For Patrons: The Church at Rome (end of series)

After 35 weeks and 220 videos and almost as many podcasts, I have finished going through the book of Acts in English and Greek. The end result is the equivalent of a college course in Acts, minus the reading, writing, and tests. Here is the playlist where you can watch almost all the videos in order.

The final podcast is my reconstruction of the first 50 or so years of the church at Rome. Full of educated guesses and debated possibilities. Roams through Romans, Mark, 1 Peter, and Hebrews. On Monday, I start Isaiah 40-66 and Hebrew!

Patrons are those who donate at least $5 a month to my Patreon.com page, supporting my daily podcast commentaries on Acts, along with the daily videos on the Greek of these same passages.

The Churches at Rome

If you only read Acts 28, you might get the impression that Christian faith was fairly new to Rome at the time Paul arrived there. But in reality, Christians had been in Rome for a long time before Paul finally set foot in the city around AD62. The emperor Claudius had already kicked all the Christian Jews out of the city in AD49. Apparently, the controversy within the synagogues of the city had become so divisive that it even drew the emperor's attention.[1] Priscilla and Aquila left Rome at that time (Acts 18:2).

We do not know exactly when Jewish believers in Jesus first came to Rome. Perhaps it was some of those present in Acts 2 on the Day of Pentecost. Still, it is hard to imagine the issue not coming to a head sooner if many Christian Jews had been in Rome for that long. By AD49, Christianity had apparently grown strong enough for all-out war to break out in the synagogues.

Christian tradition has long held that the church at Rome was founded by Peter, especially Roman Catholic and Orthodox tradition. But this suggestion seems unlikely. Peter probably did not come to Rome until after Paul had visited there. Acts gives us no reason to think that Peter had ever been to Rome before Paul, nor does the book of Romans give us any hints along these lines.[2]

On the other hand, it is possible that the churches at Rome had the flavor of Peter’s Christianity.[3] Is Rome the city to which the sermon called Hebrews was written? Is this the audience that was tempted to rely on the sacrificial system rather than on the death of Christ?

If so, Hebrews mentions a previous time of persecution. They had earlier endured a time of great conflict and suffering (Heb. 10:32). Some had been arrested (10:34). Some had lost their property. Perhaps some of their leaders had been martyred (13:7).

Some think that crisis might have taken place during Claudius’ persecution of Christian Jews.[4] But this crisis sounds more like what happened around AD64 when Nero blamed Christians for the fire that burned much of Rome. That event was a couple years after the time Paul first reached Rome. Indeed, perhaps Nero’s encounter with Paul gave him the idea of blaming Christians for the fire of Rome.

After Claudius kicked the Christian Jews out of Rome in AD49, the Christian community left would have been overwhelmingly Gentile for a time. By the time Paul wrote Romans, not quite 10 years later in the late 50s, some Christian Jews presumably had returned to Rome. Romans gives us hints that the church at Rome at that time was still primarily Gentile (cf. Rom. 1:6; 11:13; 15:13). [5]

It is quite likely that we should think about the churches, plural, at Rome. They met in house churches that could scarcely hold more than 40 or 50 people in a very large one, and Rome probably did not have as many churches even this large because of tenement housing. It is thus quite possible that the church of Rome was more segmented than in some other places...

[1] The Roman historian Suetonius, writing in the early second century, mentions this expulsion in Claudius 25.4.

[2] Peter likely wrote 1 Peter from Rome. 1 Peter says it was written from Babylon (5:13), which probably means Rome (cf. Rev. 18:2). It is only natural that Jews would refer to Rome as Babylon after Rome destroyed Jerusalem in AD70 the way Babylon had. It is possible that they referred to Rome even before then, especially in the late 60s after the Jewish War had started. This would be necessary for Peter to be its author, since tradition has it he died at the hands of Nero. See my forthcoming volume, The Church Moving Forward for discussions of 1 Peter and Revelation.

[3] This is the hypothesis of Raymond Brown and John Meier in Antioch and Rome: New Testament Cradles of Catholic Christianity (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist, 1983).

[4] E.g., William Lane, Hebrews 1-8 (Waco: Word, 1991).

[5] Although it is common to hear that Hebrews was written to Jews, this is usually based upon certain stereotypes that don't hold up under closer examination. Hebrews 5:11-6:4 fits a group of Gentile converts to Christianity much better than it fits Jewish converts. The date of Hebrews is disputed, but if it was written after the destruction of Jerusalem, it could indicate that Christianity at Rome remained primarily Gentile later in the century as well.

Traveling Europe Cheaply with Family

In the last four months my wife, myself, and two of our kids have managed to visit Berlin, Florence, Rome, Venice, Vienna, Budapest, and Prague pretty much on a shoestring budget.  We haven't bought a lot of souvenirs to be sure, but we have the pictures and memories.  Much of the time, we were on a $100-200 budget a day for 4 people.  Here's our formula.

Transportation
1. First you have to get there.  The plane tickets will be the biggest expense.  Most will know Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity, Air Gorilla, Priceline, etc.

2. Eurail is of course ideal for long trips (e.g., to Italy from Munich or from Paris to Stuttgart).  Depending on which kind of ticket you get, they are good for several days in the countries you select within a 2 month window.  They must be purchased in the States before you go.  You do get to travel first class.

