World Religion Research Paper

Christianity

Paul, the New Covenant, the Trinity and Constantine

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Pentecost Several weeks after Jesus’ crucifixion, his followers gathered in Jerusalem for the Festival of Shavuot. According to Acts, the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles and they spoke

in many tongues.

Shavuot in Greek is called Pentecost.

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Stephen The Apostles and disciples preached Jesus’ message, but many found what they said blasphemous. One person, named Stephen, so enraged his listeners that he was stoned to death by a mob. He is considered the first martyr. Those who stoned Stephen “laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.”

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Paul

Saul of Tarsus was a Roman citizen from a town with a good university. He apparently got a good Greco-Roman education, using many terms from Stoic philosophy in his writings. At the same time, he was also a student of Gamaliel, a great Talmudic rabbi. He was thus educated in the two rather different traditions.

Saul persecuted Christians as blasphemers, and was at the very least present at the death of Stephen. “And Saul was there, giving approval to his death.” (Acts 8:1) He soon began imprisoning Christians.

He then went to Damascus to continue the persecutions. En route, he was struck by lightning [some modern scholars argue he had an epileptic fit] and according to Acts he was knocked unconscious. He then had a vision of Jesus. Jesus asked Saul why he persecuted him. (Acts 9:1-5)

Saul then converted to Christianity, began calling himself Paul, and began preaching—mainly to non-Jews. He is often called the Apostle to the Gentiles [non-Jews].

He also formulated a theology for the new religion that explained the meaning of the Crucifixion—the New Covenant:

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New Covenant

• Jesus was the Messiah, the son of God, who had died for our sins—accept him and his sacrifice, and you were saved.

• All people included in the Covenant—if they accept it. This means gentiles as well as Jews.

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Faith and Good Works

• Paul argued that salvation could not be earned through works— good works or obeying the commandments (Galatians 3:10). It is a gift, the ultimate expression of God’s love, or in other word, it is grace. Salvation is given to those who respond to God’s grace in faith.

• Not that works aren’t important, and people will be responsible for the good and evil they do (Romans 2:5-10) but faith is needed and is most important.

• Faith unites the believer with Christ in a newness of life (Roman 6:4) God dwells within you, it is Christ who lives in you. The Spirit of God dwells in you and encourages the growth of spiritual values.

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Peter’s Vision

A dispute arose as to whether non-Jewish converts to Christianity had to obey certain Jewish ritual rules, such as circumcision or the laws of kashrut (cleanliness) concerning food.

Peter is said to have had a vision where God told him to eat non-kosher food, and when Peter objected, was told not to call anything impure that God has made clean (Acts 10:9-16).

Whether this occurred or not, it symbolizes an early Church decision , made at a Jerusalem Council after the vision, that non-Jewish Christians did not have to obey Jewish rituals.

Being able to eat non-kosher food and avoid circumcision probably made the religion more attractive to potential converts. [See Acts 15]

It also signaled that Christianity was becoming a separate religion, not merely a Jewish sect.

To the right: Clam chowder, Lobster, scallops wrapped in bacon—all not kosher, but all eatable by Christians.

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Paul and Peter

Paul spread “the Good News”—the Gospel--to the Greeks, and probably died in prison in Rome. Peter and Paul went to the “center of the Universe”— Rome—and preached. Peter became the first bishop of Rome—the Father, the Pope. Jesus had said he would build his church on the rock of Peter, and said that he would give him the keys of the kingdom.

That is why St. Peter is said to be the gatekeeper at Heaven.

It is also why the Bishop of Rome would later claim to be the leader of Christianity—he was the heir to Peter, the keeper of the keys. Peter was traditionally crucified upside down, and may be buried under St. Peters. There is someone buried under St. Peters who comes from the right time period—it may very well be him.

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Deaths of Peter and Paul

Peter seems to have been generally accepted as the church’s leader. He went to Rome to preach, and became the leader of the Roman church. He is often called the first Bishop of Rome…the first Pope.

According to tradition, he was martyred, probably about the year 64 during Nero’s reign. Tradition says that his cross was upside down, with his head nearer to the ground than his feet. He was buried probably in Rome, and St. Peters was eventually built above this. The Church believes that they have recovered some of his remains from beneath the Church.

Paul also travelled to Rome, and was also probably killed there by Nero in the years 64 to 68. His body may recently have been discovered.

His influence on Christian theology is so strong that some argue that he is the true founder of Christianity.

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Early Christians

The sect slowly spread.

Early centers were Antioch in Syria, where Luke was probably written, Alexandria, and Ephesus in Asia Minor. Women may have been more important in the early church than in later days — there is much argument about this. Services would be scripture readings, preaching, hymns, followed by a dinner, which reenacted the Last Supper.

People would commune with Jesus through eating a communal meal.

Christianity promised salvation and a new life —it provided fellowship.

All Christians thought of themselves as brothers. God was love, and their meetings were called agape—love (this is spiritual love —the other kind is Eros). They gave hope and meaning to the weak and humble.

