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Johannine Christianity - Jewish Christianity
Johannine Christianity - Jewish Christianity
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1996
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McGrath, James F., "Johannine Christianity: Jewish Christianity?" Koinonia / (1996): 1-20.
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JAMES F. MCGRATH
The author wishes to thank Prof. James Dunn and Dr. Loren Stuckenbruck of
Durham University for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper.
1 So e.g. Ashton, Brown, Charlesworth, Cullmann, Dahl, Dunn, Meeks,
Pancaro, Smith and Whitacre. Some have followed Martyn in using the term
'Christian Jews' for this earlier period (Le. when some Jews happened to be
Christians), saving the tenn 'Jewish Christians' for the later period (when there
was a minority of Jewish believers in a predominantly Gentile church). This dis
tinction is helpful, but the term' Jewish Christianity' is retained here because it is
more familiar, and also in order to retain the sense of continuity between the two
phenomena.
2 KOINONIA
Schnelle, in the work just cited, mentions several times the need for a
clear definition of what precisely is meant by Jewish Christianity. J.
Danielou suggests three possible meanings for this term: "First, it may
designate those Jews who acknowledged Christ as a prophet or a Mes
siah, but not as the Son ofGod, and thus form a separate class, half-way
between Jews and Christians ... The second possible reference for the term
'Jewish Christianity' is the Christian community ofJerusalem, dominated
by James and the tendencies for which he stood. This community was
perfectly orthodox in its Christianity but remained attached to certain
Jewish ways of life, without, however, imposing them on proselytes from
paganism ... Finally, a third possible reference of the term' Jewish Chris
tianity' is a type of Christian thought expressing itselfin forms borrowed
from Judaism" (1964:7-9).
This definition provides a useful starting point for our discussion, but
it needs to be examined critically before we proceed. Firstly, the third cat
egory (which is the one that Danielou himself is most concerned with) is
too broad for our purposes. Johannine Christianity, like all forms of
Christianity represented in the New Testament, was still working with the
language and images current in Judaism. Indeed, as Danielou's study
shows, Jewish imagery and modes of thought played a very important
role in many streams of Christianity even when it ceased to be a predomi
nantly Jewish phenomenon. We must fmd a narrower definition of' Jew
ish Christianity' for the purpose of this study.
The difficulties involved in defining Jewish Christianity are well
known (cf. Riegel 1977; Colpe 1993). For example, although one might
suggest that Jewish Christianity be defined in ethnic terms, this becomes
impossible when we consider that one may be ethnically Jewish and yet
apostatize from the Jewish religion. It would seem that the definition of
'Jewish Christianity' is plagued by all ofthe difficulties involved in defm
ing 'Judaism' during this period (cf. Casey 1991, ch. 2). Rather than work
only with a theoretical definition, therefore, a better methodology will be
to relate the Gospel of John to what is universally recognized as a Jewish
McGrath: lohannine Christianity 3
In this study, therefore, we can limit ourselves for the most part to a
study of the similarities which exist in these three key areas between the
Gospel of John on the one hand, and Jewish Christianity as represented
by later literature such as the Pseudo-Clementine Recognitions on the
other. Obviously, given the difference in date between these works, we
may expect to find significant differences as well. However, it is still a
useful undertaking to attempt to deteITIline whether there is a 'trajectory',
a continuous stream of development in which both John and the Recogni
tions are included, which may be categorized as 'Jewish Christianity' (cf.
Schoeps 1949:257; Martyn 1977b). A study of these similarities, and an
attempt to answer the objections raised by scholars such as Casey and
Schnelle, will be the focus of the rest of this work. For convenience we
may continue to speak of' Jewish Christianity' as an umbrella teITIl for the
Pseudo-Clementines and for other literature and streams of thought which
contain the features which will concern us in this study (See further
Quispel 1972:137-139; Schoeps 1949:8).
