The Early Church

Summary

1: From Jerusalem to Rome

• the first Greek translation of the OT (Old Testament) was in the 3rd century BC, it was called the Septuagint. The story goes that king Ptolemy of Egypt ordered this translation and had appointed 72 translators who produced the translation in 72 days. Many Jews believe this version to have been granted divine assistance
• Early Christianity was loosely divided into 2 major parties:
  • Jewish-Christians
    • Jews who became Christian
    • AKA Ebionites
    • They magnified the position of James (Jesus’ brother) over Peter
    • They still observed Jewish law like staying away from pork and circumcision
    • eventually died off
  • Gentile-Christians
    • Gentile converts to Christianity
    • Became modern Christianity
• The early Church (pre 100AD) was never at odds with the state, in fact, they preached obedience to the state and encouraged paying tax to the Roman Empire. p. 24
• Issues between Christians and the Empire only started when Emperor Nero falsely accused the Christian movement to be responsible for an arson. p. 25-26
• Being Christian was a capital offense in the Romain Empire, many faced this punishment in the 2nd century
• The early persecution of the Christians was very limited and not enough to limit the spread of Christianity, but it was just enough for Christians to gain maximum publicity. p. 29
  • Tertullian said: “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” p. 29
• The early church privately commemorated the martyrs. Starting from the mid 3rd century, this commemoration went passed into the official and public liturgy. p. 30
• Overall, the early church, defined as pre 350AD, faced some sporadic persecution typically initiated by local Roman governors, but not enough where it caused disruptions to the spread of Christianity. Christianity was allowed to breath and expand and deal with critical internal problems. p.31

2: Faith and Order

• Marcion was an early ‘heretic’. He rejected the Old Testament and believed the OT god is not the same as the god of Jesus. His movement became known as Marcionism

3: Expansion and Growth

• When early Christians would get persecuted by the governor of some area, the rest of the Christians in that area would rise up and protest - this helped in the expansion and growth
• The appeal of early Christianity was great. They were known as a very brotherly community where everyone helps each other, financially too.
• Christianity was popular among woman because it preached equality between men and women in the eyes of God
• Christianity was anti-slavery. The early church used their funds to free slave.
  • In the church, slaves were treated no different from free people. In fact, slaves even became bishops
• Christianity was spread to north African by the year 200 by missionaries
• At a council in the year 314, three British bishops attended, so we know Christianity must have spread to Britain much before that
• The first critics of the church were orthodox Jews
• early Christian thought borrowed much from Stoic ethics and Platonic metaphysics
• Constantine converted in early 4th century. This was viewed as a divine act.
• A big reason for the spread of Christianity was the empire’s need for a universal religion. This can be easily achieved via Monotheism as a State Tool

4: Justin and Irenaeus

5: Easter, the Monarchian Controversy, and Tertullian

• the early church was divided between when Easter was. The churches of Asia Minor observed it during the same time as the Jewish Passover. While the roman church observed it on the Sunday after Jewish Passover. Eventually the former opinion died off
• Monarchianism was an early Christian ‘heretical’ sect that rejected the trinity. They formed as a response to Justin’s theology of the divine Logos being ‘another God’ p. 85
  • Justin used the metaphor of one torch lit from another (Jesus being lit from God) because this shows the shared nature of them, yet they are independent.
• Monarchist would say either 2 things:
  1. God was so incarnate in Jesus that there is no difference between them (thus reject trinity)
  2. Jesus was a man like other men, but differentiated in being by the Spirit of God to a unique degree

6: Clement of Alexandria and Origen

• Clement of Alexandria was an early Christian scholar who was known for writing against heresies and paganism
• Clement believes that much good can be learned from Platonic metaphysics, Stoic ethics, and Aristotelian logic. p. 97
  • after all, all truth and goodness no matter the source, comes from the Creator

7: Church, State and Society in the Third Century

• early Christians had a period of peace under emperor Philip the Arab (244-249) who himself was rumored to be a Christian
• Philip was succeeded by Decius (249-251) who prosecuted Christians heavily - p. 118
• Again in around 303, Diocletian persecuted Christians heavily. He ordered destruction of churches and all liturgical writings. He would force Christians to sacrifice in the name of the Roman polytheistic gods or else they’d go to prison - p. 121
• Constantine became emperor in 306. He was sympathetic to Christians and became one himself. - 122
• In 313, Constantine, ruler in the west, and Licinius, ruler in the east, agreed on a policy of religious freedom for all - p. 122
• Arius was a priest (250 - 3365) known for Arianism, a doctrine that states The Son (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit are inferior to the Father, and that the former two were created, therefor NOT co-eternal and not consubstantial with the father

