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| - Judaizers were those Jewish Christians who insisted that Gentile converts to Christianity should be circumcised and obey all the laws of Moses. In other words, in order to become a Christian, a Gentile must first convert to Judaism. This philosophy was opposed by Paul and Simon Peter.
- Judaizers refers to those who claim the necessity of obedience to the Torah Laws by Christians, which is normally considered a requisite only for the followers of Judaism. Similarly, "one who has Judaized" refers to a Christian who has accepted the necessity of adhering to the Torah Laws, see also Biblical law in Christianity. The ongoing debate over Judaizing in Christianity, which began in the lifetime of the apostles, reflects the contemporaneous debate within Judaism as to the place of Gentiles with regard to the Law of Moses, see also Proselyte, Noahide Law, Jewish background to the early Christian circumcision controversy, and Dual-covenant theology.
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| abstract
| - Judaizers were those Jewish Christians who insisted that Gentile converts to Christianity should be circumcised and obey all the laws of Moses. In other words, in order to become a Christian, a Gentile must first convert to Judaism. This philosophy was opposed by Paul and Simon Peter.
- Judaizers refers to those who claim the necessity of obedience to the Torah Laws by Christians, which is normally considered a requisite only for the followers of Judaism. Similarly, "one who has Judaized" refers to a Christian who has accepted the necessity of adhering to the Torah Laws, see also Biblical law in Christianity. The ongoing debate over Judaizing in Christianity, which began in the lifetime of the apostles, reflects the contemporaneous debate within Judaism as to the place of Gentiles with regard to the Law of Moses, see also Proselyte, Noahide Law, Jewish background to the early Christian circumcision controversy, and Dual-covenant theology. Distinct uses of the term "Judaizers" include: 1.
* Adherence by Gentile Christians to the Torah Laws originally given to the Israelites (i.e. the 613 Laws given to Israel at Sinai). That Gentile Christians should convert to Judaism and obey the Laws of Moses was the assumption of some in the Early Church, represented by Pharisees who had become believers in Acts 15 (Acts 15:5). This was the Jewish Christian version of the opinion within Judaism that Gentiles should convert to Judaism in order to be right with God (see convert to Judaism). This opinion is traced by some scholars to a faction within early Christianity after the crucifixion of Jesus led by Jesus' brother James the Just (though compare Acts 15:24). Saint Paul opposed this position, with a Jewish Christian version of the opposite opinion in Judaism that Gentiles did not need to convert and obey the entire Law of Moses. See also Hellenistic Judaism. This conflict between Saint Paul and his opponents was the reason for the Council of Jerusalem (see Acts 15:1-35). Here James, Paul, and the other leaders of the early Christian movement agreed that Gentile converts needed only to follow the "three exceptions" (Acts 15:20,29; counted by some as four), laws that roughly coincide with Judaism's Seven Laws of Noah said to be established by God for all humankind (see also Genesis 9:1-17). This Apostolic Decree, still observed by the Orthodox Church, is similar to that adopted by Rabbinic Judaism, which teaches that Gentiles need only follow the Noachide Laws to be assured of a place in the World to Come. See also Dual-covenant theology. 2.
* Adherence by Gentile Christians to Torah Laws intended for Gentiles. The "three exceptions" resolved by the Council of Acts 15 indicate that the apostles accepted that those portions of the Law of Moses (the Torah) intended for Gentiles (later known as the Laws of Noah) would apply to Gentile Christians. Extra-Biblical evidence shows that, at least in some areas (especially in the East), this included observances beyond the three exceptions, such as a Christianized form of Passover, Day of Atonement, and Sabbath. But other Gentile Christian communities (especially in the West), evolved in an increasingly anti-Jewish direction that interpreted Paul's teaching to mean that all Torah Laws are redundant "now that Salvation by Faith is available through Jesus' atoning death". From this latter point of view, any practice associated with Judaism came to be seen as a rejection of God's salvific gift, even the prohibition of blood which is listed among the "three exceptions" in Acts 15 (though the prohibition of blood was only rejected in the Western Church and not until the Middle Ages). It should be noted that while Acts 15 gives an example of what new Believers were subject to when entering the house of God, verse 21 states that the Gentiles would learn the ways of Moses the way it's been done. The prohibitions against fornication and idolatry are still observed by most Christian denominations even though they originated as Jewish law. See also Antinomianism and Marcionism and The Law of Christ. 3.
* Continuance of observance of Torah by Jews who have (willingly or forcibly) converted to Gentile Christianity. This behavior was particularly persecuted between 1300 and 1800 under the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions, using as a basis the many references in the Pauline epistles regarding the "Law as a curse" and the futility of relying on the Law for attaining salvation, known as legalism. Thus, in spite of Paul's agreement at the Council of Jerusalem, Gentile Christianity came to understand that any Torah Laws (with the exception of the Ten Commandments and Natural Law) were anathema, not only to Gentile Christians but even to Christians of Jewish extraction. Under the Inquisition, the penalty to a converted Jew for "Judaizing" was usually death by burning. More generally, then, the term "Judaizing" has come to refer to following any mixture of Jewish traditions or laws, by a Christian (whether of Gentile or Jewish extraction). The term should not be confused with "Conversion to Judaism" (i.e. conversion away from Christianity and into Judaism). Rather, Judaizer remains a term associated with Christianity and the question of adherence to Torah Laws. See also Dual-covenant theology.
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