Jewish-Christian Polemics

Studies in Rabbinic Judaism and Early Christianity  (texts in French & English) by edited by Dan Jaffe (Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity: Brill Academic) The question of the origins of Christianity is a theme still discussed in historical research. This book investigates the relations between the Rabbinic Judaism and the Primitive Christianity. It studies the factors of influences, the polemics in the texts and factors of mutual conceptions between two new movements: Rabbinical Judaism and Primitive Christianity. Finally it offers an analysis of the perception of Christianity in the corpus of talmudic literature.

La question des origins du christianisme est un theme encore débattu par la recherche historique. Cet ouvrage choisi d'explorer les relations entre le judaisme rabbinique et le christianisme primitif. II étudie les facteurs d'influences, les polémiques dont témoignent les textes et les emprunts réciproques entre les deux mouvements naissant : le judaIsme rabbinique et le christiansime primitif. Ii propose également une analyse sur la perception du christianisme a l'oeuvre dans la littérature talmudique.

This volume emerged from the symposium held at Paris in March 2007 on the theme "Rome, Athens or Jerusalem. Where does Christianity Come From?" under the auspices of the College des Etudes Juives (Alliance Israelite Universelle) and jointly organized by Professor Shmuel Trigano (Paris X-Nanterre University, Paris) and Doctor Dan Jaffe (Bar-Ilan University, Israel).

The main purpose of this symposium was to outline the origins of Christianity, taking a variety of parameters into consideration. To this end, it has been proposed to establish the conceptual and historical foundations of primitive Christianity and to shed light upon the society in which the first Christians appeared.

Initially we place Jesus in the society of his time (contributions of Daniel Marguerat and of Francois Blanchetière); we then analyze references to the first Christians in Talmudic literature (contributions of Barak Cohen, of Avinoam Cohen and of Dan Jaffe); we then proceed to an examination of the attitude of early Christianity toward the Temple of Jerusalem (contribution of Eyal Regev). Afterward we offer a general definition of the Jewish context in which Christianity took shape (contributions of Daniel R. Schwartz and of Jonathan Bourgel) and ask whether early Christianity was influenced by concepts and beliefs from the pagan world (Emmanuel Friedheim). Finally weshed light on the Partings of the Ways between Jews and Christians (contribution of Stephanie E. Binder).

Francois Blanchetière surveys the fundamental issue of the innovative aspects of the Nazarene beliefs in relation to Judaism. This question has led him to wonder whether Jesus is to be seen as a "founder" or as a "reformer". Arguing that "Judaism and polytheism found innovation in religion (in the modern sens) viscerally repugnant" and that the first Christians did not advocate the abandonment of Jewish precepts, he concludes that Jesus cannot be considered as a "founder". Blanchetière prefers to describe Jesus as a "reformer." He writes: "All things considered, the expression Jesus founder of a new religion turns out to be an assemblage of concepts with no real historical justification." Blanchetière does concede, though, that the Nazarene stream refers to a religious movement of Semitic character within the Judaism of the first decades of the Common Era.

