As the early Church emerged from the shadow of its Jewish roots, it found itself compelled to define its identity over against the synagogue. The defense of Christianity against Jewish objections became a necessary theological endeavor—not a rejection of Israel’s sacred heritage, but a proclamation that the promises made to the patriarchs had found their fulfillment in Christ. This apologetic engagement, rich in scriptural interpretation and marked by both reverence and rigor, was carried forward by the earliest Christian thinkers in dialogues that echo to this day.
Principal Sources of the Controversy
Two major works stand as pillars of early Christian argumentation against Judaism: the Dialogue of Justin Martyr with Trypho the Jew and Tertullian’s treatise Against the Jews. The former, constructed as a literary conversation, appears to draw upon actual debates between Justin and a Hellenized Jew named Trypho. In this dialogue, Justin methodically demonstrates that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Hebrew Scriptures.
Tertullian, in a more forensic Latin style, marshals prophecy and history alike to indict Judaism for rejecting its own Messiah. A third work, now lost, was composed in the early second century by Aristo of Pella: A Disputation of Jason and Papiscus concerning Christ. Though dismissed by Celsus for its allegorical interpretation, Origen deemed it valuable for general readers. The work reportedly ends with Papiscus, a Jew, embracing Christian faith and receiving baptism at the hands of Jason—a literary image of conversion through persuasion. Aristo, himself a Jewish Christian, hailed from Pella, the refuge city where Jerusalem’s believers had fled before its destruction.
I. Defensive Apologetics: Answering Jewish Objections
1. Christianity as Fulfillment, Not Apostasy
To the charge that Christianity was an apostate break from Judaism, apologists replied that the Mosaic law—especially its ritual and ceremonial elements—was never intended to be eternal. Rather, it was a shadow of the substance now revealed in Christ. The Decalogue’s moral precepts found their truest, most spiritual observance in the Christian life. Moreover, the Hebrew prophets themselves foretold a new covenant (cf. Isaiah 51:4ff; Jeremiah 31:31ff), signaling the provisional character of the old system.
Abraham’s justification occurred before his circumcision, and women—who could not be circumcised—were nonetheless saved, further proving that righteousness before God was not confined to legal observance.
2. The Servant Messiah and the Scandal of the Cross
To the objection that the crucified Jesus contradicted Jewish messianic expectation, Christians asserted a twofold appearance of the Messiah: first in humiliation, then in glory. This interpretive key unlocked numerous prophetic texts. The brazen serpent lifted in the wilderness (Numbers 21), the anguish of Psalm 22, the suffering servant of Isaiah 53, and the pierced shepherd of Zechariah 13—all prefigured the redemptive passion of Christ. The cross, far from a scandal, was the divine path to exaltation.
3. Divine Unity and the Dignity of the Son
Against the accusation that Christian belief in Jesus’ divinity violated monotheism, apologists emphasized their unwavering belief in one God. Yet the Hebrew Scriptures themselves hinted at a plurality within the divine unity. The plural in Genesis—“Let us make man” (Gen. 1:26)—the three angelic visitors to Abraham at Mamre (Gen. 18), and numerous theophanies (interpreted by Justin as christophanies) pointed to the mysterious self-disclosure of God in more than one person. The Messianic Psalms (e.g., Psalm 110) ascribed divine glory to the promised Son.
II. Aggressive Apologetics: Affirmative Arguments Against Judaism
1. Fulfillment of Prophecy
Above all, Christian apologists asserted that the Old Testament pointed forward to Christ in both prophecy and typology. Justin Martyr, especially, drew extensively from the prophets to map the gospel narrative onto Israel’s Scriptures:
- The Davidic lineage of Jesus: Isaiah 11:1
- The virgin birth: Isaiah 7:14
- His birth in Bethlehem: Micah 5:1
- The flight to Egypt: Hosea 11:1
- The forerunner’s appearance: Isaiah 40:1–17; Malachi 4:5
- The heavenly voice at baptism: Psalm 2:7
- The temptation in the wilderness: foreshadowed in Jacob’s wrestling (Genesis 32:24ff)
- Miracles of healing: Isaiah 35:5
- Crucifixion details: Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22
Yet in his zeal, Justin sometimes strayed into fanciful allegory. He saw in the two goats of the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16) symbols of Christ’s first and second comings. The twelve bells on the high priest’s robe became a type of the twelve apostles, whose sound, like that of the bells, rang out across the world (Psalm 19:4; cf. Romans 10:18).
2. The Judgment Upon Jerusalem
The destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 was cited as divine vindication of Christianity and judgment upon Judaism. Jesus had prophesied the city’s ruin, and when it came, the Church saw in it the hand of God affirming the new covenant. Josephus, though a Jew, offered a chilling, eyewitness account of the catastrophe—unwittingly furnishing the Christians with ammunition for their argument.
Tertullian, ever the legal advocate, summarized the entire tragedy as proof of prophecy fulfilled: the judgment foretold in Scripture harmonized precisely with historical events. For the apologists, this was not merely a political disaster—it was a theological turning point, a visible sign that the old had passed and the new had come.
References
(93) Dialogue with Trypho the Jew (Διάλογος πρὸς Τρύφωνα Ἰουδαῖον).
(94) Tertullian, Adversus Judaeos. Cf. also Cyprian’s Testimonia adversus Judaeos.
(95) Aristo of Pella, Disputation of Jason and Papiscus concerning Christ (Ἰάσονος καὶ Παπίσκου ἀντιλογία περὶ Χριστοῦ). Harnack dates the text to c. A.D. 135. The work disappeared by the seventh century.
(96) Isaiah 51:4ff; Jeremiah 31:31ff.
(97) Genesis 1:26; cf. Genesis 3:21.
(98) Genesis 18:1ff.
(99) Genesis 21:12.
(100) Genesis 19:24.
(101) Psalms 110:1ff; 45:7ff; 72:2–19.
(102) Psalm 19:4; cf. Romans 10:18.
(103) Tertullian, Adversus Judaeos, chapter 13.
