CONFLICT between Christians and non- Christians in the Jewish community was inevitable, in view of the disrespect shown by Christians for the cherished symbols of ethnic solidarity. Hostility toward the nonconforming minority found varied expression. In many situations the persecution suffered by Christians was simply a matter of verbal abuse and social ostracism. Indeed, there is reason to believe that this was the method most commonly employed for containing the ‘Christian problem’. When hostility exceeded the bounds of moderation, Christians were liable to physical violence at the hands of a mob. In some few instances death may have resulted, as in the case of Stephen, but apart from the chaotic period of the two wars with Rome it is unlikely that many Christians suffered martyrdom at Jewish hands. Of two other early martyrs known to us by name, James son of Zebedee and James brother of Jesus, one was killed by Herod Agrippa, presumably on a political charge, and the other was executed by a Sadducaic court, apparently on a trumped-up charge. There is no evidence that Christianity was defined as a capital crime by Jewish courts and prosecuted as such.

When outspoken missionaries such as Paul strained the tolerance of the Jewish community, mob action was frequently rendered unnecessary by legal recourse to the synagogue council or, in Palestine, to the local Jewish court. Discipline was exercised by means of temporary detention (in Palestine), flogging, and exclusion, apparently on the charge of breach of the peace. On the basis of available evidence it seems unlikely that either the profession or propagation of Christianity was defined as a crime punishable by flogging.