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Jewish Christianity

January 01, 1970

This article is about the historical concept. For a comparison of the two religions as they exist today, see Christianity and Judaism. For the modern-day religious movement, see Messianic Judaism.

Jewish Christians were the followers of a Jewish religious sect that emerged in Judea during the late Second Temple period (first century AD). These Jews believed that Jesus was the prophesied Messiah and they continued their adherence to Jewish law. Jewish Christianity is the foundation of Early Christianity, which later developed into Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Christianity started with Jewish eschatological expectations, and it developed into the worship of Jesus as the result of his earthly ministry, his crucifixion, and the post-crucifixion experiences of his followers. Modern scholars are engaged in an ongoing debate about the proper designation of Jesus' first followers. Many modern scholars believe that the term Jewish Christians is anachronistic given the fact that there is no consensus about the date of the birth of Christianity. Some modern scholars have suggested that the designations "Jewish believers in Jesus" and "Jewish followers of Jesus" better reflect the original context.

Jewish Christians drifted apart from mainstream Judaism, their form of Judaism eventually became a minority strand within Judaism and by the fifth century, it almost disappeared. Jewish–Christian gospels are lost except for fragments of them, so there is a considerable amount of uncertainty about the scriptures which were used by this group of Christians.

The split of Christianity and Judaism took place during the first century AD.[1][2][failed verification][better source needed] While the First Jewish–Roman War and the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD were main events, the separation was a long-term process, in which the boundaries were not clear-cut.[1][2]

Etymology edit

Early Jewish Christians (i.e. the Jewish followers of Jesus) referred to themselves as followers of "The Way" (ἡ ὁδός: hė hodós), probably coming from John 14:6, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."[3][4][note 1] According to Acts 11:26, the term "Christian" (Greek: Χριστιανός) was first used in reference to Jesus's disciples in the city of Antioch, meaning "followers of Christ", by the non-Jewish inhabitants of Antioch.[10] The earliest recorded use of the term "Christianity" (Greek: Χριστιανισμός) was by Ignatius of Antioch, in around 100 AD.[11]

The term "Jewish Christian" appears in modern historical texts contrasting Christians of Jewish origin with gentile Christians, both in discussion of the New Testament church[12][1][2][13][14][15] and the second and following centuries.[16]

Origins edit

See also: Second Temple Period, Origins of Judaism, Hellenistic Judaism, and Christianity in the 1st century

Jewish-Hellenistic background edit

Hellenism edit

Main articles: Second Temple Judaism and Hellenistic Judaism

Christianity arose as a Pharisaic movement within the syncretistic Hellenistic world of the first century AD, which was dominated by Roman law and Greek culture.[17] Hellenistic culture had a profound impact on the customs and practices of Jews, both in the Land of Israel and in the Diaspora. The inroads into Judaism gave rise to Hellenistic Judaism in the Jewish diaspora which sought to establish a Hebraic-Jewish religious tradition within the culture and language of Hellenism.

Hellenistic Judaism spread to Ptolemaic Egypt from the 3rd century BC, and became a notable religio licita after the Roman conquest of Greece, Anatolia, Syria, Judea, and Egypt, until its decline in the 3rd century parallel to the rise of Gnosticism and Early Christianity.

According to Burton Mack and a minority of commentators, the Christian vision of Jesus' death for the redemption of mankind was only possible in a Hellenised milieu.[note 2]

Jewish sects edit

During the early first century AD, there were many competing Jewish sects in the Holy Land and those that became Rabbinic Judaism and Proto-orthodox Christianity were but two of these. There were Pharisees, Sadducees, and Zealots, but also other less influential sects, including the Essenes.[1][2] The first century BC and first century AD saw a growing number of charismatic religious leaders contributing to what would become the Mishnah of Rabbinic Judaism; the ministry of Jesus would lead to the emergence of the first Jewish Christian community.[1][2]

The gospels contain strong condemnations of the Pharisees, though there is a clear influence of Hillel's interpretation of the Torah in the Gospel sayings.[18] Belief in the resurrection of the dead in the messianic age was a core Pharisaic doctrine.

Jewish and Christian messianism edit

Main articles: Jewish eschatology, Messiah in Judaism, Messiah ben Joseph, and Rejection of Jesus

Most of Jesus's teachings were intelligible and acceptable in terms of Second Temple Judaism; what set Christians apart from Jews was their faith in Christ as the resurrected messiah.[19] While Christianity acknowledges only one ultimate Messiah, Judaism can be said to hold to a concept of multiple messiahs. The two most relevant are the Messiah ben Joseph and the traditional Messiah ben David. Some scholars have argued that the idea of two messiahs, one suffering and the second fulfilling the traditional messianic role, was normative to ancient Judaism, predating Jesus. Jesus would have been viewed by many as one or both.[20][21][22][23]

Jewish messianism has its root in the apocalyptic literature of the 2nd century BC to the 1st century AD, promising a future "anointed" leader or Messiah to resurrect the Israelite "Kingdom of God", in place of the foreign rulers of the time. According to Shaye J.D. Cohen, the fact that Jesus did not establish an independent Israel, combined with his death at the hands of the Romans, caused many Jews to reject him as the Messiah.[24][note 3] Jews at that time were expecting a military leader as a Messiah, such as Bar Kokhba.

Psalm 2 was another source of Jewish messianism, which was prompted by Pompey's conquest of Jerusalem in 63 BCE. Early Christians cited this chapter to claim that Jesus was the messiah and the son of god and negate Caesar's claim to the latter. [25]

Main article: Jesus
See also: Historical background of the New Testament

Christian views edit

Main articles: Life of Jesus in the New Testament and Ministry of Jesus

According to Christian denominations, the bodily resurrection of Jesus after his death is the pivotal event of Jesus' life and death, as described in the gospels and the epistles. According to the gospels, Jesus preached for a period of one to three years in the early 1st century. His ministry of teaching, healing the sick and disabled and performing various miracles, culminated in his crucifixion at the hands of the Roman authorities in Jerusalem. After his death, he appeared to his followers, resurrected from death. After forty days he ascended to Heaven, but his followers believed he would soon return to usher in the Kingdom of God and fulfill the rest of Messianic prophecy such as the resurrection of the dead and the Last Judgment.

Scholarly views edit

Main articles: Historical Jesus and Quest for the historical Jesus

Proponents of higher criticism claim that regardless of how one interprets the mission of Jesus, he must be understood in context as a 1st-century Middle Eastern Jew.[26][27]

There is widespread disagreement among scholars on the details of the life of Jesus mentioned in the gospel narratives, and on the meaning of his teachings.[28] Scholars often draw a distinction between the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith, and two different accounts can be found in this regard.[29] Traditional scholarship on the subject stood on traditional theology. It emphasized Paul, and de-emphasized James and the Jewish grounding of early belief in Jesus.[30] Modern scholarship sees Jesus and his Jewish followers as grounded in the beliefs and traditions of first century Judaism.[31][page needed]

Critical scholars disagree on the historicity of many biblical narratives concerning the life of Jesus. Many such narratives have been classed as legendary or constructed from earlier traditions, such as the birth stories of Jesus.[32][33][34][35] The mainstream historical view is that while the gospels include many legendary elements, these are religious elaborations added to the accounts of a historical Jesus who was crucified under the Roman prefect Pontius Pilate in the 1st-century Roman province of Judea.[36][37] His remaining disciples later believed that he was resurrected.[38][39]

Five portraits of the historical Jesus are supported by mainstream scholars, namely the apocalyptic prophet,[note 4] the charismatic healer,[43] the Cynic philosopher, the Jewish Messiah, and the prophet of social change.[44][45]

Early Jewish Christianity edit

Most historians agree that Jesus or his followers established a new Jewish sect, one that attracted both Jewish and gentile converts. The self-perception, beliefs, customs, and traditions of the Jewish followers of Jesus, Jesus's disciples and first followers, were grounded in first-century Judaism. According to New Testament scholar Bart D. Ehrman, a number of early Christianities existed in the first century AD, from which developed various Christian traditions and denominations, including proto-orthodoxy, Marcionites, Gnostics and the Jewish followers of Jesus.[31] According to theologian James D. G. Dunn, four types of early Christianity can be discerned: Jewish Christianity, Hellenistic Christianity, Apocalyptic Christianity, and early Catholicism.[46]

The first followers of Jesus were essentially all ethnically Jewish or Jewish proselytes. Jesus was Jewish, preached to the Jewish people, and called from them his first followers. According to McGrath, Jewish Christians, as faithful religious Jews, "regarded their movement as an affirmation of every aspect of contemporary Judaism, with the addition of one extra belief – that Jesus was the Messiah."[47]

Conversely, Margaret Barker argues that early Christianity has roots in pre-Babylonian exile Israelite religion.[48] The Expositor's Greek Testament interprets John 4:23 as being critical of Judaism and Samaritanism.[49]

Jewish Christians were the original members of the Jewish movement that later became Christianity.[12][50][1][2] In the earliest stage the community was made up of all those Jews who believed that Jesus was the Jewish messiah.[1][2][51] As Christianity grew and developed, Jewish Christians became only one strand of the early Christian community, characterised by combining the confession of Jesus as Christ with continued observance of the Torah[12] and adherence to Jewish traditions such as Sabbath observance, Jewish calendar, Jewish laws and customs, circumcision, kosher diet and synagogue attendance, and by a direct genetic relationship to the earliest followers of Jesus.[12][50][1][13]

Jerusalem ekklēsia edit

See also: Flight to Pella

The Jerusalem Church was an early Christian community located in Jerusalem, of which James the Just, the brother of Jesus, and Peter were leaders. Paul was in contact with this community.[52] Legitimised by Jesus' appearance, Peter was the first leader of the Jerusalem ekklēsia.[53][54] He was soon eclipsed in this leadership by James the Just, "the Brother of the Lord,"[55][56] which may explain why the early texts contain scarce information about Peter.[57] According to Lüdemann, in the discussions about the strictness of adherence to the Jewish Law, the more conservative view of James the Just became more widely accepted than the more liberal position of Peter, who soon lost influence.[57] According to Dunn, this was not an "usurpation of power," but a consequence of Peter's involvement in missionary activities.[58]

According to Eusebius' Church History 4.5.3–4: the first 15 Christian Bishops of Jerusalem were "of the circumcision". The Romans destroyed the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem in year 135 during the Bar Kokhba revolt,[59] but it is traditionally believed the Jerusalem Christians waited out the Jewish–Roman wars in Pella in the Decapolis.[60]

Beliefs edit

The Pauline epistles incorporate creeds, or confessions of faith, of a belief in an exalted Christ that predate Paul,[17] and give essential information on the faith of the early Jerusalem Church around James, brother of Jesus.[61][62][63] This group venerated the risen Christ, who had appeared to several persons,[17] as in Philippians 2:6–11, the Christ hymn, which portrays Jesus as an incarnated and subsequently exalted heavenly being.[64]

Messiah/Christ edit

Main articles: Messiah in Judaism and Eschatology

Early Christians regarded Jesus to be the Messiah, the promised king who would restore the Jewish kingdom and independence. Jewish messianism has its root in the apocalyptic literature of the 2nd century BC to 1st century BC, promising a future "anointed" leader or messiah to restore the Israelite "Kingdom of God", in place of the foreign rulers of the time. This corresponded with the Maccabean Revolt directed against the Seleucid Empire. Following the fall of the Hasmonean kingdom, it was directed against the Roman administration of Judea Province, which, according to Josephus, began with the formation of the Zealots and Sicarii during the Census of Quirinius (6 AD), although full-scale open revolt did not occur until the First Jewish–Roman War in 66 AD.

Resurrection edit

According to the New Testament, some Christians reported that they encountered Jesus after his crucifixion. They believed that he had been resurrected (belief in the resurrection of the dead in the Messianic Age was a core Pharisaic doctrine), and his resurrection provided the belief that he would soon return and fulfill the rest of Messianic prophecy such as the resurrection of the dead and the Last Judgment.[65]

1 Corinthians 15:3-9 gives an early testimony, which was delivered to Paul,[66] of the atonement of Jesus and the appearances of the risen Christ to "Cephas and the twelve", and to "James [...] and all the apostles", possibly reflecting a fusion of two early Christian groups:

3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which also I received: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

4 and that he was buried; and that he hath been raised on the third day according to the scriptures;
5 and that he appeared to Cephas; then to the twelve;
6 then he appeared to above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain until now, but some are fallen asleep;
7 then he appeared to James; then to all the apostles;

8 and last of all, as to the [child] untimely born, he appeared to me also.[67]

The later canonical gospels provide more detailed narratives about the resurrection of Jesus. The New Testament accounts do not describe the resurrection itself, but rather accounts of appearances of Jesus.[68] Jesus is described as the "firstborn from the dead", prōtotokos, the first to be raised from the dead, thereby acquiring the "special status of the firstborn as the preeminent son and heir".[69][web 1] Scholars debate on the historicity of specific details of these narratives such as the empty tomb and burial of Jesus along with the resurrection itself. While Conservative Christian scholars argue in favor of a real, concrete, material resurrection of a transformed body,[70][71][web 2] secular and Liberal Christian scholars typically argue in favor of more naturalistic explanations, such as the vision theory. For example, Gerd Lüdemann argues that Peter had a vision of Jesus, induced by his feelings of guilt for betraying Jesus. The vision elevated this feeling of guilt, and Peter experienced it as a real appearance of Jesus, raised from dead.[web 3] Other scholars such as Craig L. Blomberg argue that there are sufficient arguments for the historicity of the resurrection.[72] According to Geza Vermes, the concept of resurrection formed "the initial stage of the belief in his exaltation", which is "the apogee of the triumphant Christ".[73] The focal concern of the early communities is the expected return of Jesus, and the entry of the believers into the kingdom of God with a transformed body.[74]

Proponents of the vision theory argue that cognitive dissonance influenced the inspiration for resurrection belief. According to Bart Ehrman, the resurrection appearances were a denial response to his disciples' sudden disillusionment following Jesus' death. According to Ehrman, some of his followers claimed to have seen him alive again, resulting in a multitude of stories which convinced others that Jesus had risen from death and was exalted to Heaven.[41][note 5] According to Paula Fredriksen, Jesus's impact on his followers was so great that they could not accept the failure implicit in his death.[75] According to Fredricksen, before his death Jesus created amongst his believers such certainty that the Kingdom of God and the resurrection of the dead was at hand, that with few exceptions (John 20: 24–29) when they saw him shortly after his execution, they had no doubt that he had been resurrected, and the general resurrection of the dead was at hand. These specific beliefs were compatible with Second Temple Judaism.[76]

According to N.T. Wright, "there is substantial unanimity among the early Christian writers (first and second century) that Jesus had been bodily raised from the dead,"[77] "with (as the early Christians in their different ways affirmed) a 'transphysical' body, both the same and yet in some mysterious way transformed," reasoning that as a matter of "inference" both a bodily resurrection and later bodily appearances of Jesus are far better explanations for the empty tomb and the 'meetings' and the rise of Christianity than are any other theories.[78] Rejecting the visionary theories, Wright notes that visions of the dead were always associated with spirits and ghosts, and never with bodily resurrection. Thus, Wright argues, a mere vision of Jesus would never lead to the unprecedented belief that Jesus was a physically resurrected corpse; at most, he would be perceived as an exalted martyr standing at the right hand of God.[79]

According to Johan Leman, the resurrection must be understood as a sense of presence of Jesus even after his death, especially during the ritual meals which were continued after his death.[80] His early followers regarded him as a righteous man and prophet, who was therefore resurrected and exalted.[81] In time, Messianistic, Isaiahic, apocalyptic and eschatological expectations were blended in the experience and understanding of Jesus, who came to be expected to return to earth.[81]

Bodily resurrection edit

A point of debate is how Christians came to believe in a bodily resurrection, which was "a comparatively recent development within Judaism."[82] According to Dag Øistein Endsjø, "The notion of the resurrection of the flesh was, as we have seen, not unknown to certain parts of Judaism in antiquity", but Paul rejected the idea of bodily resurrection, and it also can't be found within the strands of Jewish thought in which he was formed.[83] According to Porter, Hayes and Tombs, the Jewish tradition emphasizes a continued spiritual existence rather than a bodily resurrection.[84]

Nevertheless, the origin of this idea is commonly traced to Jewish beliefs,[85] a view against which Stanley E. Porter objected.[38] According to Porter, Jewish and subsequent Christian thought were influenced by Greek thoughts, where "assumptions regarding resurrection" can be found,[86] which were probably adopted by Paul.[note 6] According to Ehrman, most of the alleged parallels between Jesus and the pagan savior-gods only exist in the modern imagination, and there are no "accounts of others who were born to virgin mothers and who died as an atonement for sin and then were raised from the dead."[87]

Exaltation and deification edit

According to Ehrman, a central question in the research on Jesus and early Christianity is how a human came to be deified in a relatively short time.[88] Jewish Christians like the Ebionites had an Adoptionist Christology[89] and regarded Jesus as the Messiah while rejecting his divinity,[90] while other strands of Christian thought regard Jesus to be a "fully divine figure", a "high Christology".[42] How soon the earthly Jesus was regarded to be the incarnation of God is a matter of scholarly debate.[88][42]

Philippians 2: 5–11 contains the Christ hymn, which portrays Jesus as an incarnated and subsequently exalted heavenly being:[64]

5 Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

6 who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men;
8 and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient [even] unto death, yea, the death of the cross.
9 Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and gave unto him the name which is above every name;
10 that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of [things] in heaven and [things] on earth and [things] under the earth,

11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.[91]

According to Dunn, the background of this hymn has been strongly debated. Some see it as influenced by a Greek worldview.[note 7] while others have argued for Jewish influences. According to Dunn, the hymn contains a contrast with the sins of Adam and his disobedience. Dunn further notes that the hymn may be seen as a three-stage Christology, starting with "an earlier stage of mythic pre-history or pre-existence," but regards the humility-exaltation contrast to be the main theme.[92]

This belief in the incarnated and exalted Christ was part of Christian tradition a few years after his death and over a decade before the writing of the Pauline epistles.[88][42] According to Dunn, the background of this hymn has been strongly debated. Some see it as influenced by a Greek worldview,[note 8]

According to Burton L. Mack the early Christian communities started with "Jesus movements", new religious movements centering on a human teacher called Jesus. A number of these "Jesus movements" can be discerned in early Christian writings.[93] According to Mack, within these Jesus-movements developed within 25 years the belief that Jesus was the Messiah, and had risen from death.[17]

According to Erhman, the gospels show a development from a "low Christology" towards a "high Christology".[88] Yet, a "high Christology" seems to have been part of Christian traditions a few years after his death, and over a decade before the writing of the Pauline epistles, which are the oldest Christian writings.[42] According to Martin Hengel, as summarized by Jeremy Bouma, the letters of Paul already contain a fully developed Christology, shortly after the death of Jesus, including references to his pre-existence.[42] According to Hengel, the Gospel of John shows a development which builds on this early high Christology, fusing it with Jewish wisdom traditions, in which Wisdom was personified and descended into the world. While this "Logos Christology" is recognizable for Greek metaphysics, it is nevertheless not derived from pagan sources, and Hengel rejects the idea of influence from "Hellenistic mystery cults or a Gnostic redeemer myth".[42]

According to Margaret Baker, Christian trinitarian theology derived from pre-Christian Palestinian beliefs about angels. These beliefs revolved around the idea that there was a High God and several Sons of God, one of which was Yahweh. Yahweh was believed to manifest as an angel, human being or a Davidic king, which led some 1st century Palestinians to believe that Jesus was the Son of God, Messiah and Lord. [94]

Jewish practices and identity edit

The Book of Acts reports that the early followers continued daily Temple attendance and traditional Jewish home prayer. Other passages in the New Testament gospels reflect a similar observance of traditional Jewish piety such as fasting, reverence for the Torah and observance of Jewish holy days.

