‘Paul believed that salvation should not be limited to those who accepted Jewish culture.’ Photo: Fifth-century belt buckle depicting Peter and Paul, discovered beneath the cathedral of Castellammare
Getting the message: Elizabeth Coleman has more biblical history
‘There is a distinction between law and moral behaviour.’
As we discussed in ‘Cracking a book’ (16 February), many Quakers are highly educated, but our knowledge of the Bible tends to be rather limited. Some of us studied the Bible at school, Sunday school, and church, but what we were taught may be misleading and incorrect. For example, we may have learned that Jewish people in the time of Jesus believed that they had to follow every detail of Jewish law to be saved, and this was very burdensome to them, causing much anxiety. Then, we were told, Jesus came, and taught that we are saved by grace, not by following the law, thus freeing Jewish people from this burden, and making it easier for non-Jews to join the congregation of the saved.
This is wrong, about Judaism and about Jesus. Jewish people believed that it was God’s grace that saved, and, when one was in the community of the saved, one remained in it by following the guidance of Jewish law. If one got it wrong, there was a way out: repentance, temple sacrifice, and the mercy of God. The law was not particularly burdensome, it was just how Jewish people lived. Also, it protected their identity by distinguishing them from their neighbours – particularly circumcision, dietary laws and the observance of Sabbath and festivals.
It was non-Jews who found conversion to Judaism and observance of Jewish law difficult, and we come at this through Paul, apostle to non-Jews. It was not an issue in the time of Jesus. The people who knew Jesus, his disciples and family, formed the Jerusalem church, and they had to be convinced by Paul that a new attitude to Jewish law was needed. They simply assumed that a non-Jew would have to convert to Judaism to become a follower of Jesus. The agreement reached was that Jewish followers of Jesus should continue to observe Jewish law, while the demands on the non-Jewish followers would be less. Hyam Maccoby (in Judaism in the First Century) says that these people were asked to observe the seven laws given by God to Noah (Noah was not Jewish – Abraham is considered the first Jew).
The laws given to Noah are as follows: do not worship idols; do not blaspheme the name of God; do not shed blood; do not rob; do not engage in incestuous or other perverse sexual relationships; do not eat a limb taken from a living animal; set up courts for the administration of justice.
In Acts 15, James, head of the Jerusalem church, rules: ‘My judgement is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the pollutions of idols and from unchastity and from what is strangled and from blood.’
There is some similarity between the list in Acts and the seven laws of Noah listed above, though they are by no means identical (presumably James takes it for granted that non-Jews should not murder or steal). In any case, the Jewish principle is held to – that Jews must obey Jewish law, and there are laws that non-Jews must obey, but far fewer.
What can Paul have meant when he said the law was superseded by Christ (Ephesians 2:14-15)? In modern-day Britain, understanding and following all the detailed laws and regulations that govern our lives can be difficult, and the government sometimes promises to cut red tape, but it would never promise to get rid of law altogether. Perhaps a comparison from Quaker history might be relevant. Quakers used to be disowned and cease to be members of the Society of Friends if they ‘married out’ – that is, married non-Quakers. There was no state law against marrying out, but the Quakers had their own rules. Similarly, in Paul’s time, while the Roman empire had laws governing its subjects, Jews required other things of their own people – circumcision, conformity to dietary laws, etc. It would have been possible to reject Jewish law and simply to live within the framework of Roman law. Paul, a proud Roman citizen, may have held this view. The Jews of Palestine, however, were not reconciled to Roman rule, as is shown by their massive rebellion, which was finally crushed in 70CE. Jewish people dreamed of their own state, where presumably the law would be the law given to Moses, with a lot of interpretation by the rabbis to fit it to the society of the time.
There is a distinction between law and moral behaviour. It is not good to be spiteful, to lie, or to cause division, but it is not illegal. Some people in Corinth interpreted Paul’s teaching as allowing immorality, but Paul made it clear that this is not what he meant. Presumably he thought that moral behaviour was generally understood and did not need to be laid down in a code of law.
Paul was not concerned about the law that governs a state – he left that to the Romans. But he believed strongly that salvation should not be limited to those who accepted Jewish culture. He was concerned that no unnecessary difficulties should be placed in the path of non-Jews who wanted to be followers of Jesus.
The Jewish Christians in Jerusalem had been amazed when Paul, who had persecuted followers of Jesus, became a follower himself. But Paul said that his teaching came directly from the risen Christ, and it was different from the teaching of the Jerusalem church. He taught that Jewish law no longer applied now that Christ had come. He did not consider that conversion to Judaism was required, or even an option, for non-Jews who became followers of Jesus. In fact, he said that it was ruled out: ‘Now, I Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you’ (Galatians 5.2). Paul also believed that Jews were no longer required to obey Jewish law. This teaching avoided a difficult division within churches in the diaspora, whereby those of Jewish background could not eat with the non-Jewish members. But it led to differences between the Jewish Christians who followed the Jerusalem church led by James, Jesus’ brother, and the churches that Paul established. Paul’s churches grew and prospered, while Jewish Christianity gradually petered out.
How is this relevant to us? It is good to get as true a picture as possible of Jesus, Paul, and the beginnings of the Christian faith, and not to continue to believe the myths we were taught when we were children. Clearing up basic misunderstandings about first-century Judaism may help us to understand today’s Judaism better.
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