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Split of early Christianity and Judaism

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about events that marked the split between Early Christianity and Second Temple

Judaism. For a general Christian timeline, see Timeline of Christianity. For Jewish Schisms, see

Schisms among the Jews. For a comparison of the religions as they exist today, see Christianity

and Judaism.

Christ Driving the Traders from the Temple by El Greco, 1600

The split of early Christianity from Judaism was a slowly growing chasm between early

Christianity and mainstream Judaism in the first centuries of the Christian Era. It is commonly

attributed to a number of events said to be pivotal: the antithesis of the law and rejection of Jesus

c. 30, the Council of Jerusalem c. 50, the destruction of the Second Temple and institution of the

Jewish tax in 70, the postulated Council of Jamnia c. 90, or the Bar Kokhba revolt of 132–135.

On the one hand, while it is commonly thought that Paul established a Gentile church within his

lifetime, it took centuries for a complete break to manifest, and the relationship of Paul of Tarsus

and Judaism is still disputed, as are many events of the nascent common era; on the other, this is

one of best documented and fertile epochs of history, archaeology and the formative years of

Western thought.

The traditional view has been that Judaism existed before Christianity and that Christianity

separated from Judaism some time after the destruction of the Second Temple. Recently, some

scholars have argued that there were many competing Jewish sects in Judea during Second

Temple period and that what became Rabbinic Judaism and Proto-orthodox Christianity were but

two of these. Some of these scholars have proposed a model which envisions a twin birth of

Proto-Orthodox Christianity and Rabbinic Judaism rather than a separation of the former from

the latter. For example, Robert Goldenberg asserts that it is increasingly accepted among

scholars that "at the end of the 1st century CE there were not yet two separate religions called

'Judaism' and 'Christianity'".[1]

2

Daniel Boyarin proposes a revised understanding of the interactions between nascent Christianity

and Judaism in late antiquity which views the two "new" religions as intensely and complexly

intertwined throughout this period. Boyarin writes: "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, as well".

“ 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.[2]

”

Framing the debate

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."[3]

Robert M. Price asserts that "classic," "Orthodox" type of Christianity does not look much like

Javneh-Rabbinic Judaism.

Thus Christianity as we know it and Judaism as we know it never in fact separated from one

another in the manner of, say, Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Christianity in the eleventh

century. Rather, each is a finally dominant form at the end of its own branch of the tree of

religious evolution.[4]

Robert and Mary Coote write:

"Despite the ostensible merging of Judean and Jew even in certain New Testament passages and

by the rabbis who became rulers of Palestine in the third century and continued to use Hebrew

and Aramaic more than Greek, the roots of Christianity were not Jewish. Christianity did not

derive from the Judaism of the pharisees, but emerged like Judaism from the wider Judean milieu

of the first century. Both Christians and Jews stemmed from pre-70 Judean-ism as heirs of

groups that were to take on the role of primary guardians or interpreters of scripture as they

developed on parallel tracks in relation to each other."[5]

Compatibility of Christianity with Second Temple Judaism

Jewish messianism

Alan Segal has written that "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

3

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."[6]

For Martin Buber, Judaism and Christianity were variations on the same theme of messianism.

Buber made this theme the basis of a famous definition of the tension between Judaism and

Christianity:

Pre-messianically, our destinies are divided. Now to the Christian, the Jew is the

incomprehensibly obdurate man who declines to see what has happened; and to the Jew, the

Christian is the incomprehensibly daring man who affirms in an unredeemed world that its

redemption has been accomplished. This is a gulf which no human power can bridge.[7]

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 resurrect the Israelite "Kingdom of God",

in place of the foreign rulers of the time. This corresponded with the Maccabean Revolt directed

against the Seleucids. Following the fall of the Hasmonean kingdom, it was directed against the

Roman administration of Iudaea Province, which, according to Josephus, began with the

formation of the Zealots during the Census of Quirinius of 6 AD, though full scale open revolt

did not occur till the First Jewish–Roman War in 66 AD. Historian H. H. Ben-Sasson has

proposed that the "Crisis under Caligula" (37-41) was the "first open break between Rome and

the Jews", even though problems were already evident during the Census of Quirinius in 6 and

under Sejanus (before 31).[8]

Judaism at this time was divided into antagonistic factions. The main camps were the Pharisees,

Saducees, and Zealots, but also included many other less influential sects (including the Essenes),

see Second Temple Judaism for details. This led to further unrest, and the 1st century BC and 1st

century AD saw a number of charismatic religious leaders, contributing to what would become

the Mishnah of Rabbinic Judaism, including Yochanan ben Zakai and Hanina Ben Dosa. The

ministry of Jesus, according to the account of the Gospels, falls into this pattern of sectarian

preachers with devoted disciples.

Christian understanding of Jesus as messiah

Paula Fredriksen, in From Jesus to Christ, has suggested that Jesus' impact on his followers was

so great that they could not accept the failure implicit in his death. According to the New

Testament, Jesus's followers reported that they encountered Jesus after his crucifixion; they

argued that he had been resurrected (the belief in the resurrection of the dead in the messianic

age was a core Pharisaic doctrine), and 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.

Others adapted Gnosticism as a way to maintain the vitality and validity of Jesus' teachings (see

Elaine Pagels, The Gnostic Gospels). 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, though it came to be viewed as symbolic to the doctrine of

Supersessionism.

4

According to many historians, most of Jesus' 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.[9]

The belief in a resurrected Messiah is unacceptable to Jews today and to

Rabbinic Judaism, and Jewish authorities have long used this fact to explain the break between

Judaism and Christianity.

