The Early Church and Judaism

The early church developed its identity against the backdrop of Judaism and was intricately linked to the Judaism of its day. Jesus called 12 disciples, which corresponds to the 12 tribes of Israel (Acts 1:15–26; Twelftree, People of the Spirit, 55). According to Dunn, Jesus’ forgiving sins (Mark 2:1–12) is no less “Jewish” than what was found at Qumran (Dunn, Partings of the Ways, 73–75; Gärtner, Temple and the Community).

Rather than rejecting the main concepts of Judaism (temple, Torah, and monotheism), the early church reworked them. The earliest believers in Jerusalem continued to visit the temple regularly, even after Jesus’ resurrection (Luke 24:53; Acts 2:46; 3:3; 5:21, 42; 21:26). However, the early Christians reworked the temple concept around Christ. The temple of God no longer was to be seen as a physical building but was located in Christ and the church, His “body” (e.g., Acts 7; Dunn, Partings of the Ways, 92–95, 100–08). That Peter, James, and John could be called “pillars” of the church (Gal 2:9) may indicate that the church saw itself as the eschatological temple, with named pillars like Jachin and Boaz in Solomon’s temple (1 Kgs 7:15–22; 2 Chr 3:15–17; Dunn, Partings of the Ways, 80).

Many of the early Jewish Christians still sought to keep the Torah (Acts 21:20). In Acts 15, the Jerusalem council—while deeming circumcision unnecessary for inclusion in the people of God—seemed to draw upon the Law of Moses in requiring Gentile believers to abstain from various foods and activities (Lev 17–18; compare Bauckham, “James and the Jerusalem Church,” 459–62). Paul frequently visited the synagogues and may have taken the Nazirite vow (Acts 18:4–8, 18; 19:8–9; Twelftree, People of the Spirit, 54–56). Dunn contends that Paul did not reject the law but only the boundary-marking function of the law, and that while he stood outside the pale of Pharisaical Judaism, he still had the viewpoint of and was an Israelite (Dunn, Partings of the Ways, 192–97). Kim argues it is more likely Paul saw a problem with the law itself when he met the crucified Christ, signifying that a new era in salvation history had arrived (see Rom 7:7–12; Gal 3:23–4:7; Kim, Paul and the New Perspective, 22–45; Meyer, End of the Law).

The early church also continued to affirm monotheism, even while holding that Jesus was Lord. Jesus Himself affirmed the Shema as the greatest commandment (Mark 12:29–30; Deut 6:4–5). Paul, John, and James attest to this central tenet of Judaism in their writings (John 17:3; Rom 3:30; 1 Cor 8:4; Gal 3:20; Eph 4:6; 1 Tim 2:5; Jas 2:19). In his trials, Paul sought to demonstrate that the early church faithfully worshiped the God of Israel (Acts 24:14–15; Twelftree, People of the Spirit, 60). Nevertheless, the early church reworked its confession of monotheism to include Jesus in the identity of God (1 Cor 8:4–6; Bauckham, Jesus and the God of Israel, 127–39, 210–18). Philippians 2 and Colossians 1 indicate that Christians worshiped Jesus as if He was God (Hurtado, Lord Jesus Christ, 121–23, 134–53; contra Dunn, Partings of the Ways, 266–70; see also Pliny the Younger, Letters 10.96.7). Romans 9:5 may be a doxology to Jesus as God (Metzger, “The Punctuation of Rom. 9:5,” 95–112; contra Dunn, Romans 9–16, 529).