A Week in the Life of Rome

by James L. Papandrea

  The people gathered were amazed at the story, and after a brief silence, they began asking Peter to tell them what it was like to be there. Peter sat down in the chair at the front of the room. He smiled and said, “This is another reason why your memoir should not be named after me. I just don’t come out looking all that good in these stories. Oh well, the Lord wants me to stay humble, I suppose. What was it like to be there? To be honest, I almost wasn’t there. I was so scared I almost ran away.”

  Peter was lost in thought for a brief time. “I was with Iesua and the Zebedee brothers. We were on the holy mountain, and our Lord willed that we should see the majesty of his resurrection body. Looking back on it now, he looked very much the same as he did after his resurrection, when it was hard to recognize him. But that time, the light of his glory was so bright I fell in a faint, and my eyes were blinded. I remember seeing nothing, but hearing his voice as he was talking with Moses and Elijah—though I couldn’t hear what they were saying. When I could see again, well, I can’t even describe it to you. I’ll tell you, that thing I said about building three tents? I was just trying to get Iesua’s attention so he would remember we were there and not burn us to a crisp with his glory. I didn’t know what I was saying. But I’m glad I didn’t run away, because if I had, I might not have heard the Voice. You know, many people started to follow Iesua, but a lot of them didn’t last. They left him. Yes, it’s true. But I could never leave him, in part because I heard the Voice.”

  Peter thought for a time and then went on. “All of us here, we all came from different places. It seems as though so many people in Rome are from somewhere else. Judea, Phrygia, Cappadocia, Egypt—even Asia. Some of you were there at Pentecost. A few of us knew Iesua personally. But it doesn’t matter where we come from or who we were before. Because now we are Christians. Now we are the church. I heard Paul say something at the council. He said no matter whether we are Judean or not, slave or free, man or woman, we are all one in our Lord Iesua, the Christos. In fact, we all come to him like the thief on the other cross, trying to have faith, hoping he will give us that peace that comes from the hope of paradise.”

  A voice from the back of the room shouted, “When will Iesua come back? It’s been almost twenty years!”

  Peter smiled. “It isn’t for us to know times or seasons. But the fact that he has delayed his return is an act of mercy. He’s waiting for as many people as possible to come to reconciliation with God through him. Also, since he seems to be delaying his return, it’s good that Marcus is writing down the story, for as you know, some Christians have already died, and more may die, and we may even find ourselves with second- and third-generation Christians—our descendants who will have to hand the faith on to people who never met anyone who walked with Iesua. But don’t worry, a thousand years are like a day to God. So any delay does nothing to diminish the promise.”

  “So where was I?” Peter continued. “Yes, the hope of paradise. The transfiguration and resurrection of our Lord show us that we are not to believe the fables of an afterlife as a shadowy existence, as the myths of Hades and Elysium claim. And we are not to believe in the afterlife as a disembodied existence, as the philosophers teach. No, we believe in the resurrection, which even King David prophesied in the psalm that begins, Keep me safe, O God, in you I take refuge. The philosophers, in fact, can’t even agree on what it means to be blessed. The Pythagoreans say reason is the key to the good life. The Sophists claim individualism and relativism. Socrates said it was law, and Plato said it was justice. The Skeptics say the best thing you can do is admit you don’t know. The Cynics prefer detachment, and the Epicureans pursue pleasure. The Stoics claim to have defined virtue, but look around you—are the Romans virtuous? Are they happy? No, Iesua said that the ones who are blessed are the poor, and those who mourn, and the humble, and the hungry. Those who show mercy, and those who make peace. The pure . . . and the persecuted.”

  Marcus muttered to himself, “I should be writing this down.”

  Peter continued, “But why should those people be happy or feel blessed? Because they know they will inherit the resurrection life in God’s eternal empire. They put their hope in something bigger than life.”

  Cletus led the prayers, which went on for quite a long time with such a large group. But eventually the prayers came to a conclusion, and Pudenziana and Prassede brought the bread and wine forward and placed them on a small table in front of Peter. Peter nodded to Rhoda, who led the gathering in the singing of a text from the prophet Isaiah:

  Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts.

  All the earth is filled with his glory!

  Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty,

  Who was, and is, and is to come!

  Peter led the group in the Our Father, and then they all prepared to receive the Thanksgiving Bread by reciting a prayer of confession from the Psalms:

  Be gracious to me, O God, according to your mercy. According to the greatness of your compassion, blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, and you alone, I have sinned and done what is evil in your sight. . . . Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. . . .

