Before Jerusalem Fell - EntreWave

230 BEFORE JERUSALEM FELL
In an introductory synopsis of his epilogue, Brandon writes of the
matter: “Christianity twice-born. The Jewish overthrow of A.D. 70
emancipated the infant ftith from its Jewish cradle, thus making
possible its career as a world-religion. . . . The destruction ofJerusalem
gave other cities decisive parts in the life of the Church, especially
Rome. The Jewish catastrophe of A.D. 70 is probably the next most
crucial event for Christianity after the Resurrection experiences.”35
Bo Reicke writes that
Despite the Zealot movement, the church thought it theologically and
politically important to maintain a positive relationship with Jerusalem
and Judaism, until the martyrdom of James in 62, the growth of
terrorism, and the first Jewish War finally forced a break with organized
Judaism. This long association elucidated the connection between
the Old and the New Covenant. It also facilitated the conversion
ofJews and the growth of the Christian community in the Roman
Empire, where, from the time of Caesar to that of Nero, the prohibition
of associations did not apply to the Jews and therefore also not
to the Christians.36
Davies argues that the fall of Jerusalem made “absolute the
divorce between Church and Synagogue,” and further that “traces
of Jewish Christianity are to be found in the following centuries, but
the fall ofJerusalem reduced them to a position of complete insignificance
for the future history of the Church. “3 7
Dix writes that “the transition was made, and quickly, in the ‘life
of the Church.’ The events of A.D. 66-70 hastened the concluding
stages.”3 8
Frend states that “there can be little question of the members of
the ‘new Israel’ desiring to break all links with the old in the period
from 75 to 100.”3 9
Other scholars can be consulted on this matter.w
35. Brandon, Fall ofJem.mlem, p. xix.
36. Bo Reicke, Tb New T~tameat Era: The World of the Bible From 500 B. C. to A.D. 100,
trans. David E. Green (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1968), p. 211. See also comments on pages
227,245,251.
37. J. G. Davies, The Ear~ Chrirtian Church (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1965),
p. 46.
38. Dix, Jew and Greek, p. 111.
39. Frend, Tle Rzse of Chtitianip, pp. 122-123.
40. For example: J. C. I. Gieseler, Textbook of E2cle.sia.siical Hi-story, trans. Francis
Cunningham, vol. 1 (Philadelphia Carey, Lea, and Blanchard, 1836), pp. 55, 62.