~220: Heresy of Millenialism

2. ~220: Heresy of Millenialism - Revelation 20:1-6 - Commodian the main proponent - A 1,000 year period of paradise is imminent - Condemned at the Council of Iconium in 230. - Nicea (325) included “whose kingdom shall have no end” in Creed to comdemn it. - Condemned again at Council of Constantinople in 381.

3. Christian Emperor Anti-Christian Emperor 235: Maximinius 244: Philip 249: Decius 230: Alexander Severus 249-251: 2nd worst period of persecution June 250: All must call on the gods by sacrificing to them, obtaining certificates that they have so done 250: Cyprian of Carthage: “There is no salvation outside the Church…He can no longer have God for his Father who has not the Church for his mother…There is one God, and Christ is One, and there is one chair founded upon the rock by the Word of the Lord…To depart from the bishop is to depart from the Church, the Ark of Salvation.”

4. 250: Heresy of Novationism A reaction to intense persecution under Decius, towards those who had apostisized. Started by priest Novatius, who opposed the newly-elected head of the church in Rome and declared himself head. 1. Baptized Christians who had denied their faith or sacrificed to pagan gods cannot be readmitted. 2. Second marriages are unlawful. 3. The Church is corrupted. Roman church quickly excommunicated Novatian and condemned his heresy.

5. ~250: Heresy of Manichaeism Mani of Persia wrote his own version of Scriptures and claimed to be the Holy Spirit. This Iranian gnosticism was a synthesis of Christianity, Zoroastrianism and Buddhism. Decius ordered that Mani be burned. 1. Creation is by the kings of light and dark. Christ represents light, Satan dark. 2. The Apostles modified Christ’s teaching; Mani corrected it. 3. Christ’s body is an illusion. In 381 Patriarch Theodosius stripped Manichaeans of their rights; in 387 Augustine converted from Manichaeism to Christianity.

6. Origen (185-254) - Christian family in Alexandria - Embraced martyrdom - Lawyer & disciple of Clement of Alexandria - 204: Bp. Demetrius appoints him head of school - greatest theologian of Alexandrian school - one of the most influential pre-Constantine Fathers - Matthew 19:12

7. Origen, to pupil Gregory Thaumaturgos “I wish you to use all the strength of your mind for the advantage of Christianity, which should be your highest goal. To achieve this I desire you to take from the Greek philosophy those spheres of knowledge which are potentially an introduction to Christianity, and whatever information from geometry and astronomy may serve to explain the sacred books.”

8. Origen (185-254) - Prolific writer & lecturer; brought many to the Faith - Frequent prayer sanctifies, unifies to God & helps avoid sin - “Origen’s definition of salvation as growth into unity with God, or deification, has become standard in the Orthodox Church.” - Archpriest John Morris - Used Hellenistic philosophers to expresss Biblical content; was called the ‘Christian Platonist’. -The only way to wisdom is through prayerful & exacting study of Scripture - concept of Sola Scriptura

9. Origen - The fleshly existence of God’s Son enables us to rise through the faith to a knowledge of eternal truth, which is always the same, yet always adapting to the varying needs of its recipients. - In His relation to God, the Word is God in the same way no real differences can be made between a thought and its thinker. - The Word gives life and knowledge to rational beings. - Christ is the Mediator and High Priest, who represents humanity to God and God to humanity. - Ultimately God’s providence will be able to draw everyone to Him so that we may all exercise perfect freedom by choosing Him. I.e. Ultimately all will receive salvation, even Satan. - Our souls pre-exist and our earthly bodies will not resurrect.

10. Origen - Origen also said that the Son was generated by the Father. - “He so emphasized the unique oneness of God that he left little place for the equality of the Son with the Father.” - Archpriest John Morris - Soon, the Arians would take this further to the subordination of the Son, concluding that the Son was a creature. Although Origen had great influence on the Cappadocian Fathers, they and Athanasios would insist on the sameness of the Father and Son. - Provoked creation of the Antiochian catechetical school by Bp. Lucian in 312 - Condemned in 400 by Patriarch Theophilus of Alexandria, by a synod in Constantinople in 543, and by the Fifth Ecumenical Council

12. - 260: Emperor Valierian defeated by the Persians - Successor son revokes edict of persecution; 44 years of peace for Christians - Persians overrun Syria & capture Antioch - Goths cross Danube & ravage Balkans, Greece & Asia Minor - Franks cross the Rhine into Spain & North Africa

13. ~275: Heresy of Arianism - Started by Arius (250-336), a priest in Alexandria - Position based upon John 14:28 - Christ is the first created being. He was created by the Father and therefore distinct from and inferior to the Father. - First great doctrinal dispute in the Church; lasted over 100 years. - Preached against by Athanasios, Hilary, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa and Gregory of Nazianzus. - Repeatedly in and out of favor with various emperors. Condemned at Nicea (325). Exonerated at Synod of Tyre in 335. Recondemned at Council of Constantinople in 381.

14. - 275: Emperor Aurelian dedicates great temple to Sol Invictus; Christians respond by choosing that day to celebrate the birth of Christ - 280: appearance of monasticism in Nitrian desert of Egypt - rapid growth of the Church means “tares are growing so rapidly they are choking out the wheat” - security and comfortable living are enemies of the Church - take to the desert as basketweavers, shunning books and teaching each other orally - initially ‘heremetic’, I.e. living alone