Heresy

For other uses, see Heresy (disambiguation). "Heretical" redirects here. For the website, see Heretical (website). "Heretic" redirects here. For Heretic (disambiguation), see Heretic (disambiguation).

The burning of the Amalricians (1210)

Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or [1] customs. Heresy is distinct from both apostasy, which is the explicit renunciation of one's religion, [2] [3] principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion. Heresy is usually used to discuss violations of religious or traditional laws or legal codes, although it is used by some political extremists to refer to their opponents. It carries the connotation of behaviors or beliefs likely to undermine accepted morality and cause tangible evils, damnation, or other punishment. In some religions, it also implies that the heretic is in alliance with the religion's symbol [4] of evil, such as Satan or chaos. In certain historical Christian, Jewish, and some modern cultures, espousing ideas deemed heretical was punishable by law.

Contents
[hide]

1 Etymology 2 Christianity

o o o o

2.1 Catholicism 2.2 Eastern Christianity 2.3 Protestantism 2.4 Christian heresy in the modern era

3 Islam 4 Judaism

4.1 Orthodox Judaism

5 Other religions 6 Non-religious usage 7 Selected quotations 8 See also 9 Notes 10 References 11 External links

[edit]Etymology The term heresy is from Greek originally meant "choice" or "thing chosen", but it came to [6] mean the "party or school of a man's choice" and also referred to that process whereby a young person would examine various philosophies to determine how to live. The word "heresy" is usually used within a Christian, Jewish, or Islamic context, and implies slightly different meanings in each. The founder or leader of a heretical movement is called a heresiarch, while individuals who espouse heresy or commit heresy are known as heretics. Heresiology is the study of heresy.
[5]

[edit]Christianity Main article: Heresy in Christianity The use of the word "heresy" was given wide currency by Irenaeus in his tract Contra Haereses (Against Heresies) to describe and discredit his opponents during the early centuries of the [citation needed] Christian community. He described the community's beliefs and doctrines as orthodox (from , orthos "straight" + , doxa "belief") and the Gnostics' teachings as [citation needed] heretical. He also pointed out the concept of apostolic succession to support his [7] arguments. Constantine the Great, who along with Licinius had decreed toleration of Christianity in the Roman [8] Empire by what is commonly called the "Edict of Milan", and was the first Roman Emperor to be baptized, set precedents for later policy. By Roman law the Emperor was Pontifex Maximus, the high priest of the College of Pontiffs (Collegium Pontificum) of all recognized religions in ancient Rome. To

put an end to the doctrinal debate initiated by Arius, Constantine called the first of what would [9] [10] afterwards be called the ecumenical councils and then enforced orthodoxy by Imperial authority. The first known usage of the term in a legal context was in 380 AD by the Edict of [11] Thessalonica of Theodosius I, which made Christianity the State church of the Roman Empire. Prior to the issuance of this edict, the Church had no state-sponsored support for any particular legal mechanism to counter what it perceived as "heresy". By this edict the State's authority and that of the catholic Church became somewhat overlapping. One of the outcomes of this blurring of Church and State was the sharing of State powers of legal enforcement with Church authorities. This reinforcement of the Church's authority gave Church leaders the power to, in effect, pronounce the death sentence upon those whom the Church considered heretical. Within five years of the official criminalization of heresy by the Emperor, the first Christian heretic to be prosecuted, Priscillian, was executed in 385 by Roman officials. However, his accusers were [12] excommunicated both by Ambrose of Milan and Pope Siricius. For some years after the Reformation, Protestant churches were also known to execute those whom they considered to be heretics, including Catholics. The last known heretic executed by sentence of the Roman Catholic Church was Cayetano Ripoll in 1826. The number of people executed as heretics under the authority [note 1] [note 2] of the various "ecclesiastical authorities" is not known. [edit]Catholicism

Massacre of the Waldensiansof Mrindol in 1545.

The Roman Catholic Church had always dealt harshly with strands of Christianity that it considered heretical, but before the 11th century these tended to centre around individual preachers or small localised sects, like Arianism, Pelagianism, Donatism, Marcionism and Montanism. The diffusion of the almost Manichean sect of Paulicianswestwards gave birth to the famous 11th and 12th century heresies of Western Europe. The first one was that of Bogomils in modern day Bosnia, a sort of sanctuary between Eastern and Western Christianities. By the 11th century, more organised groups such as the Patarini, the Dulcinians, the Waldensians and the Cathars were beginning to appear in the towns and cities of Northern Italy, Southern France and Flanders. In France the Cathars grew to represent a popular mass movement and the belief was spreading to [18] other areas. The Cathar Crusade was initiated by the Roman Catholic Church to eliminate the [19][20] Cathar heresy in Languedoc. Heresy was a major justification for the Inquisition (Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis, Inquiry on Heretical Perversity) and for the European wars of religion associated with the Protestant Reformation.

Cristiano Banti's 1857 painting Galileo facing the Roman Inquisition

Galileo Galilei was brought before the Inquisition for heresy, but abjured his views and was sentenced to house arrest, under which he spent the rest of his life. [edit]Eastern

Christianity

In Eastern Christianity heresy most commonly refers to those beliefs declared to be heretical by [citation needed] the first seven Ecumenical Councils. Since the Great Schism and the Protestant Reformation, various Christian churches have also used the concept in proceedings against individuals and groups deemed to be heretical by those churches. [edit]Protestantism One example of a few of the alleged heretics who were executed under Protestant church law was the execution of the Boston martyrs in 1659, 1660, and 1661. These executions resulted from the actions of the then ultra orthodox protestant "Puritan" sect, which during those years operated as a de facto church-state institution holding nearly absolute authority over the Massachusetts Bay Colony. At the time, the colony leaders were apparently hoping to achieve their vision of a "purer absolute theocracy" within their colony. As such, they perceived the teachings and practices of the rival Quaker sect as heretical, even to the point where laws were passed and executions were performed with the aim of ridding their colony of such perceived "heresies". This example is by no means unique to the times. In England, the sixteenth century European Reformation resulted in a number of executions on charges of heresy. During the thirty-eight years of Henry VIII's reign, about sixty heretics, mainly protestants, were executed and a rather greater number of catholics lost their lives for political offences such as treason, notably Sir Thomas More and Bp. John Fisher when their actions were [21] motivated by their loyalty to the Pope. Under Edward VI, the heresy laws were repealed in 1547 only to be reintroduced in 1554 by Mary Tudor; even so two radicals were executed in Edward's reign [22] (one for denying the reality of the incarnation, the other for denying Christ's divinity). Under Mary, around two hundred and ninety people were burnt at the stake between 1555 and 1558 after the [22] restoration of papal jurisdiction. WhenElizabeth I came to the throne, the concept of heresy was retained in theory but severely restricted by the 1559 Act of Supremacy and the one hundred and eighty or so catholics who were executed in the forty-five years of her reign were put to death [21] because they were considered to be members of "a subversive fifth column". The last execution of [23] a "heretic" in England occurred under James I in 1612.

[edit]Christian

heresy in the modern era

See also: Christian heresy in the modern era Although less common than in the medieval period, formal charges of heresy within Christian churches still occur. Key issues in the Protestant churches have included modern biblical criticism, the nature of God, and the acceptability of gay clergy. The Catholic Church, through the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, appears to be particularly concerned with academic theology. Perhaps due to the many modern negative connotations associated with the term heretic, such as the Spanish inquisition, the term is used less often today. There are however, some notable exceptions: see for example Rudolf Bultmann and the character of debates over ordination of women and gay priests. The subject of Christian heresy opens up broader questions as to who has a monopoly on spiritual truth, as explored by Jorge Luis Borges in the short story "The Theologians" [24] within the compilation Labyrinths.

Judaism
Main article: Heresy in Judaism [edit]Orthodox Judaism Main article: Heresy in Orthodox Judaism Orthodox Judaism considers views on the part of Jews which depart from the traditional Jewish principles of faith to be heretical. In addition, the more right-wing groups within Orthodox Judaism hold that all Jews who reject the simple meaning of Maimonides's 13 principles of Jewish faith are [27] heretics. As such, most of Orthodox Judaism considers Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism to be heretical movements, and regards most of Conservative Judaism as heretical. The liberal wing of Modern Orthodoxy is more tolerant of Conservative Judaism, particularly its right wing, as there is some theological and practical overlap between these groups.

Selected quotations
Thomas Aquinas: "Wherefore if forgers of money and other evil-doers are forthwith condemned to death by the secular authority, much more reason is there for heretics, as soon as they are convicted of heresy, to be not only excommunicated but even put to death." ( Summa Theologica, c. 1270) Isaac Asimov: "Science is in a far greater danger from the absence of challenge than from the [31] coming of any number of even absurd challenges." Augustine of Hippo: "For it is the wrongdoing of the opposing party which compels the wise man to wage just wars" (City of God, Chapter 7, c. 426) Gerald Brenan: "Religions are kept alive by heresies, which are really sudden explosions of faith. Dead religions do not produce them." (Thoughts in a Dry Season, 1978) Geoffrey Chaucer: "Thu hast translated the Romance of the Rose, That is a heresy against my law, And maketh wise folk from me withdraw;" (The Prologue to The Legend of Good Women, c. 1386) G. K. Chesterton: "Truths turn into dogmas the instant that they are disputed. Thus every man who utters a doubt defines a religion." (Heretics, 12th Edition, 1919)

G. K. Chesterton: "But to have avoided [all heresies] has been one whirling adventure; and in my vision the heavenly chariot flies thundering through the ages, the dull heresies sprawling and prostrate, the wild truth reeling but erect." (Orthodoxy, 1908) Benjamin Franklin: "Many a long dispute among divines may be thus abridged: It is so. It is not. It is so. It is not." (Poor Richard's Almanack, 1879) Helen Keller: "The heresy of one age becomes the orthodoxy of the next." (Optimism, 1903) Lao Tzu: "Those who are intelligent are not ideologues. Those who are ideologues are not intelligent." (Tao Te Ching, Verse 81, 6th century BCE) James G. March on the relations among madness, heresy, and genius: "... we sometimes find that such heresies have been the foundation for bold and necessary change, but heresy is usually just new ideas that are foolish or dangerous and appropriately rejected or ignored. So while it may be true that great geniuses are usually heretics, heretics are rarely great [33] geniuses." Montesquieu: "No kingdom has ever had as many civil wars as the kingdom of Christ." ( Persian Letters, 1721) Friedrich Nietzsche: "Whoever has overthrown an existing law of custom has hitherto always first been accounted a bad man: but when, as did happen, the law could not afterwards be reinstated and this fact was accepted, the predicate gradually changed; - history treats almost exclusively of [34] these bad men who subsequently became good men!" (Daybreak, 20)

Heresy in Christianity
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When heresy is used today with reference to Christianity, it denotes the formal denial or doubt of a core doctrine of the Christian faith[1] as defined by one or more of the Christian churches.[2] It should be

distinguished from both apostasy and schism,[2] apostasy being nearly always total abandonment of the Christian faith after it has been freely accepted,[3] and schism being a formal and deliberate breach of Christian unity and an offence against charity without being based essentially on doctrine. [4] In Western Christianity, heresy most commonly refers to those beliefs which were declared to be anathema by any of the ecumenical councils recognized by theCatholic Church.[citation needed] In the East, the term "heresy" most commonly refers to those beliefs declared to be heretical by the first seven Ecumenical Councils.[citation needed] Since the Great Schism and the Protestant Reformation, various Christian churches have also used the concept in proceedings against individuals and groups deemed to be heretical by those churches. The Catholic Church distinguishes between "formal heresy" and "material heresy". The former involves wilful and persistence adherence to an error in matters of faith and is a grave sin and produces excommunication.[2] "Material heresy" is the holding of erroneous opinions through no fault of one's own and is not sinful:Protestants fall in this second group[3] while the Eastern Orthodox are considered to be schismatic but are recognised as churches.[5] Conversely, the Eastern Orthodox considers both the Catholic Church and the Protestant denominations to be heretical.[citation needed] Historical examination of heresies focuses on a mixture of theological, spiritual, and socio-political underpinnings to explain and describe their development. For example, accusations of heresy have been levelled against a group of believers when their beliefs challenged, or were seen to challenge, Church authority. Some heresies have also been doctrinally based, in which a teaching were deemed to be inconsistent with the fundamental tenets of orthodox dogma. The study of heresy requires an understanding of the development of orthodoxy and the role of creeds in the definition of orthodox beliefs. Orthodoxy has been in the process of self-definition for centuries, defining itself in terms of its faith and changing or clarifying beliefs in opposition to people or doctrines that are perceived as incorrect. The reaction of the orthodox to heresy has also varied over the course of time; many factors, particularly the institutional, judicial, and doctrinal development of the Church, have shaped this reaction.[citation needed] Heresy remained an officially punishable offence in Roman Catholic nations until the late 18th century. In Spain, heretics were prosecuted and punished during the CounterEnlightenment movement of the restoration of the monarchy there after the Napoleonic Era.[citation needed]

Contents
[hide]

1 Etymology and definition 2 Anathema 3 Denominations 4 First millennium

o o o o o o o

4.1 Early Christian heresies 4.2 Suppression of heresies 4.3 Christology 4.4 Emergence of creeds and Christian Orthodoxy 4.5 Ecumenical councils 4.6 Orthodox councils 4.7 Recent views on heresy in early Christianity

5 Catholic understanding

o o

5.1 Catholic response to heresy 5.2 Modern Catholic response to Protestantism

6 See also 7 References

[edit]Etymology

and definition

The word heresy comes from haeresis, a Latin transliteration of the Greek word originally meaning choosing, choice, course of action, or in an extended sense school of thought[6] then eventually came to denote warring factions and the party spirit by the first century. The word appears in the New Testament and was appropriated by the Church to mean a sect or division that threatened the unity of Christians.Heresy eventually became regarded as a departure from orthodoxy, a sense in which "heterodoxy" was already in Christian use soon after the year 100.[7] St. Irenaeus (c. 120 to 140c. 200 to 203) defined heresy as deviation from the standard of sound doctrine.

