-Messianic Jewish Theologian-
Rabbi Mark S. Kinzer, Ph.D.
The Books
Dr. Mark Kinzer is Rabbi Emeritus of Congregation Zera Avraham in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Born in Detroit in 1952, Mark was raised in a Conservative Jewish home and became an adherent of Messiah Yeshua in 1971. He attended the University of Michigan (B.A., M.A., Ph.D.), and remains forever a loyal Wolverine. The pre-eminent Messianic Jewish theologian, Mark is Senior Scholar and President Emeritus of Messianic Jewish Theological Institute, Chair of the Hashivenu Board, and author of the following books:
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Covenant and the People of God
Essays in Honor of Mark S. Kinzer
Editors: Jonathan Kaplan, Jennifer M. Rosner and David J. Rudolph
ISBN-13: 9781666732436 (Paperback)
Publisher: Pickwick Publications, an imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers (May 25, 2023)
Covenant and the People of God gathers twenty-four essays from friends and colleagues of Messianic Jewish theologian and New Testament scholar Mark S. Kinzer, in honor of his seventieth birthday. The essays are organized around two central themes that have animated Kinzer's work: the nature of the covenant and what it means to be the people of God. The volume includes fascinating discussions of some of the most sensitive areas related to Jewish-Christian dialogue, post-supersessionist interpretation of Scripture, and the theological shape of Messianic Judaism. Among the contributors are scholars working in North America, Europe, and Israel.
Wipf and Stock
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Besorah
The Resurrection of Jerusalem and the Healing of a Fractured Gospel
Authors: Mark S. Kinzer, Russell Resnik
ISBN-13: 9781725264007
Publisher: Cascade Books (June 9, 2021)
The gospel of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth has healed countless lives over the centuries, but the gospel itself has been wounded through neglect of one of its main components. The books of Luke and Acts reveal that the death and resurrection of Jesus are linked inextricably to the destruction and promised restoration of Jerusalem, the city that personifies the Jewish people as a whole. To highlight this expanded understanding of the gospel, Mark Kinzer and Russ Resnik unpack the Hebrew term for gospel, besorah, as a prophetic message of salvation for Israel and all nations. In Luke’s besorah, the death and resurrection of the Messiah are a sign of the coming judgment and restoration of Jerusalem and the Jewish people—a restoration that brings with it the renewal of all creation. This prophetic dimension of the besorah is a key to healing the fractured gospel and restoring its power amidst the strife and tumult of the twenty-first century.
Wipf and Stock
Israel in the Heart of the Church
Jesus in the Heart of Israel
ISBN: 9789492959836
Authors: Mark S. Kinzer, Jeroen Bol
Publisher: Scholten Uitgeverij BV (September 2, 2020)
Language: Dutch
In November of 2015, Dr. Kinzer delivered a series of lectures at the International Baptist Theological Study Centre in Amsterdam, Netherlands. In these lectures, Kinzer sheds surprising new light on well-known texts from the New Testament. The relationship between Jesus, Israel and the Church suddenly changes. For centuries, Jesus was the one who deeply divided Christianity and Judaism. Kinzer comes to a different conclusion based on his accurate new reading of the New Testament: Jesus is the one who connects the Church and Israel. He is both the Messiah King of Israel and the Head of his Body, the Church. Kinzer shows convincingly that the New Testament teaches a lasting bond between Jesus and his people Israel. A connection that continues to this day. This produces a completely different picture. Because through Jesus the Church of Christ is then inseparably linked with the Jewish people. The Jews who confess Jesus as Messiah embody this bond of Israel and the Church. After all, they belong to both. These lectures and the subsequent book, adapted from the lectures, make it clear that listening to the Jewish voice is indispensable for understanding God's way with the Church and Israel.
Videos and audio recordings of the lectures are available here. In addition, the lectures were turned into a book in Dutch by Jeroen Bol, in partnership with Dr. Kinzer.
Israel in het Hart van de Kerk
Jezus in het Hart van Israel
De Messiasbelijdende Joodse theoloog Mark Kinzer laat verrassend nieuw licht schijnen op bekende teksten uit het Nieuwe Testament. De verhouding tussen Jezus, Israël en de Kerk komt er zo ineens anders uit te zien. Eeuwenlang was Jezus degene die christendom en jodendom diep verdeelde. Kinzer komt op basis van zijn nauwkeurige nieuwe lezing van het Nieuwe Testament tot een andere conclusie: Jezus is degene die Kerk en Israël verbindt. Hij is tegelijk de Messias Koning van Israël en het Hoofd van zijn Lichaam, de Gemeente. Kinzer toont overtuigend aan dat het Nieuwe Testament een blijvende verbondenheid van Jezus met zijn volk Israël leert. Een verbondenheid die tot de dag van vandaag voortduurt. Dit levert een heel ander plaatje op. Want door Jezus is de Kerk van Christus dan onlosmakelijk verbonden met het Joodse volk. De joden die Jezus als Messias belijden belichamen deze verbondenheid van Israël en de Kerk. Zij behoren immers tot beide. Dit boek maakt duidelijk dat het luisteren naar de Joodse stem onontbeerlijk is voor het verstaan van Gods weg met Kerk en Israël.
