CHII 300 _QUIZ_1_STUDY. OTHER 2022.pdf

CHII – 300 QUIZ 1 STUDY

NICKENS 1-2

Section 1: The Early Church: 30–400 An interesting question to ponder: When did Christianity

begin? In other words, when did people first become Christian? Thinking this through at the

most basic level, all Christians could agree that a Christian is someone who has accepted the

sacrifice of Jesus, seeks to please the Father, and enjoys a connection to God through the Holy

Spirit. Using that definition, the first Christians were those in the upper room in Jerusalem on the

Day of Pentecost, since that event marked the first time God gave the Holy Spirit freely to all

those who accepted the message of Jesus. At that time and in that place, the young Christian

movement had the loosest of leadership structures, no Scripture to call their own (they used the

Jewish Scripture), no creed to guide them, the barest understanding of the nature of Jesus, and a

great fear of a quick arrest and crucifixion. That seemed to be a recipe for disaster. But fast-

forward to the year 400: Christianity included a highly structured leadership style, a New

Testament, a creed, and a 150-year history of meeting at councils to settle disputes and define

doctrine; plus, Christianity is the official religion of the Roman Empire. To say that the first 370

years of Christianity were eventful is an understatement: those years were fascinating, with many

moving parts, often occurring at the same time, while all worked toward the development of a

robust faith. This first section covers that history. Time lines, maps, and images for this section

These are provided on the author’s website: www.studythechurch.com/earlychurch for free. The

time lines are available by century, and all three can be used as an aid to better understanding the

development of Christianity in this time period. CHAPTER 1 ENDURING PERSECUTION and

DEVELOPING THEOLOGY When most people think about the early church period, Roman

persecutions of Christians usually spring to mind as the formative experience early Christians

endured. Therefore, the beginning of this story of Christianity focuses on the persecution of

Christianity. Another critical development in the early church period involved understanding how

God functions within himself and in relationship with humanity, basically Christian theology.

This chapter focuses on those two developments. Outline 1. Christianity’s Unpredictable

Journey: From Persecution to the Official Religion of the Empire a. Two Independent

Persecutions: Nero and Domitian b. The Standard Persecution Proceedings: Trajan’s Letter c.

Localized Persecutions from 112 to 250 d. Empire-Wide Persecutions Begin: Decius and

Valerian e. The Height of Christian Persecutions: Diocletian and Galerius f. Freedom from

Persecution to Official Religion 2. Development of Theology a. Apostles and Apostolic Fathers

b. Misunderstandings and Apologists c. Heretics, Theologians, and Councils Christianity’s

Unpredictable Journey: From Persecution to the Official Religion of the Empire While it is true

that Roman persecution of Christians occurred from the first to the fourth centuries, widespread

Roman persecution of Christianity occurred both infrequently and not immediately. Perhaps six

emperors out of fifty from the time of Jesus to Constantine (d. 337) actively persecuted

Christians. Roman persecution of Christians usually occurred locally, meaning that persecution

frequently originated from within local communities or with governors instead of being directed

by emperors. Empire-wide persecutions led by emperors occurred more frequently in the late

third and early fourth centuries. Note about using century names instead of numbers: this can be

confusing, but the word century is always one more than the number of the century. For example,

the years 1–99 are the first century, 100–199 are the second century, 200–299 are the third

century, and so on. Also, “c.” before a year means the year is an approximation, and “d.” before a

year means that a person died in that year. The attitude of the Roman emperors toward

Christianity changed within the first century. In the early to mid-first century, Roman emperors

considered Christianity as simply a Jewish splinter group. This misdiagnosis worked to the

advantage of Christians. As long as the Roman Empire considered them as Jews, Christians

enjoyed the religious privilege that Jews enjoyed: they did not have to worship Roman gods or

even the emperor but could worship their one God, provided no disturbances ensued. Eventually

Roman emperors recognized that Christianity and Judaism were two different faiths. The exact

timing of that realization is uncertain, but one clue is a stipulation granted by Emperor Nerva in

97. After the Jewish temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 70, Rome required Jews to pay their

regular temple tax to the Roman Empire; this was known as the fiscus ludaicus, Latin for

“Jewish tax.” Nerva declared that only practicing Jews were required to pay the tax. This

recognition suggests that by this year, the Roman Empire recognized Christianity and Judaism as

two separate faiths. Two Independent Persecutions: Nero and Domitian Nero became emperor in

54 and soon gained a reputation for ruthlessness; for example, he ordered his mother’s murder in

59. Nevertheless, Nero was apparently uninterested in Christianity for most of his reign. That

changed in July 64, when a catastrophic fire lasting six days burned through Rome. Aware that

the crowds blamed him—since his plans to extend his palace into areas already occupied by

others were well-known—Nero diverted their attention by blaming a small, unassuming group

who also lived in Rome: Christians. He ordered their arrest and death as arsonists. The result was

horrific. Some Christians were covered with animal skins and torn to death by dogs. Others were

crucified during the day, and after night fell, fires were lit at the bases of their crosses so Nero

could ride his chariot through the spectacle. According to tradition, the apostles Peter and Paul

were also martyred during this persecution. Nero ordered Peter to be crucified, yet Peter

requested he be crucified upside down, stating that he was not worthy to be crucified in the same

manner as Jesus. Since crucifixion was illegal for Roman citizens and Paul was both a Jew and a

Roman citizen, he was beheaded. This persecution was unique from later Roman persecutions for

two reasons. First, although an emperor led this persecution, it remained a local affair, occurring

only in Rome. Second, Nero did not persecute Christians for theological reasons, the habit of

later Roman persecutions. Instead, Nero merely needed a scapegoat to blame for the fire.

Nevertheless, Nero holds the distinction of being the first Roman emperor to persecute

Christians, although not for theological reasons. The next emperor to persecute Christians was

Domitian. Domitian became emperor in 81 at the age of twenty-nine and, like Nero, took no

initial interest in Christians. Domitian reversed his position fourteen years later after they refused

to participate in the cult of divinity that Domitian carefully had constructed around himself (this

included the Jews). The extent of the persecution is uncertain. Domitian ordered the execution of

one of his cousins, Clemens, as well as the banishment of his cousin’s wife, Domitilla, both of

whom possibly were Christian. Christian historians writing later describe other Christians

martyred by Domitian, but no supporting evidence exists. Nevertheless, Domitian had a habit of

banishing his enemies, and this aligns well with a story told about the apostle John. Irenaeus and

Clement of Alexandria, both living in the second century, independently reported that Domitian

banished John to the island of Patmos. This is the island where John wrote the book of

Revelation, c. 95. After Domitian died the following year, John was released and most likely

traveled to Ephesus, where, according to tradition, he died several years later. Jerome shares this

tidbit about the apostle John in his Commentary on Galatians, 6:10: “Blessed John the evangelist,

when he was staying in Ephesus until extreme old age, used to be carried to church with

difficulty by the hands of the disciples. He was not able to put many words together with his

voice and was accustomed to utter nothing but this during every gathering: ‘Little children, love

one another.’ Finally, the disciples and the brothers who were present became irritated because

they constantly heard the same thing over and over, and they said, ‘Teacher, why do you always

say this?’ He answered with a statement worthy of John: ‘Because it is the Lord’s command, and

if it alone is done, it is enough.’ ” This persecution produced an interesting story. According to

Hegesippus, a second-century Christian author, Domitian commanded the deaths of all

descendants of King David. This included the family of Jesus, but only two relatives of Jesus

could be located: two daughters of Jude, the half brother of Jesus. They were brought to Rome

and examined by Domitian. They described their poverty and the small piece of land they owned

and farmed, plus showed calluses from working manual labor. After deciding that they presented

no threat, Domitian allowed them to return to Palestine. The Standard Persecution Proceedings:

Trajan’s Letter Following Domitian’s death, Nerva ruled as emperor for one year, followed by

Trajan, who reigned for nineteen years. The success of Trajan’s long rule produced a policy

toward Christians that lasted for 140 years. In 112, Pliny, a Roman governor, wrote to Trajan and

requested guidance on handling Christians. Pliny noted that true Christians refused to worship

Roman gods; offer prayer, incense, or wine to the image of the emperor; or curse Christ. He,

therefore, set those three as requirements for release from arrest. He informed the emperor that

some did acquiesce and turn from Christianity, but others refused. Trajan responded in a brief

statement that governed the response of future emperors until Emperor Decius reversed it in 250:

“They are not to be sought out; if they are denounced and proved guilty, they are to be punished,

with this reservation, that whoever denies that he is a Christian and really proves it—that is, by

worshiping our gods—even though he was under suspicion in the past, shall obtain pardon

through repentance.” Ten years later, in a province of Asia, riots occurred between Christians and

anti-Christian mobs. The governor, reminiscent of Pliny, sent a letter of inquiry to Emperor

Hadrian, asking for guidance. Hadrian responded similarly to Trajan: Christians should only be

punished if convicted of illegal acts and, therefore, not be sought out. Since governors and local

officials determined the definition of “illegal acts,” sporadic, local persecutions continued from

time to time. But emperor-led empire-wide persecutions ceased until 250. Question: How did the

fish symbol for Christianity originate? Answer: It was not because fish was Jesus’s favorite food

or due to the miracle of feeding the 5,000 with bread and fish. The fish sign, widely used as a

symbol for Christianity, developed as a secret code during the Roman Empire’s persecution of

Christians. According to tradition, Christians used the symbol to identify other Christians by

each drawing one-half of the symbol. This was innocent enough to bystanders but provided vital

communication among Christians. The Greek word for “fish” is ichthus, and someone playfully

discovered that it could form a useful acronym: Iesous = Jesus Christus = Christ Theou = God’s

Uios = Son Soter = Savior Localized Persecutions from 112 to 250 During this time period,

Christians were frequently martyred individually and in small outbursts of persecution. During

one local persecution in 155, Polycarp, a bishop from Smyrna who may have known the apostle

John, was arrested. The proconsul encouraged him to reject Christ out of respect for his old age

and save his life, but the crowd demanded his martyrdom by shouting, “Down with the atheists!”

Undaunted and unafraid, Polycarp responded, “For eighty-six years I have served him, and he

has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my King and Savior?” The proconsul then

threatened him with death by fire. Polycarp responded, “You threaten me with fire which burns

for an hour and is then extinguished, but you know nothing of the coming judgment and eternal

punishment reserved for the ungodly. Why are you waiting? Bring on whatever you want.” The

crowd rushed to gather wood and then sought to bind Polycarp to a stake. He said, “Leave me as

I am, for he that gives me strength to endure the fire will enable me not to struggle without the

help of your nails.” According to tradition, the fire did not kill Polycarp but instead encircled his

body, requiring an executioner to kill Polycarp with a dagger as a dove flew from the wound.

What happened next helped set a pattern of pilgrimage and relics that will significantly expand

and be codified in the medieval Catholic Church. The centurion in charge of the execution

collected what remained of Polycarp’s body and burned it. Christians gathered his bones and,

according to one source, they “put them in an appropriate place where, the Lord willing, we shall

celebrate the birthday of his martyrdom each year with joy and rejoicing, both to remember those

who have run their race and to prepare those yet to walk in their steps.” Perpetua and Felicitas

died as martyrs in Carthage, North Africa, in 203. As an example of a small, local persecution,

many new converts to Christianity, including Perpetua and Felicitas, were arrested and placed in

prison. Perpetua’s pagan father begged her to recant and escape execution. She had recently

given birth and kept the baby with her in prison: all the more reason, according to her father, to

renounce Christ and live. But, remaining true to her faith, she was baptized in prison and

relinquished her baby to her family. Felicitas was condemned alongside Perpetua and other

Christians, yet she feared not being able to join in their martyrdom since she was pregnant, and

pregnant women could not be executed. Much to her joy, she gave birth two days before the

execution. While in labor, one of the guards remarked to her, “You suffer so much now, what will

you do when you are tossed to the beasts?” She replied, “What I am suffering now, I suffer by

myself. But then another will be inside of me who will suffer for me, just as I shall be suffering

for him.” She gave birth to a girl and gave her daughter to a woman in the Christian community

to raise. The most famous quote about persecutions: “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the

church.” Tertullian, Apology The Roman captors allowed the group of young Christians one final

meal together, which they shared as a feast in honor of Christ. They were taken to the arena,

where wild beasts were unleashed upon them. When they did not die from their wounds

immediately, an executioner was dispatched and killed them all. Empire-Wide Persecutions

Begin: Decius and Valerian Emperor Decius (249–251) initiated the first Roman Empire-wide

persecution of Christians, thus overturning Trajan’s relatively lenient religious policy, in place

since 112. After winning several military victories, he quickly reestablished the old Roman

practice of universal worship of the Roman gods. The Romans required everyone, except for

Jews, to sacrifice and burn incense to the gods and the health of the emperor while in the

presence of a magistrate and witnesses. In return, the worshiper received a certificate. (A number

of these certificates have been discovered.) The Christian response varied. Many Christian

leaders were martyred, including bishops of Rome, Jerusalem, and Antioch. Wealthy Christians

were killed outright, whereas poorer Christians were forced into labor that resulted in their

deaths. Other Christians sacrificed or bribed officials and received certificates, while still others

fled. This persecution ended with the emperor’s death. A fresco of Jesus as the Good Shepherd

from the third century and located in a catacomb of Rome (an underground tomb where

Christians hid). https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Good_shepherd_02b_close.jpg The

next emperor to persecute Christians arrived two years later, Valerian (253–260). Christians

initially enjoyed peace, yet, beginning in 257, various foes attacked the Roman Empire from

numerous directions, almost driving the government to bankruptcy. Valerian, like Decius, sought

the favor of the gods by requiring universal worship. He issued two edicts against Christians in

257 and 258. Christians could not gather, and upper-class Christians were forced to forfeit their

property (to the state, who needed the additional finances) and recant. Noncompliance resulted in

death. All bishops, priests, and deacons were banished or killed immediately: the bishop of Rome

(whom Catholics consider a pope) and four of his deacons plus three bishops in Africa were

among those martyred. This persecution was harsher than the Decian abuse—which merely

ordered everyone to worship Roman gods—since it targeted Christians, their property, and their

movements. As was the case in other emperor-led persecutions, when Valerian died in 260, his

successor immediately withdrew the edicts. This action initiated a peace for approximately forty

years, known as “the Little Peace of the Church.” But, just as Valerian raised the bar of

persecution horrors over those that Christians experienced in the Decian persecution, the next

persecution under Diocletian raised the bar even more. Height of Christian Persecution:

Diocletian and Galerius During the twenty-four years between Valerian and Diocletian, from 260

to 284, ten different emperors ruled the Roman Empire. Because of this political instability,

Diocletian (284–305) focused on stability for the empire. He divided governing responsibilities

throughout the empire among a tetrarchy (“rule by four people”). The empire was divided in two,

each half being ruled by an Augustus, or “senior emperor,” and a Caesar, or “junior emperor.”

