Early Christianity
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (September 2020) |
Part of a series on |
Christianity |
---|
Early Christianity, otherwise called the Early Church or Paleo-Christianity, describes the
The
Many early Christians were merchants and others who had practical reasons for traveling to
History
Origins
Second Temple Judaism
Christianity originated as a minor sect within Second Temple Judaism.[7] The Second Temple in Jerusalem was built c. 516 BC after the Babylonian captivity.[8] The central tenets of Judaism in this period revolved around monotheism and the belief that Jews were a chosen people. As part of their covenant with God, Jews were obligated to obey the Torah. In return, they were given the land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem where God dwelled in the Temple. Apocalyptic and wisdom literature had a major influence on Second Temple Judaism.[9]
While the
Alexander's conquests initiated the
After Alexander's death, the region was ruled by
The Maccabean Revolt caused Judaism to divide into competing sects with different theological and political goals,
In the Second Temple period, there was no consensus on who the messiah would be or what he would do.
Jesus
Christianity centers on the
Jesus grew up in
The gospel accounts provide insight into what early Christians believed about Jesus.[26] As the Christ or "Anointed One" (Greek: Christos), Jesus is identified as the fulfillment of messianic prophecies in the Hebrew scriptures. Through the accounts of his miraculous virgin birth, the gospels present Jesus as the Son of God.[27] The gospels describe the miracles of Jesus which served to authenticate his message and reveal a foretaste of the coming kingdom.[28] The gospel accounts conclude with a description of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, ultimately leading to his Ascension into Heaven. Jesus' victory over death became the central belief of Christianity.[29] In the words of historian Diarmaid MacCulloch:[30]
Whether through some mass delusion, some colossal act of wishful thinking, or through witness to a power or force beyond any definition known to Western historical analysis, those who had known Jesus in life and had felt the shattering disappointment of his death proclaimed that he lived still, that he loved them still, and that he was to return to earth from the Heaven which he had now entered, to love and save from destruction all who acknowledged him as Lord.
For his followers, Jesus' death inaugurated a New Covenant between God and his people.[31] The apostle Paul, in his epistles, taught that Jesus makes salvation possible. Through faith, believers experience union with Jesus and both share in his suffering and the hope of his resurrection.[32]
While they do not provide new information, non-Christian sources do confirm certain information found in the gospels. The Jewish historian Josephus referenced Jesus in his Antiquities of the Jews written c. AD 95. The paragraph, known as the Testimonium Flavianum, provides a brief summary of Jesus' life, but the original text has been altered by Christian interpolation.[33] The first Roman author to reference Jesus is Tacitus (c. AD 56 – c. 120), who wrote that Christians "took their name from Christus who was executed in the reign of Tiberius by the procurator Pontius Pilate" .[34]
1st century
The decades after the crucifixion of Jesus are known as the Apostolic Age because the Disciples (also known as Apostles) were still alive.[35] Important Christian sources for this period are the Pauline epistles and the Acts of the Apostles.[36]
Initial spread
After the death of Jesus, his followers established Christian groups in cities, such as Jerusalem.[35] The movement quickly spread to Damascus and Antioch, capital of Roman Syria and one of the most important cities in the empire.[37] Early Christians referred to themselves as brethren, disciples or saints, but it was in Antioch, according to Acts 11:26, that they were first called Christians (Greek: Christianoi).[38]
According to the New Testament, Paul the apostle established Christian communities throughout the Mediterranean world.
Social and professional networks played an important part in spreading the religion as members invited interested outsiders to secret Christian assemblies (Greek: ekklēsia) that met in private homes (see house church). Commerce and trade also played a role in Christianity's spread as Christian merchants traveled for business. Christianity appealed to marginalized groups (women, slaves) with its message that "in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither male nor female, neither slave nor free" (Galatians 3:28). Christians also provided social services to the poor, sick, and widows.[40]
Historian Keith Hopkins estimated that by AD 100 there were around 7,000 Christians (about 0.01 percent of the Roman Empire's population of 60 million).[41] Separate Christian groups maintained contact with each other through letters, visits from itinerant preachers, and the sharing of common texts, some of which were later collected in the New Testament.[35]
Jerusalem church
Jerusalem was the first center of the
At this early date, Christianity was still a Jewish sect. Christians in Jerusalem kept the Jewish Sabbath and continued to worship at the Temple. In commemoration of Jesus' resurrection, they gathered on Sunday for a communion meal. Initially, Christians kept the Jewish custom of fasting on Mondays and Thursdays. Later, the Christian fast days shifted to Wednesdays and Fridays (see Friday fast) in remembrance of Judas' betrayal and the crucifixion.[46]
James was killed on the order of the high priest in AD 62. He was succeeded as leader of the Jerusalem church by Simeon, another relative of Jesus.[47] During the First Jewish-Roman War (AD 66–73), Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed after a brutal siege in AD 70.[44] Prophecies of the Second Temple's destruction are found in the synoptic gospels,[48] specifically in the Olivet Discourse.
