The Story of the Church

4th edition

ALLAN M. HARMAN, A. M. RENWICK

• Publisher: IVP
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781789742077
• Topic: Teologia e religione
• Subtopic: Storia del cristianesimo

The Story of the Church gives an accessible and concise survey of the history of the Christian church, from the first century to the twenty-first. Here is an epic tale of high hopes and great disappointments, of bitter persecution and heroic loyalty.The Story of the Church is an established classic, widely appreciated by several generations of readers. It addresses the central question of why Christianity has spread around the world so successfully, and offers a distinctly evangelical perspective. Its clear structure pinpoints significant people, places, movements and events.This new edition has been completely revised and updated by Allan Harman.

1

The apostolic age

‘In the fulness of time’

The historical situation in the Roman Empire, when the gospel first began to be carried outside Palestine, certainly suggests that God in his providence had been preparing the field, and that all was now ready for proclaiming to many nations the good tidings of salvation through the cross of Christ. A number of factors that greatly favoured the spread of the gospel may be noted.

The political unity of the empire and the long peace had fostered commerce, which in turn sent businessmen all over the Roman world. Excellent roads had been built along the trade routes, and these facilitated passage of goods, easier movement of people and quicker dissemination of ideas. The knowledge of the message of Jesus spread throughout the Roman provinces.

The conquests of Alexander between 334 and 326 bc spread the Greek language far and wide, thus providing a fine medium for expressing theological and philosophical ideas. The translation of the Old Testament into Greek in Alexandria in about 200 bc predisposed many Gentiles to favour monotheism. This translation is known as the Septuagint (often referred to, using Roman numerals, as the lxx).

In the cosmopolitan atmosphere of the empire, where so many races and religions mingled, many people were losing faith in the pagan cults.

The moral condition of the world was deplorable. What it was like is revealed in the first chapter of the letter to the Romans as well as in the works of non-Christian writers. Slavery had produced shocking deterioration not only of the enslaved but also of the homes of their masters.

The fatalism and despair characteristic of the East were moving westward and affecting the outlook of the Roman world.

In these depressing conditions many were looking for hope amid the gloom. They could not find it in the prevailing philosophies of Stoicism and Epicureanism. But at that time, when current religious and philosophic beliefs were not satisfying, a new message of hope entered the scene in the announcement of salvation through Jesus Christ.

Early days

The lives of Jesus and the apostle Paul provide basic information for the study of the history of the beginnings of Christianity. The best source of knowledge is the New Testament. Apostolic and post-apostolic Christian writers also provide considerable information, while secular authors such as Tacitus, Suetonius, Pliny the Younger and Flavius Josephus have references to Christian beliefs and practices.

The day of Pentecost brought significant change to the apostles. As promised by Christ, they were ‘clothed with power from on high’ (Luke 24:49; see Acts 2), and then went out to spread the Christian message in God’s strength. Disciples who had been very timid now became almost fearless (see Acts 3 – 4). Very soon the number of men converted in Jerusalem alone numbered 5,000, exclusive of women and children (Acts 4:4).

Beginning at Jerusalem, the Christian faith soon spread far and wide. In Roman times communications by sea as well as by land were relatively easy, a factor that greatly helped the early missionaries. Jews outside Palestine, who spoke Greek and were influenced by Greek culture, began to receive the gospel. Barnabas, a friend of Paul, a native of Cyprus, is typical of this very important group. Soon the good news was being carried to Samaria, and to Caesarea, on the Mediterranean coast of Palestine, and was being proclaimed freely to the Gentiles (see Acts 8, 10, 11). This was a veritable revolution. The gospel then went to Phoenicia, to Cyprus and to the very important city of Antioch in Syria.

