After the destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70 CE, Judaism was forced to redefine itself apart from its traditional Temple rituals. The Pharisees had won by default, the power of the Sadducees was directly linked with Temple worship. When the Temple was destroyed, the Sadducees lost everything that gave them authority.
In the wake of the Temple destruction, the Nazarenes (Messianics) were forced out of the synagogues by modification of one of the standard prayers.
With the followers of Yeshua effectively shut out of the mainline Synagogues, missionary work was no longer possible among Torah observant people. From now on the audience would be a pagan audience. As Eusebius states:
Then starting out upon long journeys they performed the office of evangelists, being filled with the desire to preach Christ to those who had not yet heard the word of faith, and to deliver to them the divine Gospels. And when they had only laid the foundations of the faith in foreign places, they appointed others as pastors, and entrusted them with the nurture of those that had recently been brought in, while they themselves went on again to other countries and nations, with the grace and the co-operation of God.
-- Eusebius of Caesarea, Church History: Book III, Chapter 37
http://web.cbn.org/bibleresources/theology/eusebius/churchhistory/eusebius-b3-38.asp
Eusebius remarks tell us a great deal as to how and when the Church turned from its Hebrew roots to become the Hellenstic Catholic Church of the second century and beyond. First of all, he tells us very clearly that the evangelists went to those who had never yet heard the Word of God. These were apparently pagans who lacked any upbringing or training in Torah. Without any training or knowledge of Torah, they would have been completely incapable of discerning the validity of their message. Unlike the Bereans, whom Paul commended because they tested his message against the Torah, these people had no such way of guarding themselves.
Secondly, after staying only long enough to lay a minimal foundation before moving on, care and leadership of these new converts was put into the hands of men who were, themselves, new converts violating one of Pauls most basic tenants that an overseer
must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil (1 Timothy 3:6). So then, not only were these men untrained in the Torah, there is no indication that they ever would receive Torah instruction, even after their conversion. Eusebius even tells of how one young man was chosen for leadership training based on his excellent physique, attractive appearance, and ardent spirit. Therefore, being left with no formal training and perhaps only a single copy of a gospel account, they were left to fend for themselves as they tried to teach their new churches how to walk a godly way.
One has only to scan the lists of early Church Bishops to see names such as Xystus, Hero, Telesphorus, Eros, Theophilus, and on it goes. The information we have of these early leaders shows that they were all utterly deficient in Torah training. Rather, their training was in Hellenist Philosophy and it was through the eyes of a Greek philosopher that they interpreted and developed their new Christian religion.
The impact of this can be seen very early in the Churchs development among the pagan peoples. The distortion of the Lords Supper, which was associated with the Passover Seder and which Paul admonished the Corinthian congregation to keep (1 Corinthians 5:7-8), came very early on. As early as 107 CE, we see the Christian Church developing a whole separate theology and cult around this observance. No longer is the practice associated with the Passover meal (which itself was eventually formally abolished by the Church), rather it is given an entirely new name, the
Eucharist. The celebration of the Eucharist was to be given magical powers and strictly controlled. For example, it was to be considered valid only when it was held under the bishop or someone to whom he had committed it. It was given the status of transubstantiation for it was said that the Eucharist is the Flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ. And that this same Bread is the medicine of immortality, the antidote against death, and everlasting life in Jesus Christ. With this we see all the primary elements of a Catholic Mass as early as 107 CE.
Shimon
