Good Shepherd Church Seminary; Module 12 The Four Gospels Part (2)

GOOD SHEPHERD CHURCH SEMINARY

MODULE 12

THE FOUR GOSPELS PART 2

Objectives; 
By the end of this module you should;
1. Know what The Way means
2. Know about Jesus' message of peace
3. Know about the early spread of Christianity

CONTENTS;
1. Birth, Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus
2. The Way
3. Refuge in Pella
4. Jesus' message
5. Spread of Christianity


1. Birth, Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus
The Gospels were written several decades after the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Jesus' follower and apostle Paul of Tarsus wrote his letters to new churches within twenty years of the crucifixion; thus his written words are an older source than the New Testament Gospels.

The history of the Gospels shows that story-telling was an essential part of daily communication in the Middle East of Jesus' time. Indeed, Jesus used this form of imparting teaching in His parables. A reliable memory was vital as a social skill, and from repeated retelling of the stories of Jesus' life came the Gospels as we know them.

2. The Way
Written Gospels were neither written nor needed in the first years after Jesus' resurrection, as people had personally been eyewitnesses to the wonder of Jesus.
Then The Way began to spread into a bustling world which held no eyewitnesses as testament to the occurrences of Jesus' life.
(The early Christian church was called 'The Way' as evidenced in The Bible, The New Testament, The Book of Acts Chapter 9 verse 2).

The followers of the The Way now had to deal with the challenge of how to give reliable information on an ongoing basis to the largest possible number of people in the swiftest possible way.
The answer was simple; to write it and circulate the evidence. And thus written accounts came into being, and the Gospels were born.

The advantage the early followers of The Way had was that they personally knew eyewitnesses to Jesus; Mary of Nazareth, the disciples, people who had been healed by Jesus.
As historical circumstances began to gain momentum early followers of The Way continually looked for ways to continue witnessing to Jesus Christ as they had been mandated to do by Jesus at His Ascension into Heaven; 
"...you will receive power of the Holy Spirit which will come upon you, and then you will be my witnesses not only in Jerusalem but throughout Judaea and Samaria, and indeed to the ends of the world." (Acts Chapter 1, verse 8).

3. Refuge in Pella
Jerusalem was the first centre of the early Christian church. Jerusalem eventually was besieged after a revolt.
Many early followers of The Way had earlier taken refuge elsewhere, and so the movement began.

One theory is that the followers travelled to Pella in the Decapolis.
This theory is a reasonable one, given that Eusebius (AD 263 - 339) gave clear reference to this in EH III;5.
This early Church historian - also known as Eusebius Pamphilius - wrote; "When the people of the church in Jerusalem were instructed by oracular revelation delivered to worthy men there to move away from the city and to live in a city of Peraea called Pella, the believers in Christ migrated from Jerusalem to that place."

An American civil engineer,  architect and archeologist Gottlieb Schumacher (1857 - 1925)  reported caves in the general area of Pella which had been inhabited at some point. 
Early Christian symbols were found in the general vicinity. 
A theory put forward is that refugees possibly inhabited the caves. 
Pella has a wadi and spring, with a good supply of water.
There was plenty of room for a relatively small group of refugees to establish domicile without much contact with others, save for trips to the spring. 
A late first or early second century sarcophagus found beneath the floor of a church in the western part of Pella may be a relic of Christians' stay in that city.

The early followers of the Way flourished, and the message flourished with them.
During Jesus' lifetime, He had ministered and travelled with his band of disciples in the Decapolis, a group of ten cities on the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire in Judea and Syria.
Now the message grew and strengthened in this area of ministry and further afield.
The excellent system of roads, public transport and sea travel of the Roman Empire, as well as the Silk Road along which commerce flourished, enabled the message to move swiftly along with travellers.

4. Jesus' Message
Jesus' message of peace, and His intentions as peaceful Messiah were not in line with the concept of a military messiah.
Jesus' messianic claim led Him to trial by Pilate, and Jesus was found guilty of treason against Caesar.
His execution followed, with the charge against Him written personally out by Pilate in Aramaic, Latin and Greek as attested to by John Chapter 19, verses 19 to 20.
The notice which was read by many ran 'Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews'.

