I Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament

Herausgeber/Editor Jörg Frey (Zürich)

Mitherausgeber/Associate Editors Friedrich Avemarie (Marburg) Markus Bockmuehl (Oxford) Hans-Josef Klauck (Chicago, IL)

266 II III Edwin K. Broadhead

Jewish Ways of Following Jesus

Redrawing the Religious Map of Antiquity

Mohr Siebeck IV

Edwin K. Broadhead, born 1955; 1977 B.A., Mississippi College; 1981 M. Div., Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; 1986 PhD, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; 1991 Dr. theol., University of Zürich; additional studies at Bern, Tübingen, Basel, and Oxford; As- sociate Professor at Berea College, Berea, Kentucky.

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dedicated to

Rev. Loretta Reynolds, D. theol.

esteemed colleague dear friend beloved spouse VI VII

Acknowledgements

This venture into the world of Jewish is the product of an intense year of research and reflection at Oxford University. In a larger sense, the insights reached here represent the most recent stage of an interesting professional jour- ney. My commitment to Christian faith and discipleship led me to critical study of the texts of the , particularly the traditions of Jesus’ teaching. After a period of exploring the gospels from both a literary and a historical cri- tical perspective, my interests turned to the historical Jesus and to the stages of tradition between Jesus and the gospels. Further scholarly attention was given to the role played by traditions such as the Sayings Tradition (Q) and the Gospel of Thomas. All these studies were carried out with an eye to the developmental his- tory and the diversity of early Christianity. These concerns led naturally to an in- terest in the Jewish profile of Jesus and his earliest followers, but also to the pos- sibility that Jewish ways of following Jesus endured in various times and places. I am particularly grateful for those who helped me to carry out a sabbatical year at Oxford. Professor Christopher Tuckett paved the way with guidance and with timely introductions. I am particularly grateful to Professor Martin Goodman for his interest and engagement with my project at a very busy time in his own work. His guidance in the field of Jewish studies and his probing ques tions about my ideas proved invaluable. For the time and support to carry out such a project, I am grateful to my home institution, Berea College of Berea, Kentucky. A special note of thanks is due for Wolfson College of Oxford, who accepted me as a visiting scholar and provided a base of support and collegiality. I am grateful for the support offered by a variety of Oxford libraries. Chief among these is the Theological Faculty Library and its helpful staff: Kate Alderson- Smith, Richard Budgen, Elizabeth Birchall, John Bardwell. The Wolfson College library and its director, Fiona Wilkes, provided a comfortable place for a portion of my research. The Bodlean Library, the Sackler Library, and the library of the Oriental Institute were boundless sources for a variety of obscure texts, ancient and modern. I am grateful for the friendship of colleagues who accompanied my journey. Members of the Common Room and the staff at Wolfson provided a place for tea and discussion. My ideas were sifted in conversations in Oxford with extraordi- nary colleagues such as Christopher Rowland, David Taylor, Sebastian Brock, Geza Vermes, Larry Kreitzer, and Joan Taylor. New Road Baptist Church, Ox- VIII Acknowledgements ford provided a place of worship and a supportive community. I am also grateful for continuing dialogue with fellow members of the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas, including James Dunn, Cilliers Breytenbach, Sean Freyne, Jörg Frey, David Gowler, Samuel Vollenweider, Peter Lampe, and Alan Culpepper. I appre- ciate as well the office assistance provided by Niklaus von Wittenbach. I wish to acknowledge and to honor a line of extraordinary teachers and men- tors. Among these are Frank Stagg of Louisville; Ulrich Luz of Bern; Hans Weder, Eduard Schweizer, and Jean Zumstein of Zürich; Peter Stuhlmacher, Martin Hengel, and Jürgen Moltmann of Tübingen. My work has been carried out with the support of an extraordinary family. My quest for both faith and scholarship was fired by the example and support of my parents, Dempsey and Louise Broadhead. My sister, Janet Broadhead Tidmore, and her husband Pat have followed with interest and care through each stage of my work. Finally, I am grateful beyond measure for the support and encouragement of Loretta Reynolds, who is both colleague and spouse. I have learned much from the questions she brings from her own interests and her own fields of study, which are homiletics, women’s studies, and pastoral care. More importantly, she understood why this venture was so important, she has listened to my ideas, and she has offered her support and encouragement throughout. This text is dedi- cated to her with many thanks, with great joy, and with much love.

