In this program, I'll share with you some of the biblical backgrounds that are important for understanding the ancient and medieval church, and then I'll review with you the history of the church during the two centuries after the New Testament period.  We'll conclude with a review of key places in the early church.

    For the map review, you'll need Map 1 at the end of your syllabus; if you don't have it handy, please don't begin the review until you can locate it, so you can follow along as I remind you of some key persons and events associated with each place. 

    This review program correlates with chapters 5-11 of volume 1 in The Story of Christianity, by Justo L. González (San Francisco:  Harper, 1984).  For my understanding of church history, I am indebted to many persons over the years.  I am especially grateful to Albert Outler of SMU, the greatest teacher with whom I have ever studied.

   In all my review programs, key names are red, key concepts are blue, key places and groups are green, and key dates and festivals are pink.  You can study for a test most effectively by going through the program a couple of times before the test.  The material is not new; it is already in your textbook and class notes.  I hope this summary is helpful for you! 

APOSTOLIC FATHERS

    Toward the end of the first century and the beginning of the second century A.D., the faith and love of Christians were really put to the test.  Political and religious leaders throughout the Greco-Roman world felt threatened by this new religion, especially as it began to differentiate itself from its mother religion of Judaism.  Followers of the ancient gods and goddesses, members of the upper class who wanted to maintain the status quo, and advocates of the divinity of the Roman Emperor saw dangerous implications in Christian teachings.  Biblical books such as Hebrews and Revelation encouraged believers to hold onto their faith during these difficult times.  In the early 100's A.D., the Apostolic Fathers also provided guidance and courageous examples of faithfulness in periods of persecution.  We use the name Apostolic Fathers for both books and authors, to indicate they include some of the "Founding Fathers" of the church and that their ideas are solidly anchored in the teachings of the apostles.  The Apostolic Fathers that we have studied in this course are:

• Ignatius
• Polycarp
• Didache
• 1 Clement

    Both Ignatius and Polycarp were bishops who died as martyrs for the Christian faith.  Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, was taken in a chain gang to die in the Coliseum in Rome.  Along the way he met Christian leaders and wrote letters to the various churches.  We're fortunate to have Ignatius' letters, because they give us good insights into early Christian thought and life.  By using letters to churches as a way to communicate his beliefs, Ignatius was following the example of the apostle Paul.

    The account of the death of Ignatius' fellow-bishop Polycarp marks the institution of the martyr cult.  The word cult in this context doesn't mean a fanatical sect, but a set of devotional practices.  Throughout the Middle Ages, people venerated the clothing, bodies, and even parts of bodies of saints who had died courageously for their faith.  Special worship services were celebrated annually on the day of their martyrdom.  Polycarp was an old man when he had to decide whether or not to give up his faith.  Christ had meant so much to him over the years that he wasn't about to abandon Christ now -- even if remaining true to him meant a horrible, painful death.  Polycarp had been chosen by Roman officials as an example to warn others against Christianity because everybody in his home town knew him.  Polycarp's home town may make you think of the town in Tennessee where Nissans are built:  Smyrna.  One of the seven cities to which John wrote letters in his Revelation, Smyrna was in the area that we now call western Turkey.  The Christians of Smyrna, rather than being devastated by what happened to their bishop, were inspired by the courage that Polycarp showed in facing death!

    The third of the Apostolic Fathers isn't a "father" at all; it's an anonymous writing called Didache (don't pronounce this like a tooth which did ache, but did-uh-kay).  The Greek word could be translated Teaching of the Twelve Apostles.  It gives us insights into early Christian worship, administration, and organization.  Thus we could compare the Didache to the kind of church manual used in United Methodist churches today.  Hint:  since the Didache claims to be close to the teaching of the apostles, think of a disciple as linked with the United Methodist manual of church organization and beliefs.  Yes, the Book of Discipline!  By the way, one of the Dead Sea Scrolls written by the Essenes in the first century B.C. is called by modern scholars the Manual of Discipline, because it too deals with basic organizational principles.  The Didache helps us too understand early Christian understandings of baptism and the Lord's Supper.