The conversion of the apostle Paul (about ad 35) was of surpassing importance to the church, for he became the outstanding ‘apostle to the Gentiles’ (Rom. 11:13). At Antioch, known as ‘the Queen of the East’, he and Barnabas did a most fruitful work among Jews and Gentiles. As this was a very important commercial centre, the gospel spread from there into wide areas both east and west. Among the Jewish groups encountered in every city, Paul and the other apostles found starting points for their work of empire-wide evangelization, even though the majority of the Jews rejected the gospel.

The conversion of so many Gentiles soon raised serious problems as to how far these new converts ought to be bound by the laws and ceremonies of Jewish belief and traditions. Those known as ‘Judaizers’ wanted the male Gentiles to be circumcised (to become Jews first); thereafter they might become Christians, but Christians with a strong Jewish flavour. Fortunately for the Christian church, Paul set his face resolutely against these tendencies (Gal. 2:7–16; 3:1–11). The whole problem was debated and resolved at the Council of Jerusalem in ad 49. There Paul gained a significant victory over those opposing him (see Acts 15:1–19). In spite of this, however, the question vexed the church for a long time. The Judaizers continued to attack Paul’s position to the end of his life.

Tracing Paul’s missionary journeys on a map, and following the account in the book of Acts, helps our understanding of the early spread of Christianity. He proclaimed the gospel in Antioch, Cyprus, Pamphylia, central Asia Minor, Cilicia and Syria. Then he pushed on to Troas and across to Europe. Arrival in Thessalonica (modern Thessalonika) and Philippi was significant because he was at the crossroads of Roman highways that opened the way into northern Europe (see Acts 16 – 18).

After long years of incessant missionary labours, Paul was arrested at the temple in Jerusalem and conveyed to Caesarea for his own security (see Acts 21:27–40, 23–27). For two whole years, he was unjustly kept in Rome for trial and, for another two years, was kept a prisoner, though at his own expense (Acts 27 – 28). He preached his message freely to all who came to him – even to the soldiers who took their turn in standing guard over him. It was not long before many, even ‘of Caesar’s household’ (Phil. 4:22), believed in Christ. During this period, also, Paul wrote some of his profoundest letters. He seems to have been set free in ad 61 and to have visited once more the regions such as Crete, where he had evangelized so successfully in previous years. He was again in prison when he wrote the second letter to Timothy prior to his execution about ad 64 during the persecution under Nero (ad 58–66).

All we know about Peter suggests he was no less active than Paul. His eager, impulsive heart kept him constantly engaged in the service of Christ all his days. As Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles in a special sense, so Peter was pre-eminently the apostle to the Jews. This would have led him to the great cities of the empire, where vast numbers of his countrymen were to be found. The small amount of evidence available points to Peter’s being in Rome towards the end of his life and having died there as a martyr. Perhaps he died at the same time as Paul, or at least in the same year. No foundation exists for the claim that Peter was Bishop of Rome for twenty-five years – from ad 42 to 67. Had Peter been there before ad 61, Paul could not have failed to mention him in the letters he wrote from that city just prior to that date. The fact that Peter probably visited Rome as an apostle would not make him Bishop of Rome, much less pope of Rome. Apostles were not settled in one place like diocesan bishops. Indeed, at that time, and for long afterwards, there were no such bishops. It is, therefore, incorrect to speak of Rome as the ‘See of Peter’, or of the pope as occupying ‘the chair’ of Peter.

Remarkably, little reliable knowledge is available about the personal history of the various apostles. Their work has endured, but in many cases details about their lives have perished. The same applies to the founding of some very great and important churches. Thus, we have only a vague tradition that Mark founded the church at Alexandria. No historical information is available as to the foundation of the famous churches in Rome and Carthage. After the day of Pentecost, many returned to their own countries from Jerusalem, taking with them the gospel. Likewise, a little later, much was done by Christian businessmen to spread it (Acts 8:26–40).

