I really like your blog, but that"no Jews for Jesus nonsene" quip was in poor taste.

Typo-I meant "nonsense". :)

Christianity is a Jewish sect with non-Jewish (Greek philosophy and Levantine paganism) overlays. Protestantism, rejected the rituals, images and cults of the Catholic (and the Orthodox church), and shed the overlay of Levantine paganism (e.g., Virgin Mary).

Their justification of that rejection was the slogan "Sola Scriptum" (Scripture Only). This left them with a more Jewish source, the Bible. But by rejecting the magisterium (talmud) of the Catholic Church, they lost all of the instructions on how to read the Bible.

Without that teaching, it is easy to ignore the elements of Greek philosophy in the New Testament, and to be overwhelmed by the Jewish material in both testaments. This interpretive freedom can lead to what the Catholics call the Judaizing heresy.

Saul: Jews for Jesus are nonsense. The title is an oxymoron. A person who is for Jesus is a Christian, not a Jew.

Hi,
I think that I can explain you what is this all about. These people are part of an evangelical cult called: "Iglesia Universal de Reino D's" (G-d's Kingdom Universal Church)
They are not jewish, but messianic christians they use sometimes jewish symbols, but they also have some strange things like magical things called "Israel's oil" or "the blanket full of faith".

This church in Brazil has been accused of money laundry.

Really, I don't even know what it's all about, but they have their own tv shows at night. they always show "real" situation where people had defeated the demon.

Robert: If not Catholic, Mary may have been Gnostic, an alternative explanation for her equanimity at the crucifixion of her son. Ignatius Loyola, Spanish founder of the Jesuit religious order (1540), gave the traditional view of the commonality of son and mother. In responding to a question said about the possibility of being Jewish he said, "I would consider it a special thing to be united to Christ, our Lord, and to Our Lady, the glorious Virgin Mary, with ties of blood!"

I've seen the ads, too, and found them baffling.
Robert's explanation makes sense, especially if one adds new-age to the mix.

[VW comment: During a trip to Sao Paulo, Brazil I saw at least one fortune-teller sort of sign with a Star of David on it.]

Michael: I was referring to the existence of cults of Mary in the Middle Ages and the paganism thereof. When the Byzantines defended Constantinople against the Turks in 1453, they carried an Icon of Mary around the walls of the city. That is paganism, not Jewish, nor philosophical.

Robert: That is an evocative example. I think you have to see it in context, face death or injury as a soldier with equanimity as Your Savior as seen in his mother. The second most common prayer in Catholic practice is the Hail Mary which concludes with 'Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.' Perhaps Maimonides research didn't get that far. One thing about I. Loyola's response, probably to the Inquisition, was that it was subtly telling the Inquisitor to be, maybe, kosher, the thought implied 'we already kill the son in Mass; it's not right to kill the mother with him.'