Section 288 — Dictionary of the Apostolic Church

5. Growth. — The growth of the Apostolic Church was very rapid. The first missionary efforts of the original believers were confined to Jerusalem and its immediate neighbourhood, and the converts were Palestinian or Hellenistic Jews who were

living or sojourning in or near the capital. At first the Hellenists were in a minority, but this soon ceased to be the case. Persecution caused flight from Jerusalem, and then missionary effort was extended to Jews of the Dispersion and to Gentiles. At Antioch in Syria the momentous change was made to a mixed congregation containing both Jews and Christians. Then what had seemed even to the Jews themselves to be a mere JeAvish sect became a universal Church (Ac 11 '8'^). As soon as it was seen that Judaism, in spite of aU its OT glories, would never become a universal religion, missions to the heathen became a necessity. The first missionaries to the Gentiles, the men who took this momentous step of bringing the gospel to pagans, are for the most part unknown to us. Who won the first Gentile converts at Antioch ? Who first took Christianity to Rome? Whoever they were, there had been a long and complex preparation for their work, which goes a consider- able way towards explaining its success. This indeed was to be hoped for in accordance with Christ's command (Mt 2S'8, Lk 24") and St. Peter's Pentecostal promise ' to all that are afar off"' (Ac 2^^) ; but we can see some of the details which helped fulfilment.

The only thing which adequately explains the great expansion of Christianity in the 1st cent, is the fact of its Divine origin ; but there were a num- ber of causes which favoured its spread and more than counteracted the active opposition and other difficulties with which it had to contend.

(a) The dispersion of the Jews in civilized coun- tries secured a knowledge of monotheism and a sound moral code.

(b) Roman law had become almost co-extensive with the civilized world. Tribal and national ideas, often irrational and debasing, had given place to

firinciples of natural right and justice. Roman aw, like the Mosaic Law, was a 7rat5a7w7(5s to lead men to Christ.

{d) The dissolution of nationalities by Roman conquests prepared men's minds for a religion which was not national but universal ; and it is not impossible, in spite of the horror which the writer of the Apocalypse exhibits towards the wor- ship of the Emperor, that that worship, which was nominally universal, sometimes prepared people for a worship of the Power to which they owed exist- ence, and not merely fitful security and peace.

(e) The Macedonian conquest had made men familiar with a type of civilization which seemed to be adaptable to the whole world, and had sup- plied a language which was still more adaptable. Greek was everywhere spoken in large towns, and in them converts were most likely to be found. Through the LXX, Greek was a Jewish as well as a pagan instrument of thought, and had become very flexible and simple, capable of expressing new ideas, and yet easily intelligible to plain men. Greek was the language of culture and of commerce even in Rome. It was also the sacred language of the world-wide worship of Isis. Hardly at any other period has the civilized world had a nearer approach to a universal language. The retention of a Greek liturgy in the Church of Rome for two centuries was due partly to the fact that the first missionaries taught in Greek and that the Greek Bible was used •, partly to the desire to preserve the unity of the Church throughout the Empire. Its abandonment by the Roman Church prepared the way for the estrangement between East and West.

(/) There was a wide-spread sense of moral cor- ruption and spiritual need. 'A great religious

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longing swept over the length and breadth of the empire. The scepticism of the age of enlighten- ment had become bankrupt' (E. v. Dobschiitz, Apostol. Age, Eng. tr., London, 1909, p. 39). The prevalent religions and philosophies had stimulated longings which they could not satisfy. Specula- tions about conscience, sin, and judgment to come, about the efficacy of sacrifices, and the possibility of forgiveness and of life after death, had prepared men for what Christianity had to offer. Even if the gospel had not been given, some religi- ous change would have come. The gospel often awakened spiritual aspirations ; more often it found them awake and satisfied them. It satisfied them because it possessed the characteristics of a universal religion — incomparable sublimity of doc- trine, inexhaustible adaptability, and an origin that was recognizable as Divine. The Jew might be won by the conviction that the law was trans- figured in the gospel and that prophecy was fulfilled in Christ and His Church. St. Peter began his Pentecostal address to the assembled Jews by point- ing out that the outpouring of the Spirit was a fulfilment of Jewish prophecy (Jl 2-**-^') and an inauguration of ' the last days,' which were to pre- cede the coming of the Messiah in glory. But to the Gentile these considerations were not impres- sive. The great pagan world had to be won by the actual contents of Christianity, which were seen to be better than those of any religion that the world had thus far known. They were not only new, but ' with authority ' ; and they stood the test of experience by bearing the wear and tear of life. Christianity was at once a mirror and a ' mystery ' : it reflected life so clearly and it suggested some- thing nmch higher. It was a marvel of simplicity and richness. It was so plain that it could be told in a few words which might change the whole life. It was so varied and subtle that it could tax all the intellectual powers and excite the strongest feel- ings.