The apostolic message

What was the message delivered by the church in those days? It is briefly summed up by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:1–11. The early believers never forgot the fact of sin – that men and women are lost. The very name ‘Jesus’ reminded them of this, for it means ‘Saviour’. The resurrection was to them the crowning evidence that Jesus was all that he claimed to be – the Son of God who had all power given to him. In their preaching they appealed to the testimony of many eyewitnesses who had seen Christ after his resurrection. The evidence was overwhelming. They also appealed to the miracles performed in his name by his apostles, and pointed to the wonders of his saving grace as seen in themselves and in many others. So successful were they in spreading their teaching that, eighteen years after the resurrection of Christ, his followers were accused of having ‘turned the world upside down’ (Acts 17:6).

Through this ‘good news’ that the apostles preached, the lives of men and women were transformed. As the whole narrative in the New Testament shows (Acts and the letters), the chains of vice were broken and sinners were cleansed and raised to a higher spiritual plane by the work of God. The broken-hearted were comforted, the weak were made strong, the selfish learned to love their fellows and sacrifice themselves for the cause of Christ. Superstitions were swept away and idolatry vanished (Eph. 4:24–32). Even slaves, who up to that time were treated as less than human, and who could be sold or killed at the pleasure of their owner, were now given a place in the Christian church. They were children of God, and sat down at the same Communion table as their master. The effects of all this on first-century communities was immense.

Early persecutions

Christ warned his disciples, ‘“A servant is not greater than his master.” If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you’ (John 15:20). The earliest persecutions came from the Jews, not from the Romans. At first, the civil authorities scarcely distinguished between Christians and Jews. The authorities extended the privileges that had already been granted to Jews to the Christians as well, including protection under Roman law. One of the worst of the Jewish persecutions was the one that followed on from the death of Stephen, the first Christian martyr (Acts 7:1 – 8:4). The accounts of Paul’s travels given in the book of Acts shows how bitter was the Jewish opposition to the gospel.

The Roman authorities could not understand the claim that Christ was supreme and that all, even kings and emperors, must submit to him. The Christians refused to conform to many accepted customs. They would have nothing to do with idolatry, and condemned the public games, where gladiators fought in mortal combat to make sport for the spectators, and where innocent prisoners were thrown to the lions for the entertainment of vast multitudes. The Christians refused public office and certain public duties, such as the burning of incense to the gods or the pouring of libations, because such things were associated with pagan rites. The result was that they were regarded as a morose and intolerable group in the community. Matters came to a crisis when, in ad 64, the emperor Nero accused the Christians of setting fire to the city of Rome. The public feeling against them was such that they were universally reviled. Even a writer such as Tacitus, who disliked Nero intensely, wrote of Christianity as a ‘most mischievous superstition’. He accused Christians of ‘abominations’, and declared that ‘they were put to death as enemies of mankind’ (Annals 15.44).

The cruelties perpetrated at Rome in the Neronic persecution were unspeakable, and a vast number of Christians were killed. Some were wrapped in the skins of wild beasts so that they would be more savagely attacked by dogs. Some were crucified; others were placed in barrels of pitch or smeared with pitch and set on fire, and these living torches were used by Nero to illumine his gardens as he drove about, enjoying this dreadful spectacle.

The destruction of Jerusalem

Before the Neronic persecution of the Christians had died down, terrible events in Palestine compelled the Romans to enter a life and death struggle with the Jews. For these events, the Christians had no responsibility. The struggle was precipitated by the Zealots, a Jewish nationalistic party that had resolved to deliver their land from the Romans, by violence and massacre if need be. After ad 60, the Zealots had become so powerful that no other Jewish group could counteract their fierce and desperate anti-Roman propaganda.

The people had good cause for their discontent, for Roman administration had become very corrupt, and this presented the Zealots with their opportunity. At this time, ...

Table of contents

• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Prologue
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• 6
• 7
• 8
• 9
• 10
• 11
• 12
• 13
• 14
• 15
• 16
• 17
• 18
• 19
• 20
• 21
• 22
• 23
• 24
• 25
• 26
• Bibliography
• Search items