Undergraduate Course Descriptions

Biblical Studies

Torah of Moses and Messiah
The course Torah of Moses and Messiah seeks to answer the essential question of how the coming of the Messiah changes our relationship to Torah.  How does it now apply in the New Covenant Order. The teaching of Yeshua will be the foundation of answering this question of application.  We will also take time to use the principles we discover to applying Torah in the present Age.

Isaiah the Prophet and Messiah
The most prolific of all the Hebrew prophets, Isaiah offers tremendous insight into the mind and plan of God for his chosen people and the nations they were chosen to enlighten.  The sixty-six chapters of Isaiah are studied in this course in terms of their historical time frame, their content and ancient message, as well as their contemporary significance to Israel and all peoples in the last days.

Paul and the Jewish Mission:  Romans and Galatians
An examination of the theological issues Romans and Galatians with special emphasis on Paul’s Jewish understanding of law and grace, sanctification, the role of faith, the nature of salvation, all against the backdrop of Paul’s view of Jews and first-century Judaism.   The course explores what Paul considered to be the ultimate purpose for the Chosen People and just what was the “Jewish Mission” to be accomplished in the time and space of salvation history.  The contemporary relevance of these letters for modern Jewish life and outreach (kiruv) will also be discussed.

Messianic Beginnings:  Luke and Acts
This course carefully examines Luke's two New Covenant texts.  There is no mistaking the wholehearted embrace Yeshua received by the Jewish masses as "the common people heard him gladly."  The anointing that rested on Him was conspicuous to the Jewish populace who ate His words and drank in His presence as they followed Yeshua along dusty trails, past the small villages, and into the green valleys alike.  The Book of Acts witnesses to this continued Messianic appeal of Yeshua to the Jewish people so that tens of thousands fully embraced Messianic Faith.  The anointed proclamation of the Word near the Temple grounds or in local synagogues was compelling as "signs, wonders and miracles" confirmed their Messianic testimony.  What are the implications of this biblical reality to modern Spirit-filled Messianic believers who are eager to reach "All Israel" with the revelation of God's love in Yeshua?

Messianic Prophecy
A comprehensive treatment of Messianic prophecy as traced through the Hebrew Scriptures, emphasizing the development of the Messianic hope in Israel, the royal and priestly streams of Messianic prophecy, principles for interpreting Messianic prophecy, and discussion of the New Testament’s usage of the prophetic scriptures of the Tanakh.

Jewish Studies

Introduction to Judaism
Student initiation to Jewish religion as first issued in Hebrew Scripture and historically passed down to the present era.  This course offers exposure to Jewish rites of passage, holy day celebrations, dietary, hygiene, and social interaction guidelines, while rabbinical codes for ethics and behaviors are observed in actual religious practice.   Contemporary groups within the rubric of Judaism are studied in keeping with modern critical Jewish issues.

History of the Jewish People
This course traces the last 2000 years of Jewish cultural development during which Diaspora Jewry were continually influenced by the non-Jewish societies with whom they coexisted.  The ever-evolving social and cultural mechanisms mandated by the Jewish religio-cultural sense of mission to survive as a distinct people group are observed.  Rabbinic codes, jurisprudence, and corresponding folklore are demonstrated to have Jewish cultural survival as their prime inspiration and chief accomplishment.

Jewish Worldview
This course focuses upon what Raphael Patai called "the Jewish Mind."  What is the classical reality the Jewish world has faced that often makes "reality" appear so differently to Jewish people as to Christians? How have the social and religious Jewish experiences over the ages, including legal and illegal abuses of the Jewish people, combined with genuinely redemptive life opportunities to create a uniquely "Jewish view" of reality?  The course analyzes the fabric of "the Jewish" worldview or understanding of truth.

Jewish Worship:  History and Practice
This course familiarizes the student with the historical sources and development of Hebrew worship and liturgy from Temple times to the present.  Exposure to the biblical portions alongside the prose, poetry, and narrative included in Jewish liturgy will be viewed in light of their biblical consistency, their impact upon social cohesiveness, and most importantly, their effect upon genuine worship of the God of Israel in Messianic life and practice.

Introduction to Talmud
An introduction to the rabbinic concept of the Oral Torah, with special emphasis on the foundational rabbinic documents (namely, Mishnah and Talmud), giving an overview of the Six Orders of the Mishnah and Talmud, the historical development of the two Talmuds (Babylonian and Jerusalem), and some of the key concepts of rabbinic literature. This course will also provide an overview of the main categories of Oral Torah (halakha and haggadah) and a summary of the major books developed in each category.

