There is significant debate about the effect of the Church on the world. Has it really upset the existing social order? For many years, academic studies have been dominated by Hans Conzelmann's thesis according to which Christians are "docile subjects and trouble arises only when the Jews awaken the population with false accusations against the Church". Later, Richard Cassidy (Political Issues in Luke-Acts) challenges this perspective by seeing Jesus as a “nonviolent social dissident who was…a potential danger to the Roman Empire” by comparing Jesus' effect on Rome to Gandhi's effect on the British Empire. Although Luke (in Acts) tends to describe Rome as “just and respectful in its treatment of Christians, and the apostles are certainly not trying to foment rebellion against the empire,” Hays also notes that the apostles and the Christian community sometimes trouble the cultural conventions that create tension with the “established social order”. Indeed, “Luke's vision of the transformative power of the church… turns the world upside down not through armed revolution but through the formation of the church as a counterculture, an alternative community of witness.” Schnackenburg believes the church saw itself as the “true 'Israel of God'” and as “rightful heirs of the ancients of the covenant.” They preserved the Jewish lifestyle, while confessing Jesus as the Messiah, followed the teachings of the apostles, observed the Eucharist and communal meals, and held worship services in private homes with communal prayer. Although outwardly identifiable with Judaism, it was “a community separate in faith and worship” whose life was influenced by these practices.” Although there were controversies within the community, these are presented as rice…middle of paper…dom. and the Jewish (Deuteronomic) ideal of the covenant community. Aristotle argued that true friendship was an “extension of self-respect,” citing proverbs such as “Friends have but one soul” and “The goods of friends are common property.” Additionally (as mentioned above), Deuteronomy 15 outlines blessings for God's people who remain faithful to the covenant (Deut. 15:4-5, 7-8). Finally, Luke Johnson develops the idea that "goods function as symbols of response to God" and therefore the response of the Jerusalem community "are sure signs of the presence of the Spirit of God in their midst" and the fact that they shared the goods it demonstrated “the effective grace of God”. Once again, the dynamism of life and the growth of the community is attributed to the movement of the Spirit.