I believe in Jesus and also believe in the way the Jewish faith see God so I am asking how can I do teshuvah while not losing my faith? Is it the same steps since I’m a gentile?
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4Your first sentence seems to be a self-contradiction. One cannot believe in the deity of Y'shu and claim to believe in Hashem in the way that Judaism does. While some people say that belief in that man is a concept called shituf and is permissible for non-Jews, it is still forbidden to Jews. This would mean that the question as you ask it does not have a valid answer.– sabbahillelApr 9, 2018 at 2:53
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Is this really a question about comparative religion? @sabbahillel?– רבות מחשבותApr 9, 2018 at 2:58
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4As @sabbahillel said, you can't believe that Jesus is G-d and then claim that you believe in G-d the way Judaism does. We don't believe a man can be G-d, nor do we believe Jesus was/is Messiah. If you believe Jesus is G-d/Messiah, why don't you go and ask how to do repentence on a Christianity Q&A site rather than a Jewish one.– ezraApr 9, 2018 at 3:23
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1youtube.com/watch?v=AaJj1jgRXtg– MenachemApr 9, 2018 at 4:55
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4 Answers
Teshuva requires understanding and admitting that what one has done wrong is a sin, and leaving sins behind and not doing them again (see here).
If we assume that according to Judaism, belief in Jesus is a sin for you as a gentile (see here, as well as other answers on that page), it seems that according to Judaism you could not do Teshuvah for believing in Jesus while simultaneously believing in him.
In terms of repentance for other sins, you could of course repent, however, in all personal cases, it is suggested to see a Rabbi for guidance through a process like this.
If you do believe in Jesus, it might also be worth asking this question on Christianity.SE.
answered Apr 9, 2018 at 2:56
The belief that Jesus is G-d violates the first Noahide Law against idolatry. (See here.) The believe that he's the son of G-d or messiah is a non-Jewish belief and has no place in Judaism but is not necessarily idolatry according to many authorities.
You ask if you can do teshuva. Of course you can. But I don't really understand the question. What sin are you doing teshuva for? Are you asking G-d to forgive you for believing in some mistaken belief or are you asking forgiveness for something else?
If you did something wrong, you do teshuva. If you do two sins, you can do teshuva for one and not the other. Does that absolve both of them? No. It only resolves the sin for which you did teshuva.
If you believe that believing Jesus is G-d is wrong, then you should do teshuva and abandon the belief. Like I said, I don't understand what you're asking here.
But if you believe Jesus is G-d, then why are you asking this question on a Judaism site? For one thing, Christianity teaches that Jesus died for people's sins, so where does the concept of teshuva have any place in the eyes of a believer in Jesus?
If you believe Jesus is G-d, Son of G-d, or Messiah, I advise you to ask this question somewhere else. Judaism rejects the notion that Jesus of Nazareth was any of these three things, therefore your question really isn't much about Judaism. I suggest you ask on some Christian forum or perhaps the Christianity Stack Exchange.
Hmmm... I do realize christianity takes its base on jewish tradition and also value the practice of repentance. However, I also understand that christians take Jesus as a savior and redentor, nullifying hallachah and making a new pact. Therefore, if you are a christian, I understand that although you are not only allowed to repent but also encouraged to repent from your transgressions, if you do it the jewish way you would be denying jesus is your savior. If you do it the christian way, you deny Torah and hallachah.
It seems to be a situation of making a circle fit in a square. As a jew, perdonally, i see no problem if you apply a jewish concept in your way to repent as long as you recognize yourself a christian... however... it might bring you trouble with other christians? Not really sure. Hope the... "insight" was of any help to you.
To do teshuva:
1) Regret doing the action
2) Stop doing the action
3) Confess having done the action & ask parties for forgiveness
4) Make at least some amends/penance for doing the action (if possible)
5) Attempt to refrain from doing the action in the future.
If you relapse, repeat steps 1-5. If you need to involve Jesus in this process, from a Jewish perspective this is OK for a gentile provided you do not use any icon or physical representation of the godhead. If you are concerned that your Christian practice is idolatrous, switch to a denomination that has fewer physical representations (eg. if you must do mass, do consubstantiation rather than transubstantiation, if your crucifixes have Jesus on them, switch to the unadorned cross).
Even if you do belong to a sect that Judaism considers idolatrous, it may still be preferable to perform one count of idolatry if it enables you to refrain from other sins. Only God knows the relative values of sins and merits.
