Thread: What Was First Century Christianity Really Like?
Admin
What Was First Century Christianity Really Like?
Posted : 11 Mar, 2010 11:48 AM
WHAT WAS APOSTOLIC CHRISTIANITY REALLY LIKE?
Article from The Good News Ministry
Jude 3, Admonishes each of us to strive for the faith once delivered to the saints, But what was it like? To be a first century Christian?
Most professing Christians today have no idea what first century Christianity was really like! Yet for decades�LONG after the cross and the reception of the True Holy Spirit�the true Christians all believed and practiced a way of life and worship totally DIFFERENT from professing Christianity today!
HOW was it different? The early Christians "took for granted that the gospel was continuous with [the religion of Moses]; for them the New Covenant, which Jesus had set up at the Last Supper with His disciples... did not mean that the covenant made between God and Israel was no longer in force. They still observed the feasts of Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles; they also continued to be circumcised, to keep the weekly Sabbath and the Mosaic regulations concerning clean and unclean food."
Subtly, but surely, Satan the devil began to deceive most professing ministers into believing that Christianity was a "brand new religion"�seemingly cut off from the Old Testament and the teaching God gave through Moses. And although some may not be consciously aware of it, a definite ANTI-Jewish bias crept into early Christianity and has continued to this day!
But the biblical and historical facts show that Christianity was a continuation�an enlargement and "magnification" of the teachings God gave through Moses�NOT something brand new! As the Apostle Paul was inspired in the New Testament to explain to the Gentile Christians at Ephesus, "Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the FOUNDATION of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone" (Ephesians 2:19�20). So a basic part of the very "foundation" of Christianity was the writings and teachings of the Old Testament prophets�those writings which Christ and the Apostles referred to as "Scripture" again and again!
For Jesus Christ was a circumcised Jew (Luke 2:21�22; Hebrews 7:14). It was Jesus� "custom" to keep the Sabbath�right along with the other Jews (Luke 4:16). Far from abrogating God�s Sabbath, Jesus said that the Sabbath was made for "man"�NOT just the Jews, and that He was "Lord" of the Sabbath. So the Sabbath is, in fact, the true "Lord�s Day" as far as a day of rest and worship is concerned!
Long after the crucifixtion, it was the Apostle Paul�s "custom" also to keep the Sabbath (Acts 18:2). We also find Paul observing the annual biblical festivals such as Pentecost (1 Corinthians 16:8), Passover and Unleavened Bread (1 Corinthians 5:7�8) and other festivals.
The true Church of God�named "Church of God"12 TIMES in the New Testament�was itself started on the Day of Pentecost, one of the seven annual Sabbaths God gave Israel. At His second coming, Christ Himself will return at the "seventh trumpet"(Revelation 11:15)� And the Living Jesus Christ, who inspired the entire Bible, also inspired His servant Zechariah to explain that after Christ�s second coming the WHOLE WORLD will be observing the Feast of Tabernacles! (read carefully the entire 14th chapter of Zechariah). Also, during the soon-coming Millennial reign of Christ, Isaiah tells us, "�And it shall come to pass that from one New Moon to another, and from one SABBATH to another, all flesh shall come to worship before Me,� says the Lord"(Isaiah 66:23).
So true Christians who observe the biblical Sabbaths and biblical festivals are, in fact, "pioneers." They are not only following the "pattern" of Apostolic Christianity, but are "pioneering" the WAY of life which ALL nations will soon be learning in The Coming Kingdom Of God!
For example, the Sabbath pictures the reign of Christ during the coming seventh millennium of human history. It is the "rest" which God commanded from the beginning (Hebrews 4:4). That is why Paul was inspired to write, "There remains therefore a rest for the people of God" (v. 9). It is important to realize that the Greek word here translated "rest" is sabbatismos�the "keeping of a Sabbath"�whereas katapausin is the normal Greek word for taking rest and is the word used throughout the rest of Hebrews 4.
God�s Sabbath and His annual Holy Days picture His great PLAN. But true Apostolic Christianity, of course, involves far more than keeping the biblical Sabbaths. As we have already intimated, it involves an entire WAY of life based on Jesus� example and His teaching, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by EVERY Word of God" (Luke 4:4)CONTINUED LATER
The quotation listed below comes from: The Convert's Catechism of Catholic Doctrine by Rev. Peter Geirmann, C.SS.R., Imprimatur Joseph E. Ritter S.T.D. Archbishop of St. Lois, B. Herder Book Co., St. Lois, MO.