Paul and the inclusion of gentiles edit

 
Valentin de Boulogne's depiction of Saint Paul Writing His Epistles, c. 1618-1620 (Blaffer Foundation Collection, Houston, Texas)
See also: Paul the Apostle and Judaism, Christian views on the Old Covenant, Incident at Antioch, and Pauline Christianity

Saul of Tarsus (Paul the Apostle) edit

According to Larry Hurtado, "the christology and devotional stance that Paul affirmed (and shared with others in the early Jesus-movement) was… a distinctive expression within a variegated body of Jewish messianic hopes."[95] According to Dunn, Paul presents, in his epistles, a Hellenised Christianity.[96][note 9] According to Ehrman, "Paul's message, in a nutshell, was a Jewish apocalyptic proclamation with a seriously Christian twist."[39][page needed]

Paul was in contact with the early Christian community in Jerusalem, led by James the Just.[93][note 10] Fragments of their beliefs in an exalted and deified Jesus, what Mack called the "Christ cult," can be found in the writings of Paul.[93][note 11] According to the New Testament, Saul of Tarsus first persecuted the early Jewish Christians, but then converted.[note 12] He adopted the name Paul and started proselytizing among the gentiles, adopting the title "Apostle to the Gentiles". Saint Peter, Paul and other Jewish Christians told the Jerusalem council that Gentiles were receiving the Holy Spirit, and so convinced the leaders of the Jerusalem Church to allow gentile converts exemption from most Jewish commandments at the Council of Jerusalem, which opened the way for a much larger Christian Church, extending far beyond the Jewish community.

While Paul was inspired by the early Christian apostles, his writings elaborate on their teachings, and also give interpretations which are different from other teachings as documented in the canonical gospels, early Acts and the rest of the New Testament, such as the Epistle of James.[17][103]

Inclusion of gentiles edit

Some early Jewish Christians believed that non-Jews must convert to Judaism and adopt Jewish customs in order to be saved. Paul criticized Peter for himself declining to eat with gentiles during a visit by some of these Christians and therefore presenting a poor example to non-Jews joining the Christians.[104] Paul's close coworker Barnabas sided with Peter in this dispute.[105][106] Those that taught that gentile converts to Christianity ought to adopt more Jewish practices to be saved, however, were called "Judaizers".[107] Though the Apostle Peter was initially sympathetic, the Apostle Paul opposed the teaching at the Incident at Antioch (Gal. 2:11–21) and at the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:6–35).[107][108] Nevertheless, Judaizing continued to be encouraged for several centuries, particularly by Jewish Christians.[107]

Paul opposed the strict applications of Jewish customs for gentile converts,[108] and argued with the leaders of the Jerusalem Church to allow gentile converts exemption from most Jewish commandments at the Council of Jerusalem, where Paul met with the "pillars of Jerusalem Church" (whom Paul identifies as Peter, Jesus's brother James, and John) over whether gentile Christians need to keep the Jewish Law and be circumcised. According to Acts, James played a prominent role in the formulation of the council's decision (Acts 15:19 NRSV) that circumcision was not a requirement. In Galatians, Paul says that James, Peter and John[109] will minister to the "circumcised" (in general Jews and Jewish proselytes) in Jerusalem, while Paul and his fellows will minister to the "uncircumcised" (in general, gentiles) (Galatians 2:9).[110][note 13]

The Catholic Encyclopedia[111] claims: "St. Paul's account of the incident leaves no doubt that St. Peter saw the justice of the rebuke." However, L. Michael White's From Jesus to Christianity[112] claims: "The blowup with Peter was a total failure of political bravado, and Paul soon left Antioch as persona non grata, never again to return." Scholar James D. G. Dunn, who coined the phrase "New Perspective on Paul", has proposed that Peter was the "bridge-man" (i.e., the pontifex maximus) between the two other "prominent leading figures" of early Christianity: Paul and James, the brother of Jesus.[113]

Hellenistic influences edit

Talmud scholar Daniel Boyarin has argued that Paul's theology of the spirit is more deeply rooted in Hellenistic Judaism than generally believed. In A Radical Jew, Boyarin argues that the Apostle Paul combined the life of Jesus with Greek philosophy to reinterpret the Hebrew Bible in terms of the Platonic opposition between the ideal (which is real) and the material (which is false). Judaism is a material religion, in which membership is based not on belief but rather descent from Abraham, physically marked by circumcision, and focusing on how to live this life properly. Paul saw in the symbol of a resurrected Jesus the possibility of a spiritual rather than corporeal Messiah. He used this notion of Messiah to argue for a religion through which all people—not just descendants of Abraham—could worship the God of Abraham. Unlike Judaism, which holds that it is the proper religion only of the Jews, Pauline Christianity claimed to be the proper religion for all people.[114]

By appealing to the Platonic distinction between the material and the ideal, Paul showed how the spirit of Christ could provide all people a way to worship the God who had previously been worshipped only by Jews, Jewish proselytes and God-fearers,[115][116][117] although Jews claimed that he was the one and only God of all. Boyarin roots Paul's work in Hellenistic Judaism and insists that Paul was thoroughly Jewish, but argues that Pauline theology made his version of Christianity appealing to gentiles. Boyarin also sees this Platonic reworking of both Jesus's teachings and Pharisaic Judaism as essential to the emergence of Christianity as a distinct religion, because it justified a Judaism without Jewish law.[114]

Split of early Christianity and Judaism edit

Main article: Split of Christianity and Judaism

Emergence as separate religious communities edit

As Christianity grew throughout the gentile world, the developing Christian tradition diverged from its Jewish and Jerusalem roots.[118][119] Historians continue to debate the precise moment when early Christianity established itself as a new religion, apart and distinct from Judaism. It is difficult to trace the process by which the two separated or to know exactly when this began. Jewish Christians continued to worship in synagogues together with contemporary Jews for centuries.[120][121][122] Some scholars have found evidence of continuous interactions between Jewish-Christian and Rabbinic movements from the mid-to late second century CE to the fourth century CE.[123][124] Philip S. Alexander characterizes the question of when Christianity and Judaism parted company and went their separate ways as "one of those deceptively simple questions which should be approached with great care".[125] The first centuries of belief in Jesus were characterized by great uncertainty and religious creativity.[126] "Groups of believers coalesced into proto-factions of like-minded individuals, and then into factions. […] The degree of doctrinal cohesion of these groups is unknown. As attested by the extant texts, confusion and chaos were rampant."[127] At first, early belief in Jesus was very much a local phenomenon with some degree of coordination among communities on a regional basis.[128]

Both Early Christianity and Early Rabbinic Judaism were far less orthodox and less theologically homogeneous than in modern day. Both religions were significantly influenced by Hellenistic religion and borrowed allegories and concepts from Classical Hellenistic philosophy[129] and the works of the Greek-speaking Jewish authors of the end of the Second Temple period. The two schools of thought eventually firmed up their respective "norms" and doctrines, notably by increasingly diverging on key issues such as the status of "purity laws", the validity of Judeo-Christian messianic beliefs, and, more importantly, the use of Koine Greek and Latin as sacerdotal languages replacing Biblical Hebrew.[130]

Trajectory edit

Heinrich Graetz postulated a Council of Jamnia in 90 that excluded Christians from the synagogues, but this is disputed. Jewish Christians continued to worship in synagogues for centuries.[131][132][133]

According to historian Shaye J. D. Cohen, "the separation of Christianity from Judaism was a process, not an event", in which the church became "more and more gentile, and less and less Jewish".[134][note 14] According to Cohen, early Christianity ceased to be a Jewish sect when it ceased to observe Jewish practices, such as circumcision.[24] According to Cohen, this process ended in 70 AD, after the great revolt, when various Jewish sects disappeared and Pharisaic Judaism evolved into Rabbinic Judaism, and Christianity emerged as a distinct religion.[135]

Talmudist and professor of Jewish studies Daniel Boyarin proposes a revised understanding of the interactions between nascent Christianity and Judaism in late antiquity, viewing the two "new" religions as intensely and complexly intertwined throughout this period. According to Boyarin, Judaism and Christianity "were part of one complex religious family, twins in a womb", for at least three centuries.[136][note 15] Alan Segal also states that "one can speak of a 'twin birth' of two new Judaisms, both markedly different from the religious systems that preceded them".[137][note 16]

According to Robert Goldenberg, it is increasingly accepted among scholars that "at the end of the 1st century AD there were not yet two separate religions called 'Judaism' and 'Christianity'".[138][note 17]

Jewish Christianity fell into decline during the Jewish–Roman wars (66–135) and the growing anti-Judaism perhaps best personified by Marcion of Sinope (c. 150). With persecution by the Nicene Christians from the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine in the 4th century, Jewish Christians sought refuge outside the boundaries of the Empire, in Arabia and further afield.[139] Within the Empire and later elsewhere it was dominated by the gentile-based Christianity which became the State church of the Roman Empire and which took control of sites in the Holy Land such as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Cenacle and appointed subsequent Bishops of Jerusalem.

First Jewish–Roman War and the destruction of the Temple edit

Main article: First Jewish–Roman War

Full-scale, open revolt against the Romans occurred with the First Jewish–Roman War in 66 AD. In 70 AD, Jerusalem was besieged and the Second Temple was destroyed. This event was a profoundly traumatic experience for the Jews, who were now confronted with difficult and far-reaching questions.[140][note 18] After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD, sectarianism largely came to an end. The Zealots, Sadducees, and Essenes disappeared, while the Early Christians and the Pharisees survived, the latter transforming into Rabbinic Judaism, today known simply as "Judaism". The term "Pharisee" was no longer used, perhaps because it was a term more often used by non-Pharisees, but also because the term was explicitly sectarian, and the rabbis claimed leadership over all Jews.

Many historians argue that the gospels took their final form after the Great Revolt and the destruction of the Temple, although some scholars put the authorship of Mark in the 60s; this could help one understand their context.[141][142][143][144] Strack theorizes that the growth of a Christian canon (the New Testament) was a factor that influenced the rabbis to record the oral law in writing.[note 19]

A significant contributing factor to the split was the two groups' differing theological interpretations of the Temple's destruction. Rabbinic Judaism saw the destruction as a chastisement for neglecting the Torah. The early Christians however saw it as God's punishment for the Jewish rejection of Jesus, leading to the claim that the 'true' Israel was now the Church. Jews believed this claim was scandalous.[145] According to Fredriksen, since early Christians believed that Jesus had already replaced the Temple as the expression of a new covenant, they were relatively unconcerned with the destruction of the Temple during the First Jewish-Roman War.[75]

Controversies over Passover and the Eucharist edit

Main article: Easter controversy
See also: Quartodeciman

Rejection of Jewish Christianity edit

In Christian circles, the term "Nazarene" later came to be used as a label for those Christians who were faithful to Jewish law, in particular, it was used as a label for a certain sect of Christians. At first, these Jewish Christians, originally the central group in Christianity, were not declared unorthodox but they were later excluded from the Jewish community and denounced. Some Jewish Christian groups, such as the Ebionites, were accused of having unorthodox beliefs, particularly in relation to their views of Christ and gentile converts. The Nazarenes, who held to orthodoxy but adhered to Jewish law, were not deemed heretical until the dominance of orthodoxy in the 4th century. The Ebionites may have been a splinter group of Nazarenes, with disagreements over Christology and leadership. After the condemnation of the Nazarenes, the term "Ebionite" was often used as a general pejorative for all related "heresies".[146][147]

Jewish Christians constituted a community which was separate from the Pauline Christians. There was a post-Nicene "double rejection" of the Jewish Christians by adherents of gentile Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism. It is believed that no direct confrontation occurred between the adherents of gentile Christianity and the adherents of Judaic Christianity. However, by this time, the practice of Judeo-Christianity was diluted by internal schisms and external pressures. Gentile Christianity remained the sole strand of orthodoxy and it imposed itself on the previously Jewish Christian sanctuaries, taking full control of those houses of worship by the end of the 5th century.[148]

Growing anti-Jewish sentiment in Christian writings edit

Growing anti-Jewish sentiment among early Christians is evidenced by the Epistle of Barnabas, a late-1st/early-2nd century letter attributed to Barnabas, the companion of Paul mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, although it could be by Barnabas of Alexandria, or an anonymous author using the name Barnabas.[149] In no other writing of that early time is the separation of the gentile Christians from observant Jews so clearly insisted upon. Christians, according to Barnabas, are the only true covenant people, and the Jewish people are no longer in covenant with God. Circumcision and the entire Jewish sacrificial and ceremonial system have been abolished in favor of "the new law of our Lord Jesus Christ". Barnabas claims that Jewish scriptures, rightly understood, serve as a foretelling of Christ and its laws often contain allegorical meanings.

While 2nd-century Marcionism rejected all Jewish influence on Christianity, Proto-orthodox Christianity instead retained some of the doctrines and practices of 1st-century Judaism while rejecting others.[note 20] They held the Jewish scriptures to be authoritative and sacred, employing mostly the Septuagint or Targum translations, and adding other texts as the New Testament canon developed. Christian baptism was another continuation of a Judaic practice.[150]

Later Jewish Christianity edit

Antiquity edit

Ebionites edit

Main article: Ebionites

The Ebionites were a Jewish Christian movement that existed during the early centuries of the Christian Era.[151] They show strong similarities with the earliest form of Jewish Christianity, and their specific theology may have been a "reaction to the law-free Gentile mission."[152] They regarded Jesus as the Messiah while rejecting his divinity and his virgin birth,[90] and insisted on the necessity of following Jewish law and rites.[153] They used the Gospel of the Ebionites, one of the Jewish–Christian gospels; the Hebrew Book of Matthew starting at chapter 3; revered James the brother of Jesus (James the Just); and rejected Paul the Apostle as an apostate from the Law.[154] Their name (Greek: Ἐβιωναῖοι Ebionaioi, derived from Hebrew אביונים‎ ebyonim, ebionim, meaning "the poor" or "poor ones") suggests that they placed a special value on voluntary poverty.

Distinctive features of the Gospel of the Ebionites include the absence of the virgin birth and of the genealogy of Jesus; an Adoptionist Christology,[89] in which Jesus is chosen to be God's Son at the time of his Baptism; the abolition of the Jewish sacrifices by Jesus; and an advocacy of vegetarianism.[155]

Nazarenes edit

Main article: Nazarene

The Nazarenes originated as a sect of first-century Judaism. The first use of the term "sect of the Nazarenes" is in the Book of Acts in the New Testament, where Paul is accused of being a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes ("πρωτοστάτην τε τῆς τῶν Ναζωραίων αἱρέσεως").[156] The term then simply designated followers of "Yeshua Natzri" (Jesus the Nazarene),[note 21] but in the first to fourth centuries the term was used for a sect of followers of Jesus who were closer to Judaism than most Christians.[157] They are described by Epiphanius of Salamis and are mentioned later by Jerome and Augustine of Hippo,[158][159] who made a distinction between the Nazarenes of their time and the "Nazarenes" mentioned in Acts 24:5.[160]

The Nazarenes were similar to the Ebionites, in that they considered themselves Jews, maintained an adherence to the Law of Moses, and used only the Aramaic Gospel of the Hebrews, rejecting all the Canonical gospels. However, unlike half of the Ebionites, they accepted the Virgin Birth.[161][162]

The Gospel of the Hebrews was a syncretic Jewish–Christian gospel, the text of which is lost; only fragments of it survive as brief quotations by the early Church Fathers and in apocryphal writings. The fragments contain traditions of Jesus' pre-existence, incarnation, baptism, and probable temptation, along with some of his sayings.[163] Distinctive features include a Christology characterized by the belief that the Holy Spirit is Jesus' Divine Mother; and a first resurrection appearance to James, the brother of Jesus, showing a high regard for James as the leader of the Jewish Christian church in Jerusalem.[164] It was probably composed in Greek in the first decades of the 2nd century, and is believed to have been used by Greek-speaking Jewish Christians in Egypt during that century.[165]

The Gospel of the Nazarenes is the title given to fragments of one of the lost Jewish-Christian Gospels of Matthew partially reconstructed from the writings of Jerome.

