Why didn't the Jews accept Christ? The right answer to the wrong question

Ben Christenson has Orthodox icons at home in Virginia. Photo: nypost

Half of the right answer is asking the question correctly. Question “Why didn’t the Jews accept Christ?” incorrect.

But the correct question is: “Why did all the Jews who accepted Christianity before the 4th century AD remain Jews, and after the 4th century to this day all the Jews who accepted (and accept) Christianity in the second or third generation assimilated among other peoples?” This question is indeed correct.

The answer is as follows: until the 4th century, Jewish Christians were not only allowed, but even ordered to observe the Old Testament (circumcision, kashrut, etc.), which for Jewish Christians remained eternal (the covenant was not canceled). But after the 4th century, when the Roman Empire adopted Christianity, the Romans announced that it was not the Romans who crucified Christ, but the Jews. Since Roman thinking was legal in nature, the Romans could not accept the faith of someone whom they themselves had crucified.

Church anti-Semitism arose precisely after the 4th century, when the church became part of the state apparatus of the Roman Empire. The Roman state, like Pontius Pilate, “washed one's hands”accusing the Jews not only of the crucifixion of Christ, but also of “they didn't accept him”. That is why there should not have been Jewish Christians in the Christian Roman Empire (Byzantium).

After the 4th century, Jewish Christians were forbidden to confess the Eternal Testament for them, and it began to be considered Old, including for Jews. This led and is leading to the complete assimilation of Jewish Christians. Initially, in the Acts of the Apostles, it was clearly stated that for Jewish Christians both the New and Eternal Testaments remain binding (the Old Testament is only for pagan Christians).

The decision of the first Apostolic Council looked like this: “All His works have been known to God from eternity. Therefore, I decide not to make it difficult for those who turn to God from among the pagans…” (Acts 15:18-19). “Don't make it difficult” specifically concerned the Old Testament (circumcision, etc.), thus the church opened up to the world and ceased to be a Jewish sect, where the adoption of Christianity meant conversion to Judaism (giyur).

Essentially the approach was: dogma (creed) uniformity, in rituals (including covenants) manifold. But the key phrase here is “converts from the Gentiles”. After all, the Covenant of Moses for Jewish Christians, who were the majority at the beginning of church history, was not canceled by anyone (for them it remained Eternal).

However, after the 4th century, when the majority of Christians began to occur “of the Gentiles”in the bosom of the Roman Empire (Byzantium) they had already begun “to make it difficult for those applying” to Christianity from Jews. The Jews were faced with a stark choice: either they renounce their Covenant with God, which they had before Christ, or they renounce Christ. The opportunity to be both a Jew (to keep the Eternal Covenant) and a Christian (as was the case with the first apostles) no longer remained.

This decision, dictated by the Roman state apparatus, and not by church dogma (since no one can cancel the Apostolic Council), led to the fact that the Jews who converted to Christianity were completely assimilated over time. Thus, the only Jews who retained their identity were those who remained outside the church – within the framework of Talmudic Judaism.

These historical processes are the key to understanding the split between Christianity and Judaism, and why discussions about “non-acceptance of Christ by Jews” – This is an incorrectly posed question, which has been answered differently by Jewish rabbis and Christian priests for 1400 years. That doesn't change the fact that the question is wrong.

Source

Source link