Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment

Acts 10:1-2

Cornelius Calls for Peter

1 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. 2 He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.

Cornelius (Acts 10), represents a crucial bridge between Judaism and the Gentile world in the early Church. Let's break down his background and significance:

 

1. Who was Cornelius?

Cornelius is introduced in Acts 10 as a Roman centurion (commander of 100 soldiers) of the Italian Cohort stationed in Caesarea Maritima, a major Roman administrative capital in Judea. Caesarea was a predominantly Gentile, Hellenistic city with a significant Jewish minority and a large synagogue. This environment fostered interaction between Jews and sympathetic Gentiles. As a centurion, he held significant authority and respect. Centurions were often the backbone of the Roman army, known for discipline and leadership. Although a Gentile (non-Jew), he is described as a "devout man who feared God" along with his household.

---

2. Was Cornelius using the Septuagint to read the Old Testament?

Yes, most likely. Cornelius used the Septuagint (LXX).

• Language and context: As a Gentile living in a Hellenized region (Caesarea), Cornelius would not have spoken Hebrew or Aramaic fluently. The Septuagint (LXX) — a Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures Old Testament — was widely used by Greek-speaking Jews and "God-fearers" like Cornelius.
• Evidence: The use of the Septuagint in the early church is well attested. Many New Testament quotations of the Old Testament align more closely with the Septuagint than with the Hebrew Masoretic Text.
• The Septuagint was:
• The scripture of Greek-speaking Jews throughout the diaspora. The version read aloud in synagogues attended by God-fearers like Cornelius. The primary means by which Gentiles interested in Judaism encountered the God of Israel, His laws, and His promises.
• His understanding of God, ethics, prophecy, and the hope for redemption would have been shaped entirely through the LXX and the teachings of the synagogue in Caesarea.

---

3. How did they believe in God?

Cornelius represents a class of Gentiles known as “God-fearers” (Greek: phoboumenos ton Theon), this was a well-recognized category in the 1st-century Greco-Roman world, particularly in diaspora Jewish communities, who:

• Believed in the one God of Israel, rather than the pantheon of Roman gods.
• Attended synagogue services and were drawn to Jewish ethics and monotheism. Deep respect and awe for the God of Israel ("God-fearing").
• Accepted much of Jewish belief and practice but often did not fully convert (e.g., did not undergo circumcision).
• Practiced moral discipline, prayer, and almsgiving — traits highly esteemed in Judaism. Adherence to the high ethical standards derived from Jewish law (as understood through the LXX and synagogue teaching), particularly emphasizing prayer, almsgiving, and justice (Acts 10:2, 4, 22).

Cornelius’ belief in God was shaped by exposure to Jewish worship and Scripture, mediated through Greek (i.e., the Septuagint), and likely influenced by interactions with Jewish communities in Caesarea.

---

4. Why were they called “devout” and “God-fearing”? Who was their God?

• “Devout” (Greek: eusebēs) referred to someone pious, reverent toward God, often applied to those who practiced prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. A genuine desire to know and serve this God faithfully, even without formal conversion to Judaism.
• “God-fearing” indicated a Gentile who revered the God of Israel, attended synagogue, and respected Jewish law and customs. His devotion wasn't superficial; it permeated his life (prayer "continually"). His actions (almsgiving, righteous conduct) demonstrated the reality of his faith.
• Their God was the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob — the God of Israel — whom they worshipped without idol worship. Cornelius worshipped the God of Israel, Yahweh.

The Jewish community in Caesarea respected him for his genuine adherence to core Jewish beliefs and ethics (Acts 10:22 - "respected by all the Jewish people"). He lived according to the "Noachide Laws" (ethical commandments seen as binding on all humanity) and likely observed some Jewish practices (prayer times, dietary restrictions?).

God Himself acknowledged Cornelius's prayers and alms as acceptable offerings (Acts 10:4), showing that true faith was recognized by God even before formal inclusion in the covenant community through Christ.