Historical/Theological Studies

Messianic Jewish Theology
What is Messianic Jewish Theology?  How is it different from most of the influential Christian theologies of today, including Covenant, Dispensational, Dialectical and Liberal?  We will especially seek to develop a hermeneutic (interpretive approach) to the Bible that coheres with the Bible’s own self description.  We will from this build up a theology of the Mosaic Torah, the Prophets, the Synoptics, John, Acts, Paul, and the general epistles with an emphasis on how Messianic Jewish theology speaks to salvation, law and grace, Israel’s election, the Church and Eschatology.  

Church History in Messianic Perspective I
The birth of Messianic Jewish Faith in the milieu of first-century Judaism in Eretz-Israel (Land of Israel) is viewed in light of the Hebraic character of the New Testament in contrast to the Hellenization of the Church and corresponding New Testament  interpretation as offered by Church Fathers in succeeding centuries.  The consequences of divorcing the Church from its Jewish roots is clear from the theological chaos which followed.  This course tracks the development of Church history and historical theology up to the period of the Reformation while pointing up the corresponding ramifications of those developments to the Jewish world.

Church History in Messianic Perspective II
What gave rise to the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth-century and how did it impact Western Christian society and Christian relations with the Jewish people?  An analysis of Christian theological contributions for the past 500 years enable student perspective to develop on Christian faith impact upon the behavioral patterns between Christians and Christians as well as between Jews and Christians.  The course tracks Christian historical, literary and social developments from the Reformation in Europe, through the Puritan period in worlds old and new, on through the great revivals of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries.

Eschatology in Messianic Jewish Perspective
Eschatology is the study of the last things.  With the new consensus on the meaning of the Kingdom of God and the Gospel of the Kingdom as “already not yet,” the Gospels are seen as an eschatological apologetic for the view that the Kingdom came with the coming of Yeshua and is yet coming.  This is an apologetic arising out of the synoptic materials in a Jewish context of controversy. The course explores how history develops toward a glorious conclusion that includes the salvation of Israel and the nations, the second coming, and the Age to come.  Fulfillment of prophecy with regard to Israel is a significant emphasis.

Messianic Apologetics
A response to the principle Jewish objections to the Messianic credentials of Jesus of Nazareth, including general objections, historical objections, theological objections, Messianic prophecy objections, New Testament objections, and traditional Jewish objections. The course will seek to sensitize the students to the reasoning behind the objections along with equipping the students with reasonable, literate, and biblical responses.

Christian Commitment to Israel and Winds of Change
Since the time of the Reformation, Christianity has been gradually making its way back to appreciation for its Jewish heritage and relationship with the Jewish people.  The twentieth-century witnessed the phenomenon of the worst event in Jewish history, the Shoah, immediately preceding the bright star of hope for "All Israel," the re-establishment of the Jewish State in 1948.  Spirit-filled Christians have been exuberant with Israel's national restoration and have longed for the Jewish people's group spiritual awakening to Yeshua.  Yet there have been voices and forces in the Christian camp that speak or write disparagingly of the Jewish world or offer stiffened or passive silence on the Jews when God has encouraged universal blessing of the Chosen People.  The course follows these historical developments and seeks to identify biblical remedy.

History of Jewish-Christian Relations
This course deals with the History of Jewish-Christian Relations for the first century until the modern era.  Unhappy seasons in the relationship will be examined but the real contributions each religion has made to the other will also be recognized.  Particular emphasis is given to the influential teachings impacting Jewish Christians Relations over the centuries including that of Paul, Augustine, and Luther on the one hand, and Rabbinism, Talmud, and the philosophy of  "Jewish Peoplehood" on the other.

Messianic Ministry and Leadership

Principles of Messianic Congregational Leadership
This course examines what is a New Covenant Congregation, what is a Messianic Jewish Congregation, and how leadership sets vision and goals for implementation.  It considers the role of pastoral leadership, the raising up of qualified leaders, chavurah groups, the operation of the gifts of the Spirit, and establishing patterns for worship and discipleship as well as important questions of congregational discipline.

Principles of Jewish Evangelism and Missions
Reaching the “Jew first” has always been a key to reaching the world with the Good News of Yeshua.  This course explores this often neglected missiological principle and recognizes why the time is now “to favor Zion.”  The landscape of modern Jewish beliefs and worldview, including Jewish understandings of God, the Scriptures, Jewish identity and the perpetuation of Jewish peoplehood are all probed.  The how of all that is Jewish relates to the Messiah Yeshua and Christianity is carefully weighed.  Strategies are studied and explored as to the most meaningful ways and means of impacting the Jewish people with the Gospel.

The Struggle against Classical Anti-Semitism
The nemesis to the Jewish experience is the perpetual battle against anti-Jewish sentiments in a world posed to defy God's purposes for "All Israel."  The traditional and historical sources of anti-Semitism, the most tragic among historical anti-Jewish episodes, and the insipient nature of late western anti-Semitic attitudes compared with overt antipathies from multiplied sources in the world today are all observed.  Finally, the course questions what pragmatic actions might Messianics or Christians take in today's world to resist such evil.