[edit]Anathema
This section requires expansion.(January 2009)

Since the time of the apostles, the term anathema has come to mean a form of extreme religious sanction beyond excommunication, known as major excommunication.[citation needed] The earliest recorded instance of the form is in the Council of Elvira (c. 306), and thereafter it became the common method of cutting off heretics. In the fifth century, a formal distinction between anathema and excommunication evolved,

where excommunication entailed cutting off a person or group from the rite of Eucharist and attendance at worship, while anathema meant a complete separation of the subject from the Church.

[edit]Denominations
Main article: Christian denomination

Christian Denominations in English-speaking countries

Australia[show]

Canada[show]

United Kingdom[show]

United States[show]

International Associations[show]

There is a diversity of doctrines and practices among groups calling themselves Christian. These groups are sometimes classified under denominations, though for theological reasons many groups reject this classification system.[8] A Christian denomination is an identifiable religious body under a common name, structure, and doctrine within Christianity. Worldwide, Christians are divided, often along ethnic and linguistic lines, into separate churches and traditions. Technically, divisions between one group and another are defined by doctrine and church authority. Issues such as the nature of Jesus, eschatology, the authority of apostolic succession, and papal primacyseparate one denomination from another. Denominationalism is an ideology which views some or all Christian groups as being, in some sense, versions of the same thing regardless of their distinguishing labels. Not all churches teach this. The Catholic and Orthodox Churches do not use this term as its implication of interchangeability does not agree

with their theological teachings. There are some groups which practically all others would view as apostate or heretical, and not legitimate versions of Christianity. Christianity has denominational families (or movements) and also has individual denominations (or communions). Within these denominational families and movements are (often further denominational families and) various individual denominations or communions. The difference between a denomination and a denominational family is sometimes unclear to outsiders. Some denominational families can be considered major branches. Christianity may be broadly represented as being divided into five main groupings: Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, Protestantism and Restorationism.[9][10] Christians have various doctrines about the Church, the body of faithful that they believe was established by Jesus Christ, and how the divine church corresponds to Christian denominations. Together both the Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox consider themselves to faithfully represent the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. Protestants exist, historically, due to several perceived Catholic Church theologies and practices that they consider unorthodox, corrupt or anti-Biblical. Generally, members of the various denominations acknowledge each other as Christians, at least to the extent that they acknowledge historically orthodox views including the deity of Jesus and doctrines of sin and salvation, even though some obstacles hinder full communion between churches. Christianity is composed of, but not limited to, five major branches of Churches: Catholicism, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant; some groupings include Anglicans amongst Protestants. The Assyrian Church of the East is also a distinct Christian body, but is much smaller in adherents and geographic scope. Each of these five branches has important subdivisions. Because the Protestant subdivisions do not maintain a common theology or earthly leadership, they are far more distinct than the subdivisions of the other four groupings. Denomination typically refers to one of the many Christian groupings including each of the multitude of Protestant subdivisions. There were some movements considered heresies by the early church which do not exist today and are not generally referred to as denominations. Examples include the Gnostics (who had believed in anesoteric dualism), the Ebionites (who denied the divinity of Jesus), and the Arians. The greatest divisions in Christianity today, however, are between Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and various denominations formed during and after the Protestant Reformation. There also exists in Protestantism and Orthodoxy various degrees of unity and division.

A simplified chart of historical developments of major groups within Christianity.

[edit]First [edit]Early

millennium
Christian heresies

See also: Early Christianity The New Testament itself speaks of the importance of maintaining orthodox doctrine and refuting heresies, showing the antiquity of the concern.[11] Because of the biblical proscription against false prophets(notably the Gospels of Matthew and Mark) Christianity has always been preoccupied[citation needed] with the "correct", or orthodox, interpretation of the faith. Indeed one of the main roles of the bishops in the early Church was to determine the correct interpretations and refute contrarian opinions (referred to as heresy).[citation needed] As there were differing opinions among the bishops, defining orthodoxy would consume the Church then and even until this present day, which is why there are many denominations.[citation needed] In his book Orthodoxy, Christian Apologist and writer G. K. Chesterton asserts that there have been substantial disagreements about faith from the time of the New Testament and Jesus. He pointed out that the Apostles all argued against changing the teachings of Christ as did the earliest church fathers including Ignatius of Antioch, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr and Polycarp (see false prophet, the antichrist, thegnostic Nicolaitanes from the Book of Revelation and Man of Sin). The development of doctrine, the position of orthodoxy, and the relationship between the various opinions is a matter of continuing academic debate. Since most Christians today subscribe to the doctrines established by the Nicene Creed, modern Christian theologians tend to regard the early debates as a unified orthodox position (see also Proto-orthodox Christianity and Paleo-orthodoxy) against a minority of heretics. Other scholars, drawing upon, among other things, distinctions between Jewish Christians, Pauline Christians, and other groups such as Gnostics and Marcionites, argue that early Christianity was fragmented, with contemporaneous competing orthodoxies.[12] In the middle of the 2nd century, three unorthodox groups of Christians adhered to a range of doctrines that divided the Christian communities of Rome: the teacher Marcion; the pentecostal outpourings of ecstatic Christian prophets of a continuing revelation, in a movement that was called "Montanism" because it had

been initiated by Montanus and his female disciples; and the gnostic teachings of Valentinus. Early attacks upon alleged heresies formed the matter of Tertullian's Prescription Against Heretics (in 44 chapters, written from Rome), and of Irenaeus' Against Heresies (ca 180, in five volumes), written in Lyon after his return from a visit to Rome. The letters of Ignatius of Antioch and Polycarp of Smyrna to various churches warned against false teachers, and the Epistle of Barnabas accepted by many Christians as part of Scripture in the 2nd century, warned about mixing Judaism with Christianity, as did other writers, leading to decisions reached in the first ecumenical council, which was convoked by the Emperor Constantine at Nicaea in 325, in response to further disruptive polemical controversy within the Christian community, in that case Arianist disputes over the nature of the Trinity.

[edit]Suppression

of heresies

Main article: Christian debate on persecution and toleration One of the roles of bishops, and the purpose of many Christian writings, was to refute heresies. The New Testament itself speaks of the importance of maintaining orthodox doctrine and refuting incorrect teachings, showing the antiquity of the concern.[13] During those first three centuries, Christianity was effectively outlawed by requirements to venerate the Roman emperor and Roman gods. Consequently, when the Church labeled its enemies as heretics and cast them out of its congregations or severed ties with dissident churches, it remained without the power to persecute them. Before 313 AD, the "heretical" nature of some beliefs was a matter of much debate within the churches, and there was no true mechanism in place to resolve the various differences of beliefs. Heresy was to be approached by the leader of the church according to Eusebius, author of The Church History. It was only after the legalisation of Christianity, which began under Constantine I in 313 AD that the various beliefs of the Church began to be made uniform and formulated as dogma through the canons promulgated by the General Councils. Each phrase in the Nicene Creed, which was hammered out at the Council of Nicaea, addresses some aspect that had been under passionate discussion prior to Constantine I, and closes the books on the argument, with the weight of the agreement of the over 300 bishops, as well as Constantine I in attendance. [Constantine had invited all 1800 bishops of the Christian church (about 1000 in the east and 800 in the west). The number of participating bishops cannot be accurately stated; Socrates Scholasticus and Epiphanius of Salamis counted 318; Eusebius of Caesarea, only 250.] In spite of the agreement reached at the council of 325, the Arians, who had been defeated, dominated most of the church for the greater part of the 4th century, often with the aid of Roman emperors who favoured them. Irenaeus (c. 130202) was the first to argue that his "orthodox" position was the same faith that Jesus gave to the apostles, and that the identity of the apostles, their successors, and the teachings of the same were all well-known public knowledge. This was therefore an early argument supported by apostolic succession. Irenaeus first established the doctrine of four gospels and no more, with the synoptic gospels interpreted in the light of John. Irenaeus' opponents, however, claimed to have received secret teachings from Jesus via

other apostles which were not publicly known. Gnosticism is predicated on the existence of such hidden knowledge, but brief references to private teachings of Jesus have also survived in the canonic Scripture as did warning by the Christ that there would be false prophets or false teachers. Irenaeus' opponents also claimed that the wellsprings of divine inspiration were not dried up, which is the doctrine of continuing revelation. The first known usage of the term 'heresy' in a civil legal context was in 380 by the "Edict of Thessalonica" of Theodosius I. Prior to the issuance of this edict, the Church had no state-sponsored support for any particular legal mechanism to counter what it perceived as 'heresy'. By this edict, in some senses, the line between the Catholic Church's spiritual authority and the Roman State's jurisdiction was blurred. One of the outcomes of this blurring of Church and State was a sharing of State powers of legal enforcement between Church and State authorities, with the state enforcing what it determined to be orthodox teaching. Within 5 years of the official 'criminalization' of heresy by the emperor, the first Christian heretic, Priscillian was executed in 385 by Roman officials. For some years after the Protestant Reformation,Protestant denominations were also known to execute those whom they considered as heretics. The last known heretic executed by sentence of a Roman Catholic state was Cayetano Ripoll in 1826, condemned by the Spanish Inquisition, a tribunal set by the Spanish monarchy to replace the Medieval Inquisition, which had been under papal control. The number of people executed as heretics with the approval of various church authorities is not known; however it most certainly numbers into the several thousands.

[edit]Christology
Main article: Christology The earliest controversies were generally Christological in nature; that is, they were related to Jesus' (eternal) divinity or humanity. The orthodox teaching, as it developed, is that Christ was fully divine and at the same time fully human, and that the three persons of the Trinity are co-equal and co-eternal. This position was challenged in the 4th century by Arius. Arianism held that Jesus, while not merely mortal, was not eternally divine and was, therefore, of lesser status than God the Father ( John 14:28).Trinitarianism held that God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit were all strictly one being with three hypostases. Many groups held dualistic beliefs, maintaining that reality was composed into two radically opposing parts: matter, usually seen as evil, and spirit, seen as good. Docetism held that Jesus' humanity was merely an illusion, thus denying the incarnation. Others held that both the material and spiritual worlds were created by God and were therefore both good, and that this was represented in the unified divine and human natures of Christ.[14]

[edit]Emergence

of creeds and Christian Orthodoxy

Main article: Christian creeds

Urgent concerns with the uniformity of belief and practice have characterized Christianity from the outset. In the three centuries between the crucifixion and the First Council of Nicaea in 325, the religion was at times an illegal, underground movement spreading within the urban centres of the Roman Empire, a process bolstered through merchants and travel through the empire. The process of establishing orthodox Christianity was set in motion by a succession of different interpretations of the teachings of Christ being taught after the crucifixion, though Christ himself is noted to have spoken out against false prophets and false christs within the Gospels themselves: Mark 13:22 (some will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples), Matthew 7:5-20, Matthew 24:4, Matthew 24:11 Matthew 24:24 (For false christs and false prophets will arise). On many occasions in Paul's epistles, he defends his own apostleship, and urges Christians in various places to beware of false teachers, or of anything contrary to what was handed to them by him. The epistles of John and Jude also warn of false teachers and prophets, as does the writer of the Book of Revelation and 1 John. 4:1, as did the Apostle Peter warn in 2 Peter. 2:1-3. Due to this, in the 1st centuries of Christianity, churches had locally begun to make a statement of faith in line with mainstream Christian doctrine a prerequisite for baptism. The reason for this demand was to insure that new converts would not be followers of teachings that conflicted with widely accepted views of Christianity such as Gnosticism and other movements that later were considered heretical by church leaders. These statements of faith became the framework for ecumenical creeds such as the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed. It was against these creeds that teachings were judged in order to determine orthodoxy and to establish teachings as heretical. The first ecumenical and comprehensive statement of belief, the Nicene Creed, was formulated in 325 at the First Council of Nicaea.

