However one chooses to fit Jesus into first-century Judaism, faith in Jesus is Jewish at its root. We say “faith in Jesus” because while followers of Jesus were called “Christians” in the first few centuries of their belief, it is incorrect to call the faith “Christianity,” as that label did not emerge until later. So, did Jesus found Christianity?

As Reform Rabbi Evan Moffic puts it,

Jesus did not start Christianity. Jesus lived and died as a Jew. Christianity emerged after his death as an off-shoot of Judaism, eventually separating and becoming its own religion. The beliefs and practices of this religion differ from Judaism, but they remain rooted in it.¹

Jesus, Judaism and Christianity

To add to Rabbi Moffic’s statement, while Judaism and Christianity seem very different from one another, the recent trend has been to affirm what they hold in common rather than what distinguishes them. Even after 2,000 years, the two faiths share most of the same core convictions, with the exception of what they make of Jesus. Most important of the commonalities is the belief in the one creator God, His love for humanity, and His selection of Abraham’s family for a pivotal role in the redemption of the world. And as Rabbi Moffic points out, if we trace the lines all the way back to the first century, we can locate Jesus squarely within the Judaism of that era.

The Sectarian Landscape of the First Century

To answer the question, “Did Jesus found Christianity?” one must first understand that the term “religion” as we use it today didn’t quite exist in the first century. There was no “Judaism” on one side of the street and “Christianity” on the other. Instead, there was the Am Yisrael (the people of Israel) living under Roman occupation, expressing their devotion to God through various sects.

The followers of Jesus were initially known as HaDerekh (The Way). They were not seen as converts to a new religion but as Jews who believed the long-awaited King had arrived. This was a movement within the family. Like the Essenes at Qumran or the disciples of Shammai and Hillel, the followers of Jesus were a distinct group, yet they remained part of the broader Jewish conversation.

Jesus as a Jewish Man

Jesus shared much in common with other Jews of his day, though he also differed from them. As a Jew, he had a bris (circumcision) on the eighth day of his birth and then the first-century equivalent of a pidyon ha-ben (redemption of the firstborn) ceremony a month after his birth. He observed Passover, was in Jerusalem for Sukkot and was at the Temple during Hanukkah. He customarily attended synagogue, and on at least one occasion, was invited up to speak on what today would be known as the Haftarah. In his teachings, he emphasized Jewish values such as kibud av va’em (honor of parents) and tzedakah (charity).He taught from the Tanakh, and his followers called him Rabbi.

A Family Dispute: Jesus and the Sages

Scholars debate what kind of Judaism Jesus represented, but it was Judaism nonetheless. Yet Jesus took issue with certain Jewish traditions and with some Pharisees and Sadducees. That’s why some have wryly referred to Jesus as the “first Reform Jew.” He healed people on the Sabbath when others considered healing inappropriate for the day of rest. He spoke and taught with an authority no other rabbi could claim. All these disputes, however, took place within first-century Judaism. Scholars and theologians debate the particular kind of Judaism Jesus represented, but it was Judaism, nonetheless. There was, as yet, nothing called “Christianity.”

When Jesus debated the interpretation of the Law, he was engaging in a process familiar to any student of the Talmud. When he prioritized the “weightier matters of the law”—justice, mercy, and faithfulness—over the minutiae of tithing herbs, he was echoing the heart of the Hebrew Prophets like Amos and Micah. These were internal critiques aimed at spiritual revival, not institutional departure.

Was Jesus, then, the founder of a new, non-Jewish religion? No, he was not. For in one encounter, a Samaritan woman said to him, “‘I know that Messiah is coming. When he comes, he will tell us all things.’ Jesus replied, ‘I who speak to you am he’” (John 4:25–26). In other words, if he’s the Messiah, which is a Jewish concept, then he did not start a new religion.

If Not Jesus, Then Who? The “Parting of the Ways”

If the historical Jesus remained within the pale of Judaism, how did we end up with two distinct religions? The transition from a Jewish Messianic movement to “Christianity” was a gradual process spanning several centuries, driven by three major factors.

1. The Gentile Turning

The most significant shift began when the message of the Jewish Messiah moved beyond the borders of Judea. As Gentiles began to embrace the God of Israel through Jesus, a major question arose: Did these non-Jews need to become Jews to follow the Jewish Messiah?

