What is a Judaizer?
Very often, we in the "Torah observant" community of Christians tend to hear the term "Judaizer" thrown at us quite a bit, and yes, we've read Galatians.
If you're reading this, I imagine you are one of a few people; either your Torah Observant friend sent this article to you, you're curious about our organization's stance on the topic, or you yourself are dabbling into the Torah Observant movement but want to make sure you're not about to jump into a heresy or cult of some kind. Whatever the reason that brought you here, the term "Judaizer" is probably the second most misused and misapplied word in Christian rhetoric. The first place prize would go to the word "Pharisee."
The Traditional Christian Definition
Suppose you were to ask any lay Christian to define a Judaizer. In that case, you'd likely get an answer pretty close to something like this: "Anyone who teaches that you have to keep the Old Testament ceremonial laws such as Sabbath and Dietary laws." And this isn't without some precedent. This is the stance of the Council of Laodicea in 365 CE which was decreed in law 29:
Christians must not judaize by resting on the Sabbath, but must work on that day, rather honouring the Lord's Day; and, if they can, resting then as Christians. But if any shall be found to be judaizers, let them be anathema from Christ.
Here, we can already see that by 365CE, the word Judaizer became synonymous with keeping the Sabbath day of rest. "Judaizer" meant something like "doing anything the Jews do." Now, if this is the definition of "Judaizer," then yes, we would indeed be Judaizers because we do encourage Christians to observe the Sabbath.
However, the word Judaizer appeared long before the Council of Laodicea and even appeared in our Biblical texts. So we must ask, "Did this word retain the same understanding and meaning over 300 years later and across cultures?" Keep in mind that the council of Laodicea was comprised of Greek scholars while the Jewish Pharisee, Paul, who wrote the word referenced was a Hebrew scholar.
Judaizer, The Biblical Definition
The first time in Christian history we see the word used is by Paul himself. He only used the phrase once, and in Galatians 2:14, which reads:
But when I saw that they were not walking in line with the truth of the Good News, I said to Peter in front of everyone, “If you—being a Jew—live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?” (TLV)
That last phrase, "to live like Jews," comes from the single Greek word, ἰουδαΐζειν (ioudaizein). ἰουδαΐζειν is in the present active tense verb with an infinitive mood, meaning something more like "to become Jewish" or, as Young's Literal Translation puts it, "to Judaize" (or Judah-ize).
A complete elucidation of this verse is beyond the scope of this current work, but a short overview of the conclusions of this verse is necessary so that we can move on.
Paul here is addressing Peter for his hypocrisy in behavior. In context, a Jew at this time was not permitted to eat with a Gentile or partake in any food (mainly meats and wines) touched or prepared by him. Peter received a vision in Acts 10 in which he concluded its meaning to be that Gentiles are not considered "unclean" simply because they are not Jewish. The idea that Gentiles are inherently unclean because they aren't Jewish was the dominant position of Judaism at the time. Peter also says this to Cornelius when he goes to meet with him:
And he said to them, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean. (Acts 10:28 ESV)
So Peter began to associate more comfortably with Gentiles after this, eating at the same tables and generally treating them as equal to Jews. However, when "those of the Circumcision Party" showed up, Peter gave in to the peer pressure and separated himself from the Gentile's tables. Paul considers this singular act alone as "trying to compel the Gentiles to Judaize" or to become Jewish. How? By separating himself from the Gentiles, the message you send to them is "In order to be considered one of us, you'll have to stop being a Gentile."
In other words, he was compelling Gentiles to convert to Judaism legally. "Judaize" in this context means "to compel somebody to convert to Judaism.
As Tim Hegg notes in his Galatians commentary, the phrase "live like a Gentile" is likely a pejorative language that the Circumcision Party used to refer to anybody who was Jewish but closely associated with Gentiles. So the issue here is not that Peter is just trying to get Gentiles to celebrate the Sabbath or eat kosher. They are already in the synagogue and are likely doing those things whether Peter is at the table with them or not. He separated himself because they "aren't Jewish." It's logical for Paul to publicly scathe Peter for trying to "force conversion" on Gentiles rather than for such a harsh rebuke for something as simple as practicing a few Jewish customs. Especially since Peter should know better; he was the one who received the vision and proclaimed that Gentiles are not to be called "unholy or unclean."
