So as the faith moved out, both in terms of movement out of Jerusalem and into the Diaspora, and as it moved out in terms of time, what would happen? Clearly a faith that we’ve seen molded so much by it’s Jewish roots would start to change, but how so?
This chapter on the Diaspora and the era of 70-150 AD was quite fascinating. While there aren’t copious writings from this time period, there are some significant ones and the book reviews these writings of what are known as the “Apostolic Fathers” and traces how they relate to the Jewish and Old Testament foundations of the faith.
I’ll give a quick overview. The earliest non-NT Christian writing we have is that of 1 Clement, probably written by Clement, a presbyter of Rome, around AD 96. While he likely is not Jewish himself, he uses the Old Testament extensively. He clearly has a mastery of the entirety of the Old Testament. In fact you as you read his writings it’s clear that he simply sees the Christian community as a continuation of the Israelite community. There is no polemic vs. the Jews, he simply writes to Christians who he regards as the new Israel. Christianity builds on what God began in the Old Testament and with Israel.
The next earliest document is that of the Didache, which was probably written c. AD 100 and is a book of teachings to those new to the faith. It contains a catechism and also has comprehensive sections on ethics and morality for new believers. It is very Jewish in character, but also clearly marks itself off from the Jewish faith.
We also have the writings of Ignatius, a bishop of Antioch, who wrote to various churches on his way toward martyrdom in AD 110. He writes against those who are trying to “Judaize” the Christian community (though many doing so he says are actually Gentiles) and also against a gnostic heresy. Here we see a change in perspective on the Old Testament and Judaism. He is not really anti-OT/Judaism as he is focused on the New Testament and Christianity. He sees the New Testament and Christ as the foundation of the faith and simply reads back into the Old Testament to find Christ there. They are background material.
Finally, the chapter discusses the Epistle of Barnabas, c. 130-132, a letter that spiritualizes the Old Testament laws and basically says the Jews misunderstood them when they were given by Moses. At this time we find him much more distant from the Old Testament sources, finding them important, but seemingly reading them only through secondhand writings.
There are other “Apostolic Fathers” but these are considered the most important. What they teach us is that as Christianity moved out from Jerusalem both in terms of space and time, the Jewish roots remained important but there were different ways to interpret that relationship. The best understanding is probably the earliest, that of Clement. God lays his foundations in the Old Testament, now Jesus is there (as Ignatius pointed out), but he builds those stories up as part of our history. We are to own them, not just as stories that we can learn little morals from, but as stories which build up toward the culmination of salvation history in Jesus Christ.
