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N
TESI ENT
Fact or Fiction?
by
John Ross Schroeder
A 1984 British television series called
Jesus: The Evidence
left
viewers to question how much of the New Testament is fact, how much fantasy.
C
AN WE
trust the written
records of the early
church?
Did its members distin–
guish between legend and fact?
Did they leave us an authorita–
tive record of what Jesus both
said and did?
Before we answer these ques–
tions, we need to understand some–
thing of the early church itself.
What Sources?
The main source of information is,
of course, the New Testament doc–
uments themselves. They are the
earliest records of Christianity.
Nothing written about them is
nearly as oid--or as substantive.
When people talk about the early
church, including its either invent–
ing or distorting the gospel record,
what they really mean is the Jeru–
salem church.
Who orig inally formed this
church? Jesus said: " J will build
my church." But how and through
whom did he accomplish this task?
How and why would tbey eventual–
ly be equal to the job of preserving
for posterity the written record of
Jesus ' message-the good news of
the coming kingdom of God?
From tbe outset Jerusalem
marked the spot for the church's
initial location. The disciples were
told to remain in Jerusalem until
February 1985
they were imbued "with power
from on higb" (Luke 24:49; Acts
1:4, Revised Authorized Version
throughout, except where noted).
Jesus had said "repentance and
remission of si ns should be
preached ... to all nations,
begin–
ning at Jerusalem"
(Luke 24:47).
Luke's mid first-century history
says: "Now when the Day of Pente–
cost had fully come [this annual
festival celebrated the close of the
early agricultura) harvest], they
were all with one accord in one
place" (Acts 2:1). But exactly who
were these people gathered to–
gether in unity?
About 120 J ewish disciples
mainly of Galilean origin (Acts
1:15). Also, "there were dwelling
in Jerusalem Jews,
devout men,
from every nation under heaven"–
that is, the known civilized world
(Acts 2:5).
Why a Jewlsh Church?
Why would God begin the church
exclusively with Jews? Was this by
accident, or design? And why witb
Jews only in Jerusalem?
Roughly a third of the Greek
New Testament is composed of
quotations from tbe Hebrew Bible.
Would it not make sense to start
the church with people already con–
versant with what Christians call
the Old Testament? Notice what
Paul wrote: "What advantage then
has the Jew ... ? Much in every
way!
Chiefly
because to them were
committed the oracles of God"
(Rom. 3: 1-2). The Jewish commu–
nity was responsible for tbe preser–
vation of the Hebrew Scriptures.
About 3,000 Jews repented and
were converted at the behest of
Peter's first sermon. Notice Luke's
documentation: "Then those who
gladly received bis word were bap–
tized; and that day about three
thousand souls were added to
them" (Acts 2:41 ). These new con–
verts were
not
Jike today's nominal
Christians. Notice it. "And they
continued steadfastly
in the apos–
tles' doctrine and feUowship, in the
breaking of bread [eating meals
together], and in prayers" (verse
42). In the days following Peter's
first sermon, conversions took place
on a
daily
basis (verse 47).
Following Peter's second major
sermon, the number of Jews added
to the church brougbt the total to
about 5,000 converts (Acts 4:4). The
church population in Jerusalem
exploded. Notice what Luke wrote:
"And believers were increasingly
added to the Lord,
multitudes
of
both men and women" (Acts 5:14).
Also: "And the word of God spread,
and the number of disciples multi–
plied greatly in Jerusalem, and a
great many of the priests were obe–
dient to the faith" (Acts 6:7).
These were all Jews. The first
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