The Messiah is Jewish, and His teachings are all Jewish teachings; this makes practicing Jewish customs inescapable for anybody coming into the faith. Keep in mind also that Christianity is not yet a separate religion by this point. The only religious affiliation for Jesus believers is a sect of Judaism known as "The Way":
“But this I confess to you, that according to the Way (which they call a sect), I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything written in the Torah and the Prophets." (Acts 24:14)
There is one other time in scripture when the word Judaize (ἰουδαΐζειν) appears. However, it's not in the Apostolic writings rather we find it in the LXX (Septuagint):
[...] and many of the Gentiles were circumcised, and ἰουδαΐζειν (became Jews), for fear of the Jews. Esther 8:17b
Galatians & Esther are the only scriptural writings containing the word, but the meaning is apparent in the first instance, "Judaize" means "to convert to Judaism." Paul used the same word in his letter to address Peter, who was separating himself from gentile believers in favor of this "Circumcision Party," whose stance is very clear. The Circumcision party are so called because they believe that all believers must fully convert to Judaism to be considered "saved."
An amplified translation of Galatians 2:14 is needed to reflect the original understanding:
But when I saw that they were not walking in line with the truth of the Good News, I said to Peter in front of everyone, “If you—being a Jew—associate with the Gentiles instead of separating yourself, how can you now separate yourself and force the Gentiles to become Jewish?” Galatians 2:14 (Amplified Translation)
This is the central message of the entire book of Galatians. The letter is entirely about discouraging Gentiles from converting to Judaism to feel "more included" or "equal." Paul's message to the Galatians has nothing to do with practicing Jewish customs. Paul's core message is, "Your salvation is NOT dependent on whether you're Jewish or not; the Good News is that you're a fellow citizen with us regardless of your status as a Gentile." The rest of the letter explains how being Jewish does not determine righteousness.
Jewish "works"
Galatians also suggests that doing works of law can't obtain righteousness. We agree that you cannot earn your way into the Kingdom of Heaven by just accomplishing deeds. Although this point is made clear in the letter a few times, this does not mean we are to dismiss the Torah and live sinful lives because "we cannot work our way into heaven" anyway. You can read more valid points against a works-based salvation in "Death is Very Good: Why do the righteous die?".
Just because Paul points out that the works of the Torah don't save you, it doesn't mean he taught anyone to break the Torah laws. It only means that no matter how much Torah one keeps, no matter how long they have been doing it, no matter how much they have accomplished, it doesn't earn them any favoritism in the eyes of Heaven.
What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may abound? May it never be! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Romans 6:1-2 TLV
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be! Romans 6:15 TLV
Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. 1 John 3:4 KJV
So then, the Torah is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. Romans 7:12 TLV
Party of Circumcision
Galatians also mentions a "Party of the Circumcision," which requires examination.
But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face because he stood condemned. For he regularly ate with the Gentiles before certain men came from James. However, when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, because he feared those from the circumcision party. (Galatians 2:11-12 HCSB)
This is a significant detail because it tells us precisely what the issue was. The word "circumcision" was often used as a sort of shorthand for saying "ritual proselytism" or "legal conversion to Judaism." The reason for this shorthand is self-evident; it's faster and easier to say "circumcision" than to say "legal conversion to Judaism via a baptism and a circumcision" every time. The circumcision is the final step of the process, so it makes sense to title the entire process by its goal.
The thing about "circumcision," however, is it's more than just the actual circumcision part itself. The conversion process is a long and tough one. The average conversion process can take months to years, depending on the situation. But for most non-Jews who have a heavy pagan background and almost no Jewish experience, that process will lean more towards the "few years" timeline. The conversion process involves many massive life changes that would overburden anybody. Things like the requirement to live within walking distance of a synagogue often mean one has to uproot his entire family and make massive, financially risky decisions to start the conversion process. Eventually, he will also have to replace everything in his kitchen to ensure that he has an entirely kosher home after his conversion.
Judaism is a lifestyle; it affects what you wear, how you dress, when you wake up, what you pray, how you pray, when you work, when you don't, what you can or cannot say, who you can or cannot do business with, what you eat, when you eat it, and the list goes on. And your fellow Jews are watching; they take notes and hold each other accountable for everything. Suppose you eat at a non-kosher restaurant, wearing your kippah and tzitzit. In that case, it will go noticed, and your local Rabbi will likely have a few words with you, even possibly declaring your home a non-kosher home, in which community members might no longer come to eat at your house as a result.
Such strict stipulations on conversion are actually for a good cause. If a person is not Jewish, then in the eyes of Judaism, if that person breaks the Sabbath, he is not liable to a Jewish court for the sin. This goes for any sin in the Torah; as long as a person is not legally Jewish, he is not held to the standards of "sin" as determined by both the Torah AND the Jewish courts such as the Sanhedrin. Remember, breaking the Sabbath has the death penalty, among other things, in the Torah. But once a person converts, he is immediately held liable to a Jewish court of law for any sins committed, both in the Torah and the Oral Law. If you convert a person too soon, you convert him into sin and possibly condemn him to death.