Diocletian took control as Augustus of the eastern Roman Empire and promoted Galerius as his

Caesar. He promoted Maximian as Augustus of the western Roman Empire and appointed

Constantius (the father of Constantine) as his Caesar. While he believed this move would

produce a stronger Roman Empire, it also laid the foundation of the empire splitting 100 years

later. Diocletian ignored Christianity during the first fifteen years of his reign. His attitude

changed in 299. After returning from a war against the Persians, Diocletian sought guidance from

the Roman god Apollo. This religious ceremony was not unusual, especially for an emperor who

yearned for the return of the glory of “Old Rome.” Yet the priests reportedly were unsuccessful

in reading signs from the slaughtered animals. They blamed their inability on the presence of

unbelievers, and, eventually, Christians were targeted as the culprits. Diocletian and Galerius

issued proclamations requiring everyone in the court and military to offer sacrifices. Following

Galerius’s advice, Diocletian extended the persecution and issued four edicts in 303 and 304. The

first edict ordered that all churches (and possibly homes where Scriptures were found) be

destroyed; all copies of Scriptures be collected and burnt; Christian gatherings be prohibited; and

wealthy Christians be punished, perhaps by death, whereas lower-class Christians were denied

legal recourse for their persecutions. The second through fourth edicts ordered the arrest of

Christian clergy while allowing for their release if they capitulated and made a sacrifice. The

Romans ordered everyone to offer a sacrifice to Roman gods or be killed. While the first edict

affected the entire empire, the second through fourth edicts were only enforced in the Eastern

Roman Empire where Diocletian and Galerius ruled. By all accounts, Maximian and Constantius

(Constantine’s father) did not implement the latter edicts in western Roman Empire. In 305, the

year following the fourth edict, both Augusti (the emperors), Diocletian and Maximian, retired.

Galerius replaced Diocletian to become emperor in the East. The eastern persecutions continued

for six years until just before Galerius’s death in 311. Just prior to his death, Galerius’s attitude

about Christians reversed. He ceased all Christian persecutions by issuing the Edict of Toleration.

He then took an even more bizarre step in the same document. Being deathly ill, Galerius asked

for all Christians to pray for him. Nevertheless, he died soon afterward and before he could

implement his Edict. His death worsened the infighting among the emperors of the east and the

west. No less than seven men were involved in leadership struggles and wars until Constantine

claimed victory as the sole emperor of the Roman Empire in 324. Freedom from Persecution to

Official Religion Diocletian had chosen Constantine’s father, Constantius, as the original western

Caesar in the late 300s. Upon his father’s death in 306, Constantine received a promotion and

eventually became western Augustus, yet he desired for greater glory: to be sole emperor of the

entire Roman Empire. One emperor who stood in his way was Maxentius, the son of the first

western Emperor, Maximian. In 312, Constantine’s army faced Maxentius’s army at the Milvian

Bridge, ten miles north of Rome. Maxentius’s army was twice as large as Constantine’s army,

plus Maxentius controlled Rome. While slightly different accounts exist, Eusebius, one of the

first church historians, recounts Constantine telling him that, while on the way to do battle at the

bridge, he looked into the sun and saw a cross of light with the words “In this sign, conquer.”

The following night Constantine dreamt that Christ instructed him to use that sign against his

enemies. By the time the battle lines were drawn up, Constantine’s army had placed the “chi-

rho” sign upon their crosses. They not only defeated Maxentius’s army, but also caused

Maxentius’s death. He drowned in the Tiber River after being overwhelmed by his own fleeing

army on the very bridge he had chosen on which to fight. “Chi-rho” are the first two Greek

letters in “Christ” The next year, Constantine (in the west) and the eastern emperor, Licinius, met

in Milan (in northern Italy) in 313 to work out various problems common to their two realms.

They agreed to cease all persecutions of Christians in the areas they controlled: “It is our

pleasure to abolish all conditions whatever were embodied in former orders … about the

Christians, that every one of those who have a common wish to follow the religion of the

Christians may from this moment freely and unconditionally proceed to observe the same

without any annoyance or disquiet.” This Edict of Milan also ordered the return of land

previously belonging to Christians and where churches once stood that the Roman Empire had

seized. Question: Are we studying about how the Roman Catholic Church started? Answer: That

depends on who you ask. The three options: 1. A Catholic would say yes. Catholics believe that

the first pope was Peter, and the Roman Catholic Church is the original church that Orthodox and

Protestants later left to form their own groups. 2. A Protestant would say no. Peter was not the

first pope of all Christianity (nor is the office of the papacy biblical) and the Roman Catholic

Church as an institution did not come into existence until the bishop of Rome began exerting

authority over all Christians, in the fifth to sixth centuries. (That is also the time when Oriental

Orthodox churches began separating from the European church, but that is covered in chapter

13.) 3. An Orthodox would say no. Orthodox Christians (Eastern/Greek and Oriental, more in

chapter 13) believe they are the original church from which Catholics separated. Licinius

eventually did not hold to the Edict’s regulations nor did other Roman co-emperors. One of the

most famous persecutions after the Edict of Milan occurred in an area controlled by Licinius. In

320, forty soldiers near Sebaste (present-day Sivas in the middle of Turkey) declined to reject

their Christian faith. Since this happened in winter, their commander inflicted an unusual

punishment on them. He ordered they be stripped and placed in the middle of a frozen pond

where they would freeze to death. He also ordered a container of heated water be placed on the

shore with the offer that anyone who renounced his faith could save his earthly life and enter the

warm water. One of the Christian soldiers accepted his offer: he rejected Christ, left the frozen

pond, and climbed in the warm water. Inspired by the example of the remaining thirty-nine, one

soldier on shore removed his clothes and joined the future martyrs. The next day the commander

ordered that those who were alive and those who were dead be burned. While most of their

remains were thrown in a river, local Christians recovered some of the ashes and carried them

away as treasured relics. Meanwhile, cooperation between Constantine and Licinius continued to

deteriorate such that, by the year 324, civil war ensued. Constantine was victorious and captured

Licinius. He allowed Licinius to retire to Thessalonica, but the next year accused Licinius of

plotting against him and had him hanged. Therefore, finally, in 325, Constantine became the sole

emperor of the Roman Empire. All Roman emperors after Constantine claimed Christianity save

one, Julian the Apostate, who ruled from 361–363. From 325 on, Christianity grew in number of

believers and churches, such that it eventually defined the character of the Roman Empire. To

that end, in 380, Emperor Theodosius I, in an attempt to prevent further heresy in the Empire,

issued the following decree: “It is our desire that all the various nations which are subject to our

Clemency and Moderation should continue to profess that religion which was delivered to the

Romans by the divine Apostle Peter, as it has been preserved by faithful tradition.… We

authorize the followers of this law to assume the title of Catholic [meaning “universal”]

Christians; but as for the others, since, in our judgment they are foolish madmen … They will

suffer in the first place the chastisement of the divine condemnation and in the second the

punishment of our authority which in accordance with the will of Heaven we shall decide to

inflict.” This, in effect, made Christianity the only legal faith in the Roman Empire. The current

practice of Catholics referring to themselves as “Catholic” instead of “Christian” dates from this

document in 380. At that time, many heretical groups existed with each calling themselves

“Christian.” Therefore, the meaning of “Christian” had been watered down. To alleviate any

confusion, the term “Catholic” was chosen to define true Christians over against false Christians.

Constantine outlawed crucifixion in the year 337, the same year he died. Thus, in the span of 350

years, Christianity advanced from its Messiah dying at the hands of Roman officials in c. AD 30,

through experiencing Roman persecution for almost 300 years, to the establishment of the Edict

of Milan and general relief from persecution in 313, to, in 380, becoming the official religion of

the very same Empire that crucified Christ. Development of Theology The development of

theology in the first four centuries of Christianity progressed through five stages that often

overlapped: apostles, apostolic fathers, apologists, theologians, and councils. (All dates are

approximate.) 1. The apostles (30–100 with the death of the apostle John) established the

foundation of Christianity and took the message of Jesus “to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). 2.

The apostolic fathers (80–175) were books focused on church leadership, worship, practice, and

nascent theological issues. Note: The name can be confusing. Apostolic fathers were not the

fathers of the apostles. Instead, the term referred to the next generation of leaders, theologians

and writings after the apostles. The term “apostolic fathers” originated in the seventeenth

century. 3. Many non-Christians grew wary of Christianity and made false accusations against

that faith. Apologists (125–250) (“apology” means “defense”) countered a myriad of accusations

from the Roman Empire as well as non-Christian antagonists by defending the Christian faith. 4.

The theologians (225 onward) took a different approach. Whereas apologists defended from

accusations outside of Christianity, theologians defended from attacks within Christianity by

heretics. (“Heresy” refers to a false teaching; “orthodox” refers to a correct teaching.) 5. The

final stage consisted of church councils. While the first church council held in c. 50 was

composed of apostles and elders (Acts 15), the first council involving all bishops from

throughout Christianity (known as an ecumenical council) did not meet until 325 in Nicaea

(today inside the city limits of Iznik, Turkey) under the auspices of the Roman Emperor

Constantine. Nevertheless, numerous smaller and regional councils (some prefer the term

“synods”) occurred beginning with the first recorded one in Rome in 155. After 325, regional

and ecumenical councils frequently occurred until the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth

century. Note, throughout this book, any gathering of church leaders will be referred to as a

“council,” whether it consisted of a local or larger gathering. Apostles and Apostolic Fathers The

apostolic age lasted from the ascension of Jesus c. 30 to the death of the last apostle, John,

around the year 100. During that time, the apostles, those linked with the apostles—such as Luke

who traveled with Paul—or Jesus’s half-brothers (James and Jude) wrote books that would one

day comprise the New Testament. Many New Testament books date to as early as the late 40s

and 50s, whereas a few of the books date as late as the 90s. In addition, by 100, Christianity had

spread throughout most of the Roman Empire and even beyond: Paul certainly traveled

throughout present-day Greece, central and western Turkey, and perhaps Spain; the apostle

Thomas went to India (covered in chapter 16); the apostle Matthew may have gone to Ethiopia;

and Mark, the author of the Gospel of Mark, may have been the first bishop of Alexandria,

Egypt. Questions about leadership, worship, practice, and theology multiplied as the new faith

spread. Different writings attempted to answer those concerns. These writings became known as

“Apostolic Fathers.” This can be confusing: “Apostolic Fathers” does not refer to people but to

different letters and books. Some of the authors may have known some of the apostles. In any

case, these writings date from as early as 80 to as late as 175 (and were not the fathers of the

apostles). Apostolic Fathers are: 1. I Clement, Clement of Rome (d. 96), Bishop of Rome.

According to Roman Catholic Church tradition, he was the fourth pope. He wrote a letter to the

churches in Corinth to encourage them and to help handle strife. 2. II Clement (mid-second

century). While Clement’s name is listed, the author is unknown. This writing was written in the

style of a sermon and described the proper life of a Christian with an emphasis on repentance. It

is the earliest surviving sermon outside of the New Testament. 3. Ignatius (d. 107), Bishop of

Antioch. He was arrested, taken to Rome, and most likely killed in the Coliseum. Along the way,

he wrote seven letters: six to Christians in different cities (Ephesus, Magnesia, Tralles, Rome,

Philadelphia, and Smyrna) and one to Polycarp. Ignatius desired a martyr’s death and encouraged

Christians not to rescue him. 4. Shepherd of Hermas (written between 80–150), anonymous.

While it does contain some incorrect ideas about God (discussed later), this beloved ethical essay

described how to live as a Christian. 5. Polycarp (d. 155) Bishop of Smyrna. He wrote a letter to

the Philippian churches. His martyrdom was discussed in the “Persecutions” section above. He

may have met or been discipled by the apostle John. 6. Epistle of Barnabas (written between 70

and 100). While the title mentions “Barnabas,” it is unlikely Barnabas of the New Testament

wrote it. The epistle draws a clear line between the practice of Judaism and of Christianity. 7.

Epistle to Diognetus (mid-second century). This book describes the uniqueness of Christianity. 8.

Didache (mid-second century). This anonymous work (which means “Teaching” and is

pronounced “did-ah-k”) consists of two parts. The first part describes the proper life of a

Christian and includes quotes from the Sermon on the Mount. The second part consists of church

administration instructions, such as appropriate conduct during the Lord’s Supper and how to

perform baptisms. One common misunderstanding about the Apostolic Fathers is that they are

part of the New Testament Apocrypha. The Apocrypha are covered in detail in the next chapter,

but a short statement here is necessary. The Apostolic Fathers were not part of the New

Testament Apocrypha, but instead were valued as teaching tools in the early church. While

extensively used in the early church period, they were ultimately not considered Scripture. Thus,

the term “Apostolic Fathers” denotes books that did not include heresies, like many of the New

Testament Apocrypha did, but that did not rise to the level of inspiration of the New Testament.

