courageous faith and clear doctrine martyrs and ordinary christians struggled asking themselves,...
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Courageous Faith and Clear DoctrineMartyrs and ordinary Christians struggled asking themselves, “Who was Jesus?”
First Century Christians
Outside: Persecution by the Romans Inside: Disagreement about beliefs and
practices Foreshadows what is to come…how?
This continued throughout the second and third century.
Why did persecution begin?
Roman empire was falling apart Corrupt emperors Barbarian attacks Believed they needed conformity/unity Christians refused to participate in
religious sacrifices and paying homage to divine emperors unpatriotic
“Blood of martyrs became seed of Christianity” - Tertullian
‘Martyr’: means witness Heroic Term used by Christian church for one
who openly professed faith before a hostile public or in front of a judicial hearing
They die because they live in a culture hostile to their beliefs
Martyrology
Before end of the persecution era their “birthdays”, date of their death, were liturgically commemorated.
Why?
Church structures developed Developed in 2nd Century Held communities together Bishops- Supervisor Deacons and Deaconesses Bishop of Rome
Decline into chaos:
Barbarians threaten Empire’s order No tolerance for non-conformity Christians were forced to sacrifice Those who refused were killed Diocletian
Competent persecuted dissenting Christians Ordered churches destroyed, sacred
books burned, leaders executed
Some Christians sacrificed to idols in order to save their lives.
The question arises: Should these Christians be allowed to re-enter the community?
What to do?
Apostates – people who renounce their faith
Most wanted to repent and return. Question too about the validity of the
sacraments of priests who were apostates? Today: validity of sacraments doesn’t depend on goodness of priest
Bishop of Rome: said they could return after repentance
Becomes first form of which sacrament? The sacrament of Reconciliation.
Constantine’s conversion
After Diocletian – several contenders for throne.
Fought Chi-ro XP on shields (Greek letters for
Christ’s name) Victory Arch to son god Constantine honored Son of God instead
The Edict of Milan
313 CE Granted freedom of worship to Christians Moved from under to above ground Christian clergy exempt from paying
taxes Constantine built many churches
Church and State Entwined
Hesitant to oppose Why? Tension between being true to faith
versus loyalty and subservience to gov’t – saturate church history for centuries.
Theodosius-paganism declared illegal
Effects on Church
Christianity – official religion of Empire, was enforced and only Christians could serve in the army
Church, over the centuries became intimately connected with corruption of power.
Church given lands, Bishops –ranked high in public life
Church of 350AD -far from church of apostles
Clarity of doctrine
Conflict within the Church Vigorously opposed anything that did not
square with basic aspects of faith Heresies: Beliefs contrary to some
essential belief of faith
Gnosticism
What were the beliefs of the Gnostics?Material things including the body were evil.Jesus was an apparitionDivine not humanHumans were ignorant of GodOnly Gnostics would be saved through their special knowledge
Caused turmoil in the Church but led to clarity
What did the Christians formulate to answer this heresy in 200 AD? The Apostle’s Creed
All catechumens had to understand and accept it publically What is a catechumen? A canditate seeking
Baptism
Arianism
What were the beliefs of the Arians?Denied Jesus’ divinityDid not believe that God could ever take the form of a human beingJesus was created by God and was subordinate to God.
What did the Church do to refute Arius?
Council of Nicaea 325 CE Bishops met Condemned Arius as an heretic
one who refuses to change one’s wrong stand
Nicene creed, Jesus is not made by God but is one with God
Is this the last that we hear of Arianism?
About heresy
Most heretics are not simply trouble makers Beliefs have been thought out and they are
deeply convicted Goes against official teaching Many religious matters allow room for
various views.
St. Athanasius
“Jesus is related to God as brightness is to light”
The two cannot be separated. The Scriptures state that if we know
Jesus, we know God. Strongly opposed by Arian bishops
Implications:
Separation of church and state is an attempt to avoid kind of power entanglement that characterized Christianity and the Roman Empire from Constantine’s time on. At times, Christianity has been thought of
as the religion of the society Church always needs to maintain its
identity as a potential critic of society and government
Church leaders used precise philosophical language to respond and teach about heresies BUT more abstract and intellectual than scriptural faith handed down by apostles. Vatican II – changes to attempt to get
back to biblical, concrete faith of early church
Review
Why did Gentiles convert to Christianity at a time when paganism was booming?
St. Paul Movie Who was Paul Where did he travel What did he teach/write about?
Paul Quizes Eucharist in Early Church vs. today
Aspects of the Christian Testament Messages of Paul’s letters What led up to the final break between
Jews and Christians? Christian persecutions-Why did they
begin? Who were the Christian martyrs?
Apostates Edict of Milan Constantine Theodosius Church and State entwined