This quote is familiar and the message even more so. Indeed, missionary work is one of the most
fundamental aspects of the restored Gospel. Consider
this: nearly all of the revelations in the Doctrine & Covenants
that were received before the
founding of The Church of Jesus Christ on April 6, 1830,
reference in some way missionary work or the spreading
forth of God’s gospel kingdom. That special urgency to share the knowledge
of the truth with all who have ears to hear and hearts
to obey has only become stronger across the years. Hence,
we have a missionary mindset and a missionary-oriented
church. Thus it is nearly impossible to imagine keeping
the precious gift of the gospel all to ourselves.
However, it is this type of mindset that we must understand
if we are to fully appreciate the enormous transformation
that occurred in the mindset of the first Christians
of the Ancient Church as they shifted from a Jewish audience
to a worldwide (Gentile) audience for the message of
salvation. This
monumental shift of focus is documented for us in Acts
10-15. Now we
must not misunderstand. This
is not to suggest that the first Christians were either
selfish or insular. Rather,
and in comparison to our present day missionary mindset,
they originally had a restricted understanding of what
it meant to spread the Gospel kingdom across the earth. Christ
himself revealed this fact to the Nephites when he visited
them on the American continent. When he spoke of gathering all of his sheep
into one fold, Christ identified the Nephites as the “other
sheep” and then he explained how the Jews had misunderstood
two things. First, they assumed that the “other sheep” referred to the Gentiles
and second, they failed to recognize that the Gentiles
would be converted through their preaching.
21 Verily I say unto you, that ye
are they of whom I said: Other sheep I have which are
not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall
hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. 22 And
they [the Jews] understood me not, for they supposed
it had been the Gentiles; for they understood not that
the Gentiles should
be converted through their preaching. (3 Nephi 15:21-22)
Now, let us talk for a moment about the purpose of this article – and
there are several. First,
we will take a walk through the ancient past to learn
of “identity issues” among the Jews. This
will help us to understand some of the reasons why the
first Christians, including the Twelve Apostles, did
not immediately consider taking the gospel to the Gentiles. It will also give us a context for understanding
some of the religious controversies that shaped Christianity
in its first decades. Next,
we will review the storyline and main ideas from Acts
10-15 to highlight the process of revelation (change)
that occurred in the early Church with regards to the
Gentiles and see how identity questions continued to
be a pressing concern upon the young Church of ancient
times. Finally,
we will read several scriptures which illumine the doctrine
that “God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34).
Questions
of Identity Among the Jews
The Jewish people have perpetually been dealing with questions
of identity: “What is a Jew? What
does it mean to be a Jew?” The
answers have been legion, yet unity is still a fleeting
desire. How does this perpetual question among the
Jews over identity have anything to do with preaching
the gospel to the Gentiles? The
short answer is that due to Jewish identity issues, the
first Christians, including the Twelve Apostles, did
not think to take the Gospel to the Gentiles. It was only when revelation offered additional light and knowledge
that old traditions were put aside and the Church blossomed
among the Gentiles.
Now, there are three main ways that Jewish identity has been
established across the centuries: (1) genealogy, (2)
belief and ritual, and (3) circumcision. These
aspects of identity have been emphasized or deemphasized
in a variety of ways depending upon need and circumstance
over the years, always producing new and unique manifestations
of Judaism. Hence,
no strand of Judaism at any time or in any context is
ever exactly like
any other strand of Judaism. Even
a perpetual river is constantly different.
Before we turn to our texts in Acts 10-15, let’s look at a
few examples of Jewish identity crises.
When the Jews returned to Jerusalem from Babylon circa 520
BC, genealogy was one of the most important characteristics
for establishing identity. This
is manifested in the writings both of Ezra and Nehemiah. For
example, Ezra 2 is a detailed genealogical account of
the returning Jewish captives. At
first glance we may yawn with disinterest to read such
a genealogical report. However, with some consideration we can discern Ezra’s purpose
in recording these crucial details. When
the Jews returned to Jerusalem, they had received specific
religious and political privileges from their liberator,
Cyrus the Persian emperor, and these privileges were
contingent on Jewish identity. As
the Jews began to enjoy these privileges, the neighboring
Samaritans, who did not have such religious and political
favors, began claiming that they were also true Jews. Thus
in order to secure their own privileges, it was necessary
for the returning Jews to prove their identity by means
of their Jewish genealogy, something that the Samaritans
could not do. Belief
alone would not have been sufficient for the Jews to
establish identity, for anyone can profess belief. At
this same time genealogy was also essential in determining
which priestly families had right to the priesthood offices. Thus
we note in Ezra 2:61-62 that several Jewish priestly
families who could not produce the proper genealogical
records were denied access to priesthood offices, while
those who could prove their priestly genealogy were granted
their station and right to the priesthood.
