T he Early Christian Church

1. The Early Christian Church Module Four Hy 235

2. Early Christian Communities • Paul the first missionary • Preached in synagogues, first to Jews, • Then to Gentiles/Greeks • Established communities of believers (“the way”) • His letters to them became the core of the Old Testament, after the Gospels.

3. Earliest Christian Communities • Believers met in homes initially • “Proper” churches established as Christianity grew. • Property owned collectively registered to an Episcopus, or overseer or custodian. Episcopus came to mean the chief person in the congregation, or the Bishop • Ekklesia the word for the congregation, or ecclesia in Latin. • Word meant “people called out” • “Church” evolved from kuriakon, or “the Lord’s Place”

4. Early Christian Communities • Worship: • Studying apostles’ teaching by preaching, reading • Fellowship; the breaking of bread and to prayer. (Acts 2:42) • All early services in Greek • About 200 A.D. Romans began to use Latin, although retaining Greek phrases, Kyrie eleison, “Lord have mercy.”

5. Problems with Rome • Romans, under Emperor Nero, started persecuting Christians, 64 A.D.. • Succeeding episodes • Why? • Monotheism in a polytheistic society • Refusal to admit deity of the Emperor • Perceived as joyless loners • Weird practices, like “cannibalism” and “drinking blood”

6. Correspondence between Pliny and Trajan • Pliny the Younger appointed governor of Bithynia, modern Turkey, in A.D. 111. A just man with profound respect for law. See correspondence

7. Early References to Christianity by Josephus • Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.[44] • Titus Flavius Josephus (37-100 A.D.)

8. Early Heresies and Heretics • Heresy • Middle English, from Old French eretique, from Medieval Latinhaereticus, from Ancient Greek αἱρετικός (hairetikos, “able to choose, factious”) • Orthodoxy • From Late Latinorthodoxus, from Ancient Greek ὀρθόδοξος (orthodoxos), from ὀρθός (orthos, “straight”) + δόξα (doxa, “opinion”).

9. The Christian Problem with Gnostics Leaders of the church opposed it, “for they saw it as a denial of several crucial Christian doctrines, such as creation, incarnation, and resurrection. For that reason, the church at large devised methods to combat it.”

10. Early Heresies and Heretics • Flash forward moment: Gnosticism today. • Gnosticism • Basically denies the divinity of Christ and claims that “secret knowledge” is required for salvation and life with God. • It is not well defined. A vast and amorphous movement both within and outside the Church.

11. Creation of the Canon • To refute heresies such as Gnosticism, Manicheanism, and others, it was necessary to codify and define precisely Christian texts and Christian truths. • The “canon” came into being.

12. Enter Marcion, who creates his own alternative to orthodox Christianity • In the second century, son of the bishop of Sinope in Pontus, was early a Christian, but disliked both Judaism and materialism, and so developed his own version of Christianity, and his church rivaled Christianity for several centuries. • Another heresy! The Marcionites

13. Creation of the Canon • Marcion’slist of sacred books was the first attempt to put together a “New Testament.” His list forced the church to start compiling a list of sacred Christian writings to accompany the usual Jewish scriptures read, plus some of the gospels, and the letters of Paul.

14. Creation of the Canon • Sample (on right), the Book of James. • Greek word canon means ruler for measuring. • Canonical books established the “rule for faith”

15. Creation of the Canon • Book of Luke • The Gospels • The letters of the Apostles, especially Paul • By about 150 A.D. a “canon” was emerging • By 200 A.D. a list existed as a finished collection. The Muratorian canon.

16. Many Contributors to Early Christianity • Among them Iranaeus of Lyons, southern France. • Helped develop Christian theology and • Ended the gnostic threats to Christian orthodoxy.

17. Clement of Alexandria • Probably born in Athens. Parents were pagans. He, however, was converted while young. • Lived at the end of the second and early third century, much of his life in Alexandria, one of the most active intellectual centers in its time. • Especially responded in his writings to pagans, who thought of Christianity as absurd and irrational.

18. And Jumping Ahead a Bit… • We shall do the Emperor Constantine in Module 5. • In 313 A.D. declared religious toleration for Christians • In 325 A.D. made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire

19. Eusebius of Caesarea • Eusebius of Caesarea was in all probability one of the most learned Christian of this time. He was also one of the most ardent admirers of Constantine and his work. And he was an historian, adding to his lustre!

