In this way realized eschatology drives an unnecessary and detrimental wedge between Judaism and Christianity, as Jewish theologian David Ariel articulates:

What is it, after all, that marks the difference between Christians and Jews? . . . Jews believe in the eventual fulfillment of an elusive dream of a perfect world. Christians believe that the world has already been saved by the crucifixion and resurrection of the Messiah Jesus. The difference between the belief in future redemption and realized redemption is the chasm that separates Jewish from Christian thinking.

Indeed, “realized redemption” does create a chasm of thought between us and the Scriptures, yet the apostles knew nothing of the sort. Their hope remained thoroughly Jewish apocalyptic, as Acts 1:3–11 plainly reveals. The division between Jews and the Jesus-following “sect” (Acts 24:5, 14; 28:22) of the New Testament simply concerned the sacrificial interpretation of the cross, not a spiritual realization of Jewish eschatology. -John P. Harrigan