Knanaya edit

Main article: Knanaya

The Knanaya of India descend from Syriac Christians of Jewish origin who migrated to India from Mesopotamia between the 4th and 9th century under the leadership of the merchant Knai Thoma. In the modern age, they are a minority community found among the St. Thomas Christians. The culture of the Knanaya has been analyzed by a number of Jewish scholars who have noted that the community maintains striking correlations to Jewish communities, in particular the Cochin Jews of Kerala. The culture of the Knanaya is a blend of Jewish-Christian, Syriac, and Hindu customs reflecting both the foreign origin of the community and the centuries that they have lived as a minority community in India.[166][167][168]

Surviving Byzantine and 'Syriac' communities in the Middle East edit

Some typically Grecian "Ancient Synagogal" priestly rites have survived partially to the present, notably in the distinct church service of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch, Syriac Orthodox Church and the Melkite Greek Catholic communities of the Hatay Province of Southern Turkey, Syria and Lebanon.

The unique combination of ethnocultural traits inhered from the fusion of a Greek-Macedonian cultural base, Hellenistic Judaism and Roman civilization gave birth to the distinctly Antiochian "Middle Eastern-Roman" Christian traditions of Cilicia (Southeastern Turkey) and Syria/Lebanon:

The mixture of Roman, Greek, and Jewish elements admirably adapted Antioch for the great part it played in the early history of Christianity. The city was the cradle of the church.[169]

Members of these communities still call themselves Rûm which literally means "Eastern Roman", "Byzantine" or "Asian Greek" in Turkish, Persian and Arabic. The term "Rûm" is used in preference to "Ionani" or "Yāvāni" which means "European Greek" or "Ionian" in Classical Arabic and Ancient Hebrew.

Most Middle-Eastern "Melkites" or "Rûms", can trace their ethnocultural heritage to the Southern Anatolian ('Cilician') and Syrian Hellenized Greek-speaking Jewish communities of the past and Greek and Macedonian settlers ('Greco-Syrians'), founders of the original "Antiochian Greek" communities of Cilicia, Northwestern Syria and Lebanon. Counting members of the surviving minorities in the Hatay Province of Turkey, in Syria, Lebanon, Northern Israel and their relatives in the diaspora, there are more than 1.8 million Greco-Melkite Christians residing in the Northern-MENA, the US, Canada and Latin America today, i.e., Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic Christians under the ancient jurisdictional authority of the patriarchates of Antioch and Jerusalem ("Orthodox" in the narrow sense) or their Uniat offshoots ("Catholic" or "united" with Rome).

Today, certain families are associated with descent from the early Jewish Christians of Antioch, Damascus, Judea, and Galilee. Some of those families carry surnames such as Youhanna (John), Hanania (Ananias), Sahyoun (Zion), Eliyya/Elias (Elijah), Chamoun/Shamoun (Simeon/Simon), Semaan/Simaan (Simeon/Simon), Menassa (Manasseh), Salamoun/Suleiman (Solomon), Yowakim (Joachim), Zakariya (Zacharias), Kolath and others.[170]

In Islamic origins edit

In the field of Quranic studies, it has long been argued that Jewish Christianity played an important role in the formation of Quranic conceptions of Christians in Muhammad's Arabia.[171][172] The first major argument put forwards that Jewish Christianity played an important role in the formation of Quranic tradition was Aloys Sprenger in his 1861 book Das Leben und die Lehre des Moḥammad. Since then, numerous other authors have followed this argument, including Adolf von Harnack, Hans-Joachim Schoeps, M. P. Roncaglia, and others.[173] The most recent notable defenders of this thesis have been Francois de Blois[174] and Holger Zellentin, the latter in the context of his research into the historical context of the legal discourses present in the Quran especially as it resembles the Syriac recension of the Didascalia Apostolorum and the Clementine literature.[175] In turn, several critics of this thesis have appeared, most notably Sidney Griffith.[176][177] De Blois provides three arguments for the importance of Jewish Christianity: the use of the term naṣārā in the Quran (usually taken as a reference to Christians, as in Griffith's work) which resembles the Syriac term used for Nazoreans, the resemblance between the description of Mary as part of the Trinity with traditions attributed to the Gospel of the Hebrews, and dietary restrictions associated with the Christian community. In turn, Shaddel argued that naṣārā merely may have etymologically originated as such because Nazoreans were the first to interact with the Arabic community in which this term came into use. Alternative sources as well as hyperbole may explain the reference to Mary in the Trinity. However, Shaddel does admit the ritual laws as evidence for the relevance of Jewish Christians.[178] In the last few years, the thesis for the specific role played by Jewish Christians has been resisted by Gabriel Said Reynolds,[179][180] Stephen Shoemaker,[181] and Guillaume Dye.[182]

Contemporary movements edit

In modern times, the term "Jewish Christian" or "Christian Jew" is generally used in reference to ethnic Jews who have either converted to or been raised in Christianity.[citation needed] They are mostly members of Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox Christian congregations,[citation needed] and they are generally assimilated into the Christian mainstream, but they may also retain a strong sense of attachment to their Jewish identity. Some Jewish Christians also refer to themselves as "Hebrew Christians".

The Hebrew Christian movement of the 19th century was an initiative which was largely led and integrated by Anglicans, and they included figures such as Michael Solomon Alexander, Bishop of Jerusalem 1842–1845; some figures, such as Joseph Frey, the founder of the London Society for Promoting Christianity amongst the Jews, were more assertive of their Jewish identity and independence.

The 19th century saw at least 250,000 Jews convert to Christianity according to existing records of various societies.[183] According to data which was provided by the Pew Research Center, as of 2013, about 1.6 million adult American Jews identify themselves as Christians, and most of them identify themselves as Protestants.[184][185][186] According to the same data, most of the Jews who identify themselves as some sort of Christian (1.6 million) were either raised as Jews or are Jews by ancestry.[185] According to a 2012 study, 17% of Jews in Russia identify themselves as Christians.[187][188]

Messianic Judaism is a religious movement which incorporates elements of Judaism with the tenets of Christianity. Its adherents, many of whom are ethnically Jewish, worship in congregations which recite Hebrew prayers. They also baptize messianic believers who are of the age of accountability (able to accept Jesus as the Messiah), often observe kosher dietary laws and keep Saturday as the Sabbath. Additionally, they recognize the Christian New Testament as holy scripture, though most of them do not use the label "Christian" to describe themselves.

The two groups are not completely distinct; some adherents, for example, favor Messianic congregations but they freely choose to live in both worlds, such as the theologian Arnold Fruchtenbaum, the founder of Ariel Ministries.[189]

The Hebrew Catholics are a movement of Jews who converted to Catholicism and Catholics of non-Jewish origin who choose to keep Jewish customs and traditions in light of Catholic doctrine.

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ It appears in the Acts of the Apostles, Acts 9:2, Acts 19:9 and Acts 19:23. Some English translations of the New Testament capitalize 'the Way' (e.g. the New King James Version and the English Standard Version), indicating that this was how 'the new religion seemed then to be designated'[5] whereas others treat the phrase as indicative—'the way',[6] 'that way'[7] or 'the way of the Lord'.[8] The Syriac version reads, "the way of God" and the Vulgate Latin version, "the way of the Lord".[9]
    See also Sect of “The Way”, “The Nazarenes” & “Christians” : Names given to the Early Church.
  2. ^ Eddy & Boyd (2007), p. 136: "Burton Mack argues that Paul’s view of Jesus as a divine figure who gives his life for the salvation of others had to originate in a Hellenistic rather than a Jewish environment. Mack writes, "Such a notion [of vicarious human suffering] cannot be traced to old Jewish and/ or Israelite traditions, for the very notion of a vicarious human sacrifice was anathema in these cultures. But it can be traced to a Strong Greek tradition of extolling a noble death." More specifically, Mack argues that a Greek "myth of martyrdom" and the "noble death" tradition are ultimately responsible for influencing the hellenized Jews of the Christ cults to develop a divinized Jesus."
    Eddy & Boyd (2007), p. 93further note that "The most sophisticated and influential version of the hellenization thesis was forged within the German Religionsgeschichtliche Schule of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries—now often referred to as the "old history of religions school." Here, the crowning literary achievement in several ways is Wilhelm Bousset’s 1913 work Kyrios Christos. Bousset envisions two forms of pre-Pauline Christianity: [1. In the early Palestinian community, and 2. In the Hellenistic communities.]"
  3. ^ See for comparison: prophet and false prophet.
  4. ^ The notion of Apocalyptic prophet is shared by E. P. Sanders,[40] a main proponent of the New Perspective on Paul, and Bart Ehrman.[41][42]
  5. ^ Ehrman: "What started Christianity was the Belief in the Resurrection. It was nothing else. Followers of Jesus came to believe he had been raised. They did not believe it because of “proof” such as the empty tomb. They believed it because some of them said they saw Jesus alive afterward. Others who believed these stories told others who also came to believe them. These others told others who told others – for days, weeks, months, years, decades, centuries, and now millennia. Christianity is all about believing what others have said. It has always been that way and always will be.

    Easter is the celebration of the first proclamation that Jesus did not remain dead. It is not that his body was resuscitated after a Near Death Experience. God had exalted Jesus to heaven never to die again; he will (soon) return from heaven to rule the earth. This is a statement of faith, not a matter of empirical proof. Christians themselves believe it. Non-Christians recognize it as the very heart of the Christian message. It is a message based on faith in what other people claimed and testified based on what others claimed and testified based on what others claimed and testified – all the way back to the first followers of Jesus who said they saw Jesus alive afterward.[41]
  6. ^ Porter, Hayes and Tombs: "Stanley Porter's paper brings together a body of literature, hitherto largely neglected, which highlights the fact that the Greeks, contrary to much scholarly opinion, did have a significant tradition of bodily resurrection, and that the Jewish tradition emphasizes a continued spiritual existence rather than a bodily resurrection. Thus, Paul in the New Testament probably adopted Graeco-Roman assumptions regarding the resurrection, although he was not blindly derivative in developing his conceptual framework."[84]
  7. ^ Several authors have even argued for influences from a "pre-Christian Gnostic redeemer myth". According to Dunn, this interpretation is dated, and based on "a most questionable historical foundation".[92]
  8. ^ Several authors have even argued for influences from a "pre-Christian Gnostic redeemer myth". According to Dunn, this interpretation is dated, and based on "a most questionable historical foundation"[92] while others have argued for Jewish influences. According to Dunn, the hymn contains a contrast with the sins of Adam and his disobedience. Dunn further notes that the hymn may be seen as a three-stage Christology, starting with "an earlier stage of mythic pre-history or pre-existence," but regards the humility-exaltation contrast to be the main theme.[92]
  9. ^ The term "Pauline Christianity" is generally considered a pejorative by mainstream Christianity, as it carries the implication that Christianity is a corruption of the original teachings of Jesus, as for example in the belief of a Great Apostasy as found in Restorationism.[citation needed] Most of orthodox Christianity relies heavily on these teachings and considers them to be amplifications and explanations of the teachings of Jesus.[citation needed]
  10. ^ According to Mack, he may have been converted to another early strand of Christianity, with a High Christology.[97]
  11. ^ According to Mack,[98] "Paul was converted to a Hellenized form of some Jesus movement that had already developed into a Christ cult. [...] Thus his letters serve as documentation for the Christ cult as well." Price (2000), p. 75, §. The Christ Cults comments: "By choosing the terminology “Christ cults,” Burton Mack means to differentiate those early movements that revered Jesus as the Christ from those that did not. [...] Mack is perhaps not quite clear about what would constitute a Christ cult. Or at least he seems to me to obscure some important distinctions between what would appear to be significantly different subtypes of Christ movements."
  12. ^ Galatians 1:13.[99] According to Dunn, Paul persecuted the "Hellenists"[99] of Acts 6.[100] According to Larry Hurtado, there was no theological divide between "Hellenists" (Greek speaking Jews from the diaspora who had returned to Jerusalem) and their fellow Jesus-followers; Paul's persecution was directed against the Jesus-movement in general, because it offended his Pharisaic convictions.[101][102]
  13. ^ These terms (circumcised/uncircumcised) are generally interpreted to mean Jews and Greeks, who were predominant; however, this is an oversimplification, as 1st-century Judaea Province also had some Jews who no longer circumcised and some Greeks and others such as Egyptians, Ethiopians, and Arabs who did.
  14. ^ Cohen: "The separation of Christianity from Judaism was a process, not an event. The essential part of this process was that the church was becoming more and more gentile, and less and less Jewish, but the separation manifested itself in different ways in each local community where Jews and Christians dwelt together. In some places, the Jews expelled the Christians; in other, the Christians left of their own accord."[134]
  15. ^ Boyarin: "for at least the first three centuries of their common lives, Judaism in all of its forms and Christianity in all of its forms were part of one complex religious family, twins in a womb, contending with each other for identity and precedence, but sharing with each other the same spiritual food."[136]
  16. ^ Segal: "one can speak of a 'twin birth' of two new Judaisms, both markedly different from the religious systems that preceded them. Not only were Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity religious twins, but, like Jacob and Esau, the twin sons of Isaac and Rebecca, they fought in the womb, setting the stage for life after the womb."[137]
  17. ^ Boyarin adds that "Without the power of the orthodox Church and the rabbis to declare people heretics and outside the system it remained impossible to declare phenomenologically who was a Jew and who was a Christian. At least as interesting and significant, it seems more and more clear that it is frequently impossible to tell a Jewish text from a Christian text. The borders are fuzzy, and this has consequences. Religious ideas and innovations can cross borders in both directions.[130]
  18. ^ Such as:[140]
    • How to achieve atonement without the Temple?
    • How to explain the disastrous outcome of the rebellion?
    • How to live in the post-Temple, Romanized world?
    • How to connect present and past traditions?
    How people answered these questioned depended largely on their position prior to the revolt.
  19. ^ The theory that the destruction of the Temple and subsequent upheaval led to the committing of Oral Law into writing was first explained in the Epistle of Sherira Gaon and often repeated. See, for example, Grayzel, A History of the Jews, Penguin Books, 1984, p. 193.
  20. ^ See the Historical background to the issue of Biblical law in Christianity and Early Christianity.
  21. ^ As the Hebrew term נוֹצְרִי (nôṣrî) still does.

