I first made a thread wondering what would've happened if Christianity got rid of all its Jewish roots (Marcionism).
Now this thread is about the opposite. What if Christianity was a completely Jewish movement? What if no gentiles became Christian, or if they did, they had to get circumcised and follow all Jewish law?
In terms of religion, I guess doctrines such as the trinity, original sin, the virgin birth, eternal damnation, etc. probably wouldn't exist; Paul would be all but forgotten; and Jesus would be considered the Messiah but not God or the (biological) son of God.
What would happen to history if the Ebionite/Nazarene sects became the main form of Christianity?
I actually don't agree. Original sin could certainly go, as it was a latish doctrine in the version as it exists. But the others date WAY back, and don't have much/anything to do with Paul.
I agree with Pegasus- Christianity without Paul is not Christianity as we know it. Paul essentially took a small Messianic Jewish sect and constructed a very marketable religion that would develop into what we would recognise as Christianity. Without Paul, Christianity would just be another radical Jewish sect.
Agreed, to some extent. OTOH, if they DO go with the Trinity, etc., and create a New Testament, they'll be a highly heretical Jewish sect, at best.
I wouldn't think Christianity would be very large if it were restricted to only Jewish converts.
No one said anything about only taking Jewish converts. The argument was whether Christian converts had to BECOME Jewish as part of the conversion (circumcision and the like).
If you want it to stand a chance at all, you would need a "No Paul, No Council Of Jerusalem" TL. The OTL Council of Jerusalem, as depicted in Acts at least, means Gentile converts only have to abstain from "things polluted by idols, and from fornication, and from whatever has been strangled and from blood". If you somehow make it so the Council decides to force Gentiles to observe Jewish law, you may have more than a tiny persecuted Jewish sect. Then again, there were small groups Gentiles sympathetic to Judaism called "God-fearers" already.
1) the Council of Jerusalem took the stand it did after fierce lobbying by Paul. Ya, what they ended up with is probably what Peter wanted, but without Paul, James and some of the other Judaisizers would have pulled Christianity back to the Jewish roots. You'd probably get a 'compromise' like "you can baptize uncircumcised men, but they can't be full members without circumcision" or some such. Oh, and ALL male babies certainly have to be circumcised. Also, the version of kosher might well be relaxed to Biblical rather than Rabinical standards (meat vs milk is from a single, out of context verse, for instance, and might be dropped).
2) Christianity, even if it keeps simplified versions of Jewish laws is still more attractive (personal salvation, etc.) to many than pure Judaism. (OK, the pure, clean call of Judaism is more attractive to some, still). I think this 'Jesus cult' of Judaism would be somewhat more popular than regular Judaism among Gentiles, and thus it would grow faster.
3) Do note that Judaism was making large inroads in the Gentile community before Christianity arrived. iOTL, Christianity swallowed most of those, and lots more. iTTL, I think both 'Jesus' Jews and 'pure' Jews make significant numbers of converts.
The "birth stories" are in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Since the Gospels are commonly thought to have been written after the destruction of the Second Temple, your POD could well make them disappear. John, which is seen as portraying Jesus as God in chapter 1, is of an even later origin than the other canonical Gospels, so that would go too.
Please note that Matthew was the Gospel written to Jewish Christians. I don't think it would change much if Paul weren't around, as it wasn't written to his audience.
Again, references to the Holy Spirit are a really major part of the story, Pentecost and after. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are definitely well established without Paul. Established as what, now that's a good question. It is certainly POSSIBLE to get a 'Trinity' that's not a Triune Godhead, but rather the three most important parts of the faith 1) God, 2) his messengers the Spirit and the Son, followed with a bit of separation by 3) Archangels, 4) Apostles (or in reverse order), etc.
It's also possible, I'd argue probable that the Trinity as Triune Godhead arises even if the Judaizers get their way.