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Something sticks in my mind
that the early Christians were called "God Fearers"
Anyone have any input
on that?
Terry
That’s what
we should all still be today. Izzy
Amen and
Amen to that... I did find this on a website - is this what you were referring
to Terry?
God-fearers
The God-fearers were Gentile proselytes. While the gospel
was preached to Jews in Antioch, the majority of new
converts came from the God fearers. These Gentiles had adopted the Jewish
faith with their code of morality and attended synagogue services, but who were not
full converts and did not want to submit to circumcision. These were
probably the ones mentioned in the gospels, because they restricted
themselves to certain leading points of the ceremonial law, they were regarded as
outside the fellowship of Jewish communities.
Paul to the Jews in Antioch:
Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken
of in the prophets; Behold, you despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I
work a work in your days, a work which you shall in no wise believe,
though a man declare it unto you. And when the Jews were gone out of the
synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to
them the next sabbath. Now when the congregation was broken up, many of
the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking
to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. And the next
sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.
But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and
spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and
blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary
that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing you
put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we
turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have
set you to be a light of the Gentiles, that you should be for salvation
unto the ends of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this, they were
glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to
eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was published throughout
all the region.
Josephus mentions that the
Jews in Antioch "were constantly attracting to their religious ceremonies
multitudes of Greek, and these they had in some measure incorporated with
themselves." He also states that "But no one need wonder that there was so
much wealth in our temple, for all the Jews throughout the habitable world,
and fearers of God, even those from Asia and Europe, had been contributing
to it for a very long time."
Any city in the Empire had their share of Gentile converts to Judaism.
The Bible had already been translated into Greek and many believed in the
Jewish theology with the One true God of Moses and Abraham. By the time Paul
and the other Christians came, they found a great opportunity with a
community already ripe for harvest everywhere they went. Also around this
time, the Jerusalem Council
and the teachings of Paul had affirmed grace and Christian freedom and
the extreme requirements of the law had been waived. Especially attractive
to the God-fearers was the idea that they could become members of the
Christian community and gain salvation merely by confessing their sins and
submitting to baptism and they did not have to be circumcised. At once,
hundreds of Gentiles had joined Antioch's church and before long, millions
of God-fearers around the world.
[345, BD, Acts 13]
