The Gospel of John claims to have been written by an eyewitness, and scholars note a high degree of verisimilitude with regard to first century Galilee and Judea – Jewish ritual and festival practice, geographic and topographical awareness, and a more probable historiography. The Synoptics, for example, see the high priests demanding Jesus' execution for blasphemy, while John has the high priests agree to execute Jesus as necessary to forestall an inevitable Roman reaction if his movement continues to gain traction. John's chronology, of a three-year mission, of the Passion, is favoured by scholars over the Synoptics.
If, however, the author of John is indeed an eye-witness, and with Peter and James one of the triumvirate of the Jerusalem Church, then the question of his apparent anti-semitism is a recurring problem, if not inconceivable, because all our reference outside the Gospel of John is of a community of Jews practicing Judaism and understanding themselves as 'within' Judaism. Even the writings of Paul, which highlights nascent tensions, nevertheless show that Paul was a Jew and saw his mission to the Gentiles within a Jewish context.
One clue might be the author's neologism, a new term, and that is ἀποσύναγωγος (aposynágōgos), literally "put out of the synagogue", used in the sense of "excommunicated": John 9:22 "These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue." John 12:42 "Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue." John 16:2 "They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service."
It seems the term was coined by the author of John's Gospel, as it occurs nowhere else. It likely reflects a situation in which followers of Jesus and a synagogue congregation were confronting each other. The most important Jewish prayer, recited daily, facing Jerusalem, known as the Amidah ('Standing Prayer'), was amended, after the destruction of the Temple (70CE), to offer an ironic "blessing on the apostates" (Birkat Haminim), the 12th of 18 benedictions, being a curse against heretics and sectarians, notably Christians. The term aposynágôgos in the gospel most likely reflects a history of conflict between Jews and Christians that had already been in existence for some time.
Significantly, though, is that tensions between the two, "Christianity" and "Judaism", becomes progressively defined during the 2nd century. All such texts (other than John) date from that era – in the letters of Ignatius of Antioch, "Christianity" and "Judaism" are used in opposition; the Letter of Barnabas poses a radical contrast between God’s covenant with Israel and his covenant with the Christians; Justin Martyr's First Apology and Dialogue with Trypho both seek to argue that the meaning of the Jewish Scriptures is exclusively fulfilled in Christ and Christianity.
The view is more likely that the author of the gospel is writing at a time when Jews and Christians are increasingly in competition, a time in which some Christians are beginning to redefine their beliefs away from the strictly Jewish outlook of the earlier Jesus Movement. All of our data suggest that this kind of competition was only really happening in earnest in the second century as some Christ-following groups and individuals began to define themselves away from Jews and Judaism; we do not have, conversely, examples from this period of Jews excluding Christians from Jewishness.
The evidence suggests that lines of demarcation between the two were far less clear and unequivocal than early Christian writings might suggest. Some Gentile converts to Christianity may have believed they had an obligation to adopt a Jewish lifestyle. Christians of Jewish origin may have believed themselves justified in continuing to practice Jewish rites. What is not clear is whether Jewish converts to the Christian faith regarded themselves as "Christian Jews" or as "Jewish Christians," or whether they considered the labels "Jew" and "Christian" as contradictory or complementary.
We may fairly presume that attitudes varied, across regions, communities, and even among individuals. There were Jews who became Christians, yet observed purity laws, the Jewish Sabbath and circumcises their sons. Even those Greeks and Romans who felt drawn to Judaism and its customs clung to the religious practices after they converted to Christianity. Meanwhile, Gentile Christians who had nothing to do with Judaism continued to attend pagan temples and sacrificial feasts. To describe the relationship between Jews and Christians as a "parting of the ways" does not do justice to this diversity.
Alongside all this, if we view the above as between 'orthodox' Christianity and 'orthodox' Judaism (there actually being no such thing), then there are those who began to observe heterodox Jewish and Christian speculations, so as to fall somewhere between our two proto-orthodoxies. The 'Gnostics' were such a group, and their allegiance to either one or both, or neither, only served to confuse the issue.
If, however, the author of John is indeed an eye-witness, and with Peter and James one of the triumvirate of the Jerusalem Church, then the question of his apparent anti-semitism is a recurring problem, if not inconceivable, because all our reference outside the Gospel of John is of a community of Jews practicing Judaism and understanding themselves as 'within' Judaism. Even the writings of Paul, which highlights nascent tensions, nevertheless show that Paul was a Jew and saw his mission to the Gentiles within a Jewish context.
One clue might be the author's neologism, a new term, and that is ἀποσύναγωγος (aposynágōgos), literally "put out of the synagogue", used in the sense of "excommunicated": John 9:22 "These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue." John 12:42 "Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue." John 16:2 "They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service."
It seems the term was coined by the author of John's Gospel, as it occurs nowhere else. It likely reflects a situation in which followers of Jesus and a synagogue congregation were confronting each other. The most important Jewish prayer, recited daily, facing Jerusalem, known as the Amidah ('Standing Prayer'), was amended, after the destruction of the Temple (70CE), to offer an ironic "blessing on the apostates" (Birkat Haminim), the 12th of 18 benedictions, being a curse against heretics and sectarians, notably Christians. The term aposynágôgos in the gospel most likely reflects a history of conflict between Jews and Christians that had already been in existence for some time.
Significantly, though, is that tensions between the two, "Christianity" and "Judaism", becomes progressively defined during the 2nd century. All such texts (other than John) date from that era – in the letters of Ignatius of Antioch, "Christianity" and "Judaism" are used in opposition; the Letter of Barnabas poses a radical contrast between God’s covenant with Israel and his covenant with the Christians; Justin Martyr's First Apology and Dialogue with Trypho both seek to argue that the meaning of the Jewish Scriptures is exclusively fulfilled in Christ and Christianity.
The view is more likely that the author of the gospel is writing at a time when Jews and Christians are increasingly in competition, a time in which some Christians are beginning to redefine their beliefs away from the strictly Jewish outlook of the earlier Jesus Movement. All of our data suggest that this kind of competition was only really happening in earnest in the second century as some Christ-following groups and individuals began to define themselves away from Jews and Judaism; we do not have, conversely, examples from this period of Jews excluding Christians from Jewishness.
The evidence suggests that lines of demarcation between the two were far less clear and unequivocal than early Christian writings might suggest. Some Gentile converts to Christianity may have believed they had an obligation to adopt a Jewish lifestyle. Christians of Jewish origin may have believed themselves justified in continuing to practice Jewish rites. What is not clear is whether Jewish converts to the Christian faith regarded themselves as "Christian Jews" or as "Jewish Christians," or whether they considered the labels "Jew" and "Christian" as contradictory or complementary.
We may fairly presume that attitudes varied, across regions, communities, and even among individuals. There were Jews who became Christians, yet observed purity laws, the Jewish Sabbath and circumcises their sons. Even those Greeks and Romans who felt drawn to Judaism and its customs clung to the religious practices after they converted to Christianity. Meanwhile, Gentile Christians who had nothing to do with Judaism continued to attend pagan temples and sacrificial feasts. To describe the relationship between Jews and Christians as a "parting of the ways" does not do justice to this diversity.
Alongside all this, if we view the above as between 'orthodox' Christianity and 'orthodox' Judaism (there actually being no such thing), then there are those who began to observe heterodox Jewish and Christian speculations, so as to fall somewhere between our two proto-orthodoxies. The 'Gnostics' were such a group, and their allegiance to either one or both, or neither, only served to confuse the issue.