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If you are the typical Christian you have been taught that the term "Judaizer" is a bad term. In fact you most likely have been taught by the Gentile Christian Church that such person termed a "Judaizer" is against God.
Let us look into the matter.
Besides propounding and spreading doctrines of this new religion by way of the epistles, Paul and other apostles also used the vehicle of these religious epistles to fight competition both from within their ranks and outside of their new faith. Many passages in the New Testament allude to a division in the Church: both between Paul and with James, Peter and the Jerusalem church as well as within the Pauline movement itself which seems to reflect a conflict between Paul and his rivals. I first learned of this severe schism between Paul and the Jerusalem church when in Seminary but the professor glossed over it in 30 seconds or less. I wrote it down to investigate at a later time and in doing so found a wealth of evidence that I had never encountered that told a different picture than what I was accustomed to hearing as a typical Christian. It was through study of Baur and the Tubigen school of Germany that I came to see these truths for myself as the truth about Paul came to the surface. Verses in several chapters in First Corinthians (1, 2, 4, 6, 10) and Philippians 1:15-18 speak of quarrels among contesting factions but few who read these passages catch the hidden ideas that two different factions are present and opposing each other historically and that the group opposing Paul emanate from the Jerusalem church. Here are just a few.
Answer for yourself: What should we have seen from the above accounts? Namely that the contention we see in the above passages is between Paul and "another sect of believers" in Christ that oppose Pauline theology in their day. Ironically the identity of these that opposed Paul are the "Judaizers" of whom Paul speaks evilly about in his epistles. They are the true followers of Jesus and James and the Jerusalem Church.
More numerous in the epistles are references to the ideological differences with "those who would lead astray;" and these pro-Pauline accounts are not just in epistles believed to be of Pauline authorship. In this we seen the later influence of Paul among the Gentile church following the demise of the Temple and the dispersion of the Jews. These opponents of Paul were people who were perceived by Paul and other Paulinists as serious and dangerous adversaries and they came to be known as "Judaizers" (Encyclopedia Judaica, 1971, Vol. 10, p. 398; New Catholic Encyclopedia, 1967, Vol. 8, p. 13). The word is not found in the New Testament. The term is used loosely to identify persons who practiced some Jewish customs and observed some Jewish laws and it was these people that Paul opposed which are referenced in the passages in I Cor. and Philippians above.
This is a complex subject. Writers have distinguished three groups among Judaizers:
If you have studied with Bet Emet for any length of time you have seen from our research that Gentiles can be shown to observe the "appointed days" [Sabbath/Festivals/Feasts] of YHWH long before there were any Jews or Mosaic Law given at Sinai. That means God had imparted to them Divine Revelation of His will in the matter and the Hebrew Scriptures are replete with examples of non-Jews observing the Sabbath, Passover, and other Festivals. Acts 15 teaches us that what "seemed good to the Holy Spirit" and was termed "necessary" was that the Gentiles were expected to learn the Torah "as Moses is taught in the synagogues every Sabbath":
Acts 15:21 21 For Moses of old time hath in every city {reference is to Synagogues in both Palestine and outside Israel in Asia Minor] them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day. (KJV)
But this was nothing knew as we find in Isaiah 56 which expresses God's will for the non-Jew who wishes to draw close to Him:
Isa 56:2-7 2 Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil. 3 Neither let the son of the stranger [ term for non-Jews], that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. 4 For thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs [again a non-Jew] that keep my sabbaths [notice plural which encompasses both the weekly sabbath and high sabbaths called "feasts"], and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; 5 Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters [notice a greater reward than even the Jews can expect]: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. 6 Also the sons of the stranger [again the term for non-Jews], that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; 7 Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people. (KJV)
