Stephen, a Hellenist Jewish Christian comes into conflict with the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem and is brought before the Sanhedrin (the same group of religious leaders who had condemned Jesus) and in Chapter 7 -we see Stephen being martyred.  And a great persecution breaks out in Jerusalem against Christians and they began to leave Jerusalem and spread out into the countryside of Judea and Samaria. The Twelve Apostles are mentioned as staying behind in Jerusalem as a captain would stay onboard a sinking ship.

Right after the killing of Stephen there occurs a powerful conversion of the man who assisted in the killing of Stephen- Yes, Saul (who becomes Paul)who ravaged the Church- who was a Christian hunter for the Sanhedrin  and he has a christophany- (Christ appeared to him)and Paul begins preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles.

Now we have come through our time machine- the lever stops where we land in the year 50 AD- and I must mention here- that we will notice that these paradigm shifts usually occur around a city- and in this case a group of cities  Antioch and Alexandria.  Antioch- would become the new center of Christianity. Antioch was located in Asia Minor- which today is in Turkey…It is the city where believers in Jesus were first given the name- “Christians” or Christ people.  (Just in passing –I should mention here that Antioch and Alexandria would become rival centers especially with regard to school- in the interpretation of the Bible. Antioch would stress a more literal approach to the interpretation of scripture and Alexandria would stress a more allegorical approach)

But a problem began to develop – especially in light of Paul’s new preaching geared to the Gentiles. This new approach would drastically change the entire message of early Palestinian Christianity. Paul even though he was a Jew – he began to formulate a gospel that would make a profound deep break with Judaism absolutely necessary and actually set the stage or sowed the seeds of what would dominate Christianity for centuries- anti-Semitism.

Paul saw the law of God as the culprit- especially the halakhah- the ritual law was seen by Paul as no longer obligatory.  This is the origin of much of the distortion of Judaism- where 1^st Century Judaism is portrayed as having a works oriented salvation plan. This is a distortion. (More on that later)  Paul also went one step further- he declared that no longer is membership in an elect family (Israel) important- only faith.  If I could get out of the time machine – I would have asked Paul about the covenant that God had with Israel- because it was called an Eternal covenant. Paul also introduced the idea that Jesus was the Eternal God who became man- this would have a profound effect of the Jewish-Hellenistic Christian dialogue. We will look at this a little closer later- suffice it to say this explains why Paul encountered so much opposition when he first started preaching in synagogues.  Indeed, they almost killed him.

It was in Antioch that Paul was confronted by Palestinian Christians who insisted that Gentile must be circumcised in ordered to be saved. It was then that Paul went Jerusalem (The Mother Church) and a council was convened to discuss this issue. This account is found rather loosely in chapter 15 of Acts. It makes for a very interesting reading. Paul stood up and shared how the Gentiles had received the Gospel and how miraculous events occurred- and emphasized it was all because of the “faith” message. Peter also stood up and shared how God had led him by a dream to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles and again- the “faith” issue. But I think the most important person at the council was James, the brother of Jesus. He was the Pastor of the Jerusalem Church.  And here is where the compromise comes. At this pivot time is history- the majority of Christians are Jewish yet they are willing to compromise.  The compromise was this – Gentiles were free from the ritual law but Jewish Christians would maintain a strict observance of the law.

The sad part of this history is this compromise would be reversed in just 50-60 years- at about 100-110 AD when the Gentile Hellenistic Christian majority would declare that the Jewish-Palestinian Christians minority were heretics! It should be remembered that history is written or rewritten by the winners- to the victors belong the spoils.

Before I begin with this week’s blog – I would like to share from this morning Call to Worship which I thought was so unique. It comes from the United Church of Christ:

Prayer of Confession: Birther of Our Lives, in this time of preparing, we struggle to make time for your coming, When there are presents to get, we forget your presence among us. With “so much” to do, we forget the mystery of your Being and the miracle of our being avenues of your grace. Slow us down. Loosen us up. Let us laugh at ourselves more freely and love each other more generously. In the midst of the tinsel and the bustle, help us to see the twinkling joy. In the name of the One Whose Being Blesses Humanity, Amen.

The First Church of Jerusalem Growth problems…

Now we push the time lever forward and let us go just 15  years and we begin to see a paradigm shift beginning to develop- somewhere around  45-50 AD…we have several things happening…

Allow me to set the stage…so to speak. Because several things happened that set the stage for the first paradigm shift in Church-believer thinking. Somewhere around 37-39 AD- and Luke write about this in Acts chapter 6-and here I should introduce the Book of Acts- as a side note-

The Book of Acts was written somewhere around 80-85 AD. The author is believed to be Luke although many scholars today contest that. There is no doubt that is written from a Pauline perspective and very idealistic – to show the unity of the Church which in reality –the unity was more or less an illusion.

