What is Torahism?

Defining Torahism

Torahsim is a term developed by R.L. Solberg to describe the theology underlying a diverse body of modern religious movements focusing on Christ-followers “keeping Torah.” This umbrella term includes the Hebrew Roots Movement, Torah-observant Christianity, Pronomian Christianity, Messianic Christianity, or just Messianics.

Having a name for the various Torah-keeping teachings that a brother in Christ brought to my attention has been helpful because I can group several religious movements into one group for further study and understanding. In other words, I now have a marked-out sandbox to play in.

Who teaches Torahism?

I have also found it helpful to know the teachers and organizations that teach that Christians should keep Torah today in some form. Below is a list of teachers and organizations that teach a form of Torahism that is included in Torahism by R.L. Solberg.

• 119 Ministries (David Wilber and others)
• A Rood Awakening (Michael Rood)
• Corner Fringe (Daniel Jospeh, Joshua Antilla)
• Growing in Messiah (Caleb Hegg)
• Kingdom in Context (Sean Griffin)
• Parable of the Vineyard (Adam Fink)
• Passion for Truth (Jim Staley)
• Philia Ministries (James and Lea Dinonno)
• New2Torah (Zach Bauer)
• The Pronomian (Scott McKenzie)
• Torah Institute (Lew White)
• Torah Life Ministries (Paul Nison)
• Torah Resource (Tim Hegg)
• Triumph in Truth (G. Stevens Simmons)
• Unlearn the Lies (Lex Meyer)

What does Torahism mean by “keeping Torah?”

While Torahism is expressed in various ways, the common thread is the belief that followers of Yeshua (Jesus) are obligated to keep Torah, whether Jew or Gentile. Torah in Torahism refers to the commands Yahweh gave Israel at Mount Sinai, as found in the Bible. Here are some things to remember to understand what it means to “keep Torah.”

• Torah keepers are mainly concerned with four aspects of the Law: the weekly Sabbath (Saturday and not Sunday), kosher food, the feasts of the LORD, and circumcision. With these four aspects of the Mosaic Law, Torahism and mainstream Christianity disagree.
• Torahism and mainstream Christianity agree that all Christ’s followers should observe God’s moral law. Christianity holds that God’s moral law should be kept today because it flows from the unchanging, eternal character of the LORD and has been around since the beginning of time for His human creatures to emulate, since they are made in His image. However, this is not the case with the big four of Torahism. Those commands were given to a particular people for a specific time and reason.
• Keeping Torah does not mean keeping the civil or social laws of Moses, like those about property, inheritance, marriage, divorce, the death penalty, etc. Torahists will typically concede that these laws were given to Israel as a theocratic nation and not for us today.
• Only a handful of Torahists teach that keeping the law is a matter of salvation. However, they do teach that all Christ followers must keep the Mosaic commands, those who do not openly live in sin.

Is Torahism a form of Judaism?

Torahists do not claim to practice a form of Judaism but state their goal as returning Christianity to its Jewish roots. Since Torahists recognize Jesus as the Messiah, while Judaism does not, they can be seen as a middle position between Christianity and Judaism.

Though Torahism can be seen as a middle position between two of the three Abrahamic religions, it is not a view that arose chronologically in history. In other words, Judaism didn’t evolve into Torahism before taking a wrong turn and becoming Christianity.

Torahism is a recent movement seemingly occurring only among Gentiles. In my limited experience with Torah-keepers, I agree with Solberg in that every one of them has two things in common: they are Gentile and have a Christian background. Torahists are gentile Christians who believe mainstream Christianity left the Law of Moses behind when Jesus (Yeshua) arrived in error. As Torah observers see it, they are “correcting course” by returning to a lifestyle of keeping the Law.

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