There are references to Judaizers and God-fearers in Philo, Josephus, Acts, Greek and Roman writers, and the Talmud. Judaizers and God-fearers seem to have been very numerous and their large numbers probably resulted from proselytizing by Jews. Understand that this phenomena is the natural outcome of Israel being a Priest to the nation as well as a "light unto the nations." Salo Baron, A Social and Religious History of the Jews, pp. 170, 370-372, states that according Louis Feldman, the concept of God-fearers (theosobeis in Greek and yirai shamayim in Hebrew) was not limited to Gentile sympathizers with Judaism but also referred to full converts to Judaism and to natural-born Jews. It is difficult to determine exactly who these Judaizers and God-fearers were in terms of their original background and to what extent they overlapped. Probably, more often than not, God-fearers were Gentiles, who maintained an attachment to Jewish practices which we have shown repeated are illustrated in the Hebrew Scriptures both before and after Moses. They attended, and were accepted in, synagogues where they had made an accommodation to Judaism. They were monotheists and participated in some ceremonial requirements of the Law such as Sabbath and dietary observance. This facts alone flies in the face of Paul's distortion of the incident of Antioch which again has been altered to hide the real truth of the incident where Peter and Barnabas left Paul and his fellowship over Paul's compromises in table-fellowship and idolatry when the "men from James" came down and found Paul compromising the commandments of Idolatry at table fellowship in his ministry to non-Jews. However, they found circumcision a deterrent to full conversion and Paul is right in his portrayal of this problem in Galatians as forced circumcision for Gentile acceptance by Jews was used by many Jews to keep the non-Jew at a distance. Judaizers were either Gentiles or Jews who had espoused a belief in Jesus, but continued to observe certain Jewish practices. Those who were "original" Gentiles were a target of Paul's proselytizing efforts, especially if they had converted to Christianity and continued to observe Jewish rites.
Paul was angry and frustrated that so many followers of Jesus were Judaizers who remained stubbornly faithful to Jewish practices. Jewish missionaries were attracting actual Paul's converts and potential Christians to their Jewish religion. Redaction history by Rome, the winner of the wars against the Jews, has so altered Biblical history that few Christians realize that the vast majority of non-Jews who came to God practiced a form of "Biblical Judaism" up until the early 4th century when Constantine would change all of this at the Council of Nicea. Because of the impact and lure of Biblical Judaism as a world religion Gentile Christianity was forced to regard Judaism as a serious rival for the allegiance of pagans and committed Christians alike (John Gager, Origins of Anti-Semitism, p. 6). Judaizing Christians were objects of scorn and animosity by Gentile Church leaders from Paul to John Chrysostom, the fourth century patristic whose vituperative sermons against Jews and Judaizers were notorious. John Chrysostom was a bishop and Church Father. He preached eight sermons in Antioch in 386-7. They were directed against Judaizing Christians who were observing Jewish holidays and customs along with Christian rites. He considered this apostasy. Chrysostom fought against the attractions of Judaism to his Christian congregation. His sermons were tirades which could and did serve as models for obscene attacks on Judaism and provocations to violence against Jews. This man was elevated by his church to sainthood. One only needs to read Rosemary Ruether, Faith and Fratricide, especially Chapter 3, to see this for yourself.
What is unknown to the vast majority of Christians is that several epistles were written by Gentiles in the names of the Jewish Apostles and were done so in order to function in their attacks on Jewish missionaries and the backsliding proselytes of Paul when presented with the truth by the real Apostles and emissaries from the Jerusalem Church which actually were true followers of Jesus. The Gentile responses to true Biblical faith created the need for epistles and letters intended for Gentile audiences that range from warnings to avoid those who supposedly mislead them away from Pauline Christianity [the influence of the Jerusalem church] to threats of forfeiting salvation by leaving the faith as taught by Paul. We have here the conflict of two competing Gospels; Paul's and Jesus; and few Christians ever notice it when all the Christian Church does is usually preach on one Scripture at a time. It is hard to see the whole picture when you only look at one or two passages at a time and most Sunday sermons are built upon such a "non thematic" presentation along with strong allegory. Thus the need for serious study by Gentile Christianity today in order to recover the true faith of Jesus as it can be found in the New Testament but only after understanding through prior study what truly was in "the mind of Christ." Without such prior knowledge it is almost impossible to read the New Testament and know accurately how to separate the wheat from the chaff.
