New Testament background

In 587-6 B.C., the Jews in Jerusalem fell prey to the expanding Babylonian empire. Jerusalem was
destroyed and many Jews were taken captive to Babylon. However, by 539 B.C., the Babylonians were
conquered by the Persians. Cyrus, king of Persia, reversed the Babylonian practice of repression of
nationalism by allowing those nations who had been deported by the Babylonians to return back to their
homelands and to worship their own gods. Cyrus allowed returning captives to take with them the
religious objects which the Babylonians claimed as booty. He also provided them with some funds to help
rebuild local religious shrines. He hoped that this generosity would create local governments who were
loyal to him
The Return of the Jews to Jerusalem
Two important accomplishments were realized by the returning exiles. First, the temple was rebuilt.
Second, the Law of Moses became the centre of Jewish life. This happened in the following way. Shortly
after Cyrus’ edict, a group of Jews led by Sheshbazaar, of the Davidic line, returned to Jerusalem.
However, the situation in Jerusalem was difficult and the group failed to make much progress in securing
Jerusalem and rebuilding the temple. In 520 B.C., the second group of exiles returned to Jerusalem led by
two men named Zerubbabel, nephew to Sheshbazaar, and Joshua.
Under their leadership, and through the inspiration of the prophet’s Zachariah and Haggai, the temple
was rebuilt although its structure cannot be compared to the grandeur of Solomon’s temple. The building
of the temple began what is known as the second temple period. Herod the Great greatly enlarged and
remodelled this temple. With the rebuilding of the temple came the reestablishment of the old hierarchical
social structure which had come to dominate Jewish (and Israelite) society before the exile. It has already
been shown that this kind of social structure is often oppressive, especially to the peasantry that makes up
the majority of the population. The oppressive nature of this stratified social structure was felt in the days
of Nehemiah (Neh. 5:1-5) who enacted various reforms in an attempt to reduce the burden of debt created
by the structure. But these reforms were only temporary.

Sometime after the temple was rebuilt (the date is very much disputed), the second group of exiles
returned to Jerusalem led by a priest named Ezra. Ezra was “a ready [skilled] scribe in the law of Moses”
(Ezra 7:6). Through the work of Ezra, idolatry was eradicated out of Jewish society. Further, the Law of
Moses became the preeminent law of the Jews, something that had rarely happened since Moses. Because
of this, Ezra is sometimes referred to as the second Moses.
Ezra also established a new class of religious leaders who were studied in the law. Prior to this time, the
religious leaders of the Jews were priests and prophets. But at this time, there were no prophets anymore
and the priests concerned themselves solely with temple rituals. These new religious leaders, called
scribes, replaced the priests as those who interpreted the Law of Moses and taught the law to the Jews.
Through their help, many in the Jewish community became dedicated to the study of the law.
During the Persian Period (c. 515-332 B.C.), the Jewish community was localized in a twenty-mile radius
of Jerusalem. Essentially, Jerusalem was a small temple-state. Though the temple and priesthood were
reestablished as it was in the days before the exile, the monarchy was not. The political and religious
leader of the Jews was a high priest of Zadokite descent. (The Zadokites were descendants of Zadok, who
was installed as high priest by King David. From that time forth, all high priests were to be descendants
of Zadok.) They were subject to the Persian governor of the area but were not appointed by him.

The Inter-Testamental Period

The Greek Period
In 334 B.C., the Greeks, led by Alexander the Great, conquered the Persian Empire including Judea, the
name given to the province where Jerusalem was located. In 323 B.C., Alexander died and his empire,
which extended from Greece to India, was divided among his four generals. Judea came under the control
of Ptolemy, who ruled Egypt and Palestine, while Syria and Babylon were ruled by Seleucus. However,
in 198 B.C., Antiochus III, a Seleucid king, conquered Palestine, including Judea. Judea remained under
Seleucian control until the Jews gained independence as a result of the Maccabean revolt which began in
167 B.C.
Hellenism
Understanding the Greek, or Hellenistic, the period is important in the study of the New Testament.
Though the Romans ruled the world of the New Testament, it was the Greek culture that predominated.
Of this period, according to Frederick Murphy, Alexander believed in the superiority of Greek culture, but
was at the same time somewhat open to other cultures. Alexander wanted to put into practice the idea that
the entire world was a single city and all people inhabitants of that city. Alexander was pursuing a
cosmopolitan ideal (from the Greek kosmos meaning ‘world’ and polis meaning ‘city’), but it was an
ideal based on the conviction of the superiority of Greek views of the world and Greek institutions. Under
Alexander and his successors, Hellenism (the Greek way of life) was aggressively promoted.
Murphy’s commented that the main institution of Greek culture was the Greek city. These cities were
ruled by the citizens (citizens were usually the landowners). Common to all Greek cities was the agora,
the marketplace. The Agora was a large open square, often surrounded by porticoes (Greek: stoa), porches
with open sides and a roof held up by rows of columns. The Agora also served as a marketplace for ideas
where philosophers could get a hearing. Theatres and gymnasiums also found in a Greek city. In the
theatre, plays immortalized Greek mythology and society was both praised and satirized. The gymnasium
was much more than a place for sports, although sports were an important medium of social interaction
and helped to substantiate the Greek idea of a sound mind in a strong body. Gymnasia also served varied
social functions, from meeting places for political clubs to a kind of high school for Greek boys. The high
school taught the classics and trained the boys militarily. The gymnasium was a key vehicle for
preserving, spreading, and transmitting Greek culture.
Temples were also a major part of the Greek city. Worship of the city’s deities was a civic duty. Since
there was no division between civic and religious life, shrines were found in gymnasia, theatres, and
elsewhere. The Greek city was the main instrument for the spread of Hellenism by Alexander and his
successors. They did so by building new cities, restructuring and chartering old cities of the Greek model,
and organizing clusters of towns as a city.
The Hellenization of Jerusalem
Jerusalem experienced some Hellenization after the Greek period began. However, when Jerusalem fell
under the control of the Selucids during the reign of the Selucid king Antiochus III, the Hellenization of
Jerusalem was greatly accelerated. During this time, the position of the high priest became appointed by
the Selucid king. This began when Jason, of the Oniad family and a descendent of Zadok, took the office
of the high priest from his brother, Onias III, by bribing Antiochus III. Jason changed Jerusalem from a
temple-state to a Greek city-state with a governing council called the Sanhedrin. Further, a gymnasium
was also established in Jerusalem. He also renamed the city to Antioch. Jason lost his position to
Menelaus who offered a higher bribe to Antiochus III. Menelaus was not a descendant of Zadok. The
Jews who were steeped in the Law of Moses found all of this unacceptable. There appeared at this time a
clear division between the Jews. The rich aristocracy, of whom the high priests always belonged whether
they were descended from Zadok or not, favoured Hellenism while those who clung the law of Moses
opposed it.

The Maccabean Revolt

In 175 B.C., Antiochus IV Epiphanes became king of the Seleucid kingdom. He made even greater efforts
to Hellenize Jerusalem. However, in 168-167 B.C., resistance to these measures came to a head when
Antiochus IV Epiphanes forbade Jewish rituals in the temple in Jerusalem and had an altar to Zeus placed
a top of the altar of sacrifice. The resistance came from the family of Hasmon and a group called the
Hasidim–a religious party within Judaism devoted wholly to the Law of Moses. The revolution has
become known as the Maccabean revolt, named for Judas Maccabaeus, the leader of the rebels. Though
the war went on for several years, by 165 B.C., Jerusalem had been freed of Selucid control and the
temple was rededicated. Every year since then, Jews celebrate the rededication of the temple (known as
the Feast of Dedication in the New Testament). This celebration is known as Hanukkah.

The Hasmonean Dynasty

In 128 B.C., the Jews finally won their independence and Judea became an independent state. Judea was
ruled by the Hasmonean family, the leader of which became the high priest. However, the various
successors to the position of the high priest became more and more Hellenistic themselves. During the
rule of John Hyrcanus (128-104 B.C.), the spiritual descendants of the Hasidim, known as the Pharisees,
began to openly oppose the Hasmonean high priesthood. John Hyrcanus switched his loyalty to the
aristocratic Zadokites who had become known as the Sadducees. The Sadducees, who were opposed to
the Pharisees, were mainly the wealthy priests and Jewish aristocracy. The Sadducees had control of the
temple and from this time until the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 A.D., the High Priest
was a Sadducee. John Hyrcanus’ son, Aristobulus I, (104-103 B.C.), became the high priest and took
upon himself the title of king, like other Hellenistic kings. During his days, he conquered “the Galilee of
the Gentiles” and began to establish Jewish colonies in that region.

The Roman Rule

The Hasmonean rule continued until Judea was conquered by the Romans in 63 B.C. The Romans,
however, made Hyrcanus II, who had been King of Judea, both the High Priest and the ethnarch, or “ruler
of the people,” but withheld from him the title of king. Hyrcanus II was personally responsible to the
Roman governor, to whom the Jews had to pay an annual tribute or tax. During the next several years, the
Jews were unhappy about the government and especially Hyrcanus II as High Priest. Though there was
much disagreement in Judea from both in and outside sources, Hyrcanus retained his position. However,
in 48 B .C. Rome placed Hyrcanus and Judea under the procuratorship of the governor of Idumaea,
Antipater. Idumaea was the area of land stretching from the southern hills of Judea to the northern part of
the Negev. It had been annexed (seized) by the Hasmoneans in about 120 B.C. At that time, many of its
inhabitants voluntarily converted to Judaism, including the father of Antipater, also named Antipater.
Herod the Great
In 39 B.C., the Roman Senate approved Antipater’s son, Herod, as King of Judea. However, Herod had to
take possession of his new kingdom by force. In 37 B.C., Herod conquered Judea and Jerusalem. In order
to create a stable kingdom, Herod chose dependency on Rome as the best strategy for assuring the welfare
of the nation and of Judaism in general. This may have been his most important and successful decision.
As future events seem to prove, Herod’s prudence in accepting the political realities of Rome’s
dominance in the first century was a better alternative to the irresponsibility and impulsiveness of the
political and religious zealots that brought Judea in direct and open conflict with Rome in A.D. 66. His
commitment to Rome and to Judaism penetrated his policies in various degrees. He accomplished this
stability through several means.
First, Herod quickly moved to eliminate any opposition to his rule from within his kingdom. This was a
policy which continued throughout his life and one for which he has become most noted. He was not
above killing anyone, his wife and children included, who posed a threat, real or supposed, to his
kingdom. In this way, he established law and order in the kingdom.
Second, he reduced the power of the Sanhedrin, the ruling council of the Jews, by making them like the
privy councils of other Hellenistic kings. They were made up of friends, family, and others who were
allied in their thinking with Herod.
Third, Herod made several attempts to be fair and partial to non-Jewish subjects in his kingdom. Fourth,
Herod’s fiscal policies and building projects brought economic prosperity and security to Judea.
It should be noted that Herod’s building projects are some of the grandest in ancient Palestine. He had
several projects throughout Judea and in other areas including Antioch, Beirut, Damascus, and Rhodes.
He built several fortresses including the impressive Herodium (a virtual man-made mountain where
Herod eventually died), Machareus (where John the Baptist was imprisoned and killed), the Antonia
Fortress (on the northwest corner of the temple), and Masada. He also built an impressive city with an
artificial harbour that he named Caesarea (often called Caesarea Maritima to distinguish it from Caesarea
Philippi built by Herod’s son, Philip). This became the city where the Roman governors were
headquartered. But his most impressive building was the temple complex built to replace the edifice
constructed by the returning Jews from Babylon. The temple complex was the largest structure of its kind
in the Roman world.
Herod the Great is often portrayed as a cruel, paranoid, vindictive tyrant. Yet it is hard to assess his inner
motives. Much of our information regarding Herod comes from Josephus, a Jewish historian living
several decades after Herod’s death. But it is apparent that Josephus had a strong bias against Herod that
seems s to have tainted his writings. However one assesses Herod's life, it must be noted that he brought
respect and security to the Jewish people during his reign, both in Judea and throughout the Roman
Empire. This was brought about by eliminating those whose acts he considered subversive. It was in this
context that Christ was born (Mat 2). Upon hearing the tale of the birth of “King of the Jews,” it appears
that Herod moved quickly to eliminate another potential threat to the stability he worked so hard to
achieve.

Succession to Herod’s Rule

It was several years after Christ was saved by divine intervention from the sword of Herod’s soldiers
before He began his ministry. There had been many changes in the political structure of Judea and regions
round about. After Herod’s death in A.D. 4, the Roman emperor Caesar Augustus divided Herod’s
kingdom among three of Herod’s sons. The southern districts of Judea, Idumaea, and Samaria were given
to Archelaus; the northeastern districts of Paneas (modern Banias), Batanea, and Gaulanitis were given to
Philip; and the northwestern district of Galilee and the southeastern district of Perea were given to
Antipas. None of these men was given the title of king: Archelaus was granted the title of ethnarch while
the other two brothers were given the lower titles of tetrarchs.
It was clear that if the teenaged Archelaus proved himself an able ruler, he would later be made a full
king. He was not. After nine years, Augustus banished him to Vienna where he died in A.D. 14. His
region was made a Roman province governed by a Procurator, the most famous of which was Pontius
Pilate before whom Christ was tried. Philip’s region contained a few Jewish subjects but was mostly
gentile. He built his capital at Paneas, one of the sources of the Jordan River and a place where the Greek
god, Pan, was worshipped. He called it Caesarea Philippi. There he built a temple to the god Pan. He died
in A.D. 34 after thirty-eight years of quiet reign.
Antipas, whose reign resembled his father’s, was the ablest of Herod’s sons. Initially, he reigned from
Sepphoris, the capital of Galilee about 4 miles northwest of Nazareth. But tiring of the winters, he built a
new capital on the southwestern shores of the Sea of Galilee, naming it for the new emperor of Rome,
Tiberius. He fell in love with the wife of his half-brother (named Philip, but not the tetrarch) and married
her, an obviously illegal action. This action was denounced by John the Baptist. In response, Antipas
imprisoned John in Marchaeus and eventually had him killed. Eventually, Antipas was banished by
Emperor Caligula. He died in Gaul in A.D. 39.
Caligula gave Herod’s grandson, Agrippa, the region ruled by Philip. He was also given the title of king.
He was also given Antipas’ region when he was deposed. Eventually, Caligula gave Judea, Idumaea, and
Samaria to Agrippa. Therefore, Agrippa became ruler over the entire kingdom his grandfather had
governed. Upon the acquisition of Judea, Agrippa moved to Jerusalem where he attempted to prove his
orthodoxy as a Jew. Called Herod the King in Acts 12, Agrippa began a persecution of the early
Christians in which James was killed. Acts 12 describes the gruesome death of Agrippa in A.D. 44.
Because Agrippa’s son, Agrippa II, was only seventeen at the time of his death, Judea-Samaria was
placed under the rule of a series of Roman governors. As in the former days of the Roman governorship,
these governors ruled from Caesarea Maritima. It was in the days of one of these governors, Felix, that
Paul was arrested by the Roman military and taken to Caesarea Maritima (Acts 23:24). Felix heard Paul’s
case (Acts 24). Festus replaced Felix as governor and desired that Paul be tried by the Jews. But Paul,
being a Roman, claimed his right to be tried by Caesar (Acts 25). At that time, Agrippa II, who had been
given a small portion of his father’s kingdom to rule, came to Caesarea Maritima and desired to hear Paul
(Acts 26). Paul’s impassioned defence of Christianity was so powerful, Agrippa II exclaimed, “Almost
thou persuaded me to be a Christian.” Paul replied, “I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that
hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am” (Acts 26:29). It is in this political setting
of Herod’s successors that the New Testament takes place.

2. The Roman Background

2.1. Its organization by Augustus
‘Now it came to pass in those days there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that the entire world
should be enrolled.’ So Luke in his second chapter introduces us to the thought of the inhabited world of
the Roman Empire and to its ruler, Augustus.

It is one of the marvels of history that in the generation before the birth of Christ civil war and anarchy
(lawlessness) in this world had given place to peace and ordered government. In the preceding century, a
corrupt oligarchy (a political system governed by a few people) and a parasitical (relating to) city-mob at
home, rival warlords in the provinces, and threats of invasion from without had brought the Roman
Republic to the verge (edge) of ruin. The survival of Rome for another four hundred years, during which
Christianity was to spread throughout her empire, was due chiefly to the genius for diplomacy, the
cautious and canny (smart) statesmanship, and the clear and steady vision of one man Augustus. The very
enrolment of which Luke speaks was part of his plan to distribute more fairly the burden of taxation
throughout the lands controlled by Rome.

As re-modelled by Augustus, it is true that the constitution of Rome differed radically from that of the
past. Though the outward forms of the Republic remained, the army, and with it, the reality of power was
in the hands of one man. Freedom of speech was in some degree restricted and no longer did orators in
the Forum or in the Senate determine the destinies of nations. In prestige, Augustus chose to call himself
as the prince, or first citizen towered above all others; however he might seek to disguise his authority.
But Rome was prepared to surrender some of her liberty for the boon of peace, and it was the peace that
Augustus gave to the Roman world. The administrative system which he built up continued to function
under his less worthy successors, and we see it at work in the New Testament.

The Roman Empire encircled the Mediterranean Sea and all the countries bordering on that sea were
directly or indirectly subject to Rome. The Mediterranean gave cohesion to the Empire, and Augustus was
the first to see that there were natural limits within which Rome’s rule should be confined. ‘He left’, says
Tacitus, an empire bounded by the Ocean or distant rivers.’ To the west was the Atlantic; to the north, the
Rhine and the Danube; to the east, the Euphrates; while on the south the desert made a natural boundary.
2.2. Its Unification
Augustus and his successors were much concerned to draw the peoples of the empire together. Under the
Republic, there had been a great gulf between the rulers and the ruled; under the Empire, this distinction
gradually disappeared. This was partly affected by the spread of Roman citizenship to the provinces. At
first, the imperial citizenship was confined to Italians and a few favoured communities and individuals
outside Italy, but gradually it was extended more widely. Claudius particularly followed a liberal policy in
this direction. Hence double citizenship became possible: Paul was proud to be a citizen of Tarsus, ‘no
mean city’, but he also rejoiced in and took advantage of the privileges of a citizen of Rome. With Roman
citizenship went Roman customs, Roman dress and the Latin language. In the time of Agricola (A.D. 77-
84), the sons of British chieftains were receiving a liberal education and were encouraged to rival the
Gauls as orators in Latin. There was no racial or colour bar and a man of industry and ability might rise
from a humble origin to a high position in the imperial service.
2.3. Imperial propaganda
There were, however, other and more subtle means by which the emperors sought to win the loyalty of
their subjects. Augustus was a master of propaganda and he set the pattern for his successors. In an age
which lacked a popular press, sound-broadcasting and television, the most effective means of propaganda
was the coinage. The emblems and inscriptions on the coins were carefully chosen and frequently
changed. As they passed from hand to hand they were closely scrutinized and carried their message far
and wide.
Persian issued gold coins showing Judaea captive to mark the capture of Jerusalem. The blessings of
imperial rule were brought home by figures representing Peace, Good Fortune, Abundance, Providence
and many others. Scholars have only recently come to appreciate the far-reaching influence of the
imperial coinage.
2.4. Emperor-worship
Emperor-worship was another means adopted by Augustus to link together the peoples of the empire in
loyalty to the ruling house. Since the days of Alexander the Great, who claimed divine honours in his
lifetime, it had been common in the East to accord such honours to monarchs and benefactors. Such
deification was not unnatural in a polytheistic society. There were legends of heroes, like Hercules, who
had been deified after death as benefactors of mankind, and Euhemerist, in the third century before Christ,
had put forward the theory that all the gods of Greek mythology were originally kings and conquerors to
whom mankind had showed their gratitude by worshipping them as gods. The distinction between divine
and human was thus blurred for all except the Jews.

Augustus deprecated worship of himself in Rome but he allowed the worship of his ‘genius’ or guardian
spirit. In 29 B.C. he permitted the city of Pergamum to erect a temple to Rome and Augustus. It is
probably to this temple that reference is made in the letter to the church at Pergamum: ‘I know where thou
dwells even where Satan’s throne is.’
2.5. The cities of the Empire
The nodal points in the system of Roman roads were the great cities of the empire. Herself a city-state in
origin, Rome fostered city life wherever she found it and created it where it did not exist. She made the
city the usual unit of administration within the province, attaching to each city the country round it as its
‘territory’. In the East, particularly in Asia Minor and Syria, Rome took over many cities which had been
founded by Alexander or his successors. The amount of local independence allowed the cities varied. The
most favoured were the Roman colonies, like Philippi and Corinth, which were communities of Roman
citizens settled at key points in the empire. The constitution of the cities conformed to a general pattern.
Each had annually elected magistrates; a senate drew from the landed aristocracy, and a popular
assembly. Rome consistently favoured the upper classes as being more sympathetic to her rule, and the
common people had little power. Occasionally, however, they were roused to noisy demonstrations, like
the uproar in the theatre at Ephesus. From the vivid account in Acts we see that the authorities were much
concerned at such riots, fearing the intervention of Rome.