Misunderstandings and Apologists Misunderstandings about Christianity proliferated throughout

the Roman Empire. Some of the accusations made against Christians included: • Cannibalism:

This misunderstanding stemmed from two sources. First, non-Christians misunderstood the

language used to describe Communion: eating the body and drinking the blood of Christ. Non-

Christians assumed this meant that Christians ate human flesh and drank human blood. Second,

Roman law allowed for unwanted infants to be placed in a field to die. Christians often rescued

these infants, took them into their homes, and raised them. Non-Christians linked this action with

Communion and accused Christians of killing and eating dead babies during the Lord’s Supper. •

Incest: Christians commonly referred to each other as “brother” and “sister.” Non-Christians

witnessed husbands and wives referring to each other as “brother” and “sister” and reached the

conclusion that Christian brothers and sisters married each other. • Antisocial behavior:

Christians refused to attend public events such as gladiatorial fights and were labeled as

destructive to the general population. • Atheists: Since Christians worshiped an invisible god, as

opposed to Roman and local gods represented by idols, non-Christians accused Christians of

atheism. • Worshiping a criminal: Everyone recognized that the Roman Empire ordered Jesus’s

crucifixion. This raised the natural concern: Why do Christians worship a prisoner lawfully

executed by the Roman Empire? • Jesus’s father was a Roman soldier: A fake news story

circulated that offered an alternative account to the virgin birth of Jesus: Mary had an affair with

a Roman soldier named Panthera, and Mary became pregnant and gave birth to Jesus. Christian

apologists attempted to address these and other false accusations against their faith. Among the

most prominent apologists: • Quadratus wrote one of the earliest apologies in c. 125 and sent it to

Emperor Hadrian. He attempted to prove that Jesus healed people. Only one line of his apology

exists in a book by Eusebius of Caesarea (d. 340): “But the works of our Savior were always

present, for they were genuine: those that were healed, and those that were raised from the dead

… they were alive for quite a while, so that some of them lived even to our day.” • Justin Martyr

(beheaded in the 160s) wrote an apology addressed to Emperor Antoninus Pius (reigned 138–

161). He compared Christianity to Socrates and Socrates’s death at the hands of Greeks to

Christian deaths at the hands of the Roman Empire: “And when Socrates attempted, by true

reason and examination, to bring these things to light (his ideas), and deliver men from the

demons, then the demons themselves, by means of men who rejoiced in iniquity, caused his

death, as an atheist and a profane person, on the charge that ‘he was introducing new divinities’;

and in our [the Christian] case, they [the Romans] display a similar activity.” • Tertullian (155–

240; from Carthage in present-day Tunisia, North Africa). In his Apology, he attacked the

accusation of cannibalism and incest: “If to be a Christian is to take part in baby-eating and ritual

incest, why does no-one try to prove those charges? Despite the activities of the informers and

way that soldiers blackmail the Christians, no-one has ever come across a half-eaten baby! It’s all

just rumor. And do you think eternal life is worth it, if the price is eating babies and incest? If

[you don’t], why do you suppose we do?” • Origen (184–253; from Alexandria, Egypt, and died

from injuries sustained during the persecution of Decius). Celsus wrote the earliest detailed

attack against Christianity in c. 175. While this work does not exist independently, Origen does

provide extensive quotes in his apology, Against Celsus. In this example, Celsus complains that

Christians are not sufficiently engaged in the Empire as to be worthy citizens: “Then Celsus next

exhorts us to help the emperor with all our power, and cooperate with him in what is right, and

fight for him.… And this we do in obedience to the injunction of the apostle, ‘I exhort, therefore,

that first of all supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for

kings [or emperors], and for all that are in authority.’ ” Origen countered that Christians do aid

the Empire by praying for the emperor and are, therefore, of value to the Roman Empire.

Heretics, Theologians, and Councils The apologists produced a wide range of external defenses

of Christianity. Soon after, and even somewhat overlapping, came attacks on the nature of God,

or internal attacks, which necessitated the writings of theologians and the development of

councils. In the early church period (to 400), Christian heresies, or false teachings, centered on

the nature of Jesus Christ. In response to this, theologians, councils, and creeds (covered in the

following chapter) developed with the shared goal of limiting interpretations to a single, correct

understanding. The response to heresies played a vital role in the development of Christian

theology. Heretics wrote and debated and forced the church to better articulate and clarify

biblical truths. The earliest heresy to grapple with the nature of Christ was Gnosticism, from the

Greek word for “knowledge.” Broadly speaking, Gnosticism embraced dualism: the spiritual

realm is separate from the physical realm, whereas a focus on spirituality is desirable and

physical involvement inevitably leads to evil. Therefore, Gnostics sought to obtain the “secret

knowledge” found only in the spiritual realm and not available in the physical realm. Irenaeus (d.

c. 200) wrote an early theological treatise against Gnosticism called “Against Heresies.” An

offshoot of Gnosticism was Docetism, from the Greek word “to seem.” Docetism taught that a

messenger from the spiritual realm traveled to earth to explain the “secret knowledge,” that

messenger was Jesus, and, therefore, Jesus was not physical. Gnosticism and Docetism were

very real threats beginning in the first century, as is evidenced by 1 John 4:2: “This is how you

know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from

God,” and 2 John 7a: “Many deceivers have gone out into the world; they do not confess the

coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh.” Gnosticism and Docetism became more prominent in the

second century and influenced men such as Marcion and the writing of many of the New

Testament Apocrypha (covered in chapter 2). Gnosticism as a threat to Christianity eventually

faded in the third century, only to be replaced with other heresies. Question: What is the

difference between heresy, false teaching, error, and opinion? Answer: In this book, the

following definitions will be used: 1. Heresy and false teaching mean the same thing, an idea that

teaches against the orthodox (or true) understanding of God. Someone holding to this idea would

be considered outside of the Christian community. An example would be Arius (see below), who

taught that God the Father created God the Son. 2. Error is a level below heresy. An error

involves a disagreement among Christians who both hold to orthodox understandings of God. An

example would be differing beliefs in infant baptism vs. believer’s baptism. An error is sufficient

reason for many people to separate from worshiping together, while still considering others to be

Christian. 3. Opinion is a level below error. A difference of opinion involves Christians who hold

to orthodox understandings of God and could be members of the same church but disagree over

non-essentials. An example would be whether to use pews or individual chairs in worship. In the

late second century as heresies began to intensify, early church leaders attempted to more closely

define and name theological realities. Theophilus of Antioch (d. 183), writing in Greek, is one of

the first to attempt to describe the “Father, his Word [logos], and his Wisdom.” He chose the

word “trias,” but this indicates more of a meaning of “triad” or three completely separate parts

that are loosely connected. Tertullian (d. 220) used the Latin word trinitas, which means “trinity”

and carries a meaning that the three aspects are thoroughly related to each other while each part

still retains a unique identity. He also provided a description of the Trinity, “All [Father, Son,

Holy Spirit] are of one, by unity … of substance … which distributes the unity in a Trinity,

placing in their order the three persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.… Yet they are

of one substance and of one condition and of one power.” This important distinction indicated

that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were made of the same “substance,” or sameness of being

divine, but each of the three “persons” had a uniqueness to itself. Therefore, while the word

“Trinity” is not in the Bible, it does accurately describe the inner workings of God, being Father,

Son, and Holy Spirit. A variety of heresies proliferated in the second and third centuries, for

example: • Theodotus (late second century) believed that Jesus was a man who, after being

anointed with the Holy Spirit and baptized by John the Baptist, became Christ but was never

God. This idea is known as “Adoptionism,” that God “adopted” the man Jesus and made him

Christ. This is a form of “dynamic Monarchianism”; “Monarchianism,” or “one rule” referring to

God being one person and not a Trinity, and “dynamic,” in that the man Jesus changed. Jesus was

like God, but he was not of the same nature as God. • Sabellius (early third century) believed that

God was one entity that revealed itself in three different roles: as the Father in creation, as the

Son in the incarnation, crucifixion, and redemption, and as the Holy Spirit in aiding humans to

become Christ-like. This idea is technically known as “modalistic Monarchianism”;

“Monarchianism,” referring to God being one person and not a Trinity, and “modalistic,”

referring to the different modes or roles that one God takes. This false teaching presented God as

taking on different roles (Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit) but is the same God in each role. The case of

Bishop Paul of Samosata (c. 265) illustrates a different aspect of the wider, evolving, young

Christian movement: the use of councils. Paul believed that Jesus was a man and the power of

God came to rest upon him at birth, thus he accepted a form of dynamic Monarchianism. His

idea became very popular, and, in 296, a group of bishops, priests, and deacons gathered at a

council in Antioch. The council condemned Paul’s teaching and removed him from his bishopric

(role as bishop), yet not everyone accepted this decision nor the authority of the council. In a

move not witnessed before in the relationship between the Roman Empire and Christianity, the

emperor Aurelian stepped in to settle the dispute. The emperor was not a Christian and, no doubt,

viewed this only as a disturbance within the Empire that he needed to calm. He consulted various

bishops, all of whom voted against Paul, and Paul abandoned his position as bishop. This took

place during “The Little Peace of the Church” mentioned earlier. Not all heresies were

widespread and popular. Some lesser-known heresies: - The Alogi (third century), this group

denied the divinity of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. - Artemon (third century) believed that Jesus

was only a man, although greater than the prophets. - The Messalians (fourth century) taught that

everyone’s soul is united with a demon due to Adam’s sin. Only prayer will remove the demon,

not baptism. After the demons departed, the person receives a vision of the Trinity. - Noetus

(third century) said that God the Father was born, suffered, and died. He denied the existence of

the Son; to him, acceptance of the Father and the Son amounted to ditheism (worship of two

gods; monotheism is the worship of one god). But the most damaging early heresy originated

with Arius (d. 336) from Alexandria, Egypt. The bishop there, Alexander (d. 328), taught that the

Son was eternal in the past and equal with God the Father, which is an orthodox teaching.

(“Orthodox” with a small case “o” refers to correct teaching and not the Orthodox Church.) One

of his priests, Arius, disagreed. After pondering the relationship between the Father and the Son,

Arius concluded that the Father had at some point in the past created the Son; in his own words

and as recorded by Socrates of Constantinople, Church History, “if the Father begat the Son … it

is evident, that there was a time when the Son was not.” He viewed the Father, Son, and Holy

Spirit as having different “essences” or “substances”; they were distinct and not equal. This

teaching spread, causing Alexander, aided by his secretary and future bishop Athanasius, also

from Alexandria and nicknamed the “black dwarf,” to call a regional council. This local council

met in Alexandria in 320, excommunicated Arius, and declared his teaching as a heresy in that

region. Athanasius, who became the champion of Nicene orthodoxy (discussed in chapter 2),

became the driving force in the rebuttal against Arius, writing statements like, “The generation

[or begotten-ness] of the Son is not like that of a man … But [since the] nature of the Son of God

[is] being infinite and eternal, his generation must, of necessity, be infinite and eternal as well.”

This means the Son of God preexisted and should not be thought of as a human, each of whom

has a beginning, which he believed was Arius’s error. “Begotten” or “to generate” means

something different when applied to the Son of God than when applied to a human child. The

human child had a beginning, whereas the Son did not because the essence of God is eternally

the same and does not change. Not only did Arianism attack the nature of Christ, but the nature

of salvation as well. Alexander and Athanasius taught that the Son had to be human in order to

redeem humanity. Arius believed the key to salvation centered on the obedience of the Son to the

Father and not on the sacrifice made on behalf of humanity. Nevertheless, the popularity of

Arius’s teaching grew. Arius communicated with bishops in the East and complained of the

treatment of his idea, and many of them wrote letters condemning Alexander’s view. Meanwhile,

Constantine, the first Christian emperor, solidified his control over the entire Roman Empire in

324. As the new emperor, and one who spent many years seeking to unify the Roman Empire,

Constantine was in no mood to consent to a long-running theological feud. He attempted to settle

the debate by writing letters to Alexander and Arius, but neither moved on his position.

Constantine then called a council of all bishops and ordered Arius to plead his case. He even paid

for travel and lodging for all bishops to ensure the largest possible participation. He, no doubt,

wished to settle theological issues in his empire as quickly as possible. He chose a city close to

his palace and about fifty-five miles southeast of his new capital of Constantinople: Nicaea.

Constantine presided over the Council of Nicaea in 325. An array of bishops attended the

council, with eyewitnesses numbering the bishops at between 250–318, including Arius. The

bishops decided on a variety of matters, such as the dating of Easter and the readmission process

for former heretics, but the most pressing and prominent concern centered on Arianism. Arius

offered only two supporting bishops, and his feeble defense resulted in rejection. Eusebius, an

early church historian and an eyewitness to the proceedings, recorded the result: “But the Holy

Catholic and Apostolic church anathematizes [considers as heretics] those who say, ‘There was a

time when he was not,’ and ‘Before he was begotten, he did not exist’ and ‘He was made from

that which did not exist.’ The same goes for those who assert that he is of a different substance or

essence from the Father, or that he was created, or can be changed.” Opposed to the idea of

homoiousious favored by Arians and meaning “like substance,” the Council advocated for

homoousious (without the “i” in the middle), meaning “same substance.” The council also

addressed other concerns: rules for ordination; rules for excommunication; punishment for those

who yielded under persecution and either temporarily rejected the faith or offered sacrifice to the

emperor; and rules regarding those former followers of Paul of Samosata who wished to return to

the church. Counter to some suggestions, it did not address the development of the New

Testament, but it did produce a creed against Arianism, which is addressed in the next chapter.

Although the council itself overwhelmingly opposed Arius, among the populace Arianism

remained a widely held belief. Arius lost that battle, but Arians continued to fight the war. In

addition, Constantine might not have been fully aware of the nuances of the theological debate.

