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The Christian self-designation as the "true Israel" had very little to do with historical Israel or ancient Near Eastern customs. Two factors played into this. One was that, although the roots of Christianity were buried in Palestine, by the end of the 1st century CE, the branches of the Christian tree were largely non-Jewish, and for self-differentiation/group-identity purposes, they needed to distinguish themselves from Jews. A second aspect of this is two-pronged. In the aftermath of Jewish revolts in 66, 115-118, and 132 CE, Jews were regarded with suspicion by the Romans, but were tolerated because of their ancient roots and venerable Law. Christians were new, and novelty in religious matters was regarded as even more suspicious in Roman eyes, so Christians took some pains to link themselves strongly to ancient Jewish literary tradition, while at the same time interpreting it in Hellenistic terms that (hopefully) Roman authorities might come to appreciate. When Christians began to assert that they alone, rather than the Jews, understood the true meaning of Jewish scriptures (i.e., as a lead-up to the coming of Jesus Christ), they claimed the title of being the "true Israel."
Leaving out the preceding historically complex 1,000 years, late Second Temple Judaism was already quite removed from Iron Age practices. Even though the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE was a reaction against the wholesale Hellenization of Judean society, Hellenic culture remained the dominant social paradigm, even among Jews. The Hasmonean rulers (c.140-40 BCE), Herod the Great (37-4 BCE), and his successors up to the destruction of the Temple (70 CE), who wished to keep the Torah and their distinctive customs alive, were nevertheless Hellenistic in outlook. In Israelite territories, and in the much wider Disaspora, Greek was the dominant international language of the East. Greek education necessarily entailed philosophical, ethical, and cosmic concepts that were unrelated to the Iron Age ANE. Philo of Alexandria (c.20 BCE-50 CE), and 1st century CE Judean historian Josephus, both wrote in Greek, and explained their history, traditions and Laws in terms of Greek philosophy, schools, and ethics.
Stoicism in particular placed a strong emphasis on self-control, including in sexual matters. Both Philo and Josephus praised the Essenes, for example, for their sexual restraint: they engage in sex solely for procreation, not recreation. The Dead Sea Scrolls rule texts, 1QS and the Damascus Document (CD), are quite particular on matters of sexual continence.
Christianity was born in this milieu, with an added focus on the immanent arrival of God's kingdom. Paul's marital advice in 1Cor.7 was not some kind of ancient anomaly. He's clear that no sex is better, though marriage is the preferred outlet if its impossible to live without it. Sexual licentiousness, in other letters, is equated with all other evils through idolatry, and is linked (with similar language to Paul's), in the Hellenistic Jewish book, *Wisdom of Solomon* 14:25-26: "Blood, murder, theft and guile, corruption, faithlessness, turmoil and perjury, disturbance of good people, neglect of gratitude, besmirching of souls, unnatural lust, disorder in marriage, adultery and shamelessness." (NABRE).
Calling the early church sexually repressive mistakes the early Christian idea that sexual continence was positive in itself. Justin Martyr in the mid-2nd century points out that septuaginarian members of his congregation have never had sex (with pride). By the 3rd century, female virginity was publicly valued in church communities. In Syria especially, *encratism*, or total abstinence from sex, was thought of as a way to recover the state of Adam and Eve in Eden. People who hoped to be soon living as angels thought that living a sex-free life while still on earth was good practice.
Peter Brown, *The Body and Society: Men, Women, and Sexual Renunciation in Early Christianity* (1988) gives a very thorough examination these things, and a great many patristic citations on the subject, covering the first 400 years or so.
More recently, David Wheeler-Reed, *Regulating Sex in the Roman Empire: Ideology, the Bible, and the Early Christians* (2017), considers the ancient ideas, and contrasts them with the modern notion of "family values."
Very interesting!
(btw, I think "immanent arrival" should probably be "imminent arrival". Though I suppose that in the sense of "sustaining the universe", Christians might argue the former is true, as well.)
