What do you think?
Rate this book
Elementary Principles: Six Foundational Principles of Ancient Jewish Christianity
From the publisher's website:
Are you a spiritual person? A mature Christian? The apostles do not think that you are unless you have mastered the basic principles of the oracles of God. The writer of the book of Hebrews wanted to present his readers with some exciting thoughts about Jesus. He wanted to start exploring some heady insights about the work of Messiah, but he felt frustrated because his readership seemed unprepared for these deeper, spiritual lessons.
He wanted to go deep, but his readers were still shallow. They did not have the basics down. He wrote, “It is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food” (Hebrews 5:11–12).
Are you a spiritual person? A mature Christian? The apostles do not think that you are unless you have mastered the basic principles of the oracles of God. The writer of the book of Hebrews wanted to present his readers with some exciting thoughts about Jesus. He wanted to start exploring some heady insights about the work of Messiah, but he felt frustrated because his readership seemed unprepared for these deeper, spiritual lessons.
He wanted to go deep, but his readers were still shallow. They did not have the basics down. He wrote, “It is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food” (Hebrews 5:11–12).
150 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2014
12 people are currently reading
91 people want to read
About the author
D. Thomas Lancaster
31 books44 followersD. Thomas Lancaster is Director of Education at First Fruits of Zion, editor of Messiah Magazine, and author of the Torah Club commentaries and several books and study programs. He is also the pastor of Beth Immanuel Messianic Synagogue in Hudson, WI.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 2, 2023
Very well done explanation of what was the “milk” Paul mentioned in Hebrews 6.
November 30, 2018
This book was lent to me by a friend. I found the book quite challenging, but good. After reading this book, I haven’t been convinced to join a Messianic Judaism congregation, but I have been convicted to looked closer at what I believe and why. The author made a lot of good points.
December 15, 2020
Trying to understand "biblical sabbath"? This is your book!
October 18, 2015
After over 45 years in ministry, it seems to me that few self-proclaimed Christians know much more about true Biblical faith than to parrot what "my pastor says" or "my church teaches." With so few church members willing to actually take the effort to actually pursue the faith of the first-generation Believers in the Jewish Messiah, it is no wonder that the Church has wandered so far into into "the traditions of men" in exchange for the true Gospel of the Kingdom of God.
If you truly want to get back to what the Master and His Apostles actually taught, this is a good place to start. But if you are only interested in pursuing the "traditions of men" you will find nothing here for you.
If you truly want to get back to what the Master and His Apostles actually taught, this is a good place to start. But if you are only interested in pursuing the "traditions of men" you will find nothing here for you.
November 5, 2017
Hebrews 6:1–2 alludes to the "elementary principles" of Christianity and asserts that the epistle's recipients should have mastered these teachings already and be able to move on to more advanced concepts. It is clear that the author considered the six principles to be foundational and commonly understood, not needing more explanation. Lancaster unpacks these teachings using his unique perspective from Messianic Judaism and drawing on early Christian literature and first- and second-century rabbinical writings as well as modern Christian authors such as Scot McKnight and N.T. Wright.
The six foundational principles begin with repentance and faith in God—both of which are somewhat neglected by mainstream "pop" American evangelicalism but should be familiar to anyone who has spent more time exploring Scripture or a more serious walk with Christ.
The third principle is rendered as "instruction about washings" by the ESV; Lancaster makes a compelling case that is talking about the teachings of the Didache and similar early Christian works that were almost a form of catechism used prior to baptism.
The fourth principle, the "laying on of hands" is not so foreign to believers with a more charismatic background and Lancaster makes a case from Scripture for its importance in ways that more reserved Christians are missing.
Lancaster's discussion of the final two principles (the resurrection of the dead and the final judgment) follows the Scriptural analysis of N.T. Wright and other authors in upending the traditional modern American perspectives on Heaven and Hell by taking Scripture much more seriously. In short, Scripture does not support the pop culture notion of us going to some kind of spiritualized heaven for eternity but instead clearly anticipates a physical Earth that we inhabit with physical bodies that have been resurrected like Christ. This is a concept that many Christians fail to appreciate due to a lack of biblical literacy.
Overall, this is an excellent book exploring the tantalizing hints into the teachings the early Church apostles identified as foundational. The author has a high view of Scripture and relies heavily on Scripture to understand these teachings, and then uses early Church writings and other period sources to unpack and understand what Scriptural authors meant. This book's conclusions are practically oriented and not heavy-handed.
My only qualm is that Lancaster, in this book and in other writings, emphasizes the insights gained from a messianic jewish perspective in such a way as to denigrate the studies of nearly all other Christian belief systems. Reading his works consistently leaves me with the impression that he believes Christian scholars writing after the first few centuries AD have completely missed the mark and are not useful in any way. This is an unfortunate overreaction.
The six foundational principles begin with repentance and faith in God—both of which are somewhat neglected by mainstream "pop" American evangelicalism but should be familiar to anyone who has spent more time exploring Scripture or a more serious walk with Christ.
