PART 1 - FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH: THE APOSTOLIC AGE

I. Introduction

A. It was the perfect time

1. Galatians 4:4

2. The Mediterranean World was united

a) Pax Romana (30 B.C. - A.D. 180)

(1) a forced peace by the imperial armies

(2) rome brought stability and protection

(3) guarded against robbers and pirates

(4) free food and public games at the taxpayers' expense

3. Roman roads provided infrastructure that knit the empire together

a) army could be anywhere in two weeks time

b) communications traveled much faster

c) church used this communication network to spread the

(1) the gospel penetrated the army

(a) as the army moved the gospel traveled as well

(b) Cairns, 37 - "mouthpiece of the gospel"

4. the roman world was a Greek world

a) conquered militarily, but the Greeks conquered them intellectually

b) common language was koine Greek

(1) spread through the empire by the Great

(2) language used to write the

c) Greek philosophy heavily influenced thought

(1) philosophers wanted to know truth and the place of human beings in the universe

(2) most philosophers shared the belief that there was a realm beyond the physical world, the domain of the transcendent

(a) Christianity took advantage of this hunger

(i) Paul's argument with the philosophers in , Colossians 1, and John's argument in the gospel and First

(3) the Greco-Roman world was intellectually "set up" for the gospel

5. There was religious exhilaration and anticipation in the Roman world

a) Josephus - Easter cults, false messiahs, and the religious fervor Page 1 of 8 EARLINGTON FBC SUMMER SEMINARY 2016 SURVEY OF CHURCH HISTORY - WHERE WE ARE BECAUSE OF WHERE WE'VE BEEN Part 1 - FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH: THE APOSTOLIC AGE

b) many in Israel envisioned the Messiah coming at any moment

c) the wanted a revolution against Rome

d) the Essenes wanted a prophet of light who would expel the darkness of evil

e) the wanted a nationalist leader who would restore law and free Israel

6. There was a Jewish presence in every major city

a) after the Jewish exile of earlier centuries and the subsequent Diaspora (the migration of the throughout the Roman Empire)

b) the synagogue system was present in every major city

(1) every time Paul entered a city he would take the gospel to the synagogue first

II. The leaders of the Apostolic Church

A. Peter

1. dominates the first 15 chapters of Acts

a) first to see the resurrected , becomes the leader of the small community of believers before

b) even insisted that be replaces

2. Pentecost

a) 50 days after the crucifixtion and 10 days after the ascension of Christ

b) the birth of the church

(1) Spirit filled the 120 believers who were waiting and praying ()

c) miracle of tongues caused a sensation

(1) observers accused the Christians of drunkenness

d) Peter emerges as the spokesperson for the early church

e) preaches the Spirit-inspired sermon with 3,000 converts

f) cut through Jewish exclusiveness by declaring "no other name" - :12

3. Performed miracles, defied authorities, disciplined , set up deacons, championed the Gospel's penetration into the Gentile world (except in Gal 2:14)

4. Jerusalem Council (A.D. 49)

a) decisive speaker

b) defended Gentile church membership

c) after we cannot pinpoint activities (after )

(1) are definite about 1 & 2 Peter

5. Was Peter the founder of the Roman church? first bishop? first pope?

a) did do missionary work in Antioch and later Rome

(1) no evidence he was Rome's bishop or that he stayed long in Rome

Page 2 of 8 EARLINGTON FBC SUMMER SEMINARY 2016 SURVEY OF CHURCH HISTORY - WHERE WE ARE BECAUSE OF WHERE WE'VE BEEN Part 1 - FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH: THE APOSTOLIC AGE

b) church at Rome had a presbyterian structure into the second century and was decentralized into the fourth century

c) difficult to argue that Rome was the ecclesiastical, let alone theological, center of the early Christian church.

(1) at best it was merely a place of honor

6. End of life

a) wrapped in tradition

b) best evidence

(1) Peter died a martyr's death during 's persecutions, about A.D. 68

c) Apocryphal Acts of Peter

(1) died crucified upside down on a Roman cross

(2) that he was crucified would fit Christ's words in John 21:18-19

(a) the rest of the tradition we cannot be sure

B. John

1. pillar of the Jerusalem church (Gal 2:9)

2. brother of James and son of

3. Peter's coworker (Acts 1:13; 3:1-4:23; 8:14-25)

a) healed and preached in ' name

b) Supervised the church in Samaria

(1) laying on of hands

4. probably at Jerusalem Council of Acts 15 but name does not appear in Acts after his brother James was martyred in

5. do not know why he left Jerusalem

6.

