Jewish Believers in JESUS THE EARLY C E N T U R I ES Jewish Believers in J E S US O S K AR S K A R S A U NE and R E I D AR Η V A L V I Κ, Editors HENDRICKSON P U B L I S H E RS Jewish Believers in Jesus: The Early Centuries © 2007 by Hendrickson Publishers, Inc. P. O. Box 3473 Peabody, Massachusetts 01961-3473 ISBN 978-1-56563-763-4 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, record­ ing, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Printed in the United States of America First Printing — July 2007 Cover Photo: iStockPhoto.com. Used with permission. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Jewish believers in Jesus : the early centuries / [edited by] Oskar Skarsaune and Reidar Hvalvik. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and indexes. ISBN-13: 978-1-56563-763-4 (alk. paper) 1. Jewish Christians—History—Early church, ca. 30-600. I. Skarsaune, Oskar, 1946- II. Hvalvik, Reidar. BR195.J8J49 2006 270.1089'924—dc22 2006021311 Contents Preface xi Contributors xv Abbreviations xix Part One: Introduction 1 Jewish Believers in Jesus in Antiquity—Problems of Definition, Method, and Sources 3 Oskar Skarsaune, Oslo, Norway 1. The Question of Definition 3 2. Questions of Method and Sources 16 2 The Definition of the Terms Jewish Christian and Jewish Christianity in the History of Research 22 James Carleton Paget, Cambridge, England 1. The Origin of the Term "Jewish Christian" 23 2. Various Definitions since Baur 30 3. Concluding Observations 48 Part Two: Jewish Believers in Jesus in The New Testament and Related Material 3 James and the Jerusalem Community 55 Richard Bauckham, St. Andrews, Scotland 1. The Community's Self-Understanding 55 2. The Community's Life and Practice 60 3. Leadership 66 4. Mission and Gentile Believers 70 5. Opposition from the Jewish Authorities in Jerusalem (up to the Death of James) 75 6. After James 77 ν JEWISH BELIEVERS IN JESUS 7. Prosopography of the Jerusalem Church 81 8. Literature 93 4 Paul as a Jewish Believer—According to His Letters 96 Donald A. Hagner, Pasadena, California, United States 1. The Changing Understanding of Paul 97 2. Studies in Continuity and Discontinuity 101 3. Old and New in Paul 118 5 Paul as a Jewish Believer—According to the Book of Acts 121 Reidar Hvalvik, Oslo, Norway 1. Paul in Acts—The Problem 121 2. Paul's Continued Relation to the Synagogue 123 3. The Circumcision of Timothy 135 4. Paul Assuming Vows 139 5. Paul Participating in Jewish Festivals 143 6. Paul as a Pharisee and "Orthodox" Jew 145 7. Conclusion 151 6 Named Jewish Believers Connected with the Pauline Mission 154 Reidar Hvalvik, Oslo, Norway 1. Prosopography of Jewish Believers Connected with Paul and His Mission 155 2. Other Possible Jewish Believers Attested in the Pauline Letters and Acts 170 3. Conclusion 177 7 Jewish Believers and Jewish Influence in the Roman Church until the Early Second Century 179 Reidar Hvalvik, Oslo, Norway 1. The Origin of the Church in Rome 180 2. The Jewish Community in Rome 184 3. Paul's Letter to the Romans 190 4. The Roman Churches until Nero's Persecution 196 5. Traces of Jewish Influence in the Roman Church after Paul and Peter 203 6. Epilogue 215 8 Jewish Believers in Asia Minor according to the Book of Revelation and the Gospel of John 217 Reter Hirschberg, Bayreuth, Germany 1. The Revelation of John 218 vi Contents 2. The Gospel of John 230 3. Revelation and the Gospel of John in Comparison 237 Part Three: The Literary Heritage of Jewish Believers 9 The Jewish Christian Gospel Tradition 241 Craig A. Evans, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada 1. Introduction 241 2. Matthew: A New Testament Jewish Gospel 242 3. The Jewish Gospels outside the New Testament 245 4. Fragments of Jewish Gospels 258 5. Results 276 10 Jewish Christian Editing of the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha 278 Torleif Elgvin, Oslo, Norway 1. Introduction 278 2. Lives of the Prophets 281 3. Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs 286 4. Ascension of Isaiah 292 5. Fourth Baruch (Paraleipomena Jeremiou) 295 6. Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Ezra 299 7. Apocalypse of Abraham 29:3-13 302 8. Sibylline Oracles 303 9. Tentative Conclusions 304 11 Jewish Christian Elements in the Pseudo-Clementine Writings 305 Graham Stanton, Cambridge, England 1. An Overview of the Extant Writings 307 2. Towards a Tradition History 309 3. The Letter of Peter (EpPet) and the Contestatio (C) 313 4. Anti-Paul Traditions in the Homilies 315 5. An Apologia for Jewish Believers in Jesus [Recognitions 1, parts of 27-71] 317 6. Conclusions 323 12 Fragments of Jewish Christian Literature Quoted in Some Greek and Latin Fathers 325 Oskar Skarsaune, Oslo, Norway 1. Introduction 325 2. Traces of Early Jewish Christian Eschatology (1): Papias 326 3. Traces of Early Jewish Christian Eschatology (2): The "Elders" in Irenaeus 333 vii JEWISH BELIEVERS IN JESUS 4. Jewish Christian Traditions about James and the Early Community: Hegesippus 338 5. Traditions from the Relatives of Jesus: Julius Sextus Africanus 348 6. Jewish Christian Traditions in Origen 361 7. Nazoraean Fragments in Jerome 373 13 Jewish Christian Sources Used by Justin Martyr and Some Other Greek and Latin Fathers 379 Oskar Skarsaune, Oslo, Norway 1. Introduction 379 2. Jewish Christian Sources in Justin 380 3. Material from the "Kerygma Source" 381 4. Material from the Other Source behind the Dialogue 398 5. Conclusions to Chapters 12 and 13 414 Part Four: Jewish Christian Groups according to the Greek and Latin Fathers 14 TheEbionites 419 Oskar Skarsaune, Oslo, Norway 1. Preliminary Considerations 419 2. The Sources 423 3. The Term Ebionim 424 4. Ebionitic Doctrines and Practices according to the Fathers 427 5. Conclusion 462 15 The Nazoraeans 463 Wolfram Kinzig, Bonn, Germany 1. The Sources 463 2. Some Remarks on Terminology 468 3. Main Features of the Group 471 4. The Origins of the Nazoraeans 478 5. The Condemnation of the Nosrim in the Birkat Haminim 482 6. Conclusion 486 16 Cerinthus, Elxai, and Other Alleged Jewish Christian Teachers or Groups 488 Gunnar afHällström, Joensuu, Finland, and Oskar Skarsaune, Oslo, Norway 1. Cerinthus 488 2. Elxai, Elkesaites, and Sampseans 496 3. Conclusion 501 viii Contents Part Five: Other Literary and Archaeological Evidence for Jewish Believers 17 Evidence for Jewish Believers in Greek and Latin Patristic Literature 505 Oskar Skarsaune, Oslo, Norway 1. Ignatius (ca. HOCE.?) 505 2. Justin Martyr (150-160 C.E.) 510 3. Celsus 514 4. Polycrates of Ephesus (ca. 195 C.E.) on the Quartodecimans 516 5. Epiphanius on Joseph of Tiberias 528 6. Jerome (331-420) 541 7. Gennadius on Isaac the Jew 549 8. Socrates 551 9. Sozomen 557 10. Severus of Minorca 559 18 Evidence for Jewish Believers in the Syriac Fathers 568 Sten Hidal, Lund, Sweden 1. The Emergence of Christianity in Syria 568 2. The Sources 570 3. Jewish Believers in Jesus in Syria? 578 19 Evidence for Jewish Believers in Christian-Jewish Dialogues through the Sixth Century (excluding Justin) 581 Lawrence Lahey, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States 1. Survey of the Dialogues 585 2. The Role of Contra Iudaeos Literature in Christian-Jewish Interaction 620 3. Conclusion 631 4. Appendix 637 20 Evidence for Jewish Believers in "Church Orders" and Liturgical Texts 640 Anders Ekenberg, Uppsala, Sweden 1. The Sources 640 2. Didache 643 3. The Odes of Solomon and The Apostolic Tradition 646 4. Didascalia Apostolorum 649 5. The Apostolic Constitutions 653 6. Conclusion 657 21 Jewish Believers in Early Rabbinic Literature (2d to 5th Centuries) 659 Philip S. Alexander, Manchester, England 1. Problems of Method 659 2. Jewish Believers in Tannaitic Sources 665 ix