Recent work by historians paints a more complex portrait of late Second Temple Judaism and

early Christianity. Some historians have suggested that, 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 that the restoration of the Kingdom and

resurrecton of the dead was at hand. These specific beliefs were compatible with Second Temple

Judaism.[10]

In the following years the restoration of the Kingdom, as Jews expected it, failed to

occur. Some Christians believed instead that Christ, rather than being the Jewish messiah, was

God made flesh, who died for the sins of humanity, and that faith in Jesus Christ offered

everlasting life (see Christology).[11]

The foundation for this new interpretation of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection are found in the

epistles of Paul and in the book of Acts (and Christians would argue, in the gospels themselves).

In contrast to most Christians, most Jews view Paul as the founder of Christianity, who is

responsible for the break with Judaism; see Paul of Tarsus and Judaism for details.

Jewish rejection of Jesus as messiah

The first Christians (the disciples or students of Jesus) were essentially all ethnically Jewish or

Jewish proselytes. In other words, Jesus was Jewish, preached to the Jewish people and called

from them his first disciples. However, the Great Commission, issued after the Resurrection is

specifically directed at "all nations." Jewish Christians, as faithful religious Jews, regarded

"Christianity" as an affirmation of every aspect of contemporary Judaism, with the addition of

one extra belief — that Jesus was the Messiah.[12]

The doctrines of the apostles of Jesus brought the Early Church into conflict with some Jewish

religious authorities (Acts records dispute over resurrection of the dead which was rejected by

the Sadducees, see also Persecution of Christians in the New Testament), and possibly later led

to Christians' expulsion from synagogues (see Council of Jamnia for other theories). While

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, see

the Historical background to the issue of Biblical law in Christianity and Early Christianity. 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.[13]

Conversion of Paul

According to the Acts of the Apostles, Paul of Tarsus (c.5-c.67) was taught by the famous

Pharisee Gamaliel in Jerusalem, but modern historians still debate the relationship between Paul

5

of Tarsus and Judaism and the historical reliability of the Acts of the Apostles. Before his

conversion, Paul persecuted the Jewish Christians as a heretical sect, such as the Martyrdom of

Stephen. After his conversion, he assumed the title of "Apostle to the Gentiles" and actively

converted gentiles to his beliefs, known as Pauline Christianity. Paul's influence on Christian

thinking arguably has been more significant than any other New Testament author.[14]

Augustine

(354-430) developed Paul's idea that salvation is based on faith and not "works of the

law".[14][need quotation to verify]

Luther (1483–1546) and his doctrine of sola fide were heavily

influenced by Paul. Evangelical Christians refer to the Roman's road, an explanation of the

Gospel of Jesus Christ taken solely from the book of Romans.[clarification needed]

Recently, Talmudic 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 Paul of Tarsus 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).

Possible conversion of Gamaliel

"The Jewish accounts make him die a Pharisee, and state that: "When he died, the honour

of the Torah (the law) ceased, and purity and piety became extinct". At an early date,

ecclesiastical tradition has supposed that Gamaliel embraced the Christian Faith, and

remained a member of the Sanhedrin for the purpose of helping secretly his fellow-

Christians (cf. Recognitions of Clement, I, lxv, lxvi). According to Photius, he was

baptized by St. Peter and St. John, together with his son and with Nicodemus. His body,

miraculously discovered in the fifth century, is said to be preserved at Pisa, in Italy."

Christian abandonment of Jewish practices

See also: Christian views on the old covenant

According to historian Shaye J.D. Cohen, early Christianity ceased to be a Jewish sect when it

ceased to observe Jewish practices.[16]

Among the Jewish practices abandoned by Proto-orthodox

Christianity, Circumcision was rejected as a requirement at the Council of Jerusalem, c. 50,

though the decree of the council may parallel Jewish Noahide Law. The establishment of a

Jewish Tax known as Fiscus Judaicus helped widen the gap between Christians and Jews for

anyone that appeared to be Jewish was taxed after A.D. 70. Sabbath observance was modified,

perhaps as early as Ignatius of Antioch (c.110).[17]

Quartodecimanism (observation of a Paschal

feast on Nisan 14, the day of preparation for Passover, linked to Polycarp and thus to John the

Apostle) was disputed by Pope Victor I (189-199) and formally rejected at the First Council of

Nicaea in 325.[18]

Council of Jerusalem

In or around the year 50, the apostles convened the first church council (although whether it was

a council in the later sense in questioned), known as the Council of Jerusalem, to reconcile

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practical (and by implication doctrinal) differences concerning the Gentile mission.[19]

At the

Council of Jerusalem it was agreed that gentiles could be accepted as Christians without full

adherence to the Mosaic Laws, possibly a major break between Christianity and Judaism, though

the decree of the council (Acts 15:19-29) seems to parallel the Noahide laws of Judaism, which

would make it a commonality rather than a difference. The Council of Jerusalem, according to

Acts 15, determined that circumcision was not required of Gentile converts, only avoidance of

"pollution of idols, fornication, things strangled, and blood" (Acts 15:20), possibly establishing

nascent Christianity as an attractive alternative to Judaism for prospective Proselytes. Around the

same time period, Judaism made its circumcision requirement of Jewish boys even stricter.[20]

According to the 19th century Roman Catholic Bishop Karl Josef von Hefele, the Apostolic

Decree of the Jerusalem Council "has been obsolete for centuries in the West", though it is still

recognized and observed by the Greek Orthodox Church.[21]

Jehovah's Witnesses also believe the

decree still applies today[22]

and perhaps other Christian denominations[who?]

as well. Acts 28

Hyperdispensationalists, such as the 20th century Anglican E. W. Bullinger, would be another

example of a group that believes the decree (and everything before Acts 28) no longer applies.

In addition, the Apostolic Age is particularly significant to Christian Restorationism which

claims that it represents a purer form of Christianity that should be restored to the church as it

exists today.

Emergence of Rabbinic Judaism and Christianity

A depiction of Jesus appearing to his apostles after his resurrection.