The third principle is rendered as "instruction about washings" by the ESV; Lancaster makes a compelling case that is talking about the teachings of the Didache and similar early Christian works that were almost a form of catechism used prior to baptism.
The fourth principle, the "laying on of hands" is not so foreign to believers with a more charismatic background and Lancaster makes a case from Scripture for its importance in ways that more reserved Christians are missing.
Lancaster's discussion of the final two principles (the resurrection of the dead and the final judgment) follows the Scriptural analysis of N.T. Wright and other authors in upending the traditional modern American perspectives on Heaven and Hell by taking Scripture much more seriously. In short, Scripture does not support the pop culture notion of us going to some kind of spiritualized heaven for eternity but instead clearly anticipates a physical Earth that we inhabit with physical bodies that have been resurrected like Christ. This is a concept that many Christians fail to appreciate due to a lack of biblical literacy.
Overall, this is an excellent book exploring the tantalizing hints into the teachings the early Church apostles identified as foundational. The author has a high view of Scripture and relies heavily on Scripture to understand these teachings, and then uses early Church writings and other period sources to unpack and understand what Scriptural authors meant. This book's conclusions are practically oriented and not heavy-handed.
My only qualm is that Lancaster, in this book and in other writings, emphasizes the insights gained from a messianic jewish perspective in such a way as to denigrate the studies of nearly all other Christian belief systems. Reading his works consistently leaves me with the impression that he believes Christian scholars writing after the first few centuries AD have completely missed the mark and are not useful in any way. This is an unfortunate overreaction.
March 30, 2025
This is only the beginning of understanding the original foundation. What one does with the lessons learned is solely dependent on the reader. It's up to each person on how deep to go, because it's up to the hunger of our own spirit that will lead to the continuation in the commitment made to The Creator.
November 5, 2017
I ended up with more questions than answers, and I didn't agree with everything presented in the book.
July 11, 2023
Every Christian should read this book. A great presentation on the “elementary principles” listed in Hebrews 6.
March 20, 2024
Good read! A resetting of the foundation of the gospel of Jesus. I would recommend this for any believer in Jesus, no matter your stage of faith in Him.
July 13, 2025
A thought-provoking book. It really made me reconsider everything I thought I knew about the Bible.
March 19, 2015
Opinions differ as to what fundamental beliefs and practices make someone a Christian. When someone wants to promote a particular set of them, he painstakingly shows how each item in the list is “backed by Scripture.” Yet, the final product is still a man-made construction built on the wobbly foundation of selective prooftexting. You can’t find every item on the list in one place, and certain things are made conspicuous by their absence.
So we turn to the Bible itself. Is there some sort of list provided in there that we can work with? Arguably, the best candidate is Hebrews 6:1-2 (ESV):
Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
Since the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews didn’t go into more detail about these basics, author D. Thomas Lancaster, a non-Jewish preacher who left the evangelical church to embrace Messianic Judaism, has done so for us. Elementary Principles: Six Foundational Principles of Ancient Jewish Christianity (First Fruits of Zion, 2014) morphed out of an expository sermon series on this passage, from which Lancaster identifies six basic teachings that make up the foundation of Christianity: repentance from dead works, faith toward God, instructions about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment (p. 9). Each teaching is summarized in the introduction, but is also explored later on in more detail.
The chapter that I appreciated most was the one on “washings.” Many Christian authors will go to great lengths to discuss Christian baptism in the New Testament without providing a context in which to understand it. Lancaster, however, discusses its origins as an ancient Jewish purification ritual and its practice by the early church as put forth in the Didache (i.e., The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles).
The chapter I wasn’t too impressed with was the one about the “laying on of hands.” Lancaster starts off making a very convincing biblical argument that this was necessary for a new convert to receive the Holy Spirit, but then balks, concluding otherwise. He seems unwilling to take such an extreme position merely because it makes him uncomfortable.
Where I would’ve liked further discussion is on “faith toward God.” The author builds a case for “faith on God” over “faith in God,” but doesn’t even address the translation issue of “faith” (i.e., belief) versus “faithfulness” (i.e., fidelity). I find this extremely puzzling because the latter choice would have fit so well with his interpretation of “faith” as a matter of behavior, not belief.
Despite a few difficulties, I generally liked Elementary Principles. Lancaster takes seriously a passage that too many teachers overlook because they’re eager to get to the “good stuff” – the heavy, advanced stuff – when sometimes their students need to review the basics to make sure everything is in order. These sermons can serve as guidelines for preachers and teachers to design their own sermons and lessons on these topics. (They might face a few challenges though since, being a collection of sermons, the book lacks endnotes and a bibliography to facilitate further study.)
Something else Lancaster accomplishes is staying on topic, not getting sidetracked on tangents or bogged down in a lot of controversy. This has its pros and cons. Even though the author set out to provide some simple answers, I felt that the book inadvertently raises more serious questions than he might have anticipated. Why is this all-important list only included in a book whose canonicity was seriously disputed? And why doesn’t the Bible contain a primer for us explaining these elementary principles? These issues are clearly beyond what Lancaster intended to cover in these sermons, but I hope he endeavors to take them on some point in the future.