[edit]Ecumenical

councils

Main article: First seven Ecumenical Councils Several ecumenical councils were convened. These were mostly concerned with Christological disputes. The councils of Nicaea (325) and Constantinople (382) condemned Arian teachings as heresy and produced a creed (see Nicene Creed). The First Council of Ephesus in 431 condemned Nestorianism and affirmed the Blessed Virgin Mary to be Theotokos ("God-bearer" or "Mother of God"). Perhaps the most significant council was the Council of Chalcedon in 451 that affirmed that Christ had two natures, fully God and fully man, distinct yet always in perfect union. This was based largely on Pope Leo the Great's Tome. Thus, it condemned Monophysitism and would be influential in refuting Monothelitism. 1. The First Ecumenical Council was convoked by the Roman Emperor Constantine at Nicaea in 325 and presided over by the Patriarch Alexander of Alexandria, with over 300 bishops condemning the view of Arius that the Son is a created being inferior to the Father. 2. The Second Ecumenical Council was held at Constantinople in 381, presided over by the Patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch, with 150 bishops, defining the nature of the Holy Spirit against those asserting His inequality with the other persons of the Trinity.

3. The Third Ecumenical Council is that of Ephesus in 431, presided over by the Patriarch of Alexandria, with 250 bishops, which affirmed that Mary is truly "Birthgiver" or "Mother" of God (Theotokos), contrary to the teachings of Nestorius. 4. The Fourth Ecumenical Council is that of Chalcedon in 451, Patriarch of Constantinople presiding, 500 bishops, affirmed that Jesus is truly God and truly man, without mixture of the two natures, contrary to Monophysite teaching. 5. The Fifth Ecumenical Council is the second of Constantinople in 553, interpreting the decrees of Chalcedon and further explaining the relationship of the two natures of Jesus; it also condemned the teachings of Origen on the pre-existence of the soul, etc. 6. The Sixth Ecumenical Council is the third of Constantinople in 681; it declared that Christ has two wills of his two natures, human and divine, contrary to the teachings of the Monothelites. 7. The Seventh Ecumenical Council was called under the Empress Regent Irene of Athens in 787, known as the second of Nicaea. It supports the veneration of icons while forbidding their worship. It is often referred to as "The Triumph of Orthodoxy" 8. The Fourth Council of Constantinople was called in 879. It restored St. Photius to his See in Constantinople and condemned any alteration of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed of 381. However, not all of these Councils have been universally recognised as ecumenical. In addition, the Catholic Church also has convened numerous other councils which it deems as having the same authority, making a total of twenty-one Ecumenical Councils recognised by the Catholic Church. The Assyrian Church of the East accepts only the first two, and Oriental Orthodoxy only three. Pope Sergius I rejected the Quinisext Council of 692 (see also Pentarchy). The Fourth Council of Constantinople of 869870 and 879880 is disputed by Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. Presentday nontrinitarians, such asUnitarians, Latter-day Saints and other Mormons, and Jehovah's Witnesses, reject all seven Councils.

[edit]Orthodox

councils

Some Orthodox consider the following council to be ecumenical, although this is not agreed upon: 1. The Fifth Council of Constantinople was actually a series of councils held between 1341 and 1351. It affirmed the hesychastic theology of St. Gregory Palamas and condemned the philosopher Barlaam of Calabria. In addition to these councils there have been a number of significant councils meant to further define the Orthodox position. They are the Synods of Constantinople in 1484, 1583, 1755, 1819, and 1872, the Synod of Iai (Jassy), 1642, and the Pan-Orthodox Synod of Jerusalem, 1672.

[edit]Recent

views on heresy in early Christianity

The development of doctrine, the position of orthodoxy, and the relationship between the early Church and early heretical groups is a matter of academic debate. Walter Bauer proposed a thesis that in earliest

Christianity, orthodoxy and heresy do not stand in relation to one another as primary to secondary, but in many regions heresy is the original manifestation of Christianity. Scholars such as Pagels andEhrman have built on Bauer's original thesis. Drawing upon distinctions between Jewish Christians, Gentile Christians, and other groups such as Gnostics, they see early Christianity as fragmented and with contemporaneous competing orthodoxies.[15] The Pattern of Christian Truth, written by H. E. W. Turner, is one of many scholarly responses to the concept of early Christian origins as being ambiguous. Turner's response was in objection to Bauer's. In 2006, Scholar Darrell Bock[16] addressed Walter Bauer's theory, stating that it does not show an equality between the established church and outsiders including Simon Magus. In The Cambridge History of Christianity Volume 1[17] History of Christianity Volume 1, Origins to Constantine, Walter Bauer hypothesis was addressed again this time in the introduction of the book it states each article addressed the uniqueness of each early Christian community but stated that the tenets of the mainstream or catholic church insured that each early Christian community did not remain isolated. The Russian philosopherAleksey Khomyakov stated that the very church was the idea of submission and compromise of the individual to God through the idea of catholic or the Russian equivalent sobornost. Russian Orthodox theologian Father Georges Florovsky addressed the concept of sobornost as the concept of Orthodox Christianity after rejecting the World Church Council as being catholic or orthodox simply because it expressed unity in Christ. Florovksy stating as an apology that the very tenet of catholic or sobornost was the original church's response (through the patristic works of the early fathers) to the idea that there were multiple orthodoxies and no real heresies.

[edit]Catholic

understanding

Heresy is defined by Thomas Aquinas as "a species of infidelity in men who, having professed the faith of Christ, corrupt its dogmas."[18] The Catholic Church asserts and teaches that its doctrines are the authoritative understandings of the faith taught by Christ and that the Holy Spirit protects the Church from falling into error when teaching these doctrines. To deny one or more of those doctrines, therefore, is to deny the faith of Christ. Heresy is both the non orthodox belief itself, and the act of holding to that belief. While the term is often used by laymen to indicate any non orthodox belief such as Paganism, by definition heresy can only be committed by someone who considers himself a Christian, but rejects the teachings of the Catholic Church. A person who completely renounces Christianity is not considered a heretic, but an apostate, and a person who renounces the authority of the Church but not its teachings is a schismatic. The Church makes several distinctions as to the seriousness of an individual heterodoxy and its closeness to true heresy. Only a belief that directly contravenes an Article of Faith, or that has been explicitly rejected by the Church, is labelled as actual "heresy." Canon 751 of the Catholic Church's Code of Canon law promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 1983 (abbreviated "C.I.C." for Codex Iuris Canonici), the juridical systematization of ancient law currently binding the world's one billion Catholics, defines heresy as the following: "Heresy is the obstinate denial or doubt

after the reception of baptism of some truth which is to be believed by divine and Catholic faith." The essential elements of canonical heresy therefore technically comprise 1) obstinacy, or continuation in time; 2) denial (a proposition contrary or contradictory in formal logic to a dogma) or doubt (a posited opinion, not being a firm denial, of the contrary or contradictory proposition to a dogma); 3) after reception of valid baptism; 4) of a truth categorized as being of "Divine and Catholic Faith," meaning contained directly within either Sacred Scripture or Sacred Tradition per Can. 750 par. 1 C.I.C. ("de fide divina") AND proposed as 'de fide divina' by either a Pope having spoken solemnly "ex cathedra" on his own (example: dogmatic definition of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1950), or defined solemnly by an Ecumenical Council in unison with a Pope (ex: the definition of the Divinity of Christ in the Council of Chalcedon) ("de fide catholica"). An important distinction is that between formal and material heresy. The difference is one of the heretic's subjective belief about his opinion. The heretic who is aware that his belief is at odds with Catholic teaching and yet continues to cling to his belief pertinaciously is a formal heretic. This sort of heresy is sinful because in this case the heretic knowingly holds an opinion that, in the words of the first edition of the Catholic Encyclopedia, "is destructive of the virtue of Christian faith . . . disturbs the unity, and challenges the Divine authority, of the Church" and "strikes at the very source of faith." Material heresy, on the other hand, means that the individual is unaware that his heretical opinion denies, in the words of Canon 751, "some truth which is to be believed by divine and Catholic faith." The opinion of a material heretic is still heresy, and it produces the same objective results as formal heresy, but because of his ignorance he commits no sin by holding it.[citation needed] The penalty for a baptised Catholic above the age of 18 who obstinately, publicly, and voluntarily manifests his or her adherence to an objective heresy is automatic excommunication ("latae sententiae") according to Can. 1364 par.1 C.I.C.. A belief that the church has not directly rejected, or that is at variance with less important church teachings, is given the label, sententia haeresi proxima, meaning "opinion approaching heresy." A theological argument, belief, or theory that does not constitute heresy in itself, but which leads to conclusions which might be held to do so, is termed propositio theologice erronea, or "erroneous theological proposition." Finally, if the theological position only suggests but does not necessarily lead to a doctrinal conflict, it might be given the even milder label of sententia de haeresi suspecta, haeresim sapiens, meaning "opinion suspected, or savoring, of heresy."[citation needed] Some significant controversies of doctrine have risen over the course of history. At times there have been many heresies over single points of doctrine, particularly in regard to the nature of the Trinity, the doctrine of transubstantiation and the immaculate conception.

[edit]Catholic

response to heresy

The Church has always fought in favour of orthodoxy and the Pope's authority. At various times in history, it has had varying degrees of power to resist or punish heretics, once it had defined them.

In the early church, heresies were sometimes determined by a selected council of bishops, or ecumenical council, such as the First Council of Nicaea and promulgated by the Pope and the bishops under him. The orthodox position was established at the council, and all who failed to adhere to it would thereafter be considered heretics. The church had little power to actually punish heretics in the early years, other than by excommunication. To those who accepted it, an excommunication was the worst form of punishment possible, as it separated the individual from the body of Christ, his Church, and, if the sentence accurately reflected God's judgement, meant the denial of salvation. Excommunication, or even the threat of excommunication, was enough to convince many a heretic to renounce his views.Priscillian achieved the distinction of becoming the first Christian burned alive for heresy in 385 at Treves.[citation needed] In the early Middle Ages (c.450-1100,) reports of heresy became rare. How much this was the result of improved conformity, how much the inadequacy and heterogeny of episcopal supervision, is in question.[citation needed] From the late 11th century onward, heresy once again came to be a concern for Catholic authorities, as reports became increasingly common. The reasons for this are still not fully understood, but the causes for this new period of heresy include popular response to the 11th century clerical reform movement, greater lay familiarity with the bible, exclusion of lay people from sacramental activity, and more rigorous definition and supervision of Catholic dogma. The question of how heresy should be suppressed was not resolved, and there was initially substantial clerical resistance to the use of physical force by secular authorities to correct spiritual deviance. As heresy was viewed with increasing concern by the papacy, however, the "secular arm" was used more frequently and freely during the 12th century and afterward. In later years, the Church instituted the Inquisition, an official body charged with the suppression of heresy. This began as an extension and more rigorous enforcement of pre-existing episcopal powers (possessed, but little used, by bishops in the early Middle Ages) to inquire about and suppress heresy, but later became the domain of selected Dominican monks under the direct power of the Pope. The Inquisition was active in several nations of Europe, particularly where it had fervent support from the civil authority. The Albigensian Crusade (12091229) was part of the Catholic Church's efforts to crush theCathars. It is linked to the movement now known as the Medieval Inquisition. The Spanish Inquisition was particularly brutal in its methods, which included the burning at the stake of many heretics. However, it was initiated and substantially controlled by King Ferdinand of Spain rather than the Church; King Ferdinand used political leverage to obtain the Church's tacit approval.[citation needed] Another example of a medieval heretic movement is the Hussite movement in the Czech lands in the early 15th century. The last person to be burned alive at the stake on orders from Rome was Giordano Bruno, executed in 1600 for a collection of heretical beliefs including Copernicanism and (probably more important) an unlimited universe with innumerable inhabited worlds. The last case of an execution at an auto de fe by the Spanish Inquisition was the schoolmaster Cayetano Ripoll, accused of deism and executed bygarrotting 26 July 1826 in Valencia after a two-year trial.[citation needed]

[edit]Modern

Catholic response to Protestantism

Well into the 20th century, Catholics still defined Protestants as heretics. Thus, Hillaire Belloc, in his time one of the most conspicuous speakers for Catholicism in Britain, was outspoken about the "Protestant heresy". He even defined Islam as being "a Christian heresy", on the grounds that Muslims accept many of the tenets of Christianity but deny the godhood of Jesus. However, in the second half of the century, and especially in the wake of Vatican II, the Catholic Church, in the spirit of ecumenism, tends to diminish the effects of Protestantism as a heresy by referring to "those who, through no fault of their own do not know Christ and his Church",[19] even though the teachings of Protestantism are indeed heretical from a Catholic perspective. Modern usage favors referring to Protestants as "separated brethren" rather than "heretics",[citation needed] although the latter is still on occasion used vis-a-vis Catholics who abandon their Church to join a Protestant denomination.[citation needed] Some of the doctrines of Protestantism that the Catholic Church considers heretical are the belief that the Bible is the only source and rule of faith ("sola scriptura"), that faith alone can lead to salvation ("sola fide") and that there is no sacramental, ministerial priesthood attained by ordination, but only a universal priesthood of all believers.[20]