CHRISTOLOGY
ally been done in the Church, and thus to understand the incarnation in
John as having taken place at Jesus' conception. However, given that the
conception and birth of Jesus are not recounted in John, and that, for the
vast majority of Jews and Christians of this period, the Logos and the
Holy Spirit were not clearly distinct entities,? it becomes a strong possi
bility that early readers of John's Gospel would have understood the de
scent of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus as describing the same event as that
described in the prologue as the Word becoming flesh. Further evidence
for this may perhaps be found in 1 John 5:6-8, which is regarded by many
as evidence that there was a debate between the author of 1 John and his
opponents about whether the Christ left Jesus before the crucifixion, and
thus did not suffer. 8 If this is a correct reading, then the author of 1 John
agreed with his opponents that the Christ came 'through water,' i.e. at
Jesus' baptism.9
C. K. Barrett, in his article on subordinationist Christology (1982),
noted that John, while in one sense the basis of later orthodox
Christological formulas, is in another sense a challenge to traditional
Christology, containing elements that do not seem to fit. The key aspect
which he focuses on is subordinationism, a feature which is represented
both in John and in Jewish Christianity. In John, the main objection which
'the Jews' bring against the Jesus is that he 'makes himself equal with
God' or 'claims to be God.' Jesus, however, is not presented as readily
defending his equality with God or divinity, but rather as emphasizing the
Son's dependence on the Father in all things (John 5:19), or as appealing
to the wider use of the term 'God' in the Hebrew Bible (John 10:34-36).10
7 The most notable example is Justin Martyr, who frequently uses the terms
interchangeably. On the similar phenomenon in Philo see Talbert (1993:45f). This
point is also noted by Dunn (1989:266).
8 This is not to imply a wholesale identification of the opponents with
Cerinthians, but simply to note a similarity in this one area. See the discussion of
this passage in Brown (1982:573-578); Talbert (1993:49f).
9 Of course, the Fourth Gospel does not mention that Jesus was baptised by
John. However, this is presumably due to a concern not to present Jesus as in any
way inferior to the Baptist. There is no real reason to doubt that the author knew
the tradition attested to in the Synoptics that it was at Jesus' baptism that John the
Baptist witnessed the descent of the Spirit upon him.
10 In John 10:30, Jesus claims oneness with the Father. In the context of the
chapter, and of the Gospel as a whole, this clearly should be understood in tenns
6 KOINONIA
His 'blasphemy' in using the divine name for himself (8:58f) is the use of
a name rightly his, not because of his own inherent and eternal possession
of it, but because the Father has given it to him (17: II). The same is true
of his 'glory' (17:22).
The argument in John 10 concerning the use of the title 'God' is re
markably close to the argument in the Pseudo-Clementine Recognitions
2.42, 1J where Peter is described as explaining that there is only one true
God, the God of the Jews, and yet also explains how the tenn 'god' can
be used more widely, including for Christ. The same work also speaks of
Jesus in very Johannine terms: "although he was the Son of God, and the
beginning of all things, he became man" (1.45), and further: ''the
Son ... has been with the Father from the beginning, and through all gen
erations ... the Son reveals the Father to those who honour the Son as they
honour the Father" (2.48). In 1.43, Peter is described as asserting that the
only difference between Christians and Jews is the acceptance of Jesus as
the Messiah; for John, this is also the key (if not the only) difference.
Further, as even Maurice Casey would himself agree, the Johannine
Christians did not move from Jewish monotheism to pagan polytheism:
they regarded Jesus as divine, but would not have accepted the exaltation
of other persons or beings to similar status (I 991:37f). For John, the Fa
ther of Jesus, who is the God of the Jews, is "the only true God" (John
17 :3), even though John, like the author of the Pseudo-Clementine Rec
ognitions, can use the tenn God more broadly. The reason why Casey
cannot regard Johannine Christology as a Jewish development is that he
will not allow John the broader definition of monotheism which he allows
to Philo and other clearly Jewish authors (Casey 1991 :93; for a helpful
discussion and bibliography on the difficulty of defming monotheism, see
Stuckenbruck 1995:15-21). One cannot help but wonder whether, if
'Philonism' had developed into an independent religion, he would not
have rejected Philo as well for having moved too far away from 'orthodox
Judaism'. As scholars are continuously seeking to remind us, it was only
of unity rather than identification. 'The Jews' in this chapter apparently under
stood Jesus to be claiming the latter, but this is a misunderstanding on their part,
which results (as so frequently in John) from Jesus' use of a double entendre.
II Both Schoeps (1949:51) and Strecker (1981 :265) consider this passage to
come from a source used by both the Pseudo-Clementine works, thus making it
somewhat earlier than the finished Recognitions or Homilies.
McGrath: lohannine Christianity 7
after A.D. 70 that an 'orthodox' Judaism even began to emerge, and when
it did, both Philo and John were defined out. 12 As Philip S. Alexander re
marks, "There can now be no question that early Judaism did know of
powerful semi-divine mediator figures, so the high Christology of some
of the early Christian writings can actually be given a Jewish context"
(Alexander 1992: 19f; see further the balanced criticisms of Casey in
Dunn 1994).
