Disinheriting the Jews: The use of Abraham in early Christian controversy with Judaism from Paul through Justin Martyr

My thesis is that an examination of the use of Abraham in early Christian writings provides an effective heuristic device for assessing the nature and extent of Christian controversy with Judaism from Paul through Justin Martyr. The following development emerges: Paul, a Jewish-Christian, uses Abraham to argue for Gentile inclusion in the promises of God, while safeguarding the integrity of God's promises to non-Christian Jews (Gal 3-4; Rom 4, 9-11; II Cor 11:22). Matthew, Hebrews, and James, all Jewish-Christians, use Abraham in keeping with stock Jewish usage (Mt 8, 22; Heb 11; Jam 2), on the one hand, but begin challenging non-Christian Jewish inclusion, on the other hand (Mt 1, 3; Heb 7). In addition, they make allowances for Gentile inclusion. Luke, a Gentile-Christian, also uses Abraham to argue for Gentile inclusion, as well as to revitalize non-Christian Jewish inclusion (Luke 1, 3, 13, 16, 19; Acts 3, 7, 13). John, a Jewish-Christian, uses Abraham to argue for Jewish exclusion from the promises of God (John 8). Early second-century authors (Barnabas, Ignatius, Aristides, Marcion, Heracleon, the Gospel of Philip), all Gentile-Christians, use Abraham to affirm Gentile inclusion and to question Jewish inclusion. Finally, Justin Martyr, a Gentile-Christian, uses Abraham to argue for Jewish exclusion from the promises of God, redefining these promises as applying to Gentile-Christians (Dialogue 119 et al.).;The study concludes with two final considerations: (1) an examination of the reasons for this progression, and (2) an analysis of the theological significance and necessity of this shift in early Christianity. As Paul perhaps shows (Rom 11:28-29), equating Gentile inclusion with Jewish exclusion was not theologically necessary for Christian self-understanding. Indeed, Paul saw the equation of Gentile inclusion with Jewish exclusion as a dangerous misunderstanding of the gospel itself.;Thus, while the earliest Christian generations used Abraham to argue for Gentile inclusion in the promises of God (Paul, Matthew, Luke-Acts), later Christians increasingly used the patriarch to argue for Jewish exclusion from the promises of God (John, Barnabas, Justin Martyr).