References edit

  1. ^ Justin S. Holcomb, "What Does It Mean that Jesus Is 'The Firstborn from the Dead?'"
  2. ^ Habermas (2005), Research from 1975 to the Present: What are Critical Scholars Saying?
  3. ^ Bart Ehrman (5 oct. 2012), Gerd Lüdemann on the Resurrection of Jesus
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Shiffman, Lawrence H. (2018). "How Jewish Christians Became Christians". My Jewish Learning. from the original on 2018-12-17. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Christianity: Severance from Judaism". Jewish Virtual Library. AICE. 2008. from the original on 17 December 2018. Retrieved 17 December 2018. A major difficulty in tracing the growth of Christianity from its beginnings as a Jewish messianic sect, and its relations to the various other normative-Jewish, sectarian-Jewish, and Christian-Jewish groups is presented by the fact that what ultimately became normative Christianity was originally but one among various contending Christian trends. Once the "gentile Christian" trend won out, and the teaching of Paul became accepted as expressing the doctrine of the Church, the Jewish Christian groups were pushed to the margin and ultimately excluded as heretical. Being rejected both by normative Judaism and the Church, they ultimately disappeared. Nevertheless, several Jewish Christian sects (such as the Nazarenes, Ebionites, Elchasaites, and others) existed for some time, and a few of them seem to have endured for several centuries. Some sects saw in Jesus mainly a prophet and not the "Christ", others seem to have believed in him as the Messiah, but did not draw the christological and other conclusions that subsequently became fundamental in the teaching of the Church (the divinity of the Christ, trinitarian conception of the Godhead, abrogation of the Law). After the disappearance of the early Jewish Christian sects and the triumph of gentile Christianity, to become a Christian meant, for a Jew, to apostatize and to leave the Jewish community.
  3. ^ Cwiekowski 1988, pp. 79–80.
  4. ^ Pao 2016, p. 65.
  5. ^ Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary on Acts 19, http://biblehub.com/commentaries/jfb//acts/19.htm 2015-10-25 at the Wayback Machine accessed 8 October 2015
  6. ^ Jubilee Bible 2000
  7. ^ American King James Version
  8. ^ Douai-Rheims Bible
  9. ^ Gill, J., Gill's Exposition of the Bible, commentary on Acts 19:23 http://biblehub.com/commentaries/gill/acts/19.htm 2015-10-25 at the Wayback Machine accessed 8 October 2015
  10. ^ E. Peterson (1959), "Christianus." In: Frühkirche, Judentum und Gnosis, publisher: Herder, Freiburg, pp. 353–72
  11. ^ Elwell & Comfort 2001, pp. 266, 828.
  12. ^ a b c d Tomson, Peter J.; Lambers-Petry, Doris, eds. (2003). The Image of the Judaeo-Christians in Ancient Jewish and Christian Literature. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament. Vol. 158. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. p. 162. ISBN 3161480945. Though every definition of Jewish Christians has problems, the most useful is probably that they were believers in Jesus, of ethnic Jewish origin, who observed the Torah and so retained their Jewish identity.
  13. ^ a b Tabor, James D. (2013). Paul and Jesus: How the Apostle Transformed Christianity. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 24. ISBN 978-1439134986. [...] the original apostolic Christianity that came before Paul, and developed independently of him, by those who had known and spent time with Jesus, was in sharp contrast to Paul's version of the new faith. This lost Christianity held sway during Paul's lifetime, and only with the death of James in 62 AD, followed by the brutal destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD, did it begin to lose its influence as the center of Jesus movement. Ironically, it was the production and final editing of the New Testament itself [...] supporting Paul's version of Christianity, that ensured first the marginalization, and subsequently the death of this original form of Christianity.
  14. ^ Theological dictionary of the New Testament (1972), p. 568. Gerhard Kittel, Geoffrey William Bromiley, Gerhard Friedrich: "When the Jewish Christians whom James sent from Jerusalem arrived at Antioch, Cephas withdrew from table-fellowship with the Gentile Christians".
  15. ^ Cynthia White, The emergence of Christianity (2007), p. 36: "In these early days of the church in Jerusalem there was a growing antagonism between the Greek-speaking Hellenized Jewish Christians and the Aramaic-speaking Jewish Christians".
  16. ^ Michele Murray, Playing a Jewish game: Gentile Christian Judaizing in the first and Second Centuries AD, Canadian Corporation for Studies in Religion (2004), p. 97: "Justin is obviously frustrated by continued law observance by Gentile Christians; to impede the spread of the phenomenon, he declares that he does not approve of Jewish Christians who attempt to influence Gentile Christians".
  17. ^ a b c d e Mack 1995.
  18. ^ Leman 2015, pp. 145–146.
  19. ^ Cohen 1987, pp. 167–168.
  20. ^ Daniel Boyarin (2012). The Jewish Gospels: The Story of the Jewish Christ. New Press. ISBN 978-1595584687. from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  21. ^ Israel Knohl (2000). The Messiah Before Jesus: The Suffering Servant of the Dead Sea Scrolls. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0520928749. Retrieved 20 January 2014. The Messiah before Jesus: The Suffering Servant of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
  22. ^ Alan J. Avery-Peck, ed. (2005). The Review of Rabbinic Judaism: Ancient, Medieval, and Modern. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. pp. 91–112. ISBN 9004144846. from the original on 8 July 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  23. ^ Peter Schäfer (2012). The Jewish Jesus: How Judaism and Christianity Shaped Each Other. Princeton University Press. pp. 235–238. ISBN 978-1400842285. from the original on 8 July 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  24. ^ a b Cohen 1987, p. 168.
  25. ^ Brettler, Marc Zvi; Levine, Amy-Jill (2020). . TheTorah.com. Archived from the original on April 6, 2024.
  26. ^ White (2004). pp. 127–128.
  27. ^ Ehrman (2005). p. 187.
  28. ^ Jesus as a Figure in History: How Modern Historians View the Man from Galilee by Mark Allan Powell 1998 ISBN 0664257038 p. 181
  29. ^ Graham Stanton, The Gospels and Jesus (2nd ed.), (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002) p. xxiii
  30. ^ Wilson, Stephen G. (1995). Related Strangers: Jews and Christians. Minneapolis, MIN: Augsburg Fortress Publishers. pp. 35–47. ISBN 080063733X.
  31. ^ a b Ehrman (2005).
  32. ^ According to Karl Rahner, the gospels show little interest in synchronizing the episodes of the birth or subsequent life of Jesus with the secular history of the age. Encyclopedia of theology: a concise Sacramentum mundi by Karl Rahner 2004 ISBN 0-86012-006-6 p. 731
  33. ^ Sanders, Ed Parish (1993). The Historical Figure of Jesus. London: Allen Lane. p. 85
  34. ^ Vermes, Géza (2006-11-02). The Nativity: History and Legend. Penguin Books Ltd. p. 64.
  35. ^ Many view the topic of historicity as secondary, given that gospels were primarily written as theological documents rather than chronological timelines. Interpreting Gospel Narratives: Scenes, People, and Theology by Timothy Wiarda 2010
  36. ^ Ehrman (2012)
  37. ^ Stanton (2002), pp. 143ff.
  38. ^ a b Porter 1999.
  39. ^ a b Ehrman, The Triumph of Christianity: How a Forbidden religion swept the World.
  40. ^ E.P. Sanders (1993). The Historical Figure of Jesus
  41. ^ a b c Bart Ehrman (1 April 2018), An Easter Reflection 2018 2020-09-25 at the Wayback Machine
  42. ^ a b c d e f g Bouma, Jeremy (27 March 2014). "The Early High Christology Club and Bart Ehrman — An Excerpt from "How God Became Jesus"". Zondervan Academic Blog. HarperCollins Christian Publishing. from the original on 21 April 2018. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  43. ^ group
  44. ^ The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown: An Introduction to the New Testament by Andreas J. Köstenberger, L. Scott Kellum 2009 ISBN 978-0805443653 pp. 124–125
  45. ^ The Cambridge History of Christianity, Volume 1 by Margaret M. Mitchell and Frances M. Young (2006) ISBN 0521812399 p. 23
  46. ^ Dunn 2006, pp. 253–255.
  47. ^ McGrath, Alister E., Christianity: An Introduction. Blackwell Publishing (2006). ISBN 140510899-1. p. 174: "In effect, they [Jewish Christians] seemed to regard Christianity as an affirmation of every aspect of contemporary Judaism, with the addition of one extra belief – that Jesus was the Messiah. Unless males were circumcised, they could not be saved (Acts 15:1)."
  48. ^ Collinwood, Dean W. & James W. McConkie. (2006). 'Temple Theology: An Introduction' by Margaret Barker. Provo, UT: BYU Studies 45:2 (May 2006).
  49. ^ "John 4: Expositor's Greek Testament". Biblehub. 2023.
  50. ^ a b Freedman, David Noel; Myers, Allen C., eds. (2000). Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans. p. 709. ISBN 978-9053565032. from the original on 8 July 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  51. ^ McGrath, Alister E., Christianity: An Introduction. Blackwell Publishing (2006). ISBN 1405108991. p. 174: "In effect, they [Jewish Christians] seemed to regard Christianity as an affirmation of every aspect of contemporary Judaism, with the addition of one extra belief – that Jesus was the Messiah. Unless males were circumcised, they could not be saved (Acts 15:1)."
  52. ^ Cross, F.L., ed. (2005). The Oxford dictionary of the Christian Church (3rd rev. ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 862. ISBN 978-0192802903. from the original on 25 September 2021. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  53. ^ Pagels 2005, p. 45.
  54. ^ Lüdemann & Özen 1996, p. 116.
  55. ^ Pagels 2005, p. 45-46.
  56. ^ Lüdemann & Özen 1996, pp. 116–117.
  57. ^ a b Lüdemann & Özen 1996, p. 116-117.
  58. ^ Bockmuehl 2010, p. 52.
  59. ^ On the Jerusalem Church between the Jewish revolts see: Jonathan Bourgel, From One Identity to Another: The Mother Church of Jerusalem Between the Two Jewish Revolts Against Rome (66-135/6 EC). Paris: Éditions du Cerf, collection Judaïsme ancien et Christianisme primitive, 2015 (in French).
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  • Tabor, James D. (1998), "Ancient Judaism: Nazarenes and Ebionites", The Jewish Roman World of Jesus, Department of Religious Studies; University of North Carolina at Charlotte, from the original on 2010-06-10, retrieved 2019-03-31.
  • Vielhauer, Philipp; Strecker, Georg [in German] (1991), "Jewish–Christian gospels", in Schneemelcher, Wilhelm; Wilson, Robert McLachlan (eds.), New Testament Apocrypha: Gospels and Related Writings Volume 1, translated by George Ogg (2 ed.), John Knox Press, pp. 134–78, ISBN 0-664-22721-X, from the original on 2022-07-08, retrieved 2019-03-31 (6th German ed.)
  • Van Voorst, Robert E. (2003). "Nonexistence Hypothesis". In Holden, James Leslie (ed.). Jesus in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia. Vol. 2: K–Z. ABC-CLIO. pp. 658–60. ISBN 978-1-57607-856-3. from the original on 2020-04-16. Retrieved 2019-03-31.
  • Vermes, Geza (2008), The Resurrection, Penguin Books
  • Weil, Shalva (1982). "Symmetry between Christians and Jews in India: The Cananite Christians and Cochin Jews in Kerala". Contributions to Indian Sociology. 16 (2): 175–96. doi:10.1177/006996678201600202. S2CID 143053857.
  • Wright, N.T. (2003), The Resurrection of the Son of God, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, ISBN 978-0-8006-2679-2
  • Zellentin, Holger (2013). The Qur ͗ān's legal culture: the "Didascalia Apostolorum" as a point of departure. Mohr Siebeck.

External links edit

Origins of Christianity edit

  • Encyclopaedia Britannica: The History of Christianity
  • Patheos.com: The Beginnings and Origins of Christianity
  • Originsofchristianity.net: The Origins of Christianity

Jewish Christianity edit

  • Jewish Encyclopedia: Christianity in its Relation to Judaism
  • Nazarene Israel: the Original Faith of the Apostles
  • Netzari Emunah: What is Netzarim?
  • Jewish Studies for Christians 2019-12-09 at the Wayback Machine

