The First Seventy Years

A PLACE OF OUR OWN:  A.D. 80-100

September 24, 2014

The sixth and seventh decades of the church, 80-100 A.D., offer us few events that can be dated by world events or literature outside the Bible itself.  Even the Bible itself does not give us much to date itself by.  During the last two centuries, biblical scholars and historians have been able to deduce when some things must have happened even though there is usually no explicit confirmation from secular history.  These two decades saw a continuing mushrooming of the numbers^[1] of Christians  and many of these new Christians were east of Antioch, a region that Luke hardly mentions in the book of Acts.  Indeed, it may well be that the earliest nation to adopt Christianity as its faith was that of Armenia--the region east of the Black Sea.  The earliest known church building, that of Dura-Europas, has been excavated at the far eastern edge of Syria.  It is clear that this evangelizing of the East was going on because when we do get our first good look at this region in the second century A.D., the church is already well established.  The great cities of Edessa and Nisibis on the Silk Road already have thriving Christian communities when get our first confirmed information about them.  All this growth started in the dark decades of the 80's and 90's when we can't see it.  
The two great focal points of the 80's and the 90's are the emergence of the rest of the Gospels--Matthew, Luke and the Johnnine books--and the growing gulf between Gentile Christianity and Judaism, a process that is often referred to as "the parting of the ways."  We can't be precise about dates for either of these two processes, but there is no doubt that they took place in these two decades.  Both affected the church enormously.  In addition to the Gospels that were written we have a book commonly referred to as the Didache which tells us how Christians observed the Lord's Supper and prepared candidates for baptism.  It was written by 100 A.D.

The Written Record
The Gospel of Mark did not record many of the sayings of Jesus;  it focused on his life, death and resurrection.  Sometime in the period 80-100 A.D. two other Gospels appeared that used Mark's Gospel and added to it the sayings of Jesus.  These were the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.  Matthew's Gospel arranges the sayings of Jesus in a way that would remind Jewish readers of Moses.  One major group of sayings in Matthew is called the Sermon on the Mount which, of course, recalls Moses receiving the Law on Mount Sinai.  The Gospel of Matthew has five major groups of sayings by Jesus and may have been arranged into five sections just as Moses' teachings are contained in five books in the Old Testament.^[2]   It is not hard to see that Matthew's Gospel would have had a warm reception in places like Jerusalem and Galilee where the church was closely tied to Judaism.  We can't prove that Matthew was written in Judea or Galilee, but it surely would have been treasured by Jewish Christians.
Luke's Gospel, on the other hand, clearly was written for readers in the wider Roman world outside Judea.  Luke was at home in Macedonia and Achaia;  it was there that Paul first met him on his second missionary jouney.  The Gospel of Luke sets Jesus' birth in the context of the Roman Empire:  "In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.)"  Luke does not often, like Matthew, stress that Jesus' actions fulfilled a specific passage in the Old Testament.  Luke clearly knew his Old Testament, but unlike Matthew, Luke may have been a Gentile who wrote primarily for Gentiles.  Only Luke records for us the comment, for example, that  a Roman " centurion, seeing what had happened [at the cross], praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” Luke went out of his way to show that the Roman world was not scandalized by Jesus of Nazareth.  Thus the two great wings of the Christian church, the Jewish wing and the Gentile wing, both produced Gospels that expanded Mark's Gospel and spoke especially to one segment of the church.  And this great achievement happened sometime between 80 and 100 A.D.
A third Gospel was written in this period, that of John. It is quite different from the other three and does not, like Matthew and Luke, quote much of Mark’s Gospel.  Most scholars think John was the last of the Gospels to be written.  John records Jesus’ teaching in long speeches (like John 14) rather than in short sayings.  John explicitly says that the Gospel was intended to help people “believe.”  In some instances, John seems to have inside information from someone who was there.  This is especially true of the scenes of Jesus’ trials.  Whether the “John” who wrote this Gospel was one of the disciples or the person referred to as “John the Elder” cannot be determined. However, if John was not there in person he clearly knew things that only one who was there could have known.  The Gospel of John is traditionally said to have been written in Ephesus, the great city in the Roman province of Asia.  More than the other Gospels John reflects the church’s attempt to define what it believed about Jesus’ relationship with God.  Almost three hundred years after this Gospel was written, the church was still working on defining this same relationship.  Apparently by the time John wrote, some were trying to depict Jesus as wholly a spiritual being and not a fully human person.  Thus John begins by tracing Jesus birth not to Abraham or to Mary and Joseph but to the Word that was with God in the beginning.  John then insisted that it was this Word that became flesh and dwelt among us.  The fourth Gospel, then is more explicitly theological than the other three and reflects the beginning of a long struggle with people known to scholars as Gnostics.  The Gnostics denied that Jesus was fully human or that the really died;  they said he only “seemed” to die.  John wrote to refute that heresy when it first began to rear its head.
The sixth and seventh decades, 80-100 A.D., gave us rich treasures in the form of these three testimonies to Jesus that became so sacred to us we call them inspired scripture.  It was as if the church prayed in those decades, “Let the words of our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord.”  And they were.

Glimpses Behind The Veil
There surely seems to be a veil drawn across these years of the church.  We have a hard time peeking in to see what was going on.  Outside the documents in our New Testament, we do have two other written documents that come from this period and give us some knowledge of what it was like to be a Christian.
The first of these is a document known as “The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles.”  It is commonly referred to by the Greek word for “teaching”—Didache.   It cannot be dated precisely, but it was written before the year 100 A.D. and, perhaps, before Matthew and Luke!  We don’t know where it was written, either, but there is a good possibility that it comes from somewhere in Judea, Galilee or, perhaps, Syria.  That is to say, the Didache seems to come from the same community that Matthew’s Gospel came from.  It seems to be directed at Jewish Christians.  The three topics dealt with in the document are Christian behavior, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and church organization.  A few quotes from the Didache will give you an idea of what it is like.  It may well be that much of this work was used in preparing new Christians for baptism.
The meaning of these sayings [love God and love neighbor] is this: Bless those who curse you, and pray for your enemies, and fast for those who persecute you. For what reward is there for loving those who love you? Do not the heathens do the same? But you should love those who hate you, and then you shall have no enemies.

Do not commit murder; do not commit adultery; do not corrupt boys; do not have illicit sex; do not steal; do not practice magic; do not practice witchcraft; you shall not murder a child, whether it be born or unborn. Do not covet the things of your neighbor.

Concerning baptism, you should baptize this way: After first explaining all things, baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, in flowing water.  But if you have no running water, baptize in other water; and if you cannot do so in cold water, then in warm.  If you have very little, pour water three times on the head in the name of Father and Son and Holy Spirit.  Before the baptism, both the baptizer and the candidate for baptism, plus any others who can, should fast. The candidate should fast for one or two days beforehand.

Concerning the Eucharist, give thanks this way.  First, concerning the cup: We thank you, our Father, for the holy vine of David your servant, which you made known to us through Jesus your servant. To you be the glory forever. Next, concerning the broken bread: We thank you, our Father, for the life and knowledge which you made known to us through Jesus your servant. To you be the glory forever.  Even as this broken bread was scattered over the hills, and was gathered together and became one, so let your church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into your kingdom. To you is the glory and the power through Jesus Christ forever.

Appoint bishops for yourselves, as well as deacons, worthy of the Lord, of meek disposition, unattached to money, truthful and proven; for they also render to you the service of prophets and teachers.  Do not despise them, after all, for they are your honored ones, together with the prophets and teachers. And reprove one another, not in anger, but in peace, as you have it in the gospel. But to anyone who acts amiss against another, let no one speak to him, nor let him hear anything from you until he repents. But your prayers and alms and all your deeds so do, as you have it in the gospel of our Lord.