[edit]See

also

Anathema Heresy Heresy in the 20th century Heterodoxy History of Christianity Infallibility of the Church List of Christian heresies List of people burned as heretics Radical Christianity

[edit]References

1. ^ J.D Douglas (ed). The New International Dictionary of the Christian Church Paternoster Press/ Zondervan, Exeter/Grand Rapids 1974, art Heresy 2. ^ 3. ^
a b c a b

Cross & Livingstone (eds) Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 1974 art Heresy

Prmmer, Dominic M. Handbook of Moral Theology Mercer Press 1963, sect. 201ff

4. ^ Cross & Livingstone (eds) Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 1974 arts apostasy,schism 5. ^ Adam, Karl. The Spirit of Catholicism, Image Books, 1954, p.159 Vatican II, Unitatis Redintegratio, 14 6. ^ Oxford English Dictionary

7. ^ Jostein dna (editor), The Formation of the Early Church (Mohr Siebeck 2005 ISBN 978-3161485619), p. 342 8. ^ Sydney E. Ahlstrom (
[clarification needed]

, p. 381.) characterized denominationalism in America as "a virtual

ecclesiology" that "first of all repudiates the insistences of the Roman Catholic church, the churches of the 'magisterial' Reformation, and of most sects that they alone are the true Church." For specific citations, on the Roman Catholic Church see the Catechism of the Catholic Church 816; other examples: Donald Nash,Why the Churches of Christ are not a Denomination; Wendell Winkler, Christ's Church is not a Denomination; and David E. Pratt, What does God think about many Christian denominations? 9. ^ "Divisions of Christianity". North Virginia College. Retrieved 2007-12-31. 10. ^ "The LDS Restorationist movement, including Mormon denominations". Religious Tolerance. Retrieved 2007-12-31. 11. ^ e.g., 11:1315; 2:117; 711; 413, and the Epistle of James in general. 12. ^ e.g., Bauer, Walter (1971). Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity . ISBN 0-8006-13635.; Pagels, Elaine (1979). The Gnostic Gospels. ISBN 0-679-72453-2.; Ehrman, Bart D. (2003). Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew. New York: Oxford. ISBN 0-19514183-0. 13. ^ e.g. 11:13-15; 2:1-17; 7-11; 4-13, and the Epistle of James in general. 14. ^ R. Gerberding and J. H. Moran Cruz, Medieval Worlds (New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004) p. 58 15. ^ Ehrman, Bart D. (2003). Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew . New York: Oxford. ISBN 0-19-514183-0. 16. ^ Bock, Darrell L. The Missing Gospels: Unearthing the Truth Behind Alternative Christianities / ISBN 978-0-7852-1294-2 17. ^ Cambridge History of Christianity Volume 1, Origins to Constantine Series: Cambridge History of Christianity by Frances M. Young ISBN 978-0-521-81239-9 Published February 2006 18. ^ St Thomas Aquinas. "Summa Theologica: Heresy (Secunda Secunda Partis, Q. 11". New Advent. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 19. ^ http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/para/847.htm CCC 847 20. ^ http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12495a.htm Protestantism

Early Christianity
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is a description of early Christianity itself. For an overview of early Christian history, see Early history of Christianity.
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Early Christianity is generally considered as Christianity after the ascension of Jesus around the year 30 and before the First Council of Nicaea in 325. It is typically divided into the Apostolic Age for the period during the lives of the Twelve Apostles and the Ante-Nicene Period of the Ante-Nicene Fathers after the Apostles but before Nicaea. The very first Christians, as described in the first chapters of the Acts of the Apostles, were all Jewish, either by birth, or conversion for which the biblical term proselyte is used,[1] and referred to by historians as the Jewish Christians. The New Testament's Book of Acts and Epistle to the Galatians record that the first Christian communitywas centered in Jerusalem and its leaders included Peter, James, and John.[2] Paul of Tarsus, after his conversion to Christianity, claimed the title of "Apostle to the Gentiles". Paul's influence on Christian thinking is said to be more significant than any other New Testament writer.[3] By the end of the 1st century, Christianity began to be recognized internally and externally as

a separate religion from Rabbinic Judaism which itself was refined and developed further in the centuries after the destruction of the Second Jerusalem Temple. As shown by the numerous quotations in the New Testament books and other Christian writings of the 1st centuries, early Christians generally used and revered theJewish Bible as Scripture, mostly in the Greek (Septuagint) or Aramaic (Targum) translations, much of which is written in narrative form where "in the biblical story God is the protagonist, Satan (or evil people/powers) are the antagonists, and God's people are the agonists".[4][5] As the New Testament canon developed, the Letters of Paul, the Canonical Gospels and various other works were also recognized as scripture to be read in church. Paul's letters, especially Romans, established a theology based on Christ rather than on the Mosaic Law, but most Christian denominations today still consider the "moral prescriptions" of the Mosaic Law, such as the Ten Commandments, Great Commandment, and Golden Rule, to be relevant. Early Christians demonstrated a wide range of beliefs and practices, many of which were later rejected as heretical.

Contents
[hide]

1 History 2 Practices

o o o o o

2.1 Baptism 2.2 Organization 2.3 Sabbath 2.4 Women 2.5 Community

3 Beliefs

3.1 Christology

3.1.1 Divinity of Christ

3.2 Eschatology

4 Ecclesiology 5 Orthodoxy and heterodoxy 6 Religious writing

o o

6.1 Defining scripture 6.2 Fathers of the church

6.2.1 Apostolic Fathers

7 Spread of Christianity 8 See also 9 References 10 Bibliography 11 External links

[edit]History
Main article: History of early Christianity The earliest followers of Jesus composed an apocalyptic, Second Temple Jewish sect, which historians refer to as Jewish Christianity. The first part of the period, during the lifetimes of the Twelve Apostles, is called the Apostolic Age. In line with the Great Commission attributed to the resurrected Jesus, the Apostles are said to have dispersed from Jerusalem, and the missionary activity spread Christianity to cities throughout the Hellenistic world and even beyond the Roman Empire. Though Paul's influence on Christian thinking is said to be more significant than any other New Testament author,[3] the relationship ofPaul of Tarsus and Judaism is still disputed.

Early Christians suffered sporadic persecution because they refused to pay homage to the emperor as divine. Persecution was on the rise in Asia Minor towards the end of the 1st century,[6] as well as in Rome in the aftermath of the Great Fire of Rome in AD 64. During the Ante-Nicene period following the Apostolic Age, a great diversity of views emerged simultaneously with strong unifying characteristics lacking in the apostolic period. Part of the unifying trend was an increasingly harsh rejection of Judaism and Jewish practices. Early Christianity gradually grew apart from Judaism during the first two centuries and established itself as a predominantly gentile religion in the Roman Empire. According to Will Durant, the Christian Church prevailed over Paganism because it offered a much more attractive doctrine and because the church leaders addressed human needs better than their rivals.[7]

[edit]Practices
From the writings of early Christians, historians have tried to piece together an understanding of various early Christian practices including worship services, customs and observances. Early Christian writers such as Justin Martyr (100 165) described these practices.

[edit]Baptism
Main article: Baptism in early Christianity Early Christian beliefs regarding baptism probably predate the New Testament writings. It seems certain that numerous Jewish sects and certainly Jesus and his disciples practised baptism, which became integral to nearly every manifestation of the religion of the Jews. John the Baptist had baptized many people before baptisms took place in the name of Jesus Christ. Many of the interpretations that would later become orthodox Christian beliefs concerning baptism can be traced to apostles such as Paul, who likened baptism to being a buried with Christ in his death (Romans 6:3,4; Colossians 2:12). On the basis of this description, it was supposed by some modern theologians that the early Christians practised baptism by submersion (Matthew 3:13-17). This interpretation is debated between those Christian denominations who advocate immersion baptism exclusively and those who practice baptism by affusion or aspersion as well as by immersion. Yet the Didache, one of the earliest Christian writings on liturgical practices, mentions that baptism may occur by pouring water on the head three times using the trinitarian formula (i.e., in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit). While some believe that infant baptism began to be widely practised at least by the 3rd century,[3] the origins of the practice are controversial. Some believe that the Church in apostolic period practised infant baptism, arguing that the mention of the baptism of households in the Acts of the Apostles most definitely would have included children within the household.[8] In the 2nd century, Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons, may have referred to it.[3][9][10]

The 3rd century evidence is clearer, with both Origen[11] and Cyprian advocating the practice. Tertullian refers to the practice (and that sponsors would speak on behalf of the children), but argues against it, on the grounds that baptism should be postponed until after marriage. [12] Interpretation of the baptismal practices of the early church is important to groups such as Baptists and Anabaptists, who believe that infant baptism was a later development, yet the early Christian writings mentioned above, which date from the 2nd and 3rd century clearly show that the early Christians did maintain such practice.[13]

[edit]Organization
Christian groups and congregations first organized themselves loosely. In Paul's time, although certain decisions by Elders and Apostles were binding, as in the Council of Jerusalem,[14] there were no precisely delineated functions yet for bishops, elders, and deacons.[15] A Church hierarchy, however, seems to have developed by the late 1st century and early 2nd century[15] (see Pastoral Epistles, c 90 - 140[15]). These structures were certainly formalized well before the end of the Early Christian period, which concluded with the legalization of Christianity by Constantine's Edict of Milan in 313 and the holding of the First Council of Nicea in 325, when the title of Metropolitan bishop first appears. In the post-Apostolic church, bishops emerged as overseers of urban Christian populations, and a hierarchy of clergy gradually took on the form of episkopoi (overseers), presbyteroi (elders),[16] and diakonoi(ministerial servants). This hierarchy emerged slowly and at different times for different locations. Clement, a 1st-century bishop of Rome, refers to the leaders of the Corinthian church in his epistle to Corinthians as bishops and presbyters interchangeably. The New Testament writers also use the terms "overseer" and "elder" interchangeably and as synonyms.[17] The Didache (dated by most scholars to the early 2nd century),[18] speaks of "appointing for yourself bishops and deacons". Disputes regarding the proper titles and roles of church leaders would later become one of the major causes of schism within the Christian church.[citation needed] Such disputes include the roles of bishops and presbyters. Churches such as the Catholic and Orthodox use the word "priest" of all the baptized, but apply it in a more specific sense ("ministerial priesthood")[19] to bishops and presbyters[20] and sometimes, somewhat loosely, treat "presbyter" and "priest" as synonyms,[21][22] applying both terms to clergy subordinate to bishops. In congregational churches, the title "priest" is rejected, keeping only "presbyter" or "elder". Some congregational churches do not include a role of bishop in their organizational polity. Post-apostolic bishops of importance include Polycarp of Smyrna, Ignatius of Antioch and Clement of Rome . These men reportedly knew and studied under the apostles personally and are therefore calledApostolic Fathers. Each Christian community also had presbyters, as was the case with Jewish communities, who were also ordained and assisted the bishop; as Christianity spread, especially in rural areas, the presbyters exercised more responsibilities and took distinctive shape as priests. Lastly, deacons also performed certain duties, such as tending to the poor and sick. In the 2nd century, an

episcopal structure becomes more visible, and in that century this structure was supported by teaching on apostolic succession, where a bishop becomes the spiritual successor of the previous bishop in a line tracing back to the apostles themselves. By the end of the early Christian period, the church within the Roman Empire had hundreds of bishops, some of them (Rome, Alexandria, Antioch, "other provinces") holding some form of jurisdiction over others.[23] Jerusalem was the first church and an important church center up to 135.[24] The First Council of Nicaea recognized and confirmed the tradition by which Jerusalem continued to be given "special honour", but did not assign to it even metropolitan authority within its own province, still less the extraprovincial jurisdiction exercised by Rome and the other sees mentioned above.[25] Constantinople came into prominence only after the early Christian period, being founded officially in 330, five years after the First Council of Nicaea, though the much smaller original city of Byzantium was an early center of Christianity largely due to its proximity to Anatolia.