Q. What is the Third Commandment?*
A. The Third Commandment is: Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.
Q. Which is the Sabbath day?
A. Saturday is the Sabbath day.
Q. Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?
A. We observe Sunday because the Catholic Church transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.
Q. Why did the Catholic Church substitute Sunday for Saturday?
A. The Church substituted Sunday for Saturday, because Christ rose from the dead on a Sunday, and the Holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles on a Sunday.
Q. By what authority did the Church substitute Sunday for Saturday?
A. The Church substituted Sunday for Saturday by the plenitude of that divine power which Jesus Christ bestowed upon her.
Me: Actually the third commandment is Exo 20:7 You shall not take the name of Jehovah your God in vain; for Jehovah will not leave unpunished the one who takes His name in vain. Keeping the Sabbath is the fourth commandment! Also, since when did Jesus give divine power to the Church?
The point here is that by their own confessionthe Catholic Church changed the day of worship to Sunday but this was probably due to the fact that it was already a common practice. In my research about Communion, Sabbaths and the Feasts in the past few days, thanks to Steve, aka Archimedes, I discovered this information at http://lavistachurchofchrist.org/LVanswers/2005/02-13b.htm: (This is in answer to a question regarding Constantine changing the day of worship.)
In answering this point, we need to note that Constantine reigned from 306 to 337 AD. You claim that the day of worship changed by a decree of Constantine; hence, we should find that Christians worshiped on the Sabbath prior to Constantine and on Sunday after Constantine. However, history does not support this contention.
As noted elsewhere, we know that the early disciples worshiped on the first day of the week. "Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight" (Acts 20:7). "On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come" (I Corinthians 16:2). However, these are not the only statements made by early Christians. There is a large body of writings done by early Christians. While these writings are not inspired, they do give us insight into the beliefs and practices of early Christians.
Didache, between 80 and 140 AD
"But every Lord�s Day, gather yourselves together, and break bread, and give thanksgiving after having confessed your transgressions, so that you sacrifice may be pure.�
Ignatius, about 107 AD
�If, therefore, those who were brought up in the ancient order of things have come to the possession of a new hope, no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord's Day, on which also our life has sprung up again in Him...Let us therefore no longer keep the Sabbath after the Jewish manner, and rejoice in the days of idleness; for "he that does not work, let him not eat." ...let every friend of Christ keep the Lord's day as a festival, the resurrection day, the queen and chief of all the days [of the week]�
Aristides, about 125 AD
�However, [the Jews,] too have erred from true knowledge. In their imagination, they think that it is God whom they serve. Actually, by their type of worship, they render their service to the angels and not to God. For example, they do this when they celebrate Sabbaths.�
Justin Martyr, about 160 AD
�Is there any other matter my [Jewish] friends, in which we Christians are blamed, than this: that we do not live after the Law ... and do not observe Sabbaths, as you do?�
�There was no need of circumcision before Abraham. Nor was there need of the observance of Sabbaths, or of feasts and sacrifices, before Moses. Accordingly, there is no more need of them now.�
�And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place. And the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as time permits. Then, when the reader has ceased, the president verbally instructs us and exhorts us to imitate these good things. Then we all rise together and pray. And, as we said before, when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought. Then, the president in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings, according to his ability. And the people assent, saying �Amen.� Then, [the Lord�s Supper] is distributed to everyone, and everyone participates in [the bread and wine], over which thanks has been given. And a portion of it is sent by the deacons to those who are absent. ... But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God ... made the world. And Jesus Christ our Savior rose from the dead on that same day.�
Eusebius, citing Irenaeus, about 180 AD
"This custom of not bending the knee on Sunday is a symbol of the resurrection, through which we have been set free by the grace of Christ.�
Tertullian, about 197 AD
�We devote Sunday to rejoicing for a far different reason than sun worship. ... Others ... suppose that the sun is the god of the Christians ... because we make Sunday a day of festivity.�
�Just as the abolition of fleshly circumcision and of the old Law is demonstrated as having been consummated at its specific times, so also the observance of the Sabbath is demonstrated to have been temporary.�
Anatolius, about 270 AD
�It should not be lawful to celebrate the Lord�s mystery of Easter [i.e. the Lord�s Supper] at any other time but on the Lord�s Day, the day on which the Lord�s resurrection from death took place.�
Victorinus, about 280 AD
�And let this become a rigorous fast, lest we should appear to observe any Sabbath with the Jews. For concerning [their Sabbath], Christ himself, the Lord of the Sabbath, says by His prophets that �His soul hates.� In His body, He abolished this Sabbath.�
The evidence is historically solid that early Christians, long before Constantine, worshiped on the first day of the week and not on the seventh day. Constantine could not have instituted a new practice since the practice predates him.