In addition to the Didache, there is one other document written by 100 A.D. that sheds light on the church in the sixth and seventh decades.  It is a long letter written by Clement, the pastor of the church in Rome, to the church in Corinth.  It begins "the Church of God which sojourneth in Rome to the Church of God which sojourneth in Corinth.”  In the letter Clement refers to Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth and implies that he has a copy of that letter.  Along the way he mentions several other of the New Testament books indicating that the whole group of books were being collected in Rome and elsewhere.  Clement’s letter is longer than our book of Hebrews and we can’t deal with such a large work this time but here is the way it begins:
By reason of the sudden and repeated calamities and reverses which are befalling us, brethren, we consider that we have been somewhat tardy in giving heed to the matters of dispute that have arisen among you, dearly beloved, and to the detestable and unholy sedition, so alien and strange to the elect of God, which a few headstrong and self-willed persons have kindled to such a pitch of madness that your name, once revered and renowned and lovely in the sight of all men, hath been greatly reviled.
It would appear that the church in Corinth hadn’t changed a whole lot since Paul’s time!  Clement’s letter shows us, however, that strong leaders were emerging and that churches were aware of what was happening to other congregations.

The Parting of the Ways
As we turn to the second focal point of these two decades we are once again trying to see into a dimly lit past that is shrouded in darkness.  It was in these two decades that Judaism and Christianity went their separate ways.  It is difficult to know just how traumatic this parting of the ways was and whether there was a definitive moment when Jews said to Christians “You have no place in the synagogue.”  A few words of historical background may help us.
The great war of 66-70 destroyed all the major physical attributes of Judaism.  The temple itself, on which Judaism centered, was destroyed just as Jesus had predicted it would be.  With it the whole wing of Judaism known to us as the Sadducees were left with nothing to do and they immediately disappeared.  The Sadducees were the priestly group who controlled the temple.  When the temple was destroyed their whole reason for being was eliminated.  The Zealots, who had fomented the war and held out on Masada for three long years after the war was essentially over, also disappeared with the suicide of all the remaining Zealots on Masada.  The  Essenes who hid their precious scrolls from the Romans were overwhelmed by the Romans and their community at Qumran was destroyed.  In short, all of Judaism except for the Pharisees was decimated.
There was at least one voice in Jerusalem opposed to the war, Rabbi Johanan ben Zakkai. Here is a brief recounting of his role in preserving the Sanhedrin during these critical times:
According to tradition, ben Zakkai was a pacifist in Jerusalem in 68 C.E. when the city was under siege by General Vespasian. Jerusalem was controlled by the Zealots, people who would rather die than surrender to Rome (these are the same people who controlled Masada). Ben Zakkai urged surrender, but the Zealots would not hear of it, so ben Zakkai faked his own death and had his disciples smuggle him out of Jerusalem in a coffin. They carried the coffin to Vespasian's tent, where ben Zakkai emerged from the coffin. He told Vespasian that he had had a vision (some would say, a shrewd political insight) that Vespasian would soon be emperor, and he asked Vespasian to set aside a place in Yavneh (near modern Rehovot) where he could start a small school and study Torah in peace. Vespasian promised that if the prophesy came true, he would grant ben Zakkai's request. Vespasian became Emperor within a year, and kept his word, allowing the school to be established after the war was over. The school ben Zakkai established at Yavneh became the center of Jewish learning for centuries and replaced Jerusalem as the seat of the Sanhedrin.^[3]
The Sanhedrin ultimately ended up in the city of Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee.  This group of  rabbis established what is today known as rabbinic Judaism which has as its central document the Talmud.  Ben Zakkai and his followers made it possible for modern Judaism to live on.
About 90 A.D. a famous conference was held at Yavneh that had far reaching consequences although scholars differ on exactly what actions were taken there.  One of the things they discussed was which books "defiled the hands."  Only sacred, holy books "defile the hands."  The rabbis at Yavneh concluded that books written in Greek did not qualify.  Some of the books they considered are the same books that are known of as the Apocrypha which are in the Catholic version of the Bible.  These books were excluded by the rabbis.  Whether they were excluded because Christians found them especially helpful in witnessing about Jesus is debatable, but they were excluded.  At this same time the liturgy for Jewish prayers was changed.  One special prayer which all Jews prayed more than once a day, the Eighteen Benedictions, was altered and a line was included which cursed the "heretics" ("minim" in Hebew).^[4]   The effect of this was that Christians who sill attended synagogue sessions now were required to recite a prayer that called down curses upon themselves because they were  considered heretics.  Christians weren't the only ones in this group, but they surely were among the heretics which this prayer effectively excluded from the synagogue worship.
In these decades Christians were also sharpening their condemnation of Jews. "Christian literature from ca. 100 CE to ca. 150 CE is uniformly hostile to Jews and Judaism. ... The Didache (ca. 100 CE) contains much material of Jewish origin, but the only time that the author alludes to Jews is the passage in which he calls them “hypocrites” and encourages his audience “Do not let your fasts coincide with those of the hypocrites. They fast on Monday and Thursday, so you must fast on Wednesday and Friday” (Didache 8)."^[5]