At the time of the Destruction of the Second Temple, Judaism was divided into antagonistic

factions. The main camps were the Pharisees, Saducees, and Zealots, but also included other less

influential sects. This led to further unrest, and the 1st century BC and 1st century AD saw a

7

number of charismatic religious leaders, contributing to what would become the Mishnah of

Rabbinic Judaism, including Yochanan ben Zakai and Hanina Ben Dosa.

According to most scholars, the followers of Jesus composed principally apocalyptic Jewish

sects during the late Second Temple period of the 1st century. Some Early Christian groups were

strictly Jewish, such as the Ebionites and the early church leaders in Jerusalem, collectively

called Jewish Christians. During this period, they were led by James the Just. Paul of Tarsus,

commonly known as Saint Paul, persecuted the early Jewish Christians, such as Saint Stephen,

then converted and adopted the title of "Apostle to the Gentiles" and started proselytizing among

the Gentiles. He persuaded the leaders of the Jerusalem Church to allow Gentile converts

exemption from most Jewish commandments at the Council of Jerusalem, which may parallel

Noahide Law in Rabbinic Judaism.

Most historians agree that Jesus or his followers established a new Jewish sect, one that attracted

both Jewish and Gentile converts. Historians continue to debate the precise moment when

Christianity established itself as a new religion, apart and distinct from Judaism. Some scholars

view Christians as much as Pharisees as being competing movements within Judaism that

decisively broke only after the Bar Kokhba's revolt, when the successors of the Pharisees

claimed hegemony over all Judaism, and – at least from the Jewish perspective – Christianity

emerged as a new religion. Some Christians were still part of the Jewish community up until the

time of the Bar Kochba revolt in the 130s, see also Jewish Christians.

According to historian Shaye J. D. 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.[23]

According to Cohen, this process ended in 70 CE, after the great revolt, when various Jewish

sects disappeared and Pharisaic Judaism evolved into Rabbinic Judaism, and Christianity

emerged as a distinct religion.[24]

The Great Revolt and the Destruction of the Temple

By 66 CE Jewish discontent with Rome had escalated. At first, the priests tried to suppress

rebellion, even calling upon the Pharisees for help. After the Roman garrison failed to stop

Hellenists from desecrating a synagogue in Caesarea, however, the high priest suspended

payment of tribute, inaugurating the Great Jewish Revolt.

After a Jewish revolt against Roman rule in 66 CE, the Romans all but destroyed Jerusalem.

Following a second revolt, Jews were not allowed to enter the city of Jerusalem except for the

day of Tisha B'Av and most Jewish worship was forbidden by Rome[citation needed]

. Rome instituted

the Fiscus Judaicus, those who paid the tax were allowed to continue Jewish practices. Following

the destruction of Jerusalem and the expulsion of the Jews, Jewish worship stopped being

8

centrally organized around the Temple, prayer took the place of sacrifice, and worship was

rebuilt around rabbis who acted as teachers and leaders of individual communities (see Jewish

diaspora and Council of Jamnia).

In 70 the Temple was destroyed. The destruction of the Second Temple was a profoundly

traumatic experience for the Jews, who were now confronted with difficult and far-reaching

questions:[25]

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. But

the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans not only put an end to the revolt, it marked

the end of an era. Revolutionaries like the Zealots had been crushed by the Romans, and had

little credibility (the last Zealots died at Masada in 73). The Sadducees, whose teachings were so

closely connected to the Temple cult, disappeared. The Essenes also vanished, perhaps because

their teachings so diverged from the issues of the times that the destruction of the Second Temple

was of no consequence to them; precisely for this reason, they were of little consequence to the

vast majority of Jews.

Two organized groups remained: the Early Christians, and Pharisees. Some scholars, such as

Daniel Boyarin and Paula Fredricksen, suggest that it was at this time, when Christians and

Pharisees were competing for leadership of the Jewish people, that accounts of debates between

Jesus and the apostles, debates with Pharisees, and anti-Pharisaic passages, were written and

incorporated into the New Testament.

The Emergence of Rabbinic Judaism

Of all the major Second Temple sects, only the Pharisees remained (but see Karaite Judaism).

Their vision of Jewish law as a means by which ordinary people could engage with the sacred in

their daily lives, provided them with a position from which to respond to all four challenges, in a

way meaningful to the vast majority of Jews.

Following the destruction of the Temple, Rome governed Judea through a Procurator at Caesarea

and a Jewish Patriarch. A former leading Pharisee, Yohanan ben Zakkai, was appointed the first

Patriarch (the Hebrew word, Nasi, also means prince, or president), and he reestablished the

Sanhedrin at Javneh under Pharisee control. Instead of giving tithes to the priests and sacrificing

offerings at the Temple, the rabbis instructed Jews to give money to charities and study in local

Synagogues, as well as to pay the Fiscus Iudaicus.

Around the 1st century CE there were several Jewish sects: the Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots,

Essenes, and Christians. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, these sects

vanished. Christianity survived, but by breaking with Judaism and becoming a separate religion;

the Pharisees survived but in the form of Rabbinic Judaism (today, known simply as "Judaism").

9

The Sadducees rejected the divine inspiration of the Prophets and the Writings, relying only on

the Torah as divinely inspired. Consequently, a number of other core tenets of the Pharisees'

belief system (which became the basis for modern Judaism), were also dismissed by the

Sadducees. (The Samaritans practiced a similar religion, which is traditionally considered

separate from Judaism.)

In 132, the Emperor Hadrian threatened to rebuild Jerusalem as a pagan city dedicated to Jupiter,

called Aelia Capitolina. Some of the leading sages of the Sanhedrin supported a rebellion (and,

for a short time, an independent state) led by Simon bar Kozeba (also called Bar Kochba, or "son

of a star"); some, such as Rabbi Akiba, believed Bar Kochbah to be messiah, or "annointed one".