Daniel Marguerat discusses the results of the "third quest" for the historical Jesus, which correctly emphasizes the Jewishness of Jesus. But for him, this view must include the singularity of the emergence of Jesus within first century Judaism. Herein would lie the answer to the riddle of the transformation of the message of Jesus, which was initially Jewish, into a universal religious appeal. Although Jesus must be understood as belonging integrally to the Judaism of his time, he bore with him the seeds of the future split. Marguerat has highlighted three characteristics peculiar to the teaching of Jesus: the radicalness of the imperative to love, which can invalidate strong prescriptions of the Torah; an offensive conception of purity in opposition to the defensive conception of purity that was widespread in Judaism of the time; the eschatological emergency illustrated by an ethical approach, which put the observance of the law into a relative perspective. Marguerat concludes that the figure of Jesus cannot be assigned to any particular variety of the Judaism of his time. He evokes a transcendant dimension, which makes him very singular. The second part of the book opens with the contribution of Barak Cohen dealing with the question of possible Jewish-Christian contacts in Nehardea during the Sasanian Period. Historians of the rabbinic period have identified some remarks made by prominent Babylonian Nehardean rabbis from the Sasanian period as being aimed at Christians currently active in their region. In contrast, Cohen's analysis of the passages in which these remarks are embedded raises doubts as to the accuracy of these claims. Cohen argues that there is no evidence in the Bavli that Nehardean sages had any direct contact with Christians or were familiar with Christian daily practice. This conclusion concurs with the information provided in Christian chronicles regarding the spread (or failure to spread) of Christianity in Nehardea, Pumbedita and the surrounding areas during the talmudic period (third-fifth centuries C.E.). The absence of Christians in this region during the talmudic period is further corroborated by a statement in BT Pesahim 56a, according to which there were no heretics, Christians or otherwise, in Nehardea during the amoraic period. Cohen concludes that, in order to draw a reliable picture of the historical situation in Sasanian Babylonia, each geographical area should be studied per se.

Dan Jaffe deals with the expressions of the attractions of Christianity and its representation in Talmudic sources. He offers a new paradigm to think of these notions, basing his argument upon the text of Tosefta Hulin II, 24, which is regarded as a locus classicus in the study of the relations between Jewish-Christians and Tannaim.

In light of his analysis, Dan Jaffe contends that this passage attests: 1) to the attraction manifested by R. Eliezer ben Hyrcanus to the teaching of Jesus; 2) to a desire to expel the Jewish-Christians from the Jewish community, which was undergoing a process of socio-historical normalization; 3) to an effort to create a norm forbidding Jews to study or to receive the teaching of the Jewish followers of Jesus; and, finally, 4) to a time of high tension illustrated by the deterioration of the relations between Tannaim and Jewish-Christians.

The representation of Christianity in the Talmudic sources is reflected in the teaching attributed to the Jewish-Christians. The later editors of the Talmud identify Jacob, the min of Tosefta Hulin II, 24, not only as a follower of Jesus but more generally as a symbol representative of Christianity. They correlate his teaching with prostitution, which in Talmudic thought, suggests deviance and aberration. Furthermore, prostitution represents the archetype of illicit attraction, and as such it is placed on an equal footing with Christianity, which exerts a baneful influence on the Jewish community.

Avinoam Cohen explores the ostensibly contradictory meaning of two biblical verses (Nb 6:26; Dt 10:17) about birkat cohanim and their interpretations in the midrashic literature.

He highlights the way the classic Jewish exegetes tried to resolve this contradiction and explains that the Sages presented a defensive position. The context of the exegetical debate in which these verses are quoted is essential for understanding the deep purpose of the Sages. According to Cohen, their intent was to polemicize against the first Christians, who are referred to as minim in the Talmudic literature. Cohen connects this controversy to an older Palestinian tradition from the period of Yavneh, which is recorded in the Babylonian Talmud. This makes absolute sense when we consider that it was precisely at Yavneh, under the leadership of Rabban Gamaliel, that the Palestinian Jewish community closed in on itself and rigidly opposed doctrinal dissent. Now, it appears that the main dissenters to the Sages were the Jewish-Christians.

Cohen argues that the intense rabbinic occupation with the supposed contradiction between these two verses began in Yavneh as a result of their theological debate with the minim (mainly, early Christians), who claimed that the crisis in Judaism was proof that God had abandoned Israel.

The third part of this volume on the origins of Christianity opens with the study by Daniel R. Schwartz. Schwartz deals with the Jewish origins of Christianity by relating to ethnic and historical considerations regarding Jewish identity. According to Schwartz, Jews have historically been identified on the basis of their place of origin and residence, their ancestry, and their religious affiliation, and, in antiquity, each of these was most prominent in a different period.

