The Real Jesus
How a Jewish reformer lost his Jewish identity
Another tenet of apocalyptic Judaism was the belief that righteous gentiles would turn to the true God as the kingdom approached. And indeed, as the movement spread through synagogue communities on the coast and throughout the Jewish Diaspora, it drew more and more gentiles. In response, leaders of the Christian movement in Jerusalem decided that these gentiles-in-Christ did not have to convert to Judaism as long as they abandoned all forms of idolatry.
Rebels. Soon, though, there arose a clear and powerful reason for Christians to distance themselves from Judaism: the Jewish revolt of 66-74 and the Roman leveling of the Second Temple in the year 70. All four Gospels were probably written between 70 and 110, in the dramatic afterglow of the Temple's destruction. Since many of the intended readers of the Gospels were gentiles, Vermes argues, they shared the strong anti-Jewish sentiment that followed the unpopular rebellion against the Romans. It would have been unwise and counterproductive for the Gospel writers to claim that Rome was responsible for killing a Jewish redeemer. So it's no surprise, Vermes contends, that the Gospel writers--especially Matthew--blame the Jews for Jesus's death.
Even so, it would be wrong to think that the close ties between Christians and Jews were instantly or fully severed. For centuries, many Christians from Asia Minor to Africa continued to attend synagogue services and observe Jewish high holidays. "Fourth-century gentile Christians," writes Fredriksen, "despite the anti-Jewish ideology of their own bishops, kept Saturdays as their day of rest, accepted gifts of matzo from Jewish friends at Passover, indeed still celebrated Easter according to when Jews kept Passover."
But however culturally intertwined Christianity and Judaism remained, politics increasingly divided them. In 312, Constantine, one of the four Caesars at the time, reputedly had a vision that led to his conversion. "Up to that point, the Christians were much more persecuted than the Jews," says Donald Akenson, a professor of history at Queen's University in Canada. For Christians, Akenson adds, Constantine's decision "was like winning the lottery." Fighting under the insignia of the cross, Constantine defeated his last rival to become the emperor of Rome in 324 and, having unified the empire politically, he moved swiftly to do the same ecclesiastically. He convened the Council of Nicaea, where at least 250 bishops met to formulate the official articles of faith, including Jesus's place in the Holy Trinity, in the first Nicene Creed. (Those bishops who disagreed with the creed were promptly exiled.) Under his regime, Sunday became the Christian Sabbath, Christians were told not to confer with the rabbis on the date of Easter, and any Jew who obstructed the conversion of another to Christianity was put to death. "As the Roman Empire goes Christian, Jesus is increasingly seen as the divine incarnation of the second person of the Trinity and less as a Jew from Nazareth," says Amy-Jill Levine, a professor at Vanderbilt Divinity School. "When his Judaism is noted, it is only to say that he was `rejected by his own' or that he came `to demolish the old system from within.' "
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