Up until this time, a number of Christians were still part of the Jewish community. However,

they did not support or take part in the revolt. Whether because they had no wish to fight, or

because they could not support a second messiah in addition to Jesus, or because of their harsh

treatment by Bar Kochba during his brief reign, these Christians also left the Jewish community

around this time.

This revolt ended in 135 when Bar Kochba and his army were defeated. According to a midrash,

in addition to Bar Kochba the Romans tortured and executed ten leading members of the

Sanhedrin. This account also claims this was belated repayment for the guilt of the ten brothers

who kidnapped Joseph. It is possible that this account represents a Pharisaic response to the

Christian account of Jesus' crucifixion; in both accounts the Romans brutally punish rebels, who

accept their torture as atonement for the crimes of others.

After the suppression of the revolt the vast majority of Jews were sent into exile; shortly

thereafter (around 200), Judah haNasi edited together judgements and traditions into an

authoritative code, the Mishna. This marks the transformation of Pharisaic Judaism into Rabbinic

Judaism.

Although the Rabbis traced their origins to the Pharisees, Rabbinic Judaism nevertheless

involved a radical repudiation of certain elements of Pharisaism - elements that were basic to

Second Temple Judaism. The Pharisees had been partisan. Members of different sects argued

with one another over the correctness of their respective interpretations, most notably the sages

Hillel and Shammai. After the destruction of the Second Temple, these sectarian divisions ended.

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. The Rabbis claimed leadership over

all Jews, and added to the Amidah the birkat haMinim (see Council of Jamnia), a prayer which in

part exclaims, "Praised are You O Lord, who breaks enemies and defeats the arrogant," and

which is understood as a rejection of sectarians and sectarianism. This shift by no means

resolved conflicts over the interpretation of the Torah; rather, it relocated debates between sects

to debates within Rabbinic Judaism.

As the Rabbis were required to face a new reality—mainly Judaism without a Temple (to serve

as the center of teaching and study) and Judea without autonomy—there was a flurry of legal

discourse and the old system of oral scholarship could not be maintained. It is during this period

that Rabbinic discourse began to be recorded in writing.[26]

The theory that the destruction of the

10

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.[27]

The oral law was subsequently codified in the Mishna and Gemarah, and is interpreted in

Rabbinic literature detailing subsequent rabbinic decisions and writings. Rabbinic Jewish

literature is predicated on the belief that the Written Law cannot be properly understood without

recourse to the Oral Law (the Mishnah).

Much Rabbinic Jewish literature concerns specifying what behavior is sanctioned by the law;

this body of interpretations is called halakha (the way).

The Emergence of Christianity

According to Shaye J.D. Cohen, Jesus's failure to establish an independent Israel, and his death

at the hands of the Romans, caused many Jews to reject Him as the Messiah (see for comparison:

prophet and false prophet).[16]

Christians who profess the Nicene Creed, which is the majority,

believe that the "Kingdom of God" will be fully established at the Second Coming of Christ.

Some other Christians[who?]

claim that the Kingdom is a "spiritual Kingdom of Grace"[citation needed]

.

In the aftermath of the destruction of the Temple, and then the defeat of Bar Kozeba, it is

claimed that more Jews continued to be attracted to the Pharisaic rabbis than to Christianity,

because they believed the latter to be a form of idolatry and thus antithetical to the unity of God

as expressed in the Mosaic tradition (see Maimonides, Laws of King 11:4). Also, Jews at that

time were expecting a military leader as a Messiah, such as Bar Kohhba. According to the

majority of historians, Jesus' 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.[9]

The belief in a resurrected Messiah is said to be unacceptable to Jews who practice

Rabbinic Judaism; Jewish authorities have long used this fact to explain the break between

Judaism and Christianity. Recent work by historians paints a more complex portrait of late

Second Temple Judaism and early Christianity. Some historians have suggested that, before his

death, Jesus forged among 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 that the

restoration of the Kingdom and resurrecton of the dead was at hand, though only Full Preterism

proposes that all this happened in the first century. These specific beliefs were compatible with

Second Temple Judaism.[10]

In the following years the restoration of the Kingdom as expected

failed to occur. Some Christians believed instead that Christ, rather than being the Jewish

messiah, was God made flesh, who died for the sins of humanity, and that faith in Jesus Christ

offered everlasting life (see Christology).[11]

Jesus himself declared that he was God, according

to a common interpretation of John 8, vs. 58, see Divinity of Jesus for details.

The foundation for this new interpretation of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection are found in the

epistles of Paul and in the book of Acts, as well as Jesus's claim to be God. Adherents to the

modern form of Talmudic Judaism whose thinking is influenced by religious categories tend to

view Paul as the so-called founder of "Christianity." Despite the fact that no such term was ever

used by Paul himself, and that Paul expressly asserted his Jewish pedigree, he is claimed by

some to be responsible for the break with "Judaism." However, recently, Talmud scholar Daniel

11

Boyarin has argued that Paul's theology of the spirit is more deeply rooted in Hellenistic Judaism

than has been generally argued by proponents of modern Talmudic Judaism. In his work A

Radical Jew, Boyarin argues that Paul of Tarsus combined the life of Jesus with Greek

philosophy to interpret the Hebrew Bible in terms of the Platonic opposition between the ideal

(which is real) and the material (which is false); see also Paul of Tarsus and Judaism. Judaism is

a corporeal 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.

According to Boyarin, Paul saw in the "symbol" of a resurrected Jesus the possibility of a

spiritual rather than corporeal messiah. He used this notion of messiah, so Boyarin, 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 (except

see Noahide Laws), Pauline Christianity claimed to be the proper religion for all people.