Edwin K. Broadhead Berea, Kentucky

IX

Prologue

Just outside the Victoria Market in Melbourne, Australia stands a small monu- ment to the first British settlers. The British claim to the continent would be based on the legal principle of terra nullius (the land of no one). Subsequent rul- ings in the British court system attempted to extinguish all claims to native title. The glaring contradiction, of course, is that Aboriginal peoples have inhabited the continent for over 40,000 years and numbered, in the late 1700s, some 350,000 inhabitants. Although their origin, identity, and history cannot be pre- cisely described, Aboriginal presence cannot be ignored. Even where no de- scendants remain, such as in Tasmania, the oral tales and the campfires and mid- dens bear witness to their place on the map of history. Such is the case with the religious map of antiquity. A Christian orthodoxy (though not hegemony) was achieved with the patronage of Constantine (313 ce) and in the pronouncements of the Council of Nicea called by the emperor (325 ce). A similar orthodoxy was enforced upon by the codification of rab- binic tradition in the Mishnah and by its subsequent imposition as the standard for Judaism (2nd to 5th century ce). Both traditions, Christian and rabbinic, im- posed their dominance upon the religious map of their own time, but also, retro- spectively, upon the previous periods. An ideological form of terra nullius was declared, asserting the primal status of these later norms. The trajectory sketched out in Luke-Acts seems to move with inevitable inertia from Pentecost westward toward Rome and the Christianization of the Roman Empire. In Judaism, the prophet of the journey was Josephus, who privileged the Pharisaic approach and cooperation with the Romans in the afermath of the 1st Jewish War. The develop- ments after the fall of the Temple (70 ce) appear to lead inevitably to the consoli- dation of rabbinic authority in later centuries. In the process of achieving domi- nance, the Church Fathers labeled other groups as heretics; the rabbis, for the most part, ignored their competition. Like the British colonial accounts, these two grand narratives were written with a clear awareness that the landscape was, in reality, filled with a wide variety of characters and groups and traditions, with many and many Christianities. Our task here is to add a critical note to the monuments that define both Christianity and Judaism – to acknowledge that the ancient landscape included the story of Jewish followers of Jesus. As far as it is possible, this study seeks to clarify historical markers for the presence of Jewish Christianity in various X Prologue places, in different times, and in diverse modes. The presence of such markers would challenge a variety of scholarly presumptions: 1) that there was an early and decisive parting of the ways between Judaism and Christianity; 2) that Jew- ish Christianity quickly subsided in the face of an emerging orthodoxy of Gen- tile Christianity; and 3) that surviving groups of Jewish Christians are to be un- derstood, with various Church Fathers, as heretics. If historical markers for the continuing vitality of Jewish Christianity can be isolated, then a different reli- gious and social map of the first four centuries is required, and a different under- standing of the development of primitive Christianity and rabbinic Judaism must emerge. XI

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements ...... VII Prologue ...... IX

Introduction ...... 1

Part One Parameters for a Quest for Jewish Christianity

Chapter 1: A History of Research ...... 6 1. Beginnings ...... 6 2. ...... 7 3. Support for Baur’s Position ...... 11 3.1 ...... 12 3.2 Karl Köstlin, Adolf Hilgenfeld ...... 13 3.3 Oscar Cullmann ...... 14 3.4 Hans-Joachim Schoeps ...... 14 4. Reactions to Baur’s Position ...... 16 4.1 Gotthard Victor Lechler ...... 16 4.2 ...... 16 4.3 Adolf von Harnack ...... 18 4.4 Adolf Schlatter ...... 19 4.5 Jean Daniélou ...... 19 5. A Sample of Recent Scholarship on Jewish Christianity ...... 20 6. Critical Bias and Critical Balance ...... 25 7. Overview and Analysis ...... 26

Chapter 2: Toward a Definition of Jewish Christianity ...... 28 1. Challenges ...... 28 2. A Sample of Recent Attempts at Definition ...... 31 XII Table of Contents

2.1 Joan Taylor ...... 31 2.2 Bruce Malina ...... 32 2.3 Neil McEleney ...... 35 2.4 Stanley Riegel ...... 35 2.5 Oskar Skarsaune ...... 36 2.6 Simon Claude Mimouni ...... 37 2.7 Raymond Brown ...... 37 2.8 Matt Jackson-McCabe ...... 38 2.9 Jonathan Z. Smith ...... 39 2.10 Daniel Boyarin ...... 39 2.11 James Carleton Paget ...... 40 2.12 Jörg Frey ...... 41 3. Continuing Issues ...... 42 3.1 Triangulation, Synthesis, and Hybridization ...... 42 3.2 Anachronism ...... 43 3.3 Reification ...... 46 3.4 Abstraction ...... 46 3.5 The Perception of Distinction ...... 46 4. Defining Jewishness ...... 47 5. Jewishness and the Jewish Followers of Jesus ...... 50 6. Parameters for Defining Jewish Christianity ...... 50 7. Constructing A Working Definition for Jewish Christianity ...... 54 7.1 The Tasks Involved ...... 54 7.2 Complexity and Continuum ...... 55 7.3 A Working Definition ...... 56

Chapter 3: Strategies in a Quest for Jewish Christianity ...... 59

Part Two Points of Origin

Chapter 4: Jesus the Jew ...... 62 1. A Quest for the Jewish Jesus ...... 62 2. A Different Way ...... 68 3. A Sample of Recent Contributions ...... 70 4. What is Implied by What We Think We Know? ...... 71 4.1 Implicit Christology as a Defensive Response ...... 71 4.2 A Different Understanding of Implicit Christology ...... 73 4.3 A Galilean Jew ...... 76 5. Conclusion ...... 78 Table of Contents XIII

Chapter 5: The Earliest Communities of Jesus’ Followers ...... 80 1. Jerusalem ...... 80 1.1 Luke and the Restoration of Judaism ...... 81 1.2 Paul and the Jerusalem Community ...... 83 1.3 James, Brother of Jesus ...... 84 1.4 The Bishops List ...... 87 1.5 The Flight to Pella ...... 88 1.6 Summation ...... 90 2. The Galilee? ...... 90 2.1 The Ministry of the Historical Jesus ...... 90 2.2 Galilee and the Gospel of Mark ...... 92 2.3 Galilee and the Gospel of Matthew ...... 92 2.4 Galilee and the Gospel of Luke ...... 93 2.5 Galilee and the Prophets of the Sayings Tradition (Q) ...... 93 2.6 Galilee and the Family of Jesus ...... 94 2.7 Galilee and the Rabbis ...... 96 2.8 Joseph of Tiberias ...... 97 2.9 Conclusion ...... 97 3. Antioch ...... 98 4. Rome ...... 101 4.1 Judaism in Rome ...... 101 4.2 The Emergence of Christianity in Rome ...... 104 4.3 The Development of Christianity at Rome ...... 111 4.4 Conclusion ...... 114 5. Alexandria ...... 115 6. Opposition within Pauline Communities ...... 120 7. Other Communities ...... 123 8. Conclusion ...... 124

Chapter 6: The Earliest Christians Writings ...... 128 1. The Two Ways Tradition ...... 128 2. The Didache ...... 131 3. The Book of James ...... 133 4. Jude, 2nd Peter ...... 134 5. The Sayings Tradition ...... 135 5.1 The Form and Content of the Sayings Tradition ...... 136 5.2 A of The Sayings Tradition ...... 139 5.3 The Social and Religious Situation ...... 142 5.4 Summation ...... 142 XIV Table of Contents

6. The Gospel of Matthew ...... 143 6.1 The Narrative Construction ...... 144 6.2 A Gathering of Traditions ...... 144 6.2.1 The Gospel of Mark...... 144 6.2.2 The Sayings Tradition ...... 145 6.2.3 Special Mathean Materials ...... 145 6.2.4 The Sermon on the Mount ...... 148 6.2.5 The Lord’s Prayer ...... 150 6.2.6 The Scriptures of Israel ...... 151 6.2.6 A Petrine Tradition ...... 152 6.3 Social Location: Text from Texts, Community from Communities ...... 154 6.4 Summation ...... 156 7. Do Lukan Special Materials Reflect a Jewish Christian Source? ...... 156 8. Conclusion ...... 157

Part Three Patristic Representations of Jewish Christianity

Chapter 7: Nazarenes ...... 163 1. Jerome and the Nazarenes ...... 164 1.1 The Gospel according to the Hebrews ...... 164 1.2 A Nazarene Version of Jeremiah ...... 166 1.3 A Curse Against the Nazarenes ...... 166 1.4 The Nazarene Commentary on Isaiah ...... 166 1.4.1 Isaiah 8.11–15 ...... 167 1.4.2 Isaiah 8.19–22 ...... 167 1.4.3 Isaiah 9.1 ...... 168 1.4.4 Isaiah 11.1 ...... 169 1.4.5 Isaiah 29.17–21 ...... 169 1.4.6 Isaiah 31.6–9 ...... 170 1.4.7 Summation ...... 171 1.5 Other References by Jerome ...... 172 1.6 Summation ...... 173 2. Epiphanius and the Nazarenes ...... 174 2.1 Confused Certainty ...... 174 2.2 Analysis ...... 177 2.3 Summation ...... 179 3. The Nazarenes after Jerome ...... 179 4. On the Distinction between Nazarenes and ...... 181 5. Conclusion ...... 184 Table of Contents XV

Chapter 8: Ebionites ...... 188 1. What’s in a Name? ...... 188 2. Epiphanius at the Crossroads ...... 190 3. The Classic Patristic Tradition ...... 190 3.1 ...... 191 3.2 Irenaeus ...... 192 3.3 Tertullian ...... 193 3.4 Hippolytus ...... 194 3.5 Origen (185–253/254 ce) ...... 194 3.6 Pseudo-Tertullian (c. 250–300 ce) ...... 195 3.7 (c. 260–c. 340 ce) ...... 196 3.8 Summation ...... 197 4. Epiphanius and the Patristic Tradition ...... 198 5. Jewish Christian Sources Known to Epiphanius ...... 200 5.1 An Ebionite Gospel ...... 200 5.2 The Periodoi Petrou ...... 201 5.3 The Anabathmoi Jakabou ...... 202 5.4 Others Sources ...... 203 5.5 Epiphanius and the Jewish Christian Sources ...... 203 6. The Elkesaite Bridge ...... 203 7. A Summation of Epiphanius ...... 206 8. The Tradition after Epiphanius ...... 206 8.1 Anacephalaiosis ...... 207 8.2 Jerome and the Ebionites ...... 208 8.3 Others ...... 209 9. Conclusion ...... 209 9.1 Literary History ...... 210 9.2 Tradition History ...... 210 9.3 Historical Plausibility ...... 211

Chapter 9: Elkesaites, Cerinthians, Symmachians ...... 213 1. Elkesaites ...... 213 1.1 Hippolytus ...... 214 1.2 Origen and Eusebius ...... 215 1.3 Epiphanius ...... 215 1.4 The Kitâb al-Fihrist by al-Nadîm ...... 218 1.5 The Cologne Mani Codex ...... 219 1.6 Summation ...... 219 1.6.1 Literary History ...... 219 1.6.2 Tradition History ...... 220 1.6.3 Historical Plausibility ...... 220 XVI Table of Contents

2. Cerinthians ...... 222 2.1 Irenaeus ...... 222 2.2 Hippolytus ...... 223 2.3 Pseudo-Tertullian ...... 224 2.4 Eusebius ...... 224 2.5 Epiphanius ...... 225 2.6 Jerome ...... 226 2.7 Filaster ...... 227 2.8 Pseudo-Hieronymus ...... 227 2.9 Augustine ...... 228 2.10 Praedestinatus ...... 228 2.11 Theodoret of Cyr ...... 228 2.12 Timothy, Presbyter of Constantinople (c. 600 ce) ...... 229 2.13 Final Witnesses ...... 229 2.14 Summation ...... 230 3. Symmachians ...... 231 4. Conclusion ...... 233

Chapter 10: ...... 235 1. The Problem of Definition ...... 235 2. A Practical Phenomenon ...... 237 3. Conclusion ...... 241

Chapter 11: Retrospective: Patristic Representations of Jewish Christianity ...... 243 1. Literary Representation ...... 243 2. Traditions ...... 244 3. Historical Analysis ...... 245 3.1 General Plausibility ...... 245 3.2 Particular Plausibility ...... 248 4. Conclusion ...... 250 Table of Contents XVII

Part Four Other Evidence for Jewish Christianity

Chapter 12: Texts Ascribed to Jewish Christians ...... 254 1. Jewish Christian Gospels ...... 255 1.1 A Hebrew Gospel Tradition ...... 256 1.2 The Gospel of the Nazoreans ...... 257 1.3 The Gospel of the Ebionites ...... 262 1.4 The Gospel according to the Hebrews ...... 264 2. Pseudo-Clementine Sources ...... 267 3. Justin Martyr’s Sources ...... 274 4. The Apocalypse of Peter ...... 277 5. Other Jewish Christian Texts ...... 278 6. Conclusion ...... 279

Chapter 13: Rabbinic Evidence for Jewish Christianity ...... 284 1. Rabbinic Materials and the Figure of Jesus ...... 286 2. The Question of Minim ...... 288 3. The Birkhat ha-minim ...... 290 4. Other Signs of Engagement ...... 296 5. Conclusion ...... 298

Chapter 14: Archeological Evidence for Jewish Christianity ...... 301 1. Ossuaries ...... 302 2. Stelai ...... 305 3. The Nativity Cave ...... 307 4. The Golgotha Cave ...... 309 5. The Mount of Olives Church (Eleona) ...... 312 6. Various Caves and Tombs ...... 314 7. Zion ...... 317 8. Nazareth ...... 323 8.1 Literary Data ...... 323 8.2 Archeological Data ...... 325 9. Capernaum ...... 334 9.1 The House of Peter ...... 334 9.2 The Synagogue at Capernaum ...... 341 XVIII Table of Contents

10. The House of Leontis ...... 343 11. The Transjordan ...... 346 12. Conclusion ...... 349

Part Five The Significance of Jewish Christianity for Contemporary Scholarship

Chapter 15: The “Parting of the Ways” and the History of Primitive Christianity ...... 354 1. Patterns of Parting in New Testament Scholarship ...... 354 2. The Parting of the Ways as a Paradigm for Christian Identity ...... 359 2.1 Gerd Theissen ...... 360 2.2 Gerd Lüdemann ...... 361 3. The Parting of the Ways as the Triumph of Christianity ...... 363 4. Challenges to the Parting Models ...... 364 4.1 Philip Alexander ...... 364 4.2 The Princeton-Oxford Symposium ...... 366 4.3 Judith Lieu ...... 367 4.4 James Dunn: The Partings Revisited ...... 368 5. Fallacies Inherent in the Parting Models ...... 371 6. Conclusion ...... 372

Chapter 16: Conclusions ...... 375 1. Historical Markers for Jewish Christianity ...... 376 1.1 The Earliest Communities ...... 376 1.2 The Earliest Texts ...... 378 1.3 Patristic Representations of Jewish Christianity ...... 379 1.4 Writings Ascribed to Jewish Christians ...... 380 1.5 Rabbinic Materials ...... 380 1.6 Archeology ...... 380 2. Plausible Coherence and Continuities within Jewish Christianity ...... 381 2.1 A Galilean Matrix ...... 381 2.2 A Jerusalem Matrix ...... 382 2.3 Trajectories from Jerusalem or Palestine ...... 383 2.4 An Antiochene Matrix ...... 384 2.5 Trajectories from Antioch ...... 386 2.6 A Transjordan Matrix ...... 388 2.7 The Synagogues as a Matrix for Jewish Christianity ...... 389 Table of Contents XIX

3. Parting with “The Parting of the Ways” ...... 389 4. Considerations for a History of Primitive Christianity ...... 390

Epilogue ...... 393 List of Figures ...... 395 Bibliography ...... 399 Ancient Texts index ...... 411 Author index ...... 431 Subjects ...... 435 XX 1

Introduction

This investigation begins with the hypothesis that groups in antiquity who were characterized by Jewish ways of following Jesus may be vastly underrepresented, misrepresented, and undervalued in the ancient sources and in modern scholar- ship. If this is true, then the history of development of both Judaism and Christi- anity and of their interrelationship are subject to revision. The purpose of this study is to gather the evidence for Jewish Christianity and to reconsider its impact. The first challenge in this quest is the problem of no- menclature and definition. While other descriptions have been suggested in re- cent scholarship, I have retained the label Jewish Christianity in an effort to sustain clarity and to retain continuity with some three centuries of critical scholarship. Nonetheless, numerous difficulties are involved in both the nomen- clature and the content of this term. While these problems will be addressed in detail in chapter two, a preliminary label and definition may be offered here. The larger goal of this research is to recover, reconstruct, and analyze the evi- dence from antiquity of a phenomenon that may be described as Jewish ways of following Jesus. The term Jewish Christianity will be used throughout as a synthe- sizing construct of modern scholarship that points to various groups in antiquity that may be labeled, for the purpose of analysis, as examples of this phenomenon – as Jewish Christianities. This choice of labels is not intended to privilege either Jewish or Christian components of this identity. While scholarly labels can name, they cannot accurately define or describe such groups, nor can they ac- count for their diversity: only a critical collection, reconstruction, and analysis of the ancient evidence can do that. This reconstruction will take priority over the continuing debate about what to call such groups. Central to this definition of JewishChristianity is the understanding that both their Jewishness and their connection to Jesus are expressions of a continu- ing covenant between Israel and God. Jewish Christianity could then be under- stood as a scholarly label for persons and groups in antiquity whose historical profile suggests they both follow Jesus and maintain their Jewishness and that they do so as a continuation of God’s covenant with Israel. 2 Introduction

The research that follows will show the value of a description that remains open to a wider range of definitions of what it means to follow Jesus or to maintain Jew- ishness. This flexibility reflects the nature of the evidence as well as the growing scholarly awareness of the rich diversity of groups, ideas, and practices behind the emergence of Judaism and Christianity as distinct, definable religious tradi- tions. The gathering of the evidence for such groups is no easy task. First, the ma- terial is found in various formats and encompasses a wide temporal and geo- graphical range. This requires an interdisciplinary approach and a wide-angle perspective. Secondly, this material is found mostly in the works and worldview of its opponents. Thirdly, the modern treatment of this evidence has been domi- nated, for the most part, by two theological paradigms – that of canonical, ortho- dox Christianity and that of rabbinic Judaism. These problems are challenging, but not insurmountable. Because there was never a dominant chronicler for Jew- ish Christianity and because there survives little direct evidence for its identity, the search necessarily involves a critical hermeneutic of recovery and recon- struction. Such an approach provides the only reasonable hope for accurately lo- cating Jewish Christianity on the map of antiquity. Even so, the task remains difficult. The self-concept of Jewish Christianity is not available in any unmediated way to modern scholarship, and there is little prospect for a comprehensive synthesis of the evidence that survives. What is available to careful scholarship, however, is a set of historical markers for the pre- sence of Jewish Christianity. These markers typically take the form of re- presentations, echoes, after-effects, implications, and unexplained gaps.1 Such markers are elusive, but they provide valuable testimony to various manifesta- tions of an entity that may be described as Jewish Christianity. This study seeks to isolate and to collect these historical markers. At a mini- mum, such historical data can lay to rest any assertion that Jewish Christianity did not exist or that it did not matter. Such evidence may also challenge pre- sumptions of an early and decisive parting of the ways between Judaism and Christianity. This study may also add further evidence that official Judaism and official Christianity are late, sometimes awkward constructs. A more difficult challenge is the attempt to synthesize the data – to show possible connections and lines of influence that might lead to a fuller description of Jewish Christian- ity. This study will point in a preliminary way to a few clusters and tangents that appear to emerge from the various manifestations of Jewish Christianity. Even so, this limited effort at synthesis must be offered along a continuum of possibil- ity, plausibility, and probability. While it should become clear that Jewish Chris-

1 This is also the way science must speak of certain cosmic phenomena. The Big Bang theory of the origins of the universe depends upon observations of the after-effects of this event. In a similar way, Black Holes are known by the empty space they create on the cosmic map and by their gravitational effect on surrounding objects. Introduction 3 tianity existed, the attempt to describe fully how it existed is an ongoing chal- lenge. The impact of such findings, however, should not be underestimated. The final chapters of this work will suggest that these historical markers are not only im- portant for a critical reconstruction of Jewish Christianity; they must also be ac- counted for in any critical effort to describe the formation ofChristian identity and to trace the developmental history of primitive Christianity. The same is true of rabbinic Judaism. Plausible evidence for the enduring presence of a vital, variegated Jewish Christianity would require significant revisions to the reli- gious map of antiquity. 4 5

Part One Parameters for a Quest for Jewish Christianity

Despite the extensive literature over the history of primitive Christianity, there still is no investigation of the question of how one should evaluate the role of Jewish Christianity. It is true that in the last years the significance of the study of Judaism for the evaluation of the Christian religion has been noted many times. It has been emphasized that interest in historical knowledge about the beginnings of the Christian religion makes it necessary to carry out scholarly research on Judaism in the first centuries before and after Christ. The question about the essence of Christianity has led especially to discussion of the re- lationship between the Gospel and Judaism. However, a comprehensive investigation of Jewish Christianity has not been produced. This description, which notes several issues confronting contemporary New Tes- tament studies, was penned in 1908.1 A century later, this concern for Jewish Christianity is still relevant. Part One of this study considers the parameters for a quest for historical markers that suggest the presence, and perhaps the profile, of Jewish Christianity. The first chapter traces the history of critical research on Jewish Christianity from the early Deists through Ferdinand Christian Baur to the present. The second chapter confronts the problems involved in naming and defining Jewish Christianity. The third chapter considers various issues of hermeneutics and methodology, then projects a strategy for a historical quest for Jewish Christianity.

1 Gustav Hönnecke, in the Forward of Das Judenchristentum im ersten und zweiten Jahrhundert (Berlin: Trowitsch und Sohn, 1908). The translation is mine. 6

Chapter 1 A History of Research

Research on Jewish Christianity has most often emerged as a corollary of other investigations. Concerns for the theological unity of church doctrine, New Tes- tament studies, patristic studies, reconstructions of church history, the study of Judaism, and even archeology have raised and engaged, sometimes inadvert- ently, the question of Jewish Christianity.

1. Beginnings

Clear use of the terms Jewish Christian and Jewish Christianity is found no- where in antiquity, but emerges only in the wake of the Enlightenment and English Deism.1 The use of these descriptions was a part of the Deists’ search for a natural, reasonable religion. The Diests’ focus on the origins and essence of Christianity carried explicit theological judgements that they used to criti- cize the church of their own age. In 1718, John Toland argued that Jewish Christians such as the Nazarenes and the Ebionites were the earliest form of Christianity, and he contrasted these with a Pauline Gentile Christianity2. By 1740 Thomas Morgan contrasted JewishChristian s or Christian Jews as a ne- gative parallel to the natural religion sponsored by Paul. St. Paul then, it seems, preach’d another and quite different Gospel from what was preach’d by Peter and the other Apostles … . And this was the vast difference between the Jewish and Gentile Christians at first, and in the Apostolic Age itself. That one believ’d in and receiv’d Christ, as the Hope and Salvation of Israel only, or as the Restorer of their Kingdom; and the other as the Hope and Salvation of all men alike … . This was a very wide Difference indeed; and at this Rate the Jewish and Gentile Christianity, or Peter’s religion and Paul’s, were as opposite and inconsistent as Light and Darkness, Truth and Falsehood … .3

1 See the discussion in Werner Kümmel, The New Testament: The History of the Investi- gation of Its Problems, trans. S. McLean Gilmore and Howard C. Kee (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1972 [German original, 1970], pp. 51–61.; Jörg Frey, “Fragmente judenchristlicher Evangelien,” in Antike Christliche Apokryphen I: Evangelien, ed. Christoph Markschies and Jens Schröter (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, forthcoming). 2 John Toland, Nazarenus: or Jewish, Gentile and Mahometan Christianity (London, 1718). 3 Cited in Kümmel, History of the Investigation, p. 56. Chapter 1: A History of Research 7

The deistic concerns made their way into Germany, where the interest in Jewish Christianity flourished. Johann Semmler, writing from 1771–75, initiated a type of critical analysis when he sought to divide the books of the New Testament ac- cording to their origin in Jewish Christian or Gentile Christian communities. It can be demonstrated from the oldest of the extant writings that there was for long a party of Christians that belonged to the Diocese of Palestine and that consequently ac- cepted the writings of those apostles who actually carried on their ministry among the circumcized; that Paul did not direct his letters to these Christians, who belonged to the diocese of James and Peter; and that they, therefore, also did not have the Pauline letters among their authoritative writings. On the other hand, the party of Christians that be- longed to Paul’s diocese was quite aware that James, Peter, and Jude had not sent it any letters; and it, consequently, was also not able to exhibit and introduce those writings among its congregations. Both parties are Christians and have separated themselves from the Jews; but the way of thinking of the Palestinian Jewish-Christians is still too simply and too much accustomed to all sorts of local ideas and insignificant concepts, for other Christians who do not dwell among these natives to be able to accept this kind of teaching for themselves as though it were for their advantage. On the basis of the most ancient residue of a history, the aversion of the supporters of Peter for the followers of Paul is undeniable. If one were to deny the very real distinctiveness of Jewish teaching or of teaching ori- ented to Jewish-Christians, he would deliberately have to speak, as it were, against the very clear light of the sun. …4 In a similar way, Johann Michaelis in 1771 distinguished between Christians of Jewish and Gentile origin.5 By 1776 Gerhard Lessing would connect the idea of a primitive Nazarene gospel to the comments of Papias and Jerome in an attempt to reconstruct the foundational stages of the Christian religion.6 While most re- tained the negative contrast found in much of English Deism, a few began to see in Jewish Christianity a primal, positive image. Ferdinand Christian Baur would posit the contrast between such early groups as a key component in the synthesis from which Christianity emerged.

2. Ferdinand Christian Baur

The history of critical research on JewishChristianity takes on a distinct coher- ence and impetus with Ferdinand Christian Baur (1792–1860). Baur was the son of an Evangelical pastor in Württemberg and studied at the University of Tübin- gen.7 His tenure as professor of New Testament exegesis at Tübingen, which be-

4 Cited in Kümmel, History of the Investigation, pp. 67–68. 5 See Johann Michaelis, Einleitung in die göttlichen Schriften des alten und neuen Bundes I–II, 4th edition (Göttingen, 1788). 6 Cited in Frey, “Judenchristlicher Evangelien.” 7 For a short biographical description of Baur and his impact, see Joseph Tyson, Luke, 8 Part 1: Parameters for a Quest for Jewish Christianity gan in 1826 and lasted until his death in 1860, was marked by controversy. A part of this conflict was occasioned by the work of his students, especially David Fried rich Strauss and his Life of Jesus (1835). Also numbered among Baur’s stu- dents were and Matthias Schneckenburger, whose work on Acts influenced Baur’s position. Baur’s ideas and those of his followers constituted the Tübingen School and played a key role in the development of critical scholarship in theological studies.8 Baur’s foundational work is significant for its impact. For the next 150 years almost all research in Jewish Christianity operated under the shadow of Baur. Some scholars confirmed his paradigm and many sought to counter it, but Baur’s work provided the backdrop for almost all debate.9 Baur’s foundational work is also significant for its extent. His focus on conflict and compromise in the development of the early church influenced numerous fields of study. In addition to initiating the critical study of JewishChristianity , Baur shaped the agenda for New Testament studies; this was most true for Lukan literature, especially Acts. Baur’s work pushed others to the critical study of Juda- ism, studies of Paul and his opposition, studies in patristic materials, and studies in the history of development of primitive Christianity. Modern sociological studies of the New Testament bear an indirect influence from Baur. Baur’s position is grounded in exegesis of New Testament texts.10 His quest began in an 1831 essay that explored Paul’s delineation of competing parties in the struggle at Corinth.11 Paul names four groups, reported to him by Chloe’s people, who offer competing claims: “I am from Paul, I am from , I am

