Posted 1/4/2025 – In Paula Fredrikson’s YouTube video “When Does Christianity Begin…” during the Q&A a young lady asked Paula if she understood correctly what Paula was saying about Paul being a Judaizer. Paula’s response to the audience began forcefully that the young lady made “a very rich comment”
The gist of the question was to confirm that Paul was “requesting of those to whom he’s writing is to accept Jewish theology in some way, and Jewish ethics, and what he’s allowing them to dispense from are just a few very particular rituals and practices that he thinks, well, maybe not everyone has to do i.e. the Sabbath, keeping kosher, circumcision, and purity. Those four practices are the ones his opponents are arguing with him about practice, what to do with Gentiles. Paul’s Jewish opponents, let’s say, Jewish Christians and others who are opposed to him, are not arguing with him about Christology.
My List of the four things the young lady cited that Paul said Gentiles did not have to do that made Jews separate. Paula stressed that Paul was still saying obey, but the Gentiles do not need to do what Jews do to maintain their Jewish identity.
- Keeping the Sabbath,
- keeping kosher,
- circumcision, and
- purity
The transcript of the question and responses is below.
[Question from the Audience] – Hi, first of all, thank you for two really wonderful papers. I have a question, actually, maybe that connects the two, but I was really intrigued by the idea that Paul is a Judaizer, and what he’s requesting of those to whom he’s writing is to accept Jewish theology in some way, and Jewish ethics, and what he’s allowing them to dispense from are just a few very particular rituals and practices that he thinks, well, maybe not everyone has to do, even though Jews typically do those, and the ones that come to mind for me are the Sabbath, keeping kosher, circumcision, and purity, and those are all things that are explicitly, sort of rhetorically and practically, things that distinguish Jews from others, right?
They’re the things, the Sabbath through time, interactions, and so maybe one way, and I think this is what you were getting at, but I wanted to ask if this is what you meant, was Paul actually was Judaizing, but also wanted to dispense from the things that were designed to create difference, and that was what maybe wasn’t required of everyone, and Jews could continue doing those things, but the project itself was still a Jewish project with those things sort of mitigated.
[Paula Fredrikson]
This is a very rich comment. Does everybody understand?
I’m thinking of Isaiah, which provides the bony structure for the Epistle to the Romans, and at the end of time, when, as Paul says, the full number of the nations and all Israel is saved, and Isaiah, they’re all gonna come to Jerusalem, and there’ll be parking for everybody. It’ll be America. That’s not just a pleasant abstraction.
He’s talking about the 70 nations descended from Noah’s three sons, and he’s talking about all 12 tribes, both of which are an eschatological concept. We don’t have anything from Paul saying what Jews should do. We only have him yelling at ex-pagan pagans about what they should do, and the things he’s specifically telling them to do.
I mean, not worshiping idols is a bizarrely Jewish thing. I mean, look at Menachem, don’t believe me, look at Menachem Stern’s, but I mean, it’s one of the things everybody comments, so it’s just because of the rhetoric in Galatians when Paul is yelling at Peter about being a Judaizer that determined the next 20 centuries of Christian historiography, missing the point that Paul himself is asking. There’s no reason why Gentiles should do all those Jewish things.
They’re not becoming Jews, but they’re becoming, as one of my colleagues puts it, Jew-ish, right? Sort of a little bit like, they’re becoming eschatological Gentiles now, and that’s the now, not yet.
Shaul Shaked, Academy Member, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem adds to Paula’s comment:
Just a comment on the side. This is really important because, you have identified what are really the issues with which Paul is concerned, and those who think that Paul is a founder of Christianity in a high Christological sense. I wouldn’t deny that he thinks a great deal about Jesus and so forth, but what is very, very interesting, and I think James Dunn, at one point, pointed this out as he was arguing with Larry Hurtado about high Christology, low Christology, and so forth, is that Paul’s Jewish opponents, let’s say, Jewish Christians and others who are opposed to him are not arguing with him about Christology.
There’s very little indication of that, but are arguing with him about practice, what to do with Gentiles, and I think that’s actually quite interesting, and that dovetails nicely with the emphasis of your lecture.
[Paula Fredrikson]
That’s a tremendous relief to hear you say that. Right, so as if all Jews in the late Second Temple period were on the same page about how to act Jewishly, extend the argument for how Gentiles are now supposed to act Jewishly as well, and you now understand why Paul is doing so much yelling in his letters.
From Claude.ai in response to the prompt: Do any critical bible scholars say that Paul said Gentiles did not have to do that, which made Jews separate? That is that Paul still said one must obey the torah, but Gentiles do not need to do what Jews do to maintain their Jewish identity; i.e. Keep kosher, keep the sabbath, purity.
Response – Yes, several critical scholars argue that Paul maintained Torah observance for Jews while exempting Gentiles from identity markers like kashrut, Sabbath, and purity laws. This is often called the “Paul within Judaism” perspective.
Key scholars and their arguments:
Mark Nanos argues that Paul never told Jews to abandon Torah observance. Instead, Paul’s conflict was about whether Gentile believers needed to become Jewish (through circumcision and full Torah observance) to be part of God’s people. Gentiles could remain Gentiles while being included in Israel’s covenant.
Pamela Eisenbaum contends that Paul distinguished between the Torah’s role for Jews (covenant maintenance) versus Gentiles (who are “righteoused” through faith without becoming Jewish). Jews keep Torah as their ancestral tradition; Gentiles don’t need these ethnic boundary markers.
Magnus Zetterholm emphasizes that the “works of the law” Paul critiques are specifically identity markers that separate Jew from Gentile—circumcision, food laws, Sabbath—not moral Torah requirements. Paul opposed requiring these of Gentiles, not Jewish observance of them.
Paula Fredriksen argues Paul expected Jewish Jesus-followers to remain Torah-observant while Gentiles lived as “righteous Gentiles.” The conflict in Galatians and Romans wasn’t about Torah itself but about imposing Jewish identity practices on non-Jews.
This reading sees Galatians 2:11-14 (the Antioch incident) as about table fellowship boundaries, not about whether Jews should keep kosher—Peter withdrew from eating with Gentiles, which Paul opposed because it implied Gentiles needed to become Jewish.