In other words, 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 God — the God who

had previously been worshiped only by Jews, and Jewish Proselytes, although Jews claimed that

He was the one and only God of all (see, for example, Romans 8: 1-4; II Corinthians 3:3;

Galatians 3: 14; Philippians 3:3). Boyarin attempts to root Paul's work in Hellenistic Judaism and

insists that Paul was thoroughly Jewish. But, Boyarin argues, Pauline theology made his version

of Christianity so appealing to Gentiles. Nevertheless, Boyarin also sees this so-called Platonic

reworking of both Jesus' teachings and Pharisaic Judaism as essential to the emergence of

Christianity as a distinct religion, because it justified a Judaism without Jewish law (see also

New Covenant).

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, though it

came to be viewed as symbolic to the doctrine of Supersessionism.

The above events and trends lead to a gradual separation between Christianity and Rabbinic

Judaism.[28][29]

According to historian Shaye J.D. Cohen, "Early Christianity ceased to be a

Jewish sect when it ceased to observe Jewish practices.[16]

Among the Jewish practices abandoned by Proto-orthodox Christianity, Circumcision was

rejected as a requirement at the Council of Jerusalem, c. 50, though the decree of the council may

parallel Jewish Noahide Law. Sabbath observance was modified, perhaps as early as Ignatius'

Epistle to the Magnesians 9.1.,[30]

though the Bible gives accounts of an even earlier observance

(see Acts 20:7, and Rev. 1:10-11). Quartodecimanism (observation of the Paschal feast on Nisan

14, the day of preparation for Passover, linked to Polycarp and thus to John the Apostle) was

formally rejected at the First Council of Nicaea.

Council of Jamnia

A hypothetical Council of Jamnia circa 85 is often stated to have condemned all who claimed the

Jewish Messiah had already come, and Christianity in particular. The formulated prayer in

question (birkat ha-minim) however is considered by other scholars to be unremarkable in the

history of Jewish and Christian relations.

12

There is a paucity of evidence for Jewish persecution of "heretics" in general, or Christians in

particular, in the period between 70 and 135. It is probable that the condemnation of Jamnia

included many groups, of which the Christians were but one, and did not necessarily mean

excommunication. That some of the later church fathers only recommended against synagogue

attendance makes it improbable that an anti-Christian prayer was a common part of the

synagogue liturgy. Jewish Christians continued to worship in synagogues for centuries.[31][32][33]

Other actions, however, such as the rejection of the Septuagint translation, are attributed to the

"School of Jamnia". Early church teachers and writers reacted with even stronger devotion, citing

the Septuagint's antiquity and its use by the Evangelists and Apostles. Being the Old Testament

quoted by the Canonical Gospels (according to Greek primacy) and the Greek Church Fathers,

the Septuagint had an essentially official status in the early Christian world,[34]

and is still

considered to be the Old Testament text in the Greek Orthodox church, see also Development of

the Old Testament canon.

Status under Roman law

A coin issued by Nerva reads fisci Judaici calumnia

sublata, "abolition of malicious prosecution in

connection with the Jewish tax,"[35]

in reference to

his reform of the harsh policies of Domitian[36]

During the late 1st century, Rome considered Judaism a legitimate religion, with protections and

exemptions under Roman law that had been negotiated over two centuries (see also Anti-Judaism

in the pre-Christian Roman Empire). Observant Jews had special rights, including the privilege

of abstaining from the civic rites of ancient Roman religion. Failure to support public religion

could otherwise be viewed as treasonous, since the Romans regarded their traditional religion as

necessary for preserving the stability and prosperity of the state (see Religio and the state).

Christianity at first had been regarded by the Romans as a sect of Judaism, but eventually as a

distinct religion requiring separate legal provisions. The distinction between Christianity and

Rabbinic Judaism was recognized by the emperor Nerva around the year 98 in a decree granting

Christians an exemption from paying the Fiscus Iudaicus, the annual tax upon the Jews. From

that time, Roman literary sources begin to distinguish between Christians and Jews. In his letters

to Trajan, Pliny assumes that Christians are not Jews because they do not pay the tax. Since

paying taxes had been one of the ways that Jews demonstrated their goodwill and loyalty toward

the Empire, Christians were left to negotiate their own alternatives to participating in Imperial

cult; their inability or refusal to do so resulted at times in martyrdom and persecution.[37][38][39]

The Church Father Tertullian, for instance, had attempted to argue that Christianity was not

inherently treasonous, and that Christians could offer their own form of prayer for the wellbeing

of the emperor.[40]

Christianity was formally recognized as a legitimate religion by the Edict of

Milan in 313.

13

Marcion of Sinope

Marcion of Sinope, a bishop of Asia Minor who went to Rome and was later excommunicated

for his views, was the first of record to propose a definitive, exclusive, unique canon of Christian

scriptures, compiled sometime between 130 and 140 AD. In his book Origin of the New

Testament[41]

Adolf von Harnack argued that Marcion viewed the church at this time as largely

an Old Testament church (one that "follows the Testament of the Creator-God") without a firmly

established New Testament canon, and that the church gradually formulated its New Testament

canon in response to the challenge posed by Marcion.

Marcion endorsed a form of Christianity that excluded Jewish doctrines and the Hebrew Bible,

with Paul as the only reliable source of authentic doctrine. Paul was, according to Marcion, the

only apostle who had rightly understood the new message of salvation as delivered by Christ.[42]

Marcion's canon and theology were rejected as heretical by Tertullian and Epiphanius and the

growing movement of Proto-orthodox Christianity; however, he forced other Christians to

consider which texts were canonical and why, see Development of the New Testament canon.

Timeline of events

Various events in the 1st and 2nd centuries contributed to or marked the widening split between

Christianity and Judaism. The following listing of these events is in rough historical order, as

dates for some are disputed.