The topos marked Jewish identity in the course of the First Temple period, during which territorial attachment was of considerable importance—but the basis for that disappeared with the dispersion of the Israelite states and with the creation of the Diaspora. The criterion of ancestry was most dominant in the next period of Jewish history, under Persian domination—a criterion illustrated by Ezra and Nehemiah, who considered the notion of zera haqodesh ("holy seed") as a condition sine qua non for Jewish identity, and by the prominence of the priesthood—defined by its pedigree—in this period.

With Alexander the Great and the advent of Hellenism, however, the idea of cultural affiliation became the primary marker of identity. Just as one could be Greek without living in Greece and without being of Greek descent, if one's language and culture were Greek, so too could one be a Jew if one adhered to Jewish culture—Judaism.

It is to this period that the roots of Christianity are to be traced, and Schwartz indeed argues that the Jewish background from which Christianity emerged must be situated in this universalistic context. In this respect, Paul of Tarsus, who grew up in the Hellenized Diaspora, is to be understood as having undercut the significance of Jewish place and Jewish descent, just as he did for the legal component of Jewish culture. In doing so, however, he matched moves already made by the Qumran community, mutatis mutandis—the community that provides the background for understanding the appearance of John the Baptist.

According to Schwartz, Jesus should basically be understood as having had quite a different orientation: an anti-Roman political agenda preaching Davidic messianism and the coming restoration of the Kingdom of Israel. When that movement failed, although, as Jesus' followers believed, he was nonetheless vindicated by resurrection, he became available to serve in the individualistic and universalistic agendas that were the focus of the John and Paul types, and the result was Christianity.

Jonathan Bourgel deals with the Jewish Christian community of Jerusalem and the patristic tradition of the flight to Pella during the Great Revolt against the Romans. This episode has been the subject of intense debate in modern scholarship; the disagreement in this discussion con cerns both the reliability of this tradition and its significance for the historiography of Jewish-Christianity in the post-apostolic period.

Bourgel considers that, to be interpreted correctly, this tradition must be situated in the specific political context of the Jewish revolt against Rome. In his opinion, there is reason to presume that the flight to Pella was a desertion or even a surrender—an attitude that was strongly encouraged by the Roman armies. This approach echoes the famous thesis defended by Gedaliah Alon a few decades ago, according to which R. Yohanan ben Zakai was a Jewish prisoner in the hands of the Romans, not a Jewish deserter from the cause of the revolt.

These pertinent remarks point out to an interesting correlation between the conduct of the Jewish-Christian communities and the military policy of the Romans. Did the Jewish-Christians deliberately choose Pella as a place of residence or, as captives, were they forced to settle there by the Roman authorities?

Bourgel reconstructs the course of events of the Jewish Christians' move from Jerusalem and argues that their transfer to Pella and settlement there were supervised by the Roman armies. It is likely that their removal occurred in the late spring of 68 C.E. as the legions of Vespasian advanced in the vicinity of Jerusalem and numerous Jews fled from the city to surrender to the Roman authorities. Furthermore, Bourgel thinks that, like other Jewish prisoners who surrendered to the Roman forces, the Jewish-Christians negotiated the terms of their surrender. We note lastly that the author reflects a historiographical trend, according to which the flight to Pella by no means marked a watershed in the relations between Jews and Jewish Christians.

The third part of this volume ends with the study of Eyal Regev on the attitude of the gospel of Mark toward the Temple in Jerusalem. Unlike many critics, Regev maintains that Jesus felt no acrimony toward the Jewish sanctuary but protested against the exchange of money, which he considered unclean, since it was corrupted by the sins of the people. Thus, Jesus was not criticizing the institution of the Temple but rather the use of money within its compound.

In this case, Regev stresses that the gospels do not identify with Jesus' famous attack against the Temple (destruction and reconstruction within three days), which raises questions about the attitude of the historical Jesus to the Temple. According to Regev, there are two ways to solve this riddle: either 1) Jesus actually made a speech against the Temple, but it was less radical than that which was later attributed to him, or 2) the Jesus' opponents considered the "cleansing" of the Temple to be a threat although this was not his original intention.