In his attempt to sustain peace in the Roman Empire, he eventually softened his stance against

Arianism and even exiled Athanasius. An Arian bishop even baptized him just before his death in

337. Indeed, twenty-five years later, in c. 350, Jerome, who later produced the Latin Bible or

Vulgate, wrote, “the whole world groaned and marveled to find itself Arian.” The debate

continued throughout the middle of the fourth century involving emperors, theologians, and even

councils, albeit regional councils. Eventually another Christian emperor, Theodosius I, called a

second ecumenical council in part to defeat the lingering Arianism: the Council of

Constantinople in 381. Like all councils, it also met to settle various other ecclesiastical matters,

such as condemning Apollinarianism, a belief that Jesus had a human body but not a soul, instead

the logos (or divine mind) took the place of the soul in Christ. But the main focus was to hammer

the last nail in the coffin of Arianism. It rejected all pro-Arian theologies produced after the

Council of Nicaea and adapted the Nicene Creed by strengthening the language advocating the

“one God in three persons” doctrine. This council was successful, in that Arianism virtually

vanished from the Roman Empire within a generation. Christians in the Empire finally

celebrated. It took the church over fifty years, numerous councils (Nicaea and Constantinople

plus smaller ones in between the two) and much ecclesiastical and even political infighting to

finally vanquish Arianism in the Empire. But, while this is true, those Christians did not

anticipate a new Arian threat: pro-Arian missionaries migrated into middle and northern Europe,

successfully spreading their message. Those northern European Arian Christians would, in the

next century, invade the Roman Empire with surprising results, which is covered in the Medieval

Christianity section. CHAPTER 2 THE CHURCH DEVELOPS ITS STRUCTURE The early

church battled persecutions and heresies, both attacks from without, by developing a strong

structure within. This internal structure incorporated the formation of the “Three C’s”: the canon,

creed, and clergy. Each played a vital role within early Christianity: the canon (the Bible) was the

literary product of divine inspiration, the creed reduced the teachings found in the canon to short

statements of belief, and the clergy upheld those teachings and maintained the churches. In

addition, the early church period also witnessed the establishment of sacraments (or ordinances),

places of worship, and worship styles. This chapter covers these different internal formations.

Outline 1. New Testament Canonization a. New Testament Books and New Testament

Apocrypha b. Heresies Contributing to New Testament Canonization c. Various Lists d. The

Effects of Persecutions e. Councils and Qualifiers 2. Creeds 3. Clergy 4. Egyptian Desert

Monasticism 5. Further Developments during and after Constantine a. Moving the Roman

Capital b. Pilgrimages and Relics c. House Churches to Churches to Cathedrals d. Changes in

Worship New Testament Canonization Many people take the development of the New Testament

for granted. On the contrary, the story behind its development is full of heresies and heretical

books, a false New Testament, alternative listings of Christian books, hiding potential biblical

books from authorities, an African bishop who became a champion of orthodoxy, and councils

that separated the wheat from the tares as early church leaders recognized those books that could

and could not be used in worship. This fascinating process is known as New Testament

canonization. [Note: this book will not address Old Testament canonization, although it will

discuss the Deuterocanonicals of the Old Testament in chapter 3.] “Canon” refers to a standard,

and “canonization” is the process of determining that standard. New Testament Books and New

Testament Apocrypha By the year 150, approximately 125 books existed that claimed in some

way to be Christian (the twenty-seven books of the New Testament and around 100 others

determined to be false), leading to a conundrum for the early Christians: how to differentiate

between true writings and false writings. Early in the second century, Christians throughout the

Roman Empire accepted a small band of books as authoritative: the four Gospels and Paul’s

letters. According to Eusebius (d. 339), three criteria determined the inclusion of a book into the

future New Testament. (1) It originated from an apostle. (Note: The book was not necessarily

written by an apostle, for example, Mark is traditionally held to have written Peter’s memories

for the Gospel of Mark. Also, James and Jude were not apostles but were half-brothers of Jesus

[Matthew 13:55, where Judas is the same individual as Jude].) (2) It was widely known and used.

(3) It matched theologically with those books that everyone agreed were authoritative (the four

Gospels and Paul’s letters). The term “Apocrypha” itself can be confusing. First, the plural of

Apocrypha is Apocrypha. Second, the New Testament Apocrypha does not refer to a set of books

produced in the early church period. Instead, the term “New Testament Apocrypha” refers to any

of a number of heretical or misleading books written during the period from the ascension of

Jesus to approximately 150. That is why the Apostolic Fathers are not considered Apocrypha:

they do not contain heresy nor are misleading, although they do contain some underdeveloped

ideas. Scripture versus Canon Holy or sacred writings are considered Scripture, while the

collection of Scripture is called a “canon.” For example, the book of Romans is considered

Scripture but not a canon. Can I get a copy of the New Testament Apocrypha? Perhaps today a

book containing all the New Testament Apocrypha books is available, but not in the early church

period. “New Testament Apocrypha” does not refer to a specific collection of books that were

heretical or false and circulated in the early church period but, instead, is more of a concept; it

means any book that portrayed itself as a true (also known as orthodox) Christian teaching but

was not. Sometimes some of the books were collected, such as the Gnostic library found at Nag

Hammadi, but usually they circulated individually. Today, New Testament Apocrypha refers to

any false or misleading books that were rejected in the early church period. To make this more

confusing, a single false book is called “Apocrypha” and a collection of these books is called

“Apocrypha”: the plural of “Apocrypha” is “Apocrypha.” Books considered New Testament

Apocrypha originated from a variety of sources. Many of the New Testament Apocrypha

developed within Christian Gnostic or Docetic communities. In 1945, a collection of thirteen

ancient codices (an early form of a book) was discovered in Nag Hammadi, Egypt, inside a clay

jar. These codices included over fifty different “books” originating from a Christian Gnostic

community. This community focused on dualism—spiritual was good and physical was evil—

and a secret knowledge only obtainable through the community; such books include the Gospel

of Thomas and the Gospel of Philip. Other New Testament Apocrypha were independently

written, such as the Gospel of Judas, the Arabic Infancy Gospel of the Savior, the Letter of

Pontius Pilate, and numerous Acts, such as the Acts of Barnabas, Acts of Philip, Acts of Andrew,

and so on. Books ultimately deemed unworthy of inclusion in the Bible are called “Apocrypha,”

which means “secret” or “hidden” books. But care must be taken because more than one type of

Apocrypha exists: Old Testament Apocrypha and New Testament Apocrypha. Protestants use a

Bible that contains sixty-six books, Catholics use a Bible that contains seventy-three books, and

Orthodox use a Bible with up to seventy-seven books. All Christian groups use the same twenty-

seven books of the New Testament; the difference, therefore, lies in the number of Old Testament

books that each group uses. Catholic and Orthodox refer to the additional Old Testament books

as “deuterocanonical,” which means “secondary scripture” (deutero-canon-ical). Neither

Catholics nor Orthodox believe these additional books rise to the same level of inspiration as the

thirty-nine Old Testament books they share with Protestants. Nevertheless, they believe those

books should be included and indicate their difference by referring to them as “secondary

scripture.” Protestants, on the other hand, believe that only those books that are inspired by God

should be in the Old Testament. Question: To read or not to read the New Testament Apocrypha

Answer: The early church leaders forbid Christian laity from reading the New Testament

Apocrypha because some of the heresies presented are subtle and can confuse the untrained

reader. For example, the New Testament Apocrypha contain many pseudepigrapha, or books

claiming one author but created by others who craved acceptance by attaching the name of an

apostle or other significant early Christian, such as the Gospel of Judas and the Gospel of

Thomas. Neither was written by the stated author, but, instead, both writings came out of the

Gnostic Christian community. Nevertheless, many early Christians accepted that the name on a

Apocrypha writing was the actual author, therefore, believing the book was inspired when it was

not. Therefore, since confusion came easily when reading the Apocrypha, early councils (such as

Carthage in 397) stated that those books could not be read in a worship service. Heresies

Contributing to New Testament Canonization In the second century, two men, Marcion and

Montanus, taught heretical ideas that prompted early church leaders to begin the process of

developing the “New Testament” (in addition to the Jewish Tanakh (or Old Testament) Christians

already used). Marcion (d. c. 160), the son of a bishop who lived in Pontus, located below the

Black Sea, moved to Rome and donated a large sum of money to the house churches. The church

officials there were initially enamored with Marcion, but eventually returned the money and

excommunicated Marcion over his unique theological understanding. [Note: He was not

excommunicated by the entire church but only by his local congregation. At this time, churches

were not connected into one unified whole but were independently scattered throughout the

Roman Empire and even beyond, although the office of bishop as a leader of a group of churches

in a region had developed.] He taught that the god of the Old Testament and the god of the New

Testament were not the same: the former was violent and vengeful, whereas the latter offered

love and forgiveness. But he did not stop with merely teaching his idea; he relentlessly moved

forward and created a new scripture centered on Paul. This idea, no doubt, derived from

Marcion’s misperception that, out of all the apostles, Paul spoke most forcefully against Old

Testament ideas. Therefore, in his new “Christian Scripture,” Marcion only included Luke’s

Gospel (since Luke traveled with Paul) and Paul’s letters minus the Pastorals (1 & 2 Timothy and

Titus; scholars do not know why they are not included). Marcion went further and edited out

passages he felt were pro-Old Testament. In this way, he produced a “scripture” that consisted of

eleven books purged of passages Marcion believed were unworthy of inclusion. Montanus’s (d.

c. 177) movement centered in Phrygia, in present-day western Turkey, beginning around 155.

After converting to Christianity, Montanus began to prophesy, stating that he received continued

revelations from the Paraclete. The literal translation of this word is often rendered as Counselor,

Advocate, Helper, etc., in John 14:16 and is widely understood to refer to the Holy Spirit. He

developed a following, including two women named Prisca and Maximilla—they also claimed to

receive revelations from the Paraclete. Montanus and his followers did not follow the lead of

Marcion and create their own “scripture.” Instead, they taught that their utterances carried the

weight of divine inspiration and should be added to divine writings that Christians accepted. The

movement disrupted Christian communities as some Christians considered them false prophets

while others believed that perhaps God was continuing to give new instructions. Followers of

this “New Prophecy” were excommunicated by various bishops and even an early local council

in 177. Eventually, within 100 years, Montanism sank under its own weight in a hundred years of

teaching counter to widely-held orthodox beliefs within the larger Christian community. Oddly

enough, Marcion and Montanus attacked orthodox Christian beliefs from two different

directions: Marcion claimed that prevailing Christian beliefs were too broad and attempted to

narrow them only to teachings from the apostle Paul, and Montanus claimed that prevailing

Christian beliefs were too narrow and attempted to widen them by including revelations he and

others claimed to have received from the Holy Spirit. These men prompted later church leaders

to realize that, if they did not establish the set canon of authentic Christian writings, others

would. The next step in New Testament canonization, therefore, was for early church leaders to

create lists of books they each considered authentically from God. Over time, these various lists

settled into the twenty-seven New Testament books, a process taking 200 years. Various Lists

Early church leaders did not attempt to create a listing of new Christian Scriptures by the mid-

second century, mainly because they did not see the need. House churches shared the Gospels,

Acts, and apostolic letters among themselves, although false writings also found their way into

the shared writings. The first attempted listing of a Christian Scripture is found in the Muratorian

Fragment. The letter is anonymous and is named in honor of the scholar who discovered it,

Ludovico Muratori. The Muratorian List is dated to approximately 170 because it mentions that

Pius I, bishop of Rome, was a recent memory; Pius was bishop from 140 to 155. Since the listing

comes soon after Marcion’s and Montanus’s attempts, many scholars believe that those men

prompted an anonymous Christian leader to compose a list of books that the churches in his area

considered sacred. The Muratorian List was the first in a small number of lists over the next 200

years. Two of the most prominent are the listings by Origen and Eusebius. Origen (d. 253) lived

in Alexandria and is considered to be one of the foremost biblical scholars before the Council of

Nicaea. He wrote a list that greatly expanded on the Muratorian List. Eusebius of Caesarea (d.

340) wrote the first church history book in ten volumes by 325 and is known as the “Father of

church history.” In his third volume, he divided books into four categories: sacred (which he

called “recognized”), disputed, spurious, and heretical. The first listing of the current twenty-

seven books that has been discovered comes from the pen of Athanasius (d. 373), the champion

of the Council of Nicaea. He was bishop of Alexandria from 328 to 373, although not

consecutively since he was exiled five times during that period due to his continuing struggle

against Arianism. As bishop of Alexandria, he followed the custom of sending a letter out each

year informing the churches of the date of Easter plus other pertinent information. Athanasius

wrote forty-five of these letters, and, in 367 in the 39th Festal Letter, he stated, “it seemed good

to me also, having been urged to do so, and having learned from the beginning, to set before you

the books included in the Canon, and handed down, and accredited as Divine.” He proceeded to

list the thirty-nine books in the current Protestant Old Testament and the twenty-seven books in

the current New Testament. He then added, “In these alone the teaching of godliness is

proclaimed. Let no one add to these; let nothing be taken away from them.” This letter did not set

those books as the “official” canon of Christianity, but, being the bishop of Alexandria and the

leading theologian of the time, it carried much weight and led to future councils heeding his

advice. The Effects of Persecutions A short note is necessary about the impact of persecutions on

New Testament canonization. As discussed earlier, the Roman persecution of Christians ebbed

and flowed according to the whims of Roman emperors. In addition, the severity and extent of

the various persecutions also varied greatly. So it was that the Emperor Diocletian, while

instituting a persecution of Christians in 303, proclaimed that all Christian Scriptures be burned.

After this, determining the validity of a supposed Christian writing suddenly became serious to

the average Christian. Was a writing someone owned truly linked to one of the apostles or Jesus’s

half brothers (James or Jude, also known as Judas in Matthew 13:55) or was it false? Should a

book be hidden and the owner face possible arrest or should the owner freely surrender it to be

burned? Therefore, while not the sole reason for prompting early church leaders to establish the

sacred writings of Christians, persecutions certainly sharpened the debate, as life or death

situations are inclined to do. Councils and Qualifiers A misconception is that the Council of

Nicaea in 325 settled the matter of New Testament canonization. This is not the case. The

Council of Nicaea focused on Arianism and other issues but did not decide the sacred writings of

Christians. Nonetheless, it might have prompted an order from Constantine in 331 to Eusebius:

“I have thought it expedient … to order fifty copies of the sacred Scriptures.” Eusebius later

wrote, “Such were the emperor’s commands, which were followed by the immediate execution

of the work itself.” Therefore, soon after the Council of Nicaea, the first attempted collections of

Christian Scriptures were produced. Two out of those fifty collections of Scriptures may have

been discovered. Vaticanus and Sinaiticus are names given to two of the oldest collections of

Scriptures that scholars have discovered; both date to the early or mid-fourth century. Focusing

on the “New Testament” section of the two collections: Vaticanus contains all current New

Testament books except for Hebrews 9:14–13:25, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, and

Revelation (the last section of Vaticanus is missing, which could have contained the last part of

Hebrews and the missing books). Sinaiticus contains the same twenty-seven New Testament

books as the current Bible plus the Epistle of Barnabas and the Shepherd of Hermas, both

apostolic fathers writings. Nevertheless, these two volumes show that New Testament

canonization was coming to a close. The Councils of Laodicea (363) and Rome (382) may have

discussed the biblical canon, yet a lack of records from those two councils leaves the issue

unresolved. Therefore, the Council of Hippo (393) was the first known council to produce a

definitive list of New Testament books. While records from this council are lacking, the Council

of Carthage (397) basically reproduced the records from the Council of Hippo and verified them.

