Excerpts in this section taken from The First Christians: History, Myths, and Traditions of the Ancient Church  (a sociocultural analysis of the Levantine Judeo-Christian community in the first four centuries) by Michael P. Germano and edited for the world wide web. Copyright �1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 2000 by Michael P. Germano. All Rights Reserved. ISBN 0-9667191-0-7.

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Contents

Introduction

Efforts to learn more of apostolic Christianity and the world into which it arose has led to a fresh understanding of the Judeo-Christian nature of the early Christian community, the apostles' doctrines and writings, and the archaeology of Jerusalem.

First-Century Judaism

Except for a general consensus that there was but one God, as Jews practiced a strict monotheism which separated them from the polytheistic and pantheistic pagan cults of other nations, there was little or no unity or commonality of practice and belief. 

The Apostolic Church

The Apostolic Age, CE 30�135, began with the founding of the Church of God  on the day of Pentecost, an annual Sabbath, in CE 30. The first four decades of the ancient Church, led by the apostles themselves, was a time of rapid growth and development wherein early Christians of Jewish descent became more and more aware, that in religious terms, they were not exactly Jewish anymore.

The New Covenant

The new covenant consists of a unique agreement between God and the individual Christian containing all the rights, duties, and obligations of each. The individual has to repent of sin, accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, and undergo ritual baptism as a demonstration of repentance and acceptance of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus of Narareth on his or her behalf.

Apostolic Writings

The task of selecting writings for inclusion in the apostolic compendium of Christian Scripture was not left to chance, custom, or tradition, but to the apostles themselves. This duty did not rest with Judeo-Christians of later generations nor with Gentile Christian groups not in their fellowship. The creation and preservation of the Scriptures allowed for subsequent generations to encounter them, and the basic truths they contain, after periods of apostasy.

Colonia Aelia Capitolina

The Romans allowed Judeo-Christians continuing access to Aelia Capitolina following the Bar Kochba Revolt but denied Jews access to the city under the pain of death.

Population Projections

Wherever a Jewish settlement existed one should expect to find a Judeo-Christian presence as well. Gentile Christians overtook Judeo-Christians late in the second century, overshadowed them in the third century, and swamped them in the fourth.

The Great Separation, CE 135-381

During this period the separation of the two branches of ancient Christendom, the Judeo-Christian of Jewish ethnicity and ideology and the Greco-Roman of pagan stock and philosophy, became complete. 

Occasionally in The First Christians we use Hebraica and Graeca fonts to render Hebrew and Greek words. If you do not have these fonts installed on your computer these words will appear as gibberish. You may acquire these fonts from Linguist's Software.

Page last edited: 01/28/06 05:24 AM

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