    The fourth of the Apostolic Fathers is an epistle known as 1 Clement.  A later sermon attached to it is commonly called 2 Clement, but since it has an entirely different set of ideas and circumstances, we'll not deal with this later writing.  1 Clement is an official letter from the church in Rome to the church in Corinth.  It was written by the head of the Roman church.  The epistle was so highly respected that some early collections of scripture included it in the New Testament.  A basic theme in 1 Clement is the need for unity of Christians rather than divisiveness.  Apparently the church in Corinth was still having many of the same problems that caused Paul to seek to unify the church many years earlier.  Clement, the leader of the church in Rome, tried to establish some lines of authority to eliminate quarrels and rebellions.  The term Pope had not yet come into use, but Clement functioned as the bishop of the Roman church.  He suggested that the line of authority could be traced from him all the way back through previous Roman bishops to Simon Peter, the Rock on whom Christ built his church.  We use the term apostolic succession to identify the principle of an unbroken chain of church leaders going back to the time of the apostles.  Churches today which maintain apostolic succession usually have bishops who lay their hands on the heads of persons to ordain them as priests.  Apostolic succession is especially important in the Catholic and Episcopal churches.

JEWISH & GREEK CULTURE

    In addition to the Apostolic Fathers, another important collection of writings for understanding early Christianity would be Jewish-Christian scriptures -- if only we had them!  Unfortunately, most of the texts describing how a number of early Christians maintained Jewish beliefs and practices have been lost.  We have only fragments, primarily in quotations of them by their critics and opponents.  Naturally, we have to take those with a grain of salt!  

    Jewish-Christian groups were known by such names as Ebionites, Hebrews, and Nazarenes.  Among the Jewish practices which they preserved in their form of Christianity was circumcision.  Jewish Christians disagreed with Paul, who declared in his letter to the Galatians that circumcision is unnecessary for Christians.  Jewish Christians also observed the Sabbath, from Friday at sunset to Saturday at sunset, as a day of rest and worship.  They did not make Sunday a special day as Gentile Christians did.  You may be aware that Seventh-day Adventists today agree with the ancient Jewish Christians on this point.  Jewish Christians purified their bodies as a symbolic purification of their inner selves.  Ritual washings before meals, immersions, and other such rituals were very important for Jewish Christians.  In this way they were like the Essenes, the community of Jews who lived at Qumran and wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls.  Jewish Christians didn't simply follow kosher food laws.  A number of them went beyond the kosher laws to what they felt was God's original intention for us:  to avoid all meat and thus be vegetarians.  This was anchored in the Priestly Creation story, in which God said to the first human beings:  "See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food."  (Genesis 1:29)

    Still another collection of writings important for a comprehensive picture of the early church comes from a group that we call Gnostics.  Actually this term refers to a variety of groups, some of which were related to Christianity, while others were closer to Judaism or the mystery religions.  Gnostic gospels, epistles, and Acts are usually included in the New Testament Apocrypha.  The Gospel of Thomas is the apocryphal writing which seems closest to mainstream Christianity.  It claims to be a collection of Jesus' sayings written by Thomas, one of Jesus' disciples.  Many of the sayings are clearly later adaptations, but a few may be authentic teachings of Jesus which were not known by the writers of the New Testament.  The Gospel of Thomas was in a collection of documents found in 1945 in Nag Hammadi, Egypt.  It begins:  "These are the secret words which the living Jesus spoke, and Didymos Judas Thomas wrote.  And he said:  whoever finds the explanation of these words will not taste death."  (Logion 1)  Scholars are still debating over how much Gnosticism permeates the Gospel of Thomas.  It's an intriguing writing, which some scholars think should be considered a fifth gospel alongside the other four in the New Testament!

