a Christianity-inspired event; the nature of God (absolute unity vs. tri-unity); the deity of the Messiah; the need for blood atonement; faith vs. works; the New Testament’s alleged misuse of the Hebrew Scriptures; theological issues raised by the New Testament (including the perpetuity or abrogation of the Torah); and the question of the necessity of an Oral Torah.

The Shifting Charismatic Romance with Israel
After nearly 1900 years of effective theological elimination from the divine economy, the importance of Israel rebounded with a fury in American Christian circles with the 20th century birth of Pentecostalism.  Building upon the Puritan, Great Awakening and restorationist theologies, from their earliest days Pentecostals crafted in sermon and print a “Latter Rain” theology establishing a fraternal restorationist link with the growing Zionist enterprise.  This course tracks this phenomenon as well as the shifting romance with Israel characteristic of the Pentecostal and Charismatic Renewal movements throughout the 20th century as Israel’s fortunes improved or declined.

Jewish-Christian Symbiosis:  Between the Advents
This course examines the flash points where Jewish and Christian social and religious cultural histories have touched for good or ill.  Investigation into the historic bridges between classical Jewish and Christian camps will be viewed in light of historical theologies and social impact.  Discussions will include how this ongoing symbiosis may instruct the modern Messianic Movement in light of contemporary relations with Judaism and Christianity and, in particular, with the Evangelical and Charismatic/Pentecostal communities.

Messianic Ministry and Leadership

Leading Messianic Congregations in the Jewish Mission
This course examines the qualifications for leadership in a Messianic Jewish context and includes an assessment of the vision and goals of a Messianic congregation and the leadership necessary to fulfill those goals.  The course ranges from the leader’s devotional life, his marriage and family, his ability to inspire and bring conviction for commitment to the community and more.  The shepherd’s role as teacher, preacher, disciple-maker, healer, bringer of justice in community, and administrator are evaluated. The importance of discipleship and the gifts of the Spirit in small groups are emphasized.

Reaching “All Israel” with Yeshua
Appealing to the Jewish people as a sociological unit enables modern Jewish ministries to employ the missiological sciences to efforts at winning “All Israel” to Yeshua.  Rather than merely reaching people on the peripheral edge of Jewish community life, contemporary outreach should seek to foster a widespread and mainstream Jewish people movement toward Yeshua.  The issues of modern Jewish life, the perceptions of hazard or threat to Jewish survival whether political, militaristic, or social aloofness as chief sources of potential social destruction, all need to be factored into Messianic and Christian group efforts to impact the whole House of Israel with the Gospel.  Approaches old and new are evaluated with a view to evangelistic success.                       

Confronting the Challenges of Anti-Semitism:  Old and New
Contemporary expressions of anti-Semitism are resounding the old and familiar themes of those with anti-Jewish, anti-Zion and anti-Judaism agendas.  After examining the tragic history of the old classical anti-Semitism, the course explores the "new" anti-Semitism to discover really what makes it "new" or "different."  Identification of the new anti-Semites and particular "hot spots" and incidents will be evaluated.  Ways and means of combating 21st century anti-Jewish sentiments from a Messianic and biblical perspective are discussed.