JESUS, PAUL, AND THE ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY

Chronology:

• c. 200 BCE Jewish scriptures translated into Greek
• c. 28 CE Jesus baptized by John, begins mission.
• c. 30 Jesus executed in Jerusalem; some followers see Risen Christ
• c. 33 Paul joins movement as apostle to Gentiles
• c. 50 Paul writes letters extant in NT collection (1 Thessalonians, Philemon, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Philippians, Galatians, Romans)
• 66-73 Jewish War against Rome; Jerusalem, Temple destroyed in 70
• >70 Gospel of Mark
• 80-100 Josephus’ histories; Gospels of Matthew, Luke, and John composed; Acts of the Apostles.

THEMES in JEWISH APOCALYPTIC ESCHATOLOGY
(a pastiche from classical prophets, DSS, various non-canonical writings from c. 200 BCE - 200 CE, also various NT writing)

• Travails; persecution of the righteous
• Celestial and terrestrial catastrophes (earthquakes, plagues, falling stars)
• Final battle between Good and Evil, led by God, or a commanding angel, or an anointed king.
• Destruction of the wicked (foreign kings, apostate Jews, esp. those whose views differ from the writer’s)
• Resurrection of dead, vindication of the righteous. In-gathering of exiles (Lost Tribes)
• Return to the Land, or gathering at rebuilt or renewed Temple
• Gentiles bury their idols, turn to God of Israel
• Peace, universal acknowledgment of God of Israel

GENTILE INTEREST IN JUDAISM

Godfearers (voluntary Judaizers). Literary evidence: phoboumenoi, sebomenoi; epigraphic, theosebeis or theon sebeis; Lat. metuentes; Heb. yirei shamayim

1. Acts of the Apostles (late 1st c.) routinely presents Paul encountering Gentiles in the Diaspora synagogues he visits.
2. Evidence from Josephus is ambiguous: he could be speaking about converts to Judaism, or about Gentile sympathizers. C. Apionem 2.39 (282) on the spread of Jewish observances in Gentile populations; BJ 2.20,2, devotion of Damascene women to Jewish customs. “Judaizers” (ioudaizontas) can be found in every city in Syria (BJ 2.18,2); Greeks attend synagogue services in Antioch, and after their fashion become part of the community, BJ 7.3,3; sebomenoi contribute to the Temple, AJ 14.7,2.
3. Ignatius of Antioch (late 1st/early 2nd c. Gentile Christian): “It is foolish to talk of Jesus Christi and to Judaize,” (Magnesians 10:3); “If anyone should undertake to interpret Judaism to you, do not listen to him. For it is better to hear of Christianity from a circumcised man than to hear of Judaism from someone uncircumcised” (Phila 6:1).
4. Such voluntary sympathizers were not required to make an exclusive commitment to the God of Israel. Thus, in Acts 10, Cornelius, characterized as phoboumenos ton theon, would be understood to take part in cultic acts normal for those in the military. Tertullian, ad Nationes 1.13,3-4 some Gentiles keep the Sabbath and Passover, and yet continue to worship at pagan altars too. Commodian (3rd c.? 5th c.?) Instructiones 1.24,11-14 mocks those who “live between both ways,” who rush from synagogue to traditional altar, “medius Iudaeus” (37.1). He adds that Jews are wrong to tolerate such behavior. (Dicant illi tibi si iussum est deos adorare, 37.10). Cyril of Alexandria (5th c.) de adoratione in spiritu et veritate 3.92,3 speaks of men in Phonecia and Palestine who, calling themselves theosebeis, consistently follow neither Jewish nor Greek religious custom.
5. Epigraphical evidence: The Jewish inscription from Aphrodisias (3rd c.) records the names of 54 theosobeis (“godfearers”), nine of whom are listed as members of the town council. As such, they would be responsible for the performance of public cultic acts incumbent upon the holders of such office.

ONE DIASPORA JEW’S OPINION OF GENTILES AND GENTILE CULTURE:

“Claiming to be wise, [the Gentiles] became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man or birds or animals or reptiles. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator. God gave them up to a base mind and improper conduct. They were filled with all manner of wiskedness, evil, covetousness, malice; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity. They are gossips, slanders, haters of God; insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents. Foolish. Faithless. Heartless. Ruthless.”

PAUL’S INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO BE A GENTILE-IN-CHRIST

Paul’s audience: Gentiles who formerly actively worshiped traditional gods.“Neither the sexually immoral, nor the idol-worshipers, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor robbers will inherit the Kingdom of God. And such were some of you” (1 Cor 6:9-10). “Formerly, when you did not know God, you were in bondage to beings that by nature are no gods,” (Gal 4:8). “You turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God,” (1 Thes 1:9).

Paul’s requirements: His Gentiles must abstain from sins, especially idol worship and its perennial accompaniment, porneia. 1 Thes 4:3-7 “For this is the will of God for your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual sin (porneia); that each one of you knows how to take a wife for himself in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles [ta ethna; Heb. Goyim] who do not know God.” 1 Cor 5:1-11 “It is actually reported that there is sexual sin [porneia] among you, of a kind not found even among the Gentiles[ethna]!. . . v. 11 “Do not be associated with anyone who bears the name of brother [i.e., who is a Christian] if he is guilty of porneia, or greed, or who worships idols, or speaks maliciously, or if he is drunk or a robber — do not even eat with someone like this!” 10: an interesting review of Exodus, wherein Paul says that the pillar of cloud, the sea, the manna, and the drink from the rock were Christ. But God was not pleased with that generation because “they sat down to eat and rose up to dance” and indulged in porneia, so God killed 23,000 in a single day. V. 14 “Therefore, beloved, shun the worship of idols!” vv. 18-22 As Israel, through its sacrifices at the altar [in Jerusalem] are partners in the altar, so those who sacrifice to demons are partners with demons. “Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?”

What everyone is waiting for: “You turned to God from idols, to serve a living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come,” (1 Thess 1:9-10); Both the living and the dead will rise to join Christ when he descends from heaven “with a cry of command and the archangel’s call and the sound of the trumpet of God,” (4:13-17). “The unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God,” (1 Cor 6:9); “The appointed time has grown very short; the form of this world is passing away,” (7:29,31); a long description of what happens at the End: when Christ returns, those “who belong to him” are raised from the dead. “Then comes the End, when he delivers the Kingdom to God the Father, after destroying every rule and authority and power. The last enemy to be destroyed is Death,” (15:20-28). “You know how late the hour is, . . . For salvation is nearer to us than when we first believed. The night is far gone, the day is at hand,” (Rom 13:11-12).