Abstract
During a period of time in the post-New Testament era, the boundary dates of which are debated by scholars but of limited significance for our purposes, there came about a gradual but ultimately clear ‘parting of the ways’ between the nascent Jesus-following movement that in due course came to be known as ‘Christianity’ and the contemporary Judaism in which it was inculcated and its cultural, theological and ethnic points of reference were first located.
It is interesting that the Apostle Paul never referred to this movement as ‘Christianity’ or to himself as ‘a Christian’; indeed, many scholars would argue that he never consciously left his native Judaism. ‘Christianity’, for Paul, was simply authentic Judaism, in full and faithful continuity with the nature, character and purposes of the God of Israel.
In the Early Church’s teaching and praxis, however, we see a developing recognition of the cultural, theological and ethnic implications of Jesus as the Messiah and the sending of the eschatological Spirit. This led to an emerging consensus that the context in which the movement was originally comfortable to be situated was no longer sufficiently compatible with it to continue to treat the two as fully consonant.
This paper explores the idea that an analogous ‘parting of the ways’ may in due course come about with respect to the Vineyard movement and the conservative evangelicalism in which it was inculcated and its cultural and theological points of reference were first located, notwithstanding that it can be expected to continue to affirm a shared heritage and family resemblance.
