The Church Expands




Preview

  1. Preview
  2. Decline In Jewish Christianity
  3. Circumcision
  4. Destinations
  5. Safe Traveling
  6. Greek, A Common Language
  7. Organizational Models
  8. Organizational Model: Synagogues
  9. Organizational Model: Secular Fraternal Organizations
  10. Social, Political, and Spiritual Climate
  11. Christian Witness
  12. Christian Conduct
  13. Review
  14. Sources
The Kairos, God’s Preparatory Work [1 ↑ → ]
“Jesus could not have been born at any other time than in the reign of Caesar Augustus, after the Jewish religion, the Greek civilization, and the Roman government had reached their maturity; nor in any other land than Palestine, the classical soil of revelation, nor among any other people than the Jews, who were predestinated and educated for centuries to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah and the fulfilment of the law and the prophets.” Schaff, Vol I, (Kindle Loc 5025-5028)

Overriding Single Reason Vs. Multiple Reasons? [2 ← ↑ →]
I believe multiple factors led to the expansion of the Church.


My List of Reasons for the Church's Expansion [3 ← ↑ →]

  1. Removal of Circumcision
    As a Prerequisite for Christian Faith

  2. Destinations
    to Carry the Gospel To

  3. Safe Travel
    to those Destinations

  4. Greek
    A Common Language Spoken and Read Throughout the Empire

  5. Effective Organizational Models
    In the Synagogue and Secular Fraternal Organizations

  6. A Social, Political and Spiritual Climate
    that Encouraged Evangelism

  7. Faithful Christian Witness
    In a Thoroughly Pagan Environment

  8. Exemplary Christian Conduct
    In a Thoroughly Pagan Society

Decline In Jewish Christianity

In the very early days, the faith spread rapidly through both the Jewish and Gentile populations. By the end of the 1st Century, however, Jewish converts were almost non-existent.

Stages of Decline in Jewish Christianity [4 ← ↑ →]
  1. Many Jews resented Christians gaining legitimacy and respect by portraying themselves as sort of Jewish.
  2. Bitterness over Christians sitting out the late 60’s early 70’s rebellion against Rome severely slowed the flow of new converts
  3. The influence of churches in large and wealthy Gentile cities—Antioch, Alexandria, Rome—diminished the influence of Jersualem.
  4. The first 15 bishops of Jerusalem were circumcised Jews, but after the destruction of Jerusalem, the church moved north to Pella. Eventually, the transplanted Jerusalem Church elected a Gentile bishop to gain access to Mount Sion (Jerusalem) and reunion with the flourishing Gentile churches.
  5. Those who persisted in the Mosaic faith eventually devolved into the Ebionites, a group the Jews considered apostates and the Christians considered heretics. The Ebionites melted away into churches or synagogues. (There is some speculation Mohammed encountered a surviving Ebionite community which influenced his view of Christianity.)
  6. Another Jewish revolt at the beginning of the 2nd century was the last straw for the Romans. They deported Jews all over the Roman Empire, even as far away as Britain. Thousands were made slaves to build the Coliseum at Rome.

Circumcision Unnecessary for Gentile Christians

An Insurmountable Barrier Removed…Yippee! No Circumcision [5 ← ↑ →]
The Romans loved festivals and feasts, rituals, and sacrifices. Adopting the Mosaic ceremonial law might not have been a tremendous obstacle for the Gentile converts to cross over.

Circumcision, however,—”which both Greeks and Romans considered degrading and repulsive” Shelley p 31 -- was a totally different matter. The Council at Jerusalem removed that obstacle to the spread of the faith through the Empire.

Destinations: Places to Carry the Gospel To

The Rise of Seaports and Cities – The Phoenicians [6 ← ↑ →]
By 1200 BC, the Phoenicians (Tyre, Sidon, and other neighboring cities) were sailing and trading all over the Mediterranean and even venturing out into the Atlantic and the coasts of Spain.

Some scholars believe the Phoenicians circumnavigated Africa and traded with India. In 1970, Thor Heyerdahl demonstrated that boats of Phoenician design could cross the Atlantic to reach the Americas.

The Phoenicians Build and the Greeks and Romans Connect Europe and North Africa [7 ← ↑ →]
  1. Small coastal villages sprang up into busy seaports all over the Mediterranean
  2. Overland trade routes leading to these seaports developed, with people as far away as Britain exchanging goods with Egyptians through the hands of the Phoenicians.
  3. Kosmo | poli|tan cities sprang up on the coasts and the trade routes
  4. Alexander absorbed these busy ports and trade routes into his Empire, as the Romans did later.
  5. Carthage became the new center of Phoenicia


Mediterranean Map

Synagogues Throughout the Empire – The Jews [8 ← ↑ →]
In the 1st century, Jews numbered between 7 to 8 % of the empire’s 60 million people. The thousands of synagogues scattered throughout the Empire gave Christianity a launching pad for its move into the Jewish population in the very early days of the Christian faith. (The "Diaspora" is the term for Jews scattered across the nations either by voluntary migration or by conquest.)

