The Papuans in the New Testament and Early Church History
The New Testament and early church history do not contain any direct references to the Papuan people. The geographical scope of the biblical narratives and early Christian writings primarily encompasses the Middle East, North Africa, and the Roman Empire [2, 4].
The New Testament books, such as the Gospels, Acts, and the Pauline Epistles, focus on events and communities within this specific region [2]. For instance, the Apostle Paul's letters are addressed to churches in cities like Rome, Corinth, Ephesus, Philippi, Colossae, and Thessalonica, all located within the Roman sphere of influence [1, 3, 5, 6, 7]. Similarly, early church fathers like Clement of Rome addressed communities in places such as Corinth [4].
While the Bible mentions various ethnic groups and nations, these are typically those with whom ancient Israel and the early Christian communities had direct or indirect contact. For example, the Philistines are mentioned as "Cherethites" in the Old Testament [8]. The focus of these texts is not on cataloging all peoples of the world, but on the unfolding of God's redemptive plan within a particular historical and geographical context.
The absence of Papuans in these historical and theological records does not imply any theological judgment or exclusion. Rather, it reflects the geographical limitations and historical scope of the documents themselves. The early church's mission, as recorded in the New Testament, began in Jerusalem and spread "to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8), a phrase that would have been understood in the context of the known world at that time.
Sources
- Ephesians (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Ephesians 5:30: For--Greek, "Because" (Co1 6:15). Christ nourisheth and cherisheth the Church as being of one flesh with Him. Translate, "Because we are members of His body (His literal body), being OF His flesh and of His bones" [ALFORD] (Gen 2:23-24). The Greek expresses, "Being formed out of" or "of the substance of His flesh." Adam's deep sleep, wherein Eve was formed from out of his opened side, is an emblem of Christ's death, which was the birth of the Spouse, the Church. Joh 12:24; Joh 19:34-35, to which Eph 5:25-27 allude, as implying atonement by His blood”
- Introduction “Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, Introduction, section 71: MLA Style Kirby, Peter. "Historical Jesus Theories." Early Christian Writings . http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/1clement-hoole.html . Gospels Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Letters of Paul Romans 1 Corinthians 2 Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Philippians Colossians 1 Thessalonians 2 Thessalonians 1 Timothy 2 Timothy Titus Philemon Letter to the Hebrews General Letters James 1 Peter 2 Peter 1 John 2 John 3 John Jude Revelation Gospels Gospel of Thomas Egerton Gospel Gospel of Peter Oxyrhychus 840 Gospel of Mary Epistula Apos”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 109: 2:19 2:21 2:24 4:3 4:6 4:8 4:11-12 