Over time with repeated failure Paul realized that prevention was the best cure. He, therefore, admonished his reader to stay away from "unbelievers" who questioned or challenged his teachings. Let us not forget for one moment whom these "unbelievers" were; those who did not accept Paul's theology but rather followed James and the Jerusalem Church over Paul. Hard as it is for Christians to comprehend or even believe such a division between Paul and James, Peter, and John existed, these "unbelievers" as called by Paul were in reality James, Peter, and the Jerusalem church and those who followed them and who held to the real teachings of Jesus which they espoused. This is the terrible irony of only reading the Pauline epistles without a balanced study into Biblical history and manuscript evidences that betray such additions to the New Testament to cover over this schism. These men, unlike Paul, knew Jesus and his teachings personally and could not tolerate lies taught in Jesus name; thus the continued persecution of Paul by those influenced by the Jerusalem church. Equally hard to for the uneducated Christian to comprehend is the fact that those who followed Paul around as mentioned in his epistles and hassled him and even beat him were likewise those from the Jerusalem Church who were trying desperately to correct the false teachings being spread in Jesus' name whom they had known personally and well knew Jesus never believed or taught such heresy as Paul espoused. So effective was Roman redaction and alteration of Biblical history and well as their almost total destruction of such incriminating evidence to these facts that had it not been for major achievement in archeology in the last several hundred years little would be known about the serious split between the Jerusalem church and Paul although we find hints in the New Testament of Paul's duplicity and apostasy. What again Christians fail to understand is that Judaism allowed for religious pluralism as salvation was never based upon what one believed about the Messiah so even though Paul taught "another gospel" and tied it to Eternal Life. Thus you can now understand the main focus of the Jerusalem church was to correct such misunderstandings being spread among them Gentiles in Jesus' name and make sure the non-Jews were taught of their own unique Covenant with God that when obeyed in faith resulted in Eternal Life; the Covenant of Noah (Acts 15). Paul was admonished by James in Acts 15 and 16 to take letters to the Gentile congregations in Asia minor with his ruling concerning the Covenant of Noah for the non-Jews but we find Paul would leave Jerusalem and do otherwise and write Galatians which is his defense of his position and which details his split with the Jerusalem church (Gal. 2) which will lead ultimately to him being recalled to Jerusalem to give answers to James about his heretical conduct again in Acts 21.
In 2 Cor 6:14-16 Paul cautioned his respondents against being "yoked together with unbelievers" whom he likened to Beial (meaning worthless or wickedness in Hebrew). Today Christianity often uses this passage in marriage counseling but the real meaning of the passage in a historical sense goes much deeper. Historically "being yoked with unbelievers" was used as a code word for Jews and others who did not accept Paul's doctrines. Thus, Paul built up the "logical" sequence: those who disagree with his teachings are unbelievers (no matter their monotheistic beliefs); unbelievers are wicked; therefore, disagreement with Paul is wickedness which can and must be avoided by shunning those who reject his religious ideas and his unique "gospel." So effective has been this agenda that today if anyone questions Paul or his religious ideas which deviate from not only the Torah but the teachings of Jesus one is often said to be "possessed with demons." Study never hurt anyone; especially in light of the fact that it was considered the highest form of worship in the first century by Jews like Jesus!
Paul continued this theme in Rom. 16:17-18 when he urged his respondents "to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way, contrary to the teachings you have learned. Keep away from them....By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people."
Think with me for a minute. Paul was bringing to the Gentiles unfamiliar with Judaism a Jesus foreign to the Jerusalem Church and Paul knew that these Gentiles would never know the difference between the real and the counterfeit; especially when a little Judaism is merged with enough paganism to make it seem as if these Gentiles did not have to give up anything about their "godmen" and "mediators." Paul's unique religious synthesis of Gnosticism, Mystery Religions, and Judaism was a winner for those he intended to reach. The only problem is that the Jerusalem Church knew better and would not tolerate such things being taught in Jesus' name and thus Paul labeled them as "unbelievers" to those he approached in Asia Minor. Many not knowing the difference fell for it; but man did not who had occasioned the synagogues previously where Moses was taught! Here Paul would win few converts!