The Final Diaspora (Early 2nd Century) [9 ← ↑ →]

Diaspora Map

Credit for Map and add to Sources

Safe Traveling To Those Destinations

Click to Watch Video of What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?! [10 ← ↑ →]

What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?

The Roman Roads [11 ← ↑ →]
“All these cities were connected with each other, and with the capital, by the public highways, which, issuing from the Forum of Rome, traversed Italy, pervaded the provinces, and were terminated only by the frontiers of the empire. If we carefully trace the distance from the wall of Antoninus to Rome, and from thence to Jerusalem, it will be found that the great chain of communication, from the north-west to the south-east point of the empire, was drawn out to the length of four thousand and eighty Roman miles. The public roads were accurately divided by mile-stones, and ran in a direct line from one city to another, with very little respect for the obstacles either of nature or private property. Mountains were perforated, and bold arches thrown over the broadest and most rapid streams.” Gibbon, Kindle Loc 2219

The Seaways [12 ← ↑ →]
“Nor was the communication of the Roman empire less free and open by sea than it was by land. The provinces surrounded and enclosed the Mediterranean: and Italy, in the shape of an immense promontory, advanced into the midst of that great lake. The coasts of Italy are, in general, destitute of safe harbors; but human industry had corrected the deficiencies of nature; and the artificial port of Ostia, in particular, situate at the mouth of the Tyber, and formed by the emperor Claudius, was a useful monument of Roman greatness. From this port, which was only sixteen miles from the capital, a favorable breeze frequently carried vessels in seven days to the columns of Hercules, and in nine or ten, to Alexandria in Egypt.” Gibbon, Kindle Loc 2224

The Pax Romana and Safety for Travelers [13 ← ↑ →]
At the fringes of the Empire and in rebellious hotspots like Israel, Roman military might was active in force. But inside the Empire, people lived relatively freely and safely. The legions promoted trade and prosperity by suppressing banditry on land and piracy at sea.

Greek, A Common Language

Language Not a Barrier [14 ← ↑ →]
Alexander the Great conquered the known world approximately 325 years before the birth of Christ. This resulted in the entrenchment of the Greek language and culture in all the nations bordering the Mediterranean. Even after the Roman conquest of the lands once belonging to the Grecian empire, the Greek language remained the common language of trade and travel, much as English is today.

The Septuagint [15 ← ↑ →]
The Septaugint, the Hebrew Scriptures translated into koine Greek around 200 BC, allowed the Hellenized Jews and Gentile seekers to become familiar with the Old Testament message. When Gentiles began converting to Christianity, they already had THE Scriptures, our Old Testament, available in a language most literate people of the Empire could read. (They also had The Deuterocanon/Apocrypha, but that’s another story for another day.)

Organizational Models

Organizational Model: Synagogues

Non-Hierarchical Government In the Early Days [16 ← ↑ →]
Roman Catholics contend the Papacy began with Peter and passed from Roman bishop to Roman bishop to the present day, but in fact, the bishops of the various cities were autonomous and for centuries the bishops of the Empire’s largest cities--Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria (and later Constantinople)—were equal in authority and influence. (The influence of Jerusalem had waned by the end of the first century.) The lack of a “headquarters” for early Christianity made it difficult to exterminate from the top down.

Synagogue Layout (Schaff, Apostolic, Kindle Loc 7726-7736) [17 ← ↑ →]


Synagogue Organization (Schaff, Apostolic. Kindle Loc 7736-7741) [18 ← ↑ →]


Synagogue and Community (Schaff, Apostolic, Kindle Loc 7736-7741) [19 ← ↑ →]


Synagogue Worship (Schaff, Apostolic, Kindle Loc 7741-7769) [20 ← ↑ →]


Organizational Model: Secular Fraternal Organizations

But How Important Were the Synagogues to Gentile Christianity? [21 ← ↑ →]
In The Christians as the Romans Saw Them, Robert Wilken put forth the idea that the Gentile Christians borrowed the church organization and structure from secular fraternal organizations, especially burial societies. It’s an argument that makes a lot of sense.

