Return to the Fountainhead of the Faith
Subtitle: Explore World Ideologies, Church History and Christianity's Jewish Origins
Publisher: Lulu.com
Published: January 4, 2007
Place of publication: USA
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 264
ISBN-13: 9781430308652
Subjects: Christianity; Christian Theology - General; Religion / Theology; Religion; Religion - Church History
Genres: Jewish Roots; Church History; World Ideologies
First sentence: Where Do We Come From? Who Are We? Where Are We Going? In this nineteenth century painting by the French artist, Paul Gauguin, Eden is depicted under yellow skies as a tropical Tahitian Island paradise. A Polynesian Eve reaches up to pluck the fruit from the tree—under the watchful gaze of a stone goddess. Other female figures portray the cycle of life, from infancy to old age. A melancholy introspection pervades the work. Gauguin’s subjects are solitary, preoccupied, contemplative...
Description: Preface

In February of 1994 in the Prospect RV Park, a small recreational vehicle park  in Colorado USA, I was commissioned to complete a painting on a flat river stone. It was oval shaped and about 7 x 5 inches. That stone would be the first of many such art works that Geraldine Nusbaum would request over a three-and-a-half-year period. Each of her pieces -- various drawings, thirty paintings on stone, and designs for sixteen banners -- had a distinctive Hebrew ambiance. She was a Messianic Jew: a “Christian Jew.”

I had been a believer for almost twenty years before meeting Geri. In South Africa, after being introduced to the Zionist Movement by a fellow Art student who was a sabra Israeli, I’d traveled to Israel. For over a decade I’d taught Religious Education and Fine Art and had also held two major one-woman art exhibitions entitled “Maranatha” and “Alpha and Omega” respectively. Yet, in my fortieth year, Geri made me realize just how little I understood of the Bible’s inherent “Jewishness.” For me, it was this unique mentor, with her boundless enthusiasm and encouragement, who opened the door into the world of Messianic literature, music, and art. 

While working on Geri’s commissions, I began keeping a written record of what I was discovering about the Messianic perspective. She was usually deeply engrossed in the Word itself and documented her findings by selecting biblical quotes and then rearranging them in such a way as to express her ideas. Together, we eventually produced a series of studies: the “Stonewood Hebrew Studies.” They constituted a second important phase in an exhilarating learning process; further evidence of an extraordinarily creative period in our lives. These experiences would become the springboard for Return to the Fountainhead of the Faith.

After Geri left the park, I worked alone. For the next five-and-a-half years, while pertinent imagery was being created, fascinating “abandoned” Hebrew treasures were methodically sought out and documented. At that time the Messianic Movement was still in its infancy—it only started to emerge in the late 1960s -- and information reflecting the Jewish origins of the Faith was relatively scarce. Messianic ministries tended to publish newsletters and “booklets” rather than books—and these were not always available to the general public. In addition, cultural differences between Jews and Gentiles often made their writings somewhat unintelligible to curious Gentiles. I hoped that my writing and illustrations would help bridge that gap.
Notes: Contents


Preface     ix
Abbreviations     xiii

Part 1: A Matter of Choice     
The Quest for Meaning
World Religions and Ideologies
Eastern Perspectives
A Jewish Messiah
Two Thousand Years of Church History
The Jewish Position Regarding Gentile Christianity

Part 2: The Olive Tree     
The Hebrew Heritage
A Thriving Olive Tree
The Patriarchs
The House of Jacob
Positions of Prominence
A Divided Kingdom
Scattering and Gathering
Summary of Hebrew History

Part 3: Tents in the Desert   
Moshe (Moses)
The Wilderness Camp
A Journey through the Mishkan (Tabernacle)
The Courtyard:
Sacrifice and the Brazen Altar
Washing and the Brazen Laver
The Holy Place:
Fellowship and the Table of Showbread
Prayer and the Altar of Incense
Revelation and the Menorah 
The Most Holy Place:
God’s Providence and the Ark of the Covenant
Eternal Life and the Mercy Seat

Part 4: Stones and Clay     
A Prophet like Moshe (Moses)
The Levitical Priesthood
Biblical Covenants
The Mosaic Law
Stones and Clay
The Hebrew Names of God

Part 5: Stars and Seasons     
Astronomy and the Hebrews
The Ancient Hebrew Calendar
Numbers in Scripture
Two Calendars: Civic and Sacred
The Seven Feasts of Israel
The Feasts and the Hebrew Marriage Tradition
The Hebrew Calendar as a Blueprint of History
Spring Feasts:
Passover or Pesakh
Feast of Unleavened Bread or Khag HaMatzot
Firstfruits or HaBikkurim
Counting of the Sheaves or Sfirat Ha‘Omer 
Feast of Weeks or Shavu‘ot
Between Spring and Autumn
Autumn Feasts:
Feast of Trumpets or Yom Teru‘ah
Day of Atonement or Yom Kippur
Tabernacles or Sukkot

Appendix I: The Hebrew Language     
‘Ivrit: A Holy Language
Learning the Language
Transliteration Guidelines
A Hebrew Picture Alphabet
English-Hebrew Glossary: “From Aaron to Zion”
Seven Hebrew Proclamations and Blessings
The Hebrew Numeral System
Appendix II: Messianic Prophecies of the Tanakh (OT)     
Bibliography