The first Gentile to be converted to Christianity

People of the Book – Cornelius

It is widely recognized that the spread of the Gospel is universal in scope, razing the boundaries between nationalities, classes and people. It seems a worthwhile endeavor then to examine the first non-Israelite to be convinced of the truth of the Christian message.

Jesus Christ had numerous positive encounters with those outside the traditional boundaries of orthodox (lowercase “o”) first-century Judaism, for instance the Syro-Phoenician woman (Mk 7:25-30), the Samaritan at the well (Jn 4:1-26), and the centurion from Capernaum (Mt 8:8). But Cornelius is traditionally held up for honor as the first Gentile to be converted to Christianity after the resurrection by the preaching of the Apostles, the mandate given them by the Lord to go into the whole world and baptize those they encountered in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The Acts of the Apostles describes Cornelius as a centurion, one God-fearing, prayerful and charitable to those in need. At the time, most non-Jews in the ancient Near East were polytheists, worshipping multiple gods, as their Roman conquerors largely did. By contrast, Cornelius, though uncircumcised and not a Hebrew by birth, is traditionally believed to have been a monotheist, recognizing the one creator of the universe, even before his stunning encounter with Peter.

Acts 10 records Cornelius praying during the day’s ninth hour, 3 p.m., the traditional time when the daily sacrifice of the tamid lamb was offered in the Temple to atone for the sins of Israel as a nation and to perpetually renew the collective covenant with Yahweh. (One can see the connections with Calvary that the Gospel authors later made concerning the timeframe of Christ’s death and the rending of the veil in the Temple in light of this fact). While Cornelius was not a Jew, he apparently followed a similarly constructed day of prayer for which the ninth hour served as the exact midpoint between noon and dusk. (Many contemporary monastic orders still follow a similar regiment).

A radiant vision explained to Cornelius that he ought to set up a meeting with a certain Peter, at that time residing in Joppa with a tanner named Simon.

The following day, Peter is reciting his daily prayers on a rooftop less than 40 miles away. As is often the case with the very human depiction of Peter in the Scriptures, we can understand as his mind wanders to contemplate what he would like to eat that night. God speaks to him, encouraging him to recognize that dietary laws are not the final arbiter of holiness, and that Peter can move beyond the strictly Jewish context in the choice of food, and as we will see, in company. He follows the prompting of the Spirit to eat what he had previously considered unthinkable, and to visit the house of Cornelius, to socialize with a centurion whom he would’ve just hours before considered highly unsuitable companionship.

While together, Peter explains to Cornelius that as shocking as it would be to flout the customs of his people, he no longer felt bound to worry about the ritual purity of what he ate and with whom he interacted. In the fledgling Christian community, no longer were the Gentiles to be considered fundamentally separate from the Israelites. “God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean” (Acts 10:28).

Cornelius then agrees to be baptized in water, as the Holy Spirit has brought the two God-fearing men of differing backgrounds and traditions together and descended upon their gathering.

We can learn much about what the church is and embodies in studying Cornelius. He offers an outstanding model of God’s shattering traditional divisions and a perfect foil to the desire to have faith and fraternal relationships on our own, often narrow-minded, terms. Perhaps a small but vocal xenophobic minority which is rampant today in some circles that claim to be in line with Christian values ought to reflect on this text and prayerfully examine their consciences, for in the Mystical Body of Christ, and in human brotherhood in general, we are all one and working toward a common goal of life in harmony with God and each other.

Michael M. Canaris of Collingswood is an administrator at Fairfield University’s Center for Faith and Public Life and is on the faculty for the Department of Philosophy, Theology, and Religious Studies at Sacred Heart University.