8: Constantine and the Council of Nicaea

• transition between solar monotheism (most popular form of Roman paganism at that time) and Christianity was quite simple because they were a lot alike - p. 126
  • 25 December is not only Jesus’s birthday, but also the Sun God
  • Some early Christian scholars would describe Jesus as riding his chariot across the sky like the Sun god
• Constantine did not enforce any state religion, but he incorporated some aspects of Christianity into state law/life - p. 127 - 138
  • example: he forbad that prisoners be branded in the face because of the Christian teaching that ‘man is made in God’s image’
• Constantine called the council of Nicaea because of the disunity he witnessed among Christians
• 218 out of 220 bishops signed in agreement to the outcome of the Council of Nicaea - p. 130
  • the 2 exceptions were two Libyan bishops who didn’t want to be subjected to Alexandrian control
• in the 4th century onwards, final decisions about church policy was taken by the emperor - p. 132

9: The Arian Controversy after the Council of Nicaea

• during Constantine’s time, the theology supported by the empire was the Nicaean creed. Arianism was still suppressed and a minority
• the east (Greece) and west (Rome) were split: the west accused the eastern churches of Arianism, while the eastern churches resented the western church’s’ claim to superiority
• Athanasius was a Pope of Alexandria, a Coptic Egyptian, and staunch defender of Trinitarianism against Arianism.
  • The emperor Constantius (Constantine’s son) who was an Arian, was heavily against Athanasius.
• Sabellianism = Father, son and holy spirit are 3 different modes of God
  • declared a heresy
  • Marcellus of Ancyra, the bishop of Ancyra believed in this.
  • Sabellianism is considered direct opposite of Arianism
• Trinitarian = Father, son and holy spirit are 3 distinct persons within the Godhead
• Eudoxius of Antioch was a very influential Arian
• opponents against Arianism include the following:
  • Athanasius (pope of Alexandria, d. 373)
  • Marcellus of Ancrya (d. 374)
  • Basil of Ancrya (d. 362)
• After Constantius, emperor Julian took power. He brought in a revival of paganism but allowed freedom of religion. He hoped that the various factions of Christianity would consume each other.
• After Julian, Jovian took power. He was a Nicene Christian. After Jovian’s short-lived reign, another Nicene Christian, Valentinian I, took power.
• Valentinian gave the Greek half of the empire to his brother Valens. Valens’ wife convinced him to listen to Eudoxius, an Arian.
• A new creed came into existence: pneumatomachi, AKA Macedonians AKA semi-Arians
  • they denied the godhood/divinity of the holy spirit.
• After Valens died, the roman empire fell into the hands of Theodosius, a Nicene Christian. He ordered the Greek churches to accept the Nicene creed and be in communion with Pope Damasus of Rome
  • Theodosius also issued an edict that made Nicene Christianity the official state religion of the Roman Empire
• by the late AD 300s, Arianism was dying off

10: The Conflict of Paganism and Christianity in the Fourth Century

• paganism remained the majority religion of the Roman empire well into the second half of the fourth century - p. 152
• Constantine’s sons, when they were emperors, cracked down on paganism. They destroyed temples and forbade sacrifices, etc
• Julian became emperor after Constantius. He was a Christian turned pagan. He brought in a short-lived revival of paganism. He was generally pro freedom of religion but did crack down on Christian communities
• Julian, after his death, became somewhat of a saint in the pagan community. His words, speeches, and tracts became widespread

11: Church, State and Society from Julian to Theodosius

• Julian = the emperor right after Constantius. He was a Christian turned pagan
• Theodosius = emperor from 379-395. A Nicene Christian who was strongly against Arianism
  • He was generally quite tolerant, even appointing pagans to high positions in office

12: The Ascetic Movement

• Christianity was fully dominant in society by the end of the fourth century

13: The Controversy about Origen and the Tragedy of John Chrysostom

• Evagrius, a monk in the late 4th century, preached that in prayer you cannot imagine any spatial localization for God, i.e. you cannot imagine him to be “up there” - p. 185
• Evagrius was a follower of Origen, who was under a controversy during Evagrius’s life. Keep in mind Origen lived in the 2nd century
• There were claims that Origen was a heretic

