Persecution of Christians in the New Testament

, see also [http://jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=489&letter=C&search=Christianity#1631 Jewish Encyclopedia: Christianity in its relation to Judaism: Early Christianity a Jewish Sect] ] The New Testament and other Christian texts depict the Early Christians as being persecuted by the Judean establishment, occasionally through the Roman authorities, for their heterodox beliefs. Since historical records are limited and no single authority dictated Judean belief and practice, it is difficult to ascertain whether this alleged persecution was local in nature or unified across the residents of Judea.

This account of persecution is part of a general theme of a polemic against the Jews that starts with the Pharisee rejection of Jesus's ministry and continues on with his trial before the High Priest, his crucifixion, and the Pharisees' refusal to accept him as the Jewish Messiah. This theme plays an important part in a number of Christian doctrines ranging from the release of Christians from obeying the many strictures of the Old Testament Law (see Christian view of the Law) to the commandment to preach to all nations (meaning to Gentiles as well as Jews; see the Great Commission).

Although Christian doctrine to this day attests to the veracity of these accounts of persecution as documented in the New Testament and the writings of the Church Fathers, modern scholars have questioned the historical accuracy of these accounts [For example, see [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01117a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: Acts of the Apostles: OBJECTIONS AGAINST THE AUTHENTICITY] : "Nevertheless this well-proved truth has been contradicted. Baur, Schwanbeck, De Wette, Davidson, Mayerhoff, Schleiermacher, Bleek, Krenkel, and others have opposed the authenticity of the Acts. An objection is drawn from the discrepancy between Acts ix, 19-28 and Gal., i, 17, 19. In the Epistle to the Galatians, i, 17, 18, St. Paul declares that, immediately after his conversion, he went away into Arabia, and again returned to Damascus. "Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas." In Acts no mention is made of St. Paul's journey into Arabia; and the journey to Jerusalem is placed immediately after the notice of Paul's preaching in the synagogues. Hilgenfeld, Wendt, Weizäcker, Weiss, and others allege here a contradiction between the writer of the Acts and St. Paul." Note that the Catholic Encyclopedia considers the authenticity of Acts to be a "well-proved truth" but nonetheless notes that other scholars disagree. See also [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09420a.htm#VI Catholic Encyclopedia: Gospel of Saint Luke: Saint Luke's Accuracy] : "Very few writers have ever had their accuracy put to such a severe test as St. Luke, on account of the wide field covered by his writings, and the consequent liability (humanly speaking) of making mistakes; and on account of the fierce attacks to which he has been subjected..."] (see also ). Historians consider this anti-Jewish polemic in the New Testament and Patristic writings to be the basis of the antisemitism associated with Christianity at different periods in its history.

Depictions in the New Testament

The New Testament describes the earliest followers of Jesus suffering persecution at the hands of the Pharisees. However, the narrative of this persecution is not given equal weight in all four Gospels.

Gospel of Mark

According to the New Testament, Jesus' crucifixion was authorized by Roman authorities at the insistence of leading Jews from the Sanhedrin. [Mark 15:1-15]

Paul H. Jones writes:, for interpretations of this passage, see Transubstantiation). In , . 12:42 says many did believe, but they kept it private, for fear the Pharisees would exclude them from the Synagogue. After the crucifixion, ).

:This passage (and others like it, such as Acts 2:36; 3:14-15; 4:10) not only expresses anti-Jewish rhetoric but also indicates that for this author '"the Jews' continue to persecute the apostles and Paul, the synagogue remains a place of danger and rejection, and the future of the church is among the Gentiles.

According to Acts, persecution of Jesus' followers began after a trip by Peter and John to the Jerusalem Temple and Peter's speech. Peter is recorded as saying ). The apostles, after having escaped, were then taken before the Sanhedrin again, but this time Gamaliel (a Pharisee well known from Rabbinic literature and leader of the Pharisaic Sanhedrin) convinced the Sanhedrin of Acts to free them ( NRSV)

Stephen is remembered in Christianity as the first martyr (derived from the Greek word "martyros" which means "witness", see also Martyrology). Stephen's execution was the precursor to widespread persecution of Christians (Acts 8:1-3), resulting in the imprisonment of many of the new religion's adherents, and the scattering of many of them to throughout the Jewish Diaspora. )."]

