A Shift in the
Church’s Foundation
The Apostle Paul regarded Scripture as being
inspired by God (2 Timothy 3:16). We, as believers immediately think that the
whole Bible Old and New was what Paul was referring to. The
"Scripture" spoken of in this passage was the Old Testament. In
actual fact, there was no "New Testament" when this statement was
made. Even the Old Testament was still in the process of formulation, for the
Jews did not decide upon a definitive list or canon of Old Testament books
until after the rise of Christianity. Many other books such as the history of
the Maccabees was in dispute as to being “inspired by God”.
The four Gospels were written from thirty to
sixty years after Jesus' death and resurrection. In the mean time, the Church
relied on oral tradition-the accounts of eyewitnesses-as well as scattered
pre-gospel documents (such as those quoted in 1 Timothy 3:16 and 2 Timothy
2:11-13) and written tradition
The first person on record that tried to
establish a New Testament canon was the second-century heretic, Marcion. He
wanted the Church to reject its Jewish heritage, and therefore he dispensed
with the Old Testament entirely. Marcion's canon included only one gospel,
which he himself edited, and ten of Paul's epistles. A very sad but true fact
was that the first attempted New Testament was heretical.
Many scholars believe that it was partly in
reaction to this distorted canon of Marcion that the early Church determined to
create a clearly defined canon of its own. Necessity was, even then, the mother
of invention. The destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, the break-up of the
Jewish-Christian community there, and the threatened loss of continuity in the
oral tradition probably also contributed to the sense of the urgent need for
the Church to standardize the list of books Christians could rely on. During
this most churches had only a few, if any, of the apostolic writings available
to them. Most were copies of the letters sent to the various congregations
under the Apostles leadership. The persecution of Christians by the Roman
Empire and the existence of many documents of non-apostolic origin further
complicated the matter. The Gospel was taken through a great portion of the
known world of the Roman Empire and even to regions beyond. New churches at
first usually begin in Jewish synagogues around the empire and Christianity is
seen at first as a part of Judaism. Those who followed “The Way” were
considered still to be part of the Jewish religious community although a “sect”.
Christianity begins to
shift from its Jewish foundation. A major transformation takes place at the
time of Jewish Revolt against Roman authority. This act of insurrection was the
beginning of the end for Jews in Israel and particularly in Jerusalem.
In 70 AD Christians did not take part in the revolt and fled to
Pella in Jordan. The other Jews were either slaughtered or fled to other parts
of the then known world. The Diaspora takes place.
The Jewish first church is now in the hands of Gentiles as leadership
positions once held by Jews are now filled by believers who are still novices
to this new faith.
The Jews at Jamnia in 90 AD
give backing to the canon of the Hebrew Scriptures. Christians recognize the
same books as authoritative. Persecutions test the church in the form of not
only the destruction of the Jews in Israel but also every piece of Jewish
literature, historical or religious, that was found was burned. The Jewish
historian (Josephus) was surprised that they were still in existence in his Antiquities
in the latter part of first century.
The strongest centres of the Church were Asia Minor and North
Africa. Rome was also a centre of prestige. The church continued its amazing
spread reaching all classes, particularly the lower. A former slave known as
Callistus, became the first bishop of Rome.
