Concordia Theological Monthly
Publication Date
2-1-1936
Document Type
Article
Keywords
jew, greek, alexandria, gentile, st. jew, greek, alexandria, gentile, st. paul, egypt, roman, agrippa, christianity, palestine, paul, egypt, roman, agrippa, christianity, palestine
Submission Type
Bible Study; Lecture; Sermon Prep
Abstract
New Testament Christianity, first garbed in the swaddling-clothes of Semitism, soon exchanged its outward dress for the more practical robes of Hellenism. Jesus of Nazareth was active in a little speck of ground on the edge of the mighty Roman Empire; His language was Aramaic, His disciples were Jews, His contacts and the intellectual atmosphere of the men among whom He moved were chiefly Jewish. Yet within a few years after His resurrection Christianity had gone beyond the sphere of distinctly Jewish surroundings and had begun its mission of world conquest. This explosion immediately required an accommodation in the field of language. The gospels were written, not in the "sacred" language of Christ, but in the language which alone could servo a Gospel aiming at universal acceptance: Hellenistic Greek. The greatest missionary and most literary of the apostle, though himself a Jew, was yet a Jew from the Diaspora and as such had rubbed shoulders with the non-Jew from childhood.
Disciplines
History of Christianity
Scripture References in this Resource (separated by semi-colons)
Acts 13:14-43; Acts 13:45; Acts 17:5; Acts 19:34; Acts 18:2; Acts 18:24; Ephesians 2:14; Acts 19:33; Acts 14:11-13; Acts 28:6;
Submission Cost
Free
Submission Audience
Laity; Ministers; Scholars
Recommended Citation
Keinath, H. A.
(1936)
"Some Contacts of the Book of Acts with the Every-Day Life of Its Age,"
Concordia Theological Monthly: Vol. 7, Article 13.
Available at:
https://scholar.csl.edu/ctm/vol7/iss1/13