According to a tradition recorded by
Gentile Christians
Jerusalem was the first center of the
The first Gentiles to become Christians were God-fearers, people who believed in the truth of Judaism but had not become proselytes (see Cornelius the Centurion).[51] As Gentiles joined the young Christian movement, the question of whether they should convert to Judaism and observe the Torah (such as food laws, male circumcision, and Sabbath observance) gave rise to various answers. Some Christians demanded full observance of the Torah and required Gentile converts to become Jews. Others, such as Paul, believed that the Torah was no longer binding because of Jesus' death and resurrection. In the middle were Christians who believed Gentiles should follow some of the Torah but not all of it.[52]
In c. 48–50 AD,
The primary issue which was addressed related to the requirement of
The Council of Jerusalem did not end the dispute, however.
In 66 AD, the
1st century persecution
Romans had a negative perception of early Christians. The Roman historian Tacitus wrote that Christians were despised for their "abominations" and "hatred of humankind".
Emperor Nero persecuted Christians in Rome, whom he blamed for starting the Great Fire of AD 64. It is possible that Peter and Paul were in Rome and were martyred at this time. Nero was deposed in AD 68, and the persecution of Christians ceased. Under the emperors Vespasian (r. 69–79) and Titus (r. 79–81), Christians were largely ignored by the Roman government. The Emperor Domitian (r. 81–96) authorized a new persecution against the Christians. It was at this time that the Book of Revelation was written by John of Patmos.[82]
Early centers
Eastern Roman Empire
Jerusalem
In the 2nd century, Roman Emperor
The
Antioch
Alexandria
Asia Minor
The tradition of
Caesarea
After Hadrian's siege of Jerusalem (c. 133), Caesarea became the
Cyprus
Damascus
Greece
Thrace
Libya
Western Roman Empire
Rome
Exactly when Christians first appeared in Rome is difficult to determine. The
Historians consistently consider Peter and Paul to have been
However, Irenaeus does not say that either Peter or Paul was "bishop" of the Church in Rome and several historians have questioned whether Peter spent much time in Rome before his martyrdom. While the church in Rome was already flourishing when Paul wrote his Epistle to the Romans to them from Corinth (c. 58)[117] he attests to a large Christian community already there[114] and greets some fifty people in Rome by name,[118] but not Peter, whom he knew. There is also no mention of Peter in Rome later during Paul's two-year stay there in Acts 28, about 60–62. Most likely he did not spend any major time at Rome before 58 when Paul wrote to the Romans, and so it may have been only in the 60s and relatively shortly before his martyrdom that Peter came to the capital.[119]
The original seat of Roman imperial power soon became a center of church authority, grew in power decade by decade, and was recognized during the period of the
Rome and
The earliest Bishops of Rome were all Greek-speaking, the most notable of them being:
Pope Victor I (189–198) was the first ecclesiastical writer known to have written in Latin; however, his only extant works are his encyclicals, which would naturally have been issued in Latin and Greek.[125]
Greek New Testament texts were translated into Latin early on, well before Jerome, and are classified as the Vetus Latina and Western text-type.
During the 2nd century, Christians and semi-Christians of diverse views congregated in Rome, notably
The Roman church survived various persecutions. Among the prominent Christians executed as a result of their refusal to perform acts of worship to the Roman gods as ordered by emperor Valerian in 258 were Cyprian, bishop of Carthage.[126] The last and most severe of the imperial persecutions was that under Diocletian in 303; they ended in Rome, and the West in general, with the accession of Maxentius in 306.
Carthage
Carthage, in the Roman province of Africa, south of the Mediterranean from Rome, gave the early church the Latin fathers Tertullian[127] (c. 120 – c. 220) and Cyprian[128] (d. 258). Carthage fell to Islam in 698.
The Church of Carthage thus was to the
Southern Gaul
The Mediterranean coast of France and the
Aquileia
The ancient Roman city of Aquileia at the head of the Adriatic Sea, today one of the main archaeological sites of Northern Italy, was an early center of Christianity said to be founded by Mark before his mission to Alexandria. Hermagoras of Aquileia is believed to be its first bishop. The Aquileian Rite is associated with Aquileia.
Milan
It is believed that the Church of Milan in northwest Italy was founded by the apostle Barnabas in the 1st century. Gervasius and Protasius and others were martyred there. It has long maintained its own rite known as the Ambrosian Rite attributed to Ambrose (born c. 330) who was bishop in 374–397 and one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of the 4th century. Duchesne argues that the Gallican Rite originated in Milan.