We have thus seen that John's Christology can be understood in such a
way as to be essentially in agreement with that of Jewish Christianity.
That the Johannine Christians were expelled from their local synagogue
largely on account of their christological beliefs does not present a prob
lem, since it is not by any means clear that the group of Jewish Christians
represented by the Pseudo-Clementine literature were still attending syna
gogue, or that their christology was any more acceptable to their local
Jewish community than that of the Johannine Christians. However, it
must be acknowledged that the Recognitions does not express the same
depth of hostility to 'the Jews' which we find in John, and an explanation
for this aspect of the Fourth Gospel will need to be provided (see below).
TORAH
13 In 6:32 there is presumably a contrast between the Torah and/or Moses and
Christ (cf. Brown 1966:262; Lindars 1972:250), but 'disparaged' is unjustifiably
harsh in this context. The contrasts between Jesus and Moses or Torah must be
placed in the context of the conflict between the Johannine Christians and the
synagogue: the rabbis claimed to be Moses' disciples (John 9:28f), and John em
phatically makes the point that Moses is not God's final word, that Moses himself
pointed to one who would come in the future. It may be further noted that, even
if it is the case that John 6 contrasts Jesus with the Law or with Moses more
sharply than the rest ofthe Gospel, this may also be because the chapter is part of
the latest strata of the Gospel, as Lindars (1972:50) has suggested. See further the
debate about the relationship between Moses and Jesus in Ps.-Clem. Recogni
tions, 1.58-59.
14 The reference in John 4:20ff is to worship which does not involve the
Temple; the Ebionites also rejected the Temple and sacrifice while still feeling
loyal to Torah in other respects.
McGrath: lohannine Christianity 9
clear that this rather ambiguous verse should be used to interpret the rest
of John, rather than vice versa. On its own, and even in the context of
the whole prologue, 1: 17 could be either antithetic or synthetic parallelism
(pancaro 1975:537). It is possible to read 1:16f in a way quite different
from that proposed by Schnelle (for one such reading, cf. Edwards 1988).
Further, as Pancaro notes (1975:499), apart from a passing reference to
circumcision in 7:21-23, the only precept of the Torah mentioned in John
is the Sabbath. It is frequent to note that in John, Jesus is more clearly
presented as breaking the Sabbath (giving an order to take up the mat;
making mud and anointing the eyes). Yet the key force of John's argument
in a Jewish context is frequently missed. Scholars frequently note the fact
that it appears to have been generally accepted in Jewish thought that God
'works' in some sense on the Sabbath (cf. the references in Dodd
1953:320-323 and Barrett 1978:256). What needs to be noted in addition
to this is that in Judaism to keep the Sabbath was conceived of in terms of
imitating God (Gen.2:2f). This point seems to lie behind the argument in
John: in what sense can it be a breaking of the Sabbath to participate in
the work of God? John wishes to show not that the Sabbath is abolished,
but that doing God's work (of healing), like obeying the Law of Moses in
circumcising a child, overrides the Sabbath, precisely because it is a par
ticipation in the work of God himself.
A further point which needs to be examined is the fact that John con
sistently speaks of 'your Law' or 'the Law ofthe Jews'. Several scholars
have suggested that this does not in fact imply that John is putting dis
tance between himself and Judaism/Torah, but that he is using the lan
guage of polemic: 'the very Law to which you appeal in condemning us
says ... .' Quite recently, B. G. Schuchard has suggested that this feature
of Johannine language does not have any negative connotations, but
rather emphasizes Jewish blindness in respect to their own scriptures
(1992:154fn.13). It is for this reason dubious to appeal to this feature in
the Fourth Gospel as evidence that the author wished to distance himself
and his community from Judaism and its scriptures.
We may note briefly the relationship between John and the Pseudo
C1ementines in this area. 15 If in John the observance of the precepts of
Torah is not an issue, by the time the later Ebionite literature was com
posed it had become one. The reason for this is presumably the move
from being a minority of believers in Jesus among a Jewish majority to
being a minority of Jewish believers in a predominantly Gentile church.
One distinctive aspect of the Pseudo-Clementine literature is its emphatic
opposition to the Temple cult. While this may bear some relation to John
4:20-24, there are also significant differences. The most striking of these
is the Ebionite teaching that positive references in the Old Testament to
sacrifice (and other practices to which they were opposed) were 'false
pericopae.' Here there is a striking difference from John, and in this case
John would appear closer to the position of the majority of Jews in his
time than the Pseudo-Clementines were. If the latter are rightly called
Jewish Christian, then the title would seem to be appropriate to John as
well, at least as far as his attitude to the Law is concerned.