The same idea obsessed Paul in 2 Cor. 11:3-6 when he warned against being led astray by false apostles [again a reference to the Jerusalem apostles], as Eve had been beguiled by the serpent. He expressed disappointment in the people for their tolerance in listening to other apostles who preached a gospel different from his. No wonder; the lie would be exposed for what it really was and Paul's gospel shown to be false by those who personally knew Jesus and let us not forget that Paul never met him but relied on some supposed vision. Let us never forget that the New Testament mentions that a true qualification for being an apostle is that one must have been a witness to Jesus' ministry and Paul never qualified in this requirement; this is one reason among many besides his message that prevented the Jerusalem church accepting his "apostleship." It is more than probable that in the many rejections that Paul suffered in his ministry as well as the failure of his apostleship to be accepted by others as documented in Biblical as well as extra-biblical materials that Paul, after being rejected by the Sadducees and Pharisees, "sent himself;" a play off the the word "apostle." Never underestimate the ego of this man. No wonder his epistles are continually filled with his defense of his "apostleship" when it was challenged almost everywhere. But again let us not forget that winners write history and Rome made Paul a hero in the New Testament when extra-biblical materials indicate otherwise like the Ebionite letters and the Pseudo-Clementine epistles which provide damaging evidence to the portrayal of Paul in the New Testament.
He cautioned his listeners to beware of those who "are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us so that you may be zealous for them" (Gal. 4:17). This is an exact description of Paul's objective: to win over converts who would be committed exclusively to his doctrines and to turn those converts against their former beliefs and against those who still held them. In psychology it is called projection, for he projected onto the Judaizers his own methods and goals.
In the next part of this article we will examine Paul and how he handled his adversaries and see if he "followed what he preached." You might be surprised. Let us continue the second and last part of this article.
Paul endured no competition. He was not about to give the same quarter to others which he had been afforded. Prior to becoming the apostle exclusively to the Gentiles, Paul had preached to Jews in synagogues according to Acts. It is conventional wisdom among New Testament scholars to consider events in Acts which are not corroborated in Paul's epistles as unreliable. Despite this, some scholars, like Lloyd Gaston (in Paul and the Torah, p. 16) believe that Paul was a student of Gamliel, although there is no claim in Paul's letters to that effect or evidence in them of sufficient knowledge of Torah or even of Hebrew to warrant a conviction that he studied at such an advanced place of Jewish learning. In fact the evidence in many of Paul's epistles portrays Paul's inability to demonstrate Kal Va Homer which is one of the simplest ways Rabbis reasoned and taught. This shows the lack of mastery of Hebrew reasoning by Paul who is supposed to be a crack student of Gamilel. He and his colleagues had entered the synagogues of Greece and Asia Minor claiming to be Jews. They had been given freedom to preach about Jesus and his messiahship and resurrection. Of course they had gone beyond those beliefs of the Nazarenes and had propounded their own dogma. Wherever Paul had success in convincing his listeners, he did not want them exposed to any challenge to his philosophy or to any views which might attract his converts (back) to Judaism. Hence his constant warnings against contacts with "unbelievers," whom he transformed into the enemy. His successors learned Paul's lessons well and put them into practice.
Paul's strongest invectives against Judaizers are found in his Epistle to the Galatians. It might come as a shock to you but the most anti-Law passage in the Bible, Galatians chapter 3, was not in the Galatians Paul wrote but "appears" only in the Second New Testament put together after 180 A.D. by Irenaeus in his response to Marcion's First New Testament of 150 A.D. which was a collection of all the Pauline literature that existed "at that time." Somebody is writing in Paul's name telling us to reject the whole of the Law! Be that as it may, Paul denounced any other teaching other than his as false. His alone was true and only he had the true teachings of Jesus although he had never met him (THINK). He pronounced a solemn curse on those who preached a different doctrine from the one Paul taught (which again was a synthesis of Gnosticism, Mystery Religions, and Judaism). Let us read his words in 1:6-9:
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel--which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be cursed. As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be cursed.