January 01, 1970
jewish, christianity, this, article, about, historical, concept, comparison, religions, they, exist, today, christianity, judaism, modern, religious, movement, messianic, judaism, jewish, christians, were, followers, jewish, religious, sect, that, emerged, jud. This article is about the historical concept For a comparison of the two religions as they exist today see Christianity and Judaism For the modern day religious movement see Messianic Judaism Jewish Christians were the followers of a Jewish religious sect that emerged in Judea during the late Second Temple period first century AD These Jews believed that Jesus was the prophesied Messiah and they continued their adherence to Jewish law Jewish Christianity is the foundation of Early Christianity which later developed into Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christianity Christianity started with Jewish eschatological expectations and it developed into the worship of Jesus as the result of his earthly ministry his crucifixion and the post crucifixion experiences of his followers Modern scholars are engaged in an ongoing debate about the proper designation of Jesus first followers Many modern scholars believe that the term Jewish Christians is anachronistic given the fact that there is no consensus about the date of the birth of Christianity Some modern scholars have suggested that the designations Jewish believers in Jesus and Jewish followers of Jesus better reflect the original context Jewish Christians drifted apart from mainstream Judaism their form of Judaism eventually became a minority strand within Judaism and by the fifth century it almost disappeared Jewish Christian gospels are lost except for fragments of them so there is a considerable amount of uncertainty about the scriptures which were used by this group of Christians The split of Christianity and Judaism took place during the first century AD 1 2 failed verification better source needed While the First Jewish Roman War and the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD were main events the separation was a long term process in which the boundaries were not clear cut 1 2 Contents 1 Etymology 2 Origins 2 1 Jewish Hellenistic background 2 1 1 Hellenism 2 1 2 Jewish sects 2 1 3 Jewish and Christian messianism 2 1 4 Christian views 2 1 5 Scholarly views 3 Early Jewish Christianity 3 1 Jerusalem ekklesia 3 2 Beliefs 3 2 1 Messiah Christ 3 2 2 Resurrection 3 2 2 1 Bodily resurrection 3 2 3 Exaltation and deification 3 3 Jewish practices and identity 4 Paul and the inclusion of gentiles 4 1 Saul of Tarsus Paul the Apostle 4 2 Inclusion of gentiles 4 3 Hellenistic influences 5 Split of early Christianity and Judaism 5 1 Emergence as separate religious communities 5 2 Trajectory 5 3 First Jewish Roman War and the destruction of the Temple 5 4 Controversies over Passover and the Eucharist 5 5 Rejection of Jewish Christianity 5 6 Growing anti Jewish sentiment in Christian writings 6 Later Jewish Christianity 6 1 Antiquity 6 1 1 Ebionites 6 1 2 Nazarenes 6 1 3 Knanaya 6 2 Surviving Byzantine and Syriac communities in the Middle East 7 In Islamic origins 8 Contemporary movements 9 See also 10 Notes 11 References 12 Bibliography 13 External links 13 1 Origins of Christianity 13 2 Jewish ChristianityEtymology editEarly Jewish Christians i e the Jewish followers of Jesus referred to themselves as followers of The Way ἡ ὁdos he hodos probably coming from John 14 6 I am the way and the truth and the life No one comes to the Father except through me 3 4 note 1 According to Acts 11 26 the term Christian Greek Xristianos was first used in reference to Jesus s disciples in the city of Antioch meaning followers of Christ by the non Jewish inhabitants of Antioch 10 The earliest recorded use of the term Christianity Greek Xristianismos was by Ignatius of Antioch in around 100 AD 11 The term Jewish Christian appears in modern historical texts contrasting Christians of Jewish origin with gentile Christians both in discussion of the New Testament church 12 1 2 13 14 15 and the second and following centuries 16 Origins editSee also Second Temple Period Origins of Judaism Hellenistic Judaism and Christianity in the 1st century Jewish Hellenistic background edit Hellenism edit Main articles Second Temple Judaism and Hellenistic Judaism Christianity arose as a Pharisaic movement within the syncretistic Hellenistic world of the first century AD which was dominated by Roman law and Greek culture 17 Hellenistic culture had a profound impact on the customs and practices of Jews both in the Land of Israel and in the Diaspora The inroads into Judaism gave rise to Hellenistic Judaism in the Jewish diaspora which sought to establish a Hebraic Jewish religious tradition within the culture and language of Hellenism Hellenistic Judaism spread to Ptolemaic Egypt from the 3rd century BC and became a notable religio licita after the Roman conquest of Greece Anatolia Syria Judea and Egypt until its decline in the 3rd century parallel to the rise of Gnosticism and Early Christianity According to Burton Mack and a minority of commentators the Christian vision of Jesus death for the redemption of mankind was only possible in a Hellenised milieu note 2 Jewish sects edit During the early first century AD there were many competing Jewish sects in the Holy Land and those that became Rabbinic Judaism and Proto orthodox Christianity were but two of these There were Pharisees Sadducees and Zealots but also other less influential sects including the Essenes 1 2 The first century BC and first century AD saw a growing number of charismatic religious leaders contributing to what would become the Mishnah of Rabbinic Judaism the ministry of Jesus would lead to the emergence of the first Jewish Christian community 1 2 The gospels contain strong condemnations of the Pharisees though there is a clear influence of Hillel s interpretation of the Torah in the Gospel sayings 18 Belief in the resurrection of the dead in the messianic age was a core Pharisaic doctrine Jewish and Christian messianism edit Main articles Jewish eschatology Messiah in Judaism Messiah ben Joseph and Rejection of Jesus Most of Jesus s teachings were intelligible and acceptable in terms of Second Temple Judaism what set Christians apart from Jews was their faith in Christ as the resurrected messiah 19 While Christianity acknowledges only one ultimate Messiah Judaism can be said to hold to a concept of multiple messiahs The two most relevant are the Messiah ben Joseph and the traditional Messiah ben David Some scholars have argued that the idea of two messiahs one suffering and the second fulfilling the traditional messianic role was normative to ancient Judaism predating Jesus Jesus would have been viewed by many as one or both 20 21 22 23 Jewish messianism has its root in the apocalyptic literature of the 2nd century BC to the 1st century AD promising a future anointed leader or Messiah to resurrect the Israelite Kingdom of God in place of the foreign rulers of the time According to Shaye J D Cohen the fact that Jesus did not establish an independent Israel combined with his death at the hands of the Romans caused many Jews to reject him as the Messiah 24 note 3 Jews at that time were expecting a military leader as a Messiah such as Bar Kokhba Psalm 2 was another source of Jewish messianism which was prompted by Pompey s conquest of Jerusalem in 63 BCE Early Christians cited this chapter to claim that Jesus was the messiah and the son of god and negate Caesar s claim to the latter 25 This section may contain material not related to the topic of the article Please help improve this section or discuss this issue on the talk page June 2019 Learn how and when to remove this message Main article Jesus See also Historical background of the New Testament Christian views edit Main articles Life of Jesus in the New Testament and Ministry of Jesus According to Christian denominations the bodily resurrection of Jesus after his death is the pivotal event of Jesus life and death as described in the gospels and the epistles According to the gospels Jesus preached for a period of one to three years in the early 1st century His ministry of teaching healing the sick and disabled and performing various miracles culminated in his crucifixion at the hands of the Roman authorities in Jerusalem After his death he appeared to his followers resurrected from death After forty days he ascended to Heaven but his followers believed he would soon return to usher in the Kingdom of God and fulfill the rest of Messianic prophecy such as the resurrection of the dead and the Last Judgment Scholarly views edit Main articles Historical Jesus and Quest for the historical Jesus Proponents of higher criticism claim that regardless of how one interprets the mission of Jesus he must be understood in context as a 1st century Middle Eastern Jew 26 27 There is widespread disagreement among scholars on the details of the life of Jesus mentioned in the gospel narratives and on the meaning of his teachings 28 Scholars often draw a distinction between the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith and two different accounts can be found in this regard 29 Traditional scholarship on the subject stood on traditional theology It emphasized Paul and de emphasized James and the Jewish grounding of early belief in Jesus 30 Modern scholarship sees Jesus and his Jewish followers as grounded in the beliefs and traditions of first century Judaism 31 page needed Critical scholars disagree on the historicity of many biblical narratives concerning the life of Jesus Many such narratives have been classed as legendary or constructed from earlier traditions such as the birth stories of Jesus 32 33 34 35 The mainstream historical view is that while the gospels include many legendary elements these are religious elaborations added to the accounts of a historical Jesus who was crucified under the Roman prefect Pontius Pilate in the 1st century Roman province of Judea 36 37 His remaining disciples later believed that he was resurrected 38 39 Five portraits of the historical Jesus are supported by mainstream scholars namely the apocalyptic prophet note 4 the charismatic healer 43 the Cynic philosopher the Jewish Messiah and the prophet of social change 44 45 Early Jewish Christianity editMost historians agree that Jesus or his followers established a new Jewish sect one that attracted both Jewish and gentile converts The self perception beliefs customs and traditions of the Jewish followers of Jesus Jesus s disciples and first followers were grounded in first century Judaism According to New Testament scholar Bart D Ehrman a number of early Christianities existed in the first century AD from which developed various Christian traditions and denominations including proto orthodoxy Marcionites Gnostics and the Jewish followers of Jesus 31 According to theologian James D G Dunn four types of early Christianity can be discerned Jewish Christianity Hellenistic Christianity Apocalyptic Christianity and early Catholicism 46 The first followers of Jesus were essentially all ethnically Jewish or Jewish proselytes Jesus was Jewish preached to the Jewish people and called from them his first followers According to McGrath Jewish Christians as faithful religious Jews regarded their movement as an affirmation of every aspect of contemporary Judaism with the addition of one extra belief that Jesus was the Messiah 47 Conversely Margaret Barker argues that early Christianity has roots in pre Babylonian exile Israelite religion 48 The Expositor s Greek Testament interprets John 4 23 as being critical of Judaism and Samaritanism 49 Jewish Christians were the original members of the Jewish movement that later became Christianity 12 50 1 2 In the earliest stage the community was made up of all those Jews who believed that Jesus was the Jewish messiah 1 2 51 As Christianity grew and developed Jewish Christians became only one strand of the early Christian community characterised by combining the confession of Jesus as Christ with continued observance of the Torah 12 and adherence to Jewish traditions such as Sabbath observance Jewish calendar Jewish laws and customs circumcision kosher diet and synagogue attendance and by a direct genetic relationship to the earliest followers of Jesus 12 50 1 13 Jerusalem ekklesia edit See also Flight to Pella The Jerusalem Church was an early Christian community located in Jerusalem of which James the Just the brother of Jesus and Peter were leaders Paul was in contact with this community 52 Legitimised by Jesus appearance Peter was the first leader of the Jerusalem ekklesia 53 54 He was soon eclipsed in this leadership by James the Just the Brother of the Lord 55 56 which may explain why the early texts contain scarce information about Peter 57 According to Ludemann in the discussions about the strictness of adherence to the Jewish Law the more conservative view of James the Just became more widely accepted than the more liberal position of Peter who soon lost influence 57 According to Dunn this was not an usurpation of power but a consequence of Peter s involvement in missionary activities 58 According to Eusebius Church History 4 5 3 4 the first 15 Christian Bishops of Jerusalem were of the circumcision The Romans destroyed the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem in year 135 during the Bar Kokhba revolt 59 but it is traditionally believed the Jerusalem Christians waited out the Jewish Roman wars in Pella in the Decapolis 60 Beliefs edit The Pauline epistles incorporate creeds or confessions of faith of a belief in an exalted Christ that predate Paul 17 and give essential information on the faith of the early Jerusalem Church around James brother of Jesus 61 62 63 This group venerated the risen Christ who had appeared to several persons 17 as in Philippians 2 6 11 the Christ hymn which portrays Jesus as an incarnated and subsequently exalted heavenly being 64 Messiah Christ edit Main articles Messiah in Judaism and Eschatology Early Christians regarded Jesus to be the Messiah the promised king who would restore the Jewish kingdom and independence Jewish messianism has its root in the apocalyptic literature of the 2nd century BC to 1st century BC promising a future anointed leader or messiah to restore the Israelite Kingdom of God in place of the foreign rulers of the time This corresponded with the Maccabean Revolt directed against the Seleucid Empire Following the fall of the Hasmonean kingdom it was directed against the Roman administration of Judea Province which according to Josephus began with the formation of the Zealots and Sicarii during the Census of Quirinius 6 AD although full scale open revolt did not occur until the First Jewish Roman War in 66 AD Resurrection edit According to the New Testament some Christians reported that they encountered Jesus after his crucifixion They believed that he had been resurrected belief in the resurrection of the dead in the Messianic Age was a core Pharisaic doctrine and his resurrection provided the belief that he would soon return and fulfill the rest of Messianic prophecy such as the resurrection of the dead and the Last Judgment 65 1 Corinthians 15 3 9 gives an early testimony which was delivered to Paul 66 of the atonement of Jesus and the appearances of the risen Christ to Cephas and the twelve and to James and all the apostles possibly reflecting a fusion of two early Christian groups 3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which also I received that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures 4 and that he was buried and that he hath been raised on the third day according to the scriptures 5 and that he appeared to Cephas then to the twelve 6 then he appeared to above five hundred brethren at once of whom the greater part remain until now but some are fallen asleep 7 then he appeared to James then to all the apostles 8 and last of all as to the child untimely born he appeared to me also 67 The later canonical gospels provide more detailed narratives about the resurrection of Jesus The New Testament accounts do not describe the resurrection itself but rather accounts of appearances of Jesus 68 Jesus is described as the firstborn from the dead prōtotokos the first to be raised from the dead thereby acquiring the special status of the firstborn as the preeminent son and heir 69 web 1 Scholars debate on the historicity of specific details of these narratives such as the empty tomb and burial of Jesus along with the resurrection itself While Conservative Christian scholars argue in favor of a real concrete material resurrection of a transformed body 70 71 web 2 secular and Liberal Christian scholars typically argue in favor of more naturalistic explanations such as the vision theory For example Gerd Ludemann argues that Peter had a vision of Jesus induced by his feelings of guilt for betraying Jesus The vision elevated this feeling of guilt and Peter experienced it as a real appearance of Jesus raised from dead web 3 Other scholars such as Craig L Blomberg argue that there are sufficient arguments for the historicity of the resurrection 72 According to Geza Vermes the concept of resurrection formed the initial stage of the belief in his exaltation which is the apogee of the triumphant Christ 73 The focal concern of the early communities is the expected return of Jesus and the entry of the believers into the kingdom of God with a transformed body 74 Proponents of the vision theory argue that cognitive dissonance influenced the inspiration for resurrection belief According to Bart Ehrman the resurrection appearances were a denial response to his disciples sudden disillusionment following Jesus death According to Ehrman some of his followers claimed to have seen him alive again resulting in a multitude of stories which convinced others that Jesus had risen from death and was exalted to Heaven 41 note 5 According to Paula Fredriksen Jesus s impact on his followers was so great that they could not accept the failure implicit in his death 75 According to Fredricksen before his death Jesus created amongst his believers such certainty that the Kingdom of God and the resurrection of the dead was at hand that with few exceptions John 20 24 29 when they saw him shortly after his execution they had no doubt that he had been resurrected and the general resurrection of the dead was at hand These specific beliefs were compatible with Second Temple Judaism 76 According to N T Wright there is substantial unanimity among the early Christian writers first and second century that Jesus had been bodily raised from the dead 77 with as the early Christians in their different ways affirmed a transphysical body both the same and yet in some mysterious way transformed reasoning that as a matter of inference both a bodily resurrection and later bodily appearances of Jesus are far better explanations for the empty tomb and the meetings and the rise of Christianity than are any other theories 78 Rejecting the visionary theories Wright notes that visions of the dead were always associated with spirits and ghosts and never with bodily resurrection Thus Wright argues a mere vision of Jesus would never lead to the unprecedented belief that Jesus was a physically resurrected corpse at most he would be perceived as an exalted martyr standing at the right hand of God 79 According to Johan Leman the resurrection must be understood as a sense of presence of Jesus even after his death especially during the ritual meals which were continued after his death 80 His early followers regarded him as a righteous man and prophet who was therefore resurrected and exalted 81 In time Messianistic Isaiahic apocalyptic and eschatological expectations were blended in the experience and understanding of Jesus who came to be expected to return to earth 81 Bodily resurrection edit A point of debate is how Christians came to believe in a bodily resurrection which was a comparatively recent development within Judaism 82 According to Dag Oistein Endsjo The notion of the resurrection of the flesh was as we have seen not unknown to certain parts of Judaism in antiquity but Paul rejected the idea of bodily resurrection and it also can t be found within the strands of Jewish thought in which he was formed 83 According to Porter Hayes and Tombs the Jewish tradition emphasizes a continued spiritual existence rather than a bodily resurrection 84 Nevertheless the origin of this idea is commonly traced to Jewish beliefs 85 a view against which Stanley E Porter objected 38 According to Porter Jewish and subsequent Christian thought were influenced by Greek thoughts where assumptions regarding resurrection can be found 86 which were probably adopted by Paul note 6 According to Ehrman most of the alleged parallels between Jesus and the pagan savior gods only exist in the modern imagination and there are no accounts of others who were born to virgin mothers and who died as an atonement for sin and then were raised from the dead 87 Exaltation and deification edit According to Ehrman a central question in the research on Jesus and early Christianity is how a human came to be deified in a relatively short time 88 Jewish Christians like the Ebionites had an Adoptionist Christology 89 and regarded Jesus as the Messiah while rejecting his divinity 90 while other strands of Christian thought regard Jesus to be a fully divine figure a high Christology 42 How soon the earthly Jesus was regarded to be the incarnation of God is a matter of scholarly debate 88 42 Philippians 2 5 11 contains the Christ hymn which portrays Jesus as an incarnated and subsequently exalted heavenly being 64 5 Have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus 6 who existing in the form of God counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped 7 but emptied himself taking the form of a servant being made in the likeness of men 8 and being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself becoming obedient even unto death yea the death of the cross 9 Wherefore also God highly exalted him and gave unto him the name which is above every name 10 that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven and things on earth and things under the earth 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father 91 According to Dunn the background of this hymn has been strongly debated Some see it as influenced by a Greek worldview note 7 while others have argued for Jewish influences