Conclusion
And thus it was that there was a "parting of the ways."^[6]   Judaism became more and more distinct from Christianity. Christianity, which began as a totally Jewish worship group, ultimately became almost exclusively a non-Jewish, Gentile movement.   The first seventy years of the Christian faith saw the growth of believers from that small group of 120 who met immediately after Jesus' crucifixion to a conservative estimate of over seven thousand by the year 100 A.D.  By 350 A.D. this number had swelled to over 30 million Christians.^[7]   Persecutions had begun in this first seventy years, but through courage and faith Christians overcame and ultimately the Empire that had treated them so cruelly became the friend of faith.  The living words so effective in the early days gave way to written Gospels and letters that still inspire and challenge the hearts and minds of simple and savants alike.

Footnotes

  BACK TO TEXT1. One scholar has shown that it does not take a miraculous growth in numbers to account for the growth of the church in these years.  A growth rate of less than 4% a year compounded over the years produces the numbers of Christians known to be present by the fourth century.

Thanks to Lee and Catherine Allen for providing this scholar's book to me:  Rodney Stark, The Triumph of Christianity (NY:Harper Collins, 2011) 156 ff.

 BACK TO TEXT2. The five discourses are: the Sermon on the Mount, the Missionary Discourse, the Parabolic Discourse, the Discourse on the Church and the Discourse on End Times.  B. W. Bacon's 1930 book that pointed out the five sections of Matthew was Studies in Matthew (NY: Holt, 1930).

  BACK TO TEXT3. From:  https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/ben_zakkai.html

 BACK TO TEXT4. The Palestininian version is:

"For the apostates let there be no hope,

and may the kingdom of the arrogant

be quickly uprooted in our days;

and may Nazarim and Minim instantly perish;

may they be blotted from the book of the living,

and not be written with the righteous.

Blessed are you Lord,

humbler of the arrogant."

Cited from:  http://www.tyndale.cam.ac.uk/Tyndale/staff/InstoneBrewer/prepub/18%20Benedictions.pdf

  BACK TO TEXT5. Cohen, Shaye J. D., 2013. The ways that parted: Jews, Christians, and Jewish-Christians ca. 100-150 CE. Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University, preprint.  Found at: 

http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:10861143.

  BACK TO TEXT6. "The story of the parting of the ways is in essence the story of the triumph of Rabbinism and of the failure of Jewish Christianity to convince a majority of Palestinian Jews of the claim of the Gospel." Philip S. Alexander, The Parting of the Way From the Perspective of Rabbinic Judaism in James D. G. Dunn,  Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways A.D. 70-135 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999) 3.

  BACK TO TEXT7. Stark, Triumph of Christianity, 157.