So we turn to the Bible itself. Is there some sort of list provided in there that we can work with? Arguably, the best candidate is Hebrews 6:1-2 (ESV):
Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, and of instruction about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.
Since the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews didn’t go into more detail about these basics, author D. Thomas Lancaster, a non-Jewish preacher who left the evangelical church to embrace Messianic Judaism, has done so for us. Elementary Principles: Six Foundational Principles of Ancient Jewish Christianity (First Fruits of Zion, 2014) morphed out of an expository sermon series on this passage, from which Lancaster identifies six basic teachings that make up the foundation of Christianity: repentance from dead works, faith toward God, instructions about washings, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment (p. 9). Each teaching is summarized in the introduction, but is also explored later on in more detail.
The chapter that I appreciated most was the one on “washings.” Many Christian authors will go to great lengths to discuss Christian baptism in the New Testament without providing a context in which to understand it. Lancaster, however, discusses its origins as an ancient Jewish purification ritual and its practice by the early church as put forth in the Didache (i.e., The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles).
The chapter I wasn’t too impressed with was the one about the “laying on of hands.” Lancaster starts off making a very convincing biblical argument that this was necessary for a new convert to receive the Holy Spirit, but then balks, concluding otherwise. He seems unwilling to take such an extreme position merely because it makes him uncomfortable.
Where I would’ve liked further discussion is on “faith toward God.” The author builds a case for “faith on God” over “faith in God,” but doesn’t even address the translation issue of “faith” (i.e., belief) versus “faithfulness” (i.e., fidelity). I find this extremely puzzling because the latter choice would have fit so well with his interpretation of “faith” as a matter of behavior, not belief.
Despite a few difficulties, I generally liked Elementary Principles. Lancaster takes seriously a passage that too many teachers overlook because they’re eager to get to the “good stuff” – the heavy, advanced stuff – when sometimes their students need to review the basics to make sure everything is in order. These sermons can serve as guidelines for preachers and teachers to design their own sermons and lessons on these topics. (They might face a few challenges though since, being a collection of sermons, the book lacks endnotes and a bibliography to facilitate further study.)
Something else Lancaster accomplishes is staying on topic, not getting sidetracked on tangents or bogged down in a lot of controversy. This has its pros and cons. Even though the author set out to provide some simple answers, I felt that the book inadvertently raises more serious questions than he might have anticipated. Why is this all-important list only included in a book whose canonicity was seriously disputed? And why doesn’t the Bible contain a primer for us explaining these elementary principles? These issues are clearly beyond what Lancaster intended to cover in these sermons, but I hope he endeavors to take them on some point in the future.
February 27, 2015
Lancaster writes this book to espouse his theory that the "elementary principles" mentioned in Hebrews are actually a list of the basic tenants taught to new initiates into the apostolic Christian faith. The book squeezed out a fourth star from me because I thought the theory was incredibly intriguing and had some weight. Most of the book was loaded with great teaching.
Unlike Lancaster's other work on the book of Galatians, this book has no bibliography or footnotes. About halfway through I was exhausted by this frustration, but then Lancaster starting inserting sections and quotes from the relevant materials that he builds his theory off of. That helped me as a reader, although I would have like the same attention as he gave to Galatians.
Lancaster's Messianic bent was both a draw and a turn off, his awareness of being able to place the discussion within a first-century apostolic context (which was Jewish) is fantastic, while his eschatology seems to jettison those same interpretive principles and shape the context to fit his needs; for this reason I was not a fan of chapters 9-10.
Nevertheless, the book was a great read and the theory is a sound one. I have since been mulling over the implications of the elementary principles.
Unlike Lancaster's other work on the book of Galatians, this book has no bibliography or footnotes. About halfway through I was exhausted by this frustration, but then Lancaster starting inserting sections and quotes from the relevant materials that he builds his theory off of. That helped me as a reader, although I would have like the same attention as he gave to Galatians.
Lancaster's Messianic bent was both a draw and a turn off, his awareness of being able to place the discussion within a first-century apostolic context (which was Jewish) is fantastic, while his eschatology seems to jettison those same interpretive principles and shape the context to fit his needs; for this reason I was not a fan of chapters 9-10.
Nevertheless, the book was a great read and the theory is a sound one. I have since been mulling over the implications of the elementary principles.
October 30, 2015
A most excellent theology book. Hebrews 6:1-3 lists 6 foundational spiritual topics that are supposed to be so basic that the writer says essentially, "that stuff is just milk. Let's move on to deeper stuff." This book suggests that over the years those basic principles have all but been forgotten, causing us to create some whack theology about Heaven and so forth. You may be thinking, "that sounds boring." In actuality, it's flippin' amazing and packed full of revelatory insight into the basics.
August 11, 2014
I only read less than half of it. It was fine, but mostly things I've learned from other sources. It's probably good, just not something I needed right now. Lancaster does believe in much more "punishment and rewards" God than I do, so I disagreed with that aspect.
July 22, 2025
This book should be read every year by every believer!
October 31, 2018
a worthwhile addition to efforts to catechize believers
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews