Thank you John.John2 wrote: ↑Sat Jul 29, 2017 2:51 pm iskander asked:
I've been thinking about what ended Jewish Christianity and I think the process started in the late second century CE when Irenaeus branded them as heretics. Irenaeus is the first Church father to mention Jewish Christians, and he does so in a negative light. Prior to this it was possible for a Jewish Christian like Hegesippus to say:Did the failure to return end Jewish Christianity?
I think a Jewish Christian could say this in the mid second century CE (if perhaps with a touch of wishful thinking) given that the most popular gospel (and the one placed first in the canon) was Matthew, which is considered to be Jewish Christian, and I reckon that the letters of James and Jude and 1 Peter (which I view as being Jewish Christian as well) could also have been in use by this time (or in any event they were ultimately included in the canon), along with Revelation (which also seems Jewish Christian to me).And the church of Corinth continued in the true faith until Primus was bishop in Corinth. I conversed with them on my way to Rome, and abode with the Corinthians many days, during which we were mutually refreshed in the true doctrine. And when I had come to Rome I remained there until Anicetus.
In this light, a considerable chunk of the NT is Jewish Christian, and I reckon that the James vs. Paul (i.e., works vs. faith) issue wasn't settled (at least for Orthodox Christians) until after Acts was written (which I view as being as late as c. 140 CE).
So by the late second century CE, Irenaeus (who, if I recall correctly, is the first to mention Acts and to promote a four gospel canon) was saying in Against Heresies 1.26.2:
So this was the beginning of the end of Jewish Christianity, in my view (in tandem with being labeled as heretics in Rabbinic Judaism). What fate could be more fitting for people who followed someone who said, "Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."Those who are called Ebionites agree that the world was made by God; but their opinions with respect to the Lord are similar to those of Cerinthus and Carpocrates. They use the Gospel according to Matthew only, and repudiate the Apostle Paul, maintaining that he was an apostate from the law. As to the prophetical writings, they endeavour to expound them in a somewhat singular manner: they practise circumcision, persevere in the observance of those customs which are enjoined by the law, and are so Judaic in their style of life, that they even adore Jerusalem as if it were the house of God.
James D. G. Dunn in his book The partings of the ways page 312 , writes that after the first revolt ( 66-70 ) it could be said that all was still to play for. But after the second revolt ( 132-135 ) the separation of the main bodies of Christianity and Judaism was clear-cut and final.
What is the distinguishing characteristic that all and every Christian must have to qualify as one belonging to the religion of Christianity? Answer , baptism .
Did circumcision play the same function in Judaism?