Reservations for specific seats are separate and important for the high speed trains (not necessary for the locals).  In Italy, they'll fine you if you haven't made a reservation at a train station, even though you have a ticket.  In other places you just have to find an seat that isn't reserved.  It can cost almost 10 Euros a person sometimes for a reservation, but it saves the hassle of trying to find an open seat--especially one where your family can sit together.  There are overnight trains for long hauls but don't do it unless you can reserve a sleeping compartment--trust me.

3. We found buses to be very nice when going into eastern Europe.  We took buses from Vienna to Budapest and from Munich to Prague.  Eurolines is dependable and has nice buses.  We noticed a Eurolines going from Budapest down to Athens and were jealous.  You can often make round trips for less than 50 Euros a person on these sorts of bus lines.

4. Twice we rented a car.  It can be fairly inexpensive (e.g., 50 some Euros) but you must have a credit card and they will usually block three times the rental amount until the car gets back safely and they get it through the system (which can take some time).  As in the States, they may or may not take a debit card.

Also, they often won't let you go to eastern Europe with one.  The cheapest will be manual transmission.  Diesel ones are of course cheap on gas (you can spend a 100 Euros easily on normal even in a day). I used Orbitz both times.  The insurance may be worth it.

5. Know the local deals.  The Bayern ticket in Munich can be purchased for less than 30 Euros and will take up to 5 people anywhere in Bavaria and even to Salzburg--6 if two of them are children.  In Budapest you can get a two day family ticket for something like 12 Euros (I forget how many Florints).

6. Google maps is awesome.  We walked straight from the international bus station to our hostel in Prague following the clear path Google maps worked out for us before we left home.  You will almost certainly want a map of any city, though, once you get there.  Many hostels give them out for free.

7. For a lot of Americans, the amount of walking the Europeans are used to can be a big adjustment.  If you're not prepared to walk a lot and take public transportation, forget about doing it cheaply.  There are usually tickets to be bought in the big cities that will allow you to hop on and off any subway, tram, or bus for the day (or several days).  Most Americans aren't used to subway and tram charts, but once you get the hang of them they're pretty much the same everywhere in Europe.

Beware of pick pockets, especially in Rome.  The subway there is horrible and squashes everyone like a sardine.  Keep your wallet in a front pocket or somewhere inaccessible.  Don't be loud Americans.  Don't expect everyone to do it your kind of normal.  Just knowing please and thank you in whatever language will get you miles in better attitudes and service.

Money
By now most know that the best way to get money in a foreign country is at an ATM.  Most of the conversion stands are a cheat.  If the rate is reasonable (check Google before you go), they'll slap on a commission.  If they don't have a commission, the rate may be bad.

Make sure your bank lets you take money from a debit card overseas (not all do) and warn them you're traveling in advance (or they may block it and try to call you at home, which would be unfortunate if you're half way around the world).  Also be aware that banks often only let you take out a certain amount of cash each day electronically (e.g., $200).  That can be a nice budget... or it can cause serious problems if, as is often the case, no one seems to take credit cards.

Housing
1. Housing is a major expenditure if you stay at a normal Western style hotel.  Orbitz and those sorts of sites again will find you good deals.  Certainly Rick Steve's and the travel books can give suggestions too.

2. With four of us, however, we ended up doing several hostels (Florence, Budapest, Vienna, Prague).  There are sites like hostelbookers.com.  But just doing a google search "Hostels Prague" and you'll find the roads most traveled.  Make sure the hostel will take older people.  Usually they want paid in cash up front.  But if you have four people, you can usually book a whole room for your family (rather than sharing one).  It's en suite.

We had great experiences at the hostels we stayed at in Florence, Vienna, and Prague.  The one in Budapest seemed a little dodgy, but we survived intact.  They can be noisy.  Most of the time the en suite ones have a private bathroom but not always.  The breakfast also may not be overwhelming, but you can often get some sort of breakfast included.

We stayed in Prague for about 65 Euros as a family.  I think it was something like 45 Euros in Budapest.  Vienna and Florence were higher but still well less than 100 a night for four people, I believe.

Food
It's horrible to say but you can always count on McDonalds for a predictably priced meal... and language is usually not a problem.  In any language, a family of four can eat at McDonalds for about 25 Euros.

Italian is fairly predictable in price too.  A "pizza margarita" or cheese pizza for one or two will cost 6 or 7 Euros.  Spaghetti bolognese, napoli, or carbonara will usually be less than 10.  Watch how much the drinks cost, even water.  50 Euros for a family of 4 is not surprising.

You'll want to try some local food.  Beware the restaurants in the middle of things.  The restaurant on the town square will cost you.  Find the restaurant on the side alley or a good half a kilometer from the city center.  A hostel may very well have advertisements up.  We ate at the "Iron Curtain" in Prague following a flier in the hostel at 6 Euros a person (600 Crowns for four of us).

Touring
Another big expense are any museums or entrance fees. Plan on it.  There are usually lots of things to see wherever you're going... and almost all of them will want their pound of flesh.

Some advice hot off of Prague and the secret to my family's own shoestring tourism.