Church History - Jesus through Constantine

– first anti-pope in rome

Greek

•  Against
• modalism (or patripassianism)

•  Modalism:
• instead of three distinct persons in the trinity, singular God plays three                                                roles
• – tends toward subordinationism

Rigorous ethics

•  Becomes
• first anti-pope over repentance after baptism – argued for strict/rigorous
• ethics

• Wrote the apostolic
• tradition

• Concentrates
• on bishops, liturgy, and eucharist

believes that he is preserving the most ancient tradition

Innovation is not considered a good thing

-from the Greek word gnosis which means “knowledge” they say they possess a special, mystical knowledge,reserved for those with true understanding which was the secret to salvation

-Dualistic: matter is evil, spirit is good

-Demiurge: created the physical world

-wrote gospel of thomas and gospel of truth was a leading gnostic whose teachings had been described and somewhat distorted by the heresiologist

-Considered the original form of gnosticm  

-Used John’s gospel as their foundation Gospel

-christ is the redeemer figure who awaken the divine spark within humanity, enabling it to find a way back to its true home.

- why does the church reject valentinism?cos it is seen as in effect, but not intention to subvert the church from within.

denied the birth of Christ - docetis = “to seem” - thus it seemed that Jesus’ body appeared to be fully human but it was not.

founder was Montanus - pagan priest that converted to Christianity in 155 - claimed that Montanus was being led by the Holy Spirit with the beginning of the New Age and it would bring about a more rigorous moral life and therefore needed to be celibate- many felt their claim to the last age of history belittled the New Testament  

Tertullian converted to Montanism o/a 207 CE.

Mother of God, the "virgin" mary

-used gospel of matthew, rejected paul

-saw Jesus as fully human, not fully divine

State church of the empire (rome) taking place in constantinople

Begins under Constantine

changes Christianity

Jesus is the messiah, but Jews must keep their customs

4th century group, considered themselves Jewish

“pious ones” ; devoted; Fasting, self denial; sexually abstinent; generosity towards the poor - an ascetic sect to which many attribute the production of the Dead Sea  Scrolls (qumran) - sought to obey the law by withdrawing from the rest of society, and often had a very intense expectation that the end was near

Believed that the divine nature of Christ fully absorbed His human nature (one nature)

Puritans that believed that the fallen members during persecution could not repent

- formed as a reaction to Bishop Cyprian’s response to Christians who sacrificed to Roman gods under Decius and wanted to be readmitted back to the church.Cyprian opposed to blanket amnesty.  The pope’s resolution was to have them do lifelong penance - not readmitted to the church until their deathbeds.  Novationists broke from the church because they believed that no penance was possibleNovationists who were baptised in the schismatic church but wanted to return to the orthodox church created another controversy b/c Bishop Cyprian did not want to readmit them unless they were rebaptized before rejoining. Pope once again disagreed with Cyprian; since the Novationists were schismatic but not heretical, they did not need to be rebaptized.

- followers of Nestorius - of eastern dissident churches in yr 428..emphasized the distinction between the human and the divine (two natures of christ)

anti Jewish; Marcion, son of the bishop of Sinope, in pontus; Dualist OT God is the Demiurge NT God is the father of LJC No judgment

Persian in origin - founded by Mani in 3rd century- Augustine explores this sect of Christianity - they believed there were 2 principles in all of us - 1=light or spiritual and 2=darkness or matter - present human condition is a mixture or mingling of those 2 principles- salvation consists in separating the 2 and preparing our spirit to pure light

controversy that arose out of the question of how to deal with the lapsed in the West. Raised the questions of the authority of whom can administer the sacraments (specifically Bishops who had lapsed during persecution) and the validity of the sacraments received by unworthy administrators - ESPECIALLY baptism. They say that it does not matter if the minister is immoral or unethical; it is God who works in and through them, and He is not restricted.

Arius was a presbyter who was teaching that Christ, as the Logos, was a created being. He viewed the “three persons/ one substance” declaration of Tertullian as incorrect and a denial of monotheism. Led to deep divisions in the church and ultimately the calling of the Council of Nicea in 325.

arose in reaction to the imperial church

a mass exodus into the desert, particularly the Egyptian desert, to escape the noise and distractions of society.

