The practical application, in day-to-day living, of the new attitude to life in the believers, had to be worked out. This was needed by the J believers, just as much as by the Gentile converts who joined the Ch quite soon. The problem for the Jewish Christians and also for the' fearers' among the Gentiles who had attached themselves to a J synagogue congregation, concerned the demands of the Jewish Was it necessary for a believer in Jesus Christ to continue to folio the requirements of the Law? Was it necessary for a Gentile 'God-fearer’ to accept the Law and particularly the requirement about circumcision along with acceptance of Jesus Christ as Saviour? Greeks and Romans did not practice circumcision.

With Gentile converts from a pagan background, a great many problems arose. To begin with, such converts had no knowledge of the Je Scriptures as a preparation for the coming of Jesus Christ; they very different cultural background from the Jewish converts and been idol-worshippers. The letters of Paul are very illuminating about the problems which faced the Gentile Christian congregations. The Christian attitude to sexual behaviour, the relationship between man and woman between slave and free person, between rich and poor, between people of different nations, all had to be worked out, with many other problems. The letters of James and Peter deal with moral problems just as much as do the letters of Paul. Both Peter and Paul, in their letters, instruct the Christians to whom they are writing, about the proper attitude for a Christian to hold towards the political authorities of their time.

We should notice that the apostolic teaching was given normally through oral instruction; teaching today is' a person-to-person activity, through exchange of spoken ideas. Even when it became necessary to teach and instruct through letters, or the later gospels, what was written still needed careful explanation and discussion. Today, in our Churches, the spoken word is still very important in explaining the written word.

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