The apostolic constitutions: Judaism and anti-Judaism in the construction of Christianity

The Apostolic Constitutions, composed in fourth century Antioch, has been classified by some scholars as part of the "Adversus Ioudaeos" literature ubiquitous among early Christian writings based on the anti-Jewish rhetoric of this work. At the same time, for over a century scholars of Jewish and Christian liturgy have commented on the "Jewish" prayers in Books 7--8 of the Apostolic Constitutions. Adding to the confusion are the facts that the compiler of the Apostolic Constitutions has a positive view of the law, including Sabbath rest, and uses Scripture, particularly Hebrew Scripture, to authorize his model of the Church.;This dissertation examines the ways that the compiler uses Scripture, writes about the law and incorporates "Jewish" prayers into the Christian liturgy of the Apostolic Constitutions. What kind of Christian was a compiler who accepts Jewish prayers (albeit in Christianized form) and promotes observance of the Sabbath? How does this fit with his anti-Jewish statements, as well as his distinctions between natural law and deuterosis ?;In this study of the Apostolic Constitutions, I have found that there were looser boundaries between Jews and Christians than have been presumed by scholars who seek to classify early Christian literature as orthodox, heretical, or Jewish-Christian. This close reading of the Judaism and Jewish practices in the AC has shown that the compiler uses Judaism as a way to negotiate what he believes a Christian should be and do, at the same time that he expresses his separation from Judaism with his anti-Jewish rhetoric. The compiler of the Apostolic Constitutions, like many early Christian writers, was negotiating the problem of Christian identity.