Movement started middle of the third century. Spending time in prayer/contemplation

Church inspirations: Paul’s words...those who did not marry had greater freedom to serve the Lord; outside inspirations: Stoic doctrine; other religious traditions in the Mediterranean with celibate lifestyles

social history, literary history, political history

Pre-Modern/Enlightenment- action by God is extraordinary and an intervention on our behalf  

Syncretism   In antiquity- religion is syncretistic, incorporates other religious points of view  

Our time- we don’t incorporate other religious points of view

jesus is jewish, jewish scripture, challah bread, yahweh, passover, barbra streisand

philosophy/logic

hellenistic culture

greek language/septuagint

roads

pax romana

imperial church under constantine

proclaiming the gospel message

• elements of Kerygma are:
• 1. God’s promises in OT are now fulfilled 2. The long- awaited Messiah has come 3. He is Jesus of Nazareth who: a. went about doing good and mighty works by the power of Godb.  was crucified according to the purpose of Godc. was raised from the dead and exalted at the RH of God 4. He will come again in Judgment

instruction

catechism/essential teachings

book

first emperor to be persecutor of christians

believed to be the cause of  the great  fire in 64CE and scapegoated christians blaming them for the fire

required sacrifice of those charged with being christian:punishment if refused, released if complied-

in famous letter to Pliny (governer of Bithynia) he said that Christians should not be seeked out but if accused and brought before the govt, they should be killed if they do not recant

first organized persecution, before him persecution was sporadic and local

created the idea of certificates to prove that you sacrificed to the gods

known as the Apostate - Constantine’s nephew  - also sought to restore ancient Rome - interested in mystery religions and wants to restore paganism - did not order any persecutions as emperor

first expelled christians from the ranks of the military but did no other penalty

- later on noted for the last great persecution of christian

- unleashed the most cruel of all the persecutions that the ancient church had to endure

Best remembered for legalizing christianity for the first time

-chaired the council of Nicaea in 325

- christians enjoyed the power and patronage of the Roman state in his era after 300 years severe persecution and martyrdom

Tertullian: characterized to be a man of logic but often inflexible and overwhelming.(rejection) insisted on a radical opposition between christian faith and pagan culture;reasoned that many heresies in his time arose because of such attempt to combine pagan philosophy with christian doctrine.

Justin Martyr:(selective appropriation) claimed there are several points of contact between christianity and pagan philosophy (supreme being, life beyond physical death) and justified this partial agreement between philosophy and christianity by the doctrine of the Logos(universal reason that undergirds all reality)

Tatian - disciple of Justin; wrote An Address to the Greeks, which is considered a” frontal attack” on all the Greeks held dear and a defense of the barbarian Christians.  Anything of value from the Greeks came from barbarians....so the Greeks appropriated ‘barbarian culture’

-child sacrifice

-orgies 

-not loyal to empire

-preference for pagan gods/culture

-saw christians as atheists

-it's a religion of the poor people

wrote 7 letters on the way to martyrdom

called himself the bearer of God

wrote about the unity of the church, unmasking heresy, and his coming martyrdom

theological emphases: divinity of christ, churc as true sanctuary, sacraments, imitation of christ

selective appropriation of Greek philosophical thought as there are several      

seen as the greatest 2nd century apologist

wrote The apologist

theology-logos is the God of the OT              - the OT is passing away to make way for NT

Native of Africa, probably Carthage.  

First African bishop to die as a martyr (258 CE)

Trained in rhetoric.

Devoted follower of Tertullian.

Two controversies: penance; baptism

Two most important works: de Lapsis (on the Lapsed); de Ecclesice Unitate (on the Unity of the Church)

wrote 5 books against marcion 

rebelled against the injustice of trajan's edict

first to use trinitas to describe the godhead

saw all forms of pagan philosophy as heresy

eventually leaves to follow monatus

a disciple of polycarp        

 - had a pastor’s heart -       

• - interested in leading his flock in christian life and faith: two surviving works from him
• Against Heresies

Demonstration of the apostolic preaching (instructing his flock on some points of christian doctrine)

Exposure and Refutation of knowledge falsely so- called (to refute Gnosticism/against heresies)     

   Theology- Divinization (God’s purpose is to make us ever more like the divine)

compiled the Hexapla(an edition of the Old Testament in six columns: the Hebrew text, a Greek translation from the Hebrew, and four different Greek translation.

Commentaries, systematic theology called De principiis_ (on First principles)-attempted to relate Christian faith to the philosophical tradition that was then current in Alexandria, Platonism.

4th century pilgrim to jerusalem from spain

her diary describes christian worship

Bishop, wrote Life of Saint Anthony; repeatedly visited the monks in the desert and took refuge among them when persecuted by imperial authority; responsible for making known in the West what was taking place in the Egyptian desert.