4:14 5:12 5:12 5:13 5:14 5:15 5:16 5:16 5:16 5:17-18 1 Peter 1:2 1:2 1:2 1:3 1:5 1:5 1:9 1:11 1:12 1:12 1:15 1:16 1:18-19 1:18-19 1:19 1:19-20 1:20 1:21 1:21 1:21 1:21 1:22 1:23 1:23 1:23 2:5 2:9 2:9 2:9 2:13 2:17 2:17 2:18 2:24 2:24 2:24 2:24 2:24 2:25 2:25 3:18 3:19 3:21 3:21 3:21 3:21 3:21 3:21 4:3 4:3 4:8 4:8 4:11 4:11 4:14 4:17 5:1 5:2 5:2 5:3 5:5 5:6 5:7 5:8 5:8 5:9 2 Peter 1:4 1:4 1:4 1:5 1:13-14 1:14 1:14 1:19 2:1 2:4 2:4 3:4 3:8 3:9 3:16 11:9 1 John 1:1 1:7 1:7 1:7 1:9 1:9 1:10 2:1 2:1 2”
- Schaff ANF/NPNF (Patristic) “ANF Vol 1: Clement, Polycarp, Ignatius, Barnabas, Papias, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus — CHAP. I.--THE SALUTATION. PRAISE OF THE CORINTHIANS BEFORE THE: BREAKING FORTH OF SCHISM AMONG THEM. THE Church of God which sojourns at Rome, to the Church of God sojourning at Corinth, to them that are called and sanctified by the will of God, through our Lord Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, from Almighty God through Jesus Christ, be multiplied. Owing, dear brethren, to the sudden and successive calamitous events which have happened to ourselves, we feel that we have been somewhat tardy in turning”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 109: 10:4 11:19 11:19 11:19-20 11:26 12:13 13:9 13:9 14:9 14:14 16:20 16:20 18:4 18:7-8 18:9 18:20 18:20 18:20 18:20 18:20 18:21 18:21 18:21-22 18:23 18:23 18:24 18:24 18:27 18:31 18:32 18:32 20:10 20:12 20:43-44 22:25-26 28:10 29:4 34:4 34:23 34:24 34:25 36:22 36:22 36:22 36:25 36:26 36:26 36:26-27 36:32 37:4 37:24-26 48:21 48:35 Daniel 2:21 2:34 2:37 2:37-38 2:44 4:17 4:25 4:27 4:27 5:18-19 6:22 7:9 7:10 7:10 7:10 7:25 9 9:5 9:7 9:18 9:18-20 9:20 9:24 9:24 9:26-27 9:27 10:13 10:13 10:20 10:21 12:1 12:1-2 12:2 12:3 Hosea 1:11 2:2 2:9 ”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 109: 3:6 3:7 3:8 3:14 3:17 3:18 3:18 3:18 4:4 4:4 4:4 4:4 4:6 4:6 4:6 4:7 4:7 4:8 4:8-9 4:10 4:10 4:10 4:13 4:16 5:1 5:2 5:4 5:5 5:6 5:6 5:6 5:6 5:6-7 5:6-7 5:10 5:10 5:10 5:10 5:18 5:18 5:18-19 5:18-21 5:19 5:19 5:19 5:19-20 5:19-21 5:20 5:20 5:20-21 5:21 5:21 5:21 5:21 5:21 5:21 5:21 6:7-8 6:8 6:16 6:16 6:16 7:1 7:1 7:1 7:1 7:2 7:2 7:10 7:10 8:16-17 9:6 9:7 10:4 10:4-5 10:4-6 10:8 11:2 11:14 11:14 12:2 12:7 12:7 12:8-9 12:9 12:21 13:4 13:4 13:4 13:5 13:13 Galatians 1:1 1:6 1:8 1:18 1:18 2:1-2 2:3 2:3-5 2:6 2:8 2:9 2:11 2:14 2:16 2:19”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 109: 4:5-6 4:6 4:11 4:12 4:18 Colossians 1:2-3 1:4 1:5 1:5 1:9-10 1:12 1:13 1:14 1:14 1:14 1:14 1:15 1:15 1:15 1:15 1:15 1:16 1:16 1:16-18 1:17 1:18 1:19-20 1:20 1:20 1:21 1:21-22 1:24 1:24 1:26 1:26 1:26 2:2 2:3 2:3 2:3 2:3 2:3 2:10 2:11 2:12 2:12 2:13-14 2:14 2:14 2:14-15 2:16 2:16-17 2:17 2:17 2:17 2:19 2:20 2:20-21 2:23 2:23 3:1 3:1 3:1-2 3:2 3:3 3:3 3:4 3:5 3:6 3:10 3:10 3:11 3:14 3:14 3:14 3:16 3:19 3:24 3:25 4:3 4:17 1 Thessalonians 1:5 2:13 2:18 2:20 3:5 3:12 3:13 4:3 4:4 4:5 4:7 4:7 4:15 4:16 4:16 4:16-17 5:2 5:9 5:17-18 5:19 ”
- 1 Samuel (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on 1 Samuel 30:14: the Cherethites--that is, the Philistines (Eze 25:16; Zep 2:5).”