Statement (or canon) 54 from that council (Carthage) states “that, besides the Canonical

Scriptures, nothing be read in church under the name of divine Scripture,” and then lists accepted

Old Testament books and the twenty-seven New Testament books. (Note: The decision by the

Council of Carthage did not immediately close the New Testament canon for all of Christendom,

but only for churches in northeastern Africa where Carthage was located. Yet, upon the

recommendation from Athanasius’ 39th Festal Letter, Augustine’s approval at the Council of

Hippo, the Carthage Council’s endorsement, and the general consensus of Christians across the

Roman Empire, the New Testament was closed to those twenty-seven books recommended at the

Council of Carthage. This is evidence by Jerome only including those twenty-seven books in the

Vulgate, which was completed by the early fifth century and is described in the next chapter.)

The earliest known fragment from any New Testament book is a very short piece of the Gospel

of John. The fragment is known as P52. A search for “P52 John” online will lead to images of the

fragment. This phrase “besides the Canonical Scriptures, nothing can be read” was the council’s

way of determining that the New Testament canon was closed and that books of the New

Testament Apocrypha would not be allowed. An interesting statement is then added, “So let the

church over the sea be consulted to confirm this canon.” This is a reference to Rome, and a

discussion of the importance of that church for the wider Christian community will be presented

in the next chapter. With the Council of Carthage, the New Testament was “closed” in that no

books other than the twenty-seven found in current Bibles were accepted for reading in church.

Therefore, the complete process of determining the New Testament books lasted for

approximately 300 years, from the writing of the last New Testament book in the late 90s to

various councils “closing” the Christian Scriptures in the 390s. The Old Testament, on the other

hand, underwent various changes until it morphed into the different versions used today, which

will be discussed later in this chapter. Creeds The early Christians established a concrete canon

by using the Old Testament of the Jews and developing the New Testament from inspired books.

After the ascension of Jesus, Christians only had the apostles and various early followers of Jesus

to rely on for memory of Jesus and knowledge of Christianity. By the year 400 the church had a

volume filled with the memories and writings of the apostles. Nevertheless, heresies and the

Christian Scriptures developed in parallel, therefore, early Christians created a brief statement of

faith (or creed) to meet three needs: to ward off heresies, to serve as a baptismal declaration of

faith, and to instruct new converts. Creeds met these needs by presenting a codified statement of

basic Christian beliefs, thereby determining the measure of orthodoxy. The first discovered creed

is called the Old Roman Creed or Old Roman Symbol. The first recitation of this creed is found

in The Apostolic Tradition, a church manual of styles and rites, by Hippolytus of Rome (d. 235),

although some scholars see evidence of the creed as early as 150. The creed reads thus: “I

believe in God the Father Almighty; and in Christ Jesus His only Son, our Lord. Who was born

from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. Who under Pontius Pilate was crucified and buried, on

the third day rose again from the dead, ascended to heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father,

whence He will come to judge the living and the dead; and in the Holy Spirit, the holy Church,

the remission of sins, the resurrection of the flesh.” Two observations are critical about the Old

Roman Creed: First, most of the language focuses on Jesus. This targeted language on Christ will

be a staple of creeds into the Middle Ages. Second, this creed does not address the nature of the

Son. Reflecting on the theology section in the last chapter, the reader can perceive that this creed

allows for a wide variety of interpretations of the nature of the Son (such as Arius’s view that the

Father created the Son), and therefore was inadequate. Out of necessity, the Christian creed

evolved from the Old Roman Creed into one that more directly defined the nature of the Son.

The Council of Nicaea accomplished this by developing the first major, ecumenical (or widely

accepted) creed. But, due to the furor caused by Arians after the Council was over, theologians

dramatically increased the section on Christ. Therefore, the creed developed at the Council of

Nicaea evolved into the creed established at the Council of Constantinople in 381, also known as

the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed. The sections on the Holy Spirit and the Church were also

enlarged in response to questions about the nature of both of those. See a comparison of the two

creeds here. (Adapted from Philip Schaff’s, Creeds of Christendom. Additions to the creed

completed at the Council of Nicaea in 325 and added to form the Niceno-Constantinopolitan

Creed of 381 are indicated by italics.) Nicene Creed Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed We

believed in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible. We 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 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 [homoousious] with the Father; by whom all things were made

[both in heaven and on earth (this was removed)]; 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 where he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. And in one

Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, 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 Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man; he was crucified for us

under Pontius Pilate, and suffered, and was buried, and the third day he rose again, according to

the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; from where he

shall come again, with glory, to judge the living and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.

And in the Holy Spirit. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of life, who proceeds from the

Father, who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified, who spoke by the

prophets. In one holy, catholic [meaning universal] and apostolic Church; we acknowledge one

baptism for the remission of sins; we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the

world to come. Amen. 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. (Not included in the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed.)

Clergy Leadership in the house church was simple in the first century. The apostles were still

alive, and their leadership was undisputed. But Peter and Paul died in the mid- to late-60s, and

the last apostle, John, died around 100. The passing of the last apostle left a void that the early

church correctly did not replace, since that office was unique to that time. Instead, the early

church developed the new office of bishop. Bishops played important roles in establishing new

house churches, creating and overseeing leadership of new churches, ensuring proper practices

within churches such as the administration of sacraments, and weeding out heresies that

developed within churches. The significance of the office evolved quickly as churches

proliferated, persecutions ensued, and heresies developed. By the year 105, Ignatius left strong

commands concerning bishops, “He that honors the bishop is honored by God; he that does

anything without the knowledge of the bishop renders service to the devil” and “Plainly therefore

we ought to regard the bishop as the Lord Himself.” It is important to note that, when Ignatius

wrote his letters, New Testament canonization and the development of creeds had not yet begun.

Therefore, Christians in the earliest church period viewed the bishop as the gatekeeper of faith.

The extent of the bishops’ authority increased as the centuries passed. While bishops were

leaders of small groups of house churches initially, eventually this evolved into leadership of

churches within cities, then of several cities, and finally into regional church leadership. This

growth meant that different levels of bishops existed. The bishop in Jerusalem, for example, held

sway over bishops in smaller cities, towns, or even villages in his region. This is why, for

example, over 300 bishops attended the Council of Nicaea. Those bishops did not have equal

ranking but had a variety of relationships and responsibilities to each other. By the year 400, five

major bishoprics (regions controlled by bishops) had emerged, located in Rome, Jerusalem,

Antioch, Constantinople, and Alexandria. These five Christian centers functioned as separate

centers of their regions, until the rise of Islam in the eighth century overcame and overwhelmed

three of them, which is discussed in chapter 3. Egyptian Desert Monasticism If the clergy were

the leaders of the church, the monks were initially its silent protestors. To understand the origin

of monasticism, it is instructive to review the Roman persecution of Christians. While the idea of

being persecuted for one’s faith is terrifying for most, that was not true of all Christians martyred

by the Romans. Some Christians actually sought out martyrdom. In an age where being tortured

and killed for one’s faith was commonplace, dying for Christ became the ultimate measure of

one’s faith. Add to this the belief that the church grew as martyrdoms increased, and the recipe is

complete for many to desire martyrdom. For example, after Origen’s father was arrested and his

death imminent, Origen decided to join his father and die as a martyr, but, according to tradition,

his mother hid his clothes and he could not leave the house. Others were successful throughout

the Roman persecution period and joyfully offered themselves as martyrs. This self-sacrifice

provided a test for one’s faith, an example to other believers, and a witness through one’s death

to non-believers. Constantine’s Edict of Milan in 313, which barred persecutions, began to end

this avenue of faith-expression. As discussed previously, after this edict, Roman persecutions

continued piecemeal for another dozen years or so, until Constantine became emperor of the

entire Roman Empire in 324, at which point persecutions ceased. While certainly a victory for

some, this did cause frustration for others: how could one ultimately test one’s faith now? On the

other hand, some Christians wondered how they could escape the distractions of worldly life,

especially after Christianity became widely accepted after the emperor Constantine came to

power? The answer arrived in the most unlikely of places: the Egyptian desert. Before the Edict

of Milan, some men and women in North Africa slowly made their way into the desert to live.

The earliest recorded monk (from the Greek word monos or “alone”) is Paul of Thebes (d. 341 at

113 years of age). He fled into the desert around the year 250 and never returned home. Anthony

or Antony (d. 356), the most well-known of all early monks, was eighteen years old in 290 when

his wealthy parents died. He received his inheritance but, after hearing a sermon on Matt 19:21

(“sell everything you have and you will have treasures in heaven”), followed the admonition and

gave or donated it to others. He placed his sister with a group of Christian female virgins for

safekeeping and went into the Egyptian desert and lived alone for eighty-five years. His purpose

was not to escape persecution, but to escape the commotion found in cities in order to focus on

God. He popularized solitary monasticism, also known as eremitic monasticism (and the origin

of the word “hermit”). The great Athanasius even visited him and subsequently wrote his

biography, The Life of Anthony. This, then, was the answer for those who wanted to test their

Christian faith once persecutions ended. Instead of physically dying (known as “red

martyrdom”), they could now attempt to die to their own physical desires (“white martyrdom”)

by doing battle with Satan in the loneliness of the desert. In addition, this was the answer for

those Christians who wanted to flee the worldliness they believed invaded Christianity, once it

was accepted by Constantine and became widely accepted by the masses. These monks practiced

asceticism, denying physical pleasures in order to heighten spiritual awareness. They believed

physical discomfort resulted in focusing one’s mind on spiritual matters. Their self-inflicted

punishments included fasting for long periods, wearing uncomfortable clothes such as hair shirts

(which caused one to itch incessantly), not lying down to sleep, and self-flagellation (beating or

whipping oneself). However, not all potential monks and nuns desired to live a life of isolation.

Pachomius (d. 348) recognized this and created a new way of being a monk. He had been forced

into military service as a young man and was shown kindness in the form of food offered by

Christians. He decided to investigate this faith that prompted people to be kind to each other.

After leaving the army, he became a Christian and was baptized. He was inspired by local monks

and decided to learn from Anthony himself. After living close to Anthony for a while (along with

many others since Anthony was quite famous, yet he always lived alone), he believed God

directed him to build dwellings for monks. After they were completed, monks began to join his

effort to live in community. This new monastic lifestyle, known as cenobitic, became quite

popular, such that, at the time of his death, he oversaw nine monasteries for men and two for

women. Just as men were attracted to a monastic lifestyle, so were women. Stories of female

virgins dedicated to the work of God date as early as the second century. Indeed, it was to one of

these communities of consecrated female virgins that Anthony entrusted his sister before he left

for the desert. In the fourth century, women traveled into the desert to participate in the same

ascetic lifestyle as men. The more famous of these was Syncletica of Alexandria, who initially

lived with her younger sister in a graveyard until a number of likeminded women gradually

formed a community of female ascetics around her, and Sarah of the Desert, who lived alone in

an eremitic lifestyle for sixty years. In the same way that some monks became acknowledged

leaders and spiritual guides for younger monks and were known as Desert Fathers, some female

ascetics (the word “nun” did not develop until the Middle Ages) also became recognized spiritual

leaders and were known as Desert Mothers. The sayings of these spiritual leaders were collected

into a book called Apophthegmata Patrum, or Sayings of the Deserts Fathers. Some examples: •

Abba (Father) Poemen: “A man will be always tripped up by that thing which he will not cut off

from himself.” • Amma (Mother) Syncletica: “In the beginning there is much struggle for those

who come near to God. But after that there is indescribable joy. It is just like building a fire: at

first it is smoky and your eyes water, but later you get warmth.” By 400, then, Christianity had

more than a 300-year tradition of bishops as leaders of Christianity along with a 100-year

tradition of monks in the desert. The role of bishops spread throughout the Christian world, but

the practice of monasticism initially remained only in northern Africa and the western Middle

East. It eventually found its way to Europe where, 150 years later, it morphed from a system in

Egypt of isolated monks, female ascetics, and isolated monasteries to become centers of

communities and a source of popes. Further Developments during and after Constantine The

practice of Christianity experienced a drastic change once it became the favored faith of

emperors. In addition to the above adaptations, changes occurred in pilgrimages, relics, church

buildings, and worship. But the first change to discuss, because it eventually culminated in the

first major split in Christianity (Catholic and Eastern or Greek Orthodox), was when Constantine

moved the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to the current city of Istanbul, known then as

Constantinople. Moving the Roman Capital One of the many threads that weave through church

history is the innocence of crafting a change or establishing a “new normal” in one era that,

centuries or a millennium later, produces catastrophic results. Such was the case when

Constantine decided to move the capital of Rome 850 miles to the east at the small town of

Byzantium in present-day Turkey, which he renamed Constantinople. His reasons are widely

known: the western Roman Empire extended to the Atlantic Ocean and was stable, whereas the

border of the Eastern Roman Empire ran through the western part of the Middle East, western

Persia, and Eastern Europe, all of which contained potential flashpoints of conflict. Constantine

believed he could move the capital and one area (the east) would remain stable while he worked

to maintain stability in another area (the west). Other partial reasons could include Constantine’s

penchant for building large projects and a desire to break from the Roman past. He chose the city

of Byzantium (current-day Istanbul) for his new capital and marked out the foundation of the city

himself. His new capital was completed and dedicated in 330. While a triumph for Constantine, a

seed of discontent was sown for those in church leadership that later produced a dramatic schism

within Christianity: who should lead the universal church, the bishop of Rome or the bishop of

Constantinople? This question was debated, pondered, and disputed until the two sides split in

1054. Pilgrimages and Relics Meanwhile, Constantine’s mother, Helena (d. c. 330), introduced

her own change within Christianity. She did not convert until after Constantine became emperor

but is well-known for recovering artifacts (later known as relics) from the origins of Christianity

as well as building churches in the Holy Land. She did not originate the idea of relics, that

developed as early as the second century, but she certainly added to its popularity. She received

unlimited funds from Constantine in the pursuit of her goal. In 326 and around the age of eighty,

she traveled to the Holy Land and returned two years later with a vast cache of relics. Under the

orders of her son, while in Palestine she ordered several churches built. The Church of the Holy

Sepulcher was built over the place where, supposedly, Jesus was crucified and buried

[“sepulcher” is a small room carved into or built out of rock where a dead person is laid]. The

Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem was built over the cave where Jesus was supposedly born.