    Although the Gnostics remained a fringe movement and were expelled from the orthodox church because of their beliefs and practices they show us one key theme in Christianity and most other religions:  an emphasis on the inner self.  Their primary concern was the relationship between God and their souls.  The material world had no lasting reality and could thus be ignored as much as possible.  Other Christians in the mainstream had something of this emphasis as well.  The Apologists, for instance, wrote of God's presence in the reasoning processes of our mind.  Justin Martyr was one of the most famous scholars to write an Apology, a rational "defense" of Christianity.  Justin drew on John's gospel for a word which would indicate God's presence in our mind.  Do you remember that word?  Like Justin, John was familiar with Greek philosophy.  He opened his gospel, "In the beginning was the Word."  (John 1:1)  The Greek Logos, meaning "word," which John and Justin used, was central also to the Stoic idea of God's reality throughout the universe.   Our word "logic" comes from logos, which means "reason" as well as "word."   Justin held that there is no dichotomy between faith and reason, for God inspires us in our intellectual quest for truth!

CANON & CREED

    Another person, who shared with the Gnostics and Justin an emphasis on the inner self, reached some radical conclusions.  His name was Marcion, and he taught that the material world was not created by God at all, but by a lesser being.  That's why the world is full of evil.  Christ came to proclaim the true God, who according to Marcion is too lofty to be involved in anything physical.  Followers of Marcion gave up all physical pleasures such as sex or good food.  They and their leader were excommunicated, but they still considered themselves to be devout Christians. 

    A byproduct of Marcion's movement was something which would be very important for Christianity ever since.  Do you remember it?  Here's a hint:  a Christian might say, "Don't leave home without it!"  If you leave home without your American Express card, you've violated the guidance of the TV commercial.  But if you leave home without this, you might find one in your motel dresser drawer, supplied by the Gideons.  Yes, Marcion developed the very first Christian Bible!  His canon left out Jewish scriptures and any Christian scriptures that described God as Creator, because Marcion taught that God was concerned with spiritual things, not material things like creation of the world.  

    Mainstream Christians reacted against Marcion by coming up with a canon which showed that there is only one God, the Creator of the universe and the Father of Jesus Christ.  The result, around 200 A.D., was the near-universal acceptance of a Christian Bible with an Old Testament and a New Testament!  The process of canonization -- determining which writings should be included in the scriptures -- is a fascinating one in any religion.  The establishment of the Christian canon meant that some books would be left out. 

    We've noted that these are often included in a group that we call the New Testament Apocrypha, and we've looked closely at the Gospel of Thomas.  Usually the rejected books were linked with one of the groups that we've discussed:  Jewish Christians, Gnostics, or followers of Marcion.  But some controversial books were eventually included in the New Testament.    

    Two Revelations were part of various early Christian canons:  the Revelation to Peter and the Revelation to John.  (Some people talk about the Book of Revelations, but there ain't no such animal.)  Although the Revelation to Peter was left out, the Revelation to John was the most controversial book that was eventually included in the New Testament.  Its disputed elements were especially its vivid and scary dramatic imagery and its description of the millennium.  But the central teachings of the Revelation to John are in harmony with basic Christian beliefs, and the book gave courage to many people facing persecution.  So the objections to this Revelation were overridden, and it became part of the Christian Bible.

TEACHERS OF THE CHURCH

    In addition to the Apostolic Fathers and the Apologists, the early church was blessed by another group of theologians, who are called by González Teachers of the Church.  One of these was Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons, in what we now call France.  He gave us a way of understanding God's plan of salvation in Christ.  According to Irenaeus, the life and death of Jesus Christ are a re-living of the story of all humanity.  Christ is a second Adam, who makes the right choice rather than making the wrong choice as the first Adam did.  Thus Christ reverses the Fall.  Irenaeus calls this reenactment of the basic human story in the life of Christ recapitulation.  Christ "recapitulates" (repeats) the choice between good and evil given to Adam, and he decides to obey God's will rather than seeking his own self-interest.  The result:  as Adam loses eternal life for all humanity, Christ's death on the Cross restores eternal life to all humanity.  Irenaeus' beautiful symbolism for the Atonement became one of the ways in which we understand the meaning of Christ's death and resurrection.