This foregoing example highlights that when the identity crisis
was between Jews and non-Jews who claimed to be Jews,
the arguments focused on establishing Jewishness through
genealogy. But when the identity issues were internecine, or rather, when
Jews argued with Jews over what it meant to be a Jew,
belief and ritual became the main focus for establishing
identity. These
arguments have been the most heated, the most prolonged
and the most diverse, creating numerous versions of Judaism
and Jewish identity, so much so that even during the
time of Jesus Christ, Judaism was fractured into competing
sects just like Christianity is today.[3] Usually we fail to recognize this breathtaking
diversity of belief and practice among the ancient Jews,
partly because among the numerous sects of Judaism that
did exist at the time of Christ, only a small number
actually survived past the 1st century AD. In
fact, the two main forms of Judaism that did survive
over the centuries were Christianity and Pharisaic Judaism,
or more commonly known today as Rabbinic Judaism. When we see early Christianity in its proper
context as another ancient sect of Judaism, similar to
how Mormonism is another “brand” of Christianity, we
begin to understand some of the boiling controversies
that embroiled the early Church. In
fact we will see later in our texts, especially in Acts
15, that the controversy over circumcision was very much
an identity issue among various Jewish groups (Christian
Jews vs. Pharisaic Jews) arguing over what constituted
true Jewishness (i.e. what constituted following God’s
true path).
In this regard let us return to the centuries prior to Christianity
to understand how the debate over circumcision became
such a key identity issue among the Jews. When
the Greek armies conquered the Mediterranean and Mesopotamian
world circa 320 BC, Greek culture soon became a dominate,
if not highly appealing, way to live life. The
Jews residing in Jerusalem and throughout Palestine had
mixed reactions to this new culture.[4] Some tried to keep to ancestral ways, while
others, for various reasons (such as political and material
opportunities) saw the advantages of adopting Greek culture. One
of the standard institutions of Greek culture was the
gymnasium and it became for the Jews a center of debate
over identity. Why? Well,
Greeks valued the power and beauty of the body and so
the gymnasium was the place where one would exercise
and display the body naked. By
the way, the Greek word gymnos, from which the word gymnasium
derives, means naked. Well,
the Greeks did not practice circumcision; the Jews did. The
difference was manifest at the gymnasium. Thus, those Jews who wanted to look like the Greeks at the gymnasium
stopped practicing circumcision. Other
Jews, who did not care for the intrusions of foreign
Greek culture, strongly believed that rejecting circumcision
was a total betrayal of the covenants God had made to
the Jews, covenants which had been signed in the flesh
since the days of Abraham. Eventually,
this debate solidified the idea among many Jews that
only those who have been marked in the flesh through
circumcision were the true inheritors of the blessings
and promises of God. With
this in mind we can now begin to understand why some
of the Jewish Christians were so upset at the thought
of including Gentiles into the covenants and promises
of the Lord without also requiring that these Gentiles
wear the sign of the covenant—circumcision (see especially
Acts 15). Yet, what we will see is that baptism and the reception of the
Holy Ghost became the new mark of the covenant between
man and God.
One final example of how belief and ritual defined Jewishness,
and which informs our understanding of Acts 10-15, is
the debate over cleanliness according to the Law of Moses. The Pharisaic Jews, progenitors of Rabbinic Judaism, strongly believed
that their interpretation of cleanliness was most acceptable
to God, and so they exerted much effort to persuade all
Jews to live according to their interpretation. In
dealing with the idea of separating clean from the unclean
they interpreted that this meant that Jews and non-Jews
should not eat together. Originally,
this was probably a practical consideration since foreigners
may eat foods that are unclean and, if the table is shared,
it would pollute the ritually clean food of the Jews,
thus rendering the Jews incapable of performing the required
sacred duties of worship prescribed in the Holy Scriptures. Over
the years as the Jews learned to live under Greek and
then Roman rule, many tried to maintain the ritual cleanliness
of their food by not eating with the Gentiles (i.e. foreigners). And
thus as time went on many of the Jews did not think it
abnormal that they did not share table fellowship with
foreigners.[5] This same religious feeling also informed
the Jewish attitude of not sharing the Gospel with Gentiles. If we understand the Gospel brotherhood as
a family sitting down to share a pure meal together we
can begin to understand why the Jews did not readily
think to invite “unclean” guests to the banquet. We will
see in Acts that early members of the Church had this
idea about the Gentiles, even to the point that they
did not consider the possibility of sharing the gospel
with the Gentiles until additional light and knowledge
was received through revelation.
