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another variety of Judaism, rather than separate from Judaism? Did Christianity, as Flusser claims, become a religion of the gentiles, as most Jews could not accept the claim that Christianity, having ‘come into existence through the special grace of Christ as the heir of Judaism was its true expression’?2 This question is one part of the problem. Another part of the problem concerns the nature of the sources.
The difficulty of the topic of the separation of Christianity from Judaism is exacerbated by the paucity of historically reliable source material on the early stages of the separation. Old certainties have been shaken by the discovery of new evidence without a new paradigm emerging. Jewish-Christianity, the middle ground between rabbinic Judaism and so-called Pauline Christianity, is receiving greater attention, but the problem of Christian origins is by no means solved.3
By the time the New Testament was written, the separation had already begun. Thus, in the Gospels, the blame for Jesus’ crucifixion appears to shift progressively from Pilate and the Romans in the Synoptics to the Jewish high priest, Caiaphas, and the Jews in the later Gospel of John.4 In addition, non-canonical writings, such as the Epistle of Barnabas5 and the Gospel of Peter, reveal growing hostility. In subsequent centuries, and as early as the second century, patristic writings, before Christianity had been established as a licit religion and while it was still in the process of separating from Judaism, demonstrate that the blame for Jesus’ death was progressively shifted to the Jews. The role of the Romans, who were the occupying power at the time and needed to be placated, was passed over.6
By the time of the writing of the Gospel of John at the end of the first century CE, there are indications that Christians were being excluded from synagogues, at least in some areas.7 Jewish communities in the Diaspora were religiously self-confident and well integrated into the sociopolitical structure of late ancient society.8 Christianity, on the other hand, was claiming the place of Judaism and seeking to establish its validity as the new Israel, the only authentic version of Judaism, and so formulated a number of anti-Judaic premises.