According to Dunn the hymn contains a contrast with the sins of Adam and his disobedience Dunn further notes that the hymn may be seen as a three stage Christology starting with an earlier stage of mythic pre history or pre existence but regards the humility exaltation contrast to be the main theme 92 This belief in the incarnated and exalted Christ was part of Christian tradition a few years after his death and over a decade before the writing of the Pauline epistles 88 42 According to Dunn the background of this hymn has been strongly debated Some see it as influenced by a Greek worldview note 8 According to Burton L Mack the early Christian communities started with Jesus movements new religious movements centering on a human teacher called Jesus A number of these Jesus movements can be discerned in early Christian writings 93 According to Mack within these Jesus movements developed within 25 years the belief that Jesus was the Messiah and had risen from death 17 According to Erhman the gospels show a development from a low Christology towards a high Christology 88 Yet a high Christology seems to have been part of Christian traditions a few years after his death and over a decade before the writing of the Pauline epistles which are the oldest Christian writings 42 According to Martin Hengel as summarized by Jeremy Bouma the letters of Paul already contain a fully developed Christology shortly after the death of Jesus including references to his pre existence 42 According to Hengel the Gospel of John shows a development which builds on this early high Christology fusing it with Jewish wisdom traditions in which Wisdom was personified and descended into the world While this Logos Christology is recognizable for Greek metaphysics it is nevertheless not derived from pagan sources and Hengel rejects the idea of influence from Hellenistic mystery cults or a Gnostic redeemer myth 42 According to Margaret Baker Christian trinitarian theology derived from pre Christian Palestinian beliefs about angels These beliefs revolved around the idea that there was a High God and several Sons of God one of which was Yahweh Yahweh was believed to manifest as an angel human being or a Davidic king which led some 1st century Palestinians to believe that Jesus was the Son of God Messiah and Lord 94 Jewish practices and identity edit The Book of Acts reports that the early followers continued daily Temple attendance and traditional Jewish home prayer Other passages in the New Testament gospels reflect a similar observance of traditional Jewish piety such as fasting reverence for the Torah and observance of Jewish holy days Paul and the inclusion of gentiles edit nbsp Valentin de Boulogne s depiction of Saint Paul Writing His Epistles c 1618 1620 Blaffer Foundation Collection Houston Texas See also Paul the Apostle and Judaism Christian views on the Old Covenant Incident at Antioch and Pauline Christianity Saul of Tarsus Paul the Apostle edit According to Larry Hurtado the christology and devotional stance that Paul affirmed and shared with others in the early Jesus movement was a distinctive expression within a variegated body of Jewish messianic hopes 95 According to Dunn Paul presents in his epistles a Hellenised Christianity 96 note 9 According to Ehrman Paul s message in a nutshell was a Jewish apocalyptic proclamation with a seriously Christian twist 39 page needed Paul was in contact with the early Christian community in Jerusalem led by James the Just 93 note 10 Fragments of their beliefs in an exalted and deified Jesus what Mack called the Christ cult can be found in the writings of Paul 93 note 11 According to the New Testament Saul of Tarsus first persecuted the early Jewish Christians but then converted note 12 He adopted the name Paul and started proselytizing among the gentiles adopting the title Apostle to the Gentiles Saint Peter Paul and other Jewish Christians told the Jerusalem council that Gentiles were receiving the Holy Spirit and so convinced the leaders of the Jerusalem Church to allow gentile converts exemption from most Jewish commandments at the Council of Jerusalem which opened the way for a much larger Christian Church extending far beyond the Jewish community While Paul was inspired by the early Christian apostles his writings elaborate on their teachings and also give interpretations which are different from other teachings as documented in the canonical gospels early Acts and the rest of the New Testament such as the Epistle of James 17 103 Inclusion of gentiles edit Some early Jewish Christians believed that non Jews must convert to Judaism and adopt Jewish customs in order to be saved Paul criticized Peter for himself declining to eat with gentiles during a visit by some of these Christians and therefore presenting a poor example to non Jews joining the Christians 104 Paul s close coworker Barnabas sided with Peter in this dispute 105 106 Those that taught that gentile converts to Christianity ought to adopt more Jewish practices to be saved however were called Judaizers 107 Though the Apostle Peter was initially sympathetic the Apostle Paul opposed the teaching at the Incident at Antioch Gal 2 11 21 and at the Council of Jerusalem Acts 15 6 35 107 108 Nevertheless Judaizing continued to be encouraged for several centuries particularly by Jewish Christians 107 Paul opposed the strict applications of Jewish customs for gentile converts 108 and argued with the leaders of the Jerusalem Church to allow gentile converts exemption from most Jewish commandments at the Council of Jerusalem where Paul met with the pillars of Jerusalem Church whom Paul identifies as Peter Jesus s brother James and John over whether gentile Christians need to keep the Jewish Law and be circumcised According to Acts James played a prominent role in the formulation of the council s decision Acts 15 19 NRSV that circumcision was not a requirement In Galatians Paul says that James Peter and John 109 will minister to the circumcised in general Jews and Jewish proselytes in Jerusalem while Paul and his fellows will minister to the uncircumcised in general gentiles Galatians 2 9 110 note 13 The Catholic Encyclopedia 111 claims St Paul s account of the incident leaves no doubt that St Peter saw the justice of the rebuke However L Michael White s From Jesus to Christianity 112 claims The blowup with Peter was a total failure of political bravado and Paul soon left Antioch as persona non grata never again to return Scholar James D G Dunn who coined the phrase New Perspective on Paul has proposed that Peter was the bridge man i e the pontifex maximus between the two other prominent leading figures of early Christianity Paul and James the brother of Jesus 113 Hellenistic influences edit Talmud scholar Daniel Boyarin has argued that Paul s theology of the spirit is more deeply rooted in Hellenistic Judaism than generally believed In A Radical Jew Boyarin argues that the Apostle Paul combined the life of Jesus with Greek philosophy to reinterpret the Hebrew Bible in terms of the Platonic opposition between the ideal which is real and the material which is false Judaism is a material religion in which membership is based not on belief but rather descent from Abraham physically marked by circumcision and focusing on how to live this life properly Paul saw in the symbol of a resurrected Jesus the possibility of a spiritual rather than corporeal Messiah He used this notion of Messiah to argue for a religion through which all people not just descendants of Abraham could worship the God of Abraham Unlike Judaism which holds that it is the proper religion only of the Jews Pauline Christianity claimed to be the proper religion for all people 114 By appealing to the Platonic distinction between the material and the ideal Paul showed how the spirit of Christ could provide all people a way to worship the God who had previously been worshipped only by Jews Jewish proselytes and God fearers 115 116 117 although Jews claimed that he was the one and only God of all Boyarin roots Paul s work in Hellenistic Judaism and insists that Paul was thoroughly Jewish but argues that Pauline theology made his version of Christianity appealing to gentiles Boyarin also sees this Platonic reworking of both Jesus s teachings and Pharisaic Judaism as essential to the emergence of Christianity as a distinct religion because it justified a Judaism without Jewish law 114 Split of early Christianity and Judaism editMain article Split of Christianity and Judaism Emergence as separate religious communities edit As Christianity grew throughout the gentile world the developing Christian tradition diverged from its Jewish and Jerusalem roots 118 119 Historians continue to debate the precise moment when early Christianity established itself as a new religion apart and distinct from Judaism It is difficult to trace the process by which the two separated or to know exactly when this began Jewish Christians continued to worship in synagogues together with contemporary Jews for centuries 120 121 122 Some scholars have found evidence of continuous interactions between Jewish Christian and Rabbinic movements from the mid to late second century CE to the fourth century CE 123 124 Philip S Alexander characterizes the question of when Christianity and Judaism parted company and went their separate ways as one of those deceptively simple questions which should be approached with great care 125 The first centuries of belief in Jesus were characterized by great uncertainty and religious creativity 126 Groups of believers coalesced into proto factions of like minded individuals and then into factions The degree of doctrinal cohesion of these groups is unknown As attested by the extant texts confusion and chaos were rampant 127 At first early belief in Jesus was very much a local phenomenon with some degree of coordination among communities on a regional basis 128 Both Early Christianity and Early Rabbinic Judaism were far less orthodox and less theologically homogeneous than in modern day Both religions were significantly influenced by Hellenistic religion and borrowed allegories and concepts from Classical Hellenistic philosophy 129 and the works of the Greek speaking Jewish authors of the end of the Second Temple period The two schools of thought eventually firmed up their respective norms and doctrines notably by increasingly diverging on key issues such as the status of purity laws the validity of Judeo Christian messianic beliefs and more importantly the use of Koine Greek and Latin as sacerdotal languages replacing Biblical Hebrew 130 Trajectory edit Heinrich Graetz postulated a Council of Jamnia in 90 that excluded Christians from the synagogues but this is disputed Jewish Christians continued to worship in synagogues for centuries 131 132 133 According to historian Shaye J D Cohen the separation of Christianity from Judaism was a process not an event in which the church became more and more gentile and less and less Jewish 134 note 14 According to Cohen early Christianity ceased to be a Jewish sect when it ceased to observe Jewish practices such as circumcision 24 According to Cohen this process ended in 70 AD after the great revolt when various Jewish sects disappeared and Pharisaic Judaism evolved into Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity emerged as a distinct religion 135 Talmudist and professor of Jewish studies Daniel Boyarin proposes a revised understanding of the interactions between nascent Christianity and Judaism in late antiquity viewing the two new religions as intensely and complexly intertwined throughout this period According to Boyarin Judaism and Christianity were part of one complex religious family twins in a womb for at least three centuries 136 note 15 Alan Segal also states that one can speak of a twin birth of two new Judaisms both markedly different from the religious systems that preceded them 137 note 16 According to Robert Goldenberg it is increasingly accepted among scholars that at the end of the 1st century AD there were not yet two separate religions called Judaism and Christianity 138 note 17 Jewish Christianity fell into decline during the Jewish Roman wars 66 135 and the growing anti Judaism perhaps best personified by Marcion of Sinope c 150 With persecution by the Nicene Christians from the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine in the 4th century Jewish Christians sought refuge outside the boundaries of the Empire in Arabia and further afield 139 Within the Empire and later elsewhere it was dominated by the gentile based Christianity which became the State church of the Roman Empire and which took control of sites in the Holy Land such as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Cenacle and appointed subsequent Bishops of Jerusalem First Jewish Roman War and the destruction of the Temple edit Main article First Jewish Roman War Full scale open revolt against the Romans occurred with the First Jewish Roman War in 66 AD In 70 AD Jerusalem was besieged and the Second Temple was destroyed This event was a profoundly traumatic experience for the Jews who were now confronted with difficult and far reaching questions 140 note 18 After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD sectarianism largely came to an end The Zealots Sadducees and Essenes disappeared while the Early Christians and the Pharisees survived the latter transforming into Rabbinic Judaism today known simply as Judaism The term Pharisee was no longer used perhaps because it was a term more often used by non Pharisees but also because the term was explicitly sectarian and the rabbis claimed leadership over all Jews Many historians argue that the gospels took their final form after the Great Revolt and the destruction of the Temple although some scholars put the authorship of Mark in the 60s this could help one understand their context 141 142 143 144 Strack theorizes that the growth of a Christian canon the New Testament was a factor that influenced the rabbis to record the oral law in writing note 19 A significant contributing factor to the split was the two groups differing theological interpretations of the Temple s destruction Rabbinic Judaism saw the destruction as a chastisement for neglecting the Torah The early Christians however saw it as God s punishment for the Jewish rejection of Jesus leading to the claim that the true Israel was now the Church Jews believed this claim was scandalous 145 According to Fredriksen since early Christians believed that Jesus had already replaced the Temple as the expression of a new covenant they were relatively unconcerned with the destruction of the Temple during the First Jewish Roman War 75 Controversies over Passover and the Eucharist edit Main article Easter controversy See also Quartodeciman This section needs expansion You can help by adding to it March 2021 Rejection of Jewish Christianity edit In Christian circles the term Nazarene later came to be used as a label for those Christians who were faithful to Jewish law in particular it was used as a label for a certain sect of Christians At first these Jewish Christians originally the central group in Christianity were not declared unorthodox but they were later excluded from the Jewish community and denounced Some Jewish Christian groups such as the Ebionites were accused of having unorthodox beliefs particularly in relation to their views of Christ and gentile converts The Nazarenes who held to orthodoxy but adhered to Jewish law were not deemed heretical until the dominance of orthodoxy in the 4th century The Ebionites may have been a splinter group of Nazarenes with disagreements over Christology and leadership After the condemnation of the Nazarenes the term Ebionite was often used as a general pejorative for all related heresies 146 147 Jewish Christians constituted a community which was separate from the Pauline Christians There was a post Nicene double rejection of the Jewish Christians by adherents of gentile Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism It is believed that no direct confrontation occurred between the adherents of gentile Christianity and the adherents of Judaic Christianity However by this time the practice of Judeo Christianity was diluted by internal schisms and external pressures Gentile Christianity remained the sole strand of orthodoxy and it imposed itself on the previously Jewish Christian sanctuaries taking full control of those houses of worship by the end of the 5th century 148 Growing anti Jewish sentiment in Christian writings edit Growing anti Jewish sentiment among early Christians is evidenced by the Epistle of Barnabas a late 1st early 2nd century letter attributed to Barnabas the companion of Paul mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles although it could be by Barnabas of Alexandria or an anonymous author using the name Barnabas 149 In no other writing of that early time is the separation of the gentile Christians from observant Jews so clearly insisted upon Christians according to Barnabas are the only true covenant people and the Jewish people are no longer in covenant with God Circumcision and the entire Jewish sacrificial and ceremonial system have been abolished in favor of the new law of our Lord Jesus Christ Barnabas claims that Jewish scriptures rightly understood serve as a foretelling of Christ and its laws often contain allegorical meanings While 2nd century Marcionism rejected all Jewish influence on Christianity Proto orthodox Christianity instead retained some of the doctrines and practices of 1st century Judaism while rejecting others note 20 They held the Jewish scriptures to be authoritative and sacred employing mostly the Septuagint or Targum translations and adding other texts as the New Testament canon developed Christian baptism was another continuation of a Judaic practice 150 Later Jewish Christianity editAntiquity edit Ebionites edit Main article Ebionites The Ebionites were a Jewish Christian movement that existed during the early centuries of the Christian Era 151 They show strong similarities with the earliest form of Jewish Christianity and their specific theology may have been a reaction to the law free Gentile mission 152 They regarded Jesus as the Messiah while rejecting his divinity and his virgin birth 90 and insisted on the necessity of following Jewish law and rites 153 They used the Gospel of the Ebionites one of the Jewish Christian gospels the Hebrew Book of Matthew starting at chapter 3 revered James the brother of Jesus James the Just and rejected Paul the Apostle as an apostate from the Law 154 Their name Greek Ἐbiwnaῖoi Ebionaioi derived from Hebrew אביונים ebyonim ebionim meaning the poor or poor ones suggests that they placed a special value on voluntary poverty Distinctive features of the Gospel of the Ebionites include the absence of the virgin birth and of the genealogy of Jesus an Adoptionist Christology 89 in which Jesus is chosen to be God s Son at the time of his Baptism the abolition of the Jewish sacrifices by Jesus and an advocacy of vegetarianism 155 Nazarenes edit Main article Nazarene The Nazarenes originated as a sect of first century Judaism The first use of the term sect of the Nazarenes is in the Book of Acts in the New Testament where Paul is accused of being a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes prwtostathn te tῆs tῶn Nazwraiwn aἱresews 156 The term then simply designated followers of Yeshua Natzri Jesus the Nazarene note 21 but in the first to fourth centuries the term was used for a sect of followers of Jesus who were closer to Judaism than most Christians 157 They are described by Epiphanius of Salamis and are mentioned later by Jerome and Augustine of Hippo 158 159 who made a distinction between the Nazarenes of their time and the Nazarenes mentioned in Acts 24 5 160 The Nazarenes were similar to the Ebionites in that they considered themselves Jews maintained an adherence to the Law of Moses and used only the Aramaic Gospel of the Hebrews rejecting all the Canonical gospels However unlike half of the Ebionites they accepted the Virgin Birth 161 162 The Gospel of the Hebrews was a syncretic Jewish Christian gospel the text of which is lost only fragments of it survive as brief quotations by the early Church Fathers and in apocryphal writings The fragments contain traditions of Jesus pre existence incarnation baptism and probable temptation along with some of his sayings 163 Distinctive features include a Christology characterized by the belief that the Holy Spirit is Jesus Divine Mother and a first resurrection appearance to James the brother of Jesus showing a high regard for James as the leader of the Jewish Christian church in Jerusalem 164 It was probably composed in Greek in the first decades of the 2nd century and is believed to have been used by Greek speaking Jewish Christians in Egypt during that century 165 The Gospel of the Nazarenes is the title given to fragments of one of the lost Jewish Christian Gospels of Matthew partially reconstructed from the writings of Jerome Knanaya edit Main article Knanaya The Knanaya of India descend from Syriac Christians of Jewish origin who migrated to India from Mesopotamia between the 4th and 9th century under the leadership of the merchant Knai Thoma In the modern age they are a minority community found among the St Thomas Christians The culture of the Knanaya has been analyzed by a number of Jewish scholars who have noted that the community maintains striking correlations to Jewish communities in particular the Cochin Jews of Kerala The culture of the Knanaya is a blend of Jewish Christian Syriac and Hindu customs reflecting both the foreign origin of the community and the centuries that they have lived as a minority community in India 166 167 168 Surviving Byzantine and Syriac communities in the Middle East edit Some typically Grecian Ancient Synagogal priestly rites have survived partially to the present notably in the distinct church service of the Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch Syriac Orthodox Church and the Melkite Greek Catholic communities of the Hatay Province of Southern Turkey Syria and Lebanon The unique combination of ethnocultural traits inhered from the fusion of a Greek Macedonian cultural base Hellenistic Judaism and Roman civilization gave birth to the distinctly Antiochian Middle Eastern Roman Christian traditions of Cilicia Southeastern Turkey and Syria Lebanon The mixture of Roman Greek and Jewish elements