The primitive Christian church faced...
Illustration
The primitive Christian church faced its first great crisis when it split into two divisions. One group, the Jerusalem church, believed that people had to become Jews first in order to become Christians. The second group, led by Paul, was a missionary church to the Gentiles. Though a Jew, Paul believed that faith in Jesus Christ was the only prerequisite for entry into the church. For a time, there was great tension between the two camps over the issue of justification by faith. The Jerusalem church was led by Jesus' closest friends, Peter, John, and James. These men were natural-born Jews and believed that male Gentiles seeking church membership needed to be circumcised, and that both sexes needed to be obedient to the various Jewish dietary laws. Since Jews were God's chosen people, the Hebrew church surmised that it was one's Jewishness which enabled one to have a relationship with God. Their thought reflected the kind of parochial attitude that exists among those of a dominant culture when confronted by a threatening incursion from a minority. The Jerusalem church was convinced, by their own tunnel vision, that the way one related to God was through one's Jewishness. However, God thought differently.
-- Van Der Wall
-- Van Der Wall