    Tertullian, another teacher of the church, helped to ground Christianity solidly in Roman legal tradition.  In his Prescription Against the Heretics, he used his training in law and Latin to argue clearly and forcefully against allowing heretics even to argue their case.  Ironically, in later years, Tertullian left the Catholic Church to join a Christian movement that had been declared heretical:  Montanism. 

    The Montanists were a group of Christian ascetics who followed a revival preacher named Montanus and his two assistant preachers, Priscilla and Maximilla.  All three had powerful spiritual gifts and lived very dedicated lives.  In many ways they agreed with mainstream Christianity; they were considered "heretical" because they had such an extreme emphasis on the end-times.  Montanists taught that the New Jerusalem of John's Revelation was coming down to earth, right there in their own region of Western Turkey, any day.  You might think that when Tertullian joined this group, people might consider him a fanatic, a Middle-Age Mutant Ninja Tertullian.  But he continued to produce first-rate theological essays which would be influential in the church over the years!

    One of Tertullian's most important understandings for Christians throughout the years was his development of the concept of the Trinity.  It's a complicated discussion, anchored in legal concepts, but let me review it for you the best I can.

    1. The word substantia (substance) in the legal sense meant property and the right that anybody has to make use of that property.  Thus the substance of an emperor is his empire.  A Roman emperor could share that substance with his sons.

    2. The word persona (person) refers to any legal entity that owns property.  Several persons could share one substance, or one person could have more than one substance.

    3. So Tertullian said that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three Persons, who share one substance:  divinity.  Tertullian called this relationship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit a divine economy.  Just as our American economy is the relationship of persons, jobs, and products to help everybody to meet their basic needs, the Trinity is also a set of relationships.

    4. Similarly, Jesus is one Person who has two substances:  humanity and divinity.  We'll see in the next unit how Christians built on Tertullian's foundation and continued to try to understand how Jesus could be both human and divine.

 BAPTISM & THE LORD'S SUPPER

    When Christians came together in the early centuries, they didn't just spend all their time sitting around, thinking deep thoughts, and debating theology.  They had rituals, too, which bound them together as a community.  Among the most important rituals were the worship services.  We looked at the two most important ceremonies in early Christianity, baptism and Eucharist, in this unit. 

    The Lord's Supper had a prominent role, since Christ had instructed his disciples to celebrate it after his death, in remembrance of him.  In addition to the familiar elements of bread and wine, oil, cheese, and olives were often part of the Lord's Supper.  Olive oil was prized throughout the Mediterranean world.  When people offered oil for the ceremony, they said, "We pray that sanctifying this oil, O God, with which you anointed kings, priests, and prophets, you would grant health to those who use it and partake of it, that it may bestow comfort on all who taste it, and health on all who use it."  (Hippolytus, Apostolic Tradition, 1.5)  When people brought cheese and olives for the Supper, they prayed:  "Sanctify this milk that has been united into one mass, and unite us to your love.  Let your loving kindness ever rest on this fruit of the olive, which is a model of your generosity, and which you caused to flow from the Tree of Life for those who put their hope in you."  (1.6)

    The other major Christian worship service was baptism.  This ceremony was more elaborate than most baptismal services are today.  It included exorcism of evil spirits, anointing with oil, answering of questions in a form that was the basis for the Apostles' Creed, and clean white robes when the believers came up out of the water.  Then the newly baptized Christians received something that they would remember all their lives:  their first Communion.  This was such a high point in their lives that friends and family would come to be with them.  Sometimes a special cup would be made for each person, with their name on it, to hold the wine of the Lord's Supper.  The newly baptized persons were now full members of the covenant community.

    Now it's time to get out Map 1 from the back of your syllabus and go with me on a trip.  All aboard!

UNIT 1 MAP REVIEW: 
THE FIRST FLIGHT OF THE WASP

    This is your captain, Fred Kellogg, speaking.  Welcome to Wasp Airlines!  Our flight will take us through a few of the places important for the story of early Christianity.  Enjoy the trip!

    We begin our journey in the city of Carthage, in north Africa.  The name of this city should remind us of animal symbolism.  Hmmm … What kind of animals should the word Carthage evoke in our memories?