Encouraged by his successes in Jerusalem, Paul attempted to carry the persecution into Damascus, to which many Christians had fled, but instead was converted to Christianity after reportedly being struck blind by a bright light and hearing the voice of Jesus on the Road to Damascus (). While in Damascus, he joined with the Christians, after being cured and baptised by Ananias of Damascus. Acts 9:23-25 says that "the Jews" in Damascus then "conspired" to kill Paul. They were waiting for him at the town gates, but he evaded them by being lowered over the city wall in a basket, thus escaping to Jerusalem. Another attempt on his life was made, this time by "the Grecians" (KJV), perhaps referring to a group of Hellenistic Jews ( claims "King Herod" was later struck down by an Angel of the Lord.

Several passages in Acts describe St. Paul's missions to Asia Minor and the encounters he had with Diaspora Jews and with local gentile populations. In Acts chapters 13 through 15, the Jews from Antioch and Iconium go so far as to follow Paul to other cities and to incite the crowds there to violence against him. Paul had already been stoned and left for dead once ().

In Corinth, Paul encountered a hostile Jewish crowd who "united" and took him before the Roman tribunal ( NRSV):

A few verses later, the Jews from Asia Minor (modern Turkey) seized Paul, shouting (), but the crowd again became hostile: "Up to this point they listened to him, but then they shouted, ‘Away with such a fellow from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live.’" (, NRSV)

Galatians

In his epistle to the Galatians, Paul offers indicates several times that the Jews have persecuted Christians by the Jews beginning with his admission of his own persecution of the Christians prior to his conversion. ( NIV):

1st Thessalonians

In Paul's first epistle to the Thessalonians, he claims that Christian churches have been persecuted by the Jews (bibleverse|1|Thessalonians|2:14-16|NIV NIV):

Assessments of the Depictions in the New Testament

Historicity of the account

Jeremy Cohen writes on the historicity of the New Testament stories:

"Indeed, they contain "gospel truth." Nevertheless, despite their immeasurable value for historians, the Gospels are not books of history, certainly not in the modern sense, and we cannot fairly expect them to offer an accurate, factual report of historical events. Three factors underlie this presupposition. First, the evangelists, the writers of the Gospels, did not have historical reporting as their goal. ... Second, not only may we not classify the Gospels as historical writing, but we must also recognize that intellectuals in the classical world did not place the same high value on the accurate recording of historical events that we generally do today. ... Third, though they tell of the life of Jesus, which ended around the year 30 C.E., the texts of the Gospels belong to a very different historical context. " [Jeremy Cohen (2007): "Christ Killers: The Jews and the Passion from the Bible to the Big Screen". Oxford University Press. pp.15-18 ISBN 0195178416]

Some liberal theologians argue that NT account is ahistorical because there is no corroborating evidence outside the New Testament or the writings of the church fathers. According to this perspective, the persecutions either never happened or were exaggerated by either the New Testament authors as part of a polemic against the Jews. This polemical exaggeration was intensified by later writers such as the Church Fathers. For example, it is argued that the incidents in the New Testament represent isolated, local incidents and do not represent an institutional policy. Later events after the Bar Kokhba rebellion may have led to a re-interpretation of the isolated events into a perception of institutional policy.

Hare and Pearson question whether any such persecutions of Christians took place prior to 70 A.D. However, the assertion that there was perhaps no persecution of Christians by Jews prior to 70 is widely disputed. Indeed, it is countered by the evidence of Paul himself, who admits in his own letters that he was once a persecutor of Christian churches. As Schlueter notes, quoting Sanders: "The best-attested fact (for such persecution) is that Paul himself carried out such persecution." See also New Perspective on Paul.

According to James Everett Seaver,

Much of Christian hatred toward the Jews was based on the popular misconception... that the Jews had been the active persecutors of Christians for many centuries. Juster, Parkes, and Williams have ably shown the fallacy of this idea concerning Jewish persecution of Christians during the first three centuries. It remains to discover whether there is any basis for the claim, often voiced in the writings of the church fathers, that the Jews were actively persecuting Christians during the crucial fourth century, thus inviting Christian hatred and retaliation.

The... examination of the sources for fourth century Jewish history will show that the universal, tenacious, and malicious Jewish hatred of Christianity referred to by the church fathers and countless others has no existence in historical fact. The generalizations of patristic writers in support of the accusation have been wrongly interpreted from the fourth century to the present day. That individual Jews hated and reviled the Christians there can be no doubt, but there is no evidence that the Jews as a class hated and persecuted the Christians as a class during the early years of the fourth century. [cite journal |url=http://vlib.iue.it/carrie/texts/carrie_books/seaver/text.html |title=The Persecution of the Jews in the Roman Empire (300-428) |first=James Everett |last=Seaver |publisher=University of Kansas Publications |year=1952 |journal=Humanistic Studies |number=No. 30]

Basis in sectarian conflict

One perspective holds that the earliest examples of "Jewish persecution of Christians" are examples of "Jewish persecution of other Jews," that is, sectarian conflict. Prior to the destruction of the Temple, Judaism was extremely heterodox; after the destruction of the Temple in 70, early Christians and Pharisees (the Second Temple group that would become Rabbinic Judaism) vied for influence among Jews.

According to Douglas R. A. Hare, "it has long been recognized that in the Gospel according to St. Matthew the conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees has been intensified and it has often been suggested that this intensification reflects the continued struggle between the Church and the synagogue." Hare asserts that prior to the first revolt, Jewish persecution of Christians was more frequently directed at Christian missionaries to synagogues in the Diaspora than against the church in Jerusalem. Organized opposition to Christianity appeared during the first revolt (when nationalist sentiment was high) and after it (when Parisaic dominance of the Synagogue was established). Few Christians were martyred prior to the Bar Kokhba revolt. Most of those who were killed were victims of mob violence rather than official action. None were executed for purely religious reasons although individual missionaries were banned, detained and flogged for breach of the peace. According to Hare, the numerous New Testament references to persecution reflect early Christian expectations of persecution based perhaps on the pre-Christian "conviction that the Jews had always persecuted the messengers of God".." [ [http://www.cambridge.org/us/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=052102045X The Theme of Jewish Persecution of Christians in the Gospel According to St Matthew] by Douglas R. A. Hare. Series: Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series (No. 6) ISBN 052102045X p. 61]

Some scholars assert that Jewish persecution of the followers of Jesus started "only" when Christianity started spreading among Gentiles and when the Jews realized the separation between themselves and Christians. [ G. George Fox, p.83 ] Davies, p.74 ] Paul E. Davies states that the violent persecuting zeal displayed by some Jews sharpened the criticisms of the Jews in the Gospels as they were written.

G. George Fox argues that the hostile utterances of rabbis were towards those Christians who did not support Bar Kokhba and was due to anti-Jewish feelings which were caused by Gentile converts to Christianity. This however is controversial as only certain segments of the community ever accepted Bar Kokhba as the Messiah, while many Rabbis scorned such a proposition. Fox also argues that the persecution accusations and stories of early Christians matrydom are exaggerated by the Church. G. George Fox, p.84 ] He asserts that it is unhistorical to assume that the matrydom of Stephan was representative of a widespread persecution of Christians because events of this nature weren't uncommon in that time. In support of this assertion, Fox argues that thousands of Jews were killed by Romans and it wasn't something new or novel. Thus the persecution hardly started before 70 A.D. and when it was started by Bar Kochba, it wasn't not on purely theological grounds but also because of the disloyalty of Christians in the rebellion against the Romans.

Claudia Setzer draws a distinction between Jews and Christians (both Jewish and Gentile) as to when the perception of Christianity as a Jewish sect was replaced by an understanding of Christianity as a new and separate religion. Setzer asserts that, "Jews did not see Christians as clearly separate from their own community until at least the middle of the second century." By contrast, "almost from the outset Christians have a consciousness of themselves as distinct from other Jews." Thus, acts of Jewish persecution of Christians fall within the boundaries of synagogue discipline and were so perceived by Jews acting and thinking as the established community. The Christians, on the other hand, being a new movement, worked out their identity in contrast and opposition to the Jewish community and saw themselves as persecuted rather than "disciplined." [cite book|author=Claudia Setzer |title=Jewish Responses to Early Christians: History and Polemics, 30-150 C.E. |publisher=Fortress |location=Minneapolis |year=1994 ]