In Chapter 6- we begin to see a conflict developing- which chapter 6 is just a kind of blip on the screen that we will see in chapter 15- will become a major problem. But in Acts 6- we see a conflict between two sets of believers- in the First Church of Jerusalem…and it is my opinion that was only natural that a division would occur between people of two different cultures. The Jerusalem Church was becoming multicultural with two groups of people – divided by language and culture -the Hebrew Christians and Hellenistic Christians. The Hebrew Christians were those Jews who were from Jerusalem and Galilee and spoke Hebrew and Aramaic. The term Hellenistic speaks to a people who had Greek language and culture. So these were Greek speaking Jews who became Christians. They had come as immigrants to Jerusalem…

“Now during those days, when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists complained against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food.”

The word- complained in the original language that this text was written in reveals much more. It is the word- Gonguzo– and it is from that word that our English word- gong is derived…and it is called an onomatopoeic word– which are words whose own sounds imitate the actual sounds of the actions they portray. Example would be –babies babble or the drain pipe gurgled or bees buzzing around. What sound is going on here? The New Testament Greek Lexicon compares it to a cooing of doves- and actually reveals that the KJV (King James Version) –surprisingly is much closer to the original meaning: to murmur, mutter, grumble, say anything against in a low tone, of the cooing of doves, of those who confer secretly together, and of those who discontentedly complain.

The idea behind the word usage is a community divided- and verbally squabbling against each other. The center of the controversy is the Hellenistic Christians believe their widows are being neglected…literally “overlooked.”  Now remember these Hellenistic Christians who have come as immigrants to Jerusalem… Outsiders! And the food distribution program is run by the native Jewish Christians contingent. And these outsiders believe their widows who face extra hardship being outsiders and having no real family support- are being neglected.

Many scholars now believe that the difference between these Hebrew or Palestinian and Hellenistic Jewish Christians went deeper- much deeper than the distribution of food. The problem of the Jewish root of Christianity and the place of the law was no doubt beginning to raise its ugly head with the preaching of the Gospel to the Gentiles and the problems of whether the Gentiles need to become Jewish in order to become Christian. The solution would not be found until the rising of another central figure in the Church – that of Paul.

Well, the Church leaders- the Twelve Apostles make a decision on how to solve the problem….the solution is to choose some Hellenistic Christian men to serve – …matter of fact the text points out that two the seven were actually proselytes- that is a Gentile convert to Judaism who came to believe that Jesus was the Messiah- they were Stephen and Philip. The other five were native Jews who spoke Greek. It should be noted that Stephen and Philip did much more than “serve the tables”- they preached and that’s what caused Stephen to be arrested and martyred.

This is setting the stage for the first major paradigm shift to occur- which I will take up in the next session.

Lecture One transcript

I have heard people say- I have heard some Evangelicals say “we need to return to the simple Gospel of the Early Church”  Matter of fact, 20 years ago as a Fundamentalist Pastor, I preached the need to return to the simple Gospel of the Early Church..

I have spent considerable time thinking about this and I have come to the conclusion that if we could get into a time machine and go back to say 35AD- the Early Church – we would be shocked to discover some of the things the Early Church believed.

So in this first lecture- I will take you back to 35AD (oh, by the way- these dates are not exact- the dates are approximate… and work our way forward in time to show you what the Early Church looked like and I will also describe some of the paradigm shifts that occurred-  shifts and developments that changed the Church.

So let us pull the lever backwards and return to 35AD to the center of Christianity to the Mother Community of the First Church of Jerusalem.  Yes, the center of the Early Church was not Rome but Jerusalem. The Mother Church was not Rome but Jerusalem. This was the first Christian community made up for the most part of Jewish Christians- that is Jews who believed that Jesus was the Messiah. And these believers wanted to keep their Jewishness.  These Jewish Christians wanted to remain integrated with Judaism…they did not wish to depart from the Jewish community.

And what you will notice immediately is their rooted fundamentally in Judaism. Every morning they continue to confess the Shema Israel: Hear, O Israel: the LORD is our God, the LORD is one….

These Jewish Christians believed in one God. There was no thought to a Trinity…

And this God- is a personal living God is loves those whom he has chosen. He is both transcendent and immanent- that is he is the God of the heavens- supremely transcendent God but at the same time –he is immanent- the God of his people- the God is with them –lives with them- walks with them.

So these Jewish Christians believed in one God- the Transcendent Immanent God. And not a Trinity-…There is not idea of Trinity of any kind among the first Christians.

Secondly these Jewish Christians hold to the Tenach- that is the Hebrew Scriptures. So if you questioned them as to what Scriptures- they would answer the Hebrew-Tenach. You would soon learn that at this time- 35 AD- there are no written Gospels- only stories being passed on…

Thirdly, These Jewish Christians- observed Torah-and Torah is a principle that has been distorted by Christians down through the ages-  Torah is more than just the LAW…to the devout Jew- and even to the devout Jewish Christian at this time 35 AD, Torah was something other than a yoke of burden that many have tried to say that it was. And Torah cannot be understood apart from the concept of holiness. And so every ritual…every practice is geared toward a way of approaching- a way of living in intimacy with God.

