Theological Parting of the Ways before 70 CE: Dunn Revised through John, Phil 2:6-11, and Col 1:15-20

Abstract

This article revises James D. G. Dunn's influential account of the "parting(s) of the ways" between Christianity and rabbinic Judaism. First, it defends the legitimacy of Dunn's theological model alongside sociological and historical accounts, arguing that a discussion of theological parting remains beneficial as long as it avoids an oversimplified picture of "the partings." Then, it advances a pre-70 CE, rather than Dunn's post-70 CE, date for a theological parting grounded in high Christology in the Gospel of John, Phil 2:6-11, and Col 1:15-20. Dunn treats John as a late first-century composition that indeed portrays a high Christology, but he reads Phil 2:6-11 and Col 1:15-20, earlier than 70 CE, as representing merely a human Christology. This article briefly reconsiders the dating of John to caution against a quick dismissal of an early composition. Moreover, it argues that Phil 2:6-11 and Col 1:15-20 attribute a high Christology to Jesus through claims that he was "in the form of God" and "equal to God" (Phil 2:6) and that "the fullness (of deity) dwells" in him (Col 1:19; 2:9). The result is a revised timeline: while sociological and ritual separations crisscross unevenly across locales and centuries, the theological parting was already underway prior to 70 CE.