3. Belonging
In this chapter we will explore the elements of organisation that keeps Christian communities together. Some of these elements are practical. They could be adopted by any group undertaking common functions. Others are sacramental.(1) These are specifically Christian and reflect the spiritual nature of Christian unity. Since we are both spirit and body, inner realities are perceived and maintained through visible signs. The community at Antioch was called 'a Church'.(2) To appreciate the distinctive meaning of the term it will help us to study the public and private organisations that could be found in that city. The infrastructure of Antioch
Antioch's founder, Seleucus I, had built his city on level ground by the riverside. Surrounded by a wall, it occupied an area of about two square kms in size. It faced the river on one side and the mountain slopes on the other. It was far enough from the mountain to avoid the mud and stones often brought down the slopes by rain, and from the Parmenius, a mountain stream that ran down a valley, bringing with it flash floods, on its way to the Orontes. It seems that the stream lived up to its dangerous reputation of "Donkey-Drowner", or Onopnictes! As in many modern cities, however, the quality of the living space in Antioch was graded according to social position and wealth. The city was planned on the grid system. It consisted of two main sections: a Greek quarter (for the dominant social group) and a Syrian quarter (for the local middle class). The directioning of the streets, especially in the Greek quarter, was carefully planned to give the houses maximum shade in summer and the benefit of the cool breezes off the sea which came up the river valley. The agora, the business and political centre, was situated on the riverside which was the principal highway of the city. When the city began to prosper, its rulers enlarged it taking in an island on the river to house a palace and a horse racing circuit, and extending the city boundary towards the mountain slopes. The growing prosperity led to an increasing demand for houses and for public buildings and another agora. By the time of Christ, Antioch was a splendid and wealthy city; a paradise for the powerful and rich. The Seleucid kings were absolute monarchs who ruled with the help of a chief minister and a group of favoured and privileged friends. The king and his minister often vied for power, each taking advantage of the other's weak points. Seleucus IV was actually murdered by his chief minister, Heliodorus, who then usurped the throne. One of the Seleucid kings we read about in the Old Testament is Antiochus IV Epiphanes who came to the throne in 175 BC. He is the Antiochus we know from the books of Maccabees.(3) The successors of Antiochus IV were not great kings and by 67 BC, the Romans, who for a hundred years or more had been encroaching on the lands of the Syrian Kingdom, deposed the last king of Antioch and declared it a city in its own right. Antioch with over half a million inhabitants was, in fact, the third largest city in the Roman Empire. Hellenistic city states (4) were organised on models copied from Greece. A large city like Antioch was divided into quarters. Each quarter had its own 'plenary assembly', the ekklesia, which only met on special occasions. When it met, all free citizens could take part and vote. The day-to-day government was run by magistrates who were assisted by the 'council', the boule. Business of state was mainly conducted in large, open buildings known as basilicas. Political power was uneasily shared by the Roman officials, members of the ancient Greek aristocracy and wealthy Syrian merchants. Private organisations The rich and powerful had plenty of social contacts through state business and private parties. But the ordinary citizens in the Roman empire, the skilled workers, led drab and arduous lives without much social support. Among these middle and lower classes associations arose which responded to their special needs. They ranged from gatherings of people practising the same trade to followers of a particular cult.(5) An interesting example is the burial society of Lanuvium in southern Italy. We know its rules and practices from a detailed inscription that has been preserved.(6) The main purpose was to collect monthly subscriptions from its members so that, on their death, they could be given a decent burial and some money provided to the survivors in the family. But the members met every month to enjoy a common meal and share common interests. There were also religious functions. The duties and rights of the members were spelt out in detail. It is clear that, apart from serving as a form of life insurance, the society gave its members a group to belong to, a monthly break from the daily routine (there were no weekends!) and important social and religious support. Professional corporations, of dyers, builders, weavers, fruit merchants, leather-workers, and so on, would meet on more or less the same basis. They would have their monthly meeting. On the feast days of the god chosen to be their patron, they would have sacrifices and libations.(7) They might take action to protect a common interest; as the silversmiths did in Ephesus when they believed their trade was under threat.(8) They might also provide for security and funeral arrangements.
