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Jewish Believers in Jesus: The Early Centuries examines the formative first five centuries of Christian history as experienced by individuals who were ethnically Jewish, but who professed faith in Jesus Christ as the Messiah. Offering the work of an impressive international team of scholars, this unique study examines the first five centuries of texts thought to have been authored or edited by Jewish Christians, including the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, the New Testament Apocrypha, and some patristic works. Also considered are statements within patristic literature about Jewish believers and uses of oral traditions from Jewish Christians. Furthermore, the evidence in Jewish, mainly rabbinic, literature is examined, and room is made for a judicious sifting of the archaeological evidence. The final two chapters are devoted to an enlightening synthesis of the material with subsequent conclusions regarding Jewish believers in antiquity.

“This is a first-rate contribution by top scholars to our understanding of Jews who believed in Jesus during the first few centuries of Christianity. Not only does the volume address in depth the many complexities of the historical, social, literary, and religious aspects of Jewish believers in Jesus, it also admirably engages the very construction of scholarship on the topic. This is a comprehensive work of meticulous and careful scholarship that should be the standard reference on the subject for years to come.”
—Jeffrey S. Siker, PhD, Professor and Chair, Department of Theological Studies, Loyola Marymount University

“For a long time, the accepted view on the early Jewish Christian community has been that after the Jewish war against the Romans that ended in 70 AD with the destruction of Jerusalem, the Jewish Christian community became a marginal phenomenon and soon disappeared in the Gentile Christian church. The contributions to the present book on Jewish believers in Jesus result in a fundamental revision of this picture. It shows that more or less close relations between Jewish believers in Jesus Christ and Judaism continued at least into the Constantinian period (4th century) in spite of the endeavors of leaders on both sides to get their view of a fundamental opposition between Judaism and Christianity generally accepted. I consider the accumulated evidence for the revision of this picture very persuasive. It amounts to a strong suggestion that for a long period the disagreements concerning the person of Jesus did not prevent a continuing awareness of the fact that Jewish believers in Jesus and even Christians from the Gentiles could feel to believe in the same God as the Jews did. This view of the relationship should also have an impact on contemporary Jewish-Christian dialogue.”
—Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Wolfhart Pannenberg DD (mult.) FBA, Emeritus Professor of Systematic Theology at the University of Munich