1st century

New Testament

Actions of Jesus "cleansing the temple" and trial by Sanhedrin according to the Gospels

(c. 30), both of which are accepted by the majority of modern scholars as significant

actions by the Historical Jesus, but rejected by more radical critics; see also Rejection of

Jesus and the Jesus Seminar's Acts of Jesus.[43]

Peter's speech at the Jerusalem Temple accusing the Israelites of killing Jesus according

to Acts 3:12–4:4,[44]

c 34, see also Responsibility for the death of Jesus and Josephus on

Jesus.

Stephen before a Sanhedrin, his speech and stoning according to Acts 6:8–8:1,[45]

c 35.

Baptism of Cornelius the Centurion by Peter according to Acts 10,[46]

traditionally

considered the first gentile convert to Christianity[47]

martyrdom of James, son of Zebedee by Agrippa I according to Acts 12:1–2,[48]

c 44

Paul's proselytization of gentiles as "Apostle to the Gentiles" (see also Proselytes and

Godfearers and Paul of Tarsus and Judaism), 1st mission c 45

Incident at Antioch[49]

where Paul accused Peter of Judaizing, but even Barnabas sided

with Peter, c 49

14

Council of Jerusalem, c 50, which allowed gentile converts who did not also "convert to

Judaism", or another interpretation: decreed proto-Noahide Law,[50]

see also

Circumcision controversy in early Christianity and Dual-covenant theology.

Paul, persecuted by the Jews of Jerusalem, on charges of Antinomianism, is saved by the

Romans and sent to Rome.[51]

Woes of the Pharisees, Lament over Jerusalem,[52]

Great Commission[53]

from the Gospel

of Matthew and Gospel of Luke, c 80, earlier if actually spoken by Jesus.

Epistle to the Hebrews and the New Covenant, which some date as pre-AD 70, given that

the argument of the letter presupposes that temple worship and sacrifice were in

operation at the time of the writing. If post AD 70, the writer would have used the

destruction of the temple and the discontinuation of sacrifices as proof of the passing of

the Old Covenant and the institution and superiority of the New, unless he was trying to

make the document appear older. The term "New Covenant" also appears in the Pauline

epistles, some copies of the Gospel of Luke, and the Septuagint.

John 6:60–6:66[54]

records "many disciples" (who at the time were largely Jewish)

leaving Jesus after he said that those who eat his body and drink his blood will remain in

him and have eternal life,[55]

for interpretations of this passage, see Transubstantiation, c

90–100,[56]

earlier if actually spoken by Jesus

Other Sources

Census of Quirinius and creation of Iudaea Province, c. 6

John the Baptist is executed by Herod Antipas, c 30, recorded in Jewish Antiquities

18.5.2

Crisis under Caligula, 37–41, proposed as the first open break between Rome and the

Jews[57]

Claudius's expulsion of Jews from Rome,[58]

49

James the Just, considered the 1st Christian bishop of Jerusalem, is stoned at the

instigation of the High Priest, c. 62, according to Jewish Antiquities 20.9.1.

Development of Christian scripture, starting with Paul's Epistle to the Galatians which

many scholars date either just before or after the Jerusalem Council.

Destruction of the Second Temple and institution of the Fiscus Iudaicus, the Roman

annual head tax on all Jews to pay for upkeep of the Jupiter Capitolinus temple in Rome

instead of the Jerusalem Temple, Vespasian orders arrest of all descendants of King

David according to Eusebius' Church History 3.12, 70

Hypothetical Council of Jamnia may have excluded the Christian scriptures and may

have excluded Jewish Christians as Minuth, c 90

Domitian applied the Fiscus Iudaicus tax even to those who merely "lived like Jews",[59]

c 90

Titus Flavius Clemens (consul) condemned to death by the Roman Senate for conversion

to Judaism, 95

Nerva relaxed the Fiscus Iudaicus applying it only to those who professed to be

practicing Judaism, c. 96

15

2nd century

The 3rd bishop of Antioch, Ignatius's Letter to the Magnesians 9–10 against Sabbath in

Christianity [1] and Judaizers [2], c 100

crucifixion of the 2nd bishop of Jerusalem, Simeon of Jerusalem, c 107[60]

Certain Gospels (not necessarily limited to those in the modern canon, see also Jewish-

Christian Gospels) begin to be discussed by Jewish writers, who refer to them as

Gilyonim. Rabbi Tarfon possibly advocated burning them, c 120, but this is a disputed

reading.[61][62]

controversial claim of Simon bar Kokhba to be the Jewish Messiah, 132–135, rejected by

Rabbinic Judaism, final result of the revolt was the expulsion of Jews from Jerusalem

which was rebuilt as Aelia Capitolina, end of Christian "bishops of the circumcision"

according to Eusebius' Church History 4.5, Caesarea Maritima became the center of

Palestinian Christianity (the Metropolitan bishops over the Jerusalem Suffragan bishops)

while the Great Sanhedrin of Judaism had previously relocated to Yavne.

controversial claim of Marcion against the Jewish Bible, c 144, rejected by Proto-

orthodox Christianity

Epistle to Diognetus polemic against the Jews, c 150

Martyrdom of Polycarp implicates the Jews, c 150

Justin Martyr's Dialogue with Trypho, a Jew [3], c 150

Octavius of Marcus Minucius Felix, for example [4]: "XXXVIII.—To the Jews. Evil

always, and recalcitrant ...", c 180

excommunication of Quartodecimanism by Pope Victor I whose decree was unpopular in

the East and perhaps rescinded,[63]

c 190

Tertullian's Adversus Judaeos/An Answer to the Jews [5], c 200

References

1. ^ 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

2. ^ Daniel Boyarin. "Dying for God: Martyrdom and the Making of Christianity and

Judaism" [Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1999, p. 15.

