Mark S. Kinzer

Mark Kinzer (born 1952) is an American Messianic Jewish cleric, author, and theologian.

Early life and education Mark Kinzer was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1952 to a Conservative Jewish family. He became a Messianic Jew in 1971.

Kinzer attended the University of Michigan as an undergraduate and graduate student. He earned a Ph.D. in Near Eastern Studies from the University of Michigan in 1995.

Career In 1997, Kinzer co-founded Hashivenu, a Messianic Jewish movement that seeks a more serious engagement with the Jewish intellectual tradition. Hashivenu advocates for engagement with post-Biblical Rabbinic literature and discarding certain post-scriptural Christian writings deemed irrelevant. Kinzer has served as the chair of Hashivenu since 2000.

Kinzer was ordained as a Messianic Jewish cleric by the Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations in 2001. He was one of the founding members of the Messianic Jewish Rabbinical Council in 2006.

Kinzer has taught at the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, and Fuller Theological Seminary.

He is founder and rabbi emeritus of Congregation Zera Avraham, a Messianic synagogue in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and led the congregation from 1993 to 2018. While believing in Jesus, Jewish people should maintain a separate religious and national identity without assimilation. While some reviews of the book were positive, others were more critical.

Kinzer is also known for his dialogue with the Catholic Church. He presented a paper at the Messianic Jewish-Roman Catholic Dialogue Group in Vienna in 2008 which was adapted into a First Things essay.

Legacy Kinzer has been described as one of the major thinkers and innovators in the Messianic Jewish movement, especially in regard to supersessionism and ecclesiology.

Works Stones the Builders Rejected: The Jewish Jesus, His Jewish Disciples, and the Culmination of History, edited by Jennifer M. Rosner, Cascade Books, 2024. Besorah: The Resurrection of Jerusalem and the Healing of a Fractured Gospel with Russell Resnik, Cascade Books, 2021 Jerusalem Crucified, Jerusalem Risen: The Resurrected Messiah, the Jewish People, and the Land of Promise, Cascade Books, 2018 Taming the Tongue, First Fruit of Zion, 2015 Searching Her Own Mystery: Nostra Aetate, the Jewish People, and the Identity of the Church, Cascade Books, 2015 Israel's Messiah and the People of God: A Vision for Messianic Jewish Covenant Fidelity, Cascade Books, 2011 Postmissionary Messianic Judaism: Redefining Christian Engagement with the Jewish People, Brazos Press, 2005