Jedność pierwotnego Kościoła w świetle Dziejów Apostolskich
The Unity of the Early Church in the Light of the Acts of the Apostles

Summary/Abstract: The unity of the followers of Christ is a great ideal pursued by Christians through prayer and all kinds of efforts. This article attempts to demonstrate how the early Church tried to respond to the call of Christ to be in unity (cfr. J 17,20-21) and to be one flock (cfr. J 10,1-21). Reference was made to the book of Acts, which tells the story of the spreading and development of Christianity. This is a paradigmatic history that has as its goal not the detailed information about what happened at that time, but above all its goal is the formation of the readers. The original Christian communities presented on the pages of the book of Acts appear as communities of unity and love. This image is strengthened especially by the so-called summaria, i.e. texts that describe situations lasting for a longer period of time or events repeated continuously over an extended period of time. These texts are three in number: 2,41-47; 4,32-35; 5,11-16. The book of Acts also shows that the followers of Christ – for the sake of unity – steadfastly remained in the apostles’ teaching, the breaking of the bread and prayer (2,42). This image supplements the many other passages attesting to the unity and mutual love of the followers of Christ. This unity is constituted by various groups and bodies such as the Apostles, the Seven, elders, teachers and prophets.

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