With this religious and cultural background in our minds informed
by the Jewish identity questions, let us now learn of
the work of God unto all His children as expressed in
Acts 10-15.
Revelation
in the Ancient Church—Acts 10
Acts 10 describes for us the manner and circumstances in which
Peter’s heart was changed concerning taking the gospel
to the Gentiles. One
day while residing in Joppa, a port city on the Mediterranean
Sea, Peter went to his rooftop to pray. As
he prayed he became hungry. Then a symbolic vision opened to him. He saw a vessel full of all types of animals[6] descend
from heaven accompanied by a command, “Rise, Peter; kill,
and eat.” However,
Peter resisted. Why? As
a Jew of his time he had been raised to believe that
ritual purity was of great importance, so eating ritually
unclean animals was unacceptable. And
so influenced by his religious upbringing, Peter resisted
transgressing the boundaries he had known throughout
his life. Yet
the vision from heaven persisted, three times offering
the animals as food to Peter. And each time that he resisted a voice from
heaven persuaded Peter to see God’s work in a new light: “What
God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.”
Soon after the vision passed from him Peter heard a knock
at the door. Waiting
outside were messengers from a Gentile named Cornelius,
who just several days before had received an angelic
visit encouraging him to hear Peter preach. So Cornelius sent his servants to invite Peter
to come and preach to him. Realizing
that the animals of his vision were symbols of the Gentiles
pronounced clean by God, Peter heartily agreed to visit
Cornelius. He traveled from Joppa to the thoroughly gentile
city of Caesarea to share the Gospel message with Cornelius,
his household and friends. It
was at the home of Cornelius that Peter spoke the truth
that only the day before he had learned for himself, “Of
a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons” (Acts
10:34). Peter
had learned that what he had previously understood to
be common and unclean (i.e. being a Gentile) was in reality,
and by the voice of God, clean. Even though he had been taught throughout
his life to refrain from sitting at the same table with
that which was unclean (i.e. Gentiles), suddenly new
light showered upon his heart and mind and caused him
to recognize that all of God’s children were deserving
of hearing the Good News. So
the gospel message began to spread out among the Gentiles
from that time forward, and the Jewish converts to Christianity
marveled at the outpouring of the Holy Ghost which fell
upon the new Gentile converts exclaiming, “Can any man
forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which
have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?” (Acts 10:47).
Revelation,
Change and Growth—Acts 11
Even though Peter received a powerful revelation to extend
the blessings of the gospel to all worthy Gentiles, there
were yet many Jewish Christians in Jerusalem that needed
to hear the new revelation, receive a witness of its
truth, and open their hearts to change—changing their
minds, changing their behaviors, and changing their attitudes. It is interesting to note, in this light,
that the Greek word used throughout the New Testament
for “repentance” literally means “to have a change of
mind.” Change,
however, is not often an easy undertaking and is usually
met with resistance.
When Peter arrived in Jerusalem to report on his preaching
to the Gentiles, he was met with much resistance from
those whom Luke labels “they of the circumcision” (i.e.
Jewish converts to Christianity who likely wished to
maintain circumcision as a feature of identity). What is interesting is that this group showed
the same types of resistance to interacting with the
Gentiles as did Peter—the Jewish fear of mingling clean
with unclean. They accused Peter saying, “Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised,
and didst eat with them” (Acts 11:3). Peter
well understood their concern and resistance; he had
experienced it himself just a few days before. Instead
of rebuking their antagonism or criticizing their mindset
before they had the benefit of new light and knowledge,
he shared his personal testimony of revelation and change. When
he was finished with his witness of new revelation, “they
held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath
God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life” (Acts
11:18). They
too were touched by this revelation, which brought about
a change of mind and a change of heart. When
the Jewish Christians at Jerusalem recognized that this
was a revelation from God, they ultimately did receive
it with rejoicing even though at first they were not
warm to the idea and they resisted the challenge to tradition.
