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Christian History the First Three Centuries of Christianity First Century Christian History The first three centuries of Christianity First century CE: First 100 years § During the first six decades of the first century CE, Judaism was composed of about two dozen competing factions: o Sadducees o Pharisees, o Essenes o Zealots o Followers of John the Baptist o Followers of Jesus of Nazareth § Jesus of Nazareth had a short ministry (3 years) § His teachings closely matched those of Beit Hillel (the House of Hillel). § Hillel was a great Jewish rabbi who lived in the second half of the 1st century BCE one or two generations before Jesus birth. § Jesus was charged with what would be called "aggravated assault" under today's law, for his attack on merchants in the Temple. § This was also considered treason or insurrection by the occupying Roman forces. § Died by crucifixion, (when used on a non-slave such as Jesus, was restricted to these two crimes.) § He was executed by a detail of Roman soldiers, perhaps during the springtime, sometime in the very late 20's or early 30's CE. § 40 years later, in 70 CE the Roman Army attacked Jerusalem and destroyed the central focus of Jewish life: the temple. Jewish life was disrupted and destroyed. Jews were no longer able to worship at the Temple. § Out of this disaster emerged two main movements: o rabbinical Judaism centered in local synagogues, o The Christian movement. (Resurrection Story) § There are many different groups of Christianity. § Some of Jesus' followers and those who never met Jesus but who were inspired by his teachings settled in Jerusalem. § Others spread across the ancient world, teaching very different messages. Even in the same geographical area and sometimes in the same cities, different Christian teachers taught quite different gospels and had quite different views of who Jesus was and what he did. During the latter part of the first century CE, the three largest groups within the Christian movement were: 1. Jewish Christian movement: § Jesus’ disciples and other followers who fled to the Galilee after Jesus' execution appear to have regrouped in Jerusalem under the leadership of James, one of Jesus' brothers. § The group viewed themselves as a new movement within Judaism. They organized a synagogue, worshiped and brought animals for ritual sacrifice at the Jerusalem Temple. They observed the Jewish holy days, practiced circumcision of their male children, strictly followed Kosher dietary laws, and practiced the teachings of Jesus as they interpreted them to be. They were frequently referred to today as the Jewish Christians. § The Jewish Christians under James included many members who had had close relationship with Jesus. They believed that Jesus was the Jewish Messiah (Savior-King). They viewed Jesus as a great prophet and rabbi, BUT NOT A DEITY (God). § Jewish Christians were killed, enslaved, or scattered during the Roman attack on Jerusalem in 70 CE. § Members of the Jewish Christian movement had a close and lengthy association with Jesus, § (Saul) Paul never met Jesus. § The Jewish Christians more accurately reflect Jesus' original teachings. 2. Pauline Christianity: § Saul (Paul) was a Jew from Tarsus, well educated, half Jewish/half Roman (Hellenistic Jew) § He originally prosecuted the Jewish Christians on behalf of the priests at the Jerusalem Temple. § He experienced a powerful religious conversion, after which, he departed for places unknown for three years. § Later, using his Roman name Paul, he became the single most active Christian missionary, from about 36 CE until his execution by the Romans in the mid-60's. § He created a new Christian movement, containing elements from many forms of Paganism: Greek, Roman, Persian, Egyptian, Mesopotamian, religions etc. § Many of the events which the Bible describes as happening to Jesus appear to have been copied from the stories of various God-men (Sun-god/solar gods) from Egypt to India, in particular the life of Krishna, the God-man and second member of the Hindu trinity. § Paul abandoned most of the Laws of Moses and rejected many of the Jewish behavioral rules that Jesus and his disciples had followed during his ministry. § Paul went on a series of missionary journeys around the eastern Mediterranean and attracted many Gentiles (non-Jews) to his movement. He was assisted by many co-workers, both male and female. § Paul organized churches in many of the areas' urban centers, in competition with Greek Paganism, Mithraism (Sun God born on December 25th), Mystery Religions, Judaism, many competing Christian movements, and other religions. § Paul angered officials of the Roman Empire, was arrested, and was transported to Rome where he was held under house arrest. He was executed there about 65 CE. § Paul's churches survived his death and flourished. Some of his letters to various of his church groups were later accepted into the canon of the Christian Scriptures (New Testament). § Christian groups typically met in the homes of individual believers, much like home churches and cell churches do today. Leaders were both men and women. There was no central authority, no standard style of organization at the local level, no dedicated church buildings or cathedrals. § The Greek words episkopos (bishop, overseer), presbuteros (elder, presbyter) and poimen (pastor, shepherd) were originally same terms which referred to the leader of a group of believers. § Ordination of priests and consecration of bishops was to come later in the history of Christianity. 