a) reveals John was exiled to Patmos for preaching the Word of God and his "testimony of Jesus" (1:9)

(1) probably in the early A.D. 90's

(2) by Roman Emperor Domitian

b) recorded visions he saw surrounding the second coming of Christ

7. After Exile

a) Emperor Nerva released John from exile sometime between A.D. 96 and 98

b) most reliable evidence places him in Ephesus, lived to be old and die a natural death

(1) trained Polycarp, Papias, and Ignatius

(a) all strategic leaders of the second-century church

8. Most significant contribution

a) his gospel Page 3 of 8 EARLINGTON FBC SUMMER SEMINARY 2016 SURVEY OF CHURCH HISTORY - WHERE WE ARE BECAUSE OF WHERE WE'VE BEEN Part 1 - FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH: THE APOSTOLIC AGE

(1) only 8% is related to the synoptic , remaining 92% is original with John

(2) instruction regarding the deity of Christ

(3) emphasis on the Spirit

C. Paul

1. His heritage

a) three great ancient traditions intersected

(1) religiously - Jew

(2) culturally - Greek

(3) politically - Roman

b) born in Tarsus

(1) major university town

(2) principle city of the province of Cilicia

c) named after Saul, Israel's first king

d) trained in pharisaism at the rabbinic school in Jerusalem headed by

e) familiarity with Greek authors (Acts 17:28; 1 Cor. 15:33; Titus 1:12) and his used of Greek argumentation (Rom. 2:1-3:20; Col. 1:15-20) suggests a Greco-Roman influence

2. the road to Damascus

a) Pharisees not tolerant of new religious movements

b) people of the Way spread to Damascus (:1-2)

(1) Rabbi Saul was sent to extradite Jewish Christians to Jerusalem

(2) on the road he met his resurrected Messiah

3. Missionary Journeys

a) 13 years separated conversion from first missionary journey (A.D. 48)

b) Paul claimed to be THE missionary to the Gentiles

(1) Luke documented in Acts

c) 1st Journey (-14)

(1) Paul and evangelized Cyprus and the southern part of Galatia

(2) Gentile churches flourished

(a) two questions surfaced

(i) What was the relationship between Christianity and Judaism?

(ii) How is a person justified?

(b) Judaistic group from insisted on circumcision for salvation

(c) Paul contradicted with free-grace Gospel

Page 4 of 8 EARLINGTON FBC SUMMER SEMINARY 2016 SURVEY OF CHURCH HISTORY - WHERE WE ARE BECAUSE OF WHERE WE'VE BEEN Part 1 - FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH: THE APOSTOLIC AGE

(3) thus the Jerusalem Council of Acts 15

(a) council affirmed Paul's doctrine of free grace, adding only that Gentile converts abstain from certain practices

(i) thus the mother church affirmed Paul's ministry of justification by faith plus nothing!

d) 2nd and 3rd Jouneys (Acts 15:26-21:16)

e) Afterward he went to Jerusalem

(1) give report to James and the elders about his activities in the Gentile churches

(2) arrested on trumped-up charges by the Romans

(a) imprisoned in Caesarea for two years

(b) stood before the Roman procurator Felix, his successor Porcius Festus, and Herrod Agrippa II, the titled king of the Jews

(i) appealing to his Roman citizenship he headed to Rome where they placed him under house arrest

f) Final Years

(1) difficulty in determining the exact chronology and place names that appear in the Pastoral (1 & 2 Timothy and Titus)

(2) best to assume Paul was released and ministered for six more years (A.D. 62-67)

(3) some scholars suggest that Paul not only ministered to Asia Minor and Greece but also reached Spain before he was arrested at the height of Nero's persecutions

(4) most likely executed by decapitation in the spring of A.D. 68

D. Significant Women of the New Testament

1. Scripture affirms the equality of men and women

a) created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-27)

b) position in Christ (Gal. 3:28)

2. Equal but not the same

a) functional differences (role differences)

(1) home (Eph. 5:22-33; Col. 3:18-19)

(2) church (1 Cor. 11:2-16; 14:33-36; 1 Tim. 2:8-15, 3:1-13, 5:1-25; Titus 1:6-9)

3. Although there are differences church history affirms the extraordinary number of women in the early church

4. Women in Jesus' day

a) Involved in the Ministry of Jesus (Matt. 27:55-56; Mark 15:40-41; Luke 8:3)

(1) many financially supported the ministry of Jesus and His disciples

(2) ministered to him personally

(3) Mary seated at the feet of Jesus - an honor normally given to men

(4) several women carried the news of Christ's resurrection

Page 5 of 8 EARLINGTON FBC SUMMER SEMINARY 2016 SURVEY OF CHURCH HISTORY - WHERE WE ARE BECAUSE OF WHERE WE'VE BEEN Part 1 - FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH: THE APOSTOLIC AGE

