Early Christianity and its Break with the Jewish Synagogue – History Archives

Christianity emerged in the turbulent womb of early first-century Judaism, a religion locked in a clash with Hellenism, represented at the time by Rome. In the 1930s, the Jewish scene was full of apocalyptic prophets who capitalized on the deep “national” uneasiness and religious fanaticism of certain sectors. In this context, a Baptist and nationalist movement grew up in Galilee around John the Baptist, from whom a rural and very spiritualist prophet called Jesus would emerge. Apparently, the group planned (or so the authorities understood) to carry out a coup in Jerusalem, but the company failed and some, including Jesus, were executed. However, his followers were not disbanded or discouraged, but rather saw the “meaning” of his preaching as the immediate arrival of the Messiah and his supposed resurrection. This small nucleus was spreading the message, although with very diverse variations and interpretations, almost as many as communities.

The situation of Judaism in these early stages of the Roman Empire was by no means precarious, it was characterized by its extensive privileges, aggressive proselytism and its tendency to form sects. The Jews represented 10% of the population and were concentrated in the East where, being 25% and having a close relationship with kingdoms close to the fearsome Parthians, they represented a potential focus of rebellion in Palestine, Alexandria and certain cities. Despite this, they initially had a privileged and unique situation, since they were fortunate to support Julius Caesar in his Egyptian adventure, which ensured administrative autonomy and extensive legal privileges for their communities. These advantages, which only fully affected the Jewish race registered in the synagogue, consisted of: avoiding official worship, enjoying the right to assemble for religious and civil matters, having their own administration and justice system, keeping their own cemeteries, the right to collect “Temple money” by sending it to Jerusalem, the right not to perform official worship, and exemption from military service for its Sabbath observance and food restrictions.

But this situation of friendship and good relationship with the Empire was deteriorating for various political and social reasons, progressively resenting the privileges. From the political point of view: Roman expansionism with its civic religion, the constant Jewish revolts in Palestine in collusion with the Parthians and the problems between the Jewish sects themselves, especially with the growth of Christianity. For its part, society and many intellectuals (Cicero, Flavius ​​Josephus, Seneca) ceased to see the Jewish people as an ally due to their privileges and singularities, growing mistrust that would end in open anti-Semitism.

In this rejection and fear, proselytism was very important, the ability of Judaism to spread among the Hellenistic (Gentile) communities, something that already happened before Christianity. The Gentiles could fully access as proselytes, fully integrating through baptism and circumcision, or as metuentes, being in the surroundings of the synagogue fulfilling the Law but in a lax way, for example without being circumcised. As can be easily understood, there were many more pushy, attracted by Jewish dogmatics but repelled by its practical implications. In the synagogue they were gladly accepted, since they were a great source of socio-economic support and future proselytes. The success of proselytism was spectacular (also outside the Empire, in the East), especially among women, since men were more reluctant to comply with such a strict rule and, of course, circumcision. The local authorities were alarmed and even unleashed some occasional persecution, since sometimes some Hellenistic cities actually complied with Jewish customs in a general way. The diaspora, together with universalism, broke the conception of national religion, some Jews like Philo of Alexandria came to openly break with the exclusivity of Israel, presenting their beliefs directly to the Hellenistic educated public.

The last characteristic would be the tendency to produce groups within Judaism itself, sects that only had Scripture and the Law in common. They were the result of the different combination of latent influences within Judaism: Hellenistic, legalistic, apocalyptic, nationalistic, messianic, Gnosticists, ascetics… One of these groups/sects was Christianity, in which messianic and ascetic influences predominated and which, as it developed, would once again reproduce the tendency of Judaism to fragment, generating countless groups to this day.

Christianity was the culmination of universalist Jewish proselytism at the hands of Paul of Tarsus, an ancient Orthodox Jew who, influenced by the very Hellenized community of Antioch, saw in the New Covenant of Jesus Christ the overcoming of the Jewish Law and the realization of the Yahweh’s universalist promise. This translated into accepting gentiles in the synagogue without circumcision, which caused the outright rejection of the orthodox-rigorist Jews, including many Christians, especially the hard core of Jerusalem led by James, the “brother of Jesus” . For a few years there was open conflict between Paul and the apostles, eventually coming to an agreement between Paul, who will deal with the uncircumcised Gentiles, and Peter, who will deal with the circumcised Jews. This agreement will marginalize the most conservative sectors and is evidenced in the letters of Saint Paul.