Then there were the more explicit religious groupings. We have reports of Heraclists (worshippers of Heracles), Aesclepiasts (worshippers of Aesculapius), Isiacs (worshippers of Isis) and Iobacchi (worshippers of Bacchus). Again, a large inscription, this time at Athens in Greece, gives us a full insight in its constitution and practice.(9) The members came together for the festivals of Bacchus, the god of fertility and wine, but also on a monthly basis for both business meetings and relaxed common meals. Exact rules were laid down for the collection of subscriptions, for conduct during meetings, for the religious rites to be followed. Although devotion to the god figured prominently, it is obvious that the association fulfilled also many of the social functions of a burial society or trade guild. Finally, there were religious associations known as mysteries. These were generally for people who were looking for a closer contact with divinity. Candidates were only admitted after a long preparation. They were then initiated into the mystery by a number of symbolic rites. These could include purification by immersion and putting on a new dress. In common celebrations there was often an enactment of death with darkness and mourning; then a resurrection to life symbol-ised by light and scenes of rejoicing. Here, too, members would gather for common meals and undertake mutual obligations.(10) The 'community' (Church) of God From the descriptions I have given so far, it will be clear that the Church in Antioch did not come about in a vacuum. When the first Christians came together to become a community, they would naturally adopt some of the customs and practices they knew from existing groups and associations. What then was new in their being a community? We may see one clue in their calling themselves an ekklesia, a word which, as we have seen, literally means 'a public assembly'.(11) * In the ekklesia at Antioch there were some prophetsand teachers ....(12) *Paul and Barnabas sailed for Antioch ...On their arrival they assembled the ekklesia and reported all God had done.(13) * (At Antioch) it was arranged that Paul and Barnabas and others belonging to the ekklesia should go up to Jerusalem .... They were put on their way by the ekklesia.(14) The word ekklesia in this early Christian usage does not derive from its secular meaning as 'the public assembly', even though some nuances of this secular use must have clung to it. Rather it derived from the Old Testament notion qahal, 'assembly', which in the Greek translation is always rendered as ekklesia. Qahal stands for: the assembled people of God. Qahal Yahweh meant: 'the assembly of Yahweh', 'the community of God'.(15) The Christians at Antioch did not form an association because they shared professional concerns, or social needs or even religious interests. They became a family because it was God who called them together. It was as his people they became a community, 'My people, I have created you. I formed you. I called you by name'.(16) The 'Church' (ekklesia) consists of people who have been 'called' (kletoi) by God. Therefore, they form a community 'of God', a community 'in God and in Jesus Christ'.
Christ is present'You are called to belong to Christ'. The Christians at Antioch and in the other early communities believed God had called them together to be part of a group in which Jesus Christ himself was present. Christ was the invisible, but undeniable extra member in every single gathering. They took Jesus' words literally: 'Where two or three of you are together in my name, I will be in their midst'.(22) To understand this properly, we should first of all remember that Jesus had risen from the dead. As far as his physical presence was concerned, he had gone to the Father.(23) But in his spiritual presence he would remain with us.
The early Christians felt Jesus' presence in the community as a power. The Gospel came to them 'not only in word, but also in power and the Holy Spirit and fullness of conviction'.(27) Christ was powerful in them.(28) Aware of their own weakness, they felt 'the transcendent power that belongs to God'.(29) They realised that their faith was not based on human wisdom, 'but on the power of God'.(30) They could say: 'I know Christ and the power of his resurrection'.(31) Christ was also present in sacraments which they could see. One sign was baptism by which they 'put on Christ (32) and through which they shared in Christ's death and resurrection.(33) Another sign was the Eucharist in which they took part 'in the body and blood of the Lord'(34). Then there were Christ's ministers about whom he had said: 'Who hears you, hears me (35) and who could act with his authority.(36) Christ remained with them through his teaching proclaimed to the community.(37) Christ was also present in the members of the community itself: all were living sacraments reflecting the glory of Christ on their faces.(38) In Antioch the disciples of Jesus were called 'Christians' for the first time.(39) To the outsiders who coined the expression, it meant little more than 'people following Christ'. For Christians it meant much more. They looked on themselves as a body, a person, with Christ as their head. They were a living community because they were united to Christ, the head, who was with them all the time.(40) Where do we find the Church?
In the New Testament, the word ekklesia mainly denotes particular communities in specific localities, such as the local churches of Jerusalem, Antioch, Thessalonika, Corinth, Rome, Ephesus, Cenchreae and so on. Paul often speaks of 'churches' in the plural.(41) At times it is also used for the 'universal church'.(42) The two notions do not contradict each other. No local church is the universal church, but each local church makes the whole church present. The local church is not just a part of the whole church. It somehow embodies the whole church in a particular community. God's 'community' (ekklesia) is not only formed by ecclesiastical units, such as a diocese or a parish. Every group that is assembled in Jesus' name is his ekklesia. The actual happening of the coming together itself, of being convoked in Jesus' name, is ekklesia.
Although the early Christians incorporated into their gatherings cultural and religious elements from their own times - as we still do today - , the belief that distinguished them from others was the knowledge that Christ was present in their togetherness, both as a powerful spiritual force and in visible, sacramental signs. Christ was the head both of the universal Church and of every local community of believers. The word of ChristIn the Old Testament we find descriptions of how God's people were summoned to the solemn assembly.
