...in another sense, mutually support each other, forming one view: Early Christianity is not a nascent religion with no root. It is based on Judaism, yet evolved into a progressive and revolutionary religion at Roman time. The origins of Christianity is undoubtedly very complex, and in the process of Christianity’s emerging, the mutual rebuttal sects and doctrines could be reflections of Christianity’s inclusiveness and diversity. Gnosticism, Christianity, Judaism and other minor Roman religions and doctrines are involved in the formation and development of Early Christianity....
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...It is irrefutable that christianity is one of the dominant faiths in today's society, but how did it become so successful? Christianity and the development of the Church owes its success to key figures and aspects including: The Apologist that defended the true meaning of the doctrines, Athanasius, who refuted the false teachings of Arius, the Council of Nicea that drafted a creed affirming Jesus Christ, and St. Basil who clarified the ambiguous terminology put forth by the Council of Nicaea. Christianity started out as small and illegal movement. The First Apology states that classical philosophers believed Christianity was an atheistic and lower class religion(Placher, 33). However, Tertullian, a highly educated Roman citizen was convinced...
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...The Rise of the ChristianIty was in the 5th century when the Roman empire began to fall apart. German tribes took over the city of Rome. This event began the period in history often referred to as the Dark Ages. The Dark Ages saw the growth in the power of the Christian Church which was then referred to as the Catholic religion. During the Dark Ages and Early Middle Ages the only accepted Christian religion was Catholicism. The word Catholic stems from the Middle English word 'catholik' and also from the French word 'catholique' and the Latin word 'catholicus' meaning whole or universal. Early Christians, such as Saint Ignatius of Antioch- a martyr- used the term 'catholic' to describe the whole Church - the meaning being universal. Soon...
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...world to Gnostic Christianity Biblical Archaeology Society Staff • 07/01/2014 This Bible History Daily feature was originally published in March 2011. It has been updated.—Ed. The Nag Hammadi texts were contained in 13 leather-bound volumes discovered by Egyptian farmers in 1945. Dated papyrus scraps used to strengthen the bindings of the books helped date the volumes to the mid-fourth century A.D. Photo: Institute for Antiquity and Christianity, Claremont, CA. Until the discovery of the Nag Hammadi codices in 1945, the Gnostic view of early Christianity had largely been forgotten. The teachings of Gnostic Christianity—vilified especially since they were declared heretic by orthodox Christianity in the fourth century—had been virtually erased from history by the early church fathers, their gospels banned and even burned to make room for the view of Christian theology outlined in the canonical Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. But when two peasants discovered the Nag Hammadi texts, a 13-volume library of Coptic texts hidden beneath a large boulder near the town of Nag Hammadi in upper Egypt, the world was reintroduced to this long-forgotten and much-maligned branch of early Christian thought, Gnostic Christianity, from the Greek word gnosis, “knowledge.” The Nag Hammadi codices are 13 leather-bound volumes dated to the mid-fourth century that contain an unprecedented collection of more than 50 texts, including some that had been composed as early as the second...
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...Book Review on Augustine as Mentor CHHI 520D18 LUO (Fall 2013) Church History I Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary Reed E. Harvey (ID# 24867788) December 16, 2013 THESIS STATEMENT Determine whether the mentoring approach used by Augustine, an Early Church Father is yet relevant for today’s church. TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Introduction …………….……………………….………………………………….…4 II. Brief Summary ……….…………………………………………….………………...4 III. Critical Interaction ………………………………………………………………….6 IV. Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………7 Working Bibliography …………………………………………………………………...9 I. Introduction This review will provide a summarization and critical interaction with the text: Augustine as Mentor authored by Edward L. Smither. Smither is associate professor of Church History and Intercultural Studies at Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary. Other areas of scholarly interest include the Early Church, evangelical missions among Arabs and the history of missions. The thesis of this text is, “that Augustine effectively mentored spiritual leaders and set them apart for needed ministries in the church.” II. Brief Summary Smither sets the table for this text through an in-depth analysis and look at mentoring in the first century. Special emphasis centered on mentoring done by Jesus with the Disciples as found in the Gospels and with the Apostle Paul from the book of Acts and Paul’s epistles. Smither’s...
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...gospel was written before AD62 is that there is no mention of the fall of Jerusalem in the book of acts which happened in the AD70’s this was quite a big event that took place and was still not mentioned. The book of acts only seems to focus on the events that were relevant before the fall of Jerusalem. If the book of acts was written before AD62 then the gospel of Luke was written a short time before this. Luke’s purpose was to present the progression of the gospel from Jerusalem and Rome. Another possible date that is argued is the AD80’s as Luke’s knowledge of the great fall of Jerusalem as an event of the past is more apparent compared to Matthew and mark. Luke depended on marks gospel which is usually dated in the late AD70’s and the early AD80’s, but however the timing of mark and Luke’s use of it would have to require a date for Luke in the AD80’s. Luke refers to previous events or accounts he has investigated before composing them on his own behalf; this would therefore suggest a later rather than earlier date for Luke. In the book of acts Paul is made out to be an heroic and...
