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1 Introduction: Judaizing and the Early Development of Christianity ‫ﱜ‬ Until approximately thirty or forty years ago, scholars in the field of Christian origins tended to treat Judaism and Christianity as historically and conceptually separate movements with few interactions and little in common.1 Judaism and Christianity were understood to be virtually monolithic communities, and the existence of diverse groups within each community was given minimal, if any, attention. If scholars did address these differences, they frequently treated them as though they were erroneous deviations from the authentic forms of each religion. They had a propensity to describe the separation of Christianity from Judaism as taking place shortly after the destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70 ce, and to treat both movements as though their boundaries and identities were sharply defined in reaction to this traumatic event. Interaction between Christians and Jews in the early centuries of the Common Era was rarely acknowledged or seriously discussed. By contrast, recent early Christian scholarship has shown an appreciation for the pluralism and rich diversity of Judaism and Christianity and has reflected an interest in advancing new interpretations of the history of the relationships among Jewish and Christian communities.2 Scholars have come to understand that modern notions of Jewish and Christian identities as distinct and rigid categories ought not to be projected into antiquity . There is acknowledgement, moreover, that the boundaries between the two broadly identified communities were more fluid than was formerly held, and that each religious community expressed itself in a wide variety of ways in belief and practice. In particular, scholarly perceptions of how the history of early Christianity developed and how definitions of the terms “orthodoxy” and “heresy” ought to be applied to this history, have changed significantly. In many geographical areas “heresies” were actually the primary forms of Christianity; the voices of alleged heretics were deliberately suppressed by other Christians who eventually triumphed in the struggle for dominance. There is recognition that, in order to appreciate more fully the diversity and vitality of nascent Christianity, the muted voices of so-called heretics—who had been part of the variegated Christian movement—must be heard.3 chapter 1 Notes to Chapter 1 start on page 153 This study contributes toward the current discussion by addressing one of the largely neglected points of contact in the spectrum of Jewish-Christian relations in the first two centuries ce. It argues that significant strands of early Christian literature, which have been interpreted as expressing anti-Jewish sentiment, were actually directed against Gentile Christians4— more significantly, Gentile Christian judaizers—rather than against Jews or Jewish Christians,5 as is usually understood. These Gentile Christian judaizers combined a commitment to Christianity with adherence in varying degrees to Jewish practices without viewing such behaviour as contradictory . From the perspective of certain Christian leaders, these Christian community members were “playing a Jewish game” by living like Jews and adhering to certain Jewish practices and dangerously blurring the boundaries between Christianity and Judaism. There were attempts to suppress this phenomenon, and Gentile Christian judaizers became the target of anti-Jewish rhetoric found within various early Christian writings. Certain passages of adversus Judaeos material—often understood to be reflective of conflict between Christians and Jews—is more accurately to be understood as expression of an intra muros debate among Christians. By examining the phenomenon of Gentile Christian judaizing within broader Jewish-Christian relations in the early centuries of the Common Era, this study enables the suppressed voices of Gentile Christian judaizers , once part of the rich diversity of nascent Christianity, to be heard. One of the central goals of this exploration, therefore, is to contribute toward a more carefully defined and nuanced understanding of the larger picture of Jewish-Christian relations in antiquity. I owe much to a small number of scholars: John Gager (1985), Lloyd Gaston (1986), and more recently Stephen Wilson (1995), who have discussed certain pieces of evidence for Gentile Christian judaizing and have laid a solid foundation for a more comprehensive study of the phenomenon. Such a comprehensive study naturally follows the paths that have already been trod by other scholars; this exploration analyzes some of the same documents as they have, and at times reaches similar conclusions. My objective is not comprehensive , detailed analyses of the individual documents; most of these have been the subjects of extensive analysis in their own right. The present study’s task is to draw all possible...

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