However, I was curious what Constantine decreed that cause people like yourself to think that he changed the day of worship. What I found was that on March 7, 321 AD Constantine issued this decree: �On the venerable Day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country, however, persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits.� The decree doesn't mention anything in regards to activities of the church. Essentially it is the first "blue Sunday" law or "Sunday closure" law. The only reason a Sabbatarian would think that this dealt with worship is because the Jewish Sabbath day was celebrated by resting. Christians do not worship by resting because our rest comes later. "There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience" (Hebrews 4:9-11). In addition, Constantine's decree only applied to city dwellers; farmers were specifically exempted from the law.
Me again. I am still looking for the time in which the day was actually changed from Saturday to Sunday. I did find more information at this link and recommend anyone interested read it thoroughly. http://www.abcog.org/basics8.htm It would appear that Sunday as the day of worship was actually the result of an apostacy that had started even in Paul's time which he addressed with the Galatians in particular.
Jesus did rise on a Sunday but that did not change the Sabbath.
Here is a link to a time line for the week Jesus was arrested, crucified and risen. http://www.centuryone.com/crucifixion.html
I think it is important to note that God did not set up the Sabbath as a Day of Worship. I believe that the Scriptures establish that obedience to God's Law was the way His people were to show that they worshiped Him since worship is not an activity to participate in but a manner in which our lives reflect our homage to Him. The Sabbath was never changed by God and I believe we should still be observing it although I do not find fault with meeting on Sundays, but Sunday is a work day. I believe the use of the words "never ending" in these verses makes it very clear that God never intended for the day to change.
Exo 31:16 And the sons of Israel shall observe the Sabbath, to do the Sabbath for their generations; it is a never ending covenant.
Lev 16:31 It is a sabbath of rest to you, and you shall humble yourself. It is a never ending statute.
If a Christian wants to believe they are not a son of Israel because they are not Jewish and this is the Law or the Old Testament then I would ask what are you then grafted into? Are not we Christians grafted into the family of Abraham? Note that this command is to the sons of Israel and not to the people of Moses. So this applies to everyone that is a Believer, a Christian, a follower of Jesus, Jew or Gentile.
I forgot to comment on this section: As noted elsewhere, we know that the early disciples worshiped on the first day of the week. "Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight" (Acts 20:7). "On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come" (I Corinthians 16:2). However, these are not the only statements made by early Christians. There is a large body of writings done by early Christians. While these writings are not inspired, they do give us insight into the beliefs and practices of early Christians.
If you research these days and actually read the verse without the assumption that Sunday is the day of worship, these verses have nothing to do with a day of worship. THe fact is that "breaking bread" is not an indication of Communion or a day of worship. It is the tradition of the Jews to break bread at a meal and at other times of gathering. The bread was broken in half and a blessing was spoken. The fact that a collection was taken on the first day of the week might be because it would not have been allowed on the Sabbath.
Good post bee cake. And the sad truth is that Christianity was completely different from today's version. For instance, they kept the weekly Sabbath and the Holy Days, they shunned ALL forms of paganism (including paganistic celebrations like Easter and Christmas), they understood the law in its proper context, and they also practiced Egalitarianism within the community (as Acts 2:41-47 shows). They lived a life truly separated from the world and the faith was in its most purest form. It grieves me to say that modern Christianity has fallen far from this. Tolerance has corrupted the faith substantially, monetary gain is equated to godliness (1 Timothy 6:3-6), and biblical literacy has declined to a great degree. Perhaps a more dangerous thought is that these facts are unbeknownst to most professed Christians (even pastors and teachers who are in leadership!!). Its a truly sad state of affairs. This is without a doubt the Laodicean period of the faith. But the good news is that its not too late to "return to the ancient landmarks which our fathers have set" - Proverbs 22:28. This then begs the question - are we willing to do so?
And for the record, the bible teaches that they came together on the first day of the week to eat together, not to worship in abrogation of the seventh day.