admirably adapted Antioch for the great part it played in the early history of Christianity The city was the cradle of the church 169 Members of these communities still call themselves Rum which literally means Eastern Roman Byzantine or Asian Greek in Turkish Persian and Arabic The term Rum is used in preference to Ionani or Yavani which means European Greek or Ionian in Classical Arabic and Ancient Hebrew Most Middle Eastern Melkites or Rums can trace their ethnocultural heritage to the Southern Anatolian Cilician and Syrian Hellenized Greek speaking Jewish communities of the past and Greek and Macedonian settlers Greco Syrians founders of the original Antiochian Greek communities of Cilicia Northwestern Syria and Lebanon Counting members of the surviving minorities in the Hatay Province of Turkey in Syria Lebanon Northern Israel and their relatives in the diaspora there are more than 1 8 million Greco Melkite Christians residing in the Northern MENA the US Canada and Latin America today i e Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic Christians under the ancient jurisdictional authority of the patriarchates of Antioch and Jerusalem Orthodox in the narrow sense or their Uniat offshoots Catholic or united with Rome Today certain families are associated with descent from the early Jewish Christians of Antioch Damascus Judea and Galilee Some of those families carry surnames such as Youhanna John Hanania Ananias Sahyoun Zion Eliyya Elias Elijah Chamoun Shamoun Simeon Simon Semaan Simaan Simeon Simon Menassa Manasseh Salamoun Suleiman Solomon Yowakim Joachim Zakariya Zacharias Kolath and others 170 In Islamic origins editIn the field of Quranic studies it has long been argued that Jewish Christianity played an important role in the formation of Quranic conceptions of Christians in Muhammad s Arabia 171 172 The first major argument put forwards that Jewish Christianity played an important role in the formation of Quranic tradition was Aloys Sprenger in his 1861 book Das Leben und die Lehre des Moḥammad Since then numerous other authors have followed this argument including Adolf von Harnack Hans Joachim Schoeps M P Roncaglia and others 173 The most recent notable defenders of this thesis have been Francois de Blois 174 and Holger Zellentin the latter in the context of his research into the historical context of the legal discourses present in the Quran especially as it resembles the Syriac recension of the Didascalia Apostolorum and the Clementine literature 175 In turn several critics of this thesis have appeared most notably Sidney Griffith 176 177 De Blois provides three arguments for the importance of Jewish Christianity the use of the term naṣara in the Quran usually taken as a reference to Christians as in Griffith s work which resembles the Syriac term used for Nazoreans the resemblance between the description of Mary as part of the Trinity with traditions attributed to the Gospel of the Hebrews and dietary restrictions associated with the Christian community In turn Shaddel argued that naṣara merely may have etymologically originated as such because Nazoreans were the first to interact with the Arabic community in which this term came into use Alternative sources as well as hyperbole may explain the reference to Mary in the Trinity However Shaddel does admit the ritual laws as evidence for the relevance of Jewish Christians 178 In the last few years the thesis for the specific role played by Jewish Christians has been resisted by Gabriel Said Reynolds 179 180 Stephen Shoemaker 181 and Guillaume Dye 182 Contemporary movements editIn modern times the term Jewish Christian or Christian Jew is generally used in reference to ethnic Jews who have either converted to or been raised in Christianity citation needed They are mostly members of Catholic Protestant and Orthodox Christian congregations citation needed and they are generally assimilated into the Christian mainstream but they may also retain a strong sense of attachment to their Jewish identity Some Jewish Christians also refer to themselves as Hebrew Christians The Hebrew Christian movement of the 19th century was an initiative which was largely led and integrated by Anglicans and they included figures such as Michael Solomon Alexander Bishop of Jerusalem 1842 1845 some figures such as Joseph Frey the founder of the London Society for Promoting Christianity amongst the Jews were more assertive of their Jewish identity and independence The 19th century saw at least 250 000 Jews convert to Christianity according to existing records of various societies 183 According to data which was provided by the Pew Research Center as of 2013 about 1 6 million adult American Jews identify themselves as Christians and most of them identify themselves as Protestants 184 185 186 According to the same data most of the Jews who identify themselves as some sort of Christian 1 6 million were either raised as Jews or are Jews by ancestry 185 According to a 2012 study 17 of Jews in Russia identify themselves as Christians 187 188 Messianic Judaism is a religious movement which incorporates elements of Judaism with the tenets of Christianity Its adherents many of whom are ethnically Jewish worship in congregations which recite Hebrew prayers They also baptize messianic believers who are of the age of accountability able to accept Jesus as the Messiah often observe kosher dietary laws and keep Saturday as the Sabbath Additionally they recognize the Christian New Testament as holy scripture though most of them do not use the label Christian to describe themselves The two groups are not completely distinct some adherents for example favor Messianic congregations but they freely choose to live in both worlds such as the theologian Arnold Fruchtenbaum the founder of Ariel Ministries 189 The Hebrew Catholics are a movement of Jews who converted to Catholicism and Catholics of non Jewish origin who choose to keep Jewish customs and traditions in light of Catholic doctrine See also edit nbsp Christianity portal nbsp Judaism portal nbsp History portal nbsp Ancient Rome portal Anti Judaism Antisemitism in Christianity a form of religious antisemitism Anti Zionism opposition to Zionism Christianity and Hellenistic philosophy Christianity and Judaism Christianity in Israel Christianity in the Middle East Christian Jewish reconciliation Christian observances of Jewish holidays Christian Torah submission Christian views on the Old Covenant Christian Zionism Church s Ministry Among Jewish People Church of Zion Jerusalem Conversion of the Jews Adventism Biblical criticism Criticism of the Bible Criticism of Christianity Criticism of Judaism Dispensationalism Hebrew Catholics Hebrew Christian movement Hebrew Roots A religious movement which accepts both the Old and New Testaments but rejects the Talmud and many Jewish traditions which are not supported by Scripture Higher criticism Historicity of the Bible History of the Catholic Church History of Christianity History of Judaism History of Zionism Jesus in the Talmud Jesuism Jewish history Jewish religious movements Jewish schisms Jews for Jesus Judaism s view of Jesus Judaizers Judeo Christian Life of Jesus List of converts to Christianity from Judaism Mandaeans Messianic Judaism Nazarene sect Noahidism People of the Book Philo Semitism Religious perspectives on Jesus Restoration Movement Sabbatarianism Sacred Name Movement Synagogal Judaism Timeline of antisemitism Timeline of anti Zionism Timeline of the Catholic Church Timeline of Christianity Timeline of Christian missions Timeline of Jewish historyNotes edit It appears in the Acts of the Apostles Acts 9 2 Acts 19 9 and Acts 19 23 Some English translations of the New Testament capitalize the Way e g the New King James Version and the English Standard Version indicating that this was how the new religion seemed then to be designated 5 whereas others treat the phrase as indicative the way 6 that way 7 or the way of the Lord 8 The Syriac version reads the way of God and the Vulgate Latin version the way of the Lord 9 See also Sect of The Way The Nazarenes amp Christians Names given to the Early Church Eddy amp Boyd 2007 p 136 Burton Mack argues that Paul s view of Jesus as a divine figure who gives his life for the salvation of others had to originate in a Hellenistic rather than a Jewish environment Mack writes Such a notion of vicarious human suffering cannot be traced to old Jewish and or Israelite traditions for the very notion of a vicarious human sacrifice was anathema in these cultures But it can be traced to a Strong Greek tradition of extolling a noble death More specifically Mack argues that a Greek myth of martyrdom and the noble death tradition are ultimately responsible for influencing the hellenized Jews of the Christ cults to develop a divinized Jesus Eddy amp Boyd 2007 p 93further note that The most sophisticated and influential version of the hellenization thesis was forged within the German Religionsgeschichtliche Schule of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries now often referred to as the old history of religions school Here the crowning literary achievement in several ways is Wilhelm Bousset s 1913 work Kyrios Christos Bousset envisions two forms of pre Pauline Christianity 1 In the early Palestinian community and 2 In the Hellenistic communities See for comparison prophet and false prophet The notion of Apocalyptic prophet is shared by E P Sanders 40 a main proponent of the New Perspective on Paul and Bart Ehrman 41 42 Ehrman What started Christianity was the Belief in the Resurrection It was nothing else Followers of Jesus came to believe he had been raised They did not believe it because of proof such as the empty tomb They believed it because some of them said they saw Jesus alive afterward Others who believed these stories told others who also came to believe them These others told others who told others for days weeks months years decades centuries and now millennia Christianity is all about believing what others have said It has always been that way and always will be Easter is the celebration of the first proclamation that Jesus did not remain dead It is not that his body was resuscitated after a Near Death Experience God had exalted Jesus to heaven never to die again he will soon return from heaven to rule the earth This is a statement of faith not a matter of empirical proof Christians themselves believe it Non Christians recognize it as the very heart of the Christian message It is a message based on faith in what other people claimed and testified based on what others claimed and testified based on what others claimed and testified all the way back to the first followers of Jesus who said they saw Jesus alive afterward 41 Porter Hayes and Tombs Stanley Porter s paper brings together a body of literature hitherto largely neglected which highlights the fact that the Greeks contrary to much scholarly opinion did have a significant tradition of bodily resurrection and that the Jewish tradition emphasizes a continued spiritual existence rather than a bodily resurrection Thus Paul in the New Testament probably adopted Graeco Roman assumptions regarding the resurrection although he was not blindly derivative in developing his conceptual framework 84 Several authors have even argued for influences from a pre Christian Gnostic redeemer myth According to Dunn this interpretation is dated and based on a most questionable historical foundation 92 Several authors have even argued for influences from a pre Christian Gnostic redeemer myth According to Dunn this interpretation is dated and based on a most questionable historical foundation 92 while others have argued for Jewish influences According to Dunn the hymn contains a contrast with the sins of Adam and his disobedience Dunn further notes that the hymn may be seen as a three stage Christology starting with an earlier stage of mythic pre history or pre existence but regards the humility exaltation contrast to be the main theme 92 The term Pauline Christianity is generally considered a pejorative by mainstream Christianity as it carries the implication that Christianity is a corruption of the original teachings of Jesus as for example in the belief of a Great Apostasy as found in Restorationism citation needed Most of orthodox Christianity relies heavily on these teachings and considers them to be amplifications and explanations of the teachings of Jesus citation needed According to Mack he may have been converted to another early strand of Christianity with a High Christology 97 According to Mack 98 Paul was converted to a Hellenized form of some Jesus movement that had already developed into a Christ cult Thus his letters serve as documentation for the Christ cult as well Price 2000 p 75 The Christ Cults comments By choosing the terminology Christ cults Burton Mack means to differentiate those early movements that revered Jesus as the Christ from those that did not Mack is perhaps not quite clear about what would constitute a Christ cult Or at least he seems to me to obscure some important distinctions between what would appear to be significantly different subtypes of Christ movements Galatians 1 13 99 According to Dunn Paul persecuted the Hellenists 99 of Acts 6 100 According to Larry Hurtado there was no theological divide between Hellenists Greek speaking Jews from the diaspora who had returned to Jerusalem and their fellow Jesus followers Paul s persecution was directed against the Jesus movement in general because it offended his Pharisaic convictions 101 102 These terms circumcised uncircumcised are generally interpreted to mean Jews and Greeks who were predominant however this is an oversimplification as 1st century Judaea Province also had some Jews who no longer circumcised and some Greeks and others such as Egyptians Ethiopians and Arabs who did Cohen The separation of Christianity from Judaism was a process not an event The essential part of this process was that the church was becoming more and more gentile and less and less Jewish but the separation manifested itself in different ways in each local community where Jews and Christians dwelt together In some places the Jews expelled the Christians in other the Christians left of their own accord 134 Boyarin for at least the first three centuries of their common lives Judaism in all of its forms and Christianity in all of its forms were part of one complex religious family twins in a womb contending with each other for identity and precedence but sharing with each other the same spiritual food 136 Segal one can speak of a twin birth of two new Judaisms both markedly different from the religious systems that preceded them Not only were Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity religious twins but like Jacob and Esau the twin sons of Isaac and Rebecca they fought in the womb setting the stage for life after the womb 137 Boyarin adds that Without the power of the orthodox Church and the rabbis to declare people heretics and outside the system it remained impossible to declare phenomenologically who was a Jew and who was a Christian At least as interesting and significant it seems more and more clear that it is frequently impossible to tell a Jewish text from a Christian text The borders are fuzzy and this has consequences Religious ideas and innovations can cross borders in both directions 130 Such as 140 How to achieve atonement without the Temple How to explain the disastrous outcome of the rebellion How to live in the post Temple Romanized world How to connect present and past traditions How people answered these questioned depended largely on their position prior to the revolt The theory that the destruction of the Temple and subsequent upheaval led to the committing of Oral Law into writing was first explained in the Epistle of Sherira Gaon and often repeated See for example Grayzel A History of the Jews Penguin Books 1984 p 193 See the Historical background to the issue of Biblical law in Christianity and Early Christianity As the Hebrew term נו צ ר י noṣri still does References edit Justin S Holcomb What Does It Mean that Jesus Is The Firstborn from the Dead Habermas 2005 Research from 1975 to the Present What are Critical Scholars Saying Bart Ehrman 5 oct 2012 Gerd Ludemann on the Resurrection of Jesus a b c d e f g h Shiffman Lawrence H 2018 How Jewish Christians Became Christians My Jewish Learning Archived from the original on 2018 12 17 Retrieved 2018 12 27 a b c d e f g Christianity Severance from Judaism Jewish Virtual Library AICE 2008 Archived from the original on 17 December 2018 Retrieved 17 December 2018 A major difficulty in tracing the growth of Christianity from its beginnings as a Jewish messianic sect and its relations to the various other normative Jewish sectarian Jewish and Christian Jewish groups is presented by the fact that what ultimately became normative Christianity was originally but one among various contending Christian trends Once the gentile Christian trend won out and the teaching of Paul became accepted as expressing the doctrine of the Church the Jewish Christian groups were pushed to the margin and ultimately excluded as heretical Being rejected both by normative Judaism and the Church they ultimately disappeared Nevertheless several Jewish Christian sects such as the Nazarenes Ebionites Elchasaites and others existed for some time and a few of them seem to have endured for several centuries Some sects saw in Jesus mainly a prophet and not the Christ others seem to have believed in him as the Messiah but did not draw the christological and other conclusions that subsequently became fundamental in the teaching of the Church the divinity of the Christ trinitarian conception of the Godhead abrogation of the Law After the disappearance of the early Jewish Christian sects and the triumph of gentile Christianity to become a Christian meant for a Jew to apostatize and to leave the Jewish community Cwiekowski 1988 pp 79 80 Pao 2016 p 65 Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary on Acts 19 http biblehub com commentaries jfb acts 19 htm Archived 2015 10 25 at the Wayback Machine accessed 8 October 2015 Jubilee Bible 2000 American King James Version Douai Rheims Bible Gill J Gill s Exposition of the Bible commentary on Acts 19 23 http biblehub com commentaries gill acts 19 htm Archived 2015 10 25 at the Wayback Machine accessed 8 October 2015 E Peterson 1959 Christianus In Fruhkirche Judentum und Gnosis publisher Herder Freiburg pp 353 72 Elwell amp Comfort 2001 pp 266 828 a b c d Tomson Peter J Lambers Petry Doris eds 2003 The Image of the Judaeo Christians in Ancient Jewish and Christian Literature Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament Vol 158 Tubingen Mohr Siebeck p 162 ISBN 3161480945 Though every definition of Jewish Christians has problems the most useful is probably that they were believers in Jesus of ethnic Jewish origin who observed the Torah and so retained their Jewish identity a b Tabor James D 2013 Paul and Jesus How the Apostle Transformed Christianity New York Simon amp Schuster p 24 ISBN 978 1439134986 the original apostolic Christianity that came before Paul and developed independently of him by those who had known and spent time with Jesus was in sharp contrast to Paul s version of the new faith This lost Christianity held sway during Paul s lifetime and only with the death of James in 62 AD followed by the brutal destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD did it begin to lose its influence as the center of Jesus movement Ironically it was the production and final editing of the New Testament itself supporting Paul s version of Christianity that ensured first the marginalization and subsequently the death of this original form of Christianity Theological dictionary of the New Testament 1972 p 568 Gerhard Kittel Geoffrey William Bromiley Gerhard Friedrich When the Jewish Christians whom James sent from Jerusalem arrived at Antioch Cephas withdrew from table fellowship with the Gentile Christians Cynthia White The emergence of Christianity 2007 p 36 In these early days of the church in Jerusalem there was a growing antagonism between the Greek speaking Hellenized Jewish Christians and the Aramaic speaking Jewish Christians Michele Murray Playing a Jewish game Gentile Christian Judaizing in the first and Second Centuries AD Canadian Corporation for Studies in Religion 2004 p 97 Justin is obviously frustrated by continued law observance by Gentile Christians to impede the spread of the phenomenon he declares that he does not approve of Jewish Christians who attempt to influence Gentile Christians a b c d e Mack 1995 Leman 2015 pp 145 146 Cohen 1987 pp 167 168 Daniel Boyarin 2012 The Jewish Gospels The Story of the Jewish Christ New Press ISBN 978 1595584687 Archived from the original on 26 January 2021 Retrieved 20 January 2014 Israel Knohl 2000 The Messiah Before Jesus The Suffering Servant of the Dead Sea Scrolls University of California Press ISBN 978 0520928749 Retrieved 20 January 2014 The Messiah before Jesus The Suffering Servant of the Dead Sea Scrolls Alan J Avery Peck ed 2005 The Review of Rabbinic Judaism Ancient Medieval and Modern Martinus Nijhoff Publishers pp 91 112 ISBN 9004144846 Archived from the original on 8 July 2022 Retrieved 20 January 2014 Peter Schafer 2012 The Jewish Jesus How Judaism and Christianity Shaped Each Other Princeton University Press pp 235 238 ISBN 978 1400842285 Archived from the original on 8 July 2022 Retrieved 20 January 2014 a b Cohen 1987 p 168 Brettler Marc Zvi Levine Amy Jill 2020 Psalm 2 Is the Messiah the Son of God TheTorah com Archived from the original on April 6 2024 White 2004 pp 127 128 Ehrman 2005 p 187 Jesus as a Figure in History How Modern Historians View the Man from Galilee by Mark Allan Powell 1998 ISBN 0664257038 p 181 Graham Stanton The Gospels and Jesus 2nd ed Oxford Oxford University Press 2002 p xxiii Wilson Stephen G 1995 Related Strangers Jews and Christians Minneapolis MIN Augsburg Fortress Publishers pp 35 47 ISBN 080063733X a b Ehrman 2005 According to Karl Rahner the gospels show little interest in synchronizing the episodes of the birth or subsequent life of Jesus with the secular history of the age Encyclopedia of theology a concise Sacramentum mundi by Karl Rahner 2004 ISBN 0 86012 006 6 p 731 Sanders Ed Parish 1993 The Historical Figure of Jesus London Allen Lane p 85 Vermes Geza 2006 11 02 The Nativity History and Legend Penguin Books Ltd p 64 Many view the