ABSTRACT
The first communistic congregation of the Messiah was formed in Jerusalem; we have not the slightest reason to doubt the statement to this effect in the Acts of the Apostles. But congregations soon arose in other cities having a Jewish proletariat. The social content of the Gospel must have found ready acceptance in the proletarian strata of such 'god-fearing pagans'. The important point is his opposition in principle to the former views of the Christian congregation. The Acts of the Apostles itself is a polemic product, the result of this conflict, written for the purpose of winning friends for the Pauline position, and also of hushing up the opposition between the two tendencies. The Christian propaganda, according to the Acts of the Apostles, is again and again suppressed by the Jews in Jerusalem; the Jews persecute and stone the Christians wherever they can, while the Roman authorities protect the Christians.
