I know this is somewhat off-topic, but I have a belief about the early Jewish Christians, a firm conviction, I should say.
I believe that, as Christians, the offspring of these Jewish Christians married other Christians, whether of Jewish or Gentile origin, and were not at all concerned about preserving an independent and totally Jewish existence. Thus the Jewish Christian population melted into the general Christian population of Europe and the Near East.
I have seen evidence of this happening in modern times. My wife's own grandmother, Rachel, was a Jewish convert to Orthodoxy. She married (obviously) my wife's grandfather, a Lithuanian (non-Jewish) lawyer.
We have Russian friends who are Orthodox but originally of Jewish ethnic origin. They think of themselves as Christians - they are, after all - and do not hold themselves aloof from other Christians. Our friends have relatives in Israel who are still Jews.
There have been many outstanding Orthodox scholars and clerics who were originally Jewish (one thinks of Fr. Aleksandr Men, for example). They were never concerned about preserving some sort of separate existence as the elite of the kingdom of God.
The Jews who rejected Jesus, OTOH, remained exclusive (only in terms of culture and religion: they made many Gentile converts) and thus preserved a separate Jewish ethnicity.
I believe that, as Christians, the offspring of these Jewish Christians married other Christians, whether of Jewish or Gentile origin, and were not at all concerned about preserving an independent and totally Jewish existence. Thus the Jewish Christian population melted into the general Christian population of Europe and the Near East.
I have seen evidence of this happening in modern times. My wife's own grandmother, Rachel, was a Jewish convert to Orthodoxy. She married (obviously) my wife's grandfather, a Lithuanian (non-Jewish) lawyer.
We have Russian friends who are Orthodox but originally of Jewish ethnic origin. They think of themselves as Christians - they are, after all - and do not hold themselves aloof from other Christians. Our friends have relatives in Israel who are still Jews.
There have been many outstanding Orthodox scholars and clerics who were originally Jewish (one thinks of Fr. Aleksandr Men, for example). They were never concerned about preserving some sort of separate existence as the elite of the kingdom of God.
The Jews who rejected Jesus, OTOH, remained exclusive (only in terms of culture and religion: they made many Gentile converts) and thus preserved a separate Jewish ethnicity.
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