Editing Christianity and Judaism (section)

=== Jewish Christians ===
{{Main|Jewish Christian}}
{{unreferenced section|date=July 2020}}
Some scholars have found evidence of continuous interactions between Jewish-Christian and rabbinic movements from the mid- to late second century CE to the fourth century CE. Of particular importance is the figure of [[James, brother of Jesus|James the brother of Jesus]], the leader of the Christian Church in Jerusalem until he was killed in the year 62, who was known for his righteous behavior as a Jew, and set the terms of the relationship between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians in dialogue with Paul. To him is attributed a letter which emphasizes the view that faith must be expressed in works. The neglect of this mediating figure has often damaged Christian-Jewish relations. Modern scholarship is engaged in an ongoing debate over which term should be used as the proper designation for Jesus' first followers. Many scholars believe that the term Jewish Christians is anachronistic given the fact that there is no consensus on the date of the birth of Christianity. The very concepts of Christianity and Judaism can be seen as essentializing, since these are changing and plural traditions. Clearly, the first Christians would not have believed that they were exchanging one religion for another, because they believed that the [[resurrection of Jesus]] was the fulfillment of [[Messiah in Judaism|Jewish prophecies]], and they believed that the mission to the gentiles which was initiated by Saul (Paul of Tarsus) was a secondary activity.  Some modern scholars have suggested that the designations "Jewish believers in Jesus" and "Jewish followers of Jesus" better reflect the original context.