The Evangelists of the Early ChurchThe evangelization of the Roman Empire is one of the more spectacular phenomenon in

the history of the world. In the space of just a few centuries, Christianity swept through much of the known world displacing the pagan religions which had been so firmly implanted in that vast empire. How did this come about? Who were the agents of this miraculous transformation of an entire society? In this this brief article, I will examine the identity of the evangelists of the early church and the context in which they bore witness to Christ with the aim of discovering the key factors which led to the evangelization of the Roman Empire in the centuries before Constantine.

There were many types of people from different strata who Roman society who were actively engaged in evangelism. In the first order there were wandering apostles and evangelists, going from city to city preaching the Gospel, making converts, and discipling new believers. One of the earliest and most renowned of these itinerant preachers was the Apostle Paul who planted churches in important centers of Roman civilization and trade throughout the empire.1 Eusebius records that many continued in this apostolic tradition, building up “the churches where foundations had been previously laid in every place by the apostles… Afterwards leaving their country, they performed the office of evangelist to those who had not yet heard the faith, whilst with a noble ambition to proclaim Christ, they also delivered to them the books of the holy gospels.”2 In his Contra Celsum, Origen also tells of this kind of wandering evangelist, testifying that “as far as they are able Christians leave no stone unturned to spread the faith in all parts of the world. Some, in fact, have done the work of going round not only cities but even villages and country cottages to make others also pious towards God.”3 Besides these travelling evangelists, the more stationary bishops and presbyters of local churches were also actively engaged in evangelism in addition to their regular pastoral duties. A good example of this is Irenaeus who despite his many “theological and church building activities, was most at home as an evangelist. He made a practice of preaching in the villages as well as the towns of Gaul where he was bishop, and did so not only in Greek, the language which many of the educated inhabitants would understand, but also in the vernacular. Such was his concern to fulfill the evangelistic role of the bishop that he took the trouble to learn and become fluent in the language of the despised barbarians.”4 In his book The Evangelization of the Roman Empire, E. Glenn Hinson notes that bishops would sometimes ordain one of their own for the purpose of sending him to another region to organize a group of Christians into a church. As an example of this, Hinson cites “Phaedimus of Amasaea [who] consecrated Gregory and sent him to Neocaesarea where he carried out his remarkable evangelistic work in the middle of the third century.”5 Mention must also be made of philosopher evangelists who, in the tradition of Greek philosophy,

Author: Karl Dahlfred (www.dahlfred.com) 1

1 Michael Green, Evangelism in the Early Church, Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, 1970, p.260-2

2 Eusebius, trans. C.F. Cruse, The Ecclesiastical History, Rev. R. Davis & Brother, Philadelphia, 1833, 3:37, p. 123

3 Origen, trans. Henry Chadwick, Contra Celsum, Cambridge University Press, London, 1965, 3:9, p.133

4 Green, p.170

5 E. Glenn Hinson, The Evangelization of the Roman Empire, Mercer University Press, Macon, 1981, p.41

carried on dialectic and sometimes polemic discussions in both public debates and private schools. In his Second Apology, Justin Martyr recounts his extended public meetings with Crescens the Cynic as well as teaching in a catechetical school. Regarding his school, Michael Green tells us that Justin “operated in Rome and interested enquirers came to his addresses there. Tatian, once his pupil, set up his own school, and so did Rhodon and other intellectually able Christians.”6

While the early church is much indebted to itinerant evangelists, bishops, presbyters, and philosopher evangelists, the true foot soldiers of the Gospel’s advance were mostly average men and women from every walk of life. In the body of Christ, there are many parts and each of them plays an important role to the proper functioning of the entire body. This was also true of evangelism in the early church. While the more prominent parts of the body (apostles, bishops, presbyters and philosophers) did their tasks, the more humble (average men and women) also went about theirs. Following the persecution of the church in Jerusalem (Acts 8), the believers scattered and evangelized wherever they went. Church historian Michael Green surmises that this evangelism “must often have been not formal preaching, but the informal chattering to friends and chance acquaintances, in homes and wine shops, on walks, and around market stalls. They went everywhere gossiping the gospel; they did it naturally, enthusiastically, and with the conviction of those who are not paid to say that sort of thing. Consequently, they were taken seriously, and the movement spread rapidly, notably among the lower classes.”7 A poignant and very human example of this everyday transmission of the Gospel among friends and peers comes to us from the third century quarters of pageboys on Palantine Hill in Rome. Scribbled on the wall there is a “picture, drawn in a youthful hand, of a boy standing in the attitude of worship, with one hand upraised. The object of his devotion is a figure on a cross, a figure of a man with an ass’s head. Underneath is scrawled, ‘Alexamenos worships his God.’ Clearly one of the pages was a Christian, and unashamed of it. His schoolfellows were spitefully mocking him for his stand. But he was not abashed, if we may judge by another inscription written in a different hand: ‘Alexamenos is faithful!’ Perhaps this was his own response to the cruel cartoon. Perhaps it was that of one of his classmates who had come to recognize the truth of what Alexamenos proclaimed.”8 Alexamenos and his peers were not prominent in their society but it was by the testimony of the insignificant and the average that the faith of Jesus spread. In that vein it should also be noted that although both Jewish and Roman society were male dominated, women were actively and effectively involved in the work of evangelism early on in the life of the church. From the male perspective “it was easy enough to sneer at the ‘stupid women’ who gossiped Christianity at the laundry; yet these same women were among the most successful evangelists.”9 Numerous women were involved in Christ’s ministry and many more are mentioned throughout the New Testament: Dorcas, Lydia, Priscilla, and the four prophesying daughters of Philip to