3. Gnostic Christianity: § Gnosticism was a philosophical and religious movement with roots in pre-Christian times. Gnostics combined elements taken from Asian, Babylonian, Egyptian, Greek and Syrian pagan religions, from astrology, and from Judaism and Christianity. § This group of Christians claimed to have secret knowledge about God, humanity, and the rest of the universe of which the general population was unaware. They were known for their: o New Interpretations of the Bible, the world and the rest of the universe. o Belief that Yahweh of the OT was a defective, inferior, Creator-God. He was seen as fundamentally evil, jealous, rigid, lacking in compassion and had a tendency to commit genocide (mass murders) o Tolerance of different religious beliefs within and outside of Gnosticism o Accepted women as leaders and teacher § Some Gnostics formed separate congregations. Others joined existing Pauline Christian groups. Others practiced their religions alone. § There were other Christian communities called: o In addition to these groups, there were others: - Matthean - Johannine - Ebionites (poor ones) - Marcionites § The Gnostics and other groups produced many dozens of gospels and hundreds of Epistles (letters). Many of these other Gospels outside the New Testament had very different views of Jesus, produced in communities that held widely different understandings of Jesus." § Many of their writings were not part of the canon called the New Testament Second and third centuries CE (200 and 300 AD): The three groups within the early Christian movement survived into the early second century. One died out and the other two expanded: § The Jewish Christian movement: The failure of the Bar Kochba revolt (132 - 135 CE) was devastating for the Jewish people, including the Jewish Christians. Any Jews who remained in Palestine in 135 CE were killed, enslaved or permanently driven from the land. The Jewish Christian movement had a brief resurgence during the 2nd century CE, and then disappeared from the pages of history. (This was Jesus’ Movement) § Pauline Christianity This group continued to spread across the known world. It started to develop a formal theology, a set of doctrines, and an unofficial canon of writings which were later to become the Christian Scriptures (New Testament). § From the enormous supply of Christian gospels and epistles (letters) they chose a writing that matched the theology of the developing church. Admittance of the Gospel of John into the official canon had to overcome a great deal of resistance; many in the church felt that it had too much Gnostic content. § The canon accepted: - Four gospels, written by unknown authors, but attributed to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. - Acts of the Apostles (Book of Acts) - 13 letters written by Paul - 8 other Letters (James, John, Peter, Hebrews and Jude) Hebrews is said to have been written by Priscilla (close friend of Paul) - Book of Revelation – describes the end of the world which was expected in 300 AD. § Gnostic Christianity This group consisted of many separate groups with no real central organization. Each group was under the leadership of a Gnostic teacher like Marcion, Valentinus, and Carpocrates. These groups shared some core beliefs, but otherwise differed greatly from each other. The Gnostic movement initially expanded, and at one point was the primary form of Christianity in the eastern Mediterranean. However, due to programs of persecution and extermination by Pauline Christians, it later went into a steep decline, and ceased being a significant force by the 6th century. After all the Apostles (followers of Jesus) had died, the Apostolic Fathers were looked upon for guidance. They included a number of teachers and bishops: Clement of Alexandria, Irenaeus, Origen, Polycarp, Tertullian Augustine A hierarchical organizational structure called the "monarchial episcopate" then developed in which the individual congregational leaders recognized the authority of their area bishop in matters of doctrine and faith. There was no person or group who could speak for the
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