The social setting of the Matthean community : new paths for an old journey

Abstract

The scholarly debate about the social setting of the Matthean community has largely focused on the single but complex issue of the relationship between the Matthean community and the Jewish world. In the last decade, there has been strong support for the view that Matthew's conflict with the scribes and Pharisees was taking place within the sphere of Judaism; the conflict was between two types of Judaism, formative Judaism and Christian Judaism, rather than between Judaism and Christianity. But if this view is correct, and the Matthean community did indeed comprise followers of Jesus who observed the Torah and identified their religious tradition as Judaism, then it raises questions concerning the relationship between Matthew's community and other groups, notably the Gentiles and other Christians who did not observe the Jewish Law (e g Pauline Christians).