Politics as a motivation for sectarian conflict

According to Paula Fredriksen, in "From Jesus to Christ", the reason was that Jewish Christians were preaching the imminent return of the King of the Jews and the establishment of his kingdom. To Roman ears, such talk was seditious. Romans gave Jews at that time limited self-rule (see Iudaea Province); the main obligations of Jewish leaders were to collect taxes for Rome, and to maintain civil order. Thus, Jewish leaders would have to suppress any seditious talk. In cases where Jewish leaders did not suppress seditious talk, they were often sent to Rome for trial and execution, or in the cases of Herod Archelaus and Herod Antipas merely deposed and exiled to Gaul. [ [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07289c.htm Catholic Encyclopedia: Herod] : "He [Archelaus] soon aroused opposition by marrying his brother's wife -- a crime like that of Antipas later -- and having been accused of cruelty by his subjects, "not able to bear his barbarous and tyrannical usage of them", he was banished to Vienne, Gaul, A. D. 7 in the tenth year of his government (Jos., "Ant.", XVII, ix, xiii, 1, 2)."; "Contrary to his better judgment he [Antipas] went, and soon learned that Agrippa by messengers had accused him before Caligula of conspiracy against the Romans. The emperor banished him to Lyons, Gaul (France), A. D. 39, and Herodias accompanied him (Jos., "Ant.", XVIII, vii, 2). Josephus (Bel. Jud., II, ix, 6) says: "So Herod died in Spain whither his wife had followed him". The year of his death is not known. To reconcile the two statements of Josephus about the place of exile and death, see Smith, "Dict. of the Bible", s. v. "Herodias" (note)."]

Theology as a motivation for sectarian conflict

Some scholars suggest that early Christians were involved in a rivalry with Pharisees for leadership of the Jewish people after the destruction of the Temple. Since the latter Pharisees became the founders of Rabbinic Judaism, some have suggested that later Christian authors recast Jesus's antagonists as Pharisees.

Relationship to antisemitism

The standard Christian interpretation of the New Testament account casts the alleged persecution by the Jews as an institutional rejection of Christianity. The polemic and conflict arising out of this sectarian conflict colored Christian attitudes, policies and behavior towards Jews for the next 2000 years. Thus, some scholars assert that antisemitism is rooted in the original conflict between Jews and Christians during the formative years of early Christianity. Today, although most Christian churches still consider the New Testament accounts to be factual, they reject the notion of the events providing any legitimate justification for antisemitism.

Many contemporary Christians disavow the importance of the New Testament passages that are deemed to be "anti-Jewish". According to Lillian Freudmann, "Nearly every book in the New Testament expresses slander and contempt for Jews. Most Christians have maintained that the New Testament is not anti-Jewish but that antisemitism arose as a result of the misunderstanding of it. Examination of the contents of the New Testament does not support this claim." [cite book|author=Lillian C. Freudmann |title=Antisemitism in the New Testament |publisher=University Press of America |year=1994 |isbn=0819192953] John Dominic Crossan also addresses this issue in his 1995 "Who Killed Jesus? Exposing the Roots of Anti-Semitism in the Gospel Story of the Death of Jesus".

Other Christians assert the importance of these passages, but deny they are anti-Semitic. Don Carson writes, "It is helpful to remember that, whatever Christendom has done, the NT writers, most if not all of whom were Jews, can scarcely or reasonably be labeled 'anti-Semitic.' Matthew and the other evangelists certainly blame some Jews for Jesus' death. They also blame some Romans. But the reasons for the blame are historical, theological, spiritual--not racial." [Expositor's Bible Commentary, Commentary on Matthew 27:57-68, by Don Carson]

References

ources

*W.H.C. Frend, 1965. "Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church"
*Lillian C. Freudmann. Antisemitism in the New Testament, University Press of America (1994); ISBN 0819192953
*Douglas R. A. Hare. The Theme of Jewish Persecution of Christians in the Gospel According to St Matthew] . Series: Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series (No. 6) ISBN 052102045X
*James Everett Seaver. The Persecution of the Jews in the Roman Empire (300-428)] . UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLICATIONS, 1952. Humanistic Studies, No. 30
*Claudia Setzer. Jewish Responses to Early Christians: History and Polemics, 30-150 C.E. Fortress. Minneapolis. 1994 254pp.

ee also

*Christian-Jewish reconciliation
*Council of Jamnia
*Antisemitism in the New Testament
*Judaism and Christianity
*Relations between Catholicism and Judaism
*Origins of Christianity
*History of the Jews and the Crusades
*Acta Sanctorum
*Anti-Judaism
*Love for enemies section of Expounding of the Law

External links

* [http://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/history/2_ch02.htm Schaff's History of the Christian Church, Volume II, "Chapter II: Persecution of Christianity and Christian Martyrdom"] Section 14: Jewish Persecution
* [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/first/wrestling.html PBS Frontline "From Jesus to Christ", The first Christians, wrestling with their Jewish heritage]