The Council of Jerusalem, recorded in Acts 15, was the turning point. The apostles—all Jewish—decided that Gentiles did not need to undergo circumcision or take on the full yoke of the Mosaic Law. This created a community that was “spiritually Jewish” in its worship of the One God, yet culturally distinct. Over time, as the number of Gentile believers began to outnumber Jewish believers, the “flavor” of the movement changed from Hebrew to Greek and Latin.

2. The Destruction of the Temple (70 AD)

The year 70 AD changed everything. When the Romans destroyed the Second Temple, the center of Jewish sacrificial life vanished. Two main groups survived this catastrophe: the Pharisees, who evolved into what we now know as Rabbinic Judaism, and the followers of Jesus.

Both groups had to answer the same question: How do we relate to God without a Temple? The Sages answered through prayer and study (avodah she-be-lev). The followers of Jesus answered by pointing to Jesus as the ultimate Temple and sacrifice. As these two groups competed for the soul of the Jewish people in the aftermath of the Temple’s fall, the rhetoric became sharper, and the social boundaries became more rigid.

3. The Bar Kokhba Revolt (132 AD)

The final “divorce” occurred during the Second Jewish Revolt against Rome. When the leader Simon bar Kokhba was hailed as the Messiah by the leading sage Rabbi Akiva, the Jewish followers of Jesus faced a crisis of conscience. They could not fight for a leader they believed to be a false messiah. By refusing to join the revolt, they were seen as traitors to the Jewish cause. Conversely, the Roman authorities began to view “Christians” as a separate group from “Jews.”

The Institutionalization of Christianity

By the fourth century, under Emperor Constantine, what began as a Jewish sect was transformed into the state religion of the Roman Empire. This was the moment “Christianity” as an institution truly took form. Unfortunately, as the Church became more powerful, it began to distance itself from its Jewish roots, often adopting anti-Jewish polemics to distinguish its “new” identity from the “old” covenant.

However, for the student of history, the question “Did Jesus found Christianity?” remains a resounding “no.” Jesus didn’t found a religion that stands against Judaism; he provided the fulfillment of the promises made to Judaism.

Why This Matters Today: Reclaiming the Root

For many Jewish people today, “Christianity” feels like a foreign, even hostile, entity. But if we peel back the layers of tradition, we find at the center a Rabbi who loved the Torah, loved his people, and died for the sake of the world’s redemption.

When we realize that Jesus did not start a new religion, the barrier for Jewish people to consider him begins to thin. We are not looking at a “conversion” to a Greek or Roman system, but a “return” to the most influential figure our nation ever produced.

Paul the Apostle, in his letter to the Romans, uses the imagery of an olive tree. The covenants, the law, and the promises are the root and the trunk. Jewish people who believe in Jesus are the “natural branches,” while Gentiles are “wild branches” grafted in. The tree itself is the commonwealth of Israel.

Integrating the Two Commands

To love God and to love our neighbor—isn’t that what being a light to the nations is all about? In order to be the light that we were called to be, we need to integrate the two most essential commands of the Torah into who we are and how we live. It was to love God and to love our neighbors that our people were chosen. And it was for these very same reasons, many affirm, that the Jewish Messiah came into the world.

If Jesus is the Messiah, then his “founding” of the church was actually the expansion of the Jewish mission. He didn’t replace the synagogue; he opened its doors to the world. He didn’t abolish the Torah; he wrote it on the hearts of millions.

What do you think?

So, did Jesus found Christianity? If we mean the institutionalized, often anti-Jewish religion of the middle ages, certainly not. If we mean a new, non-Jewish path to God, the answer is still no.

But if we mean he founded a global movement of people from every tribe and tongue who now worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, then he did so as the King of the Jews. The “Christianity” we see today is the result of centuries of history, but the faith of those first believers was, and remains, a Jewish faith. To find Jesus is not to leave home; it is to arrive at the destination our ancestors were looking for.

Endnotes

1. Rabbi Evan Moffic, What Every Christian Needs to Know About the Jewishness of Jesus: A New Way of Seeing the Most Influential Rabbi in History (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2015), xi.