The Church of the Mount of Olives was built to commemorate the ascension of Jesus. In

addition, she brought back what she believed was the cross of Christ, nails used in Jesus’s

crucifixion, the crown of thorns, the robe that Jesus wore to the cross, and the stairs that Jesus

climbed when he went to see Pilate after he was arrested (known as the Scala Santa. They were

installed in Rome and can be seen on a search online.). Helena exemplified three practices or

concepts that originated in the early church period only to expand immensely in the medieval

period: pilgrimages, saints, and relics. Participating in a pilgrimage exemplified the arduous

spiritual task of living a godly life: pilgrims left their home and undertook a plodding journey,

usually on foot, to visit a sacred location, building, or relic(s). Saints, in the Roman Catholic

Church, were people who lived such exemplary lives that they bypassed Purgatory and were

granted entrance into heaven and could beseech God on behalf of the prayers of people

remaining on the earth. Relics were bones, other body parts, or belongings of a saint. Tying these

three concepts together in one example: Consider one of the most popular pilgrimages during the

Middle Ages, the Camino de Santiago, or “The Way of St. James.” According to tradition, the

bones of the apostle James were carried to western Spain and later were discovered in 841.

Pilgrims walked (made pilgrimages) to see the relics of Saint James, and eventually a church was

built to house the relics, or bones of James. (Note: this is still a popular pilgrimage with over

300,000 people making the journey each year.) House Churches to Churches to Cathedrals The

fourth century witnessed a tremendous growth in the building of churches. After Jesus, and for

the next 200 years, Christians usually met in house churches. These gatherings were churches

that met in members’ homes, although evidence indicates that Christians also gathered in

cemeteries and catacombs. Since Roman persecutions haphazardly aligned with the desires and

whims of each emperor or even local leader, Christians were reluctant to build churches. Doing

so informed Roman authorities of where Christians gathered, much like placing a target on a

building. The earliest evidence of a building explicitly used as a church is in the town of Duro-

Europos in southeast Syria and dates from c. 235. Later churches were built during the “Little

Peace of the Church” that lasted from 260 to 284. This is evidenced by the first edict of

persecution under Diocletian in 303 ordering all churches to be destroyed. After Constantine rose

to the sole emperorship and Roman persecutions of Christians permanently ceased, the building

of churches greatly accelerated. Constantine himself maintained responsibility for the

construction of some of these churches, such as those built by his mother Helena in Palestine and

the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome. Eventually churches grew larger and were

used by bishops to lead their diocese (a regional area under the care of a bishop). These churches

became known as “cathedrals.” (A cathedral is the central location and home of a bishop, who is

in charge of a number of surrounding churches. If a bishop does not reside there, then, no matter

how large the structure is, it is still called a church.) Duro-Europos Church The structure

consisted of a larger room to serve as a center for the church and a second room that served as a

baptistry. It contained a series of frescos portraying Jesus as a good shepherd, the healing of the

paralytic, and Peter walking on water. These are the earliest portrayals of Jesus that have been

discovered. Fortunately, these frescos and others were removed and are now located at the Yale

University Art Gallery. Much of Duro-Europos was destroyed in the Syrian civil war and

subsequent occupation by ISIS. If they had not been moved, they would most likely have been

destroyed. Fresco of Jesus and Peter walking on water from the Duro-Europos church.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dura-

Europos_church#/media/File:Dura_Baptistry_Christ_walking_on_water.jpg Changes in Worship

Worship in these churches and cathedrals took on a different flavor than the smaller house

churches. Membership of a house church was no doubt low, with only enough people attending

who could comfortably fit in one room of someone’s house. But the building of separate

churches with larger rooms, such as the church in Duro-Europos, and the larger size of cathedrals

played a role in redesigning worship services. Common features of these new buildings included

vestments or robes for the clergy, processionals, choirs, and incense in churches filled with

Christian art, usually using the popular media of the time, mosaics. Section 2: Medieval

Christianity The medieval period lasted from roughly 476 to 1500. The bookend events of that

epoch are the fall of the last western Roman Emperor in 476 and the Protestant Reformation

period of the sixteenth century. Nevertheless, this section begins c. 400 in order to include

several events and people who predate the medieval period yet played important roles in the

medieval church. In addition, this section will focus only on European Christianity. Christianity

continued to spread during this period in northern Africa, the Middle East, and Asia along with

the development of Eastern (or Greek) and Oriental Orthodox Christianity. Discussions of those

topics, though, will be addressed in Section 5. In brief, at the end of the fourth century, European

Christianity was not only strong but was the official religion of the Roman Empire (since 380).

In addition, Constantine’s plan for moving the capital of the Roman Empire to the east seemed to

succeed by the year 400. Yet the success was relatively short-lived as the previously robust city

of Rome became isolated, was attacked, and finally captured in 410, setting the stage for the rise

of the papacy. Popes at first filled the power vacuum in southcentral Europe for the next 200

years, but later were forced to look to France for support and security, culminating in the rise of

Charlemagne c. 800. The papacy experienced a moral lapse in the tenth century, but was renewed

and strengthened, especially during the Crusade period from 1095 to 1291. It rode a wave of

religious control until the late fourteenth century and early fifteenth century when first two and

then three popes claimed the papacy at the same time. Time lines, maps, and images for this

section These are provided on the author’s website: www.studythechurch.com/medieval for free.

The time lines are available by century and all three can be used as an aide to help understand the

development of Christianity in this time period better.

Mark Nickens, A Survey of the History of Global Christianity, Second Edition. (Nashville, TN:

B&H Academic, 2020), 1–41.

EARLY CHURCH TIMELINE

Early Church History Timeline: 30 - 400

[Liberty students: You are not responsible for this information on the quiz.

The quiz will only come from information in the textbook.]

The Big Picture: Where did the Christians meet?

The first churches were not built for at least 200 years after Jesus, so during this time period

Christians frequently meet in people's homes, called house churches. II and III John are prime

examples of letters written to house churches. [In 303, the Emperor Diocletian decreed that all

churches should be destroyed. This is the first written evidence of buildings set aside for worship

by Christians.]

By this year, Christians may have begun to worship on Sunday instead of the Jewish Sabbath,

which is Saturday. To learn more, go here.

Thomas probably went to India. Read the evidence that substantiates this claim here.

Fire in Rome. Starting on July 18, a fire swept through Rome and burned up to 70% of the city

over a period of a week. Some citizens accused the Emperor Nero of setting the fire. Nero

accused the small group of Christians as the culprits (they were innocent). [Note: this persecution

did not occur for religious reasons but because Nero needed to place blame for the fire.] Nero

had so many Christians horribly tortured that some Romans began to feel sorry for them. Go here

to read from Tacitius' account.

The Big Picture: The Extent of Persecutions

While Nero's persecution was the first Roman persecution of Christians, it did not occur for

religious purposes. The first persecutions of Christians because of their faith did not occur until

the 90s with Domitian. After Domitian, persecution of Christians was sporadic due to the Trajan

letter (see the year 112). The first systematic, widespread persecution of Christians did not occur

until the mid-third century.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wi

ki/File:Jean-Léon_Gérôme_-_The_Christian_Martyrs%27_Last_Prayer_-_Walters_37113.jpg

Perhaps in this year, Peter and Paul were martyred in Rome under Nero: Peter was crucified

upside down and Paul was beheaded. Go here to read the account from the Acts of Peter and

Paul.

81-96

Domitian was emperor. He began the first persecution against Christians because of their

faith in the latter part of his reign.

More details: Many Christians used a fish symbol for Christianity; how did that start? Go

here.

The Apostle John is on the island of Patmos because of the Domitian persecution; he wrote

Revelation.

http://calltocommitment.blogspot.

com/2018/11/revelation-8-11.html

The Roman Emperor Domitian died and John probably moved to Ephesus where he probably

died around the year 100. To read Eusebius' account of the reason John was able to leave the

island of Patmos, go here.

The Big Picture: The First Four Eras of Church History

Early Christianity developed through four eras, which over lapped. They are, in order: the Age of

the Apostles (Apostolic Age), the Apostolic Fathers, the Apologists, and the Teachers. These

groups of leaders reflect changes which occurred in the early church period.

1. Right after Jesus, the Apostles were tasked to carry the word of God to the ends of the

(then-known) world.

2. The next leaders, the Apostolic Fathers, provided leadership in making decisions about

practical and even theological ideas in the young and growing churches.

3. The task of the next leaders, the Apologists, was to defend the faith.

4. The task of the last leaders, the Teachers, was to develop more fully the theological ideas

of Christianity. In this last group we see the beginnings of the Councils.

Think of the four eras in this way. Jesus had the vision; the Apostles spread His message and

determined that it included the Gentiles (Paul). Next the Apostolic Fathers determined how these

new churches would be run. By 100 years after Jesus, non-Christians had begun to attack the

new faith of Christianity, and the Apologists combat the heresies. After the early heresies were

defeated, the Christians could take the time to examine their own belief in more detail, thus the

Teachers and the Councils.

The Big Picture: Who were the Apostolic Fathers?

The time period from Jesus to the late First Century is known as the Age of the Apostles. The

next era in Church History is known as the Apostolic Fathers. These Christians were the next

generation of leaders and helped solidify the new churches and church leadership. Think of the

Apostles as the founders of a corporation and the Apostolic Fathers as the CEOs who run the

corporation. The Apostolic Fathers wrote books which helped determine how churches

operated and even discussed some theological ideas. The Apostolic Fathers are Clement of

Rome, Ignatius, Shepherd of Hermas, Polycarp, and Papias, and the writings of the Epistle of

Barnabas, the Epistle to Diognetus, II Clement, and the Didache. To read a short description of

each, go here.

late 90s

Clement, the bishop of Rome (one of the Apostolic Fathers), wrote a letter to the Christians in

Corinth: it is known as I Clement. To find out more about I Clement and to read an excerpt go

here.

The Big Picture: Books which did not make it into the New Testament

The Apostolic Fathers are not included in the New Testament, but only because they were not

linked to Apostles or Jesus. The Apostolic Fathers did not contain heresy--teachings against the

basic ideas of Christianity such as the Trinity--although they did contain some error--incorrect

teachings about less important Christian ideas such as how to baptize a new Christian. On the

other hand, many writings were made in the 120 years after Jesus that appeared to be Christian

but were heretical, that is to say that they taught against core Christian ideas like the Trinity.

These books are known collectively as New Testament Apocrypha.

mid- to late First Century

Development of Christian Gnosticism and Docetism

The Big Picture: What was Gnosticism and Docetism?

Gnosticism predated Christianity and had many forms. It did have two constant ideas:

1. Dualism, that physical-ness is evil while all things spiritual are good and

2. A hierarchy of gods, where the highest god can be thought of as the spiritually

purest god (or the "good" god). Different gods or spirits exist, with a "lower" or

even evil god being responsible for creating physical-ness (think "earth").

Gnostics sought to communicate with this higher or good god in order to learn its

wisdom.

Docetism is an offshoot of Gnosticism. It taught that

1. The highest god sent a messenger to earth to teach spiritual truth.

2. Jesus was a messenger sent from the highest god (or maybe a lower good god

depending on the Gnostic system) to teach that wisdom.

3. Since Jesus was a messenger from a pure spiritual god, that meant that he was

spiritual and not physical. He appeared to be physical but was not; this state has

been called a phantom.

These two were considered attacks on Christianity because they denied the Trinity and the

Incarnation. Basically, some people could not accept the idea that God had come to earth in

physical form (the incarnation), and so they married the idea of Jesus with Gnosticism and came

up with Docetism. These heresies appeared in the First Century (as shown in I and II John), but

will grow much stronger in the Second Century.

c. 100

The Apostle John most likely died in Ephesus.

A great story about the Apostle John when he was a very old man in Ephesus (after he was

released from Patmos). (This story is not in the Bible, but it could be true): John, as a very old

man, had many visitors. Christians traveled from great distances to see the last living original

Apostle. They also asked John questions. But John always gave the many different questions the

same answer: "Love one another." Eventually someone was brave enough to ask John why he

didn't answer the questions. John replied, "Because if you love one another, the questions don't

matter."

100 also

The Epistle of Barnabas was written by this year. The Didache may have been written by this

year. Both are Apostolic Fathers books.

https://www.bricecjones.com/blog/the-earliest-

greek-manuscript-of-the-didache-poxy-151782

The Didache was written in the early second century, and this is the earliest portion we have of

the Didache, which dates to the fourth century

The Big Picture: Development of Canon, Creed, & Clergy

From the time of Jesus to the end of the Fourth Century, Christianity developed as an institution.

Three aspects undergirded Christianity: the Canon, Creed, and Clergy. While some view this

institutionalization of Christianity as a negative development, it was necessary. Think of it this

way:

The Canon, or Scripture, was the message given to the Apostles from God by inspiration

of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it was the standard by which to measure true Christian faith

and practice.

But who was to define and interpret the faith? The Clergy. In addition, the Canon is long

(think Old and New Testaments) and so an abridged or shortened version of the major

teachings was needed.

this was the Creed. Why was an abridged or shortened version necessary? Two reasons:

to quickly defend against heresies--once you have a Creed you can immediately see

where a heresy is wrong--and to serve as a measure and instruction for people becoming

Christians.

Therefore, to protect against heresies and instructe the faithful, the Canon, Creed, and Clergy

developed. No one decided in the year 100 that the church neeed to create the 3 C's, they just

happened naturally from the time of Jesus to the end of the Fourth Century.