The rest of Acts 11 covers at least a year of missionary activity
among the Gentiles after the revelation was received
to grant the blessings of the gospel to all worthy Gentiles. During that time the work spread among many of the Greeks living
in the Roman Empire, especially in the large and busy
commercial city of Antioch. It
was in Antioch that Paul began and ended many of his
missionary travels and it was from the converts in Antioch
that Jewish Christians received food and aid during a
famine in Jerusalem (see Acts. 11:29).[7]
Growth and
Persecution—Acts 12
With any new movement, particularly one that is growing and
successful, resistance will mount and persecution will
follow. We have seen it with the early days of the
Restored Church and it certainly occurred among the first
Christians. Just as Joseph Smith was falsely incarcerated
and liberated from time to time, so too in the ancient
Church, Peter, the leader of the early saints, was falsely
accused, jailed and then miraculously released by an
angel. Just as
it was anciently, so it is today. There
will always be those who oppose the works of righteousness. Yet the Lord has declared, “Remember, remember
that it is not the work of God that
is frustrated, but the work of men” (D&C 3:3). Thus
God will continue to frustrate the work of men as they
attempt to kick against the pricks and frustrate the
work of God.
Before we move onto the next chapter we should note that the
patterns of restoration that occurred in ancient days
among the Christians, found in Acts 10-12, have been
repeated in this last dispensation. When a restoration occurs so too do visions,
persecutions, conversions, Pentecostal outpourings of
the Spirit, manifestations of the gifts of the Spirit,
preaching of the Gospel, revelation and mighty acts of
charity and consecration.
Missionary
Work Throughout the World—Acts 13 & 14
Even though the Church had receive the revelation that all
worthy Gentiles could be admitted into the Gospel net,
still missionary labors were most fruitful when they
began in areas with established Jewish communities. And
this is what we find attested in the Book of Acts. Let
us take a moment to understand this phenomenon.
Beginning around 600 BC and continuing even until our present
day, and mostly due to political pressures or economic
or lifestyle advantages, the Jews have been establishing
communities in diverse locations.[8] With the rise of the Greek-ruled states circa
300 BC and then the rise of the Roman Empire throughout
the Middle East circa 70 BC, this process was magnified
as Jews were incorporated into an ever-expanding and
pluralistic society. Jewish
communities and settlements blossomed and thrived all
over the ancient world from North Africa to Egypt and
the Arabian Peninsula, to the fertile lands of the Mesopotamian
plain, throughout Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) and
throughout the lands and islands of Greece, Italy, Gaul
(modern day France) and Spain. Thus
the brotherhood of Judaism was a worldwide phenomenon,
which facilitated fraternity and missionary work in many
areas. So, when
Christian missionaries would set forth to share the message
of the Gospel in new cities and lands, they would often
begin among the Jewish communities, preaching first in
their synagogues. This
is akin to what many of the early Mormon missionaries
did when they spread the message abroad. They
went first to their family, friends and religious associates,
often meeting in churches and religious halls to share
the message of the Restored Gospel. And thus did the ancient Christian missionaries. They
first shared their message among their Jewish friends
at the various synagogues through the Mediterranean world. Once
the message began to be established in these communities
inroads were also made among the Gentile inhabitants
of those same areas.
What we have in Acts 13 is an instance of this type of missionary
work. Paul and
Barnabas first began to preach the Gospel message in
synagogues in various locations. But
resistance followed. Like
the missionaries in the Book of Mormon who had to contend
with false prophets and wily lawyers, Paul and Barnabas
called down the powers of heaven to strike a false prophet
with blindness that he might no longer impede the work
of the Lord. It is a fruitful study to compare this story
in Acts 13:4-13 with similar missionary stories found
in the Book of Mormon such as Jacob 7, Alma 11, and Alma
30.
Acts 13 is also a rich record for it helps us to understand
the preaching techniques used by early Christian missionaries,
such as Paul, to encourage people to follow the path
of Christ. For
example, in Acts 13 Paul preaches the Gospel message
to fellow Jews in a Synagogue of Asia Minor. He
crafts his message by recounting the sacred history of
Israel from the time of Egyptian bondage down to his
present day, explaining how Christ is the fulfillment
of the promises and prophecies found throughout the Old
Testament. A
similar technique is found throughout the Book of Mormon. One
powerful example is that of Nephi’s exhortations to his
brothers (1 Nephi 17:23-55). Indeed,
the mighty promise of the Book of Mormon found in Moroni
10:3-5 is based on this technique as well, though there
Moroni does not have the space to review the sacred history. Instead
he encourages the reader to remember sacred history and
that by so doing his heart will be drawn to dwell upon
the great goodness of God.
