An Introduction to the New Testament and the Origins of Christianity

The letters that we have examined in the last five chapters all reflect a conflict between Proto-Orthodoxy and some other perspective within the church. At this point we turn to another central concern of Proto-Orthodox literature: the relation of Christianity to Judaism.

First-century Judaism gave birth to several different movements: not only Rabbinic Judaism and Judaic Christianity, but also the Gentile Christian church. This Gentile movement inherited the Jewish scriptures, but since it did not follow the Jewish Law, it ultimately could not consider itself a form of Judaism. How did a Jewish mother give birth to this Gentile child? And how would this child now define its relationship to its mother?

We have already seen Paul and Luke grappling with these questions. Paul gave more than one answer. Sometimes he emphasized the discontinuity between the two groups, speaking of two distinct covenants: God had made an old covenant of slavery with the Jewish people, but a new covenant of freedom with Christians (Gal 4:24; 1 Cor 11:25; 2 Cor 3:6, 14). At other times he emphasized the continuity, picturing both groups as part of a single tree: both Jews and Gentiles were branches of the one tree, and even though some Jewish branches had been broken off to make room for the Gentiles, they would someday be grafted back in (Rom 11:13–24). Luke thought primarily in terms of succession: God had offered the gospel to the Jews, but they rejected it, so it went to the Gentiles.