Source: “Border lines : The Partition of Judaeo-Christianity” By Daniel Boyarin, University of Pennsylvania Press. 2004
5. The Crucifixion of the Memra.mp4
5. The Crucifixion of the Memra.pdf
The Crucifixion of the Memra How the Logos Became Christian.wav
This topic argues that rabbinic Judaism and early Christianity actively defined themselves in opposition to each other by designating certain shared theological ideas as heresy. Specifically, the author posits that the rabbinic rejection of the concept of a "Two Powers in Heaven" or a divine intermediary like the Logos, which was present in earlier Jewish thought, became a defining feature of rabbinic orthodoxy. Conversely, emerging Christian orthodoxy embraced the Logos concept while labeling the rejection of a separate divine person (Modalism) as "Judaizing." This process of mutual exclusion and branding of internal differences as external heresies helped to construct the distinct identities of both religions.
How could a belief that was once a vibrant and mainstream part of ancient Jewish thought—the idea of a "second power" in heaven—become the very fault line that separated Rabbinic Judaism from early Christianity? This question lies at the heart of one of the most significant theological divergences in Western history. A shared conceptual heritage, which imagined a divine intermediary between God and the world, was not merely abandoned by one side and embraced by the other. Instead, it became the raw material for a border that both sides would work together to build. It was actively transformed, claimed, and weaponized by both emerging traditions to define what they were by declaring what they were not. This document will explain the ancient Jewish concepts of the Logos and the Memra and trace the historical and theological journey that turned this shared idea into a deliberately constructed boundary.
Before Judaism and Christianity became distinct religions, the belief in a divine intermediary was a powerful theological tool. In a world that conceived of God as utterly transcendent, a "second power" could bridge the gap, acting as God's agent in creation and revelation. This was far from a fringe idea; as scholar Daniel Boyarin argues, "in the first century many—perhaps most—Jews held a binitarian doctrine of God." This was a native and developing tradition that provided a rich vocabulary for understanding God's relationship with the world.
This divine intermediary, or deuteros theos (second god), appeared in several key forms: