Church History of Evangelization
The history of our current Church, and Christianity in general, started with the launch of the ministry of Jesus Christ. Well not exactly. Christ and his apostles were all Jews. The Jewish history and religion of the Old Testament, which was taught in the synagogues in and around Jerusalem in the first century, was the foundation upon which Christ built his Church through His twelve apostles. But the growth of the Church had its beginnings in the midst of the conflict between the Jews and their Roman conquerors.
Therefore Roman laws and customs as well as Jewish laws and customs exerted a tremendous amount of influence on the development of the Church. Thus the history of the Church must be examined not only through the scrutiny of the apostles and the church fathers
but also with attention to the political and religious environment within which they came into contact and thrived.
The first Church or gathering place for the agape feast was probably the same upper room where Christ celebrated His last supper, the first Mass. After the crucifixion of Christ for the Jewish crime of blasphemy, the first act of the apostles was to vote on a replacement for Judas Iscariot, the apostle who betrayed Christ. Through the power and aid to the Holy Spirit, the eleven apostles voted Matthias as
the twelfth apostle. The twelve later called together the general body of the disciples and ordained seven deacons whose names are Stephen, a man full of the Holy Spirit, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, who was a proselyte from Antioch. (Acts 6:1-6). These twelve apostles along with the seven deacons began to grow the Church in Jerusalem through Jewish converts.
At the 50th day after the resurrection of Christ during the celebration of the Jewish Festival of Weeks, Peter proclaimed the Good News at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended on the crowd. (Acts 2:1-21). Some 3000 visitors of Jerusalem from around the world came to believe in Christ and were baptized. (Acts 2:37-45). Within days or weeks, the number of believers rose to 5000 men. (Acts 4:4).
These new converts brought the Holy Spirit back home with them around the world and the Word spread. All of these things happened in the late spring and summer of the year 33 A.D.
As Christ prepared for his final march into Jerusalem in the early spring of 33 A.D., He gathered 72 of His most faithful disciples and
sent them out ahead of Him in pairs announcing to the various towns of Judaea the coming arrival of the Kingdom. These men were personal Disciples of Christ and were well acquainted with the apostles. Their eventual authority as bishops developed as a result of their direct association with the 12 Apostles and/or Paul after the death and resurrection of Christ. This power of the Holy Spirit for the Bishops flowed through the Apostles and Paul as these men were recognized and appointed as leaders in the first church. A partial listing of the seventy-two follows. (See a complete listing).
These 72 disciples provided much needed help to the apostles in spreading the good news of the redemption Christ offered. As you
can see from the list, these men, who were personally called and ordained by Christ, became the first bishops of the churches that sprung up around the world. This monumental growth of the new Way proceeded at light speed with the guiding hand of the Holy Spirit despite the tumult and tribulations it encountered along its journey. Resistance was felt initially through the Jews who wanted to stamp out this blasphemy before it gained a foothold. The Sanhedrin, the governing body in Jerusalem of the Jews around the world, made the Christian public enemy number one. Blasphemy for the Jew was a crime which required the death penalty. A belief in Christ as God was blasphemy for the traditional Jew. Paul participated in this persecution. Christ was put to death for such a charge. The first disciple of Christ to be put to death after His crucifixion was the deacon, Stephen, in 34 A.D for the same charge. Paul, a Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin, witnessed the death of Stephen.
The Romans had no form of organized religion. They worshiped many gods when the mood or circumstance compelled them. Initially the Romans were indifferent about this new form of Jewish religion, Christianity. Like the Greeks, they were curious at first. But persecution by the Romans soon reigned. Persecution of the Christians by the Romans began with the crazed roman emperor, Nero in 66 A.D with the start of the first Jewish Revolt in Jerusalem. The finale of Nero was the death of Peter and Paul in Rome. Numerous martyrs followed in their footsteps. The Jews experienced the same rage of the Romans, when in 66 A.D. they revolted against Roman rule. Jerusalem was eventually overthrown in 70 A.D. and the Temple was destroyed. The Jews were scattered to the four corners of the earth. The persecutions of the Christians were the direct result of the Jewish rebellion. Nero considered Christianity and the Jewish religion as one and the same and took out his contempt for the Jews
against the Christians.
Luke, a physician, a disciple of Paul and the author of his Gospel and the Book of Acts, states that John the Baptist entered on his public ministry in the 15th year of Tiberius’ reign. Tiberius was the Roman Emperor from 14 A.D. - 37 A.D. Therefore Christ began to call His apostles around the beginning of the public ministry of John the Baptist which would be c. 29-30 A.D. Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor of the Judaea province from 26 – 36 A.D. The Roman capital of the province of Judaea was at Caesarea, not Jerusalem. Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great, was the governor of the provinces of Galilee and Perea from 4 B.C. (the date of his father’s death) to 39 A.D. Herod Antipas founded the City of Tiberius, the capital of Galilee, and named it in honor of the Emperor. Herod Antipas was the governor responsible for the martyrdom of John the Baptist around 30 A.D. John the Baptist, a second cousin of Jesus, was the first Christian martyr. He was beheaded, a Roman style of execution. Stephen was the second. Stephen was martyred by stoning in 34 A.D by the Jews. Pontius Pilate was the governor responsible for the crucifixion of Christ. Because the ministry of Jesus lasted three years, Christ was crucified in the early spring of 33 A.D.
The Sanhedrin despised Christians. The Pharisees and Sadducees trained young men in Jewish tradition under the Old Testament and considered anyone who preached this new doctrine of Christianity as a blasphemer. The Essenes were the third and much smaller Jewish political party. Christ and his followers may have been members of the Essenes. The Essenes are described by many early Jewish and Greek historians such as Josephus. They lived in small nit communities, were very devote and believed in most if not all of the teachings of Christ. They actually lived and taught the principles of Christ before His ministry started.The words Pharisee and Sadducee are mentioned throughout the bible but the word Essene is never mentioned. The members of the Sanhedrin were very similar to the radical Muslims of today. They hated Christians and they thought that they had the right or permission from God to put to death anyone who professed a belief in Christ. Yet the Christians, as do the ones of today, did as Jesus preached and did not fight back. They turned the other cheek and accepted death for their belief in Christ, just as Christ died for them.
Saul of Tarsus, also known as Paul, was a Jew and Pharisee first and a Roman second. His parents were Roman citizens and Jews who lived in the City of Tarsus in the Roman province of Cecilia. Paul was born about the same time as Christ, or soon thereafter, around 4 B.C. He came to Jerusalem as a very young man, possibly in his late teens. He was taught the Old Testament by Gamaliel, an elder member of the Sanhedrin and became a devout Jew. Maybe because of his political ambitions and in order to impress the Sanhedrin, Paul came to despise the followers of Christ and sought them out to kill them. Paul probably had at least one if not more encounters with Christ on one of His many journeys to Jerusalem. Paul may have been present at the conviction of Christ for blasphemy in front of the Sanhedrin and may have been present to denounce Christ in the audience of Pontius Pilate. Paul could have seen Christ crucified
in 33 A.D. We know Paul was present at Stephen’s death in 34 A.D. The next year, 35 A.D., Paul was charged with the task of rounding up Christians in Damascus. On his way their, Paul had a personal encounter with the Risen Christ. Christ converted Paul after asking why was he persecuting Him, His Church. The apostles knew Paul by name and were fearful of him at their first official meeting.
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Therefore Roman laws and customs as well as Jewish laws and customs exerted a tremendous amount of influence on the development of the Church. Thus the history of the Church must be examined not only through the scrutiny of the apostles and the church fathers
but also with attention to the political and religious environment within which they came into contact and thrived.
The first Church or gathering place for the agape feast was probably the same upper room where Christ celebrated His last supper, the first Mass. After the crucifixion of Christ for the Jewish crime of blasphemy, the first act of the apostles was to vote on a replacement for Judas Iscariot, the apostle who betrayed Christ. Through the power and aid to the Holy Spirit, the eleven apostles voted Matthias as
the twelfth apostle. The twelve later called together the general body of the disciples and ordained seven deacons whose names are Stephen, a man full of the Holy Spirit, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, who was a proselyte from Antioch. (Acts 6:1-6). These twelve apostles along with the seven deacons began to grow the Church in Jerusalem through Jewish converts.
At the 50th day after the resurrection of Christ during the celebration of the Jewish Festival of Weeks, Peter proclaimed the Good News at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended on the crowd. (Acts 2:1-21). Some 3000 visitors of Jerusalem from around the world came to believe in Christ and were baptized. (Acts 2:37-45). Within days or weeks, the number of believers rose to 5000 men. (Acts 4:4).
These new converts brought the Holy Spirit back home with them around the world and the Word spread. All of these things happened in the late spring and summer of the year 33 A.D.
As Christ prepared for his final march into Jerusalem in the early spring of 33 A.D., He gathered 72 of His most faithful disciples and
sent them out ahead of Him in pairs announcing to the various towns of Judaea the coming arrival of the Kingdom. These men were personal Disciples of Christ and were well acquainted with the apostles. Their eventual authority as bishops developed as a result of their direct association with the 12 Apostles and/or Paul after the death and resurrection of Christ. This power of the Holy Spirit for the Bishops flowed through the Apostles and Paul as these men were recognized and appointed as leaders in the first church. A partial listing of the seventy-two follows. (See a complete listing).
- A. Mark the Evangelist, author of the Gospel of Mark and Bishop of Alexandria
- Simeon, son of Cleopas, 2nd Bishop of Jerusalem
- Barnabas, citizen of the Island of Cyprus and companion of Paul
- Justus, Bishop of Eleutheropolis
- Thaddeus of Edessa (not the Apostle called Thaddeus)
- Ananias, Bishop of Damascus
- Stephen, one of the Seven Deacons, the first martyr
- Philip the Evangelist, one of the Seven Deacons, Bishop of Tralles in Asia Minor
- Prochorus, one of the Seven Deacons, Bishop of Nicomedia in Bithynia
- Nicanor the Deacon, one of the Seven Deacons
- Timon, one of the Seven Deacons
- Parmenas the Deacon, one of the Seven Deacons
- Nicolas, one of the Seven Deacons and claimed to be the founder of the Nicolaitans
- Titus, Bishop of Crete
- Philemon, Bishop of Gaza
- Epaphras, Bishop of Andriaca
- Archippus
- Silas, Bishop of Corinth
- Silvanus, Bishop of Thessaloniki
- Crescens, Bishop of Galatia
- Crispus, Bishop of Chalcedon in Galilee
- Epenetus, Bishop of Carthage
- Stachys, Bishop of Byzantium
- Urban, Bishop of Macedonia
- Narcissus, Bishop of Athens
- Apelles, Bishop of Heraklion
- Aristobulus, Bishop of Britain
- Agabus the Prophet
- Rufus, Bishop of Thebes
- Hermas, Bishop of Dalmatia
- Pope Linus, Bishop of Rome
These 72 disciples provided much needed help to the apostles in spreading the good news of the redemption Christ offered. As you
can see from the list, these men, who were personally called and ordained by Christ, became the first bishops of the churches that sprung up around the world. This monumental growth of the new Way proceeded at light speed with the guiding hand of the Holy Spirit despite the tumult and tribulations it encountered along its journey. Resistance was felt initially through the Jews who wanted to stamp out this blasphemy before it gained a foothold. The Sanhedrin, the governing body in Jerusalem of the Jews around the world, made the Christian public enemy number one. Blasphemy for the Jew was a crime which required the death penalty. A belief in Christ as God was blasphemy for the traditional Jew. Paul participated in this persecution. Christ was put to death for such a charge. The first disciple of Christ to be put to death after His crucifixion was the deacon, Stephen, in 34 A.D for the same charge. Paul, a Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin, witnessed the death of Stephen.
The Romans had no form of organized religion. They worshiped many gods when the mood or circumstance compelled them. Initially the Romans were indifferent about this new form of Jewish religion, Christianity. Like the Greeks, they were curious at first. But persecution by the Romans soon reigned. Persecution of the Christians by the Romans began with the crazed roman emperor, Nero in 66 A.D with the start of the first Jewish Revolt in Jerusalem. The finale of Nero was the death of Peter and Paul in Rome. Numerous martyrs followed in their footsteps. The Jews experienced the same rage of the Romans, when in 66 A.D. they revolted against Roman rule. Jerusalem was eventually overthrown in 70 A.D. and the Temple was destroyed. The Jews were scattered to the four corners of the earth. The persecutions of the Christians were the direct result of the Jewish rebellion. Nero considered Christianity and the Jewish religion as one and the same and took out his contempt for the Jews
against the Christians.
Luke, a physician, a disciple of Paul and the author of his Gospel and the Book of Acts, states that John the Baptist entered on his public ministry in the 15th year of Tiberius’ reign. Tiberius was the Roman Emperor from 14 A.D. - 37 A.D. Therefore Christ began to call His apostles around the beginning of the public ministry of John the Baptist which would be c. 29-30 A.D. Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor of the Judaea province from 26 – 36 A.D. The Roman capital of the province of Judaea was at Caesarea, not Jerusalem. Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great, was the governor of the provinces of Galilee and Perea from 4 B.C. (the date of his father’s death) to 39 A.D. Herod Antipas founded the City of Tiberius, the capital of Galilee, and named it in honor of the Emperor. Herod Antipas was the governor responsible for the martyrdom of John the Baptist around 30 A.D. John the Baptist, a second cousin of Jesus, was the first Christian martyr. He was beheaded, a Roman style of execution. Stephen was the second. Stephen was martyred by stoning in 34 A.D by the Jews. Pontius Pilate was the governor responsible for the crucifixion of Christ. Because the ministry of Jesus lasted three years, Christ was crucified in the early spring of 33 A.D.
The Sanhedrin despised Christians. The Pharisees and Sadducees trained young men in Jewish tradition under the Old Testament and considered anyone who preached this new doctrine of Christianity as a blasphemer. The Essenes were the third and much smaller Jewish political party. Christ and his followers may have been members of the Essenes. The Essenes are described by many early Jewish and Greek historians such as Josephus. They lived in small nit communities, were very devote and believed in most if not all of the teachings of Christ. They actually lived and taught the principles of Christ before His ministry started.The words Pharisee and Sadducee are mentioned throughout the bible but the word Essene is never mentioned. The members of the Sanhedrin were very similar to the radical Muslims of today. They hated Christians and they thought that they had the right or permission from God to put to death anyone who professed a belief in Christ. Yet the Christians, as do the ones of today, did as Jesus preached and did not fight back. They turned the other cheek and accepted death for their belief in Christ, just as Christ died for them.
Saul of Tarsus, also known as Paul, was a Jew and Pharisee first and a Roman second. His parents were Roman citizens and Jews who lived in the City of Tarsus in the Roman province of Cecilia. Paul was born about the same time as Christ, or soon thereafter, around 4 B.C. He came to Jerusalem as a very young man, possibly in his late teens. He was taught the Old Testament by Gamaliel, an elder member of the Sanhedrin and became a devout Jew. Maybe because of his political ambitions and in order to impress the Sanhedrin, Paul came to despise the followers of Christ and sought them out to kill them. Paul probably had at least one if not more encounters with Christ on one of His many journeys to Jerusalem. Paul may have been present at the conviction of Christ for blasphemy in front of the Sanhedrin and may have been present to denounce Christ in the audience of Pontius Pilate. Paul could have seen Christ crucified
in 33 A.D. We know Paul was present at Stephen’s death in 34 A.D. The next year, 35 A.D., Paul was charged with the task of rounding up Christians in Damascus. On his way their, Paul had a personal encounter with the Risen Christ. Christ converted Paul after asking why was he persecuting Him, His Church. The apostles knew Paul by name and were fearful of him at their first official meeting.
Also visit http://kentmayeux-attorney.com/index.html for more information.