3. Hellenism/ Greek background

To determine with accuracy the influence on early Christianity of its Hellenistic background is
impossible. The availability of material does not enable us to define in detail all the stages through which
early Christianity developed, and we do not know the Hellenistic background nearly as well as we could
wish.
In spreading the Christian movement encountered new tasks. It faced a world which did not know
Judaism or which hated and despised it, a world which was unacquainted with the prophets and familiar
with cults not pretending to exclusiveness, with mysteries not always requiring a moral standard of their
devotees, with an unchangeable an immoral order of destiny determined, or at least indicated by the stars,
with magic of various kinds.
Greek culture as it developed in East after Alexander Influenced Judaism and (somewhat) influenced by it

1. Religion
Syncretism (mixing) of eastern & Greek polytheisms, some attempts to mix with Judaism

2. Philosophy
Various schools in Greece spread Eastward, most important: Epicurean, Stoic, Platonic many Jews
adopted various philosophical ideas e.g., Philo of Alex (selection of platonic, stoic)

3. Politics
Independent city-states in Greece modified in East, as under imperial control of Ptolemies & Seleucids
citizenship - more restricted in numbers than modern citizenship

4. Influence on Jews
Growth of Hellenistic Jews attracted to one or more features of Hellenism; some radical, some moderate
reaction against Hellenism by Hasidim, Jews determined to be faithful to God's covenant

5. Influence of Judaism on Hellenism

Bible translated into Greek many Gentiles attracted to God of the Bible via synagogues

a. Social life and its problems for Christians

The social life of these cities contained features which presented difficult problems to the early Christians.
‘Even the streets and the market-places,’ says Tertullian, ‘the baths and the taverns and our very dwelling-
places are not altogether free from idols. Satan and his angels have filled the whole world.’ The
immorality of some of the cities was notorious. In the park of Daphne, five miles from Antioch in Syria,
the worship of Artemis and Apollo was tainted with the immoral practices connected with the Syrian
goddess Astarte and her consort. Corinth had its temple of Aphrodite with its priestess-courtesans whose
sacred prostitution was part of the worship of the goddess. Many Christians before their conversion had
followed such practices as part of their religion. This is seen as the frequent and urgent warnings in the
Epistles against fornication. Another difficulty was concerned with the ‘guilds’ (collegia) which
flourished in these cities. These were not trade-unions, but voluntary associations of people with common
interests. Guilds of artisans and traders of every kind are mentioned in the many inscriptions that have
survived. No doubt it was to the guild of silversmiths at Ephesus that Demetrius applied to take action in
view of the danger to their trade from the preaching of Pau1.
b. Hellenistic Culture, the Cities and the worship
The Greek culture was influential in several ways in Palestine, perhaps most pervasively in religious
worship. Herod the Great built several Caesarea (shrines dedicated to Augustus) in Samaria, Panias and
Caesarea, and they contained statues, one of the Augustus modelled after Zeus and another of Rome
modelled after Hera.
Festival games were often connected with these cults. Theatres and amphitheatres were built, by Herod in
Caesarea and even in Jerusalem various kinds of games were celebrated: gymnastic and musical games,
chariot racing and animal baiting. Hellenism was most effective in the sphere of trade and industry.
Political organization was another of the most important way Hellenism affected Palestine.
The culture of the nearer East had two faces, the life of the Greek cities and the life of the undeveloped
countryside. In the first-century city, life flourished in the city populations that Christianity first spread.
The contribution of the non-Greek element in the population to religion was important: in Asia Minor it
meant the Anatolian cult of a mother goddess (Meter, Leto, Ma, or Artemis) and a son or youthful and
subordinate consort (Attis, Tyrimnos, etc.), sometimes of mother, consort, and son, together with beliefs
coming from the Persians who had ruled the land; in Syria it meant the local Baal and the local mother-
goddess. Yet it was, though non-Greek, given a Greek dress. The mother-goddess could be called
Artemis; the young god Apollo. Baal could be called Zeus, with some local epithet or other.
These Hellenistic cities worshipped the Greek gods, Zeus, Apollo, Artemis, Dionysus, Asclepius and the
like. They worshipped also the Emperor (either by himself or in association with the goddess Roma, the
divine personification of the imperial city's power). Both types of worship could express sincere belief.
But they need not. Neither required more than the performance of certain observances; they were without
a theology, though susceptible to theological interpretation.

Civic cults, Caesar-worship, Mysteries, these make up the public religion of the Hellenistic world and we
see more individual religious development, of currents of belief growing in small groups or disseminated
by literary propaganda, there is more.

4. Jewish background
The Christian teacher who addressed himself to devout Jews found in his hearers a strictly monotheistic
faith, commonly some kind of Messianic expectation, and always a belief in God's law and in the moral
requirements of religion. He told them that the cherished expectations of their race had been gratified,
though in an unexpected way, that God had not waited for the perfection of Israel before sending the
Messiah but had already sent Him, that this Messiah had died, had risen, and would come again in glory,
and that in the light of the rising of the Messiah and the expectation of His second coming they were
called to a new life. Such instruction would be suitable not merely to Jews in Judaea but also to the
numerous Jews of the Dispersion. It would reach also the many Gentiles who, without formally becoming
proselytes, felt drawn to Judaism; we find them called Sebomenoi, ' worshippers/ and the ' worshippers of
the Highest God (Theos Hypsistos) in the Hellenized East were probably in large part Judaising Gentiles
and Hellenizing Jews.
The world that Jesus entered was intensely religious. The beliefs, practices, and institutions of the Jewish
people were solidly rooted in the biblical traditions--after all, the Jews were the people of God. But over
the years Israel had to adjust to persecution, invasion, exile, and foreign rule. And as they applied the
Scriptures to the various crises and situations that they faced, disagreements arose that led to serious
divisions among the people. Such divisions were not foreign to Israel--the Old Testament records
numerous examples, but what was new was that by the first century distinct and competing for religious
groups or schools of thought parties had been formed. So when Jesus taught the people, he was often
compelled to address the teachings and traditions of these different factions. To understand the teachings
of Jesus, then, we need to know more about His world--which the religious leaders were, how the
different groups arose, what they believed, and why they collided with Jesus as they did. We shall begin
with a survey of the major events that led to this religious diversity and then survey the different groups
that are prominent in the Gospel narratives.

(a) Peasants
The peasants worked the land as their ancestors had always done; their lives were spent in small villages
where kingship and loyalty were primary values. The Hasmoneans seems to have distributed conquered
lands to such Jewish peasants, freeing them of taxation by the Seleucids, in exchange for the peasants’
serving in the army in time of crisis. Pompey’s destruction of the Maccabean states had disastrous
consequences that contributed to the social disorder, leading to the First Jewish War against the Romans.
He made considerable Jewish peasants landless. When Herod received some of these lands back from
Augustus, he expropriated the lands of his political opponents. These lands were cultivated by tenant
farmers. This trend existed the savage hostility between landlords and renters typified in Mathew 21:33-
41. Small landowners and tenants often may force to ask for loans. The taxes fell heavily upon these
peasants. The peasant's taxes, rent, then principal and interest on loans, if they were fortunate enough to
have land on which to eke out an existence. This struggle for scarce land was one factor that stimulated
the revolutionary cause of Hezekiah and John of Jischala in Upper Galilee, a marginal zone where Jewish
and non-Jewish population clashed.
(b) Galilee
i. Regionalism
The readers of Matthew might set the impression that northern Galilee is geographically, socially,
religiously and politically remote from southern Judea. Some scholars claim that Galilee was relatively
isolated, the people living together in small villages detached from the scattered urbanized communities.
ii. Galileans on Pilgrimage
Three times in the year shall all your males appear before the Lord (Ex. 23:17; 34:23). Rabbis took this as
an action to be encouraged, not one to be binding for each pass over, Pentecost and tabernacle. Rabbinic
source stresses the spiritual aspect of the visit but Josephus emphasizes its social and political role,
especially for Galileans. According to the Gospel of Luke, such a journey was made once in a year. Mark
narrates only one journey to Jerusalem, Jesus (10:1, 32). John tells of many (2:13; 5:1; 7:2; 10:22; 12:1).