  After Peter said the prayers over the bread and the cup, he held them up for all to see. He raised his voice and said, “I heard Iesua say, Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me, will also live because of me. This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the ancestors ate and died; but whoever eats this bread will live forever.

  “Later, Iesua would say, Take this, all of you, and eat it: this is my body which will be given up for you. Take this, all of you, and drink from it: this is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for all so that sins may be forgiven. Do this in memory of me. Look—here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” Peter broke the bread, and all the baptized solemnly came forward to receive it from him.

  When Stachys received the bread, he held it in his hand and looked at it. He hesitated, letting the gravity of the moment sink into his mind. He remembered some words of Iesua that he had heard. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. He ate the bread, and a sense of peace washed over him, and he thought he was beginning to understand what they meant when they wished each other the peace of the Christos. When the wine was passed to him, he tried to take a small sip. He tried to be unselfish and make sure he wasn’t taking too much. But he wanted the blood of the Christos, and he couldn’t help himself. He took a big gulp and smiled.

  After all of the baptized had received the body and blood, Peter addressed the gathering. “I would like to say a few things before we sing our song. First of all, I’ve asked one of our newest initiates to join the order of deacons. Brother Stachys has accepted the responsibility of service.” Everyone expressed their approval and wished blessings on Stachys as he blushed. “And finally, we will be taking a collection for the poor brothers and sisters of Rome. Many of us here are unemployed, or have not had enough work recently, and are struggling to survive.” Now it was Philologus and Julia who blushed. Peter smiled at them and continued, “Those who have some resources to spare are asked to share what they have. Brother Stachys, in his first official act as a deacon, will be going around the room with a basket. Please be generous.”

  Maria and Rhoda led the hymn together. The people all knew the song because they had been singing it in their individual gatherings for a while, but this was the first time that all the Christians of Rome sang it together.

  Let all creation wait in silence, as we praise the F
ather, Son, and Spirit

  Let all creation say Amen, as we praise the source of all our blessings

  Worship in Early House Churches

  Just as conversion in the early church was not simply an individual’s decision, the group mentality of the Roman personality meant that worship also was not simply a matter of personal devotion. Most early Christians did not think in terms of personal Scripture study or personal prayer and meditation. For early Christians, worship was more about celebrating the group identity as people who gathered at the table of the Lord and who collectively identified with Jesus Christ as their Savior. The idea of a “personal” Savior would probably not have made much sense to them.

  We don’t actually know much about what music and singing was like in the early decades of Christianity. There may have been varying “degrees” of what might be called hymnody, on a spectrum going from rhythmic speaking, to intoned speaking, to chanting, to melodic singing. The songs included in our story are based on the theory that the apostle Paul quoted hymns in his letters. However, there is a lot of debate among scholars about whether the quoted passages are in fact hymns or perhaps prayers. In any case, if Paul is quoting preexisting material, then the content of these songs or prayers is very significant, since it represents the earliest Christian theological statements we have in written form. For more on these pre-Pauline hymns, see my book Trinity 101 (Liguori, 2012).

  When we ask what early Christian music may have sounded like, the question becomes even more complicated. No doubt the music of the first Christians was not very different from the music of ancient Jews, but in a place like Rome, it also must have been influenced by Greek and Roman forms of music. We know for sure that they did sing, and Paul encourages his people to sing “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (Eph 5:19; Col 3:16; see also 1 Cor 14:15, 26). Unfortunately, we don’t know how Paul defined these three types of songs or whether they were really three different things at all.

  Singing in the first churches was probably responsorial, that is, a call and response, with a leader singing a line and the people repeating it. Or perhaps a soloist sang a phrase, and the people responded by singing “Amen.” Eventually the congregations would have memorized longer passages, possibly set to music, and sung them in unison. But even if the songs were set to music, they did not have harmony the way modern music does, with different singers singing different notes based on chords. As far as we know, all singing in the church was in unison until the Middle Ages.

  We also don’t know for sure whether they used musical instruments at all. If the heavenly worship scenes in the book of Revelation are a reflection of actual worship, then the early Christians may have used lyres (usually translated “harps”). They may also have used pan pipes. However, even then the music was not so much an accompaniment as it was a guide for the singers. The instrument would simply play the melody as the people sang along. In later centuries we know that many musical instruments (horns, drums, cymbals) were probably avoided by the church due to their association with pagan worship or erotic dance. Note that the instrument often translated “flute” was not actually a flute but was a reed instrument called an aulos, something like an oboe or clarinet.

