Emphasis Preaching Journal
Re-forming the church
Commentary
Was the Christian church ever one? Despite Paul's words of "one Lord, one faith, one baptism," many would say not! The Jewish community out of which the early church sprouted was certainly divided between Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and Zealots, for example. It should not surprise us, therefore, that the followers of Jesus were themselves predisposed to contrariness: the Judaizers and Paulinists over circumcision are a classic example, as reported in the book of Acts and the letters of Paul.