[edit]Sabbath
See also: Sabbath in Christianity According to Bauckham, the post-apostolic church contained diverse practices as regards the Sabbath.[26]

[edit]Women
Main article: Women in Christianity#Women in the New Testament Church The attitude of the Church Fathers towards women paralleled rules in Jewish law regarding a woman's role in worship, although the early church allowed women to participate in worship - something that was not allowed in the Synagogue (where women were restricted to the outer court). The First Epistle to Timothy teaches that women should remain quiet during public worship and were not to instruct men or assume authority over them.[27] Women were regarded both as "God's good gift to men" and as "weak in both mind and character",[28] and women were called upon to submit to the authority of their husbands.[29] Despite the teachings in the epistles, the New Testament provides several examples of female ministers and church leaders, including Phoebe (a church deacon in Corinth),[30] Priscilla (an early missionary and one of the Seventy Disciples)[31] and Lydia (who hosted a house church in the Asian city of Thyatira).[32][33]

[edit]Community
Early Christian congregations apparently provided members with a strong sense of community, with mutual religious and material support.[34]

[edit]Beliefs
Early Christian beliefs were based on the apostolic preaching (kerygma), considered to be preserved in tradition and in New Testament scripture, for parts of which scholars have posited dates as late as the third century, although it was then attributed to the Apostles themselves and their contemporaries, such as Mark and Luke.

[edit]Christology [edit]Divinity of Christ

Main articles: Christology and Divinity of Christ Most Christians identified Jesus as divine from a very early period, although holding a variety of competing views as to what exactly this implied.[35] Early Christian views tended to see Jesus as a unique agent of God;[36] by the Council of Nicaea in 325 he was identified as God in the fullest sense, being 'of the same substance, essence or being'. The 1st and 2nd-century texts that would later be canonized as the New Testament several times imply or indirectly refer to Jesus' divinity; though there is scholarly debate as to whether or not they call him God[37] Within 1520 years of the death of Jesus, Paul, who authored the largest early expositions of Christian theology, refers to Jesus as the resurrected "Son of God", the savior who would return from heaven and save his faithful, dead and living, from the imminent destruction of the world. The Synoptic Gospels describe him as the "Son of God", though the phrase "Son of Man" (always placed in the mouth of Jesus himself) is more frequently used in the Gospel of Mark; born of the Virgin Mary by the agency of the Holy Spirit, and who will return to judge the nations. The Gospel of John identifies Jesus as the human incarnation of the divine Word or "Logos" (see Jesus the Logos) and True Vine. It is believed that the Book of Revelation depicts Jesus as "the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end" (22:13), and applies similar terms to "the Lord God": "'I am the Alpha and the Omega,' says the Lord God, 'who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty'" (1:8). The term "Logos" was used in Greek philosophy (see Heraclitus) and in Hellenistic Jewish religious writing (see Philo Judaeus of Alexandria) to mean the ultimate ordering principle of the universe. Those who rejected the identification of Jesus with the Logos, rejecting also the Gospel of John, were called Alogi (see also Monarchianism).[38][39] Adoptionists, such as the Ebionites, considered him as at first an ordinary man, born to Joseph and Mary, who later became the Son of God at his baptism, his transfiguration, or hisresurrection.[citation needed]

[edit]Eschatology
See also: Christian eschatology

[edit]Ecclesiology
Rodney Stark estimates that the number of Christians grew by approximately 40% a decade during the first and second centuries.[40] This phenomenal growth rate forced Christian communities to evolve in order to adapt to their changes in the nature of their communities as well as their relationship with their political and socioeconomic environment. As the number of Christians grew, the Christian communities became larger, more numerous and farther apart geographically. The passage of time also moved some Christians farther from the original teachings of the apostles giving rise to teachings that were considered heterodox and sowing controversy and divisiveness within churches and between churches.[41] Robert Haight[who?] posits the development of ecclesiology in the form of "Early Catholicism" as one response to the problem of church unity. Thus, the solution to division arising from heterodox teaching was the development of "tighter and more standardized structures of ministry. One of these structures is the tripartite form of church leadership consisting of bishops, elders and deacons that Ignatius of Antioch urged churches to adopt, writing that "You cannot have a church without these." Over the course of the second century, this organizational structure became universal and continues to be used in the Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican churches as well as in some Protestant denominations.[41] Despite its mention of bishops, there is no clear evidence in the New Testament that supports the concepts of dioceses and monepiscopacy (i.e. the rule that all the churches in a geographic area should be ruled by a single bishop). Scholars point to evidence that Christian communities such as Rome had many bishops and that the concept of monepiscopacy was still emerging when Ignatius was urging his tri-partite structure on other churches.[42] Robert Williams posits that the "origin and earliest development of episcopacy and monepiscopacy and the ecclesiastical concept of (apostolic) succession were associated with crisis situations in the early church."[43]

[edit]Orthodoxy

and heterodoxy

Main article: Diversity in early Christian theology The orthodox main stream of the Catholic church had a dichotomy for teachings; they were either orthodox or heterodox. Orthodox teachings were those that had the authentic lineage of Holy Tradition. All other teachings were viewed as deviant streams of thought and were possibly heretical. An important discussion in the past century among scholars of early Christianity is to what extent it is still appropriate to speak of "orthodoxy" and "heresy". Higher criticism drastically altered the previous perception that heresy was a very rare exception to the orthodoxy. Some orthodox scholars argue against the increasing focus on heterodoxy. A movement away from presuming the correctness or dominance of the orthodoxy is seen as understandable, in light of modern approaches. However, these orthodox scholars feel that instead of an even and neutral approach to historical analysis that the heterodox sects are given an assumption of superiority over the orthodox movement.[44]

[edit]Religious

writing

See also: List of early Christian writers and List of early Christian texts of disputed authorship Early Christians wrote many religious works, some of which were later canonized as the New Testament of today.

[edit]Defining

scripture

Main article: Development of the Christian Biblical canon Debates about scripture were underway in the mid-2nd century, concurrent with a drastic increase of new scriptures, both Jewish and Christian. Debates regarding practice and belief gradually became reliant on the use of scripture other than what Melito referred to as the Old Testament, as the New Testament canon developed. Similarly, in the 3rd century a shift away from direct revelation as a source of authority occurred, most notably against the Montanists. "Scripture" still had a broad meaning and usually referred to the Septuagint among Greek speakers or the Targums among Aramaic speakers or the Vetus Latina translations in Carthage. Beyond the Torah (the Law) and some of the earliest prophetic works (the Prophets), there was not agreement on the canon, but this was not debated much at first. By the mid2nd century, tensions arose with the split of early Christianity and Judaism, which some theorize led eventually to the determination of a Jewish canon by the emerging rabbinic movement,[45] though, even as of today, there is no scholarly consensus as to when the Jewish canon was set. For example some scholars argue that the Jewish canon was fixed earlier, by the Hasmonean dynasty (140-137 BC).[46] A problem for scholars is that there is a lack of direct evidence on when Christians began accepting their own scriptures alongside the Septuagint. Well into the 2nd century Christians held onto a strong preference for oral tradition as clearly demonstrated by writers of the time, such as Papias.[45] Koine Greek spread all over the Empire, even up the Rhone valley of Gaul; Roman satirists complained that even Rome had become a Greek city. Thus the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures (theSeptuagint) was the dominant translation (even the Peshitta appears to be influenced[47]). Later Jerome would express his preference for adhering strictly to the Hebrew text and canon, but his view held little currency even in his own day. It was not until the Protestant Reformation that substantial numbers of Christians began to reject those books of the Septuagint which are not found in the Jewish Masoretic Text, referring to them as biblical apocrypha. In addition, some New Testament books were also disputed, known as the Antilegomena.

[edit]Fathers

of the church

Main article: Church Fathers Since the end of the 4th century, the title "Fathers of the Church" has been used to refer to a more or less clearly defined group of ecclesiastical writers who are appealed to as authorities on doctrinal matters. Orthodoxy of doctrine, holiness of life, approval by the Church and antiquity are traditionally considered

conditions for classification as a Father of the Church, but modern writers sometimes include Tertullian,Origen and a few others.[48]

[edit]Apostolic Fathers

St. Clement I was an Apostolic Father.

See also: Apostolic Fathers The earliest Christian writings (other than those collected in the New Testament) are a group of letters credited to the Apostolic Fathers. These include the Epistle of Barnabas, theShepherd of Hermas and the Epistles of Clement, as well as the Didache. Taken as a whole, the collection is notable for its literary simplicity, religious zeal and lack of Hellenistic philosophy or rhetoric. Fathers such as Ignatius of Antioch (died 98 to 117) advocated the authority of the apostolic episcopacy (bishops).[49]

[edit]Spread

of Christianity

Spread of Christianity in Europe to AD 325 Spread of Christianity in Europe to AD 600

*The map does not accurately reflect the conversion of the Arsacid Dynasty of Armenia to Christianity in 301 AD

Main article: Early centers of Christianity Early Christianity spread from city to city throughout the Hellenized Roman Empire and beyond into East Africa and South Asia. The Christian Apostles, said to have dispersed from Jerusalem, traveled extensively and established communities in major cities and regions throughout the Empire. The original church communities were founded in northern Africa, Asia Minor, Armenia, Arabia, Greece, and other places.[50][51][52] by apostles (seeApostolic see) and other Christian soldiers, merchants, and preachers.[53] Over forty were established by the year 100,[51][52] many inAsia Minor, such as the seven churches of Asia. By the end of the 1st century, Christianity had spread to Greece and Italy, evenIndia. In 301 AD, the Kingdom of Armenia became the first state to declare Christianity as its official religion, following the conversion of the Royal House of the Arsacids in Armenia. Despite sometimes intense persecutions, the Christian religion continued its spread throughout the Mediterranean Basin.[54] There is no agreement on an explanation of how Christianity managed to spread so successfully prior to the Edict of Milan. For some Christians, the success was simply the natural consequence of the truth of the religion and the hand of Providence. However, similar explanations are claimed for the spread of, for instance, Islam and Buddhism. In The Rise of Christianity, Rodney Stark argues that Christianity triumphed over paganism chiefly because it improved the lives of its adherents in various ways.[55] Another factor, more recently pointed out, was the way in which Christianity combined its promise of a general resurrection of the dead with the traditional Greek belief that true immortality depended on the survival of the body, with Christianity adding practical explanations of how this was going to actually happen at the end of the world.[56] For Mosheim the rapid progression of Christianity was explained by two factors: translations of the New Testament and the Apologies composed in defence of Christianity.[57] Edward Gibbon, in his classic The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, discusses the topic in considerable detail in his famous Chapter Fifteen, summarizing the historical causes of the early success of Christianity as follows: "(1) The inflexible, and, if we may use the expression, the intolerant zeal of the Christians, derived, it is true, from the Jewish religion, but purified from the narrow and unsocial spirit which, instead of inviting, had deterred the Gentiles from embracing the law of Moses. (2) The doctrine of a future life, improved by every additional circumstance which could give weight and efficacy to that important truth. (3) The miraculous powers ascribed to the primitive church. (4) The pure and austere morals of the Christians. (5) The union and discipline of the Christian republic, which gradually formed an independent and increasing state in the heart of the Roman empire."[58]

[edit]See

also

Ante-Nicene Fathers Christianity in the 1st century Christianity in the 2nd century

Christianity in the 3rd century Christian Torah-submission Constantine I and Christianity Constantinian shift Council of Jerusalem Early centers of Christianity Early Christian art and architecture History of Christianity Christian primitivism Society for the Study of Early Christianity Split of early Christianity and Judaism State church of the Roman Empire

[edit]References

1.

^ Catholic Encyclopedia: Proselyte: "The English term "proselyte" occurs only in the New Testament where it signifies a convert to the Jewish religion (Matthew 23:15; Acts 2:11; 6:5; etc.), though the same Greek word is commonly used in the Septuagint to designate a foreign sojourner in Palestine. Thus the term seems to have passed from an original local and chiefly political sense, in which it was used as early as 300 B.C., to a technical and religious meaning in the Judaism of theNew Testament epoch."

2. 3. 4. 5.

^ Galatians 2:9, Acts 1:13; See Historical reliability of the Acts of the Apostles for details ^
a b c d

Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church ed. F.L. Lucas (Oxford) entry on Paul

^ [1] A View From Above The Bible's Big Picture - Greg Chaney ^ [2] How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth - Gordon D. Fee - Douglas Stuart - Harper Collins Publishing

6.

^ Ehrman 2004, p. 318 - "If the letter [1 Peter] is indeed associated with Asia Minor, as its prescript suggests, it should probably be assigned to the first century, possibly near its end, when persecution of the Christians was on the rise"

7. 8.

^ Durant, Will. Caesar and Christ. New York: Simon and Schuster. 1972 ^ Gregg Strawbridge, Ph.D.; John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion; Jordan Bajis;Bryan Chapell; Gregg Strawbridge (response to objections)

9.

