Motywy i formy żydowskich prześladowań pierwotnego Kościoła (I-II w. po Chr.)

Abstract

The persecutions of Jesus and the members of the ancient Church are well attested by Christian (New Testament, early patristic) and Jewish (early rabbinic) sources. The present article, using these sources, tries to answer the question: what are the motifs and forms of Jewish persecutions in the time of Jesus and after His death in the early Christian communities? In the center of this polemic is the person of Jesus and new optics of issues crucial for Judaism such as: monotheism, the observance of Torah, the Temple, election, covenant and relation to the new believers from the pagan world. The persecutions have the forms of verbal (insults, derisions, slander) and physical (excommunication from the Synagogue, proceedings at courts, flogging, imprisonment, murders) attacks. The author puts the emphasis on the polemic aspects of the relation between the Synagogue and the Church in the early stage of their development. The battle for the identity of the true Israel (verus Israel), between two religious communities, leads to hostility and separation. Taking this issue into consideration is the basis for authentic dialogue between Judaism and Christianity today.