For centuries, scholars have taught that a decisive parting of the ways took place between Jews and Christians during the New Testament period. The New Testament was consequently read in light of this classic narrative, and first-century Jews who followed Yeshua were thus viewed as former Jews who had converted to a new faith and joined a new religious community.

Today this classic narrative is widely disputed. In their book The Ways That Never Parted, Adam Becker and Annette Yoshiko Reed document the history of this reassessment and show that the evidence supports a “variety of different ‘Partings’ at different times in different places.” Becker and Reed concur with Daniel Boyarin, Philip Alexander, John Gager, John Howard Yoder and a growing number of scholars who have concluded, based on textual and archaeological evidence, that “the fourth century CE is a far more plausible candidate for a decisive turning point than any date in the earlier period.” What are the implications of this historical counter-narrative for how we view Yeshua-believing Jews during the New Testament period? The reassessment suggests that first-century Jewish believers in Yeshua did not necessarily have to make a decision between being “in kol Yisrael” (all Israel) and being “in Messiah.” Generally speaking, they remained a part of both ecclesial communities because at that time being a faithful Jew and a believer in Yeshua were not mutually exclusive categories.