Now, if you are a natural-born Jew, you do not have to worry about any of these things. You were raised in this lifestyle, in the neighborhood already. It's all you know. You would never have to experience a conversion process; this lifestyle is easy for you comparatively. You don't have to "give up" bacon if you've never had it or stop going to non-kosher restaurants when you've never been to one. You don't have to learn a new language at 25 years old; you grew up praying in Hebrew and studying the Torah in the language. This fact alone should shed new light on Peter's words in Acts 15. the opening verse of the chapter tells us precisely what the issue at hand is:
Some men came down from Judea and began to teach the brothers: “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom prescribed by Moses, you cannot be saved!" Acts 15:1 HCSB
The Judaizers are in town, and so a debate kicks off. Eventually, Peter stands up to clear the air and presents an argument to settle this problem. Remember again, Peter had received a vision back in Acts 10 and concluded that Gentiles are saved, and this happened before they converted to Judaism. Thus, logically, this means that conversion to Judaism is not a prerequisite to salvation. In his statement, he says this line:
He made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts through faith. Why then do you put God to the test by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples—which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? (Acts 15:9-10 TLV)
Many Christians have thought this "yoke" to be the Torah and trying to live a Torah-observant lifestyle. But there are other topics of debate here. The debate is not about whether or not Gentiles should or shouldn't practice some Jewish customs; the debate is about whether or not you must be fully Jewish (with circumcision) to truly be a part of the Jewish faith with a Jewish messiah and saved with the Jewish people.
The Torah doesn’t demand perfection. It knows you will sin and that is why it provides a way to make it right. If the Torah required perfection without failure, then why would it include a way to make amends with G-d? This is why Paul stated, ‘the Torah was added because of sin’ (Galatians 3:19). He did not mean that the people are sinful, and G-d wanted to make it worse! G-d is not some almighty sadist. G-d gave the Torah in response to (because of) sin as a remedy to it. The Torah is not a “yoke” nobody can bear; the Torah is meant to lift off a yoke of sin and death.
The specific "yoke" that Peter is speaking about is the incredibly long and challenging lifestyle change required with conversion. This "yoke" is one that Peter himself, or any other born Jew, never had to bear. All the natural-born Jews never had to convert; they never had to leave their families and friends, and they never had to change their entire lifestyle and eating habits. And to make somebody suddenly convert, or to make a condition of salvation legal Jewish status, is not only a yoke that nobody could bear, but would also mean that salvation is in fact "works based" or "earned by your own efforts" rather than freely given to those who place their faith in the one true G-d.
Peter probably chose the word "yoke" here to draw upon Yeshua's words, "for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:30). Peter did not mean to call the Torah a yoke nobody could bear. If he did, then by his admission, it was something that he had no trouble with bearing all his life. In Acts 10, Peter says, "I have never eaten anything unholy or unclean." So it's not impossible. The yoke here is the prerequisite to being Jewish in order to receive salvation.
Can you imagine receiving the Holy Spirit one day, in a massive fanfare of an event when the disciples came, and you now believe in the G-d of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob and in Jesus/Yeshua (His Messiah). The keys to the kingdom of Heaven are in your hands; you are now an adopted son of the Most High G-d. But then someone tells you:
"You might think you're saved, but you aren't. What you need to do is fully convert and be Jewish. Then, if you sin after your conversion, you'll be taken to trial before a Jewish court and punished for it. The process can take a few years, but if you really want to be saved, we can convert you this week. How does that sound?"
These are the Judaizers, and this is their stance. Judaizers are those who insist you must fully convert to Judaism legally to be "saved." They are called Judaizers NOT because they teach Gentiles to participate in Jewish customs, but they are so-called Judaizers because they insist that only Jews can be saved. So one must "become Jewish" (ἰουδαΐζειν) to be considered "saved" and "clean enough to associate with."
Now, this proposal to require believers to become Jewish is not unfounded. The idea was that many Jews felt uncomfortable with allowing pagans to come into synagogues and pollute their sacred spaces with idolatry. One way to ensure no pagans are coming into the synagogues is to restrict entry to only Jews. This way, they know for a fact that pagans aren't in their sacred space touching all the kosher food and secretly dedicating it to a pagan idol and deeming it non-kosher. That's one solution, but it's a harsh one. But how will anyone learn how to convert if they aren't allowed in a synagogue where it's taught? This is one of many problems with this approach.