3. ^ Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways by Durham-Tubingen Research

Symposium on Earliest Christianity and Judaism (2nd : 1989 : University of Durham),

James D. G. Dunn

4. ^ Robert M. Price "Christianity, Diaspora Judaism, and Roman Crisis"

5. ^ Robert and Mary Coote, Power, Politics and the Making of the Bible

6. ^ Alan F. Segal, Rebecca's Children: Judaism and Christianity in the Roman World,

Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1986.

7. ^ Martin Buber, "The Two Foci of the Jewish Soul," cited in The Writings of Martin

Buber, Will Herberg (editor), New York: Meridian Books, 1956, p. 276.

8. ^ H.H. Ben-Sasson, A History of the Jewish People, Harvard University Press, 1976,

ISBN 0-674-39731-2, The Crisis Under Gaius Caligula, pages 254-256: "The reign of

Gaius Caligula (37-41) witnessed the first open break between the Jews and the Julio-

Claudian empire. Until then — if one accepts Sejanus' heyday and the trouble caused by

16

the [[Census of Quirinius|census after Archelaus' banishment]] — there was usually an

atmosphere of understanding between the Jews and the empire ... These relations

deteriorated seriously during Caligula's reign, and, though after his death the peace was

outwardly re-established, considerable bitterness remained on both sides. ... Caligula

ordered that a golden statue of himself be set up in the Temple in Jerusalem. ... Only

Caligula's death, at the hands of Roman conspirators (41), prevented the outbreak of a

Jewish-Roman war that might well have spread to the entire East."

9. ^ a b Shaye J.D. Cohen 1987 From the Maccabees to the Mishnah Library of Early

Christianity, Wayne Meeks, editor. The Westminster Press. 167-168

10. ^ a b Paula Fredricksen, From Jesus to Christ Yale university Press. pp. 133-134

11. ^ a b Paula Fredricksen, From Jesus to Christ Yale university Press. pp. 136-142

12. ^ McGrath, Alister E., Christianity: An Introduction. Blackwell Publishing (2006). ISBN

1-4051-0899-1. Page 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)."

13. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia: Baptism: "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).

14. ^ a b Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church ed. F.L. Lucas (Oxford) entry on St. Paul

15. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia: Gamaliel

16. ^ a b c Shaye J.D. Cohen 1987 From the Maccabees to the Mishnah Library of Early

Christianity, Wayne Meeks, editor. The Westminster Press. 168

17. ^ Ignatius' Epistle to the Magnesians chapter 9 at ccel.org

18. ^ According to Eusebius' Life of Constantine, Constantine's speech at the council

included: "Let us then have nothing in common with the detestable Jewish crowd; for we

have received from our Saviour a different way." Eusebius, Life of Constantine Vol. III

Ch. XVIII Life of Constantine (Book III), Chapter 18: He speaks of their Unanimity

respecting the Feast of Easter, and against the Practice of the Jews.

19. ^ McManners, Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity (2002), p. 37, Chapter 1 The

Early Christian Community subsection entitled "Rome" by Henry Chadwick, quote: "In

Acts 15 scripture recorded the apostles meeting in synod to reach a common policy about

the Gentile mission."

20. ^ The Rabbis, probably after Bar Kokhba's revolt, instituted the "peri'ah" (the laying bare

of the glans), without which circumcision was declared to be of no value (Shab. xxx. 6).

21. ^ Karl Josef von Hefele's commentary on canon II of Gangra notes: "We further see that,

at the time of the Synod of Gangra, the rule of the Apostolic Synod with regard to blood

and things strangled was still in force. With the Greeks, indeed, it continued always in

force as their Euchologies still show. Balsamon also, the well-known commentator on the

canons of the Middle Ages, in his commentary on the sixty-third Apostolic Canon,

expressly blames the Latins because they had ceased to observe this command. What the

Latin Church, however, thought on this subject about the year 400, is shown by St.

Augustine in his work Contra Faustum, where he states that the Apostles had given this

17

command in order to unite the heathens and Jews in the one ark of Noah; but that then,

when the barrier between Jewish and heathen converts had fallen, this command

concerning things strangled and blood had lost its meaning, and was only observed by

few. But still, as late as the eighth century, Pope Gregory the Third (731) forbade the

eating of blood or things strangled under threat of a penance of forty days. No one will

pretend that the disciplinary enactments of any council, even though it be one of the

undisputed Ecumenical Synods, can be of greater and more unchanging force than the

decree of that first council, held by the Holy Apostles at Jerusalem, and the fact that its

decree has been obsolete for centuries in the West is proof that even Ecumenical canons

may be of only temporary utility and may be repealed by disuse, like other laws."

22. ^ "What Do They Believe?" - Jehovah's Witnesses Official Web Site - Notes: "Taking

blood into body through mouth or veins violates God's laws."

23. ^ Cohen, Shaye J.D. (1988). From the Maccabees to the Mishnah ISBN 0-664-25017-3 p.

228

24. ^ Cohen, Shaye J.D. (1988). From the Maccabees to the Mishnah ISBN 0-664-25017-3

pp. 224-225

25. ^ Jacob Neusner 1984 Toah From our Sages Rossell Books. p. 175

26. ^ See, Strack, Hermann, Introduction to the Talmud and Midrash, Jewish Publication

Society, 1945. pp.11-12. "[The Oral Law] was handed down by word of mouth during a

long period...The first attempts to write down the traditional matter, there is reason to

believe, date from the first half of the second post-Christian century." 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.

27. ^ See, for example, Grayzel, A History of the Jews, Penguin Books, 1984, p. 193.

28. ^ Shaye J.D. Cohen 1987 From the Maccabees to the Mishnah Library of Early

Christianity, Wayne Meeks, editor. The Westminster Press. 224-228

29. ^ Paula Fredriksen, 1988From Jesus to Christ, Yale University Press. 167-170

30. ^ Ignatius to the Magnesians chapter 9 at ccel.org

31. ^ Wylen (1995). Pg 190.

32. ^ Berard (2006). Pp 112-113.