With that in mind I should mention that the Jew at this time and the Jewish Christian also equated violations of Justice on the same level as idolatry. And violations of justice here I am mean loving your neighbor-  so mistreating your neighbor- forgetting the poor are sins equivalent to idolatry .

These Jewish Christians were very concern about living constantly in the sight of God and that meant they kept Torah and practiced circumcision, keeping the Sabbath and the food laws.

Fourthly, these Jewish Christians worshipped at the Temple and kept the Jewish feasts days which became celebrations or commemorations- that in a sense reactualized these past divine acts.

and yes, as you observe them- you discover and you might be at first appalled- they continue to sacrifices animals at the temple. You scratch your head and you probably are thinking- haven’t they read or heard Paul in the Book of Hebrews write about how the blood of bulls and goats are no longer of any effect because the sacrifice of Jesus.  And the answer would be- NO- they have not heard or read this letter because it hasn’t been written yet- It would not be written for another 70 years- 100AD….Now this is an important point to make because somehow we have the idea- a mistaken idea- a misunderstanding- a myth that these first Christians somehow- as soon as they believed in Jesus- they stopped being Jews and became evangelical- believing in a fully developed doctrine of the Trinity and a fully developed doctrine of  the Deity of Christ. This is a myth.

You will also note two rituals- which you will find familiar- Baptism and The Eucharist or thanksgiving meal …breaking of bread. Which I should mention that baptism and the breaking of bread were not new rituals. There had been at this time Jews who actually used Baptism  but the Jewish Christians used it with a new symbol- a symbol of new life in Jesus…The Jewish Christians baptized in the name of Jesus—clearly a sign of placing themselves under his authority and legal protection. It was a sign of coming into his family.

Even the Eucharist or thanksgiving meal was not a new meal…but new symbols for an old meal- the Passover meal would now be celebrated as the Lord’s Supper- a meal of thanksgiving with bread and wine- symbolizing broken body and spilled blood- that is the sacrifice of Jesus and it would be a covenant and community meal.

Finally what did they Jewish Christians believe about Jesus? Well, they believed he was the Messiah. And I must mention here that the Jews at the time of Jesus birth were in a state of high alert for the Messiah. There was an apocalyptic Messianic –eschatological expectation-. Many Jews believed it was imminent…that the kingdom of God was to be revealed…that there would be a divine intervention more miraculous than the Red Sea event.

And it was at during this time of what we could call messianism- that Christianity was born.

So what did these Jewish Christians believe about Jesus?   That he was this divine intervention- that he was the Messiah!

That he was a man…and I emphasize man- who God anointed with the Holy Spirit at his baptism- and you remember – a voice was hear from heaven saying “This is my son” and they believed he was adopted by God to be his son.  There is a phrase in theology to describe their view of Christ- they had a low Christology. They did not believe he was God from all eternity- and became man….They believed he was a man who died on the cross, buried and was resurrected and ascended to sit on the right hand of God.  Remember these are Christians who are rooted in the concept of one God- the Shema Israel- There is only one God…

Now some of you are scratching you head again- wait a minute Ed…

What about the Gospel of John- where John writes: In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God and the word became flesh and dwelt among us- and we beheld his glory- the glory of the only begotten …

Well again- ask them- have you heard of the Gospel of John-?

The answer is NO! Again, this Gospel of John would not be written for another 70 years- 96-110 AD.

That bring us to one further point- these Jewish Christians did not believe in the virgin birth.  I hear you yelling at me now- “oh, Ed you have gone too far”  Well, we will come back to this later but remember these are Jewish Christians- this is the beginning of the Church- and  I believe it is time to be honest about how the doctrine – Christian doctrine- developed over time.  The idea of the virgin birth of Jesus was a late development in the Church. It was required for a high Christology which developed in the next 50 years of the Church.

 

This low Christology of the Early Christians would slowly develop into a very high Christology- which we begin to see in another 65 -70 yrs. with the Gospel of John.

This low Christology of the Early Church does have implications for us today- questions that must be asked and I will be addressing these questions in the next lecture…

1. If Christ was not defined as God who became man- The Theo-anthropos- why then do most Christian Churches today- require to for membership a confession- a belief that he is the Eternal God who became man- ?
2. Would not the low Christology of the Early Church- be a key to dialogue with not only Moslems but Jews of today?
3. Why did the Church declare that this low Christology was a heresy- by the year- 100AD?

These are some of the questions I will be addressing in the next lecture. In the next lecture I will be moving the time machine lever from 35 AD to about 45-50 AD when  we will see the Jewish Christian Church beginning to have problems trying to keep itself Jewish-

In essence we will be looking at the paradigm shift that occurred as Jewish Christians came into conflict with Hellenist Christians.