Communion With the Christ:: A Very, Very, Brief History of the Church: Part 1

"I Will Build My Church"

When and where does Church history truly begin? The Church which emerged in the History of Salvation is more than an “institution” or “organization” it rather is a living organism which is filled with the very Spirit life of the Great God through the Holy Spirit, who came to us and reveals himself to humanity in the person of Jesus Christ.

The History of the Church does not belong to any one denomination but is the common heritage of all believers in Jesus Christ.

The Early Jewish Church thought that there would be a Jewish Messiah for a Jewish Church

The Visible Earthly Church

We can see around us in the world the visible church which assembles together to worship, fellowship and to carry out other spiritual functions. This visible or Earthly Church which is made up of members, that is people, from various backgrounds, and has a history of its own as it has come down through the centuries unto our own time and moving into the future years ahead of us.

Christians Believe in Jesus

The members, or people, who comprise the Church are called Christians, that is, we are followers of the person of Jesus Christ whom we recognize as being both fully God and fully human, the very Savior of humanity.

We have come to believe, through the record of Scripture and our personal and collective encounter(s) with Jesus that he lives and has been resurrected. Yet, many members of the Church do not know the Church’s unique history as it has come down through the ages to our day.

The History of the Church does not belong to any one church or denomination but is the common heritage of all believers in Jesus Christ.

Many Christians know the history of the church's emergence on the Day of Pentecost in 31-33 AD and are familiar with some history of a few years after Pentecost, but many have never been taught what occurred much later after the death of the Apostle St. John in or around the 90’s AD.

With St. John's death many consider this as the close of the Apostolic period of the Church, St. John being the last the original Apostles commissioned by Jesus to preach the Gospel and then sent forth in to the world.

The Culture of that Day

The historical setting of the Church is important to understand. The Church emerges in history within the Roman Empire which was a very pluralistic empire made up of many nations and peoples held together by the military and economic power of Rome.

The Roman Empire put its “mark” upon almost every aspect of the lives of the people, yet, the people, under Roman rule of law had a surprising measure of freedom. As long as the people within Rome's rule made little or no trouble and paid their taxes the people could expect to live in relative peace.

Rome encouraged the people to be enterprising and entrepreneurial for the more revenue the people errand the more taxes the empire could collect from the people and the wealthier the Roman Emperor and his government became.

Safe Travel

Roman rule also provided several benefits which aided in the growth and spread of the Christian Church. Roman roads covered the Empire which provided path ways for the Apostles to carry the Gospel message to the vast reaches of the Empire and beyond. Roman legions patrolled these roads keeping travelers safe from bandits and other harm.

Roman warships sailed the Mediterranean Sea keeping shipping lanes open for travel and trade and at times transported the Gospel message and those who preached it. Roman Rule provided a cultural structure into which the Christian Church had emerged within history.

Exchange of Ideas

The freedom to move about within the rule of Rome also brought the benefit of diverse people groups coming into contact with one another, this brought the flow and movements of ideas from one people group to another and they had the freedom to discuss these different views and ideas.

This freedom itself helped to spread the philosophical ideas from Greece and other lands and created a hunger for answers which were in the hearts of those who were “seeking” the truth, many of these persons latter would be receptive to the Gospel message about Jesus Christ.

This Hellenized climate that was spread through Rome, had developed from the conquests of Alexander the Great prior to the emergence of Rome as a world power. This was the culture that the Apostle St. Paul arose out of. St. Paul, who's birth name had been Saul.

St. Paul, having been born a Roman citizen and had all the right of full citizenship. St. Paul had been born in the city of Tarsus in Asia Minor (present day Turkey) this gave St. Paul a wide range of knowledge and experiences which equipped him to address a much broader and sophisticated audience then most of the other Apostles.

Religious Pluralism

The Roman government actually was somewhat tolerant of religion; Rome viewed religion as a way to build unity. This tolerance is reflected in the great Pantheon the Temple of all gods found at Rome; however, this tolerance did have its limits.

Rome wanted those within its rule to put the Empire above all else, this is seen in the Imperial Cult with its worship of the Empire in the person of the sitting Emperor. This would bring Rome into conflict periodically with the Jewish people and their insistence on the worship of the God whom they found in the Holy Scriptures.

At one point King Herod, who the Roman government had installed as King of Judea around 40 BC attempted to place the Roman eagle at an entrance of the Temple at Jerusalem, this action sparked a violent reaction from the Jewish people.

Rome ‘s basic policy was that any religion that was resident within a given territory when it became a Province of the Empire was allowed to remain. Such religion was deemed, "Religio Licita" or Legal Religion. If a new religion was to be introduced into a Province it was generally viewed as "Religio Illicitum", or Illegal Religion. This policy actually explains why Christianity could spread unchecked by Rome for quite some time.

Through the eyes of the Roman Government Christianity was simply another sect of Judaism which Rome had no strong desire to enter into the debate between "Jewish sects" . It would not be until Christianity begins to mature and spread throughout the Empire that the distinctions between Christians and the Jews become evident in the eyes of the Roman government.

Jesus Is King

The teaching of Jesus as King, Rome found difficult to navigate. In Rome’s mind there was not room enough for two Lord’s co-ruling the hearts of the people, it was either Cesar or death in the mind of Rome.

When Christians exhibited the same stubbornness as did the troublesome Jews in worshiping the God they encountered in the Holy Scripture and in the Person of Jesus whom they knew was resurrected from the dead, Rome would act to deal with them, and very often Roman dealt harshly confiscating property, imprisonment and even death.

Client Nation State

Roman, even as a pagan national entity did in the Providence of God served His purpose providing a structure for the primitive Apostolic Church to grow and flourish. Some Theologians refer to nations such as Rome as being what is called a "Client Nation".

A "Client Nation" is a nation whose basic inherent constitution provides for and maintains laws or principles which are found to be compatible with or at least not in opposition to the "Laws of Divine Establishment", that is, how God created people to interact within national entities and societies.

These "Divine Establishment Laws" are found and expressed throughout the pages of the Holy Bible. As St. Paul wrote in his Epistle to the Christians at Rome regarding when the Gentile's behavior finds itself compatible with "Divine Law" found within God's revelation.

"Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law." Rm: 2:14

Basic Criteria of a Client Nation

The Basic criteria for a nation to achieve and to maintain the status of a "Client Nation" are:

1) A Client Nation gives protection by law to the lives of the people within its jurisdiction and boundaries. Providing for the private holdings of land and property by citizen and maintains and protects the right of and to privacy of the citizens

2) A Nation with Client status will allow for and protect by law the proclamation and publication of the Gospel both in public and private settings and for teaching of the truths found within the Bible with no interference or regulation from the government.

3) A Client Nation also is used to be the resource for Evangelism and Missionary activities through its people and economies, transportation and communication systems and laws within its boundaries and beyond for the transmission of the Gospel message.

4) A Client Nation is also a tolerant and favorable national host for the Jewish people who are in the Diaspora, which and are dispersed, throughout the world.

The Roman Empire having provided all the above had this status for a number of years. As long as a nation provides for these criteria it will receive blessings from God. As the above criteria is diminished within a nation the blessing from God is diminished as well....to be continued

Benediction: May we each and all give thanks to our Lord and King Jesus Christ, today, tomorrow and forevermore. Amen.