Contributors
Philip S. Alexander. DPhil (Oxford); Professor of Post-Biblical Jewish Literature in the Department of Religions and Theology at the University of Manchester, England. From 1992 to 1995 he was President of the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies. Among his publications are Textual Sources for the Study of Judaism (1984), Qumran Cave 4.XIX: Serekh ha-Yahad and Two Related Texts (with G. Vermes, 1998), and The Targum of Canticles (2003).
Richard Bauckham. PhD (Cambridge); F.B.A.; Professor of New Testament Studies and Bishop Wardlaw Professor at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. Among his many books are Jude, 2 Peter (WBC, 1983); Jude and the Relatives of Jesus in the Early Church (1990); The Climax of Prophecy: Studies in the Book of Revelation (1993); God Crucified: Monotheism and Christology in the New Testament (1998); James: Wisdom of James, Disciple of Jesus the Sage (1999); Gospel Women: Studies of the Named Women in the Gospels (2002) and Jesus and the Eyewitnesses: The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony (2006).
James Carleton Paget. PhD (Cambridge); Senior Lecturer in New Testament Studies and Fellow of Peterhouse, University of Cambridge, England. His publications include The Epistle of Barnabas: Outlook and Background (1994).
Anders Ekenberg. DrTheol (Uppsala); Lecturer in the Department of theology at Uppsala University, Sweden. Among his publications are a translation and commentary on Hippolytus’ Traditio apostolica (in Swedish, 1994), Cur cantatur? Die Funktionen des liturgischen Gesanges nach den Autoren der Karolingerzeit (1987), and several other publications on liturgy and church music (mainly in Swedish).
Torleif Elgvin. PhD (Jerusalem); Dissertation: “An Analysis of 4QInstruction” (1998). Member of the international team responsible for publishing the Dead Sea Scrolls since 1992. Since 2004 he has been an Associate Professor in Biblical Studies at the Evangelical Lutheran University College, Oslo, Norway. His publications include several articles on Qumran and translations of Ancient Jewish texts (into Norwegian).
Craig A. Evans. PhD (Claremont); Payzant Distinguished Professor of New Testament at Acadia Divinity College, Acadia University, Nova Scotia, Canada. He is the author of several books, including Luke (NIBCNT, 1990), Jesus and His Contemporaries (1995), Jesus in Context (1997), Mark 8:27–16:20 (WBC, 2001), Jesus and the Ossuaries (2003), and Ancient Texts for New Testament Studies (2005).He also served for more than a decade as editor-in-chief of the Bulletin for Biblical Research.
Donald A. Hagner. PhD (University of Manchester); George Eldon Ladd Professor of New Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California. Among his many publications are The Use of the Old and the New Testament in Clement of Rome (1973), The Jewish Reclamation of Jesus: An Analysis and Critique of Modern Jewish Study of Jesus (1984), Hebrews (NIBCNT, 1990), and a two-volume commentary on Matthew (WBC, 1993–1995).
Gunnar af Hällström. DrTheol (Helsinki); Associate Professor in Patristic Studies at Åbo Akademi University and Professor of Systematic Theology and Patristic Studies at the University of Joensuu, Finland. Among his publications are Fides Simpliciorumaccording to Origen of Alexandria (1984) and Charismatic Succession: A Study on Origen’s Concept of Prophecy (1985), and Carnis resurrectio: The Interpretation of a Credal Formula (1988).
Sten Hidal. DrTheol (Lund); Professor of Biblical Studies/Old Testament at the Faculty of Theology, Lund University, Sweden. His publications include Interpretatio Syriaca: Die Kommentare des Heiligen Ephräm des Syrers zu Genesis und Exodus (1974) and translations of patristic writings from Syriac, Latin, and Greek.
Peter Hirschberg. DrTheol (Tübingen); Chaplain and Lecturer in Biblical Theology at the University of Bayreuth, Germany. His publications include Das eschatologische Israel: Untersuchungen zum Gottesvolkverständnis der Johannesoffenbarung (1999) and Jesus von Nazareth: Eine historische Spurensuche (2004).
Reidar Hvalvik. DrTheol (Oslo); Professor of New Testament Studies at MF Norwegian School of Theology, Oslo, Norway. His publications include The Struggle for Scripture and Covenant: The Epistle of Barnabas and Jewish-Christian Competition in the Second Century (1996), an introduction to the theology of Acts, and an introduction to the New Testament (both in Norwegian).
Wolfram Kinzig. DrTheol (Heidelberg); Professor of Church History at the University of Bonn, Germany. Among his many publications are In Search of Asterius: Studies on the Authorship of the Homilies on the Psalms (1990), Novitas Christiana: Die Idee des Fortschritts in der Alten Kirche bis Eusebius (1994), and Asterius, Psalmenhomilien: Deutsche Erstübersetzung mit Einleitung und Kommentar (2002).
Lawrence Lahey. PhD (Cambridge); Dissertation: “The Dialogue of Timothy and Aquila: Critical Greek Text and English Translation of the Short Recension with an Introduction” (2001). Visiting Professor of Early Christianity in the Department of Classical Studies at Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana.
Oskar Skarsaune. DrTheol (Oslo); Professor of Church History at MF Norwegian School of Theology, Oslo, Norway. His many publications include The Proof from Prophecy: A Study in Justin Martyr’s Proof-text Tradition (1987), Incarnation—Myth or Fact? (1991), and In the Shadow of the Temple: Jewish Influences on Early Christianity (2002).
Graham Stanton. PhD (Cambridge); Lady Margaret’s Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Fitzwilliam College. His publications include The Gospels and Jesus (1989; 2d ed., 2001), A Gospel for a New People: Studies in Matthew (1992), Gospel Truth? New Light on Jesus and the Gospels (1995), and Jesus and Gospel (2004).He is General Editor of the International Critical Commentaries.
James F. Strange. PhD (Drew University); Professor of Religious Studies and Director of Graduate Studies at the College of Art and Sciences, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida. His published co-authored books include Ancient Synagogue Excavations at Khirbet Shema, Israel (1976); Excavations at Ancient Meiron, Upper Galilee, Israel (1981); Archaeology, the Rabbis and Early Christianity (1981); and Excavations in the Ancient Synagogue of Gush Halav (1990).

