For this reason, throughout this study, I have avoided using the terms “Christian” and “church.” These words too readily conjure the later realities of organized institutions, and of a religion separate from, different from, and hostile to Judaism. But in its founding generation—which was committed to the belief that it was history’s final generation—members of this movement were traditionally observant Jews, Paul included. (And for that matter, reaching back to the period before his crucifixion, so was Jesus.) These people all studied Jewish scriptures. They honored the god (sic) of Israel through offering sacrifices at the temple. They came together on the Sabbath. They imagined final redemption, inclusive of eschatological gentiles, as a natural extension of the history of Israel. -Paula Fredricksen, When Christians Were Jews, p.158