A Concise History of the Christian World Mission

A Panoramic View of Missions from Pentecost to the Present

Kane, Herbert J.

• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Year: 1978
• ISBN:
  9781441206589
• Topic: Teologia e religione
• Subtopic: Religione

This volume comprises an excellent introductory survey of Christian missions from A.D. 30 to the twentieth century.

I

Christianity in the Roman Empire: A.D. 30-500

The City of God was built at the confluence of three great civilizations, the Greek, the Roman and the Hebrew. Each contributed significantly to the progress and pattern of Christianity as it developed in the first three centuries of the Christian era.

The elements of Greek civilization are not hard to trace. They include art, architecture, literature, language, science and philosophy. We are still wondering how one small race could be so prolific in ideas, so dynamic in action, and so massive in achievement. The secret is to be sought not so much in the temper of the times as in the temperament of the Greek — his inquiring mind, his restless spirit and his zest for life.

Unlike the Egyptians, whose civilization was confined to the Nile valley, the Greeks, with their penchant for trade and travel, established colonies on the shores of the Mediterranean and the Black seas between the eighth and the sixth centuries B.C. Wherever they went they carried with them the benefits of their superior civilization.

In time the Greeks replaced the Phoenicians as the mercantile masters of the Mediterranean world. Although their voyages were not as long or lucrative as those of the Phoenicians, their influence on civilization was more powerful and certainly more permanent. The earliest ideas of scientific navigation and geography came from the Greeks. The Greek travelers, Strabo and Pausanias, are our most reliable informants when we study the topography of the Acts of the Apostles.

Seldom in history have the conquests of war contributed to the advance of civilization, but such was the case with the conquests of Alexander the Great. When the unmanageable pupil of Aristotle gave up the study of philosophy to mount the throne and ride the world, he embarked on a course of action destined to change the face of the Western world and prepare the way for the spread of the gospel.

He took up the meshes of the net of Greek civilization, which were lying in disorder on the edges of the Asiatic shore, and spread them over all the countries which he traversed. The East and the West were suddenly brought together. Separated tribes were united under a common government. New cities were built as centers of political life. New lines of communication were opened as the channels of commercial activity. The new culture penetrated the mountain ranges of Pisidia and Lycaonia. The Tigris and Euphrates became Greek rivers. The language of Athens was heard among the Jewish colonies of Babylonia.[1]

Upon the untimely death of the great conqueror, Antioch and Alexandria became the capitals of the Greek kings of Syria and Egypt respectively. Both had had a large colony of Jews from the beginning. Both were residences of Roman governors. Both were centers of Christian activity and later became patriarchates of the Eastern Church.

The Greek language, regarded by some as the richest and most delicate the world has ever seen, became the language of culture and commerce from the Persian Gulf to the Gates of Hercules. It was the mother tongue not only of Plato and Aristotle in the West, but also of Ignatius and Eusebius in the East. It was used by Paul the Christian, Philo the Jew, and Cicero the Roman. Paul and his companions never had to learn a foreign language, nor had they any need for an interpreter. The Greek language was readily understood in all parts of the empire. As early as the third century B.C. the Old Testament was translated into this language, and the Septuagint was the Bible of Jesus and the apostles. Greek, the language of philosophy, became the language of theology as well.

It was not an accident that the New Testament was written in Greek, the language which can best express the highest thoughts and worthiest feelings of the intellect and heart, and which is adapted to be the instrument of education for all nations; nor was it an accident that the composition of these books and the promulgation of the Gospel were delayed until the instruction of our Lord and the writings of His Apostles could be expressed in the dialect of Alexandria.[2]

The empire founded by Alexander and divided among his four generals did not last long. In politics integrity gave way to intrigue. Philosophy degenerated first into cynicism and later into skepticism. Social life became a round of worthless and frivolous amusements. Religion was powerless to halt the process of decay. Rome soon displaced Greece as the mistress of the Mediterranean world.

At the height of its power Rome ruled an empire comprising more than one and a quarter million square miles, that stretched from Spain to the Euphrates, from the North Sea to the Sahara Desert. It had a population of a hundred million people—Italians, Greeks, Egyptians, Germans, Celts and others. Beginning with Augustus and lasting for approximately three hundred years, this vast empire enjoyed what Pliny the Elder termed “the immense majesty of the Roman peace.” With peace came prosperity.

The Romans were men of action. They swept the pirates from the seas and on land they built the most enduring roads of antiquity, along which passed, with a minimum of danger and delay, not only the merchants and the legionnaires but also the messengers of the cross. Everywhere Roman legions kept the peace and Roman magistrates administered the law. The conquests of Rome prepared for and facilitated those of Christianity.