20. Eusebius of Caesarea, 2 • Eusebius was born around a year or 260, probably Palestine. He lived in Caesarea for most of his life and there wrote his most important work, Church History. To Eusebius we owe “a great deal of the story that we have been telling” most of which would have been lost.

21. Ambrose of Milan • Perhaps there was no more dramatic figure in the history of great Christian leaders in the fourth century as Ambrose of Milan. • An early portrait of Ambrose of Milan which may in fact be based on an actual portrait.

22. Ambrose of Milan • There occurred on the most famous confrontations and the history of Christianity between the spiritual and the secular power when Ambrose confronted the Emperor, Theodosius, with a slaughter of people in the city of Thessalonica. • Ambrose demanded that Theodosius repent. And until he did Ambrose forbid the Emperor from taking Communion. • The Emperor backed down and did repent, and that act is remembered in the history of Christianity as one of the signal moments in which the secular power bowed before the spiritual power.

23. A Point to Ponder…or Flash Forward in Christian History • Do great men make history? • Or are they swept along by the forces of history and just happen to emerge at the right time? • Martin Luther

24. As we near end of this Module on the Early Christian Church • Martyrdom of Perpetua • Persecution endured • Growth of the Church • Heresies rebutted • Apostolic succession defined and established • And…

25. The Apostle’s Creed It’s basic text probably put together in Rome around 150. Called the “symbol of the faith.” Symbol meant a means of recognition in this context, and distinguished orthodox Christians from Gnostics and Marcionites. Basically it grew from three questions asked of all who were to be baptized. See top of p. 64, text, JBG. This early creed was directed against Gnostics and Marcionites. See this site, good for explanation of various elements of the Creed.

26. Apostle’s Creed Established as Canon • Latin Text (ca. A.D. 700)  Credo in Deum Patremomnipotentem; Creatoremcoeli et terrae.  • Et in Jesum Christum, Filiumejusunicum, Dominum nostrum; qui conceptusest de SpirituSancto, natus ex Maria virgine; passus sub PontioPilato, crucifixus, mortuus, et sepultus; descendit ad inferna; tertia die resurrexit a mortuis; ascendit ad coelos; sedet ad dexteram Dei Patrisomnipotentis; indeventurus (est) judicarevivos et mortuos.  • Credo in Spiritum Sanctum; sanctamecclesiamcatholicam; sanctorum communionem; remissionempeccatorum; carnisresurrectionem; vitamoeternam. Amen.

27. Or, if you prefer English Traditional English Version  I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.  And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; he descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.  I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic Church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. AMEN.

28. Or Greek, for you purists • Greek Text Πιστεύω εις Θεον Πατερα, παντοκράτορα, ποιητην ουρανου και γης. • Και (εις) `Ιησουν Χριστον, υίον αυτου τον μονογενη, τον κύριον ήμων, τον συλληφθέντα εκ πνεύματοσ άγίου, γεννηθέντα εκ Μαρίας της παρθένου, παθόντα επι Ποντίου Πιλάτου, σταυρωθέντα, θανόντα, και ταφέντα, κατελθόντα εις τα κατώτατα, τη τρίτη `ημέρα `αναστάντα `απο των νεκρων, `ανελθόντα εις τους ουρανούς, καθεζόμενον εν δεξια θεου πατρος παντο δυνάμου, εκειθεν ερχόμενον κρϊναι ζωντας και νεκρούς.  • Πιστεύω εις το Πνυμα το `Αγιον, αγίαν καθολικην εκκλησίαν, αγίων κοινωνίαν, άφεσιν αμαρτιων, σαρκος ανάστασιν, ξωήν αιώνιον. Αμήν. 

29. And Apostolic Succession Although canon and creed were used to refute the various heresies and establish the beliefs of the church, “the debate finally came to the authority of the church.” (JBG, p. 64) And apostolic succession became of primary importance in establishing authority. In this way, the triumph of the “catholic” Church, meaning the universal church, descended directly from the apostles, became a fact. And it was centered in Rome And in Rome the Emperor Constantine revolutionized the relationship between the Christians and the State. Go to Module Five.