^ "He (Jesus) came to save all through means of Himself all, I say, who through Him are born again to God and children, infants, and boys, and youths, and old men" ( Adversus Haereses, ii, 22, 4)

10. ^ Paul King Jewett, Infant Baptism and the Covenant of Grace, (Eerdmans 1978), page 127. 11. ^ Homilies on Leviticus 8.3.11; Commentary on Romans 5.9; and Homily on Luke 14.5 12. ^ "The delay of baptism is preferable; principally, however, in the case of little children. For why is it necessary ... that the sponsors likewise should be thrust into danger? ... For no less cause must the unwedded also be deferred - in whom the ground of temptation is prepared, alike in such as never were

wedded by means of their maturity, and in the widowed by means of their freedom - until they either marry, or else be more fully strengthened for continence" ( On Baptism 18). 13. ^ "The Didache, representing practice perhaps as early as the beginning of the second century, probably in Syria, also assumes immersion to be normal, but it allows that if sufficient water for immersion is not at hand, water may be poured three times over the head. The latter must have been a frequent arrangement, for it corresponds with most early artistic depictions of baptism, in Roman catacombs and on sarcophagi of the third century and later. The earliest identifiable Christian meeting house known to us, at Dura Europos on the Euphrates, contained a baptismal basin too shallow for immersion. Obviously local practice varied, and practicality will often have trumped whatever desire leaders may have felt to make action mime metaphor" (Margaret Mary Mitchell, Frances Margaret Young, K. Scott Bowie, Cambridge History of Christianity, Vol. 1, Origins to Constantine (Cambridge University Press 2006 ISBN 978-0-521-81239-9), pp. 160-161). 14. ^ Apostolic Presbyterianism - by William Cunningham and Reg Barrow 15. ^
a b c

Harris, Stephen L., Understanding the Bible. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985.

16. ^ presbyter. CollinsDictionary.com. Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 11th Edition. Retrieved October 06, 2012. 17. ^ Philip Carrington, The Early Christian Church (2 vol. 1957) online edition vol 1; online edition vol 2 18. ^ Metzger, Bruce. The canon of the New Testament. 1997 19. ^ Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1120 20. ^ Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1554 21. ^ Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1562-1568 22. ^ . & ( 2004 ISBN 96086190-4-1) 23. ^ Canon VI of the First Council of Nicea, which closes the period under consideration in this article, reads: "Let the ancient customs in Egypt, Libya and Pentapolis prevail, that the Bishop of Alexandria have jurisdiction in all these, since the like is customary for the Bishop of Rome also. Likewise in Antioch and the other provinces, let the Churches retain their privileges. And this is to be universally understood, that if any one be made bishop without the consent of the Metropolitan, the great Synod has declared that such a man ought not to be a bishop ..." As can be seen, the title of "Patriarch", later applied to some of these bishops, was not used by the Council: "Nobody can maintain that the bishops of Antioch and Alexandria were called patriarchs then, or that the jurisdiction they had then was coextensive with what they had afterward, when they were so called" (ffoulkes, Dictionary of Christian Antiquities, quoted in Volume XIV of Philip Schaff's The Seven Ecumenical Councils). 24. ^ See, for example, Council of Jerusalem and Early centers of Christianity#Jerusalem. 25. ^ "Since there prevails a custom and ancient tradition to the effect that the bishop of Aelia is to be honoured, let him be granted everything consequent upon this honour, saving the dignity proper to the metropolitan" (Canon 7).

26. ^ R. J. Bauckham (1982). D. A. Carson. ed. "Sabbath and Sunday in the Post-Apostolic church". From Sabbath to Lord's Day (Zondervan): 252298 27. ^ "1 Timothy 2 NIV". BibleGateway. Retrieved October 7, 2012. 28. ^ Clark, Elizabeth Ann (1983). Women in the early church. Liturgical Press. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-81465332-6. 29. ^ "Ephesians 5 NIV". Retrieved October 7, 2012. 30. ^ "Romans 16:1-2 (New International Version)". Retrieved February 17, 2013. 31. ^ "Romans 16:3-5 (New International Version)". Retrieved February 17, 2013. 32. ^ "Acts 16:40 (New International Version)". Retrieved February 17, 2013. 33. ^ "Acts 16:14-15 (New International Version)". Retrieved February 17, 2013. 34. ^ Dodds, E.R. (1970) [1965]. Pagan and christian in an Age of Anxiety. New York: Norton. pp. 136 137. "A Christian congregation was from the first a community in a much fuller sense than any corresponding group of Isiac or Mithraist devotees. Its members were bound together not only by common rites but by a common way of life . ... Love of one's neighbour is not an exclusively Christian virtue, but in [this] period Christians appear to have practised it much more effectively an any other group. The Church provided the essentials of social security. ... But even more important, I suspect, than these material benefits was the sense of belonging which the Christian community could give."Quoted in Stark, Rodney (1996). The Rise of Christianity: A Sociologist Reconsiders History . Princeton University Press. p. 207. ISBN 9780691027494. Retrieved 2013-01-23. 35. ^ Larry Hurtado, Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity, (Eerdmans, 2005), page 650. 36. ^ Larry Hurtado, Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus! in Earliest Christianity , (Eerdmans, 2005), page 204. 37. ^ Brown, Raymond E. (1965). "Does the New Testament call Jesus God?". Theological Studies 26: 54573. 38. ^ "Alogi or Alogoi", Early Church.org.uk. 39. ^ "Alogi", Francis P. Havey, The Catholic Encyclopedia Volume I, 1907. 40. ^ Stark, Rodney (9 May 1997). The Rise of Christianity. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-067701-5. Retrieved 28 October 2012. 41. ^
a b

Haight, Roger D. (16 September 2004). Christian Community in History Volume 1: Historical

Ecclesiology. Continuum International Publishing Group. pp. 8384. ISBN 978-0-8264-1630-8. Retrieved 26 October 2012. ""The churches were becoming ever more distant from their origins in space and time. They were growing and with growth came new or false teachings, the sources of controversy and division."" 42. ^ Ronald Y.K. Fung as cited in John Piper; Wayne Grudem (8 August 2006). Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood: A Response to Evangelical Feminism. Crossway. p. 254. ISBN 978-14335-1918-5. Retrieved 28 October 2012.

43. ^ Williams, Robert Lee (2005). Bishop Lists: Formation of Apostolic Succession of Bishops in Ecclesiastical Crises. Gorgias Press LLC. p. 6. ISBN 978-1-59333-194-8. Retrieved 28 October 2012. 44. ^ Esler (2004). Pp 893-894. 45. ^
a b

White (2004). Pp 446-447.

46. ^ Philip R. Davies, in The Canon Debate, page 50: "With many other scholars, I conclude that the fixing of a canonical list was almost certainly the achievement of the Hasmonean dynasty." 47. ^ Swete's Introduction to the Old Testament in Greek, page 112 48. ^ Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005, article Fathers of the Church 49. ^ Ephesians 5-6, Magnesians 2, 6-7, 13, Trallians 2-3, Smyrnaeans 8-9 50. ^ Vidmar, The Catholic Church Through the Ages (2005), pp. 1920 51. ^
a b

Hitchcock, Geography of Religion (2004), p. 281, quote: "By the year 100, more than 40 Christian

communities existed in cities around the Mediterranean, including two in North Africa, at Alexandria and Cyrene, and several in Italy." 52. ^
a b

Bokenkotter, A Concise History of the Catholic Church (2004), p. 18, quote: "The story of how this

tiny community of believers spread to many cities of the Roman Empire within less than a century is indeed a remarkable chapter in the history of humanity." 53. ^ Franzen 29 54. ^ Michael Whitby, et al. eds. Christian Persecution, Martyrdom and Orthodoxy (2006) online edition 55. ^ Rodney Stark. The Rise of Christianity. Princeton: Princeton University Press 1996. 56. ^ Dag istein Endsj. Greek Resurrection Beliefs and the Success of Christianity. New York: Palgrave Macmillan 2009. 57. ^ Moishem, Johann Lorenz von, The Ecclesiastical History of the Second and Third Centuries : Illustrated from the Writings of Tertullian, F. & J. Rivington, London, 1845, p. 106 58. ^ Gibbon, Edward, History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Chapter Fifteen. in 6 volumes at the Internet Archive.

[edit]Bibliography

Berard, Wayne Daniel. When Christians Were Jews (That Is, Now). Cowley Publications (2006). ISBN 1-56101-280-7.

Boatwright, Mary Taliaferro & Gargola, Daniel J & Talbert, Richard John Alexander. The Romans: From Village to Empire. Oxford University Press (2004). ISBN 0-19-511875-8.

Dauphin, C. "De l'glise de la circoncision l'glise de la gentilit sur une nouvelle voie hors de l'impasse". Studium Biblicum Franciscanum. Liber Annuus XLIII (1993).

Dunn, James D.G. Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways, A.D. 70 to 135. Pp 3334. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing (1999). ISBN 0-8028-4498-7.

Ehrman, Bart D. Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why . HarperCollins (2005). ISBN 0-06-073817-0.

Endsj, Dag istein. Greek Resurrection Beliefs and the Success of Christianity. New York: Palgrave Macmillan 2009.

Esler, Phillip F. The Early Christian World. Routledge (2004). ISBN 0-415-33312-1. Harris, Stephen L. Understanding the Bible. Mayfield (1985). ISBN 0-87484-696-X. Hinson, E. Glenn The Early Church: Origins to the Dawn of the Middle Ages. Abingdon Press (1996). ISBN 0-687-00603-1.

Hunt, Emily Jane. Christianity in the Second Century: The Case of Tatian. Routledge (2003). ISBN 0415-30405-9.

Keck, Leander E. Paul and His Letters. Fortress Press (1988). ISBN 0-8006-2340-1. Pelikan, Jaroslav Jan. The Christian Tradition: The Emergence of the Catholic Tradition (100-600). University of Chicago Press (1975). ISBN 0-226-65371-4.

Pritz, Ray A., Nazarene Jewish Christianity From the End of the New Testament Period Until Its Disappearance in the Fourth Century. Magnes Press - E.J. Brill, Jerusalem - Leiden (1988).

Richardson, Cyril Charles. Early Christian Fathers. Westminster John Knox Press (1953). ISBN 0-66422747-3.

Stark, Rodney.The Rise of Christianity. Harper Collins Pbk. Ed edition 1997. ISBN 0-06-067701-5 Stambaugh, John E. & Balch, David L. The New Testament in Its Social Environment. John Knox Press (1986). ISBN 0-664-25012-2.

Tabor, James D. "Ancient Judaism: Nazarenes and Ebionites", The Jewish Roman World of Jesus. Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (1998).

Taylor, Joan E. Christians and the Holy Places: The Myth of Jewish-Christian Origins. Oxford University Press (1993). ISBN 0-19-814785-6.

Thiede, Carsten Peter. The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Jewish Origins of Christianity. Palgrabe Macmillan (2003). ISBN 1-4039-6143-3.

Valantasis, Richard. The Making of the Self: Ancient and Modern Asceticism. James Clarke & Co (2008) ISBN 978-0-227-17281-0.[3]

White, L. Michael. From Jesus to Christianity. HarperCollins (2004). ISBN 0-06-052655-6. Wright, N.T. The New Testament and the People of God. Fortress Press (1992). ISBN 0-8006-2681-8. Wylen, Stephen M. The Jews in the Time of Jesus: An Introduction. Paulist Press (1995). ISBN 08091-3610-4.

History of early Christianity

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is a historical overview of early Christianity; for a description of early Christianity itself, see Early Christianity.

Funerary stele of Licinia Amias on marble. One of the earliest Christian inscriptions found, it is from the early 3rdcentury Vatican necropolisarea, Rome.

Main article: History of Christianity See also: History of late ancient Christianity The history of early Christianity covers Christianity before the First Council of Nicaea in 325. The first part of the period, during the lifetimes of the Twelve Apostles, is traditionally believed to have been initiated by the Great Commission of Jesus (though some scholars dispute its historicity), and is called the Apostolic Age. The earliest followers of Jesus composed an apocalyptic, Second Temple Jewish sect, which historians refer to as Jewish Christianity. Though Paul's influence on Christian thinking is said to be more significant than any other New Testament author,[1] the relationship of Paul of Tarsus and Judaism is still disputed today. Early Christianity gradually grew apart from Judaism during the first two centuries and established itself as a predominantly gentile religion in the Roman Empire. In the Ante-Nicene Period (literally before the First Council of Nicaea in 325), following the Apostolic Age, both incredible diversity and unifying characteristics lacking in the apostolic period emerged simultaneously. Part of the unifying trend was an increasingly harsh rejection of Judaism and Jewish practices. By the beginning of the Nicene period, the Christian faith had spread throughout Western Europe and the Mediterranean Basin, and to North Africa and the East, seeEarly centers of Christianity. The First Council of Nicaea in 325 and the promotion of Christianity by Emperor Constantine I in the Roman Empire are commonly used to mark the end of early Christianity, beginning the era of the first seven Ecumenical Councils.

