We can read many conflict stories in the Bible and read how the people of God overcame the conflicts with their faith. We believe that all the conflicts of our age must be solved in the biblical principle and can be solved in it. Therefore, it is very important to study the conflict stories in the Bible to get the answer for solving the conflict problems in our age.
This thesis will be focused on the conflict and growth of the early Jerusalem church in Acts 6:1-7. The structure of Acts 6:1-7 is simple. According to J. Stott's structure analysis, Acts 6:1-7 is composed with problem(6:1a), solution(6:2-6), and result(6:7). On the other hand, J. B. Tyson analysis this paragraph with peace(6:1a), threat(6:1b), solution(6:2-6), and recovery(6:7).
According to the text, there were the Hellenistic Jews and the native Hebrews in the early Jerusalem church. The Hebrews were Palestinian Jewish Christians who spoke Aramaic. On the other hand, the Hellenist were Diaspora Jewish Christians who had Hellenistic backgrounds. There was a conflict between the two groups because of the daily serving of food. The conflict was caused by the fact that the Hellenist widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food.
The overlooked daily serving of food was the surface reason for the conflict, but there were many internal reasons for the conflict between two groups. First, they spoke different languages, Aramaic and Greek. Second, they had different stand about the acception of Hellenism. The Hellenist accepted Hellenism but the Hebrews rejected to accept Hellenism in their life setting. Third, they had different attitude about the observation of the Law. Contrary to the Hellenist, the Hebrews wanted to keep the Law thoroughly. Fourth, they had different attitude about the temple in Jerusalem. The Hellenist thought that the function of the temple was accomplished in Jesus by His death on the cross. But the Hebrews didn't. Lastly, they had different position about the gentile mission. The Hebrews weren't interested in gentile mission, but the Hellenist preached the Gospel to the gentiles. The Native Hebrews thought the Hellenist were disloyal to the Israel and were polluted by Greek culture. They, therefore, tended to treat the Hellenist with a degree of contempt, because they felt they weren't true Hebrews. These reasons were the cause of the conflict between the two groups.
The disciples summoned the congregation to solve the problem of conflict. They made a diagnosis of the conflict and presented the way of solution. They chose seven godly trusted men who all had Greek names. After the solution of the conflict the church remained united and significantly flourished.
Acts 6:7 summarizes about the consistent growth of the early Jerusalem church with three imperfect verbs: First, the word was growing. Second, the disciples also were being multiplied. Third, even a great crowd of priests was being obedient. Finally, the text evidently shows us that the early church in Jerusalem grew through the overcome of the conflict between the two groups.