Heresies

TRANSMISSION_LOG 2026.03.16 09:29

Jews

The idea of Judeo Christian values is a modern, Post-World War II invention and does not exist in theological reality.

Remnant Network · 6 min read

Definition and Identity

The term Jew is polyonic in the 21st century, encompassing a complex set of identities. It may designate a believer in Torah, a citizen of Israel, a secular intellectual, a person born of a Jewish mother, or a cultural participant.

Jewish identity, therefore, is multifaceted, often encompassing ethnic, religious, and cultural national affiliation.

The Evolution of Covenantal Identity

The covenantal journey begins universally, tracing its lineage through three distinct stages of appellation: Hebrew, Israelite, and Jew.

Universal Stage

The concept of Jew does not exist in the primeval history of Genesis 1 through 11. Covenantal identity begins with Adam, who represents the universal man, created in the image of God, and the prototype of priesthood, mediating creation back to God.

Noah represents the establishment of a universal moral law through the Noahide covenant, which is non-ethnic in character. The dispersion of humanity at the Tower of Babel marks the fragmentation of human unity, setting the stage for the progressive particularisation of divine revelation.

Hebrew (First Stage)

The transition to a particular identity begins with Abraham, who is first referred to in scripture as a Hebrew. The term Hebrew means one who crosses over—symbolically, one who crosses over from idolatry, pagan worship, or the sins of the fall, to the worship of the true God. Spiritually, the Hebrew is one who passes from death to life, foreshadowing the Pascal mystery of Christ. At this point, the term defines a spiritual trajectory and bears no ethnic connotation.

Israelite (Second Stage)

The identity narrows with Jacob, Abraham's grandson, who receives the name Israel, meaning one who wrestles with God. The Israelite moniker denotes a specific membership to the covenant nation. Under Moses, Israel is inaugurated as a theocratic nation, with the Mosaic covenant expanding the requirement not only to faith, but also to Torah, law, cult, and priesthood. At this stage, Hebrew becomes a broader ancestral term, while Israelite signifies national polity and citizenship.

Jew (Third Stage)

The term Jew derives from Judah, one of Jacob's sons. The term was not used to denote the collective Jewish community until post the Babylonian exile (roughly 6th century BC). This occurred because the Persians, during the diaspora, referred to the Israelites as Jews, as the tribe of Judah controlled Jerusalem and the Temple and was the tribe that resisted cultural assimilation the most while in exile. Following the exile, the term Jew crystallised, encompassing the ancestral Hebrew connotation, the national political identity of Israel, and the religious cultural identity.

Biblical Judaism versus Rabbinic Divergence

A necessary distinction exists between Biblical Judaism, practised at the time of Christ, and Rabbinic Judaism. Rabbinic Judaism is the dominant form established since the codification of the Talmud, occurring 200–500 years after Christ.

Theological Shift The destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD and the subsequent expulsion of Jews from the Roman Empire caused Jewish religious life to shift dramatically. With the priesthood and sacrifices gone, Rabbinic Judaism redefined identity as textual and communal, centering on rabbinic teachings, the Oral Law (Mishnah and Talmud), and synagogue worship. This change represents a divergence rather than a direct, unbroken continuation of the Hebrew tradition.

Orthodox Fulfilment Orthodox Christianity is the real inheritor of the Hebrew tradition. The period from Abraham to Christ is understood as the gestation of the church within the womb of Israel. The particularisation God used, such as circumcision, served as a biological identification of the covenant, which moves to a spiritual universalism in Christ. With Christ, chosenness is about a spiritual adoption, not ethnic descent. The continuation of Israel is through the Church, which is the spiritual Israel.

Later Historical Developments

Mystical and Governance Systems Further segmentation of Jewish identity occurred over the centuries:

Kabbalah: A Gnostic form of mysticism, added between the 12th and 16th centuries.
Kehilot System: A Jewish supra-natural governance structure, developed in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Hasidism: A mystical Ashkenazi movement rooted in Kabbalah, emphasising joy and spirituality.

The Enlightenment and Fragmentation

The Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment), primarily Ashkenazi-led, promoted rationalism and integration into European society. This push led to the split of Judaism into Orthodox, Conservative, and Reformed movements. During this period, ethnicity began to eclipse religious practice. Jewishness shifted from a covenantal faith to a cultural heritage, leading to the emergence of the secular Jewish identity, often defined by cultural heritage rather than religious adherence.

The Byzantine Perspective

The Byzantine Empire saw itself as the New Israel. They tolerated Jews as a restricted minority. Jews could live, trade, and worship privately but were forbidden to proselytise Judaism, blaspheme Christ, or hold public office that gave them power over Christians. Judaism was tolerated as a living proof of prophecy fulfilled, but viewed as spiritually incomplete, with imperial expectation urging ultimate conversion.

The Khazar Factor

Waves of pressure and forced conversion decrees pushed some Jews to migrate north along the trade routes of the Black Sea, coinciding with the rise of the Khazar Khaganate.

Khazaria, a Turk polity situated between the Caspian and Black seas, adopted Judaism as its official religion in the 8th or 9th century. The Khazar elite may have chosen Judaism as a mediator, seeing it as a foundation for both Islamic and Christian faiths, thus avoiding religious threats from the Byzantine Empire and the Caliphate. This created a safe political space for Jewish settlement. Some theories suggest Ashkenazi identity is a mixture of ethnic Jewish descent and the converted Khazar Jews population who migrated into Eastern Europe.

Modern Identity

The Holocaust and the subsequent establishment of the State of Israel (1948) secularised Jewish identity, merging political nationalism with ancient covenantal language. The State of Israel now functions as an eschatological symbol for many Jews.

This comparison outlines the fundamental theological and eschatological divisions between Rabbinic Judaism and Orthodox Christianity. The two traditions represent an absolute divergence in their understanding of the nature of God, the role of the Messiah, and the ultimate destiny of the world.

Divergent Views on Revelation

The primary point of friction lies in the concept of the Incarnation.

Orthodox Christianity: Affirms that the infinite God enters into the finite world. The Incarnation of Jesus Christ is viewed as the summit of divine revelation, the bridge between the Creator and the created.
Rabbinic Judaism: Insists upon the absolute transcendence of God. From this perspective, the infinite must remain separate from the finite; therefore, the Incarnation is viewed not as a mystery of faith, but as a logical and theological impossibility.

Eschatological Frameworks

The two worldviews move in opposite directions regarding "last things," creating an inherent antagonism in their respective visions of the future.

The Antichristological Conflict

The most profound tension arises from how each tradition identifies the figure of the Final Redeemer. These expectations occupy the same eschatological space but carry inverse valuations:

The Jewish Expectation: Awaits a political, fully human leader who will bring earthly peace and restore the nation of Israel.
The Orthodox Warning: Tradition warns of the Antichrist—a final deceiver who mimics Christ’s mission, denies His divinity, and offers a purely material, earthly salvation centred in Jerusalem.

What one tradition anticipates as the ultimate triumph of God’s will, the other perceives as the ultimate deception. The rejection of Christ's divinity is the foundational move toward the final confrontation between the true Christ and a deceptive earthly messiah.

Universalism and Chosenness

The Orthodox Church affirms that the covenant was fulfilled and universalised in Christ. The particularisation used by God ended in Christ, who then offered a universal transcendent worldview. The purpose of history is not national restoration, but cosmic transfiguration.

In contrast, the Jewish covenant is particular and remains tied to land and lineage.

The idea of Judeo Christian values is a modern, Post-World War II invention and does not exist in theological reality.