Reviews

“This valuable collection of essays edited by two Norwegian scholars makes a genuine contribution to our understanding of early Christianity. The title of the collection is significant. In their helpful introduction and in the final assessment at the end of the volume by Professor Skarsaune, the editors make clear that the focus is not on particular ‘sects’ or so-called heretical groups of ‘Jewish Christians,’ but on the presence of ‘Jewish believers in Jesus’ who were an integral and significant part of the early Christian, predominantly Gentile communities. The numerous essays in the volume, all by experts in the field of New Testament study, archaeology, and early Christian history examine the evidence for this sector of the early Christian church. The editors refrain from attempting to draw any final synthesis or definitive conclusion, but rather see this volume itself as a contribution to ongoing research on this neglected yet important dimension of the early church. One conclusion that can be drawn—and one that is being noted in a number of recent studies besides this one—is that the so-called ‘parting of the ways’ between Judaism and Christianity took place over a much longer period of time and was more complex than has been assumed.”
—The Bible Today

“Uniquely, Jewish Believers in Jesus attempts to distinguish early Christians not by ideology but by ethnicity, examining Jews in the first five centuries who continued to practice their tradition but acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah. Contributors initially discuss the complex history of the term "Jewish-Christianity" through the various definitions scholars have adopted since its inception in the 17th-18th centuries. The text is divided into six extensive parts, covering such topics as Jewish believers in the New Testament, Jewish-Christians according to Greek, Latin, and Syriac fathers, and archaeological findings for early Jewish believers in Jesus. Discussions of the New Testament indicate evidence of Jewish theology and terminology, literary similarities to Jewish halachic traditions, and reflections of Jewish piety and customs. Disputations, including Contra Iudaeos literature, apparently employed Christian-Jewish dialogue not only to refute Jewish objections but also as missionizing tools to convert the Jews. Well organized, with excerpts and references in the original languages, the text is thoroughly documented with a comprehensive bibliography of over 100 pages, and indexes of ancient sources, modern authors, and subjects. The extensive research makes this book an excellent resource for any discussion of Jewish believers in Jesus in the early centuries.
Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-level undergraduates and above.”
—Choice

”This is a collection to inform us of what we do not know, to expand what we do know, and to correct what we think we know. Every library should acquire it.”
—Theological Review

". . .[T]he abundance of source material will be of great use to anyone wishing to investigate these topics or periods. The material provided will lead to further study of “Jewish believers” or may help one to find another designation for this group of Jewish disciples of Jesus."
—Review of Biblical Literature

“Most of us were taught that Judaism and Christianity parted ways at an early date—if not during the time of the Apostles, at least by the time of the Bar Kochba uprising in the 130s. Within the last decade, however, several scholars have challenged this paradigm from both Jewish and the Christian sides. We now know that normative, Rabbinic Judaism was not well established until the fourth century or later. The same is, of course, true for normative, orthodox Christianity. During the “early centuries,” there were a variety of Judaisms, including various Christian Judaisms, and a variety of Christianities, including various Jewish Christianities. If follows that there was a good deal of overlap and interaction between the two emerging religions, at least through the fourth century, and well into the Middle Ages.

“For readers who are interested in learning more about this fascinating period, the volume reviewed here provides a wealth of essays on virtually every facet of Jewish Christianity. The title specifies 'Jewish believers in Jesus' because the focus is on those Christians who are ethnically Jewish (as distinct from Gentile Christians who espoused what modern scholars take to be a Jewish theology). In addition to familiar figures from the New Testament like James and Paul and their followers, and the communities of the Gospel of John and the Book of Revelation, the volume includes chapters on the Jewish Christian traditions that are preserved in later Christian writings and church orders, Jewish Christian editing of the Pseudepigrapha, the pseudo-Clementine literature, the Ebionites, the Nazoreans, the Elchasites, archeological remains, and an excellent chapter on the changing attitudes toward (Jewish) Christians in Rabbinic texts. Due to the focus on ethnically Jewish Christians, there is no detailed discussion of Nag Hammadi treatises (like the Gospels of Thomas and Philip) that may have been influenced by Jewish ideas (see 246-7).

“In short, most readers will find something of interest in this volume and benefit from the new perspective concerning the 'ways that never parted.'”
— Reformed Review

“This valuable book is the outcome of fruitful co-operation between Scandinavian, American and British scholars, and will provide help to students and scholars for years ahead.”
— Reformed Theological Review

“This is probably the most comprehensive treatment of the subject matter in decades and is likely to remain unsurpassed for some time to come.”
—Journal for the Study of the New Testament Booklist

Oskar Skarsaune. Dr. theol. 1982; Professor of Church History at MF Norwegian School of Theology, Oslo, Norway. His many publications include The Proof from Prophecy: A Study in Justin Martyr’s Proof-text Tradition (1987), Incarnation – Myth or Fact? (1991) and In the Shadow of the Temple: Jewish Influences on Early Christianity (2002).

Reidar Hvalvik. Dr. theol. 1994; Professor of New Testament Studies at MF Norwegian School of Theology, Oslo, Norway. His publications include The Struggle for Scripture and Covenant: The Epistle of Barnabas and Jewish-Christian Competition in the Second Century (1996), an introduction to the theology of Acts and an introduction to the New Testament (both in Norwegian).

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