Rome ruled her empire with an iron hand. In matters pertaining to internal security she was exceedingly strict. She collected taxes from all the provinces and punished anyone who tried to evade the universal tribute. At the same time she gave the provinces as much autonomy as she could without jeopardizing the security of the empire. She was especially tolerant in the matter of religion. Judaism was accorded preferential treatment with the designation religio licita; and for a time the Christians were able to capitalize on their association with Judaism. Paul was a Roman citizen, and on more than one occasion he invoked his rights as a citizen to secure for the gospel the hearing it deserved. In the Acts of the Apostles Luke takes pains to point out that Christianity, in the first generation at least, consistently enjoyed the protection of the temporal power. “The cross followed the fasces, and the Roman eagles made straight the way for Christ.”[3]

More closely connected with Christianity than either the Greek or Roman civilizations was the Hebrew civilization. The dispersion of the Jewish people was the greatest single factor in preparing the world for the coming of the Messiah and the preaching of the gospel. Scattered throughout the Roman Empire, the Jews were particularly numerous in Egypt, Syria and Babylonia. In A.D. 70 Strabo reported: “It is hard to find a single place on the habitable earth that has not admitted this tribe of men, and is not possessed by it.”[4]

Wherever the Jews went they carried the knowledge and the worship of the one true God, the expectation of a coming Messiah and the Holy Scriptures in the universal Greek language. Wherever possible they organized synagogues, which became the religious and cultural centers of their communities. Attracted to the synagogues were many Gentiles — proselytes and other lesser adherents known as “God-fearing men.”

These factors were of immense help to the Christian missionaries as they traveled throughout the Roman world preaching the gospel and planting churches. Though designated “an apostle to the Gentiles,” Paul’s heart was always with his own people. In every city he made his way first to the synagogue, where he found Jews and proselytes. Only when the Jews refused his message did he turn to the Gentiles. The organization of the Christian church was patterned largely after that of the Jewish synagogue.

The Geographical Expansion

Christianity is the only truly universal religion in the world. Yet its Founder was born in a stable, lived in obscurity, and died on a wooden cross in a remote province of the Roman Empire about half-way between the time of Buddha and that of Mohammed. Although His untimely death at the age of thirty-three sent His disciples into confusion, His resurrection on the third day revived their Messianic hopes, rejuvenated their flagging spirits, and sent them out to win the world.

Their task was formidable; their chances of success, almost nil. They had no central organization, no financial resources, no influential friends, no political machine. Arrayed against them was the ecclesiastical power of the Sanhedrin, the political and military might of the Roman Empire, and the religious fanaticism of the Jews. Moreover, their Leader, whose life and teachings were to constitute their message, was unknown outside His small circle of friends. He had written no books, erected no monuments, endowed no institutions. The task looked hopeless.

The Book of Acts opens with 120 timid disciples meeting secretly in an upper room in Jerusalem for fear of their enemies. A generation later, when the Book of Acts closes, the gospel had been preached as far west as Rome; and there was a thriving Christian church in almost every city of significance in the eastern part of the empire. What began as a Jewish sect in A.D. 30 had grown into a world religion by A.D. 60. The details, all too few, are found in the Acts of the Apostles.

Acts 1:8 gives us a clue to the projected expansion of the Christian faith. Beginning at Jerusalem, it was to extend by way of Judea and Samaria to the ends of the earth. Prior to the ascension Christ gave the apostles two commands: to go into all the world and preach the gospel; and to tarry in Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high.

After a ten-day waiting period, spent in prayer and fasting, the promised Holy Spirit came. This historic event marked the beginning of the Christian church and the inauguration of the missionary movement, for in those days the church was mission.

There was no clean break with Judaism. Regarded as a reform movement by its friends and as a heretical sect by its enemies, Christianity remained an integral part of Judaism. It took many years to develop its own theology, chart its own course, and project its own image.

Though commanded to go into all the world and disciple all nations, the disciples showed a distinct preference for Jerusalem, where they continued their association with the temple, participating in its prayers and supporting its services. Much of their teaching was done there. Later they extended their ministry to over four hundred synagogues in Jerusalem. Their message was distinctly Jewish in flavor. It centered around a suffering Messiah, called for repentance, and promised forgiveness and restoration. The church that emerged was more Jewish than Christian. A generation after Pentecost its members were still frequenting the temple, keeping the Mosaic Law, taking vows and offering sacrifices (Acts 21:20-24). The church in Jerusalem never managed to throw off the swaddling clothes of Judaism. With the destruction of the city in A.D. 70 the church there ceased to exist. This was not an unmitigated tragedy, for had Jerusalem continued to be the center of Christian worship Christianity might never have become a world religion. With the destruction of Jerusalem the church was free to become what its Founder intended it to be — spiritual and not temporal, universal and not provincial. Otherwise, Jerusalem might have become the Mecca of the Christian world, and the Jordan River might have become to Christians what the Ganges River is to Hindus.

Peter was the dominant figure among the twelve apostles. Later other leaders emerged. Two of them, Stephen and Philip, stood out from the rest. Both had a very effective ministry, Stephen in the synagogues of Jerusalem and Philip in the city of Samaria. The first contact that Saul of Tarsus had with Christianity doubtless took place in the synagogue of the Cilicians, where he encountered the irresistible wisdom of Stephen (Acts 6:9).

The martyrdom of Stephen and the ensuing persecution was a blow to the infant church; but it became a blessing for it resulted in a further extension of the Christian gospel. Those who were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the Word. Some traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, where they preached the gospel to the Gentiles, for the first time.

