Church History in Plain Language

by Bruce L. Shelley

From the beginning, then, the apostles preached the resurrection of Jesus as the fulfillment of God’s purpose announced in the Old Testament. The Messiah, once crucified, was exalted above the universe. Apart from that miracle, said the apostles, there is no gospel, no salvation, and no church. But it is true. Therefore, “Repent,” Peter told the Pentecost pilgrims, “and be baptized in the name of Jesus and your sins will be forgiven and you too will receive the gift of the Spirit” (Acts 2:38). Many accepted Peter’s invitation. They were baptized and about three thousand were added to the Jesus movement that day. That is how the Christian church started. It was quite a beginning. Stephen knew the story well and Christians ever since have insisted that the death of Jesus on the cross, his resurrection from the grave, and the empowering mission of the Holy Spirit are the foundational realities of Christianity. The first forty years saw the infant church spread at a phenomenal rate. It sprang up in most of the major cities in the Roman Empire and was transformed from a tiny Jewish sect into a fellowship of many different peoples. Stephen, of course, never lived to see it. Yet he grasped first of all the special meaning of Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection, and outpouring of the Spirit for biblical history. He sensed deeply that Christianity could never be confined to the rigid boundaries of the Pharisees’ laws. Jesus himself had hinted that a breach would open. Once, when asked...