Here again, it cannot be said that we have proved that the Gospel of
John is a Jewish Christian document. However, it has hopefully been
demonstrated that there is simply no clear evidence in the Gospel of John
itself that Johannine Christians were not Torah-observant. Most scholars
who consider that the Johannine Christians did not keep the Law have to
suggest that the debate over Torah (in which Paul was engaged) lies in the
past, so that John can assume it without mention. This is not impossible,
but seems unlikely given the conflict with the synagogue that appears to
be reflected in John. John reflects the accusations of 'the Jews' against
the Johannine Christians in Christology and other areas and seeks to ad
dress them, and it would be surprising for him not to do so concerning the
issue of Torah observance, were this at issue in the conflict. In fact, the
only accusation of failure to observe Torah in John is made by Jesus
against the Jews (John 7: 19)! The most that is said of the Johannine
Christians is that they are 'ignorant of the Law,' i.e. 'amme ha-aretz '. The
most logical explanation for the evidence of John is that the issue be
tween the Johannine Christians and the synagogue was Christology and
not Torah observance. 16 This again would match what we know of Jew
ish Christianity.
the Recognitions and the Homilies, and is traceable to their common source, the
Preaching ofPeter.
16 So also Pancaro (1975:530f); Smith (1995:51 f). Smith also helpfully points
out that "the theological, terminological, and conceptual agreements between
McGrath: lohannine Christianity II
'THE JEWS'
This aspect of John is one of the most perplexing for those who suggest
a Jewish context for John. If any feature in the Fourth Gospel suggests
'distance from judaism,' this would have to be it. The fact that John
also uses 'the Jews' in a completely neutral sense does not alter the fact
that he does use it in a way that suggests that the Johannine Christians
would not be happy to be known as 'Jews'. Even given their claim to
the title 'Israelites', the Johannine attitude towards 'the Jews' would at
first glance seem to make it difficult to class Johannine Christianity as
'Jewish Christianity'.
What must be noted first of all in connection with this subject is that
the Gospel in its present fonn was written in the wake of the expulsion of
the Johannine Christians from the synagogue. This was clearly a trau
matic event for the group, since they did not leave by choice, but were
expelled. If the Johannine Christians in this context had feelings of alien
ation from' Judaism', this is hardly surprising. And for this reason, to
draw conclusions about the relationship of the Johannine community to
Judaism prior to the expulsion on the basis of a document written in the
wake ofthis traumatic event is as ill-advised as judging' Jewish' views of
Gentiles on the basis of literature written in the aftennath of the war of
A.D. 70. 17
However, we should note here as well that the Johannine references to
'the Jews' can be read very differently than is done by Casey. Dunn, for
Paul and John do not go beyond what could have been established on the basis of
widely held early Christian emphases and beliefs. In other words, it is a dubious
procedure to attempt to understand the theology of John as if it were a develop
ment on the basis of, and beyond, Paul" (1995:51). See further n.4 above.
17 Cf. McKnight (1991:20). We may also ask, in light of the widespread view
that expulsion from the synagogue decisively renders the Johannine Christians as
'no longer Jews' (so e.g. Barrett 1975:70), at what stage a sectarian group ceases
to be part of its parent body and becomes a clearly distinct group, and whether the
clarity with which we may view such issues with hindsight does not indeed ob
scure the real ambiguity of the situation at the time. For example, one may ask
when the Methodists ceased to be Anglicans, or when Martin Luther ceased to be
a Catholic. Similar questions illustrating the difficulties involved in this issue
may be drawn from the whole history of Christianity as well as from the histories
of other religions and groups.
12 KOINONIA
18 Freyne (1985), Johnson (1989). This is not to excuse or explain away the
Johannine attitude towards the Jews, but simply to show how it is possible for this
to be an attitude held by Jewish Christians.
19 Barrett (1975:70) notes that "In the Fourth Gospel there is nothing stronger
than the sayings ofthe Jew Paul: To the Jews I became as a Jew (l Cor 9.20); and:
Christ is the end of the Law (Rom 10.4)."
McGrath: lohannine Christianity 13
ous Jewish sects or parties in and around New Testament times is more
than adequately attested by the literature which was found at Qumran.
