show_no_mercy

Is there any way to know whether Christians prior to the fall of the 2nd Temple were making sacrifices at the Temple?

Toto

There is no hard evidence that Christians existed before the fall of the 2nd Temple. There are a lot of reports (from Paul and Acts, FWIW) of Christians attending Jewish synagogues in the Diaspora, but there is a general lack of evidence of Christianity in Jerusalem. If Christians considered themselves to be a Jewish sect, they might have sacrificed at the Temple, but no one has ever mentioned it.

andrewcriddle

FWIW Acts 21:23-26 represents Paul as planning to participate in a sacrificial offering at Jerusalem. (A riot prevents him.)

Andrew Criddle

Toto

Interesting question.

Do we know that the offering in Acts 21 was a blood sacrifice or merely a gift of money? The offering in Mark 12:41 was mere money.

There are references to sacrifices throughout the gospels as if that were a normal part of life (Mark 1:44. Matt 5:23, Luke 2:24 and the numerous references to the Passover lamb) and imagery connected to sacrifices throughout the epistles.

andrewcriddle

Hi Toto

I think the offering would have involved a blood sacrifice, because it seems to be made in completion of a Nazirite or similar vow; as in Numbers 6 where the requirement for a blood sacrifice is clear.

Andrew Criddle

show_no_mercy

Don't Nazirites make their blood sacrifice at the end of their vow, not before?

andrewcriddle

The sacrifice in Acts 21 seems to have been intended to be offered at the completion of a vow. See verse 26. Andrew Criddle

DCHindley

Andrew,

Per Acts 21:24 "Join these men, go through the rite of purification with them, and pay for the shaving of their heads."

The Nazirites were forbidden to eat grapes or its byproducts, and to avoid corpse impurity. It does not seem that they were expected to avoid all other kinds of impurity, or they would not have to purify themselves for 7 days before the offering of their hair.

That last phrase, DAPANHSON EP AUTOIS hINA XURHSONTAI THN KEFALHN = "spend upon them in-order-that they-will-shave the head." This sounds like Paul was to spend what was required, that is to make the required offerings, that they must make before they could shave their heads:

Numbers 6:13-14 13 This is the law for the nazirites when the time of their consecration has been completed: they shall be brought to the entrance of the tent of meeting, 14 and they shall offer their gift to the LORD, one male lamb a year old without blemish as a burnt offering, one ewe lamb a year old without blemish as a sin offering, one ram without blemish as an offering of well-being ... 21 This is the law for the Nazirite who takes a vow. His offering to the LORD shall be according to his vow as a Nazirite, apart from what else he can afford

vs 21 is usually taken to mean that the sacrifices enumerated were required, but additional offerings would be accepted.

So, in essence, Paul was asked to use the freewill offering money he brought to defray the cost of the Nazirites' required offerings while in Jerusalem to fulfill their vow. I do not think it is to be assumed that Nazirites would always bring (or always be able to afford to supply) these required offerings with them from wherever they were coming from, but were expected to buy them locally. I would not be surprised if a fee was assessed (either by the temple staff or by vendors) for the shaving of the hair.

This is what freewill offerings (as opposed to temple tax) such as those Paul supposedly brought with him from abroad were for - charitable contributions for just this kind of thing - assistance for those who were destitute to enable them to offer sacrifices and make vows.

DCH

IamJoseph

Correct. The term christian and christ came 2 centuries later.

When the war with Rome neared, the nazerites and ebonites - the only groups who were alligned with Jesus and revered him, had drifted from Judaism, and took no part in the war. They went to Jordan, and most were later also massacred. This says again, the religion of christianity was a wholly European enterprise.

IamJoseph

Pre-temple period, specially upto 60 CE, both the nazerites and ebonites considered themselves Jews, which meant mandated attendance of the laws. These groups did not follow Jesus the way Christians do - no one did in this region at this period.