Changes

==The wild olive branch==

==The wild olive branch==

The church in Rome was begun as a Jewish fellowship, started by those who returned from Pentecost in Jerusalem,<ref>[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%202%20;&version=9; Acts 2]</ref> not by an [[apostle]]. As these Jewish believers evangelized, many Gentile believers joined them. Around 50 AD [[Claudius]] banished many Jews from Rome,<ref>Barclay, John M. G.; Hooker, Morna Dorothy and McMurdo, John Philip (ed.) "Early Christian Thought in Its Jewish Context" (Cambridge University Press; 2007) ISBN 0-5210-4412-X</ref> leaving the church entirely Gentile. Twelve years later [[Nero]] invited the Jews back to stimulate trade. However the Gentiles refused to allow the Messianic Jewish believers back into the church, having concluded that Claudius' rejection signified God's rejection, which is probably the first appearance of [[Replacement Theology]].<ref>[http://fp.thebeers.f9.co.uk/olive.htm ''The Olive Tree and the wild olive branch''] "The Wild Olive Branch" Accessed 18 February 2008</ref>

The church in Rome was begun as a Jewish fellowship, started by those who returned from [[Pentecost]] in [[Jerusalem]],<ref>[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%202%20;&version=9; Acts 2]</ref> not by an [[apostle]]. As these Jewish believers evangelized, many Gentile believers joined them. Around 50 AD [[Claudius]] banished many Jews from Rome,<ref>Barclay, John M. G.; Hooker, Morna Dorothy and McMurdo, John Philip (ed.) "Early Christian Thought in Its Jewish Context" (Cambridge University Press; 2007) ISBN 0-5210-4412-X</ref> leaving the church entirely Gentile. Twelve years later [[Nero]] invited the Jews back to stimulate trade. However the Gentiles refused to allow the Messianic Jewish believers back into the church, having concluded that Claudius' rejection signified God's rejection, which is probably the first appearance of [[Replacement Theology]].<ref>[http://fp.thebeers.f9.co.uk/olive.htm ''The Olive Tree and the wild olive branch''] "The Wild Olive Branch" Accessed 18 February 2008</ref>

[[Paul]]'s [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%209-11;&version=9; letter to the Roman church] addresses this matter, and he urges them to remember that they are like a "wild olive tree, grafted in" among the Jews, and warns them against "conceit", particularly as it is the Jewish root which supported their Christian branch. ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%2011:17,18,25;&version=9; Romans 11:17,18,25])

[[Paul]]'s [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%209-11;&version=9; letter to the Roman church] addresses this matter, and he urges them to remember that they are like a "wild olive tree, grafted in" among the Jews, and warns them against "conceit", particularly as it is the Jewish root which supported their Christian branch. ([http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%2011:17,18,25;&version=9; Romans 11:17,18,25])