On “From Jerusalem to Antioch” by Jerome Crowe ***

Crowe's work is an accessible good read. If one wants a basic introduction to Jerusalem and Antioch in the first century, this would be a good work to try. Crowe's main task here is to try to explain how the faith changed as it moved from a Jewish mileiu to a Gentile, from a Jerusalem context to an Antioch one. He wishes to show how religion alters across cultures. It's an interesting premise, but on that count, the work seems a bit superficial.

The gist of the book focuses on various ways in which church functions differed in the two locations—preaching, doing missionary work, the mode of worship, the specific message, organization. Most of the text recounts basic details that most people would already be familiar with. In Jerusalem, converts were Jews and met among Jews; they focused on a kingdom to be brought by Jesus, and all fit well within the system already set up. When things came to Antioch, the message had to change, especially as it moved into the pagan realm and out of the Jewish and Jewish curious realm. Now, the focus became philosophical, focused on the “one God” as seen via his son. Meetings moved from synagogue to houses, and so on. Much transformation obviously did occur, but the changes discussed don't seem very deeply analyzed. We get an accounting of how things were different, knowing that the reason was differing cultures, but not so much a discussion of why such changes were made.