Syracuse and Calabria
Bishop of Reggio Calabria better source needed ]
MaltaAccording to Acts, Paul was shipwrecked and ministered on an island which some scholars have identified as Iudaea Province, to stand trial before the Emperor. Many traditions are associated with this episode, and catacombs in Rabat testify to an Early Christian community on the islands. According to tradition, Publius, the Roman Governor of Malta at the time of Saint Paul's shipwreck, became the first Bishop of Malta following his conversion to Christianity. After ruling the Maltese Church for thirty-one years, Publius was transferred to the See of Athens in 90 AD, where he was martyred in 125 AD. There is scant information about the continuity of Christianity in Malta in subsequent years, although tradition has it that there was a continuous line of bishops from the days of St. Paul to the time of Emperor Constantine.
Salonamartyrdom.[citation needed ]
Salona emerged as a center for the spread of Christianity, with Siscia, died a martyr in A.D. 303.[citation needed ]
SevilleIberian peninsula south across the Strait of Gibraltar into Roman Mauretania Tingitana, of note is Marcellus of Tangier who was martyred in 298.[citation needed ]
Roman BritainChristianity reached Bishop of York .
Christianisation intensified and evolved into Celtic Christianity after the Romans left Britain c. 410.
Outside the Roman EmpireChristianity also spread beyond the Roman Empire during the early Christian period. ArmeniaIt is accepted that Armenia became the first country to adopt Christianity as its state religion. Although it has long been claimed that Armenia was the first Christian kingdom, according to some scholars this has relied on a source by Agathangelos titled "The History of the Armenians", which has recently been redated, casting some doubt.[134] Christianity became the official religion of Armenia in 301,[135] when it was still illegal in the Roman Empire. According to church tradition,[citation needed] the Armenian Apostolic Church was founded by Gregory the Illuminator of the late third – early fourth centuries while they trace their origins to the missions of Bartholomew the Apostle and Thaddeus (Jude the Apostle) in the 1st century. GeorgiaAccording to Orthodox tradition, Christianity was first preached in Georgian alphabet was developed for that purpose.
India
According to Baluchistan (including parts of Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan), with laymen and clergy alike engaging in missionary activity.[136]
An early third-century Syriac work known as the Acts of Thomas[136] connects the apostle's Indian ministry with two kings, one in the north and the other in the south. According to the Acts, Thomas was at first reluctant to accept this mission, but the Lord appeared to him in a night vision and compelled him to accompany an Indian merchant, Abbanes (or Habban), to his native place in northwest India. There, Thomas found himself in the service of the Indo-Parthian King, Gondophares. The Apostle's ministry resulted in many conversions throughout the kingdom, including the king and his brother.[136] Thomas thereafter went south to Syrian Malabar Nasranis.[138]
Piecing together the various traditions, the story suggests that Thomas left northwest India when invasion threatened, and traveled by vessel to the Cochin in 52. From there he preached the gospel throughout the Malabar Coast. The various churches he founded were located mainly on the Periyar River and its tributaries and along the coast. He preached to all classes of people and had about 170 converts, including members of the four principal castes. Later, stone crosses were erected at the places where churches were founded, and they became pilgrimage centres. In accordance with apostolic custom, Thomas ordained teachers and leaders or elders, who were reported to be the earliest ministry of the Malabar church.
Thomas next proceeded overland to the Brahmins, who were fearful lest Christianity undermine their social caste system. So according to the Syriac version of the Acts of Thomas, Mazdai, the local king at Mylapore, after questioning the Apostle condemned him to death about the year AD 72. Anxious to avoid popular excitement, the King ordered Thomas conducted to a nearby mountain, where, after being allowed to pray, he was then stoned and stabbed to death with a lance wielded by an angry Brahmin.[136][138]
Mesopotamia and the Parthian EmpirePersia, was an important Christian city. Shortly after 201 or even earlier, its royal house became Christian.[140]
Edessa (now Apostolic Age (which may account for its rapid growth), and Christianity even became the state religion for a time.
