quickly, assuming different forms in a variety of social settings. But the fact
remains that no significant community is attested for Galilee in the early
decades. After Jesus’ death and resurrection, the principal Galilean disci-
ples either remained in or relocated to Jerusalem, which became the effec-
tive center of the movement. The city’s status as such receives independent
confirmation from the letters of Paul, whose relations with the Jerusalem
congregation were often tense but who shows no awareness of any other
major community in Palestine. There were many locales but only one true
center.
For several decades, the ethos of the Jerusalem community remained
Jewish. According to Acts, its members sacrificed in the Temple and exper-
imented with a communal sharing of goods now seen to resemble the or-
ganizational life of the Qumran sectarians (Acts 2:44-45; 4:32-35; cf. 1QS
6:19-20, 22). They also attracted priests and Pharisees to their ranks, and
three decades later were still “all zealous for the law” (Acts 21:20). Until the
First Jewish Revolt disbanded the community, it practiced traditional
forms of Jewish piety such as fasting, almsgiving, Torah study, and obser-
vance of holy days.
One thing that did distinguish the early Jesus movement from other
forms of Second Temple Judaism was its strong missionary impulse. Ini-
tially, it evangelized other Jews and not Gentiles, but as it extended its out-
reach into urban areas of Palestine and neighboring regions, contact with
Gentiles became inevitable and even desirable. According to Acts, the im-
petus for expansion beyond Jerusalem came as an unforeseen but provi-
dential consequence of the stoning of Stephen, a leader of the movement’s
Hellenist wing comprised of Greek-speaking Jews from the Diaspora who
were critical of the Temple (Acts 6:8–8:1a). After his martyrdom, Stephen’s
fellow Hellenists were driven from the city, taking their message about Je-
sus with them into wider Judea and Samaria, to Phoenicia, and as far as
Cyprus and Syrian Antioch (Acts 8:1b–11:27). Several early evangelists and
apostles in the movement were Diaspora Jews. Acts names Philip, Barna-
bas (from Cyprus), Paul (Tarsus), Prisca and her husband Aquila (Pontus),
and Apollos (Alexandria). All but Philip are mentioned in Paul’s letters as
well. In addition, Acts refers to several unnamed men from Cyprus and
Cyrene as the first to proclaim the new message to Gentiles in Antioch.
An important focus of missionary effort centered on Jewish syna-
gogues in cities of the Mediterranean Diaspora, whose Gentile attendees
and benefactors were open to embracing the new, multiethnic variety of
Judaism on offer. Diaspora synagogues supplied the Jesus movement not399Early Judaism and Early ChristianityEERDMANS -- Early Judaism (Collins and Harlow) final text
Tuesday, October 09, 2012 12:04:17 PM