The Importance of Fraternal Organizations [22 ← ↑ →]
We have ...
  • satellite TV, streaming music, and the internet for diversion, entertainment, and news;
  • air conditioning and heating make our homes too comfortable to leave;
  • burial insurance, life insurance, pensions, and social security protect us against death, old age, and unforeseen and tragic events.
These things remove us from a need for personal social contact with and dependence upon our neighbors. First century civilization had NONE of these. They were dependent on fraternal organizations to a degree we cannot begin to imagine today.

Pagan Social Clubs, Another Model for the Church [23 ← ↑ →]

SEBASTIAN, FL GREEK/ROMAN
  • IRCEA
  • Chamber of Commerce
  • Rotary Club
  • VFW (Veterans Foreign Wars)
  • Italian-American Club, Polish-American Club
  • Moose Lodge, Elks Lodge, etc.
  • Professional Organizations (coppersmiths, tentmakers)
  • Funerary Societies
  • Religious Societies (Devotees of Bacchus, Isis. Etc.)1 1”All types included some type of religious worship” Wilken, p. 36.


Social Clubs [24 ← ↑ →]
“Though the associations were frequently composed of men of the same trade, they were not guilds or embryonic trade unions. Their purpose was social, recreational, and religious.”, Wilken, p. 35

Social, Political, and Spiritual Climate

Traditional Religion Venerated Yet … [25 ← ↑ →]
Many Romans considered Judaism a silly superstition; however, many of these same Romans grudgingly admired Judaism because of its antiquity, solemnity, dignity, and certainty. (The Romans highly valued ancient things.) “In uncertain times many Gentiles (Greeks and Romans) found the teaching of the synagogues a profound and compelling wisdom…The presence of this prepared elite [Gentile God-fearers’] makes comparison of evangelism in the age of the apostles and any later age almost impossible.” Shelley, p. 31.

Innovative Mystery Religions Flourishing [26 ← ↑ →]
“In his travels Paul encountered most major pagan beliefs. In particular, a group of so-called mystery cults had developed in different regions in the empire. They were local cults based on legends of gods who were reborn every spring: Hercules, Dionysius, Isis, Mithras, and others. Although their central beliefs were based on the fertility cycle of nature, the mystery cults embraced a number of sophisticated ideas, including those of immortality, resurrection, and the struggle between good and evil. This superficial similarity to Christian belief was useful to Paul in explaining the message of Jesus to pagans.” Shelly, p 23

The Springtime and Spread of Greek Philosophy… [27 ← ↑ →]
The Greeks presented a whole new way of looking at the world, a questioning of everything as opposed to a blind acceptance of tradition. This emphasis on reason and intellect completely re-fashioned the Mediterranean world as Alexander’s conquests spread Greek philosophy throughout the known world.

Followed by the Wintertime of Greek Philosophy [28 ← ↑ →]
Though Greek philosophy was still intellectually powerful, it had peaked centuries before. The many creative geniuses who had gifted the world with a whole new way of looking at it had been in their graves for centuries. The Greek philosophers of the present era were no longer pioneers; they had become parrots repeating the ideas of the true pioneers. There were many people who were looking for something new.

Stoicism Fulfilled… [29 ← ↑ →]
Stoicism, a widespread philosophical perspective, found its fulfillment for some in Christ: “Stoics called for facing suffering with courage, independence from the things of this world, and a trust in a greater providence. Many people came to see that what the Stoics aimed for, the Holy Spirit produced in Christians.” Shelley, p. 37.

Yet Equally a Rejection of Other Parts of Stoicism [30 ← ↑ →]
“Unlike Stoicism, it appealed in the strongest manner to the affections, and offered all the charm of a sympathetic worship.” William Lecky, History of European Morals, Summarized by Phillip Schaff

The Promise of Heavenly Rewards Plus … [31 ← ↑ →]
The New Testament abundantly testifies about Heavenly Rewards, but the ground for believing in them had previously been plowed during the intertestamental period. “If God is good and just and almighty, why do His people suffer unjustly? Why must they die the death of criminals? In the literature of the intertestamental period period, both of these questions were resolved by the beliefs in immorality and resurrection, in the final judgment, and in the rewards and punishments issued at the last judgment.” Ton

The Threat of Damnation [32 ← ↑ →]
"You are fond of spectacles," exclaims the stern Tertullian; "expect the greatest of all spectacles, the last and eternal judgment of the universe. How shall I admire, how laugh, how rejoice, how exult, when I behold so many proud monarchs, so many fancied gods, groaning in the lowest abyss of darkness; so many magistrates, who persecuted the name of the Lord, liquefying in fiercer fires than they ever kindled against the Christians; so many sage philosophers blushing in red-hot flames with their deluded scholars; so many celebrated poets trembling before the tribunal, not of Minos, but of Christ; so many tragedians, more tuneful in the expression of their own sufferings; so many dancers." Gibbon, Kindle Loc 14306