Contents
[hide]

1 Appellation

o o

1.1 Christian 1.2 Other names

2 Origins

o o o

2.1 Background 2.2 Ministry of Jesus 2.3 Apostolic Age

2.3.1 Judaism and Christianity

3 Post-apostolic period 4 Spread of Christianity 5 See also 6 Footnotes 7 References 8 Further reading 9 External links

[edit]Appellation This section may be too long to read and navigate comfortably. Please consider splitting content into sub-articles and/or condensing it. (June 2010) [edit]Christian
The term "Christians" (Greek ) occurs three times in the New Testament. The disciples were first called "Christians" in Antioch (as related in Acts 11:26). The term also appears in Acts 26:28, used by Herod Agrippa II. In the final New Testament usage, the First Epistle of Peter tells believers not to be distraught if they suffer because the name was applied to them (1Peter 4:14-16). Ignatius of Antioch was the first Christian to use the label in self-reference and made the earliest recorded use of the term Christianity (Greek ), around 100 AD.[2] "Christ" is a modified transcription of the Greek word christos, meaning "anointed one". The form of the Greek term (Christianoi) indicates it was a transcription of a Latin word. Some scholars hold that it was most likely coined by a Roman official in Antioch, which was the seat of Roman administration in the eastern Mediterranean,[3] but in the view of others this surmise goes beyond the evidence and the more common view among scholars is that the name arose among the general populace as a means of designating the members of the new religious group.[4]

The suffix (Latin -iani, Greek -ianoi) means, among other things,[5] "belonging to the party of", much like the suffixes -er and -ite are used in modern English.[6] It (-iani, -ianoi) was a standard wording used for followers of a particular person (such as Pompeiani, Caesariani, Herodiani,[7] etc.). It was this "follower" wording that led Claudius to blame "Chrestus" for the disputes among Roman Jews that led to their expulsion from Rome in c. 49.[8] Suetonius's report that it was on account of "Chrestus" that the Jews were expelled from Rome in 49 was due to the use by some pagans (for whom "Christ" was an unusual and meaningless name, while "Chrestos" was a common name) of "Chrestians" in place of the term "Christians".[9] According to the account by Tacitus in his Annals, "Christians" were a group which was punished for the Great Fire of Rome, in order to divert blame from Nero. The original text of the earliest extant manuscript, from which the other existing manuscripts probably are derived, suggests that Tacitus wrote "Chrestianos", which was a vulgar form of the name "Christianos", likely derived from the most common name for slaves ("Chrestus", which means "useful"). In the same passage Tacitus used the name "Christus", not "Chrestus", to refer to the founder of the "Chrestianos", noting that he was a Jew executed as a criminal under Pontius Pilate.[10] Accordingly, "Christians" (with the variant "Chrestians") was by 49 already a familiar term in the Latinspeaking capital of the Roman Empire. As the church spread throughout Greek-speaking Gentile lands, the appellation took prominence and eventually became the standard reference for followers of the faith. James Tabor suggests that Christian (in essence meaning a "Messianist") was an attempt to approximate Nazarene in Greek.[11] Modern historians debate whether or not the Roman government distinguished between Christians and Jews prior to Nerva's modification of the Fiscus Judaicus in 96. From then on, practising Jews paid the tax, Christians did not.[12]

[edit]Other

names

A common self-reference among the early Christians was "the disciples", meaning "the learners" or "the followers of a teaching". For example, "disciples" is the most common appellation used in the Acts of the Apostles.[13] The same book several times refers to the sect itself as "the Way" (Acts 9:2; 19:9; 19:23; 22:4; 24:14; 24:22). The terms "Nazarene" and "Galilean", were used as polemics by opponents of Christianity. "Nazarene" is one of early names for followers of Jesus, as evidenced in Acts 24:5. Tertullus, a lawyer for the Jewish high priest Ananias (as noted in Acts 24:1) called Paul "a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes". Jesus was called "the Nazarene", as mentioned in the biblical books of Matthew, John and Luke-Acts. According to Matthew 2:23, this is because of his relation with the town of Nazareth.[14] According to Philip Esler, the Jewish term Notzrim (Nazarenes) is the subject of considerable debate. Exactly how broadly the appellation applied to followers of Jesus, or when exactly it was adopted, is

believed to be unknown. Esler states that it may or may not have referred to all Christians, but certainly referred to Jewish Christians.[15]

[edit]Origins
Main article: Origins of Christianity See also Jesus in the Talmud

[edit]Background
See also: Cultural and historical background of Jesus Jewish messianism has its root in the apocalyptic literature of the 2nd century BC to 1st century BC, promising a future "anointed" leader or Messiah to resurrect the Israelite "Kingdom of God", in place of the foreign rulers of the time. This corresponded with the Maccabean Revolt directed against the Seleucids. Following the fall of the Hasmonean kingdom, it was directed against the Roman administration ofIudaea Province, which, according to Josephus, began with the formation of the Zealots during the Census of Quirinius of 6 AD, though full scale open revolt did not occur till the First JewishRoman War in 66 AD. Historian H. H. Ben-Sasson has proposed that the "Crisis under Caligula" (37-41) was the "first open break" between Rome and the Jews.[16] Judaism at this time was divided into antagonistic factions. The main camps were the Pharisees, Saducees, and Zealots, but also included other less influential sects. This led to further unrest, and the 1st century BC and 1st century AD saw a number of charismatic religious leaders, contributing to what would become the Mishnah of Rabbinic Judaism, including Yochanan ben Zakai and Hanina Ben Dosa.

[edit]Ministry

of Jesus

Main article: Ministry of Jesus The Gospel accounts show the ministry of Jesus as falling into this pattern of sectarian preachers with devoted disciples. According to the Gospel writers, Jesus preached for a period of one to three years when he was in his early 30s, in the early 1st century AD. The gospels give Jesus' method of teaching as involving parables, metaphor, allegory, proverbs, and a small number of direct sermons such as theSermon on the Mount. His ministry of teaching, healing the sick and disabled and performing various miracles culminated in his execution at the hands of the Roman authorities in Jerusalem (but see alsoResponsibility for the death of Jesus). Shortly thereafter, a strong belief in Jesus' bodily resurrection spread rapidly through Jerusalem, beginning with his closest disciples, which led up to the traditional Day of Pentecost. This event provoked the Apostles to embark on a number of missionary campaigns to spread the "Good News", following the Great Commission handed down by Jesus.[citation needed] Most New Testament scholars agree that Peter had some sort of special position among the Twelve.

[edit]Apostolic

Age

Main article: Apostolic Age

The Cenacle on Mount Zion, claimed to be the location of the Last Supper andPentecost. Bargil Pixner[17] claims the original Church of the Apostles is located under the current structure.

The Christian church sees "the Apostolic Age" as the foundation upon which its whole history is founded.[18] This period, roughly dated between the years 30 and 100 AD, produced writings traditionally attributed to the direct followers of Jesus Christ (the New Testament and Apostolic Fathers collections) and is thus associated with the apostles and their contemporaries. [citation needed] Earliest Christianity took the form of a Jewish eschatological faith. The apostles traveled to Jewish communities around the Mediterranean Sea, and attracted Jewish converts.[19] Within 10 years of the death of Jesus, apostles had spread Christianity from Jerusalem to Antioch, Ephesus, Corinth, Thessalonica, Cyprus, Crete, and Rome.[20] The book of Acts reports that the early followers continued daily Temple attendance and traditional Jewish home prayer. Other passages in the canonical gospels reflect a similar observance of traditional Jewish piety such as fasting, reverence for the Torah (generally translated as "the Law" in English translations of the Bible) and observance of Jewish holy days.[21][22] In the mid-1st century, in Antioch, Paul of Tarsus began preaching to Gentiles.[19] The new converts did not follow all "Jewish Law" (generally understood to meanMosaic Law as the Halakha was still being formalized at the time) and refused to be circumcised,[23] as circumcision was considered repulsive in Hellenistic culture.[24] The resulting circumcision controversy was addressed at the Council of Jerusalem about the year 50. Paul, who was vocally supported by Peter, argued that circumcision was

not a necessary practice.[25] The council agreed that converts could forgo circumcision, but other aspects of "Jewish Law" were deemed necessary.[26] Four years after the Council of Jerusalem, Paul wrote to the Galatians about the issue, which had become a serious controversy in their region. According to Alister McGrath, Paul considered it a great threat to his doctrine of salvation through faith in Jesus and addressed the issue with great detail inGalatians 3.[25] The rift between Christianity and Judaism continued to grow and the relationship between Paul of Tarsus and Judaism and the topic of Biblical law in Christianity is still disputed today. The Council of Jamnia c. 85 is often stated to have condemned all who claimed the Messiah had already come, and Christianity in particular. However, the formulated prayer in question (birkat ha-minim) is considered by other scholars to be unremarkable in the history of Jewish and Christian relations. There is a paucity of evidence for Jewish persecution of "heretics" in general, or Christians in particular, in the period between 70 and 135. It is probable that the condemnation of Jamnia included many groups, of which the Christians were but one, and did not necessarily mean excommunication. That some of the later church fathers only recommended against synagogue attendance makes it improbable that an anti-Christian prayer was a common part of the synagogue liturgy. Jewish Christians continued to worship in synagogues for centuries. [27][28][29]

Coin of Nerva "The blackmail of the Jewish tax lifted"

[edit]Judaism and Christianity

See also: Split of early Christianity and Judaism During the late 1st century, Judaism was a legal religion with the protection of Roman law, worked out in compromise with the Roman state over two centuries, see Anti-Judaism in the Roman Empire for details. In contrast, Christianity was not legalized till the 313 Edict of Milan. Observant Jews had special rights, including the privilege of abstaining from civic pagan rites. Christians were initially identified with the Jewish religion by the Romans, but as they became more distinct, Christianity became a problem for Roman rulers. About 98 the emperor Nerva decreed that Christians did not have to pay the annual tax upon the Jews, effectively recognizing them as distinct from Rabbinic Judaism. This opened the way to Christians being persecuted for disobedience to the emperor, as they refused to worship the state pantheon.[30][31][32]

James the Just, whose judgment was adopted in the decree of Acts 15:19-29, c. 50 AD.

Jewish Christians were among the earliest followers of Jesus and an important part of Judean society during the mid- to late 1st century. This movement was centered inJerusalem (possibly in the Cenacle) and led by James the Just. They held faithfully to the Torah and Jewish law (which was still somewhat fluid in this time period), including acceptance of Gentile converts possibly based on a version of the Noachide laws (Acts 15 and Acts 21). Disputes over the Mosaic law generated intense controversy in early Christianity. This is particularly notable in the mid-1st century, when the circumcision controversy came to the fore. The issue was addressed at the Council of Jerusalem where Paul made an argument that circumcision was not a necessary practice, vocally supported by Peter, as documented in Acts 15. This position received widespread support and was summarized in a letter circulated in Antioch. Four years after the Council of Jerusalem, Paul wrote to the Galatians about the issue, which had become a serious controversy in their region. According to Alister McGrath, Paul considered it a great threat to his doctrine of salvation through faith in Jesus and addressed the issue with great detail in Galatians 3.[25] There was a slowly growing chasm between Christians and Jews, rather than a sudden split. However, certain events are perceived as pivotal in the growing rift between Christianity and Judaism. The Council of Jamnia c. 85 is often stated to have condemned all who claimed the Messiah had already come, and Christianity in particular. However, the formulated prayer in question (birkat haminim) is considered by other scholars to be unremarkable in the history of Jewish and Christian relations. There is a paucity of evidence for Jewish persecution of "heretics" in general, or Christians in particular, in the period between 70 and 135. It is probable that the condemnation of Jamnia included many groups, of which the Christians were but one, and did not necessarily mean excommunication.

That some of the later church fathers only recommended against synagogue attendance makes it improbable that an anti-Christian prayer was a common part of the synagogue liturgy. Jewish Christians continued to worship in synagogues for centuries.[27][28][29] The true end of ancient Jewish Christianity occurred only in the 5th century. Gentile Christianity remained the sole strand of orthodoxy and imposed itself on the previously Jewish Christian sanctuaries, taking full control of those houses of worship by the end of the 5th century.[33]

[edit]Post-apostolic

period

Main article: Ante-Nicene Period

Origen, one of the Ante-Nicene Fathers.