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6 Green, p. 172

7 Ibid., p.173

8 Ibid., p. 175. In Green’s discussion of this discovery, he includes a picture of the drawing found in the page boys quarters that is very useful in helping the reader to relate to the circumstances under which it was drawn.

9 Ibid., p.175

name just a few.10 While Christian women had a ministry to other women they were also in a position to influence their pagan husbands. This was an uphill battle however as Tertullian gave testimony to at the end of the second century.11 As head of the household, a pagan husband might likely forbid his wife’s attendance at Christian meetings and demand that she go along with his pagan sexual and social standards. She would have to endure pagan laurel wreaths on the front of her house as well as the lewd songs and talk of her husband and his friends. Even so, by the sheer quality of her life, her Christian love and commitment, a pagan husband might (and many were) be won over to the faith of their wife. Concerning the conversion of husbands, Tertullian comments, “He has felt mighty works. He has seen experimental evidences. He knows her changed for the better. Thus even he himself is, by awe of her, a candidate for God.”12 On the other hand, if a man became a Christian it was much easier for him to introduce the rest of his household to Christ.13 We can see examples of this as early as Acts 10 when Cornelius and his whole house were baptized after Peter shared the Gospel with them. And if both mother and father were Christians they could have a profound impact upon their children, bringing them up in the faith from an early age. During the days of the Severan persecution in A.D. 202, Origen’s father Leonides was arrested for his Christian faith. Only seventeen at the time, Origen wrote to his father in prison encouraging him to “stand firm in the hour of his trial, and not to weaken out of consideration for them [i.e. his family].” 14 Commenting on Origen’s upbringing, Eusebius gives account of the powerful influence which his father had in his early life. “For he had even then (A.D. 202) made no little progress in the doctrine of faith as he had been conversant with the holy Scriptures even when a child. He had been considerably trained in them by his father, who, besides the study of liberal sciences, had also carefully stored his mind with these.”15

The evangelists of the early church were many and varied, coming from all walks of life. However, everyone from apostles down to the lowliest slaves saw it as their joyous responsibility to bear witness to their risen Lord. Their commitment to their Lord Jesus expressed itself in zealous evangelism, high moral standards, and abundant joy. As a result, the pagans “saw in early Christianity a quality of living, and supremely of dying, which could not be found elsewhere.”16 The Roman Empire was won to the faith by not merely apostles, bishops and philosophers but most significantly by a radial movement of lay evangelists witnessing to Christ and Him crucified.

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10 Ibid., p.175

11 Ibid., p. 176. Green summarizes Tertullian’s description of mixed marriages between Christians and pagans as found in Tertullian’s Ad Uxorem 2.3-7

12 Green, p.176, quoting from Tertullian’s Ad Uxorem, 2.7

13 Ibid., p.210

14 Ibid., p.221

15 Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, 6:2, p. 218

16 Green, p.275

Works Cited

Eusebius, trans. C.F. Cruse, The Ecclesiastical History, Rev. R. Davis & Brother, Philadelphia, 1833. Eusebius’ work is doesn’t always seem to be systematic in it’s organization by through use of the index of books and subheadings, relevant examples of evangelism can be found.

Green, Michael, Evangelism in the Early Church, Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, 1970. I found Green’s book to be extremely helpful in researching the evangelists of the early church and every chapter is packed full of examples from primary source materials, both stories and quotations from the major players of the early church. Green’s text is very readable and is well organized so that one can find pertinent information without painstakingly searching through the material. Green’s endnotes also provided helpful pointers to primary source materials which enabled me to examine the larger context of his citations.

Hinson, E. Glenn The Evangelization of the Roman Empire, Mercer University Press, Macon, 1981. Hinson’s book covered evangelism in the period both before and after Constantine. There was much overlap with Michael Green’s book Evangelism in the Early Church so it wasn’t necessary to consult the book in detail with the exception of some relevant passages which expanded upon or clarified what Green had already said.

Origen, trans. Henry Chadwick, Contra Celsum, Cambridge University Press, London, 1965. Origen provides many helpful insights into the nature of evangelism in the early church by way of his responses to Celsus’ verbal attacks against Christianity. Contra Celsum is not a systematic theology nor arranged topically. Rather, it is a point by point refutation of Celsus. The endnotes in Michael Green’s book Evangelism in the Early Church greatly aided me in quickly finding passages directly relevant to the early evangelists.

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