Why did Jewish Christianity die out in the first few centuries of the church?

I do not know, but would venture to guess that Nero's mass persecution of Messianics/Christians may have been a factor.

Vanellus said:

This question was prompted by reading the first part (up to Constantine) of The Cambridge History of Christianity. In a chapter on Jewish Christianity, the author defines this as Christians who observed Jewish rites such as circumcision or food laws. He gives the following possible reasons for the demise of Jewish Christianity:

1. The two abortive Jewish rebellions against the Romans
2. The consequential rise in power of the rabbis
3. The message that Gentile converts to Christianity didn't have to observe Jewish laws

The author notes that the refuter of heresy, Irenaeus, spends far more time refuting Gnosticism than "Judaizers" that figure so much in the New Testament polemics. This is evidence for the early demise of Jewish Christianity.

The author then argues this became a tragedy for the Jews (and Christians?) leading to the well known "bloody history of ecclesiastical anti-Semitism".

There are Jewish Christians today but sadly they are few in number, especially in Israel.

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Is this true for Jewish Christians in Israel (or the region at least). At what point did they cease to exist in Jerusalem? I kind of think they persisted for awhile.

Vanellus said:

Why do you think Nero's persecution would be suffered more by Jewish Christians (as defined above) than other Christians, Sabertooth?

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Because of their physical proximity to where Jesus taught/lived. Jerusalem/Israel was the epicenter of Christianity.

OP, I personally believe it was because they were so heavily persecuted by both pagans and their own people.

Christians of Hebrew blood are some of the most persecuted people on earth.



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God didn't want Jewish influence in the new covenant church.

Jude1:3Contendforthefaith said:

OP, I personally believe it was because they were so heavily persecuted by both pagans and their own people.

Christians of Hebrew blood are some of the most persecuted people on earth. .

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I think Christians of "Hebrew blood" are the least persecuted on earth. It is Christians of other ethnicities that are suffering persecution.

Israel / Everywhere :




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Vanellus said:

This question was prompted by reading the first part (up to Constantine) of The Cambridge History of Christianity. In a chapter on Jewish Christianity, the author defines this as Christians who observed Jewish rites such as circumcision or food laws. He gives the following possible reasons for the demise of Jewish Christianity:

1. The two abortive Jewish rebellions against the Romans
2. The consequential rise in power of the rabbis
3. The message that Gentile converts to Christianity didn't have to observe Jewish laws

The author notes that the refuter of heresy, Irenaeus, spends far more time refuting Gnosticism than "Judaizers" that figure so much in the New Testament polemics. This is evidence for the early demise of Jewish Christianity.

The author then argues this became a tragedy for the Jews (and Christians?) leading to the well known "bloody history of ecclesiastical anti-Semitism".

There are Jewish Christians today but sadly they are few in number, especially in Israel.

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I think many Jews did become Christians and yet due to hostility against them, and the prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem, they went to Syria. They're basically still there despite Muslim attempts to eradicate them. And they're kind of invisible to Americans.

chevyontheriver said:

I think many Jews did become Christians and yet due to hostility against them, and the prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem, they went to Syria. They're basically still there despite Muslim attempts to eradicate them. And they're kind of invisible to Americans.

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That's what I was thinking of. Yes, the Christians in Syria are descendants of those early Jewish Christians as far as I know.

OldWiseGuy said:

God didn't want Jewish influence in the new covenant church.

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If true, Jesus wouldn't have been born a Jew.

Vanellus said:

From an earlier chapter on the Roman Empire:

(Nero) "looked for another scapegoat [for the fire in Rome] and found the Roman Christians. This led to the first official persecution of Christians, which still was confined to Rome"

and as we know from Paul's letter to the Romans, there were both Jewish and non-Jewish Christians in Rome.

In the OP the reasons were given included the revolt in AD 70 that led to the destruction of the Temple and the Bar Kochba revolt - neither of which involved Nero.

