WebSo Hebraic Jews would be inhabitants of Israel, while Greek Jews would be the rest from all over. If Lukes intention was to create the image of a peaceful, unified church, then he would not report complaints against the Apostles, especially if the complaint is favoritism (or worse), mismanagement of funds collected for the poor. Disclaimers. To solve this problem, the church chooses seven deacons to oversee the physical work of distributing food to the needy brethren, and one of these is "Nicolas, a proselyte from Antioch." (Acts 6:1)? Learn how your comment data is processed. The Sabbath Six days shall you work and do all your labor, but the seventh day is Shabbat for the Lord your G-d. On it, you shall do no [creative] work. The seventh day is the Jewish Sabbath on which a Jew does no work. Although the Jews did have common beliefs, some of their differing views caused problems in the early church. . Realizing that there were different types of Jews who conducted themselves differently is very important in understanding the story of Acts and the Bible in general. suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with To read more about Neil, see our. Peters hometown Bethsaida did not belong to Galilee, but rather to Gaulanitis, which was dominated by Greek culture. Please carry on. Israel. Thank you for this careful and engaged reading of my work much appreciated!". Does Luke put the Twelve in a negative light in Acts 6? Which of these roles deserves particular esteem? The church established the acceptable doctrine that was pleasing to all the faction by enlarge. This is not necessarily a geographical division, although doubtless it often was. ), Your email address will not be published. And this seems to have been where the division between the Hellenist and Judean Jews lay. I tend to think that way for almost every religion. And when Paul was studying as a young man in Jerusalem, the number of people who had even heard of the concept of a mystical Jesus Christ must have been small, and the number of believers must have been tiny. Why does the author of Acts fail to tell us what these differences were? For in fact the body is not one member but many. Isaac was sacrificed and resurrected in the original, very interesting. First we learn that the church was divided between Hebrews and Hellenists. Im also happy to see even Jim giving Neil credit where credit is due. if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us it." Even in the Old Testament history books and laws, we see mentions of foreigners among the Jews and how they should be treated among the Jewish society. in church or even working to provide for themselves. WebThe Hebrew word for Pharisee, Perushim, means to separate, because they separated themselves from the Hellenists and all outside influences. ", "Neil, this is actually rather useful. say, Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body, is it therefore not of And, in fact, they are similar in that both cultures put great value on understanding the world and the use of ones intellect. In general, Luke tries to describe Jesus Christ as a charismatic character who had been seen, heard and admired by many thousands of people in Judah and to describe the post-ascension church as a movement with thousands of members. And if one member suffers, all the members who shows mercy, with cheerfulness." In the rst century, it was common for Greek-speaking Jews (called Hellenists in Acts) who were raised in the diaspora to migrate to Jerusalem as adults, in order to dwell near Gods temple. Although ethnically Jewish, they grew up in Gentile nations speaking Greek, If there were some such relationships, however, they were not explained by Luke. Long has taught full time at Grace Christian University since 1998, specializing in Bible and Biblical languages. To start with religious, it emphasizes that Christ welcomes many different people even of different culture and class to be a part of his body (his church). the same care for one another. Schism but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are It only takes a minute to sign up. This was a movement from about 400 BC to 100 AC. A Light from the East: Eastern Christianity (Part 2) But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body Jesus Curses the Fig Tree As discussed in class, the Hellenistic Jews tended to cling to certain things and had a harder time adopting new ideas. Donations Challenges to the astonishing oneness of the new movement soon arose, first in the disturbing case of Ananias and Sapphira (5:1-11), and then in the case of the Hellenistic widows who had been overlooked in the distribution of goods (6:1-6). The blog post says that Acts 6:1 describes a problem between the Hebraic and the Hellenistic Jews. rev2023.3.1.43269. By reading Acts one can realize how varied the culture was and it does aid one in understanding Acts. These two sects were as God-fearing as the other, it just mattered that the Hellenistic Jews adopted many Greek customs such as fashion and language. Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, a complaint arose from the Hellenists against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily service. Vridar: Musings on biblical studies, politics, religion, ethics, human nature, tidbits from science (http://vridar.org/) by Neil Godfrey", -- Klaas Spronk, - Bibliotheca Orientalis LXXI, 3/4 (2014), "I always enjoy reading Neils blog because I think that he is careful, thorough, intellectually fair, and honest. If the whole were hearing, where would be the Bock, on the other hand, agrees more with my sketch of the Hellenists (Acts, 258-9). After they gave their lives over they stayed in Jerusalem, and it was not Having then A thinking cap that really works & why the most educated can often be the most closed minded, Stephen The Hellenistic-Hebrew division in the Jerusalem church 2, After a little more tinkering I believe I have found that my main problem has been getting a clear enough. Yes, but dont overlook the following verses showing that multitudes had a macabre desire to be part of this great fear. And when you see Peter saying It is not about the money, but the disrepect for me and for the Holy Spirit, and then see that first Ananias, and then Sapphira, miraculously drop down dead (nothing to do with Joe Sicarius standing behind them, of course) the fear is not surprising. Why wasn't it desirable for the twelve Apostles Browse other questions tagged, Start here for a quick overview of the site, Detailed answers to any questions you might have, Discuss the workings and policies of this site. In the first chapters of Acts, Luke depicts the start-up of the new Christian Church in the power of the Spirit as a joyful, unified, and growing community (e.g., Acts 2:41-47). . Acts 6), and had neglected, most probably So this is a Schmithals time in my reading. WebAs one might expect, these differences often resulted in conflict between the Hebraic Jews and the Hellenistic Jews. Read Fullers Statement on Nondiscrimination. Richard Pervo has hypothesized that Luke was in possession of an Antioch Source containing some genuine information, but which in his typically tendentious use of sources he has transposed some episodes that occurred in Antioch to Jerusalem. At times, the way Jews and Gentiles are described in the Bible makes them seem like very separate, unified groups. Biblical Hermeneutics Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for professors, theologians, and those interested in exegetical analysis of biblical texts. Great topic for an MA project, where are you looking to study? Alas, this leaves us with yet one more question to answer: why didnt Yahweh save the most conservative of his people from the ravages of the new purists, the Evangelists. Best, Emanuel". The church is a living breathing organism that is growing day by day. What They Didn't Tell Me in Seminary Cultural diversity is important throughout the book of Acts, as it allowed for Jesuss followers to be able to witness to those across different cultures and those who speak different languages. 1345 Avenue of the Americas, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10105 Neil is the author of this post. Martin Luther's "Table Talk" Your email address will not be published. If the foot should Not necessarily. Prominent members were the Sadducees. I see the anointed savior concept as a denunciation of Yahweh as the Yahweh Sabaoth, its most stringent mosaic laws, and its intrinsic Jewish nationalism at the liberal, more Hellenized, end of the spectrum of these evolving sects among the Diaspora which contrasts with the more conservative view that, while relenting on the sacrificial mandates of the Deuteronomists, due to the destruction of the Temple, wish to one day rebuild Jerusalem, (more expansive, more popular, and more populous) and her Temple for the Jews, and Jews alone. There are two sides to the Jews: the Hebraic and the Hellenistic Jews. Some versions translate this as a complaint, though the Greek term implies a misdirected rather than a straight-forward protest (compare John 6:41, 43). As I read through acts and this blog post in particular I see that the early Christian community was more diverse and complex than it may seem at first glance. Sponsors Constantine, Monks and Imperial Christianity If that isnt evidence that Judaism in the Second-Temple period was diverse, I dont know what is! The month was not declared based on the counting of days, but rather based on the appearance of the new moon, according to G-ds commandment of how the months should be calculated. Sts. Some details about this action, however, come clear only upon closer scrutiny. Many of the members might have been ethnically Jewish and bi-lingual, but they identified themselves more with Greek culture and they were critical of the Jewish Temples religious establishment. Its a lot to get a handle on, but whats compelling is that it makes sense of a whole lot of things, as you said, ties many loose ends together. You should visit her web site, too http://www.margaretbarker.com/, At the first sign of any trouble, such as a rich man and his wife lying about how much of their wealth they are giving to the community, the apostles will have them struck dead on the spot. I would suggest here that Luke has intentionally arranged several stories concerning Peter and John in chapters 2-4, and several stories concerning Stephen and Philip in chapters 6-8. ", "Here I give an admittedly subjective short list, in random order, of useful, high level and regularly updated weblogs on the study of the Old Testament . Musings on biblical studies, politics, religion, ethics, human nature, tidbits from science. Why did the Greeks have a problem with a day of rest? In this case, there are a lot of things going on. Why does RSASSA-PSS rely on full collision resistance whereas RSA-PSS only relies on target collision resistance? 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