    The propellers of this airplane are buzzing ... wasps?

    No, "Wasps" was a prize-winning comedy by Aristophanes, produced in Athens rather than in Carthage.  Try again.

    Elephants?

    You're thinking of Hannibal, the famous commander of the army of Carthage, who invaded Italy with sixty elephants to fight the Romans.  But that was before the time of early Christianity.

    I feel really slow.  Turtles?

    Yes!  Carthage was the home of Tertullian, the theologian whose brilliant use of Latin enabled him to develop doctrines of the Trinity and of the relationships of the human and the divine in Jesus Christ. 

    By flying east from Carthage and then south, up the Nile River toward its sources, we come to the little town of Nag Hammadi.  There we find a delightful person, a Gnostic heretic whom we might call "The Jewel of the Nile."  As he puts fuel in our tanks, he tells us that he compiled the Gospel of Thomas, and he plans to hide it out in the desert with hundreds of other writings which mainstream Christianity doesn't accept.  His gospel claims Thomas as a wise person who possesses secret truths about life that he learned from Jesus.  Not long after World War II, these writings will be discovered and published, giving us insights into the variety of beliefs in early Christianity.   

     Next, let's go to Antioch, which is the third city of the Roman Empire in size and importance.  The name Christian was first applied to Jesus' followers here.  Like Jerusalem, the city of Antioch has an outstanding Christian tradition which authorizes its bishop to be called a Patriarch.  Who is the most outstanding Bishop of Antioch?

    Bishop Swanson!

    He is a great leader, as Bishop of Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church.  But a different person is Bishop of Antioch Conference of the whole Christian Church.

    If he is over the whole church, he must be Bishop Bishop!

    No, that's a man also known as Little Caesar, who insists that all church suppers in his diocese serve pizza pizza.  He is Bishop Bishop of Caesarea Caesarea.  Another person is the Bishop of Antioch.  Hint:  his name rhymes with gracious.

    Ignatius!

    Right!  Bishop Ignatius' letters to various churches, on his way to Rome to testify to his faith as a Christian, not only inspire us but give us real insights into the early Christian churches.

    Brrr!  Is it cold in here?

    Yes (shiver, shiver)!

    I think so too!  No wonder:  we're approaching Phrygia, and it's getting frigid in the airplane.  We need something to warm us up!  As we enter Phrygia's airspace, we hear a revival meeting in progress.  The congregation is singing "Just As I Am" -- that should warm us up!  Who is the revival preacher?

    Sounds like three different preachers!

    You're right.  Priscilla, Maximilla, and Montanus are taking turns preaching this revival.  We hadn't noticed the sign on the chapel:  First Montanist Church of the New Jerusalem.  

    Inside we listen to the three great preachers and country gospel music by a group called the Smashing Bumpkins.  Montanus, Priscilla, and Maximilla were such powerful preachers, filled with the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues, that Montanism spread from Phrygia all over the Mediterranean world and was a powerful force for several decades -- even though mainstream Christians considered the Montanists to be heretics because of their extreme emphasis on the end of the world.  When Montanism came to Carthage, even the great heresy-fighting Christian Tertullian walked down the aisle and became a Montanist!  Now that our spiritual batteries are recharged, let's go west, to Smyrna.  A large crowd is gathered here too.  Where is all that noise coming from?

    Maybe from Neyland Stadium!

    U-T always has a lot of fans, but their cheers sound different from the noise that we hear in Smyrna, and I don't see any orange banners or flags.

    How about Fullerton Field?

    People are cheering loudly for the Wasps at Fullerton Field, but our Wasp Airlines flight won't take us quite that far afield.  The noise is coming from the Arena in Smyrna.  People are shouting, "Away with the atheists!"  An 86-year-old man is being led into the Arena by some officials.  He looks like Bishop Polycarp.  The scene appears pretty dangerous to me.  Rev up those Wasp engines, and let's get out of here!