14: The Problem of the Person of Christ

• Apollinarianism = a ‘heresy’ proposed by Apollinaris of Laodicea (d. 390) that says Jesus had a human body and soul, but a divine mind (the divine logos)
• Diodorus of Tarsus = a supporter of Nicaean orthodoxy
• Theodore continued the teachings of Diodorus

15: The Development of Latin Christian Thought

• babies in the early church did not usually get baptized
• donatism = a sect that believed the clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effect and their prayers/sacraments to be valid
  • after the Arab/Islamic conquests, donatism naturally died off
• Pelagianism = a theological position that holds that the original sin of Adam does not taint human nature. Humans are not born with original sin.
• Pelagianists were repressed by the roman empire, who were acting on instructions from the mainstream Christians
• for traditional Catholics, they believe babies who die in a state of NOT having been baptized, they cannot go to heaven
  • according to the book, they are damned - p. 232

16: The Papacy

• debates on which area was the most important was still going on in the 5th century. Rome tried to claim supremacy while the Greek east tried to do the same.
• even today, the eastern churches do not recognize the pope, but are in communion with Rome
  • ex: the Coptic orthodox church has their own pope, but they’re in communion with Rome.

17: The Church and the Barbarians

• the “Barbarians” were the Germanic tribesmen whose attacks almost took down the Roman Empire. The Empire later started to recruit these people into their army and into high office
• Lots of pagans from outside the roman empire converted to Christianity once they immigrated to the empire. Most of them were followers of Arianism
• The Western Roman Empire eventually collapsed in 476 largely due to the Goths taking over (Germanic Barbarians)

18: Worship and Art

• Jews would fast Mondays and Thursdays, while Christians would fast Wednesdays and Fridays. These were optional fasts. - p. 259 ^0a7c22
  • Muslims are also encouraged to fast Mondays and Thursdays, this is clearly a thing Islam has copied from Judaism
• early Christian singing and chants were taken over from synagogue usage - p. 274
• some synagogues were decorated with biblical art which is where the early Christians most likely got inspiration from for their own biblical art in Churches - p. 279
• Art in churches became mainstream when Constantine got into power
• in the early church, religious art like paintings and sculptures was controversial, some didn’t mind it, while others opposed it strongly

Analysis

Notes and Quotes

Early Christian Sects/Theology

• Sabellianism = Father, son and holy spirit are 3 different modes of God
• Trinitarian/Nicaean creed = Father, son and holy spirit are 3 distinct persons within the Godhead
• Arianism = The Son (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit are inferior to the Father, and that the former two were created, therefore NOT co-eternal and not consubstantial with the father
  • start to die off by the late 300s AD
• most of the Roman Emperors after Constantine (including Constantine himself) were followers of the Nicaean creed

Rise of Christianity

• once Constantine took power, basically every emperor was a Christian after that, and they almost all cracked down on Paganism. They destroyed temples, forbade various pagan practices, etc

Origen, 185-253AD

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origen

• Origen was a Christian scholar who in the 4th century (well after his death) fell into controversy
• some church fathers said he had heretical beliefs. The second council of Constantinople either excommunicated him or rejected some of his heretical beliefs
• his beliefs rejected by mainstream Catholicism/Orthodoxy
  • the pre-existence of souls
    • he believed God created all souls of intelligent beings before the creation of the material universe
    • the orthodox belief is that souls are created at the moment of conception
  • the salvation of all beings including Satan (eventually)
    • he said eventually all people, after being purged by the ‘divine fire’ will attain salvation
  • allegorical interpretation of scripture
    • he preferred metaphorical interpretations of scripture over literal readings
  • he believed the Father was superior to the Son, and Son was superior to Holy Spirit
    • he was a “subordinationist”. Very similar to Arianism
    • he didn’t believe the holy spirit was a created being, unlike the Arians

Baptism

• babies in the early church did not usually get baptized
• for traditional Catholics, they believe babies who die in a state of NOT having been baptized cannot go to heaven - p. 232

Pelagianism

• a theological position that holds that the original sin of Adam does not taint human nature. Humans are not born with original sin.
• Pelagianists were repressed by the roman empire, who were acting on instructions from the mainstream Christians
• they believed babies are saved even without baptism because babies are born sinless

Main Idea of the Book

• there’s not one single ‘main idea’.
• this book aims to give an overview of the history of the “early church”, mostly pre-Constantine