33. ^ Wright (1992). Pp 164-165.

34. ^ "The Septuagint" The Ecole Glossary. 27 Dec 2009

35. ^ As translated by Molly Whittaker, Jews and Christians: Graeco-Roman Views,

(Cambridge University Press, 1984), p. 105.

36. ^ Martin Goodman, "Nerva, the Fiscus Judaicus and Jewish Identity," Journal of Roman

Studies 79 (1989) 40–44.

37. ^ Wylen (1995). Pp 190-192.

38. ^ Dunn (1999). Pp 33-34.

39. ^ Boatwright (2004). Pg 426.

40. ^ Tertullian, Apologeticus 30.1, as discussed by Cecilia Ames, "Roman Religion in the

Vision of Tertullian," in A Companion to Roman Religion (Blackwell, 2007), pp. 467–

468 et passim.

41. ^ von Harnack, Adolf (1914). Origin of the New Testament.

42. ^ The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article on Marcion

43. ^ The Temple Incident (Mark 11:15–19 and parallels) is a pink event, Before the Council

is a "core event not accurately recorded"

18

44. ^ Acts 3:12–4:4

45. ^ Acts 6:8–8:1

46. ^ Acts 10

47. ^ Catholic Encyclopedia: Cornelius: "The baptism of Cornelius is an important event in

the history of the Early Church. The gates of the Church, within which thus far only those

who were circumcised and observed the Law of Moses had been admitted, were now

thrown open to the uncircumcised Gentiles without the obligation of submitting to the

Jewish ceremonial laws. The innovation was disapproved by the Jewish Christians at

Jerusalem (Acts 11:2–3); but when Peter had related his own and Cornelius's vision and

how the Holy Ghost had come down upon the new converts, opposition ceased (Acts

11:4–18) except on the part of a few extremists. The matter was finally settled at the

Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15)."

48. ^ Acts 12:1–2

49. ^ Gal 2:11–21, Catholic Encyclopedia: Judaizers see section titled: "The Incident At

Antioch"

50. ^ Augustine's Contra Faustum 32.13: "The observance of pouring out the blood which

was enjoined in ancient times upon Noah himself after the deluge, the meaning of which

we have already explained, is thought by many to be what is meant in the Acts of the

Apostles, where we read that the Gentiles were required to abstain from fornication, and

from things sacrificed, and from blood, that is, from flesh of which the blood has not

been poured out."

51. ^ Acts 21:1–28:31

52. ^ Matt 23:37–39, Luke 13:31–35

53. ^ The Great Commission advocates Jesus' teachings for all nations whereas Rabbinic

Judaism advocates full Jewish Law only for Jews and converts with the Seven Laws of

Noah for other nations.

54. ^ John 6:60–6:66

55. ^ 6:48–59

56. ^ Harris, Stephen L., Understanding the Bible. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985.

57. ^ H.H. Ben-Sasson, A History of the Jewish People, Harvard University Press, 1976,

ISBN 0-674-39731-2, The Crisis Under Gaius Caligula, pages 254–256: "The reign of

Gaius Caligula (37–41) witnessed the first open break between the Jews and the Julio-

Claudian empire. Until then — if one accepts Sejanus' heyday and the trouble caused by

the census after Archelaus' banishment — there was usually an atmosphere of

understanding between the Jews and the empire ... These relations deteriorated seriously

during Caligula's reign, and, though after his death the peace was outwardly re-

established, considerable bitterness remained on both sides. ... Caligula ordered that a

golden statue of himself be set up in the Temple in Jerusalem. ... Only Caligula's death, at

the hands of Roman conspirators (41), prevented the outbreak of a Jewish-Roman war

that might well have spread to the entire East."

58. ^ Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Claudius XXV.4, referenced in Acts 18:2

59. ^ See Jewish Encyclopedia: Fiscus Iudaicus The following is a direct quote (including

editor's notes in brackets) of a translation of Suetonius's Domitian XII: "Besides other

taxes, that on the Jews [A tax of two drachmas a head, imposed by Titus in return for free

permission to practice their religion; see Josephus, Bell. Jud. 7.6.6] was levied with the

utmost rigor, and those were prosecuted who, without publicly acknowledging that faith,

19

yet lived as Jews, as well as those who concealed their origin and did not pay the tribute

levied upon their people [These may have been Christians, whom the Romans commonly

assumed were Jews]. I recall being present in my youth when the person of a man ninety

years old was examined before the procurator and a very crowded court, to see whether

he was circumcised."

60. ^ possibly with Jewish involvement: Eusebius' Church History 3.32.4: "And the same

writer says that his accusers also, when search was made for the descendants of David,

were arrested as belonging to that family." Sidenote 879: "This is a peculiar statement.

Members of the house of David would hardly have ventured to accuse Symeon on the

ground that he belonged to that house. The statement is, however, quite indefinite. We are

not told what happened to these accusers, nor indeed that they really were of David's line,

although the ὡσ€ν with which Eusebius introduces the charge does not imply any doubt

in his own mind, as Lightfoot quite rightly remarks. It is possible that some who were of

the line of David may have accused Symeon, not of being a member of that family, but

only of being a Christian, and that the report of the occurrence may have become

afterward confused."

61. ^ Kuhn (1960) and Maier (1962) cited by Paget in 'The Written Gospel' (2005), pg 210

62. ^ Friedlander (1899) cited in Pearson in 'Gnosticism, Judaism and Egyptian Christianity'

(1990)

63. ^ Eusebius. "Church History". p. 5.24.: "Victor, head of the Roman church, attempted at

one stroke to cut off from the common unity all the Asian [Eastern] dioceses .... But this

was not to the taste of all the bishops: They replied with a request that he would turn his

mind to the things that make for peace and for unity and love towards his neighbors. We

still possess the words of these men, who very sternly rebuked Victor."