Christianity throughout the 2nd and 3rd centuries have generally been less studied than the periods that came before and after it. This is reflected in that it is usually referred to in terms of the adjacent periods with names as such "post-apostolic" (after the period of 1st century formative Christianity) and "ante-Nicene" (before the First Council of Nicaea). However, the 2nd and 3rd centuries are quite important in the development of Christianity.[34] There is a relative lack of material for this period, compared with the later Church Father period. For example, a widely used collection (Ante-Nicene Fathers) includes most 2nd- and 3rd-century writings in nine volumes. This includes the writings of the Apostolic Fathers, Apologists, Clement of Alexandria, Irenaeus of Lyons, Origen of Alexandria and theNew Testament Apocrypha, among others. In contrast, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers (consisting mainly of Augustine, Jerome and Chrysostom) fills twenty-eight volumes.[35] The developments of this time are "multidirectional and not easily mapped". While the preceding and following periods were diverse, they possessed unifying characteristics lacking in this period. 1stcentury Christianity possessed a basic cohesion based on the Pauline church movement, Jewish character, and self-identification as a messianic movement. The 2nd and 3rd centuries saw a sharp divorce from its early roots. There was an explicit rejection of then-modern Judaism and Jewish culture by the end of the 2nd century, with a growing body of adversus Judaeos literature. 4th- and 5thcentury Christianity experienced imperial pressure and developed strong episcopal and unifying

structure. The ante-Nicene period was without such authority and was more diverse. Many variations in this time defy neat categorizations, as various forms of Christianity interacted in a complex fashion to form the dynamic character of Christianity in this era.[36] By the early 2nd century, Christians had agreed on a basic list of writings that would serve as their canon,[37] see Development of the New Testament canon, but interpretations of these works differed, often wildly.[38] In part to ensure a greater consistency in their teachings, by the end of the 1st century many Christian communities evolved a more structured hierarchy, with a central bishop, whose opinion held more weight in that city.[39] By 160, most communities had a bishop, who based his authority on the chain of succession from the apostles to himself.[40] Bishops still had a freedom of interpretation. The competing versions of Christianity led many bishops who subscribed to what is now the mainstream version of Christianity to rally more closely together.[41]Bishops would call synods to discuss problems or doctrinal differences in certain regions; the first of these to be documented occurred in Roman Asia in about 160. Some bishops began to take on a more authoritative role for a region; in many cases, the bishop of the church located in the capital city of a province became the central authority for all churches in that province. These more centralized authorities were known as metropolitan churches headed by a Metropolitan bishop. The churches in Antioch, Alexandria, and Rome exerted authority over groups of these metropolitan churches.[42]

[edit]Spread

of Christianity

Spread of Christianity in Europe to AD 325 Spread of Christianity in Europe to AD 600

*The map does not accurately reflect the conversion of the Arsacid Dynasty of Armenia to Christianity in 301 AD

Main article: Early centers of Christianity Early Christianity spread from city to city in the Hellenized Roman Empire and beyond into East Africa and South Asia. Apostlestraveled extensively, establishing communities in major cities and regions throughout the Empire. The original church communities were founded by apostles (see Apostolic see) and numerous other Christians soldiers, merchants, and preachers[43] in northern Africa, Asia Minor, Armenia, Arabia, Greece, and other places.[44][45][46] Over 40 were established by the year 100,[44][46] many inAsia Minor, such as the seven churches of Asia. By the end of the 1st century, Christianity had already spread to Greece and Italy, some say as far as India, serving as foundations for the expansive spread of Christianity throughout the world. In 301 AD, the Kingdom of Armenia became the first to declare Christianity as its state religion, following the conversion of the Royal House of the Arsacids in Armenia. Despite sporadic incidents of local persecution and a few periods of persecution on an empire-wide scale, the Christian religion continued its spread throughout the Mediterranean Basin.[47] There is no agreement as for how Christianity managed to spread so successfully prior to the Edict of Milan and Constantine favoring the creed and it is probably not possible to identify a single cause for this. Traditionally this has not been the subject of much research, as from a theological point of view the success was simply the natural consequence of people meeting what theologians considered the truth. In the influential book, The Rise of Christianity, Rodney Stark argues that various sociological factors which made Christianity improving the quality of life of its adherents were crucial for its triumph over paganism.[48] Another factor that may have contributed to the success of Christianity was how the Christian promise of a general resurrection of the dead combined the traditional Greek belief that true immortality depended on the survival of the body with practical explanations of how this was going to actually happen at the end of times.[49]

[edit]See

also

History of Christianity Christianity and Judaism Persecution of Christians in the New Testament Hellenistic Judaism

[edit]Footnotes

1. 2. 3.

^ Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church ed. F.L. Lucas (Oxford) entry on Paul ^ Elwell & Comfort (2001). Pp 266, 828. ^ Bockmuehl (2001). Pg 198.

4.

^ Tim Hegedus, "Naming Christians in Antiquity", in Everett Ferguson, The Church of Christ: A Biblical Ecclesiology for Today (Eerdmans 1996 ISBN 0-8028-4189-9), p. 177

5.

^ Basically, the Latin suffix only means "connected with", asAcilianus, pertaining to Acilius; Aelianus, originating from an Aelius; 'apianus', belonging to bees; Asianus, an Asian.

6. 7.

^ Barclay (1999). Pp 223-224. ^ "The political family so named for its support of the Herod family is described by Josephus, the Jewish historian, as wanting to put Herod on the throne instead of the Maccabean Antigonus in 40 BC. The Herodians are mentioned on two occasions in the Gospels"(Ronald Brownrigg, Who's who in the New Testament, p. 87)

8. 9.

^ Dunn (2003). Pg 26. ^ Elwell & Comfort (2001), p. 266

10. ^ Theissen & Merz (1998), pp. 81-3 11. ^ Tabor (1998). 12. ^ Wylen, Stephen M., The Jews in the Time of Jesus: An Introduction, Paulist Press (1995), ISBN 0-8091-3610-4, Pp 190-192.; Dunn, James D.G., Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways, A.D. 70 to 135, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing (1999), ISBN 0-8028-4498-7, Pp 33-34.; Boatwright, Mary Taliaferro & Gargola, Daniel J & Talbert, Richard John Alexander, The Romans: From Village to Empire, Oxford University Press (2004), ISBN 0-19-511875-8, p. 426.; 13. ^ Esler (2004). Pg 157. 14. ^ Esler (2004). Pp 157-158. 15. ^ Esler (2004). Pg 158. 16. ^ H.H. Ben-Sasson, A History of the Jewish People, Harvard University Press, 1976, ISBN 0-67439731-2, The Crisis Under Gaius Caligula, pages 254-256: "The reign of Gaius Caligula (37-41) witnessed the first open break between the Jews and theJulio-Claudian empire. Until then if one accepts Sejanus' heyday and the trouble caused by the census after Archelaus' banishment there was usually an atmosphere of understanding between the Jews and the empire ... These relations deteriorated seriously during Caligula's reign, and, though after his death the peace was outwardly re-established, considerable bitterness remained on both sides. ... Caligula ordered that a golden statue of himself be set up in the Temple in Jerusalem. ... Only Caligula's death, at the hands of Roman conspirators (41), prevented the outbreak of a Jewish-Roman war that might well have spread to the entire East." 17. ^ Bargil Pixner, The Church of the Apostles found on Mount Zion ,Biblical Archaeology Review 16.3 May/June 1990 [1] 18. ^ Brown (1993). Pg 10. 19. ^
a b

Bokenkotter, p. 18.

20. ^ Duffy, p. 3. 21. ^ White (2004). Pg 127.

22. ^ Ehrman (2005). Pg 187. 23. ^ Bokenkotter, p. 19. 24. ^ Jewish Encyclopedia: Circumcision: In Apocryphal and Rabbinical Literature: "Contact with Grecian life, especially at the games of the arena [which involved nudity], made this distinction obnoxious to the Hellenists, or antinationalists; and the consequence was their attempt to appear like the Greeks byepispasm ("making themselves foreskins"; I Macc. i. 15; Josephus, "Ant." xii. 5, 1; Assumptio Mosis, viii.; I Cor. vii. 18; , Tosef., Shab. xv. 9; Yeb. 72a, b; Yer. Peah i. 16b; Yeb. viii. 9a). All the more did the law-observing Jews defy the edict of Antiochus Epiphanes prohibiting circumcision (I Macc. i. 48, 60; ii. 46); and the Jewish women showed their loyalty to the Law, even at the risk of their lives, by themselves circumcising their sons.";Hodges, Frederick, M. (2001). "The Ideal Prepuce in Ancient Greece and Rome: Male Genital Aesthetics and Their Relation to Lipodermos, Circumcision, Foreskin Restoration, and the Kynodesme" (PDF). The Bulletin of the History of Medicine 75(Fall 2001): 375 405. doi:10.1353/bhm.2001.0119.PMID 11568485. Retrieved 2007-07-24. 25. ^
a b c

McGrath (2006). Pp 174-175.

26. ^ Bokenkotter, p. 20. 27. ^ 28. ^ 29. ^

a b a b a b

Wylen (1995). Pg 190. Berard (2006). Pp 112-113. Wright (1992). Pp 164-165.

30. ^ Wylen (1995). Pp 190-192. 31. ^ Dunn (1999). Pp 33-34. 32. ^ Boatwright (2004). Pg 426. 33. ^ Dauphin (1993). Pp 235, 240-242. 34. ^ Siker (2000). Pg 231. 35. ^ Siker (2000). Pp 231-32. 36. ^ Siker (2000). Pp 232-34. 37. ^ Bokenkotter, pp. 3435. 38. ^ Bokenkotter, p. 32. 39. ^ Duffy, pp. 910. 40. ^ Bokenkotter, p. 33. 41. ^ Duffy, p. 13. 42. ^ Bokenkotter, p. 35. 43. ^ Franzen 29 44. ^
a b

Bokenkotter, A Concise History of the Catholic Church(2004), p. 18, quote: "The story of how

this tiny community of believers spread to many cities of the Roman Empire within less than a century is indeed a remarkable chapter in the history of humanity." 45. ^ Vidmar, The Catholic Church Through the Ages (2005), pp. 1920

46. ^

a b

Hitchcock, Geography of Religion (2004), p. 281, quote: "By the year 100, more than

40 Christian communities existed in cities around the Mediterranean, including two in North Africa, at Alexandria and Cyrene, and several in Italy." 47. ^ Michael Whitby, et al. eds. Christian Persecution, Martyrdom and Orthodoxy (2006) online edition 48. ^ Stark (1996) 49. ^ Endsj (2009), pp. 159-217

[edit]References

Barclay, William. The Apostles' Creed. Westminster John Knox Press (1999). ISBN 0-664-25826-3. Berard, Wayne Daniel. When Christians Were Jews (That Is, Now). Cowley Publications (2006). ISBN 1-56101-280-7.

Boatwright, Mary Taliaferro & Gargola, Daniel J & Talbert, Richard John Alexander. The Romans: From Village to Empire. Oxford University Press (2004). ISBN 0-19-511875-8.

Bockmuehl, Markus N.A. The Cambridge Companion to Jesus. Cambridge University Press (2001). ISBN 0-521-79678-4.

Bokenkotter, Thomas (2004). A Concise History of the Catholic Church. Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-505841.

Brown, Schuyler. The Origins of Christianity: A Historical Introduction to the New Testament . Oxford University Press (1993). ISBN 0-19-826207-8.

Dauphin, C. "De l'glise de la circoncision l'glise de la gentilit sur une nouvelle voie hors de l'impasse". Studium Biblicum Franciscanum. Liber Annuus XLIII (1993).

Duffy, Eamon (1997). Saints and Sinners, a History of the Popes. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-30007332-1.

Dunn, James D.G. Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways, A.D. 70 to 135 . Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing (1999). ISBN 0-8028-4498-7.

Dunn, James D.G. The Cambridge Companion to St. Paul. Cambridge University Press (2003). ISBN 0521-78694-0.

Ehrman, Bart D. Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why . HarperCollins (2005). ISBN 0-06-073817-0.

Elwell, Walter A. & Comfort, Philip Wesley. Tyndale Bible Dictionary. Tyndale House Publishers (2001). ISBN 0-8423-7089-7.

Endsj, Dag istein. Greek Resurrection Beliefs and the Success of Christianity . Palgrave Macmillan (2009). ISBN 978-0-230-61729-2.

Esler, Phillip F. The Early Christian World. Routledge (2004). ISBN 0-415-33312-1. Hunt, Emily Jane. Christianity in the Second Century: The Case of Tatian. Routledge (2003). ISBN 0415-30405-9.

McGrath, Alister E. Christianity: An Introduction. Blackwell Publishing (2006). ISBN 1-4051-0899-1. Siker, Jeffrey S. "Christianity in the Second and Third Centuries", Chapter Nine in The Early Christian World. Philip F. Esler, editor. Routledge (2000). ISBN 0-415-24141-3.

Stark, Rodney. The Rise of Christianity. Princeton University Press (1996). ISBN 0-06-067701-5. Tabor, James D. "Ancient Judaism: Nazarenes and Ebionites",The Jewish Roman World of Jesus. Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (1998).

Taylor, Joan E. Christians and the Holy Places: The Myth of Jewish-Christian Origins. Oxford University Press (1993). ISBN 0-19-814785-6.

Theissen, Gerd & Merz, Annette. The historical Jesus: a comprehensive guide. Fortress Press (1998). ISBN 0-8006-3122-6.

White, L. Michael. From Jesus to Christianity. HarperCollins (2004).ISBN 0-06-052655-6. Wright, N.T. The New Testament and the People of God. Fortress Press (1992). ISBN 0-8006-2681-8. Wylen, Stephen M. The Jews in the Time of Jesus: An Introduction. Paulist Press (1995). ISBN 0-80913610-4.