Family Man
Cornelius the centurion, whose story is told in Acts 10, is the best known of those ancient Gentiles whom the Jews of their day called “fearers of God”; these were devout pagans who worshiped the God of Israel and attached themselves to the local synagogues in urban centers throughout the Greco-Roman world and the whole Fertile Crescent. Without becoming “proselytes,” full converts to Judaism, these believers adopted the Jewish faith and assumed the discipline of certain practices of Jewish piety, such as prayer, fasting, and almsgiving (Acts 10:1–4, 30–31).
These pagan seekers, who eventually became the core of Gentile Christianity, found in the monotheistic faith of Judaism an intellectual integrity, moral seriousness, and domestic discipline—in short, a pietas—that appealed to the deepest aspirations and ideals of ancient Roman tradition.
Master & Protector
In addition to this general attraction, Luke’s depiction of Cornelius suggests a further resonance with his Roman roots. Luke calls him “a pious man and a fearer of God with all his household.” “With all his household” is an important key to understanding Cornelius. Our centurion was not just a devout individual.
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Patrick Henry Reardon is pastor emeritus of All Saints Antiochian Orthodox Church in Chicago, Illinois, and the author of numerous books, including, most recently, Out of Step with God: Orthodox Christian Reflections on the Book of Numbers (Ancient Faith Publishing, 2019).
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