Evangelism in the Early Church.

All the information I got for this post came from the excellent history book, Evangelism in the Early Church by Michael Green.

Back in the first century there were many obstacles to proclaiming the "Gospel." When Jesus told the apostles to "go and make disciples of all nations," they must have felt almost overwhelmed by how difficult that would be. Here are some of the things that made it difficult.

The stumbling-block of Christ

First of all the men proclaiming the "good news" were nobodies. They were men with no formal rabbinic training who were trying to correct the theology, belief, and religious practices of qualified, professional religious leaders.

Next, they were proclaiming that Jesus Christ was the long-awaited Messiah. Jews were offended by this. A carpenter-teacher is the summit of Israel's development? Get out of here! Someone so recent is wiser than Moses himself? No way! An unordained rabbi who came into conflict with the official exponents of the Torah was a divinely authenticated teacher of Israel? Can't be! The Jews were waiting for someone who was a deliverer and conqueror. A political leader that would overthrow the Roman empire and reestablish the throne of David. Jesus didn't bring this. These things made it difficult enough to preach it to the Jews, but what made it nearly impossible was Christ's execution. Only lowly criminals were crucified. The Old Testament made it clear that anyone hanged on a "tree" was cursed by God (Deuteronomy 21:23). How could God's chosen one have been cursed in this way? This was a big stumbling block for the Jew.

Pathways for Evangelism

However, as Michael Green says, "probably no period in the history of the world was better suited to receive the infant Church than the first century A.D., when, under the Empire which was literally worldwide, the scope for the spread and understanding of the faith was enormous," (1.29). Jesus entered the world in a time of unparalleled peace. The road system made it possible for Christians to move around quickly and easily to spread the Gospel everywhere. The Greek language was an almost universal language spoken by everyone, so everyone could understand it. Also, many people back then were appalled by the immoral behavior of the gods they worshiped. It wasn't Christians who first attacked the gods of Greek myth. It was exposed by Greek philosophers long before that. This made the Christian God look more attractive to the communities who were impatient of the worthless deities they had traditionally worshiped. These things and many others made it possible for Christianity to spread far and wide at a fast pace. It is as if God chose the perfect time to send His Son down to the earth.