It was now faith and baptism alone that made one a circumcised, Torah observant, and a direct descendant of Abraham. The argument in my book is that Paul nevertheless believed that such Gentiles were in fact the most authentic sort of Jew, because in the wake of Christ’s death and resurrection the parameters of Jewish identity had been radically redefined. These were Gentiles who remained uncircumcised, did not keep kosher, observe the Sabbath, and so on. Nor were they Gentiles who, as part and parcel of the baptism into Christ, became circumcised, accepted the commandments of the Torah, and for all intents and purposes became Jews. These were not Jewish folks who believed in Jesus’ resurrection and expected his return, such as the apostles.

They expected Christ to return imminently to judge the world and they believed that their baptism would enable them to stand justified before him in that moment. It’s a term I used to describe the Gentiles in Paul’s communities who became baptized into the death and resurrection of Christ and as a result changed their fundamental orientation toward life. JDG: Actually, the term “Gentile-Jew” is supposed to be off-putting and confusing. What do you mean by “gentile” and “gentile-Jews”? SFS: I admit I felt a little trepidation picking up your book I found the title to be a little off-putting and confusing. That will have to wait until my schedule and my wallet permit it, however. Why? I suppose it’s because it’s such a crucial moment (pun intended) in the history of western civilization though, admittedly, thrice weekly sessions with a good analyst might unearth different motivations. The mystery of the historical Jesus, the puzzles in Paul’s epistles, the relationship of ancient Judaism to emerging Christianity–these questions fascinate me. When considering the field in which I would pursue a doctorate, I was given good advice by my mentors: choose a field whose questions keep you up at night. In rabbinical school I came under the tutelage of a number of rabbis who suggested that an academic rabbinate might be the best choice for me, among them Rabbi Michael Cook, professor of ancient Christianity. This pursuit led to studies of Judaism and Christianity in antiquity and eventually to a degree in religious studies. My own personal adventure began as an undergraduate student at Duke University, where I pursued seriously a childhood curiosity about ancient Roman culture. There are now a couple dozen Jews with expertise in early Christian studies and countless Jewish readers interested in books on the topic.

JDG: This question comes up less than it might have a few decades ago, as the number of Jews interested in the origins of Christianity has increased considerably. SFS: Congratulations on your new book! You probably get asked this a lot, but how did a nice Jewish rabbi and scholar like you get interested in Christian texts and the inter-Testamental period of history? Joshua Garroway, Assistant Professor of Early Christianity and Second Commonwealth and the Rabbi Michael Matuson Professorship for an Emerging Scholar, recently published his book Paul’s Gentile-Jews: neither Jew nor Gentile, but Both (Palgrave MacMillan, 2012) I once again had the pleasure of speaking with an HUC colleague about their latest work.

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