Abstract
Through a sociological interpretation of historical events, supported by philosophical analysis, it is shown that the creation of Christianity as a religion distinct from the heterodox Judaism of its origins did not occur until the fourth century, with the celebration of the Council of Nicaea in 325 CE. This article explains that the rupture between Christianity and Judaism depended fundamentally on the creation of two orthodoxies: Rabbinic Judaism at Yavneh, which deemed all other forms of Judaism heretical—including Christianity—and the Catholic dogma of Nicaea, which condemned as heresies all Christian theologies, most of them linked to the theological Judaism that emerged from Hellenism. Its contribution is to argue that both orthodoxies are fundamentally political theologies, which responded in different ways, and at different times, to Roman domination. The academy at Yavneh (1st century CE) sought to safeguard the identity of the Jewish people in the face of defeat in war and the destruction of the Temple. The Council of Nicaea (4th century CE), convened by Constantine, aimed to resolve the Church’s theological and social conflicts in order to secure social cohesion and the Empire’s legitimacy.