Bruce Milne in his Dynamic Diversity believes that the notion of “New Humanity” as depicted in Ephesians 2 calls for a change in the local church model which is fitting with the realization that believers, whatever their ethnic or cultural background or origin are, might join in what he called “New Humanity” local churches which is a foretaste of the Universal Church . But are there sufficient evidences of this model from the early churches?
From Luke’s account, it is inconclusive whether early house church (Act 2:46, 5:42, 12:12) which is the basic ecclesiastical unit for both preaching and teaching, is homogenous or mixed, even though they did exhibit unity as they “had everything in common” (Act 2:44) and “one heart and mind” (Act 4:32). The incident of Hellenistic Jews complaint against Hebraic Jews that their widows were overlooked in the daily distribution of food (Act 6:1) following which seven men were chosen from this group (Acts 6:2-6) may however indicate the non-homogeneous nature of the early Jerusalem church. Congregations subsequently emerged in Palestine toward end of the first century also showed cultural diversity, comprising of Hellenist Jews, Samaritan and other Gentiles. Padilla notes that in the early church, the gospel was almost always first preached to both Jews and ‘God fearing’ Gentiles together in the …show more content…
Even when the Roman church was ethnically diverse and divided, Paul’s letter to the Romans still insisted that Jews and Gentiles ought to come together as they had no difference in Christ, and should respect each other’s customs regarding food and holy days. All of the New Testament evidences suggest that apostolic practice was the formation of churches that would live out the unity of the new
From Luke’s account, it is inconclusive whether early house church (Act 2:46, 5:42, 12:12) which is the basic ecclesiastical unit for both preaching and teaching, is homogenous or mixed, even though they did exhibit unity as they “had everything in common” (Act 2:44) and “one heart and mind” (Act 4:32). The incident of Hellenistic Jews complaint against Hebraic Jews that their widows were overlooked in the daily distribution of food (Act 6:1) following which seven men were chosen from this group (Acts 6:2-6) may however indicate the non-homogeneous nature of the early Jerusalem church. Congregations subsequently emerged in Palestine toward end of the first century also showed cultural diversity, comprising of Hellenist Jews, Samaritan and other Gentiles. Padilla notes that in the early church, the gospel was almost always first preached to both Jews and ‘God fearing’ Gentiles together in the …show more content…
Even when the Roman church was ethnically diverse and divided, Paul’s letter to the Romans still insisted that Jews and Gentiles ought to come together as they had no difference in Christ, and should respect each other’s customs regarding food and holy days. All of the New Testament evidences suggest that apostolic practice was the formation of churches that would live out the unity of the new