Early Church Leadership

Yeshua HaDerekh

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I early Acts we see the church being led by Jews.

At some point this leadership transferred to Gentiles.

When did this happen and why?

After 135 AD and the edict by Hadrian...all the Bishops of Jerusalem were Jewish until then
 
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Euodius

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I early Acts we see the church being led by Jews.

At some point this leadership transferred to Gentiles.

When did this happen and why?

Persecution from the Jews drove Christianity out of Jerusalem to Antioch. Antioch had an established Church run by gentiles. St. Peter had left St. Evodius (first gentile convert to be martyred) as Bishop of Antioch. The destruction of Jerusalem occurred around the same time the last of the Jerusalem Christians were driven out. So, the Jewish Christians had largely become refugees. St. Evodius' successor St. Ignatius of Antioch, however, appears to have been a Jew who came to Antioch as refugee, but already by this time the Jew/Gentile distinction was waning in Christianity and the distinction became a religious distinction as Judaism was being remade to exclude Christ.

It should be noted that 70% of all ethnic Jews are Russian Orthodox Christians who have had nothing to do with Judaism for centuries. They make up a normal part of the Church structure.
 
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Pavel Mosko

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I early Acts we see the church being led by Jews.

At some point this leadership transferred to Gentiles.

When did this happen and why?

You're going to be hard pressed to find an exact date. It was gradual.

As to why, because the Faith is more about Israel. God's plan was to redeem the whole world, rather than to make the entire body of believers Hebrew or Jewish. Some of the verses of the OT which spake that Abraham and his descendants would be a blessing to the rest of the World, I think speak to that. As in God prophesies or foretells that they are blessing the world rather than inheriting the entire world.
 
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Pavel Mosko

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After 135 AD and the edict by Hadrian...all the Bishops of Jerusalem were Jewish until then


Yes that is a good date to reference, but I think the Christian Jewish split was more due to Bar Kochba than anything.



Second Jewish War Prompts Christian/Jewish Split


L. Michael White at the University of Texas told PBS: “The one thing that does happen in the second revolt, though, is [that] the self-consciously apocalyptic and messianic identity of Bar Kochba forces the issue for the Christian tradition. It appears that some people in the second revolt tried to press other Jews, including Christians, into the revolt, saying, "Come join us to fight against the Romans. You believe God is going to restore the kingdom to Israel, don't you? Join us." But the Christians by this time are starting to say, "No, he can't be the messiah -- we already have one." And at that point we really see the full-fledged separation of Jewish tradition and Christian tradition becoming clear. [Source: L. Michael White, Professor of Classics and Director of the Religious Studies Program, University of Texas at Austin Frontline, PBS, April 1998 \=/]


SECOND JEWISH REVOLT (A.D. 132-135) AND JEWS IN THE LATE ROMAN EMPIRE | Facts and Details
 
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lismore

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I early Acts we see the church being led by Jews.

At some point this leadership transferred to Gentiles.

When did this happen and why?

It would be easy to trace in Church History. When do the doctrines begin to get iffy? God Bless :)
 
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Aussie Pete

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I early Acts we see the church being led by Jews.

At some point this leadership transferred to Gentiles.

When did this happen and why?
Israel effectively ceased to exist about AD100. Christians were scattered all over the Roman Empire. Mostly the Jews rejected Christianity and Jerusalem no longer was the "mother" church. Chronologically, the book of James was the first NT book written, so the scholars say. Paul founded churches in Gentile cities and elders were appointed from the membership. The idea of parachuting in leadership is foreign to the early church. The apostles founded and encouraged the fledgling churches, but they did not micromanage or control them.
 
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Charlie24

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I early Acts we see the church being led by Jews.

At some point this leadership transferred to Gentiles.

When did this happen and why?

I'm not much on history, whose account of history is to be believed?

My opinion, for what it's worth, is that the torch was handed to the Gentiles through Paul.

He was given the meaning of the New Covenant while the Apostles at Jerusalem were still in the dark as to what to do about God allowing the Gentiles to be saved.

Paul was light years ahead of the rest in knowledge of Gods plan.

It is my belief that even before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD, God had already given the leadership of the church to the Gentiles through Paul's church planting.

It was from these western civilized churches that the Gospel spread across the world, and eventually to the shores of America.

Israel as a nation was in unbelief and God destroyed the Temple to ensure they could no longer worship in that unbelief, now that the Messiah had come.
 
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prodromos

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It would be easy to trace in Church History. When do the doctrines begin to get iffy?
I don't know. When do the doctrines begin to get iffy? In what way do you think they are iffy?
 
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lismore

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I don't know. When do the doctrines begin to get iffy? In what way do you think they are iffy?

