예수와 이방인의 구원

Abstract

Commonly we think Judaism as a ethnocentric religion. According to this common sense Jews despised gentiles and did not regard them as the objects of salvation. Jesus, the founder of Christianity raised objections against this Jewish particularism and opened the way of salvation for the whole world. But this common sense is absolutely false. In the time of Jesus Jews recommended the Gentiles to believe Judaism. If they resolved to convert, Jews welcomed them as fellows. Furthermore there were evidences proving the missions of Jews toward Gentiles. Even though these evidences were scarce, we can not gainsay that the efforts of Jews to convert Gentiles were sincere. Nevertheless there are basic differences between the attitude of Jews toward Gentiles and that of Christians. While Jews enforced the Gentiles who wanted to convert to keep the Law, the Christians did not impose any regulation upon them. And while Jews did not carried active mission, Christians regarded active mission as their first task. This difference led to the separation of the two religions. I examined whether the active mission of Christians was based on the teaching of Jesus or not. When the leaders of the Church of Antioch and Saint Paul argued that Christians should carry on the active mission and should not enforce the Gentiles to observe the Laws, the conservative members of Jerusalem Church opposed vehemently. To settle the dispute the apostolic council of Jerusalem was held in 49. In this council James the brother of Jesus and Peter took sides with the leaders of the Church of Antioch. If the arguments of the leaders of the Church of Antioch were contradictory to the teachings of Jesus they could not agree with the leaders of the Church of Antioch. James and Peter accepted the argument of the leaders of the Church of Antioch after reviewing the teachings of Jesus. The apocalypticism of Jesus and the teaching on the Law were crucial to them. Although Jesus limited the boundary of his activity within Judea and Samaria, he taught the end of the world imminent. When the end of the world came, the Gentiles as well as Jews would participate in the kingdom of God. And Jesus taught that the spirit of Law was important in observing Law. The leaders of the Church of Antioch and Saint Paul combined these two teachings of Jesus and argued that Christians should accept the Gentiles as true fellows without enforcing to observe the Law. James and Peter agreed with them in this point. Therefore the mission of christianity came from the teachings of Jesus.