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...........................................2 III. Critical Interaction with Author’s Work..................................................................4 IV. Conclusion....................................................................................................................5 Bibliography........................................................................................................................6 Introduction In the Book of Acts author Luke purposes to provide an account of the origin and development of the church under the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Book of Acts lays an original and graphic historical picture of the early church from its beginnings with the accension of Jesus to it’s end with Paul’s detention in Rome. Bo Reike in his article, “The Risen Lord and His Chruch, The Theology of Acts” presupposes the theology of the Book of Acts as simply being a continuation of the work of the risen Lord and His Church, in which he expresses Christology and Eccesiology as the two major themes of Acts. This paper will evaluate the author’s approach in examining the theology of Acts , and weigh the thesis of...
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...Understanding the author of Acts is very important. It gives us a better understanding of the book, the genre in which the book was written in and also the time period and who the book was addressed to. Many believe the author of the book of Acts had written one complete volume of work that was broken into 2 different parts. The book of Acts is the fifth book of the New Testament. It traces the Growth of the early church. It begins with the ascension of Jesus and concludes with Paul in Rome during his first imprisonment. Though the book of Luke and the Acts of the Apostle are very similar, the author does not name himself in either book. Neither Luke or Acts allows us to determine directly or in directly who the Author is.( Kummel) But Fernando also says “Stylistically and Structurally the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostle are so closely related that they have to be assigned to the same author. (pp.21) There is very little doubt that the Book of Acts and the Gospel of Luke come from the same author but the debate is about who that author is. While the writer of Luke and Acts is anonymous, there is evidence the points to the authorship of these books. Fernando states “The external evidence available for the authorship of Acts, gleaned from the writings of the church in the first few centuries, is unanimous that the author was Luke. When we look at the internal evidence, it points toward the author’s identity. Once readers assume Luke and Acts come from...
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...sort of council that decided which books should be in there, but ultimately it was God's sovereign will. Now the last part would be correct, but the rest is at best debatable. So how was the Bible put together? Since the argument is extremely complex and much of the details are lost or were never recorded, we will be exploring the different events that drove the movement, along with several different opinions of when the Bible was Complete or Canonized. There were two particular movements during the second century that made the Church realize a need to have a compilation of books that were universally accepted. The first movement, although not as well know, was Marcionism. This heretical sect was started by Marcion who was born into Christianity but had a deep dislike for Judaism and the material world. He believed that the God and Father of Jesus are not the same as the creator Yahweh, and it was the Father's purpose to only have a spiritual world. But, Yahweh messed up and placed mankind there also. Therefore since Yahweh was who inspired the Hebrew Scriptures Marcion didn't believe in the Old Testament. It was this belief that led Marcion to come up with his own collection of scriptures that he considered to be truly Christian, but with all the Old Testament references removed. These...
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...Evangelism in the Early Church [Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary, November 14, 1985] by Joel L. Pless The primary mission of the Christian Church is to preach the gospel to all nations, it is to win souls for Christ. The fact that there are approximately one billion at least nominal Christians in the world indicates that Christ’s Great Commission has been at least partially carried out. This monograph will research how and by whom was the Great Commission enacted in the “early days” of the Christian church, during its first four centuries (100-500 A.D.) This research paper will not contribute creatively to the study of theology or methods of evangelism, but it will rather compile from a representative bibliography facts concerning evangelism in the early Church. Granted, research on this topic has been undertaken before by individuals with far greater academic credentials than the writer of these lines. But this monograph will attempt to condense the vast amount of material written on this topic into a monograph on evangelism in the early Church which is long enough to adequately cover the subject but still short enough to be interesting. This essay will approach the topic by asking the basic questions, why?, what?, who?, to whom?, and how?( William C. Weinrich, “Evangelism in the Early Church,” in Concordia Theological Quarterly, vol. XLV, (January-April 1981), pp. 61-74.) When possible, primary sources from the early Church fathers will be quoted in translation. The ultimate...
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...CHRISTIANITY: THE BEGINNING In The Acts of Perpetua and Felicita, three men and two women willingly walk into an arena where wild beasts are ready to kill them. After suffering beastly wounds, the survivors are willingly led out of the arena, and killed by sword. What was their crime? What gave them the courage to remain firm in the face of such peril? The answer to both of these questions would be Christianity. This is just one case out of hundreds and hundreds where people have willingly become martyrs for their beliefs. Two hundred years earlier, a man named Jesus would start the movement, now known as Christianity, which is only growing bigger and bigger with each passing century. Many kings and great rulers have attempted to halt and annihilate the movement, and even today, some many people deny the very existence of Jesus, and God himself. Despite of all these predicaments, millions upon millions of believers stay faithful to the movement. As a person who believes in God, Jesus, and the Christian movement, I have taken it upon myself to learn more about the history of this fascinating story and the man behind it all. In the course of my research, I have discovered many things I knew and many things I didn’t know. As result, I have found a new, deeper appreciation for my beliefs, and a new and deeper respect for Jesus, the martyrs who died after him, and everything they stood for. So, who was Jesus, what is Christianity, and how did this all start? ...
