03_Biblica_Foster_Layout 1 08/07/13 12:56 Pagina 382 03_B 382 PAUL FOSTER tenable in the first decades of the Jesus movement 48. Jewish Christian is used to denote those individuals who, while ethnically Jewish, had either by choice or necessity been driven to set up their own com- munities outside the confines of traditional Jewish society and insti- tutions such as the synagogue. It is feasible that they maintained a high level of Torah observance and remained wary about contact with Gentiles. Gentile Christianity is seen as essentially a law-free form of Christianity, which, while claiming continuity with historic Israel in the form of prophetic fulfilment of scripture, did not subscribe to the boundary-marking practices of Judaism. Such communities might have included both ethnic Jews and Gentiles, and consequently they could openly recruit new members from both groups. However, such groups are understood as not typically practicing circumcision, Sab- bath observance, Jewish festivals or the maintenance of dietary laws. Obviously between these two theoretical options in practice numer- ous variations are possible. III. The Social Location of Q In order to determine the social location of the author and original readers of Q it is helpful to consider the attitudes the document might reveal towards group practices and ideologies, religious commitments and institutional adherence. Since the reconstructed Q document pro- vides few if any self-referential comments about its social location, geographical provenance, or its historical circumstances, one must infer evidence for social location from the values and perspectives es- poused in the text. In what follows, four potential indicators are con- sidered that may cast light on the relationship between the document and the Judaism of its day. In turn these indicators are descriptions of synagogues in Q, statements concerning Torah, attitudes towards Gen- tiles, and the description of Israel as faithless or unbelieving. The exact point at which this type of adherence to Jesus ceased being ten- 48 able is hard to determine. Probably by the time of the pronouncement of the birkat ha-minim such an option was ruled out, but depending on the date assigned to Q, this may have been a possible option for that community. Another possible end- date for this form of commitment to Jesus may have been the destruction of Jerusalem, with triumphalist claims being articulated by supporters of Jesus. Ob- viously the change was a process rather than an event occurring at a fixed point. © Gregorian Biblical Press 2013 - Tutti i diritti riservati