topic of historicity as secondary given that gospels were primarily written as theological documents rather than chronological timelines Interpreting Gospel Narratives Scenes People and Theology by Timothy Wiarda 2010 Ehrman 2012 Stanton 2002 pp 143ff a b Porter 1999 a b Ehrman The Triumph of Christianity How a Forbidden religion swept the World E P Sanders 1993 The Historical Figure of Jesus a b c Bart Ehrman 1 April 2018 An Easter Reflection 2018 Archived 2020 09 25 at the Wayback Machine a b c d e f g Bouma Jeremy 27 March 2014 The Early High Christology Club and Bart Ehrman An Excerpt from How God Became Jesus Zondervan Academic Blog HarperCollins Christian Publishing Archived from the original on 21 April 2018 Retrieved 2 May 2018 group The Cradle the Cross and the Crown An Introduction to the New Testament by Andreas J Kostenberger L Scott Kellum 2009 ISBN 978 0805443653 pp 124 125 The Cambridge History of Christianity Volume 1 by Margaret M Mitchell and Frances M Young 2006 ISBN 0521812399 p 23 Dunn 2006 pp 253 255 McGrath Alister E Christianity An Introduction Blackwell Publishing 2006 ISBN 140510899 1 p 174 In effect they Jewish Christians seemed to regard Christianity as an affirmation of every aspect of contemporary Judaism with the addition of one extra belief that Jesus was the Messiah Unless males were circumcised they could not be saved Acts 15 1 Collinwood Dean W amp James W McConkie 2006 Temple Theology An Introduction by Margaret Barker Provo UT BYU Studies 45 2 May 2006 John 4 Expositor s Greek Testament Biblehub 2023 a b Freedman David Noel Myers Allen C eds 2000 Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible Grand Rapids Michigan Eerdmans p 709 ISBN 978 9053565032 Archived from the original on 8 July 2022 Retrieved 15 February 2014 McGrath Alister E Christianity An Introduction Blackwell Publishing 2006 ISBN 1405108991 p 174 In effect they Jewish Christians seemed to regard Christianity as an affirmation of every aspect of contemporary Judaism with the addition of one extra belief that Jesus was the Messiah Unless males were circumcised they could not be saved Acts 15 1 Cross F L ed 2005 The Oxford dictionary of the Christian Church 3rd rev ed Oxford Oxford University Press p 862 ISBN 978 0192802903 Archived from the original on 25 September 2021 Retrieved 14 September 2015 Pagels 2005 p 45 Ludemann amp Ozen 1996 p 116 Pagels 2005 p 45 46 Ludemann amp Ozen 1996 pp 116 117 a b Ludemann amp Ozen 1996 p 116 117 Bockmuehl 2010 p 52 On the Jerusalem Church between the Jewish revolts see Jonathan Bourgel From One Identity to Another The Mother Church of Jerusalem Between the Two Jewish Revolts Against Rome 66 135 6 EC Paris Editions du Cerf collection Judaisme ancien et Christianisme primitive 2015 in French Eusebius Church History 3 5 3 Epiphanius Panarion 29 7 7 8 30 2 7 On Weights and Measures 15 On the flight to Pella see Bourgel Jonathan The Jewish Christians Move from Jerusalem as a pragmatic choice Archived 2021 09 19 at the Wayback Machine in Dan Jaffe ed Studies in Rabbinic Judaism and Early Christianity Leyden Brill 2010 p 107 138 P H R van Houwelingen Fleeing forward The departure of Christians from Jerusalem to Pella Westminster Theological Journal 65 2003 181 200 Colin G Kruse 2012 Paul s Letter to the Romans ISBN 0802837433 pp 41 42 David E Aune ed 2010 The Blackwell Companion to The New Testament ISBN 1405108258 p 424 Ralph P Martin 1975 Worship in the Early Church ISBN 0802816134 pp 57 58 a b Price 2003 pp 351 355 Conclusion The Name of the Lord The Name Above All Names According to Wright He Paul believed himself to be living at a new stage in the eschatological timetable the age to come had already begun precisely with the Messiah s resurrection N T Wright 2003 Resurrection of the Son of God p 272 Creeds of the Churches Third Edition by John H Leith 1982 ISBN 0804205264 p 12 1 Corinthians 15 3 9 Vermes Geza 2008a The Resurrection p 141 Novakovic Lidija 2014 Raised from the Dead According to Scripture The Role of the Old Testament in the Early Christian Interpretations of Jesus Resurrection A amp C Black p 152 N T Wright 2003 Resurrection of the Son of God p 272 cf 321 Vermes Geza 2008b The Resurrection History and Myth Blomberg Craig L 1987 The Historical Reliability of the Gospels 2nd Ed 2007 Vermes 2008 p 138 139 Vermes 2008 p 139 a b Paula Fredriksen From Jesus to Christ Paula Fredricksen From Jesus to Christ Yale university Press pp 133 134 N T Wright 2003 Resurrection of the Son of God pp 9 10 N T Wright 2003 Resurrection of the Son of God p 711 Wright N T Christian Origins and the Resurrection of Jesus The Resurrection of Jesus as a Historical Problem Sewanee Theological Review 1998 Leman 2015 p 167 183 a b Leman 2015 p 173 174 Stanley E Porter The Pagan Christ p 91 Dag Oistein Endsjo Greek Resurrection Beliefs and the Success of Christianity p 169 a b Stanley E Porter Michael A Hayes and David Tombs 1999 Foreword p 18 In Resurrection edited by Stanley E Porter Michael A Hayes and David Tombs Sheffield Academic Press Dag Oistein Endsjo Greek Resurrection Beliefs and the Success of Christianity p 12 Stephen J Bedard Hellenistic Influence on the Idea of Resurrection in Jewish Apocalyptic Literature responds to Porter s thesis referencing Porter as stating such Bart Ehrman 2012 Did Jesus Exist Archived 2018 08 22 at the Wayback Machine Huffington Post a b c d Ehrman 2014 a b Kloppenborg 1994 pp 435 9p 435 This belief known as adoptionism held that Jesus was not divine by nature or by birth but that God chose him to become his son i e adopted him a b Ebionites Encyclopaedia Britannica Archived from the original on 2010 01 08 Retrieved 2022 06 23 Philippians 2 6 11 a b c d Dunn 2006 p 146 147 a b c Mack 1997 Baker Margaret 1992 The Great Angel A Study of Israel s Second God Westminster John Knox Press ISBN 978 0664253950 Larry Hurtado 2014 Paul s Messianic Christology Word press Dunn 2006 Mack 1997 p 109 Mack 1988 p 98 a b Dunn 2006 p 294 Dunn 2006 p 289 Larry Hurtado s blog November 11 2014 Paul s Persecution of Jewish Jesus Followers Nature amp Cause s Archived 2019 03 31 at the Wayback Machine Larry Hurtado s blog November 12 2014 The Hellenists of Acts Dubious Assumptions and an Important Publication Archived 2019 03 31 at the Wayback Machine Maccoby 1986 Gal 2 11 18 Gal 2 13 Acts 15 39 40 a b c Damick Fr Andrew Stephen 2011 Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy Chesterton IN Ancient Faith Publishing p 20 ISBN 978 1 936270 13 2 a b Bisschops Ralph January 2017 Metaphor in Religious Transformation Circumcision of the Heart in Paul of Tarsus PDF In Chilton Paul Kopytowska Monika eds Language Religion and the Human Mind New York Oxford University Press pp 1 30 doi 10 1093 oso 9780190636647 003 0012 ISBN 978 0 19 063664 7 Retrieved 9 July 2019 Footnote on 2 9 Galatians 2 from New American Bible USCCB archived from the original on 2019 03 29 retrieved 2019 03 31 Footnote on 2 12 Galatians 2 from New American Bible USCCB archived from the original on 2019 03 29 retrieved 2019 03 31 CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA Judaizers www newadvent org Archived from the original on 2018 12 21 Retrieved 2006 09 20 L Michael White 2004 From Jesus to Christianity Harper San Francisco p 170 ISBN 0 06 052655 6 The Canon Debate McDonald amp Sanders editors 2002 chapter 32 page 577 by James D G Dunn For Peter was probably in fact and effect the bridge man pontifex maximus who did more than any other to hold together the diversity of first century Christianity James the brother of Jesus and Paul the two other most prominent leading figures in first century Christianity were too much identified with their respective brands of Christianity at least in the eyes of Christians at the opposite ends of this particular spectrum But Peter as shown particularly by the Antioch episode in Gal 2 had both a care to hold firm to his Jewish heritage which Paul lacked and an openness to the demands of developing Christianity which James lacked John might have served as such a figure of the center holding together the extremes but if the writings linked with his name are at all indicative of his own stance he was too much of an individualist to provide such a rallying point Others could link the developing new religion more firmly to its founding events and to Jesus himself But none of them including the rest of the twelve seem to have played any role of continuing significance for the whole sweep of Christianity though James the brother of John might have proved an exception had he been spared Italics original a b Boyarin 1999 Kraabel A T 1981 The Disappearance of the God Fearers Numen 28 2 Leiden Brill Publishers 113 126 doi 10 1163 156852781X00160 JSTOR 3270014 Feldman Louis H 1992 Sympathizers with Judaism In Attridge Harold W Hata Gohei eds Eusebius Christianity and Judaism Detroit Wayne State University Press pp 389 395 ISBN 0 8143 2361 8 Archived from the original on 2020 08 03 Retrieved 2019 07 15 Feldman Louis H Reinhold Meyer eds 1996 Sympathizers God fearers Jewish Life and Thought among Greeks and Romans Edinburgh T amp T Clark pp 137 45 ISBN 0 567 08525 2 Archived from the original on 2020 08 03 Retrieved 2019 07 11 Keith Akers The lost religion of Jesus simple living and nonviolence in early Christianity Lantern Books 2000 Archived 2016 06 10 at the Wayback Machine p 21 Wylen Stephen M The Jews in the Time of Jesus An Introduction Paulist Press 1995 ISBN 0 8091 3610 4 Pp 190 192 Dunn James D G Jews and Christians The Parting of the Ways 70 to 135 AD Wm B Eerdmans Publishing 1999 ISBN 0 8028 4498 7 Pp 33 34 Boatwright Mary Taliaferro amp Gargola Daniel J amp Talbert Richard John Alexander The Romans From Village to Empire Oxford University Press 2004 ISBN 0 19 511875 8 p 426 Stephen Wylen The Jews in the Time of Jesus An Introduction Mahwah Paulit Press 1995 page 190 Wayne Daniel Berard When Christians Were Jews That Is Now Recovering the Lost Jewishness of Christianity With the Gospel of Mark Cambridge Cowley Publications 2006 pp 112 113 N T Wright The New Testament and the People of God Minneapoli Fortress Press 1992 pp 164 165 See for instance Lily C Vuong Gender and Purity in the Protevangelium of James WissenschaftlicheUntersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2 358 Tubingen Mohr Siebeck 2013 210 213 Jonathan Bourgel The Holders of the Word of Truth The Pharisees in Pseudo Clementine Recognitions 1 27 71 Journal of Early Christian Studies 25 2 2017 171 200 Bobichon Philippe 2002 Autorites religieuses juives et sectes juives dans l oeuvre de Justin Martyr Revue d Etudes Augustiniennes et Patristiques 48 1 3 22 doi 10 1484 J REA 5 104844 ISSN 1768 9260 Alexander Philip S The Parting of the Ways from the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism James D G Dunn ed Jews and Christians The Parting of the Ways Durham Tubingen Research Symposium on Earliest Christianity and Judaism 1992 2nd 1999 Wm B Eerdmans p1 in the 1992 edition Brown Raymond E 1983 Not Jewish Christianity and Gentile Christianity but Types of Jewish Gentile Christianity Catholic Biblical Quarterly 45 74 79 Bibliowicz Abel M 2019 Jewish Christian Relations The First Centuries Mascarat 2019 WA Mascarat p ISBN 978 1513616483 Archived from the original on 2021 11 16 Retrieved 2020 06 19 Wilson Stephen G 1995 Related Strangers Jews and Christians Minneapolis MIN Augsburg Fortress Publishers pp 9 19 ISBN 080063733X Philippe Bobichon L enseignement juif paien heretique et chretien dans l œuvre de Justin Martyr Revue des Etudes Augustiniennes 45 2 1999 pp 233 259 online Archived 2021 04 26 at the Wayback Machine a b Daniel Boyarin Dying for God Martyrdom and the Making of Christianity and Judaism Stanford University Press 1999 p 15 Wylen 1995 p 190 Berard 2006 pp 112 113 Wright 1992 pp 164 165 a b Cohen 1987 p 228 Cohen Shaye J D 1988 From the Maccabees to the Mishnah ISBN 0 664 25017 3 pp 224 225 a b Daniel Boyarin Dying for God Martyrdom and the Making of Christianity and Judaism Stanford Stanford University Press 1999 a b Alan F Segal Rebecca s Children Judaism and Christianity in the Roman World Cambridge Harvard University Press 1986 Robert Goldenberg Review of Dying for God Martyrdom and the Making of Christianity and Judaism by Daniel Boyarin In The Jewish Quarterly Review New Series Vol 92 No 3 4 Jan Apr 2002 pp 586 588 Kung Hans 2008 Islam Past Present and Future One World Publications a b Jacob Neusner 1984 Toah From our Sages Rossell Books p 175 Cook Michael J 2008 Modern Jews Engage the New Testament Jewish Lights Press ISBN 978 1 58023 313 2 p 19 Fredriksen Paula 1988 From Jesus to Christ ISBN 0 300 04864 5 p 5 Meier John 1991 A Marginal Jew Rethinking the Historical Jesus Volume I The Roots of the Problem and the Person Doubleday Press pp 43 44 Sanders E P 1987 Jesus and Judaism Fortress Press ISBN 0 8006 2061 5 p 60 OzTorah Blog Archive Jewish attitudes to Gentiles in the First Century Archived from the original on 2020 09 28 Retrieved 2020 07 30 Tabor 1998 Esler 2004 pp 157 159 Dauphin 1993 pp 235 240 242 Philippe Bobichon L Epitre de Barnabe in Histoire de la litterature grecque chretienne t II 5 De Paul apotre a Irenee de Lyon B Pouderon and E Norelli dir Paris Cerf 2013 pp 440 454 Jewish Encyclopedia Baptism Archived 2008 06 12 at the Wayback Machine According to rabbinical teachings which dominated even during the existence of the Temple Pes viii 8 Baptism next to circumcision and sacrifice was an absolutely necessary condition to be fulfilled by a proselyte to Judaism Yeb 46b 47b Ker 9a Ab Zarah 57a Shab 135a Yer Kid iii 14 64d Circumcision however was much more important and like baptism was called a seal Schlatter Die Kirche Jerusalems 1898 p 70 Cross EA Livingston FL eds 1989 Ebionites The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church Oxford University Press Dunn 2006 p 282 Kohler Kaufmann 1901 1906 Ebionites In Singer Isidore Alder Cyrus eds Jewish Encyclopedia Archived from the original on 2011 10 16 Retrieved 2019 03 31 Hyam Maccoby 1987 The Mythmaker Paul and the Invention of Christianity HarperCollins pp 172 83 ISBN 0 06 250585 8 Archived from the original on 2018 11 20 Retrieved 2019 03 31 via Tripod Vielhauer amp Strecker 1991 pp 166 71p 168 Jesus task is to do away with the sacrifices In this saying 16 4 5 the hostility of the Ebionites against the Temple cult is documented Acts 24 5 For we have found this man a pestilent fellow and a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes David C Sim The Gospel of Matthew and Christian Judaism 1998 p 182 The Nazarenes are first mentioned by Epiphanius who records that they upheld the Torah including the practice of circumcision and sabbath observance Panarion 29 5 4 7 2 5 8 1 7 read the Hebrew scriptures in the original Hebrew Petri Luomanen Nazarenes in A companion to second century Christian heretics pp279 Memoirs of Dr Joseph Priestley p 670 The term Ebionites occurs in Irenaeus Tertullian Origen and Eusebius but none makes any mention of Nazarenes They must have been even more considerable in the time of these writers Edward Hare The principal doctrines of Christianity defended 1837 p 318 The Nazarenes of ecclesiastical history adhered to the law of their fathers whereas when Tertullus accused Paul as a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes he accused him as one who despised the law and had gone about to the temple Acts xxiv 5 6 Krauss Samuel Nazarenes Jewish Encyclopedia Archived from the original on 2007 09 30 Retrieved 2007 08 23 Hegg Tim 2007 The Virgin Birth An Inquiry into the Biblical Doctrine PDF TorahResource Archived PDF from the original on 2007 08 21 Retrieved 2007 08 13 Cameron 1992 pp 105 6 Koch 1990 p 364 Lapham 2003 pp 159 163 Weil 1982 pp 175 96 Jussay 2005 pp 118 28 Gamliel 2009 p 90 Antioch Encyclopaedia Biblica Vol I p 186 p 125 of 612 in online PDF file Warning Takes several minutes to download Bar Ilan Y Judaic Christianity Extinct or Evolved pp 297 315 Strousma 2015 p 138 158 Sanchez del Rio F Francisco 2021 The Deadlocked Debate about the Role of the Jewish Christians at the Birth of Islam Religions 12 10 789 doi 10 3390 rel12100789 ISSN 2077 1444 Crone 2015 p 227 228 de Blois Francois 2002 Naṣrani Nazwraȋos and ḥanif ἐ8nikos Studies on the Religious Vocabulary of Christianity and of Islam Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies University of London 65 1 1 30 doi 10 1017 S0041977X02000010 ISSN 0041 977X JSTOR 4145899 Zellentin 2013 Crone 2015 p 228 Griffith 2011 Shaddel 2016 p 21 31 Reynolds 2014 Reynolds 2019 Shoemaker 2018 Dye 2021 p 158 162 Gundry Stanley N Goldberg Louis 2003 How Jewish is Christianity 2 views on the Messianic movement Books Zondervan p 24 ISBN 9780310244905 archived from the original on 2019 11 13 retrieved 2016 11 02 How many Jews are there in the United States Pew Research Center Archived from the original on 2021 05 29 Retrieved 2016 06 07 a b A PORTRAIT OF JEWISH AMERICANS Chapter 1 Population Estimates Pew Research Center October 2013 Archived from the original on 2019 05 05 Retrieved 2016 06 07 American Jewish Population Rises to 6 8 Million haaretz Archived from the original on 2017 11 29 Retrieved 2016 06 07 Arena Atlas of Religions and Nationalities in Russia Archived 2021 07 19 at the Wayback Machine Sreda org 2012 Survey Maps Archived 2017 03 20 at the Wayback Machine Ogonek No 34 5243 27 08 2012 Retrieved 24 09 2012 About us Brief history Ariel Ministries Archived from the original on 2015 04 12 Retrieved 2011 01 25 Bibliography editBlomberg Craig L 1987 The Historical Reliability of the Gospels 2nd Ed 2007 Bockmuehl Markus N A 2010 The Remembered Peter In Ancient Reception and Modern Debate Mohr Siebeck Bromiley Geoffrey W 1979 International Standard Bible Encyclopedia A D Eerdmans ISBN 978 0 80283781 3 archived from the original on 2020 12 30 retrieved 2015 12 27 Burridge Richard A Gould Graham 2004 Jesus Now and Then William B Eerdmans ISBN 978 0 8028 0977 3 Cameron Ron 1982 The Other Gospels Non Canonical Gospel Texts Westminster John Knox ISBN 978 0 66424428 6 archived from the original on 2022 03 07 retrieved 2015 12 27 Cameron Ron 1992 Hebrews Gospel of the in Freedman David Noel ed The Anchor Bible Dictionary vol 3 1 ed Doubleday pp 105 6 ISBN 978 0 385 42583 4 Crone Patricia 2015 Jewish Christianity and the Qurʾan Part One Journal of Near Eastern Studies 74 2 225 253 doi 10 1086 682212 JSTOR 10 1086 682212 Cwiekowski Frederick J 1988 The Beginnings of the Church Paulist Press Cohen Shaye J D 1987 From the Maccabees to the Mishnah The Westminster Press ISBN 0 664 25017 3 Duling Dennis C 2010 The Gospel of Matthew In Aune David E ed Blackwell companion to the New Testament Wiley Blackwell ISBN 978 1 44431894 4 Archived from the original on 2021 04 14 Retrieved 2015 12 27 Dunn James D G 2006 1977 Unity and diversity in the New Testament Scm Press Dye Guillaume 2021 Mapping the Sources of the Qur anic Jesus In Mortensen Mette Bjerregaard Dye Guillaume Oliver Isaac W Tesei Tommaso eds The Study of Islamic Origins New Perspectives and Contexts De Gruyter Eddy Paul Rhodes Boyd Gregory A 2007 The Jesus Legend A Case for the Historical Reliability of the Synoptic Jesus Tradition Baker Academic ISBN 978 0 8010 3114 4 Ehrman Bart D 2003 Lost Scriptures OUP ISBN 978 0 19974368 1 archived from the original on 2022 03 07 retrieved 2015 12 27 Ehrman Bart 2005 Lost Christianities The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We 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Bayan Journal of Qur an and Hadith Studies 12 1 42 54 doi 10 1163 22321969 12340003 Reynolds Gabriel Said 2019 On the Qur an and Christian heresies The Qur an s Reformation of Judaism and Christianity Return to the Origins Routledge Price Robert M 2000 Deconstructing Jesus Prometheus Books ISBN 9781573927581 Price Robert M 2003 The Incredible Shrinking Son of Man How Reliable Is the Gospel Tradition Prometheus Books ISBN 9781591021216 Schneemelcher Wilhelm 1991 New Testament Apocrypha Gospels and Related Writings Translated by Robert McLachlan Wilson Westminster John Knox ISBN 978 0 66422721 0 Archived from the original on 2021 04 14 Retrieved 2015 12 27 Shaddel Mehdy 2016 Qurʾanic ummi Genealogy Ethnicity and the Foundation of a New Community Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 43 1 60 Shoemaker Stephen 2018 Jewish Christianity Non Trinitarianism and the Beginnings of Islam In Mimouni Simon ed Judaisme ancien et origines du christianisme Brepols pp 105 116 Stanton Graham 1989 The Gospels and Jesus Oxford University Press ISBN 0 19213241 5 Stanton Graham 2002 The Gospels and Jesus Oxford Bible Series Second ed Oxford University Press ISBN 0 19 924616 5 Strousma Guy 2015 The Making of the Abrahamic Religions in Late Antiquity Oxford University Press Tabor James D 1998 Ancient Judaism Nazarenes and Ebionites The Jewish Roman World of Jesus Department of Religious Studies University of North Carolina at Charlotte archived from the original on 2010 06 10 retrieved 2019 03 31 Vielhauer Philipp Strecker Georg in German 1991 Jewish Christian gospels in Schneemelcher Wilhelm Wilson Robert McLachlan eds New Testament Apocrypha Gospels and Related Writings Volume 1 translated by George Ogg 2 ed John Knox Press pp 134 78 ISBN 0 664 22721 X archived from the original on 2022 07 08 retrieved 2019 03 31 6th German ed Van Voorst Robert E 2003 Nonexistence Hypothesis In Holden James Leslie ed Jesus in History Thought and Culture An Encyclopedia Vol 2 K Z ABC CLIO pp 658 60 ISBN 978 1 57607 856 3 Archived from the original on 2020 04 16 Retrieved 2019 03 31 Vermes Geza 2008 The Resurrection Penguin Books Weil Shalva 1982 Symmetry between Christians and Jews in India The Cananite Christians and Cochin Jews in Kerala Contributions to Indian Sociology 16 2 175 96 doi 10 1177 006996678201600202 S2CID 143053857 Wright N T 2003 The Resurrection of the Son of God Minneapolis Fortress Press ISBN 978 0 8006 2679 2 Zellentin Holger 2013 The Qur an s legal culture the Didascalia Apostolorum as a point of departure Mohr Siebeck External links editOrigins of Christianity edit Encyclopaedia Britannica The History of Christianity Patheos com The Beginnings and Origins of Christianity Originsofchristianity net The Origins of Christianity Jewish Christianity edit Jewish Encyclopedia Christianity in its Relation to Judaism Nazarene Israel the Original Faith of the Apostles Netzari Emunah What is Netzarim Jewish Studies for Christians Archived 2019 12 09 at the Wayback Machine 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