Arnold Fruchtenbaum

Arnold Genekowitsch Fruchtenbaum (born September 26, 1943) is the founder and director of Ariel Ministries, an organization which prioritizes evangelization of Jews in the effort to bring them to the view that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah. He lectures and travels widely.

Biography

Fruchtenbaum was born in 1943 in Siberia, Russia. The family escaped to Germany in 1947 after his father had been falsely accused of being a Nazi spy. Arnold and the family traveled through Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, and West Germany before settling first in New York and then Los Angeles. At age 13, Fruchtenbaum came to believe that Jesus was the Messiah. His father opposed this and forbade him to read the Bible, attend meetings, or otherwise meet with Messianic Jews. The family moved to Los Angeles in 1958.

After being forced to leave the family home, in 1962 he began college education at Shelton College in New Jersey. He moved to Cedarville College in Ohio, where he graduated with a BA degree in Hebrew and Greek in 1966. He then moved to Israel, where he studied archeology, ancient history, historical geography, and Hebrew at the American Institute of Holy Land Studies and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. During this time, he witnessed the Six Day War in 1967.

Later that year, Fruchtenbaum returned to the U.S. and entered Dallas Theological Seminary to continue his studies in Hebrew and the Old Testament. He also began working as a missionary with American Board of Missions to the Jews (ABMJ; today, Chosen People Ministries). Fruchtenbaum married in 1968 Mary Ann Morrow, a graduate of Gordon College, Massachusetts. Three years later (1971), he graduated with a Master of Theology degree from Dallas. He and his wife then moved to Israel and settled in Jerusalem to work with the local church and to train young Israeli Jewish believers for Christian service. They left Israel in 1973.

During the two years following, Fruchtenbaum served as a minister and as editor of "The Chosen People," a monthly publication with ABMJ in New Jersey. Then in 1976 he joined the staff of The Christian Jew Foundation as associate director.

Fruchtenbaum originally was of the view that Jewish converts should attempt to integrate with local Gentile congregations, but later came to regard separate Jewish congregations as valid. In Messianic Jewish congregations, Dr. Fruchtenbaum has written, the leader should not have the title 'Rabbi'.

At this time he struggled with the issue of discipleship and perceived a need for biblical and theological training for Jewish Messianic believers. This was discussed with other leaders and this turned into the ideas for Ariel Ministries. In late 1977, Ariel Ministries was established. Fruchtenbaum is the founding director of Ariel Ministries and continues in this role and as a speaker at conferences.

He travels internationally throughout Europe, Israel and the United States. This has given him a broad knowledge of the messianic movement. He has completed his doctoral dissertation, Israelology: The Missing Link in Systematic Theology at New York University in 1989. Fruchtenbaum has published a number of books.

Theology

His theology is largely traditional dispensational with some variation only in detail. The eschatological viewpoint retains a role for Israel and Jewish believers in his view of future theology.

Fruchtenbaum continues to teach based on what some call a "Midrashic Hermeneutic", his particular focus is on the Judaic background of the Gospels.

Works

Systematic theology correspondence courses

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External links

• Ariel Ministries Official website