to the village culture existing there. The Brethren, under James, addressed themselves to "Hebrews"--Jews who spoke Aramaic in their homes, used Hebrew in their synagogues, and tended to isolate themselves from the prevailing Greek society. The Hellenists, led by Stephen and Philip, directed their mission to "Hellenists"--Jews who spoke Greek at home, used that language in the synagogue, and related themselves to Hellenistic culture. The last, the Apostles, under Barnabas and Paul, worked with synagogues in what is now Turkey and Greece, ministering especially to "godfearers"--Greek men and women attracted to Judaism but who were not proselytes (Eberts 305-6).
According to Eberts, these groups "cooperated with each other, and they fought each other," belying the notion that Christianity was from the outset a unitary theological outgrowth of Judaism. Indeed, Eberts cites the distinctive theologies of each group. The key concept, however, is that the strands of thought that emerged in this four-pronged mission in the first decades after the death of Jesus were no
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