108

Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, was martyred by being fed to wild animals in Rome. He had been

arrested in Antioch and taken to Rome. Along the way he wrote 7 letters: 6 to Christians in 6

different cities and one to Polycarp, a fellow bishop. These writings are considered part of the

Apostolic Fathers. [Note: This year was given by Eusebius, the first Church Historian who lived

in the 300s. Some date it as late as 117.]

In one of Ignatius' seven letters, the letter to Smyrna, he used the term "catholic," which

means "universal" or "complete". This is the first time "Catholic" was used to describe

the Church.

Development of Clergy: Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, in a letter to the churches in

Smyrna, wrote "Let no one do any of the things appertaining to the Church without

the bishop. Let that be considered a valid Eucharist which is celebrated by the bishop, or

by one whom he appoints. . . . It is not lawful either to baptize or to hold an agape

[Christian "love feast"] without the bishop; but whatever he approve, this is also pleasing

to God, that everything which you do may be secure and valid."

112

Letter from the Roman Emperor Trajan to Pliny the Proconsul (governor) in Bithynia (Turkey)

that established the Roman reaction toward Christians for the next 140 years. In this letter, the

emperor states "They are not to be hunted out. If they are denounced and convicted, they are to

be punished, but he who denies that he is a Christian and proves it by supplicating our gods,

although suspect in the past, may gain pardon from penitence." To be sure, many Christians were

persecuted, but they were not sought out en masse until 250. For excerpts of their letters, go here.

The Big Picture: Why were Christians persecuted by the Romans?

The Romans persecuted Christians primarily because the Romans saw them as a threat to the

established (Roman) order. Therefore, all conquered people (except for the Jews) had to worship

the emperor (or the gods) once a year; first, this showed loyalty to the Roman government and,

second, this showed loyalty to the Roman gods. Failure to do so constituted a potential threat to

the government through rebellion and by angering the gods. Since Christians believed in one

God and would not worship the emperor/gods, they were persecuted. Often Apologists wrote to

the Emperor to prove that Christians could be good Roman citizens and yet not worship the

Emperor or gods.

The Big Picture: Apologists

The word "apology" technically means "a defense." Christian apologists were people who

defended Christianity against heresies and literary attacks and rumors. By the middle of the

Second Century, Christianity had become so prominent that non-Christian thinkers began to

attack the central ideas of Christianity in an attempt to disarm it. A new position developed

within Christianity, men who wrote responses which defended the faith, ergo, the Apologists.

Among the most prominent Christian apologists were Quadratus (d. 124), Tatian (d. c.160),

Justin Martyr (d. 165), Theophilus (d. c. 175), Athenagoras (d. 2nd Century), Aristides (d. 2nd

Century), and Tertullian (d. c.225)

c.124

Quadratus wrote his apology and addressed it to the Emperor. This was one of the first known

Christian Apologies. The date of his death is unknown. Only one sentence has been discovered

of his apology. To read it, click here. This sentence was reported in Eusebius' "Church History,"

written in the early 300s. Eusebius also wrote "Aristides also, a believer earnestly devoted to our

religion, left, like Quadratus, an apology for the faith" also addressed to the Emperor.

More details: Find out who the bishops of Rome (popes) were during the first 100 years

after Jesus. Click here.

c.125

The earliest known fragment from a New Testament book dates from around this year; it has

been dated between 100 to 150. Parts of John 18:31-33 and 37, 38 were discovered in Egypt in

1920; it is known as P52. While not the original copy of John, it may have been copied from the

original. To see a copy, go to here. To read more about P52, click here.

140

The Shepherd of Hermas was written between this year and 155.

The Big Picture: Canonization of the New Testament

Marcion came under the influence of a Gnostic named Cerdo and began an attempt to synthesize

Christianity with Gnosticism (see late First Century for an explanation of Gnosticism and

Docetism). To Marcion the Old Testament represented the lower, inferior god of Gnosticism.

Therefore, he rejected anything from the Old Testament. In addition, he compiled his own

"scripture" which consisted of a stripped-down version of the Gospel of Luke and 10

letters of Paul (shorn of any OT references or influences)(I & II Timothy and Titus, known as

the Pastoral Epistles, were not included). Marcion's movement lasted for several centuries. This

was an important movement for the development of Christianity, because it helped caused

Christians to realize that they needed to construct the new Christian scripture (which would

supplement the OT) instead of letting someone else, like Marcion, do it. The process of deciding

the eventual 27 books which comprise the New Testament took over 200 more years (go to the

years 357 and 390 for more information). To see a list of different lists comprised during this

period, go here. To learn more about Marcion, go here.

144

Marcion was excommunicated.

c.150

Tatian compiled the Diatessaron, a single biography of Jesus compiled from the Four

Gospels. One significance of this work is that it indicated that Christians at that time

acknowledged only four Gospels.

155

Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, martyred in this year. Polycarp initially fled his Roman

persecutors but changed his mind and allowed himself to be captured. At his trial, the proconsul

asked him to curse Christ, whereupon Polycarp replied "Fourscore and six years have I served

Him, and he has done me no harm. How then can I curse my King that saved me." He was

stabbed and burned to death. While a Bishop, Polycarp travelled to Rome, in part because of the

Quartodecimian controversy (involving the dating of Easter), and also wrote a letter to the

Philippians.

More details: To find out more about the Easter Controversy and why Easter moves on

the calendar, go here.

More details: Polycarp may have met or been instructed by the Apostle John. Go here.

More details: To find out more about Polycarp's letter to the Philippians and to read an

excerpt, go here.

The Big Picture: Veneration of Relics

The veneration (adoring and honoring) of relics dates at least from this time. Polycarp was

concerned that Christians would venerate his body and so asked that it not be buried to that the

location could not become a shrine. In later times, and especially in the Middle Ages, relics

become very important cause of pilgrimages. The Second Council of Nicea in 787 pronounced

that everyone should venerate relics and that no altar should be consecrated unless it contained a

relic.

155 also

The First Apology by Justin Martyr appeared; it was addressed to the Roman emperor Antoninus

Pius. Justin later wrote Dialogue with Trypho while the Second Apology was addressed to the

Roman Senate. To read a quote from Justin, click here.

c.155

Montanus came into prominence. He focused on the Holy Spirit and taught that the age of the

Paraclete had come and that the Paraclete spoke through him. He also taught that the New

Jerusalem would soon appear. Montanus and two others, Maximulla and Priscilla, claimed to be

able to forgive sins. This movement spread from Asia Minor into Europe and North Africa. It

was eventually condemned as a heresy. Monatanism lasted for several centuries.

165

Martyrdom of Justin Martyr, one of the early Christian Apologists. He, along with other

Christians, refused to sacrifice to the emperor and so were scourged and beheaded. In response to

the command to sacrifice to the emperor, Justin replied “No one who is rightly minded turns

from true belief to false.”

c.170

Development of Canon: The Muratorian Fragment is the earliest attempt to define the

Christian Scriptures (later known as the New Testament). This was a reaction to Marcion, see the

year 140 above. The first complete list of the NT books dates from 367 in a letter Bishop

Athanasius wrote. The early church leaders took a long time because they wanted to ensure that

no spurious or heretical books made it into the new Christian Scriptures, only those came from

God. The main criterion used was that a book had to be linked with an Apostle or Jesus. Even

though some books were popular, such as Shepherd of Hermas and the Didache, they were not

included because they did not have a link with an Apostle or Jesus. To learn more about the

development of the Canon, Creed, and Clergy, go to “The Big Picture” after the year 117.To read

the Muratorian Fragment and to see which books it proposes, go here. To see the list in a chart

form, go here.

c.175

Theophilus died. He was an apologist and one of his apologies has survived, Apology. To read a

portion of his Apology, go here. Also, while Theophilus did not coin the word “Trinity,” he

came close. To see how close, go here. [Tertullian was the first to coin the word "Trinity in the

third century.]

177 also

Athenagoras wrote "A Plea for the Christians" and addressed it to the Emperor. As part of his

defense, he wrote against the accusations against Christians of eating babies (a

misunderstanding of the words of the Lord's Supper) and incest (because they had secret

meetings and called each other "brother" and "sister").

c.178

Celsius wrote True Discourse, an attack on Christianity; this was the first literary attack on

Christianity that has been discovered. Of all the attacks on Christianity during this period, this

work has remained the most intact. While the work itself has not been discovered, Origen (from

the Third Century) quoted extensively from it. In this work, Celsius propagates the rumor that

Jesus was the son of Mary and a Roman soldier Panthera, among many other attacks on

Christianity. To read a small part of Celsius' attack, click here.

More details: To find out more about the myth of Mary and Panthera (a rumor

circulated that he was the father of Jesus), go here.

c. 185

Development of Creed and Clergy: Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, wrote Against Heresies, in which

he made an appeal to the supremacy of Rome for all Christians. To read a portion, click here.

Acknowledgement of Rome as the head of Christian will not occur for hundreds of years. He

also included what could be an early form of a Christian creed. To read it, click here. To learn

more about the development of the Canon, Creed, and Clergy, go to “The Big Picture” after the

year 117.

c.190

Development of Creed: The Old Roman Symbol had developed by the late Second Century. It is

a creed which was possibly used during baptisms. To read it, click here. To learn more about the

development of the Canon, Creed, and Clergy, go to “The Big Picture” after the year 117.

193-211

Rule of Septimius Severus, Roman Emperor. He attacked Christianity by persecuting converts to

Christianity. After his reign, Christians enjoyed peace until 250 (with some exceptions here and

there).

197

In this year, Tertullian penned the most famous quote concerning the persecutions which

Christians endured: “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.”

More details: Tertullian described the worship practices of his church. To read about it, go

here.

More details: A number of smaller heresies developed in the next centuries. To learn

more, go here.

c.200

Tertullian wrote On Baptism in which he mentions infant baptism. He wrote against it, yet the

fact that he mentions it proves that by this year infant baptism, or pedobaptism, was widely

practiced. To read a quote from his book, click here.

c.200 also

Tertullian wrote "On Modesty" in which he used the word “Trinity” to describe the Godhead.

This is the first time that the word "Trinity" was used to describe God in a Christian sense.

More details: To learn more about the development of the word "Trinity," click here.

203

A young Christian woman, Perpetua, is martyred after being allowed to give birth. To read of

her martyrdom, go here.

c.220

Development of the Clergy: Tertullian refers to the Bishop of Rome as the “bishop of bishops” in

his Concerning Modesty. To learn more about the development of the Canon, Creed, and Clergy,

go to “The Big Picture” after the year 117.

c.230

The first church building (that has been discovered so far) dates from this period. To find out

more, go here.

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

-Europos_church#/media/File:Dura_Europos_Baptistry_Good_Shepherd.jpg; photo by Marsyas;

unknown painter

The first house church in Dura-Europos had several frescos. This one is of Jesus as a shepherd

carrying a sheep. (Look just to the left of the center.)

240

Sextus Julius Africanus died in this year. He was one of the first people to predict a specific time

for the return of Jesus. He wrote History of the World which claimed that Jesus would return

6000 years after Creation. He claimed that Jesus was born in year 5500 (after the Creation) and

would return around the year 500.

250

Persecution by the Emperor Decius. He believed the weakness of the Roman defenses was

connected to the refusal of Christians and others not to sacrifice to gods. All individuals who

sacrificed were required to obtain certificates signed by an official. Over forty of these

certificates have been found. To read part of one, go here. Many Christians either sacrificed and

received certificates or purchased certificates without sacrificing. This caused a future problem

when the church had to decide how, or if, to accept these “apostate” (or heretical) Christians back

into the churches.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decian_persecution#/media/File:Libellus-

Mich-Decian-250AD-sm.jpg

A certificate from the Decian Persecution stating that the owner has sacrificed to the gods.

250 also

Paul of Thebes, the first known desert hermit/monk, fled to the desert and remained there for

the rest of his life. Antony (see below) was more widely known.

250 also

Origen's list of suggested NT books. Go here to see his list.

251

Cyprian, the Bishop of Carthage, wrote On the Unity of the Catholic Church, which contained

this definition of the Church: “He cannot have God as his Father who does not have the Church

as his mother.” In one of his letters (Epistle LXXII, 21) he stated, “There is no salvation

out[side] of the Church.”

The Big Picture: The Understanding of One Church

The view of Christianity from sometime in the First or Second Century to the split between

Catholics and Orthodox in 1054 was that of one Church which comprised all Christians. Or, to

put it another way, if you were not part of the Church, you were not a Christian. Cyprian's

definition of the Church above (year 251) encapsulated the idea of all Christians under one

banner. So by the mid 200s, the idea of one common Christian faith, i.e. the Church, gained

prominence. Therefore, by the mid-200s church leaders can make decisions which cut across

Christianity about what to do with those who bowed under persecutions, and in 325 a Council of

church leaders can be called, the Council of Nicaea, which defined what one has to believe in

order to be a Christian.

257-8

Persecution by the Emperor Valerian. He forbid Christians to assemble and arrested many

bishops.

260

The Emperor Gallienus revoked the persecutions imposed by Valerian. Christians would, for the

most part, not be persecuted again until 303.

c.285

Antony (also Anthony) moved to the desert of Egypt in this year. He is the first widely known

desert hermit. His example of desert isolation produced multitudes of imitators. His type of

monasticism is known as “eremitic monasticism”. His fame occurred primarily because

Athanasius, a extremely popular church leader of the next century, wrote his biography.

300

Eusebius' list of suggested NT books. Go here to see his list.

early 300's

Sinaiticus, one of the oldest complete copies of the New Testament that has been discovered,

dates from the 300s.

The Sinaiticus almost became part of a fire to heat a stove. Find out the fascinating story

here.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wi

ki/File:Saint_Catherine_Sinai.jpg by Joonas Plaan

The Sinaiticus was discovered at the monastery at the foot of the Mt. Sinai. It is called Saint

Catherine Monastery and dates from the fourth century.

