When Christians Were Jews by Paula Fredriksen

Author:Paula Fredriksen
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780300240740
Publisher: Yale University Press

ISRAEL AND THE NATIONS

Just as pagans could be found visiting with Israel’s god in his temple’s precincts, they also could be found, variously affiliated, in the synagogues of western diaspora cities. There they could listen to biblical traditions sung out in their own vernacular, Greek, becoming acquainted with a powerful god without having to journey to Jerusalem. Synagogue inscriptions gratefully acknowledged the donations of generous pagan benefactors. A priestess of the imperial cult funded the construction of a synagogue building. Alexandrian pagans joined with Jews to feast together annually in celebration of the scriptures’ translation into Greek. Gentile town councilors involved themselves in synagogue activities and projects. One pagan city even minted coins bearing an image of Noah’s ark.45

Sometimes an interested outsider might choose to come over entirely to a Jewish way of life, making an exclusive commitment to Israel’s god and for men, momentously, receiving circumcision. Such behavior occasioned sharp comment and vivid resentment from pagan critics, who viewed it as a form of cultural and religious treason. It was also potentially dangerous. Gods presided over the ancient city. Deserting local gods for an exclusive allegiance to a distant foreign god destabilized relations between heaven and earth. Lack of respect made gods angry, and angry gods acted out. Plague, earthquake, famine, flood; disrupted seasons or invading armies: all these figured in the repertoire of divine anger. Why tempt heaven with flagrant disloyalty?46

Much more common, however, was the “both/and” model of association, showing respect to Israel’s god and adopting some Jewish practices—Sabbath observance gets frequent mention—while also continuing with the worship of native gods. The centurion Cornelius in Acts 10, for instance, represents such a person: he prays to the Jewish god while, as an army officer, he would also and necessarily be involved with Roman gods as well. Diaspora Jewish communities evidently had no problem with such arrangements, and they obviously benefited from good relations with their immediate pagan neighbors. And, as long as such “Judaizing” or “god-fearing” (two ancient terms for this sort of sympathetic “outsider” behavior) did not lead to conversion, most pagans had no problem with it either.

Jesus had had no “gentile policy.” Given his preaching ambit—for the most part small Jewish villages, whether in the Galilee or in Judea—he would not have routinely encountered many. The great exception to this observation is, of course, Jerusalem, which attracted numerous pagan visitors, especially during the grand holidays. When there, Jesus taught in the temple’s outermost court, where pagans, too, could have heard him. The low pagan profile in traditions about Jesus’ mission, however, could very well reflect his own principled decision. At the End of Days, according to prophetic paradigm, Israel’s redemption anticipates the universal turning of pagans to Israel’s god. Jesus, following in the footsteps of his great mentor, John, was called to prepare Israel. God would take care of the nations himself.47

The Judaized pagans of these urban synagogues thus presented the apostles with a startling new opportunity. Once the apostles brought their testimony to the

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