Jesus Christ also laid the foundation for the external organization of the Church as a Christian society. The Church, according to the teaching of Christ, is a community of believers in Him as the Son of God and Savior. He used the word "Church" three times (Matt. 16:18; 18:17). He established hierarchy as an order (cf. John 20:22-23): "He blew and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.' To whom you forgive sins, they will be forgiven; on whom you leave, they will remain" (cf. Matt. 16:19; 18:18), and not just a moral union of people. He gave his disciples prayer as a model ("Our Father"), established the sacraments – baptism, communion, repentance, pointed out the need for human discipline: "But if your brother sins against you... tell the church; but if he will not listen to the church, let him be to you as a heathen and a publican" (Matt. 18:15-17).

But Christ's work was only to cast the seed, and it would grow, to light a fire, and it would be kindled.

The Birth of the Christian Church in Jerusalem.

After the Ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, there were more than 500 people who believed in Him in Galilee (cf. 1 Cor. 15:6) and in Jerusalem with the apostles 120 souls (Acts 1:13-16). We know nothing about the fate of the Galilean believers. All the interest of the early Christian sources is focused on the community of believers in Jerusalem. They gathered together, and at one meeting, at the suggestion of the Apostle Peter, they chose Matthias to replace the traitor and suicide Judas (Acts 1:6-26).

Ten days after the Ascension, during the Jewish Pentecost, the promised descent of the Holy Spirit followed. The Spirit, Who, in a strong wind, in the form of tongues of fire, descended upon the apostles and the assembled disciples and made them capable of miraculous speech in various tongues (see Acts 2:1-12). What is the "gift of tongues" or glossolalia is extremely difficult to find out. The parallel account of the gift of tongues in the Corinthian community (1 Cor. 14) not only does not help to clarify the matter, but, on the contrary, testifies to the fact that the book of Acts speaks of a different miraculous gift than in 1 Cor. Those who heard the glossolals on the day of Pentecost said of them: "Are not all these who speak Galileans? How then do we each hear our own dialect in which we were born?" (2:7-8). Meanwhile, it is said of the Corinthian glossolals: "If the whole church come together, and all speak with unknown tongues, and those who do not know or do not believe come in among you, will they not say that you are possessed" (1 Cor. 14:23). "Whoever speaks in an unknown tongue does not speak to men, but to God... he speaks for his own edification" (14:2-4).

This means that the glossolalia of Acts was understandable to others, but the glossolalia in the Corinthian community was incomprehensible and had in mind only the personal edification of the glossolal, and not the benefit of others. — However, glossolalia and the books of Acts. was understandable to others, but not quite clear or intelligible. That is why a completely clear articulate speech was required. Peter in order to clarify the meaning of the event that had taken place (Acts 2:14). The speech of the Apostle Peter was delivered in Greek and was understood by everyone. On the other hand, Hellenism did not penetrate so deeply and widely that the Greek language was accessible to all proselytes who came to Jerusalem from various countries. Therefore, it may also seem miraculous that the speech of Ap. Petra was understandable to everyone. That is why, it seems, the question arose in antiquity: was the miracle of tongues a miracle in those who spoke or in those who heard? Sacred antiquity in the person of Bl. St. Augustine (Speech 175-266), St. Gregory the Theologian (Speech 41), St. John Chrysostom (Volume 3, Volume 35) and others replied that this miracle happened to those who spoke, and not to those who heard. With the receipt of the gifts of St. In spirit, the early timidity of the disciples gave way to inspired courage. With lofty conviction and holy enthusiasm was pronounced by Ap. Peter's speech, which clarified the meaning of the event that had taken place, as the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on all flesh, which could and did follow after the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, who was killed by lawless people. The Apostle called everyone to repentance and baptism (2:38). The preaching was a tremendous success: 3000 souls from the newcomers believed in Christ and, having repented, were baptized. And when Ap. After some time, on the occasion of the miraculous healing of a lame man at the temple (Acts 3), Peter had to preach another time about the risen Christ, the number of believers increased to 5000 (4:4). The Apostle Peter and the other apostles proclaimed Jesus as the Messiah expected by the Jews, who, according to the prophets, suffered and died, and it was the Jews who ignorantly handed Him over to death.

The main proof of the messianic dignity of Jesus Christ is His resurrection, which the apostles witnessed. This confession (recognition) of Christ as the Messiah and Son of God was a condition of salvation.

The organization of life in the first Christian community.

Those who converted or believed in Christ lived together as one family. "And they continued continually in the teaching of the apostles, in fellowship, and in the breaking of bread, and in prayers" (Acts 2:42). This means that the first believers tried to understand the beginnings of Christian teaching, drawn from the sermon of the Apostle Peter on the day of Pentecost, constantly remaining "in the teaching of the apostles." Τη διδαχη των αποστόλων, i.e. through the zealous and prolonged edification of the preaching of the apostles (all, and not only Peter), with their complete submission to apostolic authority.

From this proceeded κοινωνία as the inner unity of believers with one another, which had its source in the one faith received from the apostles. Other characteristic signs of inner unity are κλάσις του άρτου, by which we must understand the Christian Eucharist (and not the supper of love), and prayers. Inner spiritual unity (cf. κοινωνία) and harmonious mood were correspondingly expressed in the external organization of life—in the communion of good things, in self-sacrificing help to the poor and needy. Without any compulsion, they established a communion of property at a common treasury, which was replenished by rich people.

The writer Luke speaks of this in two places: the first time in 2:44-45, when depicting the life of those who were baptized on the day of Pentecost, and the second time at the end of 4:34-37, telling about the increase in the community of believers to 5000, after the healing of a lame man. These two descriptions of the life of the Jerusalem community do not refer to the same time, but to points separated by a duration of several months.

Marxism (Engels, K. Kautsky) thinks to see communism here not in the sense of production, but in the consumption of goods, giving the communion of property in the period of the Christian community a legally binding, compulsory character. But this contradicts reality: in the first place, against the coercive nature of the word Ap. Peter, addressed to Ananias: "What you possessed, was it not yours, and what you gained by sale was not in your power?" (Acts 5:4). Secondly, the Christians of Jerusalem retained their property even after the cases of what seemed to be a general forced sale. For example, John Mark's mother, Mary, had her own house in Jerusalem (12:12), and Mnason was also a Cypriot (21:16), and perhaps Philip (21:8).

The First Persecution of the Church of Jerusalem. The beginning of the Christian mission among the pagans.

The gradual growth of the young Christian community and some misunderstandings and confusion, almost inevitable in a large society composed of various elements and not yet cohabited, led to the need to introduce into the communities some ministries to help the apostles (Acts 6:1-6).