The main liturgical occasion for the people to assemble in the qahal was the re-affirmation of the covenant. (47) God had proclaimed his covenant from Mount Sinai. Later mediators like Josiah and Ezra proclaimed the covenant by reading inspired texts. In the presence of all men, women and children oldenough to understand, Ezra read from the Book of the Law .... Ezra read from the Law of God, translating and explaining the sense, so that the people understood what was read .... The people were filled with joy since they understood the meaning of what was proclaimed to them. (48) In the New Testament, the proclamation that called the community together was the preaching of the Good News, that is of the Gospel. The Acts of the Apostles give many examples. Paul, for instance, preached the Good News in Antioch in Pisidia (3) with words such as these: We have come here to tell you the Good News .... God fulfilled his promise (of salvation) by raising Jesus from the dead .... Through Jesus I proclaim forgiveness of your sins. What is now being offered to everyone who has faith is to be made holy and to be cleansed from all sins.(50) It was on account of this preaching, as Acts tells us, that first Jews and proselytes, then pagans joined Paul and Barnabas, thus forming a local ekklesia.(51) The same truth still applies to us. Whenever we assemble as an ekklesia, as Jesus' community, it is in response to this proclamation that we assemble as a group of believers. We coalesce, around Jesus, as a community of faith. This is how the Vatican Council describes what happens:
There is a direct link between the creation of the community and the preaching of the Word. That is why in our Christian liturgies Scripture (and especially the Gospel) is read and proclaimed. That is also why the proclamation of the Good News needs to be repeated again and again so that new communities can be formed. Let us listen again to Vatican II.
QUESTIONS FOR PERSONAL STUDY1. Can you explain the different meanings of the word 'Church' in these selections from Paul's letter to the Galatians?
2. We believe that Christ died for all people.
Yet Christ is said to have given his life especially for the Church.
How to reconcile these two ideas? 3. How is the whole Church embodied in the community we belong to? In the local group in which we meet? In our parish? 4. Vatican II speaks emphatically about the Church in terms of people: ‘God's new people’; ‘a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a sacred nation’; ‘a community of brothers and sisters’; etc. (The Church, no 9-17). Can you spell out the implications of this focus? Footnotes1. From the Latin word sacramentum which originally stood for any religious symbol. In classical Christian theology, a sacrament is an external rite that signifies and brings about a spiritual change. The rite of baptism, for instance, signifies, and by God's power brings about, a spiritual rebirth. The fifth course of the WALKING ON WATER series, on The Signs of the Kingdom, will explore symbolism and sacraments more fully. 2. Acts 13,1; 14,26-27; 15,2-3. The second word of the Greek form ekklesia kuriakê (community of the Lord) gave rise to Gothic kirika, German Kirche, Dutch Kerk, Scots Kirk and English Church. The first word, ekklesia, is preserved in French Église, Italian Chiesa and Spanish Iglesia. 3. ‘From them (Alexander the Great's officers), came forth a sinful root, Antiochus Epiphanes, son of Antiochus the king. He began to reign in the 137th year of the kingdom of the Greeks (= 175 BC)’; 1 Maccabees 1,10-53. 4. The technical Greek terra is polis. Many English words, such as policy, politics, politician, etc., are derived from it. 5. Classical studies about this are: J.P.WALTZING, Étude historique sur les corporations professionelles chez les Romains, vols I-IV, Brussels 1895-1896; J.TOUTAIN, Les Cultes païens dans I'empire romain, Paris 1907-1920; F.POLAND, Geschichte des griechischen Vereinswesen, Leipzig 1909; G. LA PIANA, 'Foreign Groups in Rome during the First Centuries of the Empire', Harvard Theological Review 20 (1927) pp. 183-403; cf. R.L.WILKEN, ‘Christianity as a Burial Society’, in The Christians as the Romans Saw Them, New Haven 1984, pp. 31-47. 6. D.DESSAU, Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae, Berlin 1906, no 7212. 7. A 'libation' was a brief sacrificial rite during which part of a drink was poured out onto the soil or in a special libation dish. Wine was often used as 'blood of the grape', 'blood of the earth'; but libations of milk, honey or oil were also known. 8. Acts 19,24-29. 9. M.N.TOD, Sidelights on Greek History, Oxford 1932, pp. 71-75. 10. A good description of the initiation into the mystery of Isis can be found in The Golden Ass by LUCIUS APULEIUS, ch. 17-19. English translation by R.GRAVES, Penguin 1950, pp. 262-293.
15.Numbers 19,20; 20,4; Deuteronomy 23,2,3.7. 16. Isaiah 43,1.7; 44,2; 46,3-4.
36. 1 Corinthians 5,4. More about this in chapter eight.
40. 1 Corinthians 12,12-26; Ephesians 1,22; 4,15. 41. 1 Corinthians 11,16;14,33; 2 Corinthians 8,18; 11,8; 12,13; Galatians 1,2.22; etc.
46. Joel 2,15-16. 47. Deuteronomy 30,10-13; compare Exodus 19,16-17; Joshua 24,1-28; 2 Kings 23,1-3; Nehemiah 8,1-18. 48. Nehemiah 8,3.8.12. 49. Not the same as Antioch in Syria which we have been describing in all these chapters. 50. Acts 13,32-38. 51. Jews : Acts 13,43; pagans: Acts 13,48-49. 52. VATICAN II, 'Constitution on the Church', no 26; W.M.ABBOTT, The Documents of Vatican II, New York 1966, p. 50. 53. VATICAN II, 'On the Ministry and Life of the Priests, no 4; W.M.ABBOTT, Documents (etc.), pp. 538-539. |
