From Jesus to Christ: The First Christians Part II is about what happened after the crucifixion of Jesus and the beginning of the Jesus movement. The beginning of the Jesus movement focused largely on spreading what their message was anywhere they could. One of the major leaders of the Jesus movement was the Apostle Paul. Several issues were raised in this film about the beginnings of the Jesus movement. Some of these issues were about spreading the message of Jesus, whether or not one had to be a Jew to be a follower of Jesus, the death of Jesus and the expectations of the coming of the kingdom of God, tension between Jews and Rome, and the revolt of the Jews. Throughout this film, lots of strong points were made. There were some made that I even found illuminating. However, there was also an assumption made that I did not agree with and there was also a conclusion that made me come up with new questions.
The mission of early Christians to spread the message of Jesus to Gentiles was not an easy one. In order to complete this task in an effective and efficient manner, several different groups of Christians from many different places needed to play a role in spreading the message to Gentiles. One way in which the difficulty of this task was handled was by having no barrier between the Jews and Gentiles. For example, the Jewish synagogues were open to Gentiles. Another way was through the efforts of the Apostle Paul; Paul played a huge role in the Jesus movement. Paul worked together with churches and also sent his helpers and coworkers in order to spread the message of Jesus. Because of his efforts in Greek cities, the message of Jesus was spread in a much more effective and efficient manner.
Another issue apart from spreading the message of Jesus during the Jesus movement was the issue of whether or not one had to be a Jew in order to be a follower of Jesus. Many people attempted to become a Jew when they were interested in the Jesus movement. But becoming a Jew was not easy due to several Jewish laws that one had to conform to if they became Jews such as dietary laws and if male, being circumcised. This issue was attempted to be dealt with by Paul so then more Gentiles could join the Jesus movement. He argued that instead of going through circumcision, you could simply be baptized. He even himself went to Jerusalem to meet with some church leaders and reach an agreement stating that Paul can convert Gentiles without them having to be circumcised. Because of Paul’s efforts, there were more Gentiles who could more easily join the Jesus movement.
After the crucifixion of Jesus issues arose about his death and what it meant. The Jesus movement was weakened when Jesus had been executed since people were afraid to be seen as accomplices of a criminal that Rome had executed. The Jesus movement was also now full of questions such as what is there to do now since the one whom they had several expectations of, Jesus, had been crucified. And also, how come now that the Messiah had died, why hadn’t the Kingdom of God arrived soon. The followers of Jesus were expecting the Messiah to come back and that along with his return, the arrival of the Kingdom of God would also come. The followers of Jesus grew weary when time kept passing yet nothing happened.
The major issue covered in this film that challenged the Jesus movement the most was the tension between Jews and Rome that ultimately led to the revolt of the Jews. There were several issues that the Jews had that lead to tension. In Jerusalem, there was a lot of political issues such as banditry and corruption. In Judea, because of apocalyptic expectation, there was political turmoil occurring; there was Jewish resistance against Roman rule occurring on a daily basis. Then in the year 66 CE, Jewish resistance finally erupted in open conflict against Roman rule; the first Jewish revolt began. Several people in the First Revolt were under the impression that it was the apocalyptic event and that therefore it was a new Kingdom arriving. This revolt was fought to an extreme by the Romans; they slaughtered everyone they encountered and even burned houses down. The Romans eventually even set the temple on fire. This Jewish revolt ended in the Jews treasured temple being destroyed and their sacred city of Jerusalem in horrible condition after years of siege and conflict. This issue of the revolt of the Jews challenged the Jesus movement because the end result ultimately led in the beginning of the split of groups in the Jesus movement since each group had to reevaluate their traditions and actions due to the failure of the First Revolt.
In this film, there were points made by figures that I found illuminating. One of those points was made by Professor Elaine Pagels. She makes the point that Gentiles most likely joined the Jesus movement in the first place because they were interested in regeneration, salvation, and eternal life as well. Not only that but they are also attracted to the rituals of the movement and the communities. I originally believed that the Gentiles joined the movement because they were interested in believing in something unique and wanted to be a part of something special that they could play a role in developing. Another point made that I found illuminating was made by Professor Michael White. He states that the correct vocabulary to use when it came to the movement was the Jesus movement and not really as Christianity. I found this point illuminating because I had been thinking of the Jesus movement as Christianity, but it would be wrong to do that because during the Jesus movement, Christianity had not developed into the institutional religion that we know right now; it was much different back then and so it would be incorrect to categorize the undeveloped movement as a developed, concrete institutional religion.
Another illuminating point that was made in the film was about women and their role in Christianity. Professor Elizabeth A. Clark said that the houses in which the early Christians congregated were owned by women. She then continued to say that them being the owners of said homes most likely allowed them to obtain some power and therefore roles in the Christian church. I found this really illuminating and interesting. I at first was surprised that women were the homeowners because I was under the impression that it was difficult for women to be homeowners. This point was illuminating because in my opinion, women back then did not play much of a role in the development of religion, so I did not think that they were a part of the reason as to why Christianity was successful or that they actually had any power/role when it came to the church.
An assumption made in the film was difficult to agree with. Professor Wayne A. Meeks said, “The apostle Paul is next to Jesus, clearly the most intriguing figure of the first century of Christianity and far better known than Jesus because he wrote all of those letters.” I strongly disagree with the assumption made by Professor Wayne A. Meeks. This is because he not only assumes that Jesus is not as well-known as Paul nor as intriguing, but he also states in a way that makes it seem as if it is a concrete fact even though it is an opinion. This assumption that he makes is tried to make sense of by saying that since Paul wrote so many letters that without a doubt he is more known/better understood than Jesus, who didn’t write. Although there are more primary sources from Paul than from Jesus because of the letters, you cannot really say who is better known since there are Gospels written with information of Jesus and who he was. Despite the Gospels possibly being historically suspect, it is wrong to state it as fact that the information on Jesus in them is not as helpful to understanding him as the letters Paul wrote were helpful to knowing who he was.
One of the conclusions made in the film that rose a new question for me was the conclusion that there was a split in the movement caused by the First Revolt. It made me wonder how exactly the failure of the First Revolt was dealt with and if it caused some of the members of the movement to lose faith completely.
The beginning of the Jesus Movement started off small but eventually turned into what we now called Christianity. Because of the Apostle Paul as well as many other early Christians, the spread of Christianity was able to overcome obstacles. Overcoming these obstacles resulted in the conversion of many Gentiles.