Lecture 9 Early Christianity 1 The separation of Christianity from Judaism was a result of the Apostolic Council not requiring circumcision as criterion for becoming a Christian which was a key ritual marking Jews as Jews 2 Christian practices carried over from Judaism reading the Hebrew Bible OT worship practices baptism and communion 3 Imperial Persecutions under the emperors Nero 54 68 The first Roman spirit to persecute Christians Confined persecution to the city of Rome Nero was to blame for a fire that swept through the city in the summer of 64 but used the Christians in Rome as the scapegoats Domitian 81 96 Demanded to be worshiped as a god toward the end of his reign Because Christians and Jews believed in only one God and that their worship should be exclusive of other gods many refused to comply In turn Christians and Jews were persecuted The persecution tended to be initiated by local rulers attempting to curry favor with the emperor Trajan 98 117 Christians were to be punished only if they were brought before the authorities and charged with practicing Christianity They were to be examined asked to recant of their Christian practices and worship the Roman Gods If they refused to do so they were then to be punished Trajan did not want the Roman authorities to expend time and money to hunt down Christians though Diocletian 284 305 The most severe persecution of all Christians were expelled from their Roman legions in fear that Christians were disloyal to Rome because they refused to participate in emperor worship Diocletian also ordered that Christian buildings be seized and that copies of Christian scriptures be destroyed Eventually Christians were subject to torture and death 4 Martyr witness Apologist defender 5 Accusations against Christians Were reclusive suspicious because Christians tended to be withdrawn from society refusing to involve themselves in the normal social intercourse in their respective communities Were atheists because Christians refused to believe in the gods of the Greek and Roman pantheons and were unwilling to participate in the state cult of emperor worship Were cannibals because bystanders didn t understand the Lord s Supper and thought that they were actually eating the flesh and blood of Christ not just symbols of them Were disloyal to Rome because Christians worship Jesus of Nazareth who was considered an insurrectionist by the Romans Were people who practiced incest infanticide and various practices of immorality 6 Justin Martyr principal apologist of the second century He argues that there were point of contact between pagan philosophy and Christianity Ignatius of Antioch one of the apostolic fathers a group of early Christian writers During his transportation to Rome for execution he wrote 7 letters that are an important witness to developing ideas concerning the function of the office of the bishop in the church Also provide encouragement and strength to other Christians who were called upon to suffer for their beliefs throughout the successive centuries of Christian history 7 Competing expressions of Christianity Judaizers Jews who believed that Jesus was the Messiah However they believed that in order for Gentles to be true followed of Jesus they first had to convert to Judaism had to be circumcised Gnosticism Questions the humanity of Christ Marcionism Believed that there were 2 competing gods in the world 1 the God of Judaism the creator of this world who was an evil inferior incompetent God and 2 the God of Christianity a benevolent superior God 8 Some of the ways to safeguard Christian Orthodoxy Canon scripture that was universally accepted by all Christians Creed a short statement of belief which was used for teaching doctrine in the churches Episcopacy having an authoritarian hierarchy in the Church 9 Constantine The Battle of Milvian Bridge 312 Had a dream before battle telling him to go forth and conquer under the sign of the cross So he ordered that crosses be painted on his soldiers shields and other equipment Winning the battle gave him sole control of the Western portion of the Empire and credited the Christian God for his success The Edict of Milan 313 Constantine and Licinius the ruler in the East issued the Edict of Milan which called for an end to the persecution of Christians and a return of all property seized in earlier persecutions Arianism and the Council of Nicaea 325 MOST SIGNIFICANT THEOLOGICAL EVENT IN THE 4th CENTURY was the first ecumenical council in Christian history ecumenical brought together bishops from all over the empire o Arius priest in Alexandria Arianism taught that Christ was not fully divine heteroousios meaning different substance than the Father hence he was making Jesus less than God Alexander says that Jesus IS fully divine homoousios meaning same substance Constantine called church council Constantine ruled in favor of Athanasius and the homoousios party Issued Nicene Creed that says Christ IS of the same substance 10 Important Theologians Athanasius of Alexandria 300 373 became bishop upon death of Alexander His letter to the churches in his charge the Festal Letter serves as the earliest listing of the 27 New Testament books as we now have them John Chrysostom 347 407 the name Chrysostom means golden mouth he is best remembered for his excellent preaching ability Jerome 347 420 produced the Latin Vulgate bible which is the bible of the Roman Catholic Church Augustine of Hippo 354 430 produced two famous doctrines of grace City of God and Confessions Lecture 10 Medieval Christianity 1 The Fall of Rome Occurred in 476 when the last emperor Romulus Augustulus was deposed 2 Western Christianity versus Eastern Christianity Western Roman Catholicism Latin language and culture Theological issues tended to be more clearly defined Church over state Orthodoxy Eastern Greek language and culture Theology much more esoteric and speculative State over church 3 The East refused to accept the Filioque Clause because it had not been voted on in an ecumenical council composed of all the bishops 1054 The East s refusal to accept the addition forced the Pope to excommunicate the Patriarch of Constantinople who then proceeded to excommunicate the Pope 1204 The sacking of Constantinople by the western Crusaders in the Fourth Crusade forever sealed the division between East and West 4 Filioque and from the Son 5 Muhammed an Arab merchant who was influence by Christianity Judaism and Zoroastrianism 6 3