  The song in the story near the end of this chapter is a simplified version of an early Christian song known as the Oxyrhynchus hymn. This was a third-century hymn with music notation found on a papyrus in the city of Oxyrhynchus. The version I’ve adapted is a much-simplified, modernized arrangement, but the English words do convey the theme of the Greek text, and the tune is based on melodic phrases from the music. I’ve also added modern chords so that I can use it as a worship chorus with my students. I hope you will try it yourself and sense a connection with those who worshiped in the early centuries of our faith.

  Figure 7.1. Modernized version of the Oxyrhynchus hymn (third century), adapted and arranged by the author

  As the people talked and sang their way out of the gathering, Stachys went around with the basket collecting donations. When he came to Urbanus and Sabina, they stopped him. Urbanus said, “Stachys, my friend. We’ve told your man Peter that we want to join the school of the Christians, both of us, and our daughters. It may ruin our reputation, but then I’m not sure we will have much of a reputation left after all that’s happened.”

  Sabina smirked. “Of course, my reputation was ruined when I married him.”

  Urbanus sighed, smiled, and put his arm around Sabina. “My wife’s vocation is to ensure my humility. In any case, Peter said that we would need sponsors—to vouch for us when we’re ready to take up the lifestyle. The irony here is not lost on me, but I’m asking you, will you and Maria be our sponsors?”

  Stachys smiled. “Of course, my friend. Nothing would make us happier. And soon we will call each other brothers.”

  Urbanus pulled out his small leather pouch and fished out his most prized possession—the rare gold coin. He rubbed it for luck, then dropped it in the basket.

  MAP OF

  FIRST-CENTURY

  ROME

  OTHER BOOKS BY JAMES L. PAPANDREA

  From Star Wars to Superman: Christ Figures in Science Fiction and Superhero Films

  The Earliest Christologies: Five Images of Christ in the Post-Apostolic Age

  Handed Down: The Catholic Faith of the Early Christians

  How Christianity Saved Civilization: And Must Do So Again (with Mike Aquilina)

  Rome: A Pilgrim’s Guide to the Eternal City

  Trinity 101: Father, Son, Holy Spirit

  Reading the Early Church Fathers

  The Wedding of the Lamb: A Historical Approach to the Book of Revelation

  Novatian of Rome and the Culmination of Pre-Nicene Orthodoxy

  Spiritual Blueprint: How We Live, Work, Love, Play, and Pray

  The Adventures of the Space Boys: The Space Boys Meet the Moon Bully (illustrated by Joe Groshek)

  OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES

  PRAISE FOR A WEEK IN THE LIFE OF ROME

  “A marvelous read!”

  Rodney Stark, codirector, Institute for Studies of Religion, Baylor University

  “Jim Papandrea has done it again. An eminent scholar and theologian of the church fathers who has also written about Christianity in popular cinema, blends his love of history with his passion for narrative tales. This unique work punctuates a wonderful fictional story with pithy lessons about the life of early Christians. Dr. Papandrea’s style makes this a great read for anyone from age 12 to 112. Bravo!”

  Anthony Gill, author of The Political Origins of Religious Liberty

  “James L. Papandrea’s imaginative narrative builds on a substantial amount of strong historical scholarship, yet it is presented in a fresh and unique way. Contemporary readers will sense both continuity and discontinuity between the earliest church and their own lives. When looking back at first century Christians in Rome, current practices of the faith amid modern cultural challenges appear both familiar and strange at the same time. One does not need to agree with every aspect of Papandrea’s imaginative narrative to benefit greatly from his historical re-creation. I occasionally teach a course in Rome and this is now a required textbook; any Christian visiting this great city should read this book before they go!”

  Kelly M. Kapic, professor of theological studies, Covenant College

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  James L. Papandrea (PhD, Northwestern University) is professor of church history and historical theology at Garrett-Evangelical Seminary at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. He is the author of The Earliest Christologies, The Trinitarian Theology of Novatian of Rome, and Reading the Early Church Fathers. He studied Roman history at the American Academy in Rome, Italy.

  Please visit us at ivpress.com for more information about this author and a list of other titles they’ve published with InterVarsity Press.

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