(c) Judea and Jerusalem: Holy City and Temple

i. Herod’s Jerusalem
There are both literary and archaeological sources to help, clarify the nature of this ancient holy city
(Josephus, Jewish War; Tacitus, Histories). The upper city was built on the higher, western ridge; the
lower city contained the temple of the eastern crescent-shaped hill. Herod doubled the size of the temple
mount, cutting away high rock in the northwest and buttressing it with walls and vaults in the southeast.
Coming west over the Mount of Olives, one would descent through the Kidron Valley and come up
through the golden gate in the wall supporting the Temple Mount. To the northwest was the fortress
Antonio built by the Hasmoneans; Herod strengthened it for Mark Antony. In the north corner of the
Upper City, Herod built his palace. The lower city was more popular and oriental, densely populated by
the poor.

ii. Sadducees and the Priests

Despite the power and influence of the Pharisees not a single text of their survival. Josephus is the main
source of information, with some references occurring in the New Testament and in the later Rabbis. For
Josephus, Sadducees deny faith, the immortality of the soul, and eternal reward after death and accept free
will; socially they behave like aliens to their peers. The Sadducees were aristocrats, some were priests,
but not all; many belonged to lay nobility. In the Herodian and the Roman periods, some of the high
priestly families were Sadducean. The priest’s power resulted from the fact that they had the exclusive
right to sacrifice (Ex.28-29; Lev.8-10; Num. 16- 18). To clarify the social situation in Palestine during
Jesus’ time it is crucial to discuss priestly dues that tax.

iii. Scribes and Pharisees

The third element in the Sanhedrin was the teachers of the Torah, Scribes, a professional bureaucracy.
Their knowledge of the Torah gave them influence. Persons from all social classes became educated
scribes. The increasing power of the scribes aided the Pharisees, were sectarians concerned with strict
legality, especially in relation to dietary laws and purity regulations. They were the most accurate
interpreters of the Law.

Pharisees maintained their identity on Hellenistic urban culture by strict adherence to these core symbols
centring on the table fellowship. Jacob Neusner stresses that the Pharisees reinterpreted the Torah to “lay
stress upon the universal keeping of the law so that every Jew is obligated to do what only the elite-the
priests-are normally expected to accomplish.

(d) The Jesus Movement

Jesus formed the renewal movement in the society that was influenced by ecological, political and
cultural factors. Economic factors were responsible for the most striking phenomenon of the Jesus’s
movement: the social footlessness of the wandering charismatics. The causes of these economic
dislocations were overpopulation. The concentration of the possessions and competing for tax systems.
The country was so heavily populated that all the land was cultivated. The pattern of repeated warfare
meant that each new conquers took some land and confiscated more. But most painful economic pressures
come from taxes which both the Romans and the priests.

The priests’ claimed to this revenue was supported by the final priestly source in the Mosaic Torah and
the by the Sadducees and Pharisees (Matt. 23:23; Lk 18:12). The first all follower of Jesus probably are
Galileans. In Galilean society, there were tenant farmers, craftsmen of the countryside and villages,
peasants, rootless day labourers. The next section is lesser officials, local judges and civil administrators,
tax collectors, stewards and landlords (Mark 12:2-8; Lk 16:1-8). There were representatives from the
above groups to Jesus’ movement.

(e) City life

The larger towns and the cities of the Roman Empire were situated on highways, at river crossings, and at
natural harbours. A traveller on the road leading to a city passed farms, orchards, and huts. As the road
approached a gate penetrating the city wall, there were shops, shrines and wells.

i. Physical Environment
R. E. Brown states that outside and inside the gates, people crowded closely together; traders, innkeepers,
peddlers, slaves, shopping and fetching water. The gate itself was large, broad enough to accommodate
draft animals and crafts. It was ordinarily opened at sunrise and shut tight at sunset.

Dominant Landmarks: Some cities, especially in the east, showed off their wealth and importance by
building colonnades along the main streets, which offered a covered sidewalk, with protection from sun
or rain as well as from passing animals, vehicles and letters. Edwin D. Freed says that in an oriental city,
the major monuments were the temple of the guardian deity and the palace of the ruler. In a Greek city,
the central agora functioned as a market place and civic centre: shrines and temples stood all around,
colonnades gave shelter to merchants and money changers.

Public Spaces: In the hot, dry climate of the eastern Mediterranean, people naturally moved outdoors into
public places. David Balch says that in the eastern cities, the town elders gathered outside the main gate to
discuss events and make local decisions. Crowd gathered in public squares and at the entrance to temples;
also children (Lk. 7:32), beggars and cripples (Acts 3:1-2).

Houses: Lining the streets, of every town, where the walls of private houses. Houses in the western part
of the Roman Empire were built of brick or concrete, at least in the cities. Gundry asserts that the poorer
sections and rural areas had frames houses or huts. In the eastern part of the Empire house usually
consisted of stucco and sun-dried bricks. Roofs were tiles or thatch.
ii. Class and Status
John Stambaugh says that in terms of power, influence, money and the perception of the time, we can
divide the population of the Roman world into two main categories, those with influence and those
without it, the “honorable” and the “humble”, those who governed and those who were governed, those
who had property and those who did not.
Upper Classes: At the peak of the socio-economic pyramid was the single figure of the Emperor,
supported by other members of the imperial household and by the officials. Just below as the senatorial
order, then participate, a large group known as equities. The women of the upper classes- mother, wives
and daughters- were expected to be modest and shy and to live uneventful and unexciting lives in the
Greek and Roman traditions. The members of the upper classes were relatively few, but they were
conspicuous because they control the wealth and political power.

Lower Classes: Below this aristocracy, the great mass of the population lived its lives. John Stambaugh
asserts that a large number of the intermediate level consisted of the small landowners, craftsmen and
shopkeepers and also the middle and lower ranks of Roman citizens in the army, from centurions down to
ordinary legionary soldiers and veterans. Below these groups, there were people really poor, who had no
property and supported themselves by peace work at the docks, in construction or on farms. The lowest
legal status of all was the slaves. Greek philosophers considered them as something less than human.
Social Mobility: Upper Classes enjoyed the great privilege and they guarded them vigilantly. The
“honourable ones” regarded the “humble” with disdain and without apology across the great gulf fixed
between them (Lk. 16:19-31). The members of the senatorial aristocracy were forbidden to marry former
slaves, separate courts tried the upper classes and the lower classes, and separate punishments were
decreed. Social standing and privilege were carefully guarded, but the barriers between classes were not
completely impermeable. Opportunities for social upward mobility existed. The system worked to elevate
an individual was in the acquisition of Roman citizenship. The most common and also the most dramatic
rise in status came about in the manumission of slaves.

iii. Work
Upper-Class Attitudes: The aristocracies of the Greco-Roman cities despised manual labours. This was
the one more way in which the upper classes emphasized and reinforced a distinction between themselves
and the rest of society. The upper classes took great pride in the public service, and on their tombstones,
they listed offices held, commissions are undertaken, a public building erected and public games
sponsored.
Small Business: Every main street in an ancient city was lined with shops, some run by slaves or free for
a rich entrepreneur but many run by people who achieved some modest success through good sense and
skill. These were the bakers, butchers, greengrocers, barbers, fullers, cobblers, money lenders and
innkeepers. In the eyes of the upper class, they were common and servile, but they took pride in their
successes and accomplishments. On their tombs, they boasted of the professions and even their business
addresses (Matt. 13:55-“the carpenter’s son” or “Jesus the carpenter” Mark 6:3).

