The Early Church

A friend with a PhD in New Testament studies once clearly explained to me, in the context of why we should not take Tony Campolo's word for it that the early church was pacifist, "If someone asked you to describe what the 20th C church believed, what would you say?"  I didn't answer, likely having an uncertain look. Imagine yourself grimacing slightly and shaking your head a bit. "The same was true of the 1st C church," he said. "They believed a lot of different things."