Nevertheless, it is likely that Jesus did express some criticism of the sanctuary of Jerusalem. In the same spirit, Regev considers that the attitude toward the Jewish law is generally positive in the gospel of Mark despite some criticism against it in light of the revelation of Jesus. The Gospel of Mark is depicted as mixture of Jewish and non-Jewish Christianity. However, as Regev observes, its non-Jewish aspects do not necessarily imply a rejection of its Jewish aspects.

The fourth part of the volume ends with the studies of Emmanuel Friedheim and of Stephanie E. Binder.

Friedheim addresses the question of the pagan origins of Christianity, arguing that in the course of the second century pagan beliefs and cults were deep factors of influence on Christianity, while a significant wave of conversion from polytheism to Christianity occurred. What can be said about these factors of influence for the period spanning Jesus lifetime and extending to 70 C.E.? Although the Gospel of John manifests Hellenization in some of his speeches, the Jewish heritage remains firmly anchored there. Pagan influence was minimal in primitive Christianity, because of the clearly negative attitude of Jesus and of the whole Jewish society towards paganism.

Moving from textual analysis to methodical historiography, Friedheim explains that the (alleged) pagan influences on primitive Christianity must be considered within the wider context of the pagan influences on the pre-70 Jewish world. As he shows, toward the end of the Second Temple period Jews were extremely radical in opposition to pagan cults and images and rejected paganism completely. Hence, Friedheim concludes: "Agreeing with the thesis of Flusser on the fundamentally Jewish origins of primitive Christianity, we could not have detected any pagan influence inevitably echoed in the synoptics that was not similarly anchored in contemporary Judaism stemming from the pharisee or the essenian movements and even from the Judeo-Hellenistic conceptual world of Philo of Alexandria."

In the final article, Stephanie Binder surveys the existence and nature of the connections that may have existed between Jews and Christians at the end of second and the beginning of the third century C.E. within the framework of discussions on what has been termed the parting of the ways between Jews and Christians. At issue is the question whether Jews and Christians were different and separate from each other or similar and intermingled at this time. To address this question, Binder examines the similarities between two texts on idolatry—De Idololatria by the Carthaginian Church father Tertullian and the roughly contemporaneous Mishnah Avodah Zarah, committed to writing in Palestine. These works were composed to guide Christians and Jews respectively in living their lives of truth in the same idolatrous environment. After a discussion of the origins of the Christian community of Carthage, Binder shows that the Carthaginian Jews and the Palestinian rabbis could very well have been in contact. She then displays some of resemblances and differences between the approaches to idolatry of the rabbis and of the Church father and attempts to account for them. Via the explanations of the nuances between both texts on idolatry, she reaches the issue of active Jewish proselytism which, she argues, was internally oriented in Carthage and aimed at protecting Jews and prospective Jews already engaged within the Jewish community from the seduction of the Christian mission, which was still present among the Jews. Binder concludes that the Jewish and Christian communities in Carthage had to have been in contact and that they must have inspired or influenced one another, which raises the question of other places and times where and when both communities were in contact.

Jews, Christians and Jewish Christians in Antiquity  by James Carleton Paget (Gebundene Ausgabe: Mohr Siebeck)  The book, which consists of some previously published and unpublished essays, examines a variety of issues relevant to the study of ancient Judaism and Christianity and their interaction, including polemic, proselytism, biblical interpretation, ssianism, the phenomenon normally described as Jewish Christianity, and the fate of the Jewish community after the Bar Kokhba revolt, a period of considerable importance for the emergence not only of Judaism but also of Christianity. The volume, typically for a collection of essays, does not lay out a particular thesis. If anything binds the collection together, it is the author's attempt to set out the major fault lines in current debate about these disputed subjects, and in the process to reveal their complex and entangled character.