The Christians

The early Christians, many of whom were Jews, initially saw themselves as part of Judaism, but after Jerusalem’s destruction, that connection began to change.

So far, we’ve seen the development of Judaism throughout the centuries. We’ve watched the Roman armies surround Jerusalem, we’ve seen Rabbinic Judaism grow out of the remnants of Pharisaic Judaism, and we’ve looked at a final Jewish revolt against the Romans in AD 132–135. From that point on, for the next few centuries, while there were still Jews living in Palestine (the name Hadrian officially gave to Judea), there were no longer Jews in Jerusalem.

Yet, throughout all that time, what were the Christians doing? Throughout New Testament times, many Christians were Jews, and so how did all of this history affect them? In this article, we’ll see that in many respects, the early Christians, even if they were Gentiles, saw themselves as Jews and as those who had been grafted into Judaism. But, in the aftermath of Jerusalem’s destruction, much of that changed.

Jewish Christians

Being Gentiles, we sometimes forget all of the links between Jesus’ early followers and Judaism. Sometimes, as we read through the record, we disassociate early Christianity with Judaism, even to the point of thinking that the apostles saw themselves as fighting Judaism. Even some translators have made this mistake–translating a unique word coined by Paul as “Judaism” and making it sound as though Paul believed he had left Judaism and thus opposed it.1 Yet, this is a misunderstanding.

Early Christianity began as part of Judaism. When the apostles first started their preaching, they were celebrating Pentecost (Acts 2:1). Though the Greek name may cause us to miss this link, Pentecost’s Hebrew name is Shavuot, or the Feast of Weeks (Leviticus 23:15-22)—which is why its Greek name connects to the number 50, because the Feast of Weeks happened 50 days after Passover. In the next chapter, Peter and John went to the Temple “at the hour of prayer.” (Acts 3:1).2 Not only were they preaching in the Jewish Temple, but they were going at a very specific time—yet, what made this hour the “hour of prayer”? In the law, God had commanded the people to make an offering every morning and evening (Numbers 28:4); the people eventually connected the times of these offerings to prayer. Thus, while the sacrifice was being made, the people prayed and remembered their relationship with God. Hence, David specifically connected “the evening sacrifice” with his prayer (Psalm 141:2). Similarly, Gabriel appeared to Daniel while Daniel was praying “at the time of the evening sacrifice.” (Daniel 9:21). In other words, the hour of prayer was a specific time connected to the sacrifices. Some of Christianity’s first preaching efforts were thus connected specifically to Jewish worship—they began at a Jewish holiday, and in the next chapter, in the Temple, at the specific time of the evening sacrifice.

As time went on, these Jewish connections continued. When God gave Peter the vision of the sheet, Peter exclaimed, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” (Acts 10:14). He couldn’t believe what he heard—because he had always kept kosher. Yet was God thus telling Peter that Judaism was wrong or that what the Old Testament taught was no longer useful? Certainly not. Instead, the point of Acts 10 was to help Peter realize that the Gentiles, whom he had often seen as “common” or “unclean,” had been granted “repentance that leads to life.” (Acts 11:18). These Gentiles were thus grafted in to the promises that God had offered to Abraham. This grafting is why the elders called together the Jerusalem Conference: because these Gentiles had entered into Judaism. Therefore, the early believers wondered how much of Judaism was necessary for these Gentiles to keep. Did they need to keep the whole Torah? Did they simply need to be circumcised? The conclusion may be somewhat surprising: “For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well.” (Acts 15:28–29). Do you see what the council decided about the law? While they didn’t require the Gentiles to be circumcised, they insisted that the Gentiles still keep pieces of the law. In doing so, they recognized that keeping the law doesn’t necessarily bring life, but also acknowledged that Christianity wasn’t something new. It was a sect of Judaism, and these Gentile believers, though they didn’t keep the whole law, still kept certain facets of it.

For decades, Christianity thus functioned as part of Judaism. The believers held to the “hope of Israel” (Acts 28:20), having joined “the commonwealth of Israel.” (Ephesians 2:12). Even history seems to support this: Suetonius, an early Roman historian, noted that Emperor Claudius “expelled the Jews from Rome, since they were always making disturbances because of the instigator Chrestus.”3 This isn’t a reference to Jews fighting against Christians and thereby creating a disturbance—this is a reference to the Christians themselves. Suetonius saw them as Jews.

How, then, can we explain the animosity we see in the New Testament between Jews and Christians? Certain Jewish groups would indeed target Christians and attempt to prevent the preaching of the gospel (Acts 13:50; 14:2), but we can understand much of this in the context of an intra-Jewish debate. Throughout time, many of the Jewish sects struggled to get along with one another, and thus the history of Acts and Jewish movements against Christians matches what we know of the history of Jewish sects.

Separation

Separation from Judaism came from an unexpected source. Rather than originating within, separation from Judaism began with the Romans. After Rome burned in AD 64, Nero sought a scapegoat. The Roman historian Tacitus records:

To put down the rumor [that he ordered the fire], Nero substituted as culprits and punished in the most unusual ways those hated for their shameful acts, whom the crowd called “Chrestians.” The founder of this name, Christ, has been executed in the reign of Tiberius by the procurator Pontius Pilate. Suppressed for a time, the deadly superstition erupted again.4

Persecution created the separation. Suddenly, this group was no longer seen as a sect within Judaism. Instead, it was its own new religion. Christianity thus became illegal. Writing at that time, the Apostle Peter prepared the believers for what was coming:

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” (1 Peter 4:12–13).

This wasn’t just descriptive language. Peter used the term “fiery trial” in a reference back to Daniel when the government at the time tried to burn three believers to death. Such was what Nero sought and perpetrated against many Christians. Many historians believe both Paul and Peter perished under Nero.

Nevertheless, even though persecution can create a separation between two groups, if one group continues to see itself as part of the other, the link between them can sometimes still be maintained. So, therefore, when did Christianity begin to see itself differently?

Everything changed in AD 70. As we already discussed, the various Jewish groups at the time had to reevaluate themselves. How could they function without a Temple? What did it mean that the Torah was no longer possible to follow? The Sadducees and the Essenes couldn’t do it–they disappeared. The Pharisees redirected their movement and became the rabbis. But what would the Christians do?

Decades prior to AD 70, the Christians had concluded that the Temple, while important, wasn’t necessary (consider the thrust of Stephen’s speech in Acts 7—for centuries, people had worshipped without a Temple!). Nor was the law. Though it was good, it could not bring life (Romans 7:11–12). When God destroyed the Temple, Christians recognized God was ending that form of Judaism–He made it impossible to live by the Torah. Though the Pharisees adapted, they could never, until there was another Temple, keep the law fully.

This was the final break between Christianity and Judaism. Pharisaic Judaism sought to sustain a ritual-based religion, while Christianity interpreted the destruction of the Temple as God’s judgment on ritual and tradition.

Conclusion

Christianity began as a Jewish sect. The early Christians worshiped in the Temple, celebrated Jewish holidays, and even followed Jewish rituals. Though they eventually recognized that these rituals were not necessary for salvation, many continued to keep them culturally. This was not required by any means, but was just part of early Christianity as a Jewish group. Eventually, things changed, and the two groups separated.

Unfortunately, as the years passed and the separation solidified, Christians forgot their Jewish roots and Jewish connections. The gospel and its presentation as the hope of Israel, was lost. Yet doctrines affect actions. Thus, tragically, as we’ll examine in the next article, with that forgetting and that loss, Christianity would come to turn against the very religion from which it had come.

Jason Hensley,
Associate Editor