IT'S ALMOST BREATHTAKING the way Christianity expanded during the 50 years following Jesus' resurrection and ascension. What had been an obscure sect of Judaism was now putting down roots throughout the Roman Empire with astonishing speed. During this vital period when Christianity was still emerging as a separate movement, Jesus' earliest followers differed greatly in the way they worked, yet they were animated by the same spirit.
This diversity was evident in the methods of three of Christianity's key pioneers: Peter, James, and Paul. Outside of the book of Acts and the letters of Paul, the historical record for this period is extremely sparse. Yet one thing is certain: These three men were not at all alike, either in their approach to Jesus' instructions or in their ideas about how to carry them forward. Despite this, the result of their work was to spread Christianity and deepen its roots.
According to Matthew's Gospel, Jesus commissioned Peter to lead his church.See Matt. 16:18 . Peter was among the very first of Jesus' disciples, and Jesus gave special care and instruction to him. This concluded with Jesus' request that he "feed my sheep" and "follow thou me."See John 21:15–22. Peter became a missionary and a preacher, who focused on healing and spreading the gospel.
His sense of the scope of the audience for Jesus' message broadened after an encounter with Cornelius, a Roman soldier, whom historians identify as the first Gentile convert to Christianity. Through this, Peter came to see "that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him."Acts 10:34, 35. Peter's work for the most part, though, was among the Jews and a group referred to as "God-fearers"—Greeks and Romans who had worshiped the God of the Jews but had not converted to Judaism.
James, the brother of Jesus, was the key figure in the ongoing establishment of Christianity in Jerusalem. "James the Just," not to be confused with James the disciple, was not a missionary in the typical sense of the word—he didn't travel to preach the Word of God. He was a particularly devout man. His life was spent worshiping at the temple in Jerusalem. Tradition states that his long hours in prayer made his knees as calloused as a camel's.
But James's piety and residence in Jerusalem didn't prevent him from playing an active role as Christianity spread throughout Asia Minor and Europe. The book of Acts and Paul's letters clearly present James's central role in the new Church.
One source not included in the New Testament cannon claims that Jesus encouraged his followers to accept James's guidance. The Gospel of Thomas says: "The disciples said to Jesus, 'We know that you are going to leave us. Who will be our leader?' Jesus said to them, 'No matter where you are, you are to go to James the Just, for whose sake heaven and earth came into being.'" Robert J. Miller, ed., The complete Gospels: Annotated Scholars Version (Sant Rosa, California: Polebridge Press, 1994), p. 307 .In fact, James became the leader of Jesus' followers in Jerusalem.
The work of Peter and James stands in contrast to the part that Paul played in this fledgling movement. Formerly a Pharisee of Pharisees, Paul may have had a hand in the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr. Paul's famous conversion on the road to Damascus changed him from being Christianity's most public persecutor to being one of its most eloquent promoters. He was driven by his experience to bring Christ's message to the Gentiles throughout Asia Minor and into Europe.
Paul started in the Syrian capital of Antioch, which was located in what has become modern-day Turkey. In his travels and through his letters to churches, it's evident that he had to wrestle with the question of what defined a Christian—what Jewish traditions had been outgrown and what values were still essential to the Christian spiritual life. Paul strove to forge his new converts into effective church communities. Working with Gentiles who had been pagans or worshipers in the Jewish synagogue, he had to discover how to develop a message that would speak to an audience whose roots were in polytheism rather than monotheistic Judaism.
Paul didn't act alone, however. He went to Jerusalem to meet with James and Peter, and another faithful missionary, John. There they worked and prayed together until they reached agreement on the basic requirements for Christian converts. Disagreements challenged them after this, but the thrust of Jesus' message, the new life to be found through his teachings, and the impact of his resurrection, kept them as one—regardless of their differences.
It's evident that in the earliest days of the budding Church, there was great diversity and even conflict among its members as they continued the transition from Judaism to Christianity. Yet leaders like Peter, James, and Paul were held together by their own personal experience of Christ, and the fact that they were "labourers together with God."I Cor. 3:9. Individually and collectively, they determined what was essential for one to be a follower of Jesus.
These men serve as examples of Paul's statement to the church at Corinth: "There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal."I Cor. 12:4–7.
For further information on the earliest history of the Christian Church, see: Henry Chadwick, The Church in Ancient Society: From Galilee to Gregory the Great (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002).