Such was Paul's reaction to the competition of Judaizers! How different are these words from his self-righteous claim in 1 Cor 4: 12-13:
When we are cursed, we bless...When we are slandered, we answer kindly.
Not only did Paul's opponents not curse him--they do not record a single imprecation against him--but Paul would do otherwise and initiate the anathema. Nor was he slandered. His adversaries had come to clarify certain crucial religious matters. Paul's churches in Galatia (and possibly elsewhere) were visited by Christian Jews who preached at least a partial observance of Mosaic Law. Today, in normative Judaism, there is no such designation as a Christian Jew. Jews for Jesus are not considered Jews by any recognized group in Judaism. At the time of Paul, the Nazarene Church believed that Jesus was a messiah, not a deity, and that observance of Mosaic Law was incumbent on its adherents. This group was a sect of Judaism but does not reflect the main Messianic beliefs of mainline Judaism since the true Messianic Prophecies go unfulfilled. It persisted as a small sect for three or four centuries after Paul until its members merged with Christianity or Judaism. Most became Christians. After the Council of Nicea and Constantine's influence and by the fifth century there were no more Judaizing Christians or Jewish Christians. The immediate issue at hand was whether Christians of Gentile or Jewish background should observe Jewish law. Apparently missionaries from Jerusalem presented themselves and Paul as subject to the authority of the Jerusalem Church. Paul denied this and responded with vilification of his antagonists and their religious ideas.
Paul asserted that he received his commission directly from Jesus in a revelation and insisted on his complete independence from the Council in Jerusalem. He was to answer to no one! He went on to complain that the problem arose because "false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves" (Gal. 2:4).
The freedom Paul wanted was to distort the Torah by making spurious claims about it, such as insisting that the entire law must be obeyed in order for its followers to be in the covenant (receive salvation) and disregarding or denying the importance of repentance in Judaism for its adherents to achieve God's forgiveness (grace). But Judaism never taught the doctrine that one had to obey the Law perfectly to be saved as Paul would have us believe! This subversion of Judaism was offered to unsuspecting Gentile listeners and likewise it is yet done today to unsuspecting Gentiles who have not the slightest idea of what Judaism taught or real Biblical faith teaches about salvation as found in the Hebrew Scriptures. Many of the people who came to hear him mistakenly believed he represented the religion of the Jerusalem Church inasmuch as that was the central authority and original disseminator of the faith after Jesus' death. Ironically and historically this was not the case! Little has changed today when Christianity rely more on the epistles for sermon material than the Synoptic Gospels.
For all his claims of independence, Paul was obliged to report to the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15, Gal 2:1-9) and this shows us not only who has the authority but the true message of Jesus. Not only that but Paul is instructed to bring "atonement offerings" and "blood sacrifices" in the Temple by James, the leader of Jesus' church, long after Jesus is dead (30 plus years as seen in Acts 21) indicating they evidently did not believe Jesus was the final sacrifice for sin or anything for that matter as we have been taught after Rome infused pagan atonement into these religious documents and applied it to Jesus. He had been reluctant to submit to the Jerusalem church and had delayed visiting there for as long as he could. Accounts of Paul's preaching against the Torah had reached Jerusalem. The Council members were apparently disturbed enough to request his appearance before them and to send out envoys to clarify their position and to repudiate Paul's. If he indeed were not accountable to the Jerusalem Church, as he insisted, he would not have presented himself before it.