---

5. How did they pray to God?

Cornelius's prayer life was modeled on Jewish piety, learned through association with the synagogue. Cornelius likely followed Jewish prayer customs:

• At set times: Acts 10:3 says Cornelius saw a vision “at the ninth hour” (3:00 p.m.), a traditional Jewish prayer time (cf. Acts 3:1). Prayers would include praise for the one true God, thanksgiving, confession, intercession, and likely reading/meditation on the Septuagint. His prayers reflected his reverence and dependence on the God of Israel.
• Facing Jerusalem: Devout Gentiles often imitated Jewish customs, including the direction of prayer.
• With fasting and almsgiving: These were part of Jewish expressions of repentance and devotion (see Acts 10:2, 30–31).
• In a monotheistic, reverent tone, avoiding polytheistic practices typical of Roman religion.

Above all, it was a genuine, personal communication with God, as evidenced by God's direct response. His prayers were received by God as a memorial offering (Acts 10:4), echoing Old Testament sacrificial language.

---

6. How did they interact with the Hebrew-speaking Apostles?

Cornelius and other Gentile believers had increasing interaction with Jewish believers:

• The Language Barrier: The Apostles were primarily Aramaic-speaking (Hebrew was largely liturgical) Jews from Galilee/Judea. Cornelius was a Greek-speaking Gentile. Direct communication would have been difficult.
• Language mediation: Greek was the lingua franca of the Roman world, and most Apostles (especially in Acts) would have had at least some proficiency in Greek, especially those like Philip, Peter, or Paul, who moved in Hellenistic regions.
• Divine Intervention: God orchestrated the meeting through visions to both Cornelius and Peter (Acts 10:3-16, 10:9-16). This was essential to overcome Peter's deeply ingrained Jewish reservations about associating closely with Gentiles (Acts 10:28).
• Peter’s interaction (Acts 10): When Cornelius sent for Peter, the encounter was respectful and reverent (Cornelius even bows to Peter), and Peter affirms that God shows no partiality.
• Theological tension: The episode prompted a important shift — Gentiles could receive the Holy Spirit without becoming full proselytes (Acts 10:44–48). This challenged Jewish norms and prompted the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15) to decide how Gentiles should be included in the Church.
• The Holy Spirit Transcends Language: The most crucial interaction wasn't linguistic but spiritual. The Holy Spirit fell upon Cornelius and his Gentile household before baptism, while Peter was speaking (Acts 10:44-46). This miraculous event, accompanied by glossolalia (speaking in tongues), was the ultimate divine validation for Peter and the Jewish believers with him – God had accepted these Gentiles as Gentiles. Language became secondary to the evident work of the Spirit.
• Cornelius and others were baptized and accepted as full members of the community — a revolutionary move in the early church.

---

Conclusion

Cornelius represents a bridge between Judaism and Christianity:

He was a Greek-speaking Gentile drawn to Jewish monotheism. He was a devout, monotheistic Gentile "God-fearer" deeply influenced by Hellenistic Judaism through the Septuagint and synagogue teaching. He worshipped the God of Israel with sincere prayer and ethical living, earning the respect of the Jewish community. His divinely orchestrated encounter with Peter, overcoming significant cultural and linguistic barriers, demonstrated decisively that the Gospel and the gift of the Holy Spirit were for Gentiles as well as Jews, fundamentally shaping the identity and mission of the early Church. He stands as an important figure in the transition from a Jewish sect to a universal faith. His story in Acts 10 is important: it marks the breaking down of the wall between Jews and Gentiles in the early Church.

Through Cornelius, we see that the Gospel was reaching beyond the ethnic boundaries of Israel — in fulfillment of the prophecies that God’s salvation would go to the ends of the earth.

That is why the New Testament was written in Greek, not in Teochew or English! 

English didn’t exist yet — it evolved much later, around 1,000 years after the New Testament period.

If the New Testament had been written in Teochew, only a small regional audience could have read it. But written in Greek, it was positioned to change the world.