We return again to the Gospel message spreading among the
Gentiles. As
many flocked to the truth which Paul preached some of
the Jews grew jealous over the popularity of Paul’s message. So
these Jews resisted him and persuaded the influential
and wealthy individuals of the city to expel the Christian
missionaries. Not
dissuaded, the work continued in other cities among the
Gentiles who received the message with gladness. The
Jewish rejection and the Gentile acceptance of the Gospel
may be compared to what occurred in the Nephite civilization
when the Lamanites finally had the gospel preached to
them. They received
it with open hearts while the Nephites rejected the call
to repentance.
As we move to Acts 14 we find a sobering account of persecution
against Paul and his associates to the point that Jews
in Antioch and Iconium stoned Paul. Though
left for dead, he was revived and continued on in his
missionary efforts as before. In
this regard, Paul was like Timothy, the brother of Nephi,
who not many years before Christ’s visit to the Americas
was stoned to death only to later be miraculously revived
by Nephi.
Acts 15
Earlier in this article we discussed some of the reasons why
circumcision was such a decisive factor for Jewish identity. In this chapter we can see this sharp debate
in full relief and this led to quite a controversy in
the early Christian church. Apparently
some of the Jewish converts to Christianity had gone
among the Gentiles preaching that they needed circumcision,
the ancient mark of the covenant, to be saved. Paul, Barnabas and other Church leaders recognized
this erroneous and damning idea; they knew that Christ
had set mankind free from the outward performances of
the law through faith on the name of Jesus Christ and
that this faith was to be manifested through repentance,
baptism, reception of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to
the end. So at a general conference of the church at
Jerusalem, the brethren discussed the matter and came
to a common consensus. In
unity, the brethren sent forth an epistle to the Gentile
churches clarifying that circumcision and the Law of
Moses were not binding requirements upon converts to
Christianity. In fact, it is interesting to note that the
Law of Moses with its minutia and exceedingly detailed
laws was replaced for all followers of Christ, Jew and
Gentile alike, with prescriptions as simple and short
as the Noahide laws (see Genesis 9:1-7).[9] The
brethren wrote in their reasoned epistle thus (see especially
verse 29 for the list of “laws” Christians should live):
23 The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the
brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia: 24 Forasmuch
as we have heard,
that certain which went out from us have troubled you with
words, subverting your souls,
saying, Ye must be
circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we
gave no such commandment: 25 It
seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 We
have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth.
28 For it seemed good to
the Holy Ghost,
and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; 29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from
things strangled, and from
fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well. (Acts
15:23-29)
God Is No
Respecter of Persons
It is rewarding to learn of the very real and human challenges
that the early Church faced, for through these experiences
they left recorded for us a most powerful doctrinal truth
that God is no respecter of persons. This
doctrine, however, is not original to the early Christian
church, nor has the Lord failed to repeat this message
in succeeding generations. We
will end our study today by citing several scriptural
passages in chronological order that enlarge our understanding
of this wholesome doctrine.
1 Nephi
17:35
Behold, the Lord esteemeth all flesh in one; he that is righteous
is favored of God.
Alma 26:37
Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people,
whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his
people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth.
Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and
I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen.
Acts 15:7-11
7 Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe. 8 And God, which knoweth the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he
did unto us; 9 And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by
faith. 10 Now therefore why tempt
ye God,
to put a yoke upon the
neck of the disciples,
which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? 11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we
shall be saved, even as they.
Acts 17:26
[God] hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation.
Romans 2:10-11
10 Glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: 11 For there is no respect of persons with God.
Romans 10:12-13
11 For the scripture saith,
Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 12 For there is no difference between the
Jew and the Greek:
for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that
call upon him. 13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
D&C
1:31-35
31 I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of
allowance; 32 Nevertheless,
he that repents and does the commandments of the Lord
shall be forgiven; 33 And
he that repents not, from him shall be taken even the
light which he has received; for my Spirit shall not
always strive with man, saith the Lord of Hosts. 34 And
again, verily I say unto you, O inhabitants of the earth:
I the Lord am willing to make these things known unto
all flesh; 35 For I am no respecter of persons…
May we follow in the steps of the Lord, esteeming all flesh
in one as we carry the message and blessings of the Gospel
throughout the world.