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Wipf and Stock
Jerusalem Crucified, Jerusalem Risen
The Resurrected Messiah, the Jewish People, and the Land of Promise
ISBN-10: 9781532653377
Published: October 30, 2018
The good news (euangelion) of the crucified and risen Messiah was proclaimed first to Jews in Jerusalem, and then to Jews throughout the land of Israel. In Jerusalem Crucified, Jerusalem Risen, Mark Kinzer argues that this initial audience and geographical setting of the euangelion is integral to the eschatological content of the message itself. While the good news is universal in concern and cosmic in scope, it never loses its particular connection to the Jewish people, the city of Jerusalem, and the land of Israel. The crucified Messiah participates in the future exilic suffering of his people, and by his resurrection offers a pledge of Jerusalem’s coming redemption.
Basing his argument on a reading of the Acts of the Apostles and the Gospel of Luke, Kinzer proposes that the biblical message requires its interpreters to reflect theologically on the events of post-biblical history. In this context he considers the early emergence of Rabbinic Judaism and the much later phenomenon of Zionism, offering a theological perspective on these historical developments that is biblically-rooted, attentive to both Jewish and Christian tradition, and minimalist in the theological constraints it imposes on the just resolution of political conflict in the Middle East.
Searching Her Own Mystery
Nostra Aetate, the Jewish People, and the Identity of the Church
ISBN: 9781498203319
Published: March 30, 2015
In Searching Her Own Mystery, noted Messianic Jewish theologian Mark S. Kinzer argues that the Church has yet to explore adequately the implications of Nostra Aetate for Christian self-understanding. The new Catholic teaching concerning Israel must eventually result in fresh perspectives on the entire range of Christian theology, including Christology, ecclesiology, and the theology of the sacraments. To this end, Kinzer proposes an Israel-ecclesiology rooted in Israel-Christology in which a restored ecclesia ex circumcisione—the “church from the circumcision”—assumes a crucial role as a sacramental sign of the Church’s bond with the Jewish people and genealogical-Israel’s irrevocable election.
Wipf and Stock
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Israel's Messiah and the People of God
A Vision for Messianic Jewish Covenant Fidelity
ISBN-10: 1606088831
Published: January 7, 2011
Israel's Messiah and the People of God presents a rich and diverse selection of essays by theologian Mark Kinzer, whose work constitutes a pioneering step in Messianic Jewish theology. Including several pieces never before published, this collection illuminates Kinzer's thought on topics such as Oral Torah, Jewish prayer, eschatology, soteriology, and Messianic Jewish-Catholic dialogue. This volume offers the reader numerous portals into the vision of Messianic Judaism offered in Kinzer's Post-Missionary Messianic Judaism (2005).
Post-Missionary Messianic Judaism
Redefining Christian Engagement with the Jewish People
ISBN-10: 1587431521
Published: November 1, 2005
In recent years, a new form of Messianic Judaism has emerged that has the potential to serve as a bridge between Jews and Christians. Giving voice to this movement, Mark Kinzer makes a case for nonsupersessionist Christianity. He argues that the election of Israel is irrevocable, that Messianic Jews should honor the covenantal obligations of Israel, and that rabbinic Judaism should be viewed as a movement employed by God to preserve the distinctive calling of the Jewish people.
Though this book will be of interest to Jewish readers, it is written primarily for Christians who recognize the need for a constructive relationship to the Jewish people that neither denies the role of Jesus the Messiah nor diminishes the importance of God's covenant with the Jews.
The Nature of Messianic Judaism
Judaism as Genus, Messianic as Species
Published: 2000
"With boldness of thought and clarity of expression, Dr. Kinzer takes the discussion of the nature of Messianic Judaism to an entirely new level. And he does so with great love and respect for both historic communities which gave birth to this radical form of Jewishness. This treatment is destined to become essential reading for Messianic Jewish clergy and lay people who yearn for clear answers to the all-important question, 'Who exactly am I as a Messianic Jew?' Read and enjoy!"
Dr. Richard C. Nichol
Rabbi, Congregation Ruach Israel
Needham, MA
All Things Under His Feet
Psalm 8 In the New Testament and in other Jewish Literature
of Late Antiquity
Dissertation Published: 1995
Psalm 8 is a prominent Christological text in the New Testament. It is often combined with Psalm 110:1, and is seen as referring to the victory and dominion of the Messiah over the angelic powers. This use is puzzling, for the Psalm seems to be speaking about human beings in general and their authority over the animals.
How did this Psalm first come to be seen by the followers of Jesus as a messianic text? It is the contention of my dissertation that Psalm 8 was already understood in many first-century circles to speak of an individual (e.g., Adam, Enoch, Moses) and his exaltation above the angels. The New Testament appropriation of the Psalm was thus based on a pre-existing exegetical tradition. Jesus is presented as a new Adam, who is greater than Enoch or Moses.