Messianic Judaism

Messianic Judaism is a movement that combines Christianity—most importantly, the Christian belief that Jesus is the Messiah— with elements of Judaism and Jewish tradition. Its current form emerging in the 1960s and 1970s, Messianic Judaism believes that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah and "God the Son" (one person of the Trinity), and that the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament both are authoritative scriptures.

Salvation in Messianic Judaism is achieved only through acceptance of Jesus as one's savior, and Jewish laws or customs which are followed do not contribute to salvation. Indeed, belief in the messiahship, power to save, and divinity of Jesus, which Messianic Judaism professes, is the defining distinction between Christianity and Judaism. Other Christian groups usually accept Messianic Judaism as a form of Christianity.

Many adherents of Messianic Judaism are ethnically Jewish, and argue that the movement is a sect of Judaism. Many refer to themselves in Hebrew as maaminim (believers), not converts, and yehudim (Jews), not notzrim (Christians). Jewish organizations, and the Supreme Court of Israel in cases related to the Law of Return, have rejected this claim, and instead consider Messianic Judaism to be a form of Christianity.