Preaching authority was passed by laying on of hands by Bishops and priests—the first Bishops were said to have been the apostles, who received their authority from Jesus himself.

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Persecution of Christians

Persecutions began—the Romans did not like the fact that Christians refused to sacrifice to the Gods of the city, or the emperor, as public peace and well-being required.

Nero used the Christians as a scape-goat for the Great Fire, and other Roman emperors followed suit.

The martyrdoms puzzled the Romans. All they had to do was sacrifice to a Roman god, eat some food or burn some incense, and they could live.

But they refused, preferring to die. Some, even young girls of 12 to 14, eagerly sought martyrdom.

The coliseums of the Empire were kept busy, as savage beasts were set upon the Christian martyrs.

Despite tails of saintly Christians calming the lions---

The lions almost always beat the Christians.

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Competitors with Christianity

There was much spiritual searching in the Roman Empire. Some followed philosophies such as Epicureanism, Cynicism or Stoicism.

Epicureans were materialists who believed there was no afterlife. Cynics believed in living a life of virtue, a simple life with no possessions. Stoics believed in accepting what we have been given in life.

Others turned to mystery religions. In a mystery religion, initiates are told a mystery concerning a god. This will often give them a blessing. What happened in the ceremony is to be kept secret.

Among the cults were the cult of Mithras, a Persian god. Its ceremonies involved the sacrifice of a bull, and it was popular among Roman soldiers. The cult of Isis may have included a belief that initiates would benefit from Osiris’s death and resurrection, perhaps by achieving life after death—a belief rather similar to Christian theology. Isis was worshipped through much of the Empire, and some believe that some transferred their worship of Isis to the adoration of Mary.

These cults for centuries had far more adherents than Christianity.

In many ways, Christianity resembled a mystery religion—with the major exception that the “good news” was to told to everyone, not kept secret to a small set of initiates.

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Heterodox beliefs and the Creation/Final Editing of the Bible

• Gnosticism believed that material reality was evil; therefore, Christ’s body had been an illusion and he could not have atoned for sin by dying on the cross. Salvation—the liberation of the soul from the body—came from the secret knowledge—gnosis—that Christ gave to only a few knowers (Gnostics).

• • Marcion (85-160): Marcion argued there were two gods: the Unjust Creator of an evil world, and a

supremely good God who had sent Christ to rescue human souls. Marcion rejected Jewish scripture. He was expelled from the Roman church for his belief.

• Montanism—Montanists followed Montanus, who claimed he was a mouthpiece for the Holy Spirit and preached a new prophecy.

• • To fight these—and to figure out exactly what Orthodox belief was— • Christianity created a scriptural canon, formulated creeds, and set up church government through

putting authority into the hands of bishops.

• By the year 400, the Bible of Old and New Testaments was created, including works believed to be by the apostles, and writings from that era, and the letters of Paul and others. Since the Scriptures were believed to have unique authority, they were a standard by which the orthodoxy of new teachings could be judged.

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Constantine’s Vision

About the year 312, the Emperor Constantine went into battle against the Usurper Maxentius.

At the Milvian Bridge on the Tiber, Constantine is said to have had a dream which told him to put an X and a cross on the shields of his soldiers—X being a sign for Christ—the Greek for Messiah. It was possibly the chi ro. These were the first two letters of the word “christos”. He then won this battle, and began to become a Christian (though he did not formally convert until his death bed—and in 315 the Arch of Constantine was dedicated, inscribed to pagan Gods).

In 313, by the Edict of Milan, restrictions against the Christians were removed. Property was returned, and clergy were exempted from public office, while Constantine began to donate to the Catholic Church.

The Church was well on its way to being the official religion of Rome. Except for Julian the Apostate, who ruled for two years in the 360s, all Roman emperors after Constantine East and West were Christian.

Many began to convert, for some at least partially to gain positions and be part of the new ruling religion or group.

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Constantine

Why did this happen?

Some think that Constantine (to the right) was seeking social cohesion, and so picked the sect that he thought most likely to encourage it.

The creed emphasized love and trust and a moral code that had divine backing (unlike the pagan creeds, where the Gods often acted immorally). Its God was in his own way ancient, though conceived very differently from the way the Jews saw Him.

Philosophy, particularly neo-Platonism, had been pointing to there being only one God, so the religion was not that out of line with religious developments in the classical world.

With its story of a god dying, coming back to life, and bringing eternal life, it actually was similar to many other religions of the ancient world, such as the mystery religions which often told a similar tale, or the Egyptian tale of Osiris.

Trust, emphasized by the religion, was needed by the traders of the time. In any event, Constantine made the Church his own.

From persecuted outcasts:

Christians were now part of the power structure.

In a very real sense,

The Last were now the First. 15

The Arian Controversy

An important question arose over the nature of Jesus. Had he always been God, or had he been promoted?

God had used the Logos to create the Universe (See John)—but was the Logos an aspect of God, or merely a creation of God?

Arius, an Egyptian priest, argued that there was a time when the Son had been not, that the Word had been created and then incarnated—therefore, Jesus was different from all of us but distinct from the Father,

yet promoted to divinity.

