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Lesson OneThe Birth of the Christian Church4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson TwoGrowth of the Christian Church4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson ThreeThe Spreading Flame4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson FourEarly Christian Life and Faith4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson FiveThe Young Church in Action4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson SixThe Martyr Faith4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson SevenThe Age of Constantine4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson EightSt. Augustine of Hippo4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson NineThe Iconoclastic Controversy4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson TenThe Crusades4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson ElevenMystics and Scholastics4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson TwelveHeretics and Inquisitors4 Activities2 Assessments
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Lesson ThirteenReformation Patterns4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson FourteenThe Lutheran Tradition4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson FifteenThe Reformed Tradition4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson SixteenThe Anglican Tradition4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson Seventeen18th Century Renewal Movements4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson EighteenThe Missionary Explosion of the 19th Century4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson NineteenThe Rise of Modern Pentecostalism4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson TwentyThe Rise of Fundamentalism4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson Twenty-OneFundamentalism and Modernism in Transition4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson Twenty-TwoFundamentalist/Modernist Controversies4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson Twenty-ThreeModern Catholicism4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson Twenty-FourThe Future of Evangelicalism4 Activities1 Assessment
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Lesson Twenty-FiveThe Challenge of Ministry in a New Millennium4 Activities1 Assessment
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Course Wrap-UpCourse Completion1 Activity1 Assessment
Participants 139
Overview and Objectives
Jerusalem, as the center of Jewish religion and culture, was probably one of the least likely places for a new religion to find focus and gain momentum. Yet, it was exactly here that the church was formed by a sovereign act of the Spirit of God who gave energy and direction to that first generation of believers. This lesson explores the distinctively Jewish context of the church’s first days and years and the sequence of events that brought the church into being.
When you complete this lesson, you should be able to do the following:
- Described the political and economic character of the religious establishment of Jerusalem.
- Explained two reasons why Jesus was perceived as a threat to the religious establishment.
- Explored ways in which the Pentecost festival provided a positive occasion for the birth of the church.
- Identified ways that the temple and Jewish religious worship served as the foundation for the faith and life of the Early Church.
- Identified the four types of Jews and Jewish proselytes who became Christians.
- Explained the significance of having Galilean Christians in the leadership of a church full of Judeans.
As you proceed through this lesson have the following question in mind.
What was the significance for Judaism of the festival of Pentecost? What was the significance for Christianity of the first Pentecost after the resurrection of Jesus?