    Whew!  We’re safe here in Ephesus, unless the great Artemis throws down another piece of the moon on us.  There have been a lot of brave Christians here, after Paul’s adventures, such as the near-riot that some of the moon-goddess’ devotees led against Paul and other Christian missionaries.  Remember the story in the Qur’an of the Seven Sleepers, brave young Christians from Ephesus, whom God protected in a cave for many years so that they escaped persecution?  Remember also how Ignatius bragged about the Bishop of Ephesus – what was his name?

    Onesimus?

    Right!  Paul had brought him into the Christian faith in a jail cell right here in Ephesus, when he was a runaway slave.  And now Onesimus is one of the great leaders of Christianity!  In fact, we think he’s the one who put together the first collection of Paul’s letters and published them, together with his own “cover letter,” which we call the Epistle to the Ephesians.

    From Ephesus we can go to the narrow isthmus linking southern Greece and northern Greece, and there we find the famous city of Corinth.  Usually we associate this city with Paul, because of his letters to the Christians here.  But another great Christian leader wrote to the Corinthians a generation after Paul.  Who was he?

    I remember -- Clement of Rome.  He gave a very strong rationale for the doctrine of apostolic succession, which would be important for the Catholic Church throughout the centuries.

    Right!  Clement represents the growing authority of Rome's leadership in Christianity.  But Roman Christians didn't have it easy.  They were often persecuted by emperors and other high government officials.  Let’s fly to Rome and see what we can find out.  Look, the Colosseum is colossal enough that we can land right in the middle of it.  Bristol Motor Speedway calls itself the world's last great Colosseum.  But some parts of Rome's Colosseum are crumbling; it reminds us of poor old New Orleans’ Superdome after Hurricane Katrina!  Anyway, we can see here where brave Christians faced gladiators, lions, and other awful opponents.  Naturally we remember Nero’s role in such spectacles, but can you think of other Roman emperors who persecuted Christians?

    I remember the 3-D’s:  Domitian, in 96 A.D., insisted that people call him dominus et deus.  His persecution led to the imprisonment of John on the island of Patmos, where he wrote his Revelation.  Decius, in 250 A.D., required all people to get a certificate of patriotism, which was called a libellus, by participating in pagan worship.  Many Christians died as martyrs rather than worship other gods.  Emperor Diocletian, in 303 A.D., had Christian books and churches burned.  He also had many Christians tortured and killed, including his own wife and daughter, because they were Christians.

    Also we shouldn’t forget Emperor Trajan.  In our class back in Emory, we looked at González’s summary of the correspondence between him and one of his governors, Pliny, on what to do about Christians around 111 A.D.  But of course there were also long periods in Rome and throughout the empire when Christians were not being persecuted.  The Christian movement grew and eventually became the dominant religious group in the Roman Empire.       

    The last place on our journey is the area that we now call France.  A person who recognized the worldwide nature of the church was Irenaeus, the Bishop of Lyons in the late 100's A.D.  He devoted his life to bringing Christians together into a solid community, guided by leaders who traced their authority back to the age of the apostles.  Irenaeus was also an outstanding theologian, who studied the numerous complex religious philosophies of his time and pointed out the errors that he found in them.  Let's recapitulate:  Irenaeus' main writing, Against Heresies, is a real classic because of its thorough descriptions of various Gnostic movements.

    Now it’s time to return to our Wasp Nest in Emory.  I hope that you've enjoyed this trip to key sites in the first couple of centuries A.D.  Feel free to tip me, your captain and tour guide!  You can send tips to me via e-mail: fkellogg@ehc.edu

     There are no clear dividing lines between the early church, the imperial church, and the medieval church.  But in this review we've dealt with events in the 100's and 200's A.D.  We'll save the 300's A.D. for the next unit.  I hope that this program has been helpful for you.  Suggestions, comments, and questions are welcome. 

To look at one of my other syllabi or a unit review in Old or New Testament or a different course, go to my Home Page.

To review a different unit in this course, go directly to one of the following:

    Unit 2, The Imperial Church
    Unit 3, Medieval Christianity

If you prefer, you may return to the Emory & Henry College Home Page.

Last updated:  February 11, 2008