Jewish Christians

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Jewish Christians, also called Hebrew Christians, Christian Jews or Judaizers, were Early Christians who maintained Jewish religious practices, from the period of the inception of Christianity until approximately the fifth century.

They are associated with the Jewish-Christian Gospels. Alister McGrath, former Professor of Historical Theology at the University of Oxford, claims that the 1st century Jewish Christians were totally faithful religious Jews. They only differed from other Jews in their acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah.

However as Christianity grew throughout the Gentile world, Christians were cut off from their Jewish roots.

Most notably, Marcionism, in the 2nd century, proposed that Christianity reject the Hebrew Bible and all Jewish connections, but this was declared heretical by Proto-orthodox Christianity, see also Biblical law in Christianity.

The topic of Jewish Christians is important to Christian restorationists who propose that the first century Apostolic Age represents a purer form of Christianity that should be restored in the church as it exists today. See Christianity and Judaism for differences and Judeo-Christian for commonalities between the two Abrahamic religions as they exist today.

See also