Scholarly Reflections
Bardy, G. (Trans. P.W. Singleton). "Chapter Four: The Judaeo-Christians at the End of the First Century." The Church at the End of the First Century. London: Sands & Co. 1938, 91-108.
Although Christianity had Judean roots, Bardy notes it was more broadly accepted outside of Jerusalem than there, and more so as it left Palestine (Bardy 1938, 91). The forms of Christianity which did take root in Jerusalem typically did not depart from Moses, and particularly from circumcision (Bardy 1938, 92). This held true to some extend among Jews of the Diaspora as well, though we know relatively little about them as opposed to Gentile converts. Ignatius speaks of persistent challenges of Jewish Christians who wish to hold themselves and others to Mosaic practices (Bardy 1938, 93). The Epistle of Barnabas, with its emphasis on an allegorical interpretation of Moses, may well be a reaction against the move to hold to Mosaic practices (Bardy 1938, 94). While the Christian writings we have allow for Jewish Christains to hold to their cultural practices such as circumcision and dietary habits, they would not allow these customs to be pressed on Gentile Christians. It is also clear from Justin's writing, around the middle of the second century, that Jewish Christians needed to believe that Jesus was not only the Messiah but also divine (Bardy 1938, 96).
In Jerusalem, James "the just, brother of the Lord" served as leader of the church until he was executed by the Jews in 62 (Bardy 1938, 97). In the next few years the stage was set for a civil war and the Romans' seige of Jerusalem. Many Christians left Jerusalem before the war and the fall of the city, accurding to Eusebius (H.E. iii.5,3) (Bardy 1938, 100). Bardy suggests this departure of Christians created an intensely antagonistic relationship between Jews and Christians in Jerusalem after the fall of the city. Christians tended to pull away from the Judaic patterns and consider Jerusalem less seriously as the center of their religious observance (Bardy 1938, 101).
Pella, the city to which the Jerusalem Christians had escaped, became known as the city where the family of Jesus, i.e., his brothers, cousins, and their descendants, lived (Bardy 1938, 102).
The Jewish Christians were distinguished in Christianity as the only group which used the Gospel according to the Hebrews (Bardy 1938, 104). The Jerusalem Christians endured battles with heresy, with a large amount of sectarian belief and practice emerging even by the start of the second century (Bardy 1938, 105). The philosophical landscape was fragmented and complex.