March 13

When did the Judeo-Christian conflict start? The ‘canonical’ answer is to be found in the Gospels, I suppose, as shown in the conflicts between Jesus and the Pharisees & the scribes (the Sadducees?), and later on between them and Jesus’ disciples. However...

The trick here that Judaism was initially both a religion and a national identity for the Jews, but after the Babylonian captivity this tandem became very convoluted, as at least 4 official (and possibly all sort of unofficial) Jewish sects/religious directions became evident. Jesus’ teachings, though destined to greatness, at that time were just another noisy sect, as pointed out in “Jesus Christ, Superstar” musical. What is more, Jesus and his apostles might have perceived themselves thusly too, or at least as still being Jewish, as Paul’s letter to Galatians indicates: Paul thinks of himself as a Jew in that instance.

This transforms the initial Judeo-Christian confrontation into something internal, at least to the eyes of the pagans such as the Romans. Certainly at the times of Nero, of Titus and Vespasian, the Roman government did not really distinguish between the two branches of monotheism at all. But then came Constantine (who, admittedly, was not discussed in this course) and made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire, giving it an edge over Judaism.

There is nothing as bitter as quarrels between close relatives, and I guess that the Judeo-Christian conflict is no exception. Even Paul’s Letter to Galatians, his Jewish claim notwithstanding, heralds the beginning of a split, as indicated by his use of Ishmael/Isaac parable. Ishmael, incidentally, is assumed to be the ancestor of the Arabs, so Paul’s use of him (and of Isaac) is rather apocryphal, as a matter of fact.

(Actually, Jesus himself may have initiated it when he not quite claimed to be the Messiah yet behaved clearly not as the ‘canonical’ Jewish Messiah. But then again, as indicated by the Dead Sea sect, various ‘apocryphal’ sects were not uncommon in Israel at that time, so Jesus did not invent anything new, not really.)

In any case, the split that began at the time of the Galatians continued to deepen, obviously. And, of course, it was only chance that had put Christians over their religious cousins, but that does not change the situation: i.e., as soon as Christians gained the upper hand they began to dominate their religious cousins including various unpleasant excesses.

Conversely, though, as the Gospels indicate, that while the Jews had the upper hand (and Israel was not destroyed), they did not behave any better either. Family quarrels, even when put on a higher level, are bitter.

However, what about our course? Well, apparently next week we will start to study the fledgling (and deteriorating) relations between the Jews and the Christians. Paul’s Letter to Galatians is merely a first swallow of things to come. In modern times, though, this rift shows signs of closing, so perhaps it is important not to dwell on the past too much, and that is something to think about as well.