Please read LR, pages 314 to 317.
Proclamation and persecution were the chief characteristics of the “early Church” – the first Christian community. To proclaim the “Gospel of Jesus Christ” the early disciples went from place to place where they were persecuted while some embraced their message. Some of these proclamations and persecutions are described in the Acts of the Apostles – the fifth book in the Greek Bible. We can also learn about the “early church” through the letters in the New Testament.
Jesus’ disciple who took the message of Jesus into all parts of the world is known as an Apostle, a person sent with a mission, a missionary. Acts of the Apostles outlines three missionary journeys of Paul who was converted to Christian faith – in a miraculous way – when he was on his way to arrest to imprison Christians who were proclaiming Jesus Christ. You can read about Paul’s conversion in Acts of the Apostles 9:1-22. Paul at this stage is known as Saul.
Pentecost was the beginning of the Church. That was a moment when the Apostles had an extra-ordinary experience that transformed a small group of frightened men and women into a powerful band of preachers!
Early stages the followers of Jesus who were Jews used the Jewish places of worship – the temple and the synagogues – to proclaim their message. But soon they were ousted from these places. At one time they had to find secret places for Christian gathering – places known as catacombs.
At this stage the community of Christians grew very fast and were persecuted first by the fellow Jews and later by the Roman rulers until the Roman Emperor Constantine himself became a Christian around 380 CE.
The early Christians belonged to two groups who had an “uneasy coexistence”:
1. Jews who became Christians – Jewish Christians.
2. Non-Jews who became Christians – Gentile Christians.
Jewish Christians, in the early stages, insisted on those who became Christians should be circumcised while the Gentile Christians believed that circumcision was not necessary. The Jewish Christians who promoted circumcision were known as Judaisers. Paul wrote many of his letters opposing these Judaisers. A good example for this is the Letter to the Galatians. For Paul real “circumcision” is the circumcision of the heart (Romans 2:29).
Within the early church there was the conflict between the two groups that the Apostles try to solve by calling the first Ecumenical Council around 49 CE about which you will read in Acts of the Apostles, chapter 15. But the disciples were also divided among themselves.
Questions to Explore:
1. Why were the Christians persecuted up until Christianity became an Imperial Religion? Explain you answer in detail by also discussing the source, or sources, of persecutions and how the Christians faced these persecutions.
2. Describe and discuss critically Paul’s conversion outlined in Acts of the Apostles.
Proclamation and persecution were the chief characteristics of the “early Church” – the first Christian community. To proclaim the “Gospel of Jesus Christ” the early disciples went from place to place where they were persecuted while some embraced their message. Some of these proclamations and persecutions are described in the Acts of the Apostles – the fifth book in the Greek Bible. We can also learn about the “early church” through the letters in the New Testament.
Jesus’ disciple who took the message of Jesus into all parts of the world is known as an Apostle, a person sent with a mission, a missionary. Acts of the Apostles outlines three missionary journeys of Paul who was converted to Christian faith – in a miraculous way – when he was on his way to arrest to imprison Christians who were proclaiming Jesus Christ. You can read about Paul’s conversion in Acts of the Apostles 9:1-22. Paul at this stage is known as Saul.
Pentecost was the beginning of the Church. That was a moment when the Apostles had an extra-ordinary experience that transformed a small group of frightened men and women into a powerful band of preachers!
Early stages the followers of Jesus who were Jews used the Jewish places of worship – the temple and the synagogues – to proclaim their message. But soon they were ousted from these places. At one time they had to find secret places for Christian gathering – places known as catacombs.
At this stage the community of Christians grew very fast and were persecuted first by the fellow Jews and later by the Roman rulers until the Roman Emperor Constantine himself became a Christian around 380 CE.
The early Christians belonged to two groups who had an “uneasy coexistence”:
1. Jews who became Christians – Jewish Christians.
2. Non-Jews who became Christians – Gentile Christians.
Jewish Christians, in the early stages, insisted on those who became Christians should be circumcised while the Gentile Christians believed that circumcision was not necessary. The Jewish Christians who promoted circumcision were known as Judaisers. Paul wrote many of his letters opposing these Judaisers. A good example for this is the Letter to the Galatians. For Paul real “circumcision” is the circumcision of the heart (Romans 2:29).
Within the early church there was the conflict between the two groups that the Apostles try to solve by calling the first Ecumenical Council around 49 CE about which you will read in Acts of the Apostles, chapter 15. But the disciples were also divided among themselves.
Questions to Explore:
1. Why were the Christians persecuted up until Christianity became an Imperial Religion? Explain you answer in detail by also discussing the source, or sources, of persecutions and how the Christians faced these persecutions.
2. Describe and discuss critically Paul’s conversion outlined in Acts of the Apostles.