Paul recognized the implications for himself and his religion if the Galatians returned to Jewish practices. He met the danger head-on. He repeated the usual arguments of "justification by faith" and "no righteousness through law" and then pulled out all the stops as he resorted to hyperbole. He equated Judaism with enslavement. He rhetorically asked his listeners:
How is it you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you. (Gal 4:9-11)
If we take the time to "think" the above verse is very telling. The key word is "again" and from this we learn that Gentiles who had previously adopted Paul's "Torahless" gospel were not returning AGAIN to special days and months and seasons. Again this is code for Biblical Festivals and Sabbaths which they had given up when accepting Paul's gospel. But with the witness of the Jerusalem Church and other apostles of that day and age which carried with them the correction of Paul's theology they were now forsaking Paulinism and becoming "Judaizers" and this angered Paul. We see the same thing in the Antioch incident when the men from James comes to "spy out Paul's freedom" from the Law and under rebuke the whole church moves next door and leaves Paul without his church (see the series of articles on this website about the Antioch Incident). So what is depicted in this picture in Gal. 4:9-11 is a return to Jewish and Hebrew faith whereby these "Godfearers" were returning to Sabbaths and Biblical festivals which the Torah ordained for the non-Jew as well as the Jew.
What Paul feared was the loss of his converts in Galatia and the spread of this trend to other towns and cities and churches. In the heat of battle Paul defended his turf against those from whom he has snatched it in his proselytizing. With his back to the wall, he responded with name-calling and malicious comparisons. He termed the laws "miserable principles" and the return to them, enslavement. The "slavery" Paul threatened for observing special occasions has long since been taken over by his Church. Instead of the Sabbath day, Christians subsequently designated Sunday as holy. As for a special month in which there are restrictions or limitations, the Church was not lax in instituting such a custom. For six weeks before Easter, during Lent, Christians give up certain foods and engage in other rites to commemorate Jesus' fasting in the wilderness. How different is this in terms of restrictions from the mourning period which Jews observe during the month of Av, a Hebrew month which usually falls in August. For three weeks before the Ninth of Av religious Jews refrain from swimming or celebrations in memory of the destruction of both Temples. Paul may have referred to the first month of the Hebrew calendar as a special season for it marks the celebration of several holidays. Christians, likewise, enjoy a Christmas season which, for many, lasts well over a month. Although the Sabbatical year has not been incorporated into Christian theology, most academics eagerly avail themselves of its benefits. The observance of the sabbatical year in agriculture has proven beneficial to the earth and the farmers who depend on its produce whether or not they live by the Mosaic laws. Paul's warning of hardships--enslavement-- resulting from keeping special holy days and festivals by ritual practices was a red herring. Every nation, religion, and culture has its special events observed with specific rites or ceremonies that add a richness to the lives of the people and a uniqueness to the individual groups.
Good taste and fair play did not figure in Paul's preaching when he spoke of his opponents. He must have been in a rage when he wished "they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves." He was referring to his rivals who practiced and advocated circumcision (Gal 5:12) which Abraham, himself a non-Jew, did prior to his keeping the Passover in a prophetic sense (Gen. 17 and 18) where the Rabbis teach us that it was "unleavened" cakes that Abraham made after circumcising himself (a requirement for any Gentile to observe the Passover).
He accused the Judaizers of urging circumcision on his audience in order to become indistinguishable from the Jews and thereby to avoid persecution. The dishonesty of his claim was only surpassed by its irony in light of subsequent Jewish history. Both in Paul's time and afterward there was no record of Jewish persecution of Gentiles. Furthermore, the latter were welcome in their synagogues, a fact which caused Paul distress. In the course of history during which the Church reached ascendancy, Jewish men were identified by their circumcision for the purpose of Christian persecution; not the other way around as Paul would have us believe.
In the same manner of verbal excess which he used in Galatians, Paul wrote in PHIL 3:2:
Watch out for those dogs, those who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh.
Paul knew, either from his own experience since he claimed to be circumcised or from the many Jews he had met, that circumcision is not mutilation.
Paul's verbal assaults on his adversaries were often venomous, despite his avowal of love and the need for love of humanity. Although he said that the Spirit brought love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal 5:22), it didn't seem to have that effect on him; When he was dealing with opponents or competitors, his brotherly love disappeared into anathemas, namecalling, spurious accusations, and intimidation. His attacks showed neither restraint nor compassion. His extreme feelings and behavior project a picture of an unstable personality.
In the Epistle to the Colossians the author wrote of freedom from human regulations through life with Christ. The writer primarily reprimanded gnosticizing Christian tendencies, and secondarily, Judaizing tendencies.