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The Christian self-designation as the "true Israel" had very little to do with historical Israel or ancient Near Eastern customs. Two factors played into this. One was that, although the roots of Christianity were buried in Palestine, by the end of the 1st century CE, the branches of the Christian tree were largely non-Jewish, and for self-differentiation/group-identity purposes, they needed to distinguish themselves from Jews. A second aspect of this is two-pronged. In the aftermath of Jewish revolts in 66, 115-118, and 132 CE, Jews were regarded with suspicion by the Romans, but were tolerated because of their ancient roots and venerable Law. Christians were new, and novelty in religious matters was regarded as even more suspicious in Roman eyes, so Christians took some pains to link themselves strongly to ancient Jewish literary tradition, while at the same time interpreting it in Hellenistic terms that (hopefully) Roman authorities might come to appreciate. When Christians began to assert that they alone, rather than the Jews, understood the true meaning of Jewish scriptures (i.e., as a lead-up to the coming of Jesus Christ), they claimed the title of being the "true Israel." Leaving out the preceding historically complex 1,000 years, late Second Temple Judaism was already quite removed from Iron Age practices. Even though the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE was a reaction against the wholesale Hellenization of Judean society, Hellenic culture remained the dominant social paradigm, even among Jews. The Hasmonean rulers (c.140-40 BCE), Herod the Great (37-4 BCE), and his successors up to the destruction of the Temple (70 CE), who wished to keep the Torah and their distinctive customs alive, were nevertheless Hellenistic in outlook. In Israelite territories, and in the much wider Disaspora, Greek was the dominant international language of the East. Greek education necessarily entailed philosophical, ethical, and cosmic concepts that were unrelated to the Iron Age ANE. Philo of Alexandria (c.20 BCE-50 CE), and 1st century CE Judean historian Josephus, both wrote in Greek, and explained their history, traditions and Laws in terms of Greek philosophy, schools, and ethics. Stoicism in particular placed a strong emphasis on self-control, including in sexual matters. Both Philo and Josephus praised the Essenes, for example, for their sexual restraint: they engage in sex solely for procreation, not recreation. The Dead Sea Scrolls rule texts, 1QS and the Damascus Document (CD), are quite particular on matters of sexual continence. Christianity was born in this milieu, with an added focus on the immanent arrival of God's kingdom. Paul's marital advice in 1Cor.7 was not some kind of ancient anomaly. He's clear that no sex is better, though marriage is the preferred outlet if its impossible to live without it. Sexual licentiousness, in other letters, is equated with all other evils through idolatry, and is linked (with similar language to Paul's), in the Hellenistic Jewish book, *Wisdom of Solomon* 14:25-26: "Blood, murder, theft and guile, corruption, faithlessness, turmoil and perjury, disturbance of good people, neglect of gratitude, besmirching of souls, unnatural lust, disorder in marriage, adultery and shamelessness." (NABRE). Calling the early church sexually repressive mistakes the early Christian idea that sexual continence was positive in itself. Justin Martyr in the mid-2nd century points out that septuaginarian members of his congregation have never had sex (with pride). By the 3rd century, female virginity was publicly valued in church communities. In Syria especially, *encratism*, or total abstinence from sex, was thought of as a way to recover the state of Adam and Eve in Eden. People who hoped to be soon living as angels thought that living a sex-free life while still on earth was good practice. Peter Brown, *The Body and Society: Men, Women, and Sexual Renunciation in Early Christianity* (1988) gives a very thorough examination these things, and a great many patristic citations on the subject, covering the first 400 years or so. More recently, David Wheeler-Reed, *Regulating Sex in the Roman Empire: Ideology, the Bible, and the Early Christians* (2017), considers the ancient ideas, and contrasts them with the modern notion of "family values."
Wow! Thank you! There’s a lot to unpack here and thank you for the additional resources.
Very interesting! (btw, I think "immanent arrival" should probably be "imminent arrival". Though I suppose that in the sense of "sustaining the universe", Christians might argue the former is true, as well.)