Judaism, and the Scholars: Critical Approaches to Luke-Acts (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1999), pp. 12–15. 8 Helpful summaries may be found, among other places, in Tyson, Luke, Judaism, and the Scholars, pp. 12–29; Gerd Lüdemann, Opposition to Paul in Jewish Christianity, trans. Eugene Boring (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1989 [1st German edition 1983]), pp. 1–7; A. F. J. Klijn, “The Study of Jewish Christianity,” NTS 20 (1974), 419–20; Georg Strecker, Das Juden christentum in den Pseudoklementinen (Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, 1958), pp. 1–4; Gustav Hönnecke, Das Judenchristentum, pp. 1–3. 9 See, for example, the evaulation of Gustav Hönnecke, Das Judenchristentum, p. 1: “The person who for the first time within the Prostestant theology of Germany made the attempt to present the primitive in a coherent framework, to provide a correct historical evaluation of the dynamic power and principle, the conflict and developmental stages, to understand the history of Christianity as the result of the organic colaboration of manifold factors was Ferdinand Christian Baur.” The translation is mine. 10 While the Hegelian pattern of conflict ending in synthesis is obvious, the criticism that Baur’s construction is only a philosophical schema is false. While Baur modeled the framework in dialectical terms, the basic components are drawn from textual and historical analysis. Lüdemann, Opposition, pp. 6–7, offers helpful summary and analysis on this cri- tique. 11 “Die Christuspartei in der korinthischen Gemeinde, der Gegensetz des petrinischen und paulinischen Christenthums im der ältesten Kirche, der Apostel Paulus in Rom,” Tü- binger Zeitschrift für Theologie (1831), 61–206. Chapter 1: A History of Research 9 from Cephas, I am from Christ” (1 Cor. 1.12). For Baur this conflict provides the paradigm for the development of primitive Christianity. Baur identifies the Paul and Apollos group as one movement and the Peter and Christ group as an oppos- ing party. Gathered around the apostleship of Paul and Peter, Baur frames these two movements in history of religions terminology, with important sociological implications. Peter is among the original apostles and represents the Jewish roots of Christianity. Paul, who claims to be an apostle through revelation, is a con- verted Jew who wishes to take the gospel to the Gentiles, but without the imposi- tion of circumcison and most other requirements of Jewish Law. For Baur, this conflict is the ground from which early Christianity emerged. Baur first believed that Paul, Peter, and even James shared similar grounding in Judaism and in their openness to some form of Gentile mission. The oppo- nents were not these founders, but false apostles similar to the people described in Acts 15.5 as Pharisaic believers in Jesus who insisted on circumcision and obe- dience to the Law. Since Paul had not known Jesus, the authenticity of his apostle- ship was questioned, and Baur finds anti-Paulinism behind various New Testa- ment materials: Corinthians, Galatians, and Philippians. The Pastoral letters were understood by Baur as Paul’s attempt at mediation.12 As early as 183113 Baur found a similar line of Jewish Christian opposition in the Ebionites described in the second century works of Irenaeus and Epiphanius and in hints of anti- Paulinism in the homilies attributed to Clement.14 At this point Baur believed the Ebionites emerged post 70 ce and were related to the Essenes. This interesting connection carried difficulties, however, since the opposition cited by Baur was separated by a minimum of 120 years. Baur bridged this gap with his assertion, in his 1831 essay, that the church at Rome and its stories of Peter provided evidence of a strong Jewish Christian presence. For Baur, this es- tablished the line of continuity running from the false apostles who opposed Paul in the time of his writing to the founding of the Roman church to the con- flicts of the second century.15

12 Gerd Lüdemann, Opposition, pp. 1–7, notes that Baur at this point accepted Acts as a historical account and did not question the authorship of the Pastoral epistles. Baur would develop a more critical assessement in the following years. 13 F. C. Baur, De Ebionitarum origine et doctrina, ab Essenis repetenda. Schulprogramm (Tübingen, 1831). Cited in Lüdemann, Opposition, p. 4. 14 Lüdemann, Opposition, pp. 2–3, notes that it was August Neander who alerted Baur to the Pseudo-Clementine Homilies and to the parallelism in the opposition of in this material. Baur’s decription of the Ebionites draws heavily upon the work of Karl Credner. 15 Lüdemann, Opposition, p. 3, notes further evidence cited by Baur: Seutonius’ report of the expulsion of Christians (Jewish?) from Rome, which may document the presence of Ro- man Christians already in the 40s, as well as figures such as Priscilla and Aquila, who may have become Christians at Rome.