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I think # 2 in the op was a big reason. The new Sanhedrin established at Yevneh by Rome put both Jew and Gentile in a bad spot. Rome gave an exemption from Idol worship to the jews. Jews being kicked out of the synagogues were in danger as an illegal religion, losing this protection as a sect of Judaism (and it's Gentile God fearers). The Establishing of authority of this Sanhedrin by Rome was really not much different than Constantine giving authority to Church heads and their council decisions.

Jesus is my Superhero said:

If true, Jesus wouldn't have been born a Jew.

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Jesus didn't then and hasn't now any credentials or office in the Aaronic/Levitical priesthood. There is little or no Jewish religious influence in the new covenant church.

Jude1:3Contendforthefaith said:

OP, I personally believe it was because they were so heavily persecuted by both pagans and their own people.

Christians of Hebrew blood are some of the most persecuted people on earth.
.

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Having known a Jewish convert or two to Orthodoxy I would not be surprised.

Vanellus said:

The idea that the some of the Christians in Syria could be descended from the original Jewish Christians is interesting - do they still obey Jewish laws?
Even so they are few in number compared to the worldwide Christian church.

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Why would they need to? Those Laws were in preparation for the Messiah and Christ is the Messiah. Why would we need to follow 613 Laws preparing for the first coming of the Messiah when the Messiah's first coming already happened?

This is not really necessarily accurate to say they 'died out' early in Christian history. Epiphanius states the sect of Nazerenes descended from early Jewish converts in Pella, and located them in Syria. In the exact area, Humbert of Mourmouthiers noted a sect of sabbath-keepers descended from early Christians, in the 11th. Finally we find references to a group called Pasagians in Lombardy up till the 13th, starting after the Muslim surge in Syria during the Crusades. Some historians have connected the Pasagians with this Syrian group, fleeing Muslim aggression into northern Italy, especially seeing the close ties of Genoa with the Commune of Antioch.

You should remember that not only Christian Jews, but Greek-speaking Jews, the Hellenistai, also disappeared. This had been a thriving community, especially in Egypt, and there were still some left into the 4th century or so. I think the ongoing division of Second Temple Judaism; into its descendants of Rabbinical and Karaite Judaism, and Christianity; forced sides. The Greek-speakers, with their Greek philosophy and theories on binitarianism and so, naturally fell to the Christian side. The Second Temple period had deep divisions between the Aramaic and Greek parts of Judaea, who often supported rival High Priests of the Hasmonaeans. Once it ended up that the majority of the Greek-speakers became Christian, it was only natural that the Greek minority in the other camp would come to largely conform or jump ship. Likewise, the Jewish Law keeping Christians were obviously a minority in Christianity, and couldn't fellowship with other Jews as the divisions became more clear-cut, so their assimilation seems inevitable.

E.C. said:

Having known a Jewish convert or two to Orthodoxy I would not be surprised.


Why would they need to? Those Laws were in preparation for the Messiah and Christ is the Messiah. Why would we need to follow 613 Laws preparing for the first coming of the Messiah when the Messiah's first coming already happened?

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Maybe to escape persecution? Christianity became illegal, but keeping Jewish law would have identified as a sect of Judaism, and the exemption from Idols (emperor worship) given Jews maintained. Just like in scripture, the sect of the Pharisees at the Jerusalem council did not mind Christ being preached as long as Judaism was maintained to all.

We should also bear in mind that the Romans became deeply anti-semitic, due to the First Revolt, the Trajanic Revolts, and Bar Kohba's revolt. The Jews were seen as a treacherous fifth column working for Parthia, more often than not. Not only that, they were expected to pay the Fiscus Iudaicus, an additional tax instituted punitively after the First revolt and never repealed due to repeated Jewish revolts thereafter. So a Christian, who had no theological reason to keep themselves Jewish, would benefit financially and socially from abandoning Jewish practice. This is part of the reason for the increasing tendency to differentiate between the two in the early centuries AD.