There, as in John, we find a group of Jews with distinctive beliefs de
nouncing the rest of their nation as 'children of darkness' and 'children of
Beliar.' Yet in the Qumran scrolls we do not find the key tenn for our dis
cussion, 'the Jews'. When we turn to the Pseudo-Clementine Recogni
tions, however, we do find the phrase used in a way that resembles the
Johannine use. For example, in 1.50 and V.l1 'the Jews' is the designation
used for the nation as a whole in its unbelief. It is of course true that, in
general, the author does not use this phrase without qualification,
speaking for the most part of 'the unbelieving Jews'. However, that a
Jewish Christian author can present the apostle Peter as speaking about
'the Jews' as opponents, while he himself was a Jew, suggests that we
should not too hastily draw conclusions concerning the nature of
Johannine Christianity on the basis of the references to 'the Jews' in
John's Gospel.
Before concluding our discussion of this aspect of the Fourth Gospel,
we may note one further insight that may shed light on this Johannine
phenomenon. Bruce Malina, in his seminal study of the cultural tenden
cies in the New Testament world, has pointed out that ancient Mediterra
nean cultures focused identity on groups rather than individuals
(1981 :53-60). In other words, the ancient mind tended to think in terms of
what we today might call stereotypes. The individual was judged in terms
of what was generally thought to be the case concerning his or her race,
country, town or family. Numerous examples of this way of thinking can
be found in the New Testament and other literature from the time, and it
may fruitfully be suggested that the Johannine attitude to 'the Jews' is an
example of the same phenomenon. The majority of Jews in John's time
did not believe in Jesus, and had rejected the appeal made by Christians
for them to do so. 'The Jews' as a whole could thus be considered in light
of this factor and stereotyped accordingly. Just as Paul can refer to 'the
Gentiles' as sinful while also apparently acknowledging that there are in
dividual upright Gentiles,20 so also John uses 'the Jews' to refer to the na
tion as a whole who do not believe, even though he is aware that there are
20 Romans 2:13-16, 26. For otherexarnples of this phenomenon see the pas
sages cited by Malina (1981:57).
14 KOINONIA
Jews who believe in Jesus, and can say that 'salvation is of the Jews'
(John 4:22).
There are thus a number of important factors which are frequently
overlooked in considering the use of the expression 'the Jews' in John.
Through their use of this phrase, the Johannine Christians show their
awareness that the religious leaders of the Jewish community from which
they were expelled refused to recognize them as 'Jews.' If we are correct,
with the majority of scholars, to set the Fourth Gospel in the context of
Judaism as it was attempting to reformulate and redefine itself in the pe
riod after the council of Jamnia, then the Johannine Christians were prob
ably not the only ones who felt that they were being unjustly deprived of
their identity as 'Jews'. The Johannine Christians concede this title, but
claim for themselves the generally preferred title 'Israel,' an unlikely pro
cedure if the Johannine Christians were consciously and intentionally
moving away from their Jewish roots and identity. The Johannine use of
this phrase ('the Jews'), although distinctive, is not without parallel, as
we have seen, and can be explained not only in tenns of the social and
historical setting of the community, but also the culture of the time. In
light of the numerous factors we have reviewed, it is in no way implau
sible to suggest that John's Gospel is correctly classed as Jewish Christian
and, rather than demonstrating distance from Judaism, represents part of
the debate over 'who is a Jew?' which was so important in this period.
CONCLUSION
Given the diversity in both first century Judaism and in early Christianity,
it would be reasonable to presume that there was also a certain amount of
diversity in jewish Christianity. One corollary of this is that there is no
need to force John into a set mould: John could differ from a given defi
nition of Jewish Christianity in one or more areas, and yet possibly still be
rightly classed as a Jewish Christian work in some sense. Yet what is
striking is the fact that it is possible to read and understand John quite
naturally as containing precisely those features which have been singled
out by many scholars as distinctively Jewish Christian: adoptionist
Christology, Torah observance, and a continuing Jewish or Israelite self
identity. Although there is still work to be done in this area, it would seem
reasonable to conclude that, in light of the evidence we have surveyed
and the many other indicators of Jewish influence on and Jewish elements
McGrath: lohannine Christianity 15
in John's Gospel,21 the burden of proof rests on those who seek to deny
a Jewish/Jewish-Christian setting for the Fourth Evangelist's community
and Gospel.
21 See, e.g., the evidence presented in Quispel (1972) and in the other essays
in the same volume.
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