Further impetus was given to the preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles by two events of great significance: the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, who became the apostle to the Gentiles; and Peter’s experience in preaching the gospel to Cornelius. That Luke attached great importance to these two events is seen from the fact that the former is recorded three times and the latter twice in the Acts of the Apostles.

Under the teaching of Barnabas and Paul the church in Antioch increased in strength and numbers until it rivalled, and later replaced, Jerusalem as the mother church of Christendom.

From its founding by Seleucus I in 300 B.C. Antioch had been a cosmopolitan city whose sophisticated inhabitants included Macedonians, Greeks and local Syrians, and a large colony of Jews. By the time of Christ it had become one of the three most important cities of the empire. Strategically located on the main highway to the east, it was a natural meeting place of East and West. Greek culture and Roman administration combined to make Antioch an ideal center for the reception of the gospel. Protected by a degree of public order not possible in a fanatical city like Jerusalem, the church in Antioch grew rapidly in size and importance. In fact, Antioch was one of the few cities in the empire in which the preaching of the gospel did not precipitate a communal riot. It was there that the disciples were first called Christians.

Paul made Antioch his headquarters during the heydey of his missionary career. His three missionary journeys, which lasted less than fifteen years, took him into four populous provinces of the empire: Galatia and Asia in Asia, and Macedonia and Achaia in Europe. Following the great Roman roads, he planted churches in all the important cities along the way. By the end of his third journey he could report “. . . that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ” (Rom. 15:19). “Having no more place in these parts,” he set his sights on Spain. On his way he proposed to visit Rome to make that city his base for evangelizing the western half of the empire. He reached Rome in due time, but his missionary days were over.

Paul, of course, was not the only missionary of those days. There must have been scores of others, whose names have been lost to history. We know that Christian laymen, many of them displaced persons, carried the good news of the gospel wherever they went. Casual references are made to churches in Judea, Galilee, and Samaria (Acts 9:31), Syria and Cilicia (Acts 15:23), Pontus, Cappadocia, and Bithynia (I Pet. 1:1). When and by whom were they founded? It would be interesting to know. We learn from the second chapter of Acts that Jews and proselytes from fifteen different regions of the empire were present in Jerusalem at Pentecost and heard Peter and his colleagues preach the gospel. Doubtless many of them became converts to the Christian faith and returned home to preach Christ in the synagogues and establish Christian churches in their homes.

One thing is certain; the Acts of the Apostles does not tell the whole story. There are hints in Paul’s epistles that the gospel had a much wider proclamation than that described by Luke. He states that the gospel had been “preached to every creature which is under heaven” (Col. 1:23); that the faith of the Roman church was “spoken of throughout the whole world” (Rom. 1:8); that the faith of the Thessalonian believers “. . . has gone forth everywhere . . .” (I Thess. 1:8, RSV).

Coming to the second and third centuries we find that information regarding the expansion of the Christian church is even more meager. We read of large and influential churches in Alexandria, Carthage and Edessa; but we do not know when or by whom they were established. Here again there are wide gaps in our knowledge. It would seem that Christianity continued to spread along the main roads and rivers of the empire: eastward by way of Damascus and Edessa into Mesopotamia; southward through Bostra and Petra into Arabia; westward through Alexandria and Carthage into North Africa; and northward through Antioch into Armenia, Pontus, and Bithynia. Later still it reached Spain, Gaul, and Britain before crossing the borders of the empire into more remote parts such as Ireland, Ethiopia, and China.

The silence of the New Testament regarding the entrance of the gospel into Egypt in the apostolic era is as puzzling as it is tantalizing. That the gospel went north from Jerusalem to Antioch without going south to Alexandria is unthinkable, especially when communications between the two cities were constant and convenient. The fact remains, however, that we know nothing of the origin of the church in Egypt except that tradition ascribes it to the work of John Mark.

We do know that Christians were reported in Alexandria in the reign of Hadrian (c. 125) and that by the end of the century there was a strong church there. Also in Alexandria there was a famous catechetical school, founded about 180 by Pantaenus, who later took the gospel to India. Pantaenus was followed by Clement, and Clement by the brilliant Origen. “These individuals can be credited with bringing Egyptian Christianity into the mainstream of the Christian tradition.”[5]

West of Egypt was Cyrene, mentioned four times in the New Testament. If Cyrenians took the gospel to Antioch (Acts 11:19), it is safe to assume that they shared the good news with their own people; but of this we have no record. From Synesius we learn that by the end of the fourth century there were half a dozen bishoprics there.

Traveling west we come to Carthage, the center of Roman civilization in North Africa at that time. Christianity may have reached Carthage across the Mediterranean from Rome or Ephesus, or it may have entered from Egypt. In and around the city were vigorous Christian churches with an extensive Latin literature, including the first Latin translation of the New Testament. By the close of the second century the Christian community had grown so large that the doughty Tertullian could threaten the Roman magistrate with rebellion unless he desisted from persecuting the Christians. Animated by the zeal of Tertullian, directed by the abilities of Cyprian, and adorned by the eloquence of Lactantius, the Christian community could...