Supporter of constantine

about the peace and unity of the church

historian but very bias, writing for the empire

golden child of constantine -- they were best buds

pomp and circumstance in the services - money is a symbol of god

wrote the apostolic tradition      

rigorous ethics toward lapsed christians     

highly regarded in the Eastern church

became a schismatic bishop of Rome in opposition to the established bishop.  

accused sitting bishop of heresy/ laxity towards Christians who committed mortal sins

earliest known list of books intended as the new testament canon

sayings book

gnostic

not canonized

Athanasius, Bishop of Alexander, the first time our modern canon is written down - canon is closed by this time

removed OT, kept Paul and Luke, removed all Jewish refereces

A solitary monk, someone who is withdrawn

Cenobitic monasticism arose out of tendancy of monastics to organize around leaders into communities of solitude outside of the secular world

pachomius is the chief organizer

one who survived imprisonment and torture for the faith and were particularly respected for the firmness of their faith; condemned and often tortured, but not martyred because the persecution ends

Origen's combination of six biblical sources side by side. written in hebrew and four greek translations

Circa 200s

Allegorical interpretation of the bible

Created the septuagint

Meeting place for scholars and philosophers of the day

Acts of the martyrs

Diocletian came up with a system for a peaceful transition of power where the government rested with four emperors, 2 were Augusti, 1 in the east and 1 in the west.  Then there were 2 Caesari, one under each Augustus so one in the east and one in the west.  When the Augustus retired or stepped down that Caesar would step into their place, becoming the Augustus and they would pick their Caesar.

AD325

Council of Bishops meets in Nicea

Discussed the canon, easter, created the creed to combat arianism

Affirms that Jesus is begotten fully divine and fully human

in the hierarchy of the early church, the presbyters were beneath the Bishops; their main job was to teach (parallel structure to God [lead], Apostles [teach] and Christ [serve]).

those who lapsed during persecution

offered sacrifices to the emperor

Becomes constantinople

AD 313

Constantine meets with Licinius and offers L his sister in marriage. In return, there is a stabilization - no more war. 

ends persecution in the Licinius and Constantine's areas - creates the peace of the church

calls for toleration of Christians

30th of April 311

A meeting place that is originally used for civic purposes

Cross church built by Constantine in Constantinople

The church of the apostles

built to house relics and constantine's body, but his body is put elsewhere

300s 

Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory of Naziazus - challenged Arianism before Council of Constantinople in 381

one essence of God but three separate persons

latin word for substance

used by tertullian to define the trinity

Earliest account of martyrdom

probably Greek • very familiar with Greek philsophy and the mystery cults • last of the Greek theologians • heard by Origen ~212 • against modalism or patripassianism (the idea of three manifestations of the godhead, wearing three hats, patripassianism - the Father suffered on the cross)  

 • Hippolytus tends toward subordinationism - God the Father is more exalted than the second person Jesus, etc.

Takes aim to Trajan's persecution of christians

wrote Apology

A symbol to recognize who true chrisitans are

first Christian historian; biblical scholar, apologist, participant in Council of Nicaea, theorist of imperial rule; ideas on relation of spiritual and temporal power and the role of the Christian emperor laid the foundations of the Byzantine political theory

wrote History of the Church

Against Celsus (philosopher)

follower of Paul who took on life of celibacy to devote herself to teaching Christian faith - traveled with Paul - considered well-versed in philosophy - born in 30AD - was martyred in 1st century - ascetic role model for other young women of her time

wealthy woman who was martyred in the 200s

Roman governor

Writes to Trajan about how best to persecture the christians

was a lawyer, deacon, presbyter, monk and a bishop of Constantinople in his lifetime, was known as John of Constantinople, was given the name Chrysostom meaning “the golden mouthed”, excellent orator who used the pulpit to fight against the powers of evil, this led to his exile and death

founded the theological school of Antioch ca 300, was a presbyter and martyr, never had a teacher of Origen’s caliber, authored many books on the Bible and church doctrine, showed great insight regarding the literal sense of scripture

Promoter of arianism at the council of nicea 325

Unites with constantine to form the peace of the church, ultimately killed by constantine

Constantine's father, a caesar

in-law and general of Diocletian, possibly connected to the outbreak of the great persecution, held Constantine hostage, fell ill and thought the God of Christians was punishing him, issued the Edict of Toleration on 30 April 311 which ended the most cruel persecution the church would suffer

-credited as the organizer of cenobitic monasticism; model of order based on poverty and continuous prayer. Pachomius was born 286 in southern Egypt of relative wealth but gave up all in response to the teaching of the Gospel

bishop of alexandria

taught those in search of the truth

emphasized allegorical interpretation

Bishop of Antioch, died early 2nd centuryBridged apostolic and patristic eras; martyred, wrote letter to Rome on way to martyrdom