Working Conditions: The small independent merchant, the freed person or slave working on behalf of a
wealthy patron or master, the apprentice under contract to an artisan – all worked long hours in small
shops. In these shops where people gathered to discuss philosophy and politics. We can also imagine that
the leather shop of Priscilla and Aquilla in Corinth, Paul found occasional work and used the time to
discuss the Christian Gospel.

iv. Family and Household

Husbands and Wives: Plutarch’s advice to the bride and groom is more moderate, but he clearly insists
that the husband rule and the wife subordinate.
Fathers, Mothers and Children: Roman fathers had extraordinary power over their children, and texts
often are concerned with them, not with mothers. Greeks regarded the Romans as cruel and harsh. A
Roman master could only sell a slave once, but if a Roman father sold his child and then the child attained
freedom, the father could sell him\her again.

Masters and Slaves: There were more slaves in the Roman Empire than in any previous society.
Normally, household slaves were considered a part of the extended family and had a share in their
religious practices. Roman was offended when their slaves converted to Judaism or Christianity and
refused the traditional rites.
(f) Moral
In the New Testament exhortation, sexual sin usually heads the list of prohibition. Every conceivable kind
of immorality was attributed to the pagan gods. R.H. Gundry says that temple “virgins” were integral
pagan religious rites. Prostitution by both men and women was a well-organized institution. Slave girls
were often the victims of this debauchery. Society accepted pederasty and homosexuality. Divorce was
easy, frequent, and acceptable. The murder was common; parents often “exposed” their infants.

5. Diaspora
(a) Meaning
The Jews taken captive by Babylon benefitted from Cyrus’ policy and were allowed to return to
Jerusalem. Cyrus’ edict allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalem is found in Ezra (1:2- 4; 6:3-5). Over the
next century and a half, numbers of Jews returned to rebuild Jerusalem and her temple. The books of
Nehemiah and Ezra tell the story. The return to the homeland was not forced. Those who wished to stay
in Babylon could. These Jews were the children and grandchildren of the Jews who had been exiled by
Babylon. They had acquired property and sunk roots in Babylon. As a consequence, the majority of the
Jews remained in Babylon where many had established a strong Jewish community. In fact, during the
succeeding centuries numbers of Jews began to migrate to many areas of the Near East, Europe, and
Africa so that by the time of Christ Jews were found in most parts of that ancient world (for a listing of
countries see Acts 2:9-11). The areas where Jews were living outside of Jerusalem and Judea became
known as the diaspora. The Greek term Diaspora (refers to the Jewish dispersion (i.e., to the scattering of
Jews outside Palestine). It is also the technical name for all the nations outside of Palestine where Jewish
people came to live. The Jewish dispersion began in the deportations by the Assyrians (722 BC) and
Babylonians (597 BC and later spread throughout the Roman Empire to Egypt, Asia Minor, Greece, and
Italy. Thus, diaspora generally refers to the Jewish people living outside of Palestine.
(b) Diaspora Humor I: Historical Fiction
Jews of the Second Temple period did not perceive themselves as victims of a Diaspora. That fact alone
arrests attention. Jewish literature of the period refrains from expressions of melancholy on the current
condition—indeed avoids explicit rumination on the circumstances of dwelling in scattered communities
of the Mediterranean. The absence of express reflections, let alone lamentations, on the subject suggests
that Diaspora was not a “problem.” Nothing compelled the Jews to develop a theory of Diaspora, whether
as consolation or justification.

The prophet Jeremiah delivered a directive for the Diaspora. His letter addressed to Jews exiled in
Babylon, offered sage counsel and consolation. It enjoined Jews in foreign parts to build homes, grow
their own food, settle into marriages, become fruitful and multiply. More significantly, they were
encouraged to work for the welfare of the city where now they dwell and promote its prosperity, for they
prosper when it prospers. Jeremiah, of course, conveying the commands of Yahweh, had the gift of
prophecy and forecast a return from exile. But the manifesto itself can serve as a blueprint for Diaspora
existence, a guide for Jews who were developing strategies for survival and success in lands governed by
Gentiles.
(c) Diaspora Humor II: Biblical Recreations
Hellenistic Jews took great pleasure in retelling biblical tales. The practice took a multitude of forms:
history, tragedy, epic, romance, exegesis, or indeed a combination and transformation of genres.
Inventiveness was highly prized. Canonical texts were excerpted or augmented, streamlined or enhanced,
supplemented or inverted. New and different means of conveying familiar legends or reconceiving
biblical heroes appealed widely. None of the preconceptions was designed to substitute for or to subvert
the Scriptures. Quite the contrary. They played to a readership fully conversant with the traditional tales,
for whom these alternative versions would supply different insights, provocative interpretations more
lively renditions, or merely fanciful fabrications.

Jews, to be sure, had no monopoly on the playful rewriting of traditional tales or remoulding of mythic
figures. Greek and Latin authors regularly took pleasure in the practice. One need think only of
Callimachus’ whimsical Hymn to Demeter, Ovid’s Metamorphoses, or Lucian’s Dialogues of the Gods.
But their inventions did not amount to tampering with holy books—however much they may have revered
Homer. The Jews had little inhibition even on this score. Numerous texts can serve as an illustration, but
three diverse and fascinating ones will suffice here. They represent a mixture of genres, or rather a free
adaptation of them. And they make liberal use of humour that offers a window on the receptivity and taste
of Diaspora readers.
(d) Impact of the Jewish Diaspora on Christian Mission
In light of the preceding discussion on the use of the term diaspora in the New Testament and on the
Diaspora realities in the biblical period, further some thoughts on the impact of the Jewish Diaspora on
Christian missions. The first consideration comes out of the Diaspora realities of the New Testament
period, while the second set of insights are taken from the use and context of the term diaspora in the six
New Testament passages.

i. Jewish Diaspora as Precursor to Christian Missions

It is now believed that Virgil’s conception of a “Better Age,” which was to be inaugurated by the birth of
a child, was derived from Isaiah’s prophecies. Not only did the Jewish diaspora prepare the way for
Christ, but it also furnished a valuable vehicle for the proclamation of the gospel. Wherever the apostles
and the early preachers travelled with the good news, they found Jewish communities to whom they
offered first the gift of salvation. The synagogues became convenient locations for the effective ministry
of Paul and his colleagues. In the cities they visited, they first went into the synagogues to look for an
audience. The presence of proselytes and God-fearers in these synagogues and cities showed the influence
and impact of Judaism created by the Jewish dispersion. Thus, the Jewish Diaspora served as a precursor
for a strategic and viable venue for Christian mission to the dispersed Jews.

ii. God’s Sovereignty in the Expansion of the Christian Mission

Aside from the Jewish Diaspora serving as a precursor to the Christian mission to the Jews, it also shows
God’s providential hand in extending the scope and spread of the Christian mission. A quick contextual
check of the diaspora occurrences in the New Testament shows God’s sovereignty in the Jewish
Diaspora. In fact, God’s sovereignty establishes the framework for the missionary expansion of
Christianity. To establish the relationship between the concept of diaspora and Christian mission, I will
examine the presence of missions in the three diaspeirō passages in Acts and the three diaspora passages
in the New Testament. I will also examine the context of these diaspeirō passages and the presence of
Christian mission-related factors.

