Reading Romans, Constructing Paul(s) - A Conversation between Messianic Jews in Jerusalem and Paul within Judaism Scholars

“Something is going on in Pauline studies,” Paula Fredriksen said of the recent emergence of the “Paul withinJudaism” (PWJ) perspective. Almost in parallel, Messianic Judaism has entered the religious scene. One a scholarlyand the other a religious community, they both make the same claim: Paul was—and remained—a Jewish believerin Jesus. Hence, both communities propose reading the New Testament from within Judaism, making this studypart of the intense, scholarly discussion of reading within-Judaism. Voices from religious, cultural, and scholarlyperspectives have raised the general idea that these two communities understand Paul in the same way withoutbeing based on textual studies of Paul.By focusing on the locus classicus for both reading communities, Romans 11, this study addresses this idea. Itaims at exploring Messianic Jewish understandings of Rom 11 in conversation with scholarly interpretations of thesame text from the PWJ perspective. By centering discussion around the concepts of similar and dissimilar, itexplores the extent to which Messianic Jews construct Paul and read Rom 11 similarly and dissimilarly to PWJscholars. Alongside PWJ, older scholarly perspectives on Paul—“Paul outside Judaism” (POJ) and “Paul andJudaism” (PAJ)—are also briefly contrasted with the Messianic Jewish readings, drawing attention to majordisparities and occasional parallels.Interdisciplinary in nature, the study merges the fields of New Testament studies with anthropology ofChristianity. Its theoretical frameworks are inspired by both: (empirical) reception studies and the so-called “sociallife of Scripture” approach, the latter offering the analytical categories of biblical/textual ideologies and biblical/textualpractices. Among the practices, three hermeneutics (strategies) are identified: “Yeshualogy,” post-supersessionism,and relevance. The Messianic Jewish readings figuring in this study stem from Bible-reading interviews conductedin Jerusalem with eighteen male leaders within the religious community (August 2015, November 2015, FebruaryMarch 2016, and during the winter of 2019-2020). The participants represent a spectrum of the Israeli movementtoday, from traditional-Jewish (minority) to evangelical-Jewish (majority) congregations in terms of characteristics,expressions, and relations to Judaism. The interviews are accompanied by participant observation in MessianicJewish congregations in Jerusalem.The empirical part of this study analyzes the Bible-reading interviews. Following the structure of Rom 11,discussions are divided into three parts: “Identity and Torah” (vv. 1–12), “Relations and Yeshua” (vv. 11–24), and“Time and Land” (vv. 25–36). Throughout, nurtured by Paul’s words, the topic of post-supersessionism is discussedfrom different angles—important for proposing a Paul within Judaism understanding. As most space is given to theMessianic Jewish readings, the thesis makes a contribution to the field of Messianic Judaism in Israel and itsengagement with the Bible.Throughout the study a conversation is maintained with the PWJ perspective: both communities emphasizePaul’s Jewish identity and a humanity consisting of Jews and non-Jews; of a remained ethnic distinctiveness withinthe unity of Christ. The Messianic Jewish readings differ, however, from PWJ given their strong focus on Yeshualogyand faith, which is more reminiscent of a PAJ perspective. Hence, Messianic Jews are caught between PAJ andPWJ, nonetheless showing more similarities with PWJ.In the empirical readings, the hermeneutics of Yeshualogy and post-supersessionism are constantly negotiatedagainst each other; the latter being the most important ideologically and rhetorically, whereas the first is displayedas most important practically and theologically. This study claims throughout that what is most important for Jesusbelieving Jews in Jerusalem, who consider the Bible to be the highest authority in life, is to make the “living Word ofGod” relevant for them today, ultimately expressed in their having an eschatological identity and hermeneutic ofawaiting the return of “Yeshua” to the land of Israel soon, and very soon.Key words: Messianic Jews, Messianic Judaism, Paul within Judaism, Paul,