No.Nonsense.

My last column introduced a dangerous movement that is growing in the church, the Hebrew Roots Movement or HRM. This is a belief system that holds to a return to the Jewish traditions of the Levitical feasts and law. As stated in my last writing, this system is one that does not have a centralized doctrinal statement so the degrees of the commitment to the tenets of HRM vary. Even so, the movement is based in a false interpretation of scripture and contrary to the determinations of the Jerusalem Council as outlined in the Book of Acts. Furthermore, the entire book of Galatians is based on the premise that the Christian church is not bound by Jewish laws, traditions, or practices.

Moving more into these tenets, one of the main focal points is in the dietary laws, believing that Christians should adhere to the same kosher diet as Jews. These laws strictly outline foods that are fit and unfit for consumption and the specific standards for preparation of those foods. What these rules forget is that God has consistently changed those laws. In the beginning of Genesis, diets were strictly plant-based. It was not until after the flood that God instructed Noah that he would eat from the beasts of the field. Later, in the Book of Acts, God gave Peter a vision of all of the animals and told him to eat of all of them. When Peter resisted, God said in 10:15, “what God has made clean, do not call common”. What we see in these restrictions is an othering where those who do not follow as strictly can be judged by those who do. Furthermore, God released Peter from those restrictions just as he has released us.

Another fallacy in HRM is that Christmas and Easter are pagan holidays and therefore should not be celebrated. Though the exact dates of these celebrations within the Christian community are up for debate, we do know through historical accounts that the crucifixion of Jesus and his resurrection occurred around Passover which is in the spring. We also know when Caesar Augustus carried out his census which was toward the end of the year on the Roman calendar. They decry the name “Easter”, saying it is derived from the name of the goddess Oestara or Eostra. That is a false narrative. The word Easter is an old Germanic word meaning “dawn” and is a reflection of the story that Jesus rose at dawn on the third day after the crucifixion. The date of Easter coincides with the breaking of the 45 days of fasting for Lent, the beginning of which is determined by the first full moon of the new year, a countdown to the beginning of new life, or spring. The eggs are indicative of the breaking of the fast as the eggs were boiled to preserve them. The bunnies were for the beginning of spring.

For the Christmas symbolism, the big issue seems to be in the use of a Christmas tree because in the book of Jeremiah the people are cautioned to not cut down trees to carve idols. I dare say most of us are not carving our Christmas trees into huge statues at whose feet we are bowing and praying.

Another major point in HRM is regarding the Sabbath. Followers of this belief hold to the traditional Sabbath of 6 pm Friday to 6 pm Saturday where work is prohibited and worship of observed. In multiple verses in the New Testament, the Bible affirms that the Christian church meets for worship and fellowship on the first day of the week, or the Lord’s Day, as remembrance of the resurrection which occurred on the morning after the Sabbath. We are no longer under the law of observing the Jewish Sabbath.

There are more extreme views in HRM regarding science and End Times prophecies that go too much into the weeds to really explore here. I’m not a science person and believe the study has done much to try to disprove God. What it does for me, however, is prove without any doubt how vast and complex and marvelous God’s creation is. It proves God for me, not the opposite. As for the prophecies, I have studied both the books of Daniel and Revelation. In both, Daniel and John were shown visions. Tue imagery of these visions are symbolic of the things that will occur. I believe the prophecies are real even as I am honest enough to say I don’t know what the reality of those prophecies will look like. I know how Heaven is described but I don’t know what it will look like to my eyes. But do I have to understand it all to still have faith?

What I know beyond any shadow of doubt is that if I have to work so hard to explain something that I miss the beauty of who God is, I want no part of it. What I know is that I am a sinner saved by God’s grace and not from anything that I have done. What I do know is that he has called me to love him and love others and the rest will fall in line. What I do know is that anything that makes me have to work too hard for God to see me as worthy of his love is not from his word.

Be careful what you follow. Be careful what you believe. It only took one small phrase added to the words of God by the serpent for Adam and Eve to fall. Don’t follow in their path.