Early Church History (Part 6 of 11)

The Biblical Roots Podcast

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We begin Stage 2 of our examination of Jewish-Christian relations in the early Church. With the NT baseline established, we now turn to a survey of early Christian writings outside of the New Testament. There is a common misconception that these documents were sophomoric and primitive. Some assume the writings were composed by uneducated men who folded pagan ideas and myths into whatever Christian truths they may have learned along the way. While there may have been some early writings that fit that description, they do not survive today. The early Christian writings that have stood the test of time paint a completely different picture. There we find a humble and passionate people with an earnest desire to follow the teachings of Jesus. They knew their Scripture well. And that includes both the Jewish Scriptures and the new apostolic writings. I found myself both surprised and encouraged by the spiritual maturity and theological sophistication I found in these writings.
In this episode we will establish the historical context for these writings, discuss the "parting of the ways" between Judaism and Christianity, and get an overview of the early writings. It is important to remember that there was no “New Testament” during this era. Although all of the writings that would eventually comprise the New Testament were completed before AD 100, the official canon of New Testament books would not be finalized or published together for hundreds of years. Instead, the individual epistles and gospels of the New Testament were copied and distributed among Christian communities. Early Christians would, for example, read and share Paul’s various letters, or the scroll called “Luke/Acts,” which contained Luke’s Gospel plus the Acts of the Apostles. And these biblical writings would be shared and even copied alongside extra-biblical writings of the time.
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