Another solution is to take the risk and let every pagan mosey into the sacred spaces. This is intolerable and not a real option. So, in Acts 15, they hold a council and compromise. They devised four rules for Gentiles to prove they had left paganism behind to enter the synagogue and learn the Torah.
Therefore, I judge not to trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God— but to write to them to abstain from the contamination of idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what is strangled, and from blood. For Moses from ancient generations has had in every city those who proclaim him, since he is read in all the synagogues every Shabbat.” Acts 15:19-21 TLV (emphasis added)
It's rather apparent that if the problem is with Gentiles practicing a few Jewish customs, then they wouldn't be so candid about letting Gentiles into synagogues on the Sabbath to learn the Torah.
Are we Judaizers?
So, are we Judaizers? It depends on who you ask. As we already discussed, the term Judaizer meant initially "to compel somebody to convert to Judaism." This is the Biblical definition of the word. But as time went on and anti-semitism grew more rampant in the Church, the term evolved into meaning "anybody who teaches anyone to do anything remotely Jewish, or to practice any law from the Old Testament." This evolution took place because anti-semitic church fathers needed to draw clear distinctions away from Judaism in every possible way. This blind hatred for Jews eventually meant that the religion would look nothing like its original form in the Apostolic writings. Furthermore, what was previously a 'sect' would then become a separate 'religion' by going out of its way to sever any connection to Judaism. Thus, "Judaizing" would eventually come to mean "any (and all things) Jewish," which even included the very thing Christians called "scripture," the entire Tanakh (Old Testament).
Marcion's heresy and anti-semitism went too far even for most Christians in his day (to completely cut out the Old Testament from the Bible) but not far enough to throw out all of his ideas. His signature remains on every Christian bible printed to this day, in the form of a single page labeled "Old Testament." He coined this term because he thought of the Tanakh as too Jewish and, therefore, "old" and without worth to Christians. After all, in the opinion of Marcion, the Christians have a "New" (as in "better" and "not Jewish") Testament.
So, if you ask most Christians and go by their definition, then yes, we are Judaizers. But if you want the Biblical definition, then no, we are not Judaizers at all. We teach that Christians should shake off the shackles of historic Christian anti-semitism and embrace the Judaic roots of their faith. Should followers of the Jewish practicing Messiah live in a manner that emulates the Messiah?
Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of G-d is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. 1 John 2:4-6 ESV
Should we not be imitating Paul and Jesus as they both lived?
Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you [Paul] yourself also live in observance of the law. Acts 21:24b ESV
Be imitators of me [Paul], just as I also am of Messiah. 1 Corinthians 11:1 ESV
We do not instruct or compel believers to convert to Judaism. We do not teach a "works-based religion." We teach that Torah practice is what the Christian lifestyle was originally intended to (and is supposed to) look like. We do not demand that one keeps the entire law for salvation; we only encourage the believer to live a lifestyle that emulates their savior, Messiah. Being a Christian means striving to be like Christ, actively working to "sin less," but that doesn't require one to be "sinless."
This is no different from churches telling their congregants to change lifestyles. To "let your light shine," or "be a servant/slave to Christ, living in obedience to him," and "preach the gospel with your actions, not your words." Christians tell other Christians to partake in communion, to go to church regularly, to pray regularly, to not have sex before marriage, to not be a drunkard, to value integrity and kindness, and to love people in meaningful ways and change the world around you one small act of love at a time. This is a picture of the "Christian lifestyle" most people have come to expect now, but one could just as quickly say the same about these things as they typically do about the Torah. "Go to church regularly? Give tithes? Take communion? Get baptized? Seems like a works-based salvation to me." The obvious answer here is the same answer we give for our Torah practice: "No, these things don't save you; they are a reflection of our salvation."
Our Torah observance is not an attempt to be sinless, but we attempt to sin less out of love for G-d. Additionally, we are certainly not "more righteous" due to our practice of the Torah. Our Torah practice is also not an attempt to earn or to keep our salvation; it is our response to the free gift of salvation. We don't see Torah observance as something we have to do; it's something we get to do! Just like the mixed multitude at Sinai chose to follow Torah out of love for G-d. The Torah lifestyle is beautiful and enriches your walk. Yeshua is in every aspect of life in the Torah, and we get the privilege to walk in the footsteps of the Master as he desired for us.
But whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God is truly made perfect. We know that we are in Him by this— whoever claims to abide in Him must walk just as He walked. 1 John 2:5-6 TLV
For this is the love of God—that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome 1 John 5:3 TLV
Torah observance isn't about salvation; it's because of salvation. We should be asking ourselves, "What would G-d want?" Isn't Jesus a reflection of G-d's desires? And as people who claim to be disciples of that reflection, we should ask, "What would Jesus do?"
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