The Rav Shaul Scam - Did Paul Endorse Torah Observance? (Messianic Literary Corner) - Messianic Literary Corner

Introduction

In analyzing the rise of Torah observance in the Messianic Jewish Movement and its popularity among Gentile Christians, we must first take a deep dive into the recent history of this theological disagreement. For years the theological debate among Christian Biblical scholars focused primarily upon the Pauline Epistles and whether they were considered to be truly inspired by God. The debate generally ended in an agreement that Paul’s teachings were inspired by God and the principles of “gracious freedom” remained the standard upon which all teachings must follow. But what if the historical and doctrinal criteria in which Paul was perceived was to be challenged? It seemed like an insurmountable task until certain leaders within the Messianic Jewish Movement created a new identity for Paul as that of “Rav Shaul” embracing Torah observance among both Jewish and Gentile believer alike.

The Smoking Gun

The task of challenging the historicity of a "Torah Observant Rav Shaul” (Paul) is not very difficult, given that prior to the late 1980s there were only two opposed theological camps regarding Pauline teachings; Those that believed the Pauline gospels to be divinely inspired and those that considered Paul a heretic and his teachings opposed to early Church teachings (Neo-Ebionites). Within the Messianic Jewish Movement from the 1970s throughout most of the 1980s there was little discussion of Paul ever promoting Torah observance and some discussion regarding the Biblical authority of the Pauline gospels. By the mid 1990s though, the debate within the Messianic Jewish Movement by these two opposed camps apparently ended and a movement had begun to promote the acceptance of a Torah observant Paul and the reinterpretation of his Epistles . Why so? Was it a case of the Neo-Ebionites discovering a way of achieving their goals within the “Messianic Jewish Movement” without winning the theological debate, or did Torah observant Messianic Jewish leaders see it as expedient to create a fabricated identity of Paul and his doctrine to be more palatable for Jews to accept?  In either case, they apparently did so by adopting an historically deceptive strategy, thus hijacking the entire Messianic Jewish Movement without a fight. The beauty of all this deceit was that once the majority of believers within the movement accepted the historical fabrication, the originators never had to argue that Paul was a heretic again, since they invented a new Paul (Rav Shaul) that totally agreed with their goal of total Torah observance within the MJM.

The Evil Fruit of Deceit

After the Pauline gospels vanished from the mindset of most Messianic Jews, the error then spread to the Hebrew Roots and Messianic Gentile movements that promoted this false gospel among thousands of Gentile Christians successfully. Today the Gentile Torah observant population predominates over its smaller Messianic Jewish counterpart to the dismay of most Messianic Jewish and Christian leaders. The Messianic Jewish leaders that originated the error though have washed their hands of any guilt for promoting these historical distortions. Many Messianic Jewish rabbis and their dedicated followers still cling to the Torah observant Rav Shaul fabrications and refuse to consider them as historical distortions. To compound the problem, the grace oriented Messianic Jewish or Hebrew Christian ministries mostly address the problem as "their problem". This apathy alludes to one of the reasons why they were so easily defeated decades ago. Also, in the last decade many historical errors have filtered down to these ministries as well.

Taking Action

So why bring this up now? The time has never been better for a dramatic change in the Messianic Jewish Movement. With growing discontent within Messianic ranks, believers are looking for the truth. It is also apparent that many grace oriented Christian and MJ leaders never really understood how they were so easily defeated. The time is now right for grace oriented believers to expose the deceit and persuade those believers who were unknowingly deceived to reject the historical lies and abandon their mandatory Torah observances. To fight this false gospel, grace oriented believers must pray for the Spirit to empower them to exhort and teach Torah observant Messianic Jews and Gentiles the principles of freedom and grace that are so evident in the Epistles of Paul.