Distant Olympus Versus Immanuel [33 ← ↑ →]


Faithful Christian Witness

Fulfilled Prophecies – The Content of their Preaching [34 ← ↑ →]
“On the road to Emmaeus, Christ revealed to the two disciples how the Old Testament spoke of Him. This view of the Old Testament spread wherever Christianity spread. To this internal moral and spiritual testimony were added the powerful outward proof of its divine origin in the prophecies and types of the Old Testament, so strikingly fulfilled in the New” Schaff, Kindle Loc 19823

An Almost Daily Testimony Against Polytheism [35 ← ↑ →]
“The religion of the nations was not merely a speculative doctrine professed in the schools or preached in the temples. The innumerable deities and rites of polytheism were closely interwoven with every circumstance of business or pleasure, of public or of private life; and it seemed impossible to escape the observance of them, without, at the same time, renouncing the commerce of mankind, and all the offices and amusements of society…The important transactions of peace and war were prepared or concluded by solemn sacrifices, in which the magistrate, the senator, and the soldier, were obliged to preside or to participate.” Gibbon, Kindle Loc 13961

Evangelizing Those Who Truly Have Never Heard [36 ← ↑ →]
Many of us who grew up in a nominally Christian America have our evangelistic zeal dampened by our assumption that everyone we encounter has already heard the Gospel and made their decision about it. The early Christians were spreading something genuinely new. “It became the most sacred duty of a new convert to diffuse among his friends and relations the inestimable blessing which he had received, and to warn them against a refusal that would be severely punished as a criminal disobedience to the will of a benevolent but all-powerful Deity." Gibbon, Kindle Loc 13689

Christian Conduct

Miracle Working [37 ← ↑ →]
According to Irenaeus in Against Heresies, Christians were healing the sick, casting out devils, raising the dead, and speaking in tongues as late as 180 AD.

The Events in Acts and the Book of Acts Itself [38 ← ↑ →]
“Biblical scholars have long been troubled by the lengthy time after the Resurrection which some of the Apostles spent in Jerusalem [] …A study of what became of the Apostles, then, must take into account the possibility that the experience of Paul later recorded in The Acts may have served as a catalyst to hasten the decision of the Apostles to go into all the world and preach the gospel” McBirnie, pp 41-43.

The Attractiveness of Christian Morality [39 ← ↑ →]
Roman culture had much the same division we see in the USA: libertines versus traditional moral conservatives, Hollywood versus the Bible Belt. Gentile Christianity had absorbed the rigor of the Mosaic Law, but minus circumcision and the ceremonial law. “The ceremonial law, which consisted only of types and figures, was succeeded by a pure and spiritual worship, equally adapted to all climates, as well as to every condition of mankind;.” Gibbon, Kindle Loc 13682

Love for Those Outside Their Fraternal Organization [40 ← ↑ →]


Courage Under Persecution [41 ← ↑ →]
Not all Romans respected the courage of Christians in the jails and arenas. Some despised them for the stubbornness and fanaticism. (The Emperor Marcus Aurelius, favorable to Christians in some circumstances, despised their intolerant stubbornness in others.) Others, however, marveled at repeated examples of remarkable courage and endurance displayed by Christians. Tertullian could exclaim to the heathen: “All your ingenious cruelties can accomplish nothing; they are only a lure to this sect. Our number increases the more you destroy us. The blood of the Christians is their seed.” Schaff, Kindle Loc 19797

One Example of Courage Under Persecution [42 ← ↑ →]
Book IV, Chap 17 “12. And when Urbicius commanded that he be led away to punishment, a certain Lucius, who was also a Christian, seeing judgment so unjustly passed, said to Urbicius, 'Why have you punished this man who is not an adulterer, nor a fornicator, nor a murderer, nor a thief, nor a robber, nor has been convicted of committing any crime at all, but has confessed that he bears the name of Christian? You do not judge, O Urbicius, in a manner befitting the Emperor Pius, or the philosophical son of Caesar, or the sacred senate.' 13. And without making any other reply, he said to Lucius, 'You also seem to me to be one.' And when Lucius said, 'Certainly,' he again commanded that he too should be led away to punishment. But he professed his thanks, for he was liberated, he added, from such wicked rulers and was going to the good Father and King, God. And still a third having come forward was condemned to be punished." Eusebius of Caesarea. Ecclesiastical History (Kindle Loc 1925-1931).

Sources