Split of Early Christianity and Judaism - Council of Jamnia

Council of Jamnia

A hypothetical Council of Jamnia circa 85 is often stated to have condemned all who claimed the Jewish Messiah had already come, and Christianity in particular. The formulated prayer in question (birkat ha-minim) however is considered by other scholars to be unremarkable in the history of Jewish and Christian relations.

There is a paucity of evidence for Jewish persecution of "heretics" in general, or Christians in particular, in the period between 70 and 135. It is probable that the condemnation of Jamnia included many groups, of which the Christians were but one, and did not necessarily mean excommunication. That some of the later church fathers only recommended against synagogue attendance makes it improbable that an anti-Christian prayer was a common part of the synagogue liturgy. Jewish Christians continued to worship in synagogues for centuries.

Other actions, however, such as the rejection of the Septuagint translation, are attributed to the "School of Jamnia". Early church teachers and writers reacted with even stronger devotion, citing the Septuagint's antiquity and its use by the Evangelists and Apostles. Being the Old Testament quoted by the Canonical Gospels (according to Greek primacy) and the Greek Church Fathers, the Septuagint had an essentially official status in the early Christian world, and is still considered to be the Old Testament text in the Greek Orthodox church, see also Development of the Old Testament canon.