and 11 more years
passed before the council in Jerusalem (Acts 15).
Death of
Yeshua – 30CE (AD)
Peter’s vision – 39CE (AD)
Council at Jerusalem – 50CE (AD)
Roman Persecution – 65-70CE (AD)
Pagans, Pagans Everywhere
When
Gentiles began to be accepted into the faith, it was like an explosion.
The number of Gentile “believers” and the speed at which they “converted”
were staggering. Remember, however, that these were not full converts to
Judaism. You now had Gentiles accepting Yeshua as the Jewish messiah
without even knowing or understanding the basic beliefs that Messiah was
to promote.
Howard
Vos in his book Exploring Church History writes:
Though
Christianity was winning a victory of sorts over paganism, paganism
achieved victories of her own by infiltrating the Christian church in
numerous subtle ways. As opposition to paganism increased, many took their
place in church without experiencing conversion. Thus large segments of
church membership consisted merely of baptized pagans. The distinction
between Christianity and paganism became increasingly blurred as the state
church was established under the ultimate authority of the emperor.
We need to
remember that they were not JUST “brand new believers in Yeshua (Jesus),”
they were ALSO brand new believers in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Before this time they were PAGANS, worshipping OTHER gods!