The earlier context of Acts 8:1b and 8:4 deals with persecution and martyrdom. Acts 7:54-60 describes
the stoning of Stephen. After his martyrdom, a “great persecution” broke out (Acts 8:1a). Saul executed
this persecution, by trying to destroy the Jerusalem church. He went from house to house, heartlessly and
systematically dragging men and women to place them in prison (Acts 8:3). Apart from the persecution,
the latter context reveals an emphasis on mission. The Hellenized Jewish Christians who were scattered in
the Diaspora, “preached the word wherever they went.” Particularly, Philip (a Grecian Jew, who was
chosen as a deacon in Acts 6:5) preached about Christ in Samaria (Act 8:5). As a result of his preaching
and miraculous signs, people listened. Many were healed and were rejoicing (Acts 8:6-7). Many people
also believed Philip’s message and were baptized (Acts 8:12).
iii. Encompassing Scope of the Jewish Diaspora and Christian Mission
In the Great Commission, the extent of going and making disciples is to “all nations”. As we have seen in
the previous sections, the Jewish Diaspora reached many nations. There were only a few major cities or
regions that were without a community of resident Jews in the biblical world. Thus, both the Diaspora and
mission are far-reaching and global in scope. In addition, the context of hostility and hatred in John 7:35
is similar to the context of suffering and persecution in Acts 8:1. From this similarity, we glean that
mission is usually triggered by hostility, hatred, suffering, and persecution. God’s global work greatly
expands in the context of pain and persecution.

The word diaspora refers to the twelve tribes in the NIV translation of James 1:1, “the twelve tribes
scattered among the nations.” In 1 Peter 1:1, the enumeration of the locations in the diaspora (i.e., Pontus;
Galatia; Cappadocia; Asia; and Bithynia) shows how widespread the Jewish dispersion was. This text also
explains the far-reaching spread of mission through and in the diaspora. Therefore, the current brief
survey of the diaspeirō and diaspora passages in the New Testament shows how God used suffering,
persecution, and dispersion as the context for expanding His kingdom and for enabling his people to fulfil
their mission to become witnesses to all the nations, even to the remotest part of the earth. God used the
Jewish Diaspora to expand the missionary work to the Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles.

6. (Mission) Witness In Early Fathers

 The Apostolic Era (30 A.D.–100 A.D.)
The Era of Transition (30 A.D.–48 A.D.) (18 Years)
The Era of Expansion (48 A.D.–64 A.D.) (16 Years)
The Era of Persecution (64–100 A.D.)
 The Era Of Transition: 100–313 A.D. 213 Years
 Through the first three centuries, the Church grew at a fairly steady rate of 40 percent per decade.
It spread most rapidly in the cities, and it grew in spite of intermittent persecution, epidemics of
disease and natural disasters. By the early years of the fourth century, Christians probably held at
least a slight majority of the population in urban areas — even though the Church was then
suffering its most ruthless persecution ever.
 We can only marvel at the achievement of our ancestors in the faith. Yet their accomplishments
are all the more remarkable when we consider the culture they were trying to evangelize.
 The Church Fathers observed that impurity and cruelty arise as sibling vices in the soul. The elder
is impurity, which reduces other people first to mere means of sensual satisfaction and then to
mere objects of sport.
Missions History of the Early Fathers (before AD-200)
After the last Apostle, John died the Church was left with the final inspired written record of the revealed
will of God. There was no other infallible recourse for the Church and many views and different doctrines
were introduced. The lack of careful exegesis and agreed upon method of biblical interpretation resulted
in freedom to interpret the revelation in a way that made sense to the interpreter, instead of coming to the
conviction of what the original author and Holy Spirit meant at the time of writing the inspired text.
By the early 2nd century doctrines [The Apostolic or Post-Apostolic Fathers (AD 95-150)] such as
baptismal regeneration,… were already essential to the faith. The major differences concerned the deity of
Christ, a doctrine deemed essential to salvation, had already split the Church into opposing views. In
order to secure the unity of the Christian Church a central authority had to be established. At first it was
the councils then later it would become the Pope. The divergent views grew during between 100 AD and
313 AD since the Church had no central figure or authority structure
i. The Apostolic Church Fulfilled the Purposes of Jesus’ mission
Having seen the thrust and focus of Jesus’ ministry, and main focus on to fulfilling the Jesus’ mission, by
God to Jesus and Jesus to Apostles. As recorded in the book of Acts. The apostolic church exactly
followed the purposes of Jesus.
· Brought Salvation
· Revealed God
· Polarized Mankind
· Fulfilled Destiny
The Church Brought Salvation: The early church proclaimed a message that brought salvation to those
who accepted it. Peter replied, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for
the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and
your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call. With many other
words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, Save your selves from this corrupt generation.
“Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number
that day” (Acts 2:38-41). “And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved” (Acts
2:47). For this is what the Lord has commanded us: I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may
bring salvation to the ends of the earth. When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the
word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed (Acts 13:47-48).
The Church Revealed God: Through the preaching of the early church, God was revealed. To Jews and
God-fearing Gentiles, this was done was by preaching Jesus as the Christ (Messiah), the Son of God and
the one who fulfilled the prophecies: This put a definite, real-life historical identity into the long awaited
yet variously-conceived Hope of Israel. The gospel was rooted in the message of the Old Testament and
apostolic preaching used the Old Testament to teach about Jesus. “Therefore let all Israel be assured of
this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36).

God was revealed to Gentile audiences two different ways: in preaching about the nature of God; and in
preaching about how God works in the lives of men through ways which were understandable to them.
“Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news,
telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and
everything in them. In the past, he let all nations go their own way. Yet he has not left himself without
testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides
you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy” (Acts 14:15-17).

The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in
temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if h needed anything, because he himself
gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, which they
should inhabit, the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they
should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though
he is not far from each one of us.
The Church Polarized Mankind: One of the striking things about the early church is how it polarized
the world. On one hand, the church was gathered together and was a strong, unified group of people,
despite its racial, cultural, political, economic and geographic diversity. “Those who accepted his message
were baptized, and about three thousand men were added to their number that day” (Acts 2:41). They
devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the
believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to
anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread
in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts (Acts 2:42-46). Then Peter began to speak: "I
now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear
him and do what is right" (Acts 10:35).

The Church Fulfilled its Destiny: The members of the apostolic church saw their work of spreading the
gospel in clear fulfillment of Scripture. The prophecies about the church from the Old Testament were
taken as the future destiny of the church.