As Jesus' Arms were stretched out on the cross to accept his death, He forgave His executioners (Gospel of Luke Chapter 23, verse 34).
He pardoned the sins of the repentant criminal who died alongside Him, (Luke Chapter 23, verse 43).

The message Jesus brought to humanity and which has been told through the Gospels is that God did not come to earth to condemn us as a Judge for our shortcomings, but to bring healing, compassion and mercy to humanity and to bridge the rift between God and humanity with forgiveness and salvation.
We have been saved by Jesus from the eternal consequences of humanity's original complicity with satan  (The Bible, The Book of Genesis, writing of The Fall of humanity Chapter 3, verses 1 to 24).

The Gospel of John tells us the good news "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him." (John Chapter 3, verse 17).

5. Spread of Christianity
The message of Jesus' love, forgiveness and salvation for each person continued to spread, and the number of followers of Jesus throughout the Mediterranean basin grew steadily.
The timeline shows how rapidly the message of love and peace as preached by Jesus Christ moved from country to country.

Eastern end of the Mediterranean - AD 33
In AD 33, around the time of Jesus' earthly death, a small number of early believers were grouped around Jerusalem and Antioch at the eastern end of the Mediterranean.

Egypt - AD 33
Around this same time, it is believed that the Patriarchate of Alexandria in Egypt was founded by Mark the Evangelist.

India - AD 52
The message moved to India. 
In AD 52, Eastern Christian writings state that Christianity was introduced to India by Thomas the Apostle who visited Muziris in Kerala.
The Acts of Thomas is a series of episodic Acts that occurred during the evangelistic mission of Judas Thomas ('Judas the Twin') to India.
This early 3rd century Syriac work connects the tradition of the apostle Thomas' Indian ministry with two kings; one in the north, the other in the south.
In the north was the Indo-Parthian King, Gondophares.
In the south was the kingdom ruled by King Mahadwa, one of tthe rulers of a first century dynasty in southern India.

China
It has been reported that tombstone carvings from ca AD 86 depict Bible stories and Christian designs, according to Wang Weifan from Jinling Seminary.

The Way spread like wildfire by AD 112
By AD 112 Roman Governor Pliny wrote to Emperor Trajan requesting guidance on how to deal with followers of Christ, whom he names Christiani.
By this time The Way had spread to numerous areas as attested to by the New Testament in the Bible and the Letters of Ignatius of Antioch. 
Ignatius (possibly AD 35 - 107) was  third bishop of Antioch.

The areas in which The Way flourished and was putting down strong roots in the communities were named as;
Puteoli
Neapolis
Berroia
Thessalonica
Philippi
Corinth
Cenchreae
Athens
Pergamum
Sardis
Symma
Thyatira 
Magnesia
Tralles
Philadelphia
Hierapolis
Laodicea
Colossae
Amastris
Ancyra
Antioch of Pisidia 
Iconium
Lystra
Derbe
Damascus
Tyre
Caesarea
Diocaesarea
Joppa
Pella
Lydda

Ethiopia
Philip baptised a devout worshipper of God, who was an important official in charge of the Treasury of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This Ethiopian had travelled to Jerusalem to worship.
Kandake, or Kentake, also Candace, was the title for queens and queen mothers of the ancient African kingdom of Kush, also known as Nubia and Ethiopia.
It may be presumed that the Treasurer witnessed to his baptism and belief once he returned to his country of origin after his pilgrimage of worship to Jerusalem, and baptism as follower of Jesus on the desert road.
Christianity in Ethiopia dates to the 1st century AD.


Early Christianity established by AD 250
By AD 250, at the time of Decian Persecution,  early Christianity was thoroughly established.
The Christian population was increasing in density in Syria and Western Asia Minor, as well as spreading in the Western half of the Empire.
Christianity had spread as far as Londinium (Roman London)
Trier
Lyon
Sirmium
Serdica
Byzantium/Constantinople
Nicaea.

Tidal wave
Thereafter Christianity became a tidal wave.
Today, the Name of Jesus Christ as Son of God is known throughout the whole world.

*Photograph by Rev Catherine - with thanks to the glass artist