(a) a great honor in light of strict Jewish teachings on valid testimony

b) Participated in the events of Pentecost (Acts 1:14)

(1) narrative continues into Upper Room in , thus must assume women present were filled with the Holy Spirit as well

5. Women in the Early Church

a) Acts gives account of women who played active roles in ministry in the early church

b) (Tabitha)

(1) only woman in the New Testament to be called a (Acts 9:36)

(2) her death caused a major stir in Joppa

(a) believers urged Peter to travel there from Lydda

(b) Peter prayed and Dorcas was raised from the dead

c) Mary of Jerusalem

(1) 's mother (Acts 12:12)

(2) wealthy widow who's home was the hub of the Jerusalem church during the reign and persecutions of

d) Lydia

(1) wealthy woman of commerce

(2) Paul's first convert in Europe

(3) opened home to Paul and (:14-15

e) roles were not limited to non-verbal

(1) Priscilla (Prisca)

(a) she and husband Aquilla were banished from Rome

(b) close friends of Paul and fellow tent-makers (:1-3)

(c) in some way they had risked their lives for Paul (Romans 16:3-5)

(d) took (the eloquent preacher from Alexandria) and explained to him the way of God more accurately (Acts 18:26)

(i) obviously Priscilla knew biblical truth and could explain it with clarity

(e) frequent references to this couple in Paul's writings (Rom. 16:3; 1 Cor. 16:19; 2 Tim. 4:19)

(f) tradition says that Priscilla was martyred in Rome

(2) (Romans 16:1-2)

(a) bearer of Paul's letter to the Romans

(b) Paul commends her to the Roman church, that they receive her and help her

(c) referred to as "helper" by Paul, indicating an active and important function in the church

(d) word used in verse one is "deaconess" or servant

Page 6 of 8 EARLINGTON FBC SUMMER SEMINARY 2016 SURVEY OF CHURCH HISTORY - WHERE WE ARE BECAUSE OF WHERE WE'VE BEEN Part 1 - FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH: THE APOSTOLIC AGE

(e) we cannot be sure she held an authoritative office, but was significant enough for Paul to single her out and ask the Roman church to take care of her

f) Two passages indicate that women functioned as prophets in the early church

(1) 's four daughters (:9) - prophetesses

(2) Paul's instruction in 1 Corinthians 11:5 makes it seem these were not exceptions but possibly common

(a) women's head coverings instruction when they are "praying or prophesying"

(3) Whatever the nature of the ministries, women gifted by the Holy Spirit exercised notable responsibility in the early church

g) Euodias and Syntyche (Philippians 4:2-3)

(1) identified as "fellow workers" with Paul

(2) remarkable when remembering Paul referring to Titus and Timothy (pastors) as "fellow workers" also

h) Andronicus and Junias (Junia) - Romans 16:7

(1) probably husband and wife

(2) "outstanding among the apostles"

(3) reference to their role as ones commissioned by the Roman church for special duties, not in the office of apostle

i) In the list of "fellow workers" in Romans 16, ten of twenty-nine commended by Paul are women

j) women played a decisive role in the beginning of Christianity

k) both complimenting the work of men and some leadership responsibility as well

l) although no recorded examples of women evangelists, elders, or formal teachers, their function was vibrant and vital

E. With the deaths of Peter, Paul, and John, the mantle of leadership passed to a new generation

1. the Apostolic Fathers

a) stood on the shoulders of giants

b) theology was often undeveloped

Page 7 of 8 EARLINGTON FBC SUMMER SEMINARY 2016 SURVEY OF CHURCH HISTORY - WHERE WE ARE BECAUSE OF WHERE WE'VE BEEN Part 1 - FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH: THE APOSTOLIC AGE

REFLECTION QUESTIONS 1. What was the Pax Romana, and what were some of its characteristics?

2. How did the great Roman road system aid the spread of the Gospel?

3. What were some of the important contributions that Greek philosophy made to the setting of the Roman world?

4. Who were some of the groups of first-century Judaism, and what were their expectations?

5. List some of the decisive contributions that Peter, Paul, and John each made to the apostolic church.

6. In what roles were women involved in the early church, according to the New Testament?

Page 8 of 8 EARLINGTON FBC SUMMER SEMINARY 2016 SURVEY OF CHURCH HISTORY - WHERE WE ARE BECAUSE OF WHERE WE'VE BEEN Part 1 - FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH: THE APOSTOLIC AGE