This Epistle censures the worshipping of angels. The writer urged the Colossians to ignore talk of food and drink, festivals and the Sabbath day by people who worship angels (2:16-18). Within the context of the letter and the time it was written, this passage was not directed against Jews. Unfortunately, however, most non-scholars and typical Christians reading this letter generations and centuries later might well assume that Jews were the object of this criticism, inasmuch as they are principally associated with Sabbath observance and food restrictions. Since the author of Colossians connected the people who observed these practices with angel-worship, it seems necessary to note that Judaism forbids worshipping angels as it does people or another deity. In some pseudepigraphal writings there is mention of angels. This is precisely why such literature was unacceptable in the codified Jewish Scriptures. This charge was discussed in the previous chapter. Angels as "mediators" is not accepted in Judaism nor is any "mediator" which brings into question again Paul's theology:
1 Tim 2:5 5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; (KJV)
The chief motivation for the Epistle to the Hebrews was the fear of Christian converts backsliding to Judaism. The unknown author warned that a return to Judaism from Christianity would mean a permanent loss of salvation; there would be no second chance. "It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened...who have shared in the Holy Spirit,...if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance because they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace" (Heb 6:4-6 along with 10:26-31).
So we see that every technique available to the apostles was put into play to forestall the return of converts to Judaism or the participation in Jewish practices of Gentile Christians or Judaizing Christians. Paul expressed his determination to cut off access to his followers in his statement in 2 Cor. 11:12: "I will continue doing what I am doing to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be equal with us in the things they boast about." Christians, both Jewish and Gentile, were discouraged from any contacts, social or religious, with Judaizers and from continuing any Jewish observances alongside of Christian beliefs, for fear that such activity would weaken and undermine their Pauline Christian faith. These signs of insecurity are common among founders of new ideologies. They feel threatened and perceive the need to protect themselves by isolating their members from the established rival groups. Paul's efforts to prevent Jewish proselytizing and to preclude meaningful contacts between Jews and Christians set a precedent for his Church for hundreds of years after his death.
Another factor here was Paul's personality and ambition. Paul was a go-getter, par excellence. He originated a concept and, like a latter-day entrepreneur, he developed the market for it. He was a master of public relations and endowed with all the skills that profession called for: community organization, public speaking, fund-raising, familiarity with the potential patrons, and enthusiasm for the product. He had resourcefulness and a keen awareness of the competition. He tried to prevent competition where he could and fought it aggressively elsewhere in order to retain his clientele and enlarge his market share. As one scholar put it, "When Paul became a Christian, he gained status and power in the Christian community which he protected fiercely, especially when his authority was at stake" (A. Saldarini, Pharisees, Scribes and Sadducees, p. 143).
In this article much was given the reader to make him "think." Much of what is contained in this article comes from years of intense study and scrutiny of many documents that exist in a host of books and libraries on this topic. Church tradition is only as good as it reflects truth. Sadly Gentile Christianity has received a distorted image of the Paul of history as portrayed in documents in our New Testament which instead of truth often portray the antisemitic sentiments of the Gentile establishment called the Roman Catholic Church. Of course since being conditioned that said document is "infallible" since childhood no one perceives the need to study anything it seems and failing to do so sets himself to believe a lie since it is the only input one receives. When you rehearse lies you believe lies. What you do with this information is up to you but understand we as follower of Jesus have been sold a bill of good that is a fraud when compared with the truth as it existed in the Jerusalem Church in the first century among the true followers of Jesus. I challenge all our readers to try to prove this information wrong as it amply exists outside the pages of your New Testament; sadly it never made it's way onto the pages of our Bibles which Rome gave us. We have often worshipped God in vain and accepted a counterfeit Jesus of Rome's and Paul's making while James and the Jerusalem Church who knew Jesus personally and tried to counter Paulinism goes unheard today. Well, the rest if up to you; but if you read this article you have begun to break the shell on the redaction of Paul and his apostasy (see http://paulproblem.faithweb.com). Blessings...Craig Lyons M.Div.