303

The Emperor Diocletian began a persecution of the Christians, who were quite numerous by

this time. He ordered that all churches be burned (this could have included house churches,

which could have meant that people's homes were destroyed) and all Christian Scriptures be

burned. Eusebius (b. 260 and therefore an eyewitness) wrote "We saw with our very eyes . . . the

inspired and sacred scriptures committed to the flames in the marketplaces." (Eusebius, Church

History, 8.2.1)

306

The earliest known record which enforces celibacy of clergy dates from the Council of Elvira

(Spain) held around this year. The clergy were assumed to be married but were commanded "to

abstain completely from their wives and not have children." (see Canon 33 here.)

311

The Emperor Galerius issued an Edict of Toleration toward the Christians as he lay dying.

Apparently he was so afraid of dying that he included this request: “In return for our tolerance,

Christians will be required to pray to their god for us.” He died five days later.

313

The Edict of Milan is signed by co-emperors Constantine and Licinius and ends persecutions

of Christians. It states in part, “We, therefore, announce that, notwithstanding any provisions

concerning the Christians in our former instructions, all who choose that religion are to be

permitted to continue therein, without any let or hindrance, and are not to be in any way troubled

or molested.” In 380, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire.

More details: To read a short history of Christian persecutions, go here.

315

Forty Christian soldiers are martyred by being placed on a frozen lake. Read how thirty-nine of

the martyrs convinced one soldier to join them; go here.

320

Pachomius established the first monastery in the Egyptian desert. This type of monasticism is

known as cenobitic (or coebobitic) monasticism. Pachomius wrote a set of rules to guide the

monks at his monasteries, known as a Rule.

More details: To read his rule, go here.

More details: To learn more about Pachomius, how he had to restart his monastery, and

why it was more successful the second time, click here.

The Big Picture: Creation of Monasticism

The Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican Churches all have monks and nuns, which began with the

Egyptian desert monks and, to a lesser degree, Syria. The answer to the question of why people

began to withdraw into the desert cannot be fully satisfied. Part of the reason includes a

discontent with Christian as it became more widely accepted and mainstream, the availability of

a large space (the desert) which could be readily accessed and where one could be isolated

(unlike in southern Europe), and a desire to fully surrender to God in an age when persecutions

had ended (you could no longer be put to death for being a Christian after but you could die to

yourself in the form of being a monk or nun). The two monks given credit for initiating the two

types of monasticism, solitary or eremitic and communal or cenobitic, are Antony (see the year

285; eremitic) and Pachomius (see the year 320; cenobitic).

These groups of monks left a number of sayings behind; go here

324

Constantine became the sole ruler of the Roman Empire.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rome-Capitole-

StatueConstantin.jpg by Jean-Christophe Benoist

Bust of Constantine

325

The Emperor Constantine called the Council of Nicaea (or Nicea), which is known as the First

Ecumenical Council; this refers to the fact that it called all Christian leaders to gather together

for the first time. This was the first of the twenty-one major Church Councils. Councils or

meetings had been held before between several or a number of leaders, but this was the first one

to include all Christian leaders. Around 300 Christian leaders attended from near and far; one

"John of Persia" signed his name and wrote that he was head of all churches in Persia and India.

The main issue dealt with in the Council was a debate initiated by Arius, who denied the divinity

of Jesus. Arius believed that Jesus was created by God and was therefore not eternal nor divine

on the same level as the Father. The debate was reduced to a choice of words: should the word

“homoousios” (of the same nature) or “homoiousios” (of the similar or like nature; preferred by

the Arians) be used to describe Christ; the former was chosen. The Nicene Creed developed

within the Council to defeat Arius' thought. Arius, who attended, refused to sign the Creed. To

read the Creed, including the portion which ostracized the Arians, go here. The Creed would be

enlarged at the Council of Constantinople in 381. See that year to read the Creed. One of the

decisions at the Council was the dating of Easter. To read more, go here.

c.325

Constantine ordered that 50 copies of the Christian Scriptures be made (although the New

Testament was not "closed" yet). One copy out of those 50 might have been discovered; it is

known as the Sinaiticus.

More details: The Sinaiticus almost became part of a fire to heat a stove. Find out the

fascinating story here.

326

Helena, the mother of Constantine, visited the Holy Land. She had basilicas built on the Mount

of Olives and in Bethlehem. The basilica in Bethlehem was destroyed in 529 and rebuilt in 565

and is today known as the Church of the Nativity. Some believe the birthplace of Jesus is located

inside it. She also supposedly brought back to Rome the 28 steps in Herod's palace which Jesus

walked up to be put on trial. These steps are known as the "Scala Sancta," which is Italian for

"Holy Stairs." Today many people kneel and pray at each of the steps.

330

By this year, Constantine had rebuilt the city of Byzantium and changed its name to

Constantinople.

The Big Picture: The Significance for Christianity (even today) of Constantine's Move

Diocletian (emperor to 305 and died in 313) realized that the Roman Empire was too large for

one person to control and so divided the Empire between the rule of two emperors; one

controlled the western part of the Empire and one the eastern part. Constantine felt he was strong

enough to rule the entire empire yet moved his capital eastward from Rome to Constantinople;

this may have reflected growing concern for the stability of the eastern front of the Empire. The

Empire vacillated between rule by one emperor and two until 394, when Theodosius became the

last sole emperor of the entire Empire. Upon his death, the Empire was divided between

Theodosius' two sons. This divide in the Empire reflected differences between the two halves of

the Empire which existed well before 394. Eventually these differences would help result in

Christianity splitting into western and eastern Christianity: Catholicism in the West and centered

in Rome and Orthodoxy in the East and centered in Constantinople.

337

Constantine outlawed crucifixion.

337

Constantine died; he was baptized just prior to his death.

The Big Picture: Effect of Constantine on Christianity

With Constantine, Christianity saw its first imperial protector. Because of this, Christianity itself

changed in style. Christians were no longer persecuted during his reign. More people became

Christian, more resources were spent on building churches, Christians--no longer fearing for

their lives--spent their effort in developing Christian thought and understanding through

education and writing, and the church services themselves developed more elaborate ceremonies,

such as clerical dress (vestments) during the service, incense, processionals before and after the

worship service, and choirs.

340

Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea, died. He is considered the father of Church History. He wrote the

first comprehensive church history work, entitled Ecclesiastical History (Church History),

completing the final Book X in 323.

The Big Picture: Arianism after the Council of Nicaea

Two ideas that confused people in the first 350 years of Christianity were the ideas of the

Incarnation (God becoming human), and the Trinity (one God in three persons: Father, Son, and

Holy Spirit). Many of the early heresies taught different versions of the identity of Jesus. The

cause of this lengthy confusion was the inability to accept the idea that Jesus was God. Arius

believed that Jesus, being called the "Son," was created at some point in the past by the Father.

This idea appealed to many people as well, such that after the Council of Nicaea the Arian view

only grew in popularity. A number of church leaders wrote against Arianism after this Council,

including Anthanasius, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory of Nazianzus (these three are

known as the Great Cappadocians), and Ambrose. A second Council, the Council of

Constantinople in 381, also attempted to end Arianism, but the heresy remained alive for several

hundred years.

356

Antony, the most popular of the desert monks, died. He popularized eremitic monasticism (living

alone).

360

Martin of Tours and Hilary of Poitiers founded the first monastery in Gaul (present-day France).

364

Basil the Great issued his Rule, which is the basis of Eastern monasticism. Benedict of Nursia

will issue his Rule, which will be the basis for Western monasticism, in the early sixth century.

367

Development of the Canon: Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, wrote a letter that included a

listing of the 27 books he believed should be included in the new Christian scripture. This is the

first known listing of the New Testament books. To read the portion of the letter which

addresses the 27 books of the New Testament, go here. To read about the development of the

Canon, Creed, and Clergy, go to The Big Picture after the year 117.

380

The Emperor Theodosius I decreed that Christianity was the official religion of the Roman

Empire. To read the proclamation, go here. Inherent in this declaration was the concept of the

Trinity, therefore a rejection of Arianism. It is noteworthy that Theodosius did not gain control

over the entire Empire until 394, when he defeated the Western Emperor Eugenius.

381

Emperor Theodosius I convened the Council of Constantinople, the second Ecumenical Council.

This was the second of the twenty-one major Church Councils. This Council was called to refute

the ideas of Arius and Apollinarius. The latter believed that, while humans have a physical body,

soul, and spirit, Christ only had a physical body and soul. The spirit which humans have was in

Christ the "Divine Logos." The Council developed a creed in response to this heresy. Read the

Creed here. Today this Creed is (usually) known as the Nicene Creed. In addition,

Constantinople was given "honorary precedence" over all churches except for the Roman

church.

393

The Synod of Hippo approved the 27 books of the New Testament.

390

Bishop Ambrose forced Theodosius I to publicly repent on his knees because of a massacre

which the emperor caused. This is the first time an emperor was forced to subject to a church

leader. To learn more about the massacre and repentance, click here.

395

Theodosius I died. The Roman Empire split into eastern and western parts and have never

rejoined.

397

The Council of Carthage approved the 27 books of the New Testament.

The Big Picture: Canon, Creed, and Clergy Established: The Church Institutionalized

By the end of the Fourth Century, Christianity had a Canon (Scripture of Old and New

Testaments), Creed (Nicene) and Clergy (priests, bishops, and "bishop of bishops" which we call

the Pope). This completed the institutionalization of Christianity, that process where Christianity

developed its own writing (canon), its declaration (creed) and its leaders (clergy). In addition,

Christianity was the official religion throughout the Roman Empire. In 395, prior to Theodosius

dying, Christianity as a movement was on the rise with few impediments. But fifteen years later

Rome would be sacked and the beginning of the Dark Ages would begin.

Late 300s

The idea of the perpetual virginity of Mary dates from at least this period. This is known

because Jerome wrote against a theologian named Helvidius who did not believe that Mary

remained a virgin.

WEEK 1 VIDEO

Hello, church history 300. My name is Kevin King, and I'm the professor of hot analytics and historical

theology here at the university. Going to be my privilege to walk with you over the next several weeks as

we look at church history, going to be looking at it from the very founding of Christianity, of founding of

the church all the way through the present period. So hang on. This is fast run through church history.

You know the metaphors, well, you've got a hold of the plow now, no time to look right or left or you can

go with he got the tiger by the tail, whichever one applies to you. I'm going to encourage you stay on

task, stay on target, stay up with your reading. And as you read, start making notes about prominent

dates, Prominent faces and prominent places. And the issues that arise in each of the faces and places

and the dates, because that's really going to be the driver of our story. They might say, other than the

obvious, its own, the DCP, why bother to study church history? Well, let me share this with you heard

this a while ago, read it a while ago. And I believe it to be true. We stand on the shoulders of those who

have come before us, just like your family has a particular history and it provides context for you. It gives

you an understanding of where you come from and hopefully gives you guidance and where you're going

and hand to handle life going befores, before you. That's what church history is. It's, it's our family story.

And within any family story, we know that there are crazy aunts and uncles. I don't know if you're one of

those. I may have even moved into the crazy uncle stage of life, I guess you'd have to ask my nieces and

nephews, but we will find some interesting characters along the way. But I think that just adds to the

drama and the interest, if you will. So even if history is not your, your bag, you're just you're it's like it's

like Eden sold us without any barbecue sauce on it. I would just want to encourage you try to focus in on

the people and the issues that are moving the story forward. Well, with that being said, let's jump right

into it. We know that the Christian church starts in Israel, starts in Jerusalem. You've read the accounts in

Scripture now read the historical introduction and narrative as our rider carries us along. And it's, it's a

fascinating history when you think about it. How in the world are we to account for something that starts

with one man and a small group of followers. And then within just a little over 300 years is embraced by

the emperor of the Roman Empire. That is an incredible story and one that really sets the tone for the

rest of the, the rest of the narrative, the rest of the big picture of the history of the Christian church. So

as you dive in this, we pay particular attention to the concluding story there as well, From the time of the

apostles and move into the time of the early church fathers. You're going to be looking for the Apostolic

Fathers. Those who had a connection to the apostles and then the apologists, those who are answering

the questions that the Roman Empire is asking of Christians, who are you? Why are you so obstinate?

Why won't you just go along to get along? The apologists are making those arguments and, and doing so

in a very hostile environment. Also be aware that in this particular time, there are going to be ten. Major

persecution of the church. Starts with Nero, and we'll end right before Constantine is able to gather

power and eliminate his rifle rivals and embrace Christianity. And in the persecutions, tin major ones, not

all of them empower wide, but some of them were empower wide. And it's in the midst of that crucible.

Christians are wanting to know what is Scripture, what are, where are their scriptures? How can I know

what the scriptures are? Because who wants to die for something that's not essential to the faith? You

and I certainly wouldn't, and the early Christians were no different in that regard. But one thing that we

do see about them, they are courageous and their faith in the face of overwhelming tax and

persecutions, standing strong according to their beliefs and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I think

you'll just be inspired. You'll be motivated. And also I think you'll re-examine your, your commitment to

the fight as I do mine in reading about the hair heroism of we see of the men and women of this

particular period. Well, I've already mentioned to you that Constantine will brace the faith. And

depending on your particular view of history, the Constantinian synthesis is either a good thing or not

such a good thing. There are those that will say, well, when Constantine embraces Christianity than the

big debate is, did he really ever, we certainly know that he was baptized shortly before his death, but

was that just a, a ritual are an accommodation that he made, was he really converted? Will have to leave

that up to the experts in this regard. Some would say that the church lost its New Testament roots and

foundation and will not be gathered again until we find ourselves in the 16th century. According to some

historians, others would say he really fast-forward it because the reality is he, he did some major

revisions, will find that Sunday becomes a day of rest and the massive church building program that he

will undergo as well. And very favorable conditions that Constantine creates that expand Christianity in

this particular expression, as opposed to when it was a persecuted sick. Then of course, after he

consolidates his power during the time period that we're examining, we're going to have the first four

great Christological Council's trying to answer the question and try to define and delimit certain

theological emphasis that really become an essential part of our understanding of Christianity. That is

just a fast trip through this first section of church history. But I hope you will find it as engaging and as

interesting as I do. And my UV encourage your faith inspired and your heart motivated to stand on the

shoulders of those who have gone before us and advanced the life-changing message of the gospel of

Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior and King in his, in his name, I would just want to extend blessings. And

may his face shine upon you, God bless you. It will see you next time.

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