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...examination questionnaire will be provided on the morning of administration. This is a closed-book examination, which means that no other materials are allowed on your desk, or within reach during testing other than a pencil (or two) and the aforementioned examination items. Your success on the examination entails an ability to correctly respond to the questions/prompts within each of the following topics: The Emergence/Spread of the Early Christian Church: 1. Know commonalities between themes in Luke and Acts of the Apostles. 2. Which disciple is chosen to replace Judas Iscariot? 3. Know the significance of the following numbers: 12, 40, and 50. 4. Why is the Pentecost significant in Judaism and Christianity? 5. Identify the three internal conflicts encountered during the spread of the early Christian church. Be able to use their key question and central concerns to identify them in a given scenario. 6. Identify the three external conflicts encountered during the spread of the early Christian church. Be able to use their key question and central concerns to identify them in a given scenario. 7. Who is the undisputed author of the Epistle to the Galatians? 8. What is the significance of temporal (worldly) law in the Epistle to the Galatians? 9. Who does the Epistle to Diognetus state is “…not distinguished from the rest of (hu)mankind either in locality, in speech, or in customs” in 5:1? 10...
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...The Role of Women in the Church The role of women in the Christian faith has always been matter of debate. Whether women are equal to men in the eyes of the church still presents itself as a major question as we move into the 21st century. Women are still not allowed to serve as priests or hold major positions in the churches hierarchy. This inferiority is something that is seen as tradition and rarely do people question it. However, in Paul s letters he alluded to a different role that women should take on. He presents the idea that everyone is equal in the eyes of the Lord as long as they have been baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Although he was not the first to ever express these beliefs, the idea that Paul presented was quite radical for his time and may not have been taken with the same authority as some of his other teachings. However, the basic formula that Paul used in some of his letters was also presented by subsequent writer’s years after he was finished with his ministry. The most straightforward presentation of Paul s view on the role of women is in Galatians 3:28, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. This statement brought up the idea of baptism and the key role it plays in the life of a Christian. Paul states that when you are baptized in the name of Jesus all worldly distinctions are no longer important. A person is not to be viewed based on past religion, life before baptism, or gender, he or she will now be viewed...
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...foundation of orthodoxy and the formation of the canon becomes quite influential in this process. It is my desire to explain that despite the disputes going on within the early church, the essential matters such as the nature, humanity, and deity of Christ are critical to the rise of Christianity. The fact that the “Roman law also influenced the church law,” is something that cannot go unnoticed either, as it was “derived from the Bible, the church fathers, church councils, and the decisions of popes.” [1]. In describing this and relating it to how we view the Bible today and its inerrancy, the formation of the New Testament Canon and its relationship to orthodox tradition can “accurately embody the revealed truth content of Christianity” and what that means for the church universal. [2]. In today’s world, often times people take for granted what the New Testament represents. We live day to day reading and trying to apply the teachings of Christ as Christians everywhere strive to follow God’s Word. However, we do this with no questions asked. We don’t stop to think about where did the Bible come from or what makes it accurate and true. Instead, we just accept it as infallible and reflect upon the message and what it says to us as we demonstrate our faith and love towards God. However, during the time of the early church, this was not the case. Rather, they needed proof and authenticity as they...
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...11/19/10 Marcionism and its Impact For every story told, multiple interpretations and perceptions are created. Anthology is defined as “a book or other collection of selected writings by various authors, usually in the same literary form”(Dictionary.com). The bible is just this; for every collection of stories told, a collection of interpretations, whether they be right or wrong, are ought to form. Throughout the early centuries many altered interpretations, or heresies, regarding the bible formed. Although the heresy of Marcionism was outlandish and heavily disputed against, it actually aided in the emergence of the Catholic Church. According to John Knox, of the University of Chicago, “Among the creative personalities of early Christianity few are so interesting and important as Marcion, who was expelled from the Roman community… and whose activities gave rise to the most vigorous heretical movement within the ancient church”(p.1). According to the article, Marcion and Scripture: The Impact of a Second Century Heretic on the New Testament, Marcion’s early life was filled with disgrace. “At some point later, however, he was “excommunicated by his own father” for having seduced a consecrated virgin and “degraded both her and himself.” Most modern historians think that the story of Marcion's seduction of a virgin may be a symbolic tale in which the virgin represents the church and Marcion's seduction represents his introduction of heretical teaching”(p.1-3). After being excommunicated...
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