On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem,
but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with
water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." So when they met together, they asked
him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them: "It is not for you
to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the
Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and
to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:4-8).

In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) and
, Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of
David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus—he was one of our number
and shared in this ministry. (With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell
headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so
they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)

ii. Persecution cause rapid growth of Evangelization (before late A.D 200)
Much of the known history of this period is framed by the following highlights of the various
persecutions against Christians. Many evidences describe the initial Jewish persecutions referred to in
Acts, and then:
First Roman persecution began with Nero in A.D. 64 who blamed the Christians as conspirators for the
burning of Rome. Though it probably had little to do with Christian doctrine yet Paul and Peter got caught
in the dragnet. Forms of killing included being fed to wild animals, crucified, beheaded, or set on fire to
provide nocturnal lights.
The second persecution came from Domitian in A.D. 95, which was primarily directed against the Jews
for refusing to pay taxes for building an exorbitant Temple for Jupiter as well as the imposed emperor
worship.
The third persecution originated with Pliny, governor of N. Asia Minor, Bythinia, who sought to stop
the massive defections to Christianity from A.D. 109-111. "Pliny wrote to the emperor Trajan (r. 98-117)
for advice. Trajan replied that Christians were not to be sought out; but if reported and convicted they
were to be punished, unless they repented and worshiped the gods. Anonymous information was not to be
received against them. Thus an official policy was established".
The fourth persecution came from Marcos Arelius (121-180) who changed the policy to directly seek
out evidence against the Christians and to blame them for all natural disasters. He was unusually cruel and
barbarous.
The fifth persecution was regional rather than empire wide. Septimius Severus, who ruled from A.D.
193-211, enacted a law prohibiting the spread of Christianity, thus forbidding the conversion to
Christianity.
Violent persecution erupted in Carthage, Alexandria, Rome and Corinth. The father of Origin, a Christian
apologist, was beheaded, along with many of his students.
The sixth persecution was under Maximinus from A.D. 235-238, which targeted his persecution against
the leaders of the Christian movement.
iii. The efforts for the mission of the Holy fathers
When Christians discuss the great teachers of the ancient Church, we do so with a certain reverence.
We acknowledge that they have a special authority for the contribution in evangelism. We treat them
as true fathers, and indeed we traditionally call them the “Fathers of the Church.”

The fathers are a select group from the earliest Christian centuries. Not every Christian who wrote in
those years is considered a Church Father. Theologians have settled on four criteria that must be fulfilled
for “Fatherhood”: 1. sound doctrine; 2. holiness of life; 3. Church approval and 4. Antiquity.
This recognition of spiritual fatherhood has very deep roots. The Church learned to honor the fathers
from Jesus, who was himself following Jewish custom (see John 6:31, 49). Saint Peter described the first
generation of Christians as “the Fathers” (see 2 Peter 3:4). Saint Paul reminded the Corinthians that he
was their “father in Christ Jesus” (1 Corinthians 4:15). Those who later inherited the office of the apostles
— the bishops — would also inherit the fatherly role in God’s earthly family, the Church.
One of the marks of the fathers was their reverence for the doctrine and task they received from the
apostles. The fathers preserved, preached, and passed on the rule of faith — the Gospel of Jesus
Christ, the moral counsel of the apostles, and the sacred rites of the Church. They viewed that body of
doctrine as an inheritance, a sacred trust. Thus, they were not given to experimentation, and they looked
askance at innovation. They had a holy pride in the pedigree of their doctrine of mission.

Local ministers: Not only itinerant ministers evangelized. The local clergy also helped to spread the
faith. In his letter to Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, lgnatius (c. 115 A.D.) exhorts: "Press on in your race
and exhort all men that they might be saved" (ign. Poly. 1:2). Forty years later (c. 157 A.D.) when
Polycarp was being brought to his martyrdom the pagan populace testified to Polycarp's missionary zeal:
“This is he, the teacher of Asia, the father of the Christians. The detroyer of our gods, he who teaches
many not to sacrifice or worship the gods" (Mart. Polv. 12:2). It is known that Irenaeus (c. 180 A. D.),
bishop of Lyons (southern France), was active in evangelizing the Celts who lived in his district. At the
beginning of his great work, Against the Heresies, lrenaeus apologies that he has been so accustomed to
using the "barbarous dialect" of the Celts that he has forgotten how to write correct Greek.

Philosopher-theologians: A not uncommon phenomenon of the ancient world was that of the wandering
philosopher who would present his views in open-air lectures, and should enough interest be elicited, he
might establish a "school" at his place of sojourn. The early Church also had its peripatetic philosopher
theologians. From the Martyrdom of' Justin (2) we learn that during his sojourn in Rome Justin Martyr
"imparted the words of Truth" to any who would come to his dwelling. The Syrian, Tatian, was a student
of .Justin's and after .Justin's death formed his own "school" (Iren. adv. Huer. 1.28).69 Perhaps the best
example of a wandering missionary-theologian is Pantaenus. Pantaenus (c. 180 A.D.), converted from
Stoicism, is said to have travelled as far as India preaching the Gospel (Eus. H.E. 5.10).11 Later he was to
return to Alexandria and establish the famous Catechetical School there.

"Common" Christians: Adolf von Harnack was, no doubt, correct when he wrote: "The most numerous
and successful missionaries of the Christian religion were not the professional teachers but Christians
themselves, in virtue of their loyalty and courage."70 The paucity of historical materials concerning daily,
informal evangelism is, therefore, all the more regrettable. That such evangelism, however, went on is
clear from the testimony of the second century pagan Celsus (c. 180 A.D.; Orig. contra Celsurn 3.55):
We see, indeed, in private houses workers in wool and leather, and fullers, and persons of the most
uninstructed and rustic character, not venturing to utter a word in the presence v of their elders and wiser
masters; but when they get hold of the children privately, and certain women as ignorant as themselves,
the pour forth wonderful statements, to the effect that they ought not to give heed to their father and to
their teachers, but should obey them.
The cynical opposition of Celsus cannot hide the fact that simple Christians were actively evangelizing
their fellows wherever they might be - in the synagogues, in the streets, in the marketplaces, in the homes,
during business contacts, in the courts, in the army. As an illustrative example an incident recounted by
Tertullian may be mentioned. A Christian soldier refused to wear the victory garland, feeling it improper
for a Christian to wear a crown which bore many pagan associations. Summoned before the tribune the
soldier declared himself a Christian and was punished by dishonorable discharge from the army and, at
the writing of Tertullian, awaited in prison his martyrdom.
Von Harnack devotes a special section to the activity of women in the missionary endeavor of the early
Church, and without question women played an important role in the Church's expansion. Acts tells us
that Christians assembled in the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark (Acts 12:12); apparently
Christians in Laodicea met in the house of a certain Nympha (Col. 4: 15); Dorcas was known for her
charity (Acts 9:36- 39); Priscilla was an important aid to Paul (Acts 18:2; Rom. 16:3: "fellow worker");
Philip had four daughters who prophesied; Paul mentions one Phoebe, a deaconess at Cenchreae (Rom.
16: 1). The second century apocryphal' Acts of Paul and Thecla has as its heroine a woman, Thecla, who
supposedly was converted by Paul at Iconium. She is said to have baptized herself and to have undertaken
the work of evangelism, and she is even called an apostole.