This was their immense task: to challenge the people of Israel in the face
of imminent catastrophe. Indeed, in the face of certain destruction the
whole of humankind needed to be shaken from its apathy so that all might
prepare for the coming of the kingdom. The poorest people suddenly knew
that their new faith was the determining factor, and the decisive moment
for history. The early church received the daily strength for this task
from the writings of the Jewish law and prophets; the faith of the prophet
John and Jesus himself; the witness of baptism; their communal meals
celebrated to proclaim the death of Jesus; and in the gathered prayer to
God and Christ. All the words and stories of Jesus and all that they
demanded were told over and over again. Thus the original sources for the
gospels and New Testament are to be found in the early church.
