Between the Menorah and the Cross

In the first century of Christianity the church lived a precarious existence in Palestine. Externally it faced the oppression of Rome and the opposition of an orthodox Jewish majority. Internally the Gospel writers struggled to consolidate a congregation of Jewish converts with stubbornly ingrained Judaic traditions. By reading the Gospels with this historical perspective, we can see the day-to-day trials of the early church, and how the church fathers faced up to the challenges of traditions that contradicted the teachings of the new faith. In comparison to the Jewish tradition into which Jesus was born, one of the most radical Christian teachings was associated with the nature of the human soul and its continuing existence after death. The Old Testament is not explicit about an afterlife, and a firm belief in an eternal soul did not form a part of traditional Judaism. When Jesus spoke of eternal life, this was a challenge to His audience, and even His own followers had difficulty assimilating this concept. Another concept that was perhaps even more challenging for early Jewish Christians was the position of Jesus as One at the right hand of God, and a Spirit that existed from the very dawn of creation. To the Jews this teaching violated the sacrosanct principle of monotheism -a principle that was inherited from Abraham and that was at the very center of Jewish consciousness. Between the Menorah and the Cross takes a fresh look at the differences between Christianity and Judaism, examining the teachings of Jesus that contrasted markedly with the orthodox Jewish view. Reflecting on this dimension offers a new perspective on the mission of Christ in the first century. While we are familiar with the clashes between Jesus and the scribes and Pharisees, it seldom occurs to us that the issues at the center of those conflicts were also issues to be dealt with between the church fathers and their Jewish Christian congregations. For while the Jewish Chris