The great beneficiaries of this Pauline reform were the very numerous metuentes, who as uncircumcised Gentiles could finally enter the synagogues and joined Christianity en masse. This would mark an unprecedented expansion of Christianity through the urban synagogues of Asia Minor, Greece, Macedonia and Rome, while the most conservative redoubts of Judeo-Christians were exterminated or dispersed due to the revolts in Palestine, their great fiefdom. The pre-eminence of the Hellenists and the destruction of the conservatives will make the former the owners of Christianity and will ensure the victory of the Pauline vision, adapting the Jewish sect to the Hellenistic society in its forms and rejecting the Law in favor of the Faith.

At this point, the difference between Christianity and Judaism was already evident, but Christians were reluctant to leave the umbrella provided by the synagogue. A very understandable position, since not only were they originally from there, but when they left they automatically lost all the privileges that the Jews enjoyed. But of course, as the decades passed, the differences ended up being insurmountable: the divinization of Jesus Christ, Trinitarian speculations, the growing rejection of the Law, the introduction of the Gospels in the Bible, the emergence of a hierarchy and its own rites and the overwhelming majority and influence of the Hellenistic Gentiles, who will de-Judaize the movement with a clear Stoic moral influence.

For all these reasons, it can be affirmed that the expansion of the Judeo-Christian sect was possible thanks to the political and cultural unity that the Roman Empire represented and the network of synagogues established by the Jewish diaspora in the urban centers, forming an ideal system for the rapid transmission of ideas. On the other hand, the Christian monotheistic ideal could be attractive in an imperial system (principality), which over the years was deified flirting with the Eastern imperial idea, and in some areas of pagan culture and philosophy, especially the Neoplatonists and Stoics, serving as a link philosophers like Plotinus and Origen.

During the first two centuries there were no widespread persecutions, except for some localized ones such as the one carried out in Rome by Emperor Nero, since Christians were under the umbrella of Jewish privileges. But as soon as they left the synagogues, their problems with the Empire and the persecutions began, especially in the second half of the third century (Decio and Valerian) and at the beginning of the fourth (Diocletian). However, Christianity was more than consolidated after two centuries in which it had assimilated much and had not allowed itself to be assimilated, so it withstood the harsh blows of persecution, even coming out of it by adding the powerful myth of the martyrs to their tradition. In fact, the biggest problem of Christianity in these early times did not come from the Roman state and its repression, but from its divisions and internal conflicts, a custom inherited from its Jewish ancestor and enhanced by the lack of a clear dogma. In these first centuries the dogma will be shaped, at the same time that an ecclesial hierarchy headed by the bishops arose and a new sacred canon was created, the New Testament. The internal disputes centered around the condition of Jesus and rigorism, colliding with more lax positions (Rome) with more rigorous positions (Africa), the first type harshly affected the East and the second the West in a less turbulent way.

Finally, in the fourth century the Church managed to integrate into the Roman State from the policy of Constantine, with the Milan Agreements (312 – 313). Constantine’s religious policy made the emperor actively intervene in the internal affairs of the Church through councils, meetings of bishops, highlighting the Council of Arles (314), convened against Donatism that emerged in Africa, and the Council of Nicaea (325) , which managed to definitively defeat Donatism but not Arianism, which continued to resist, even reaching the Germanic kingdoms (Hispania Visigoth). The following emperors followed this trend, except for the failed attempt at involution by Julian the Apostate, reinforcing the power of the Church until the culmination of the process with Theodosius I, who, under the powerful shadow of Ambrose of Milan, in the Edict of Thessaloniki ( 380) raised Nicene Christianity as the official state religion. For a civic religion like the Roman one, this meant giving it a death blow. Little by little, Christianity went from persecuted to persecutor, both from dying paganism and, above all, from the Christian heretics themselves who did not accept Nicene orthodoxy. This policy marked a before and after, supporting the Empire in the Church, which will form a state within the state that continues to this day.

Throughout these three centuries, Christianity evolved to form a religion independent of Judaism, which it considered superseded, and managed to become the official religion of the Empire. It will go through four different phases: a first eschatological and apocalyptic in the 1930s, where it considers the end of the world to be imminent (Passion); a second charismatic, in which the leaders are capable of working miracles and the believers are in contact with the divinity; a third sacramental, outside of Judaism and in which the…