Here’s some more good stuff on the Jerusalem church:
FROM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_centers_of_Christianity#Jerusalem
Jesus and his apostles, disciples, and early followers, being Jewish or Jewish proselytes, traveled from Galilee to the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, c. 33, at which time the city was under Roman occupation as part of Iudaea province. After an incident in the Temple, he was crucified in Jerusalem at a site called Golgotha and buried nearby. According to Christian belief, on the third day he was resurrected, and after appearing to his disciples and others ascended to heaven.
Jerusalem was the first center of the church, according to the Book of Acts, and according to the Catholic Encyclopedia: the location of “the first Christian church”.[7] The apostles lived and taught there for some time after Pentecost.[8] Jesus’ brother James was a leader in the church, and his other kinsman likely held leadership positions in the surrounding area after the destruction of the city until its rebuilding as Aelia Capitolina, c. 130, when all Jews were banished from the city.[8] In about 50, Barnabas and Paul went to Jerusalem to meet with the “pillars of the church”:[9] James, Peter, and John. Later called the Council of Jerusalem, this meeting, among other things, confirmed the legitimacy of the mission of Barnabas and Paul to the gentiles, and the gentile converts’ freedom from most Mosaic law, especially circumcision, which was repulsive to the Hellenic mind.[10] Thus, the Apostolic Decree (Acts 15:19–21) may be a major act of differentiation of the Church from its Jewish roots[11] (the first major act being the Rejection of Jesus as Messiah[12]), though the decree may simply parallel Jewish Noahide Law and thus be a commonality rather than a differential. In roughly the same time period Rabbinic Judaism made their circumcision requirement of Jewish boys even stricter.[13]
When Peter left Jerusalem after Herod Agrippa I tried to kill him, James appears as the principal authority.[14] Clement of Alexandria (c. 150–215) called him Bishop of Jerusalem.[14] A second-century church historian, Hegesippus, wrote that the Sanhedrin martyred him in 62.[14]
In 66, the Jews revolted against Rome.[8] Rome besieged Jerusalem for four years, and the city fell in 70.[8] The city was destroyed, including the Temple, and the population was mostly killed or removed.[8] However, according to Epiphanius of Salamis,[15] the Cenacle survived at least to Hadrian’s visit in 130. A scattered population survived.[8] Traditionally it is believed the Jerusalem Christians waited out the Jewish–Roman wars in Pella in the Decapolis. The Sanhedrin relocated to Jamnia.[16] Prophecies of the Second Temple’s destruction are found in the synoptics.[17]
>I hadn’t seen this prior to just now. But, this lines up with my impressions of what was going on. It is my impressions that the time from about Pentecost or so to the Siege of Jerusalem, the new community of believers (most of them Jews, but also gentiles), became outcast from the Jewish patriots (or zealots).
>So, during the time they were still in Jerusalem, but becoming outcast from the Jewish patriots, this is when I suppose the Jerusalem Church adopted its communist arrangement. Anyway, that’s how I differentiate the communism of the Jerusalem Church from the normal, individualistic, private property arrangements provided by the Bible.
I blitzed through most of the papal document and found it a hopelessly liberal view of reality. The only way to make sense of it is to list a “good” column and a “bad” column; put each concept he disparages in the “bad” column, and each concept he encourages in the good column. When you are done, the lists will help you realize who he is and what he stands for.
For those who love God, it might be simpler and more profitable to seek that which is good, true, beautiful, virtuous, honorable, righteous, etc... than to pursue a list of liberal pseudo-virtues.
As Jesus warned us, “by their fruits you will know them”.