The First One Hundred Years of the Church (Part 6)

In talking about the first one hundred years of the Church, it is important that we understand that the ONLY written Scriptures which Christians had access to were the Hebrew Scriptures (the ones we refer to as the Old Testament). Indeed, our New Testament is literally full of quotations from the Hebrew Bible. Moreover, the apostles and saints believed that everything in the Hebrew Bible pointed to Jesus Christ!  Christians of the First Century saw Jesus in the Sabbaths, Holy Days, sacrifices, priesthood, rituals, and commandments of Torah. Likewise, they saw him in all of the writings of the prophets, and in many of the Psalms. For those who are interested in exploring this phenomenon further, I have written numerous posts covering how Torah, Prophets, and Writings pointed to Jesus of Nazareth.

Now, earlier in this series, I mentioned the fact that the epistles of the Apostle Paul are the earliest writings available to us from this period. They were written before the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Once again, scholars tell us that the earliest of these was his first letter to the Thessalonians. Nevertheless, we know from this collection of letters that the parameters of Christ's story were well-known to Christians - even before the Gospels were penned.

In that first epistle, Paul mentioned that Jesus had been resurrected, that he had delivered them from God's wrath, and that they were awaiting his return (I Thessalonians 1:10). He also talked a good deal about Christian love - one of Christ's principal teachings. Likewise, in his letter to the Christians at Rome, Paul spoke about the efficacy of Christ's sacrifice for our sins, and the blood that he spilled toward that end (Romans 3:21-26, 5:12-21). Paul also talked about the efficacy of Christ's resurrection for those who believe in him (Romans 6:4-11, 8:32-34, 14:9). He also reiterated Christ's teaching about love (Romans 13:10) Paul alluded to the fact that Christ had been crucified on a cross (I Corinthians 1:17-18, 2:1-2). In this same letter to the saints at Corinth, he called Jesus "our Passover Lamb) who had been sacrificed for them (I Corinthians 5:7). Paul also outlined the Eucharist ritual which Christ instituted on the night he was betrayed (I Corinthians 11:22-26). Yet again, he reiterated Christ's teachings about love (I Corinthians 13).

Moreover, in the fifteenth chapter of that same epistle, Paul gave an abbreviated version of his own message about Christ's life, death, and resurrection. He wrote: "For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God." (I Corinthians 15:3-9) Paul continued: "Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished." (I Corinthians 15:12-18) Finally, he reassured them: "But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep." (I Corinthians 15:20)

Indeed, Paul repeatedly spoke about the importance of Christ's life, death, and resurrection throughout his epistles. He spoke about the Christian's reconciliation to God through Jesus Christ, and how "he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (II Corinthians 5:11-21) Paul wrote to the Christians of Galatia: "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree' so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith." (Galatians 3:13-14) He wrote to the saints at Philippi: "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:5-11) Likewise, in his epistle to the Ephesians, he wrote this about Jesus: "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross." (Colossians 1:15-20)

Now, why all of these quotations from the writings of Paul about Jesus Christ? Many scholars and students of Scripture like to point out that the Gospel accounts of Christ's story were recorded thirty to sixty years after Christ's death. The clear implication being that the human authors couldn't have known very much about the story of the real man. These letters of Paul, however, demonstrate that Jesus' story was well known and began circulating among the disciples some fifteen to twenty-five years after his death. In other words, they support and corroborate those later narratives about Christ's life. In other words, the parameters of Christ's story were well known to the Christians of the First Century.