There is a legend, or story in the Greek Church I believe, the cave of the seven sleepers. Imagine that were real. Someone fell asleep in a cave somewhere in Europe in the first century AD when Christians were a persecuted sect meeting in homes and Catacombs, with a love for their Lord and one another. The Son of Man having nowhere to lay his head, Peter and John with no gold and silver but a priceless treasure nonetheless.

He awakes and finds 'the church', now persecuting others. 'Heretics' and 'witches' being burned at the stake. Churches excommunicating or persecuting each other, like some farcical game. Emperors, Kings and rulers claiming to be Christian in name but denying Christ in deeds. Wars and crusades being launched in the name of the Prince of Peace.

Sitting in palaces, on exalted thrones, bishops and popes with their concubines and children round them, engaged in private wars and bloodshed. People revering images, statues, carrying little figurines round the city to bless it, something he saw pagans formerly doing. Giant churches, materially wealthy though spiritually perhaps not so. The down to earth fisherman and craftsmen of the 12 apostles of Christ now given way to crafty-tongued men living in palaces, sitting on thrones and lording it over the people, demanding tithes. People sitting in palaces with billions in 'art' treasures squeezing the poor for cash.

The sleeper would be forgiven for thinking he had encountered a different church. But of course those inside the system can't see the wood for the trees. God Bless :)
 
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Pavel Mosko

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Something tells me "Iffy" = Catholic sounding. And if that is true, you will be running into iffy doctrines from AD 80 onward.


Come together in common, one and all without exception in charity, in one faith and in one Jesus Christ, who is of the race of David according to the flesh, the son of man, and the Son of God, so that with undivided mind you may obey the bishop and the priests, and break one Bread which is the medicine of immortality and the antidote against death, enabling us to live forever in Jesus Christ."

-"Letter to the Ephesians", paragraph 20, c. 80-110 A.D.


“See that ye all follow the bishop, even as Jesus Christ does the Father, and the presbytery as ye would the apostles; and reverence the deacons, as being the institution of God. Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop. […] Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude [of the people] also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church. […] Whatsoever [the bishop] shall approve of, that is also pleasing to God, so that everything that is done may be secure and valid.” (St. Ignatius: Letter to the Smyrnaeans; Ch 8)
 
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prodromos

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There is a legend, or story in the Greek Church I believe, the cave of the seven sleepers. Imagine that were real. Someone fell asleep in a cave somewhere in Europe in the first century AD when Christians were a persecuted sect meeting in homes and Catacombs, with a love for their Lord and one another. The Son of Man having nowhere to lay his head, Peter and John with no gold and silver but a priceless treasure nonetheless.

He awakes and finds 'the church', now persecuting others. 'Heretics' and 'witches' being burned at the stake. Churches excommunicating or persecuting each other, like some farcical game. Emperors, Kings and rulers claiming to be Christian in name but denying Christ in deeds. Wars and crusades being launched in the name of the Prince of Peace.

Sitting in palaces, on exalted thrones, bishops and popes with their concubines and children round them, engaged in private wars and bloodshed. People revering images, statues, carrying little figurines round the city to bless it, something he saw pagans formerly doing. Giant churches, materially wealthy though spiritually perhaps not so. The down to earth fisherman and craftsmen of the 12 apostles of Christ now given way to crafty-tongued men living in palaces, sitting on thrones and lording it over the people, demanding tithes. People sitting in palaces with billions in 'art' treasures squeezing the poor for cash.

The sleeper would be forgiven for thinking he had encountered a different church. But of course those inside the system can't see the wood for the trees. God Bless :)
Sorry, but you mentioned iffy doctrines, not sinful behaviour from church members. What are the iffy doctrines you were referring to?
 
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David Kent

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After 135 AD and the edict by Hadrian...all the Bishops of Jerusalem were Jewish until then
Unlikely. Jesus told the Jews to leave Jerusalem when they saw the city surrounded by armies, which they did in AD 66. So no church, no bishops.
 
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Yeshua HaDerekh

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Unlikely. Jesus told the Jews to leave Jerusalem when they saw the city surrounded by armies, which they did in AD 66. So no church, no bishops.

Many believers left. Jews stayed or came back, otherwise how could there be a Bar Kochba revolt between 132 and 135 AD?? Then why did Hadrian issue his edict if there were no Jews? It is a historical fact.
 
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David Kent

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Google it, it is history
Of course some Jews may have stayed, but the Christians fled. Eusebius said that not one Christian died in the war as they all fled mostly to Pella. Some came back and started the new revolt against Rome. But is there any evidence that Christians did, or are you just assuming?
 
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