The Son was of a different substance than the Father, and created in time. There was a time when he was not.

All of Alexandria was abuzz with the Arian doctrine.

Athanasius, another Egyptian insisted that the Logos was God, an aspect of God, and that they were of the same substance. They would clash at the Council of Nicaea.

Saint Nicholas (yes, that Saint Nicholas) got so angry with Arius and his views that he punched Arius at the Council of Nicaea.

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Council of Nicaea 325 Original Nicene Creed

Constantine began to involve himself in theoretical disputes.

The nature of God, Jesus, the Trinity, the relationship of God the Father and the Son and The Holy Spirit, all was in dispute, and good Christians came up with very different answers.

Constantine presided at the Council of Nicaea, near Constantinople, in 325. Here, these questions were resolved in the formation of a Creed:

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father [the only-begotten; that is, of the essence of the Father, God of God], Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father;

By whom all things were made [both in heaven and on earth];

Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down and was incarnate and was made man;

He suffered, and the third day he rose again, ascended into heaven;

From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

And in the Holy Ghost.

[But those who say: 'There was a time when he was not;' and 'He was not before he was made;' and 'He was made out of nothing,' or 'He is of another substance' or 'essence,' or 'The Son of God is created,' or 'changeable,' or 'alterable'—they are condemned by the holy catholic and apostolic Church.]

Above anathema removed in 381 version.

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Nicene Creeds: 315 Version and 381 Version

• We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible.

• And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father [the only-begotten; that is, of the essence of the Father, God of God], Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father;

• By whom all things were made [both in heaven and on earth];

• Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down and was incarnate and was made man;

• He suffered, and the third day he rose again, ascended into heaven;

• From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

• And in the Holy Ghost. • [But those who say: 'There was a time when he was not;'

and 'He was not before he was made;' and 'He was made out of nothing,' or 'He is of another substance' or 'essence,' or 'The Son of God is created,' or 'changeable,' or 'alterable'—they are condemned by the holy catholic and apostolic Church.] Anathema removed in 381 version

• I believe in one God the Father Almighty, • Maker of heaven and earth, • And of all things visible and invisible: • And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, • Begotten of his Father before all worlds, • God of God, Light of Light, Very God of very God, Begotten, not made • Being of one substance with the Father, • By whom all things were made; • Who for us men, and for our salvation came down from heaven, • And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary, • And was made man, • And was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. • He suffered and was buried, • And the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, • And ascended into heaven, • And sitteth on the right hand of the Father. • And he shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead: • Whose kingdom shall have no end. • And I believe in the Holy Ghost, • The Lord and giver of life, • Who proceedeth from the Father (and the Son),* • Who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, • Who spake by the Prophets. • And I believe one Catholick **and Apostolick Church. • I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins. • And I look for the Resurrection of the dead, • And the life of the world to come. • Amen. • • *The Son language relating to the Holy Spirit is not used by the Eastern church.

**Protestants often change Catholic to Christian.

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The Holy Spirit

According to the Nicene Creed, the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father, and according to Western Christianity, from the Son as well, underscoring the sameness of all three persons of the Trinity.

The Spirit represents God’s continuing presence in the World.

The Spirit, it is said, had given life to all of Creation.

Since Pentecost, it is believed to have animated, empowered, and guided the Church.

It helps believers as they reach out to God, and nurtures virtues such as love, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control. Galatians 5:22-23.

At Chalcedon in 451, it was determined that Christ had two complete and perfect natures, human and divine, united without separation or fusion in a single person.

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Julian the Apostate

Born a Christian, he became a Neo- Platonist pagan. He contemptuously referred to Christians as “Galileans”, and prohibited Christians from teaching Homer.

Since Constantine, all emperors had been Christians until Julian.

His attempts to restore paganism as the state religion of Rome ended with his death from wounds suffered in battle with Persia.

He ruled for only two years, 361-363 CE. He was the last pagan emperor. All emperors after him were Christians.

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Theodosius Outlawed paganism, outlawed homosexuality, destroyed temples, destroyed the Temple at

Delphi, ended the Olympics, finally made Christianity the state religion

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Augustine of Hippo: St. Augustine

“O God, make me chaste…but not quite yet.”

Augustine lived in the early 400s. He annunciated in his City of God the important Christian doctrine of Original Sin.

The City of God:

God had intended that Man would always live in God’s loving presence. But humans had free

will, and Adam and Eve chose wrongly, and fell. Becoming self-centered, humans severed theirs relationship with God. The original sin of Adam was redeemed by the crucifixion of the sinless Jesus, who was both man and God, restoring the possibility of human salvation. The goal of a Christian life is to attain the salvation Christ made possible, by becoming a loving, unselfish person, and we can only overcome our self-centeredness through God’s grace. We can not get into heaven through our own efforts. Nobody deserves salvation, but some achieve it through God’s grace. Those who live in God’s grace are citizens of the City of God. The purpose of human history is to grow this City of God.

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