The Church of the East had its inception at a very early date in the buffer zone between the Parthian and Roman Empires in Upper Mesopotamia, known as the Assyrian Church of the East. The vicissitudes of its later growth were rooted in its minority status in a situation of international tension. The rulers of the Parthian Empire (250 BC – AD 226) were on the whole tolerant in spirit, and with the older faiths of Babylonia and Assyria in a state of decay, the time was ripe for a new and vital faith. The rulers of the Second Persian empire (226–640) also followed a policy of religious toleration to begin with, though later they gave Christians the same status as a subject race. However, these rulers also encouraged the revival of the ancient Persian dualistic faith of Zoroastrianism and established it as the state religion, with the result that the Christians were increasingly subjected to repressive measures. Nevertheless, it was not until Christianity became the state religion in the West (380) that enmity toward Rome was focused on the Eastern Christians. After the Muslim conquest in the 7th century, the caliphate tolerated other faiths but forbade proselytism and subjected Christians to heavy taxation. The missionary Abgar V of Edessa communicated to Jesus, requesting he come and heal him, to which appeal he received a reply. It is said that after the resurrection, Thomas sent Addai (or Thaddaeus), to the king, with the result that the city was won to the Christian faith. In this mission he was accompanied by a disciple, Mari, and the two are regarded as co-founders of the church, according to the Liturgy of Addai and Mari (c. AD 200), which is still the normal liturgy of the Assyrian church. The Doctrine of Addai further states that Thomas was regarded as an apostle of the church in Edessa.[136]
Addai, who became the first bishop of Edessa, was succeeded by canonical gospels as a continuous narrative, whose original language may have been Syriac, Greek, or even Latin, circulated widely in Syriac-speaking Churches.[141]
A Christian council was held at Edessa as early as 197. Persia and Central AsiaBy the latter half of the 2nd century, Christianity had spread east throughout Seleucia-Ctesiphon , since this was an important point on the east–west trade routes which extended to India and China, Java and Japan. Thus the shift of ecclesiastical authority was away from Edessa, which in AD 216 had become tributary to Rome. the establishment of an independent patriarchate with nine subordinate metropoli contributed to a more favourable attitude by the Persian government, which no longer had to fear an ecclesiastical alliance with the common enemy, Rome.
By the time that Edessa was incorporated into the Arbela, situated on the Tigris in what is now Iraq, had taken on more and more the role that Edessa had played in the early years, as a centre from which Christianity spread to the rest of the Persian Empire.[145]
Bardaisan, writing about 196, speaks of Christians throughout Media, Parthia and Bactria (modern-day Afghanistan)[146] and, according to Tertullian (c. 160–230), there were already a number of bishoprics within the Persian Empire by 220.[145] By 315, the bishop of Seleucia–Ctesiphon had assumed the title "Catholicos".[145] By this time, neither Edessa nor Arbela was the centre of the Church of the East anymore; ecclesiastical authority had moved east to the heart of the Persian Empire.[145] The twin cities of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, well-situated on the main trade routes between East and West, became, in the words of John Stewart, "a magnificent centre for the missionary church that was entering on its great task of carrying the gospel to the far east".[147] During the reign of Shemon Bar Sabbae, the Patriarch of the Church of the East, however, the conversion of Constantine the Great to Christianity caused Shapur to start distrusting his Christian subjects. He started seeing them as agents of a foreign enemy. The wars between the Sasanian and Roman empires turned Shapur's mistrust into hostility. After the death of Constantine, Shapur II, who had been preparing for a war against the Romans for several years, imposed a double tax on his Christian subjects to finance the conflict. Shemon, however, refused to pay the double tax. Shapur started pressuring Shemon and his clergy to convert to Zoroastrianism, which they refused to do. It was during this period the 'cycle of the martyrs' began during which 'many thousands of Christians' were put to death. During the following years, Shemon's successors, Shahdost and Barba'shmin , were also martyred.
A near-contemporary 5th-century Christian work, the Ecclesiastical History of Sozomen, contains considerable detail on the Persian Christians martyred under Shapur II. Sozomen estimates the total number of Christians killed as follows:
Arabian PeninsulaTo understand the penetration of the Arabian peninsula by the Christian gospel, it is helpful to distinguish between the Bedouin nomads of the interior, who were chiefly herdsmen and unreceptive to foreign control, and the inhabitants of the settled communities of the coastal areas and oases, who were either middlemen traders or farmers and were receptive to influences from abroad. Christianity apparently gained its strongest foothold in the ancient center of Semitic civilization in South-west Arabia or Yemen (sometimes known as Seba or Sheba, whose queen visited Solomon). Because of geographic proximity, acculturation with Ethiopia was always strong, and the royal family traces its ancestry to this queen. The presence of Arabians at Pentecost and Paul's three-year sojourn in Arabia suggest a very early gospel witness. A 4th-century church history, states that the apostle Himyarites were among his converts. The Al-Jubail Church in what is now Saudi Arabia was built in the 4th century. Arabia's close relations with Ethiopia give significance to the conversion of the treasurer to the queen of Ethiopia, not to mention the tradition that the Apostle Matthew was assigned to this land.[136] Eusebius says that "one Pantaneous (c. A.D. 190) was sent from Alexandria as a missionary to the nations of the East", including southwest Arabia, on his way to India.[136]
NubiaChristianity arrived early in Christian Bible, a treasury official of "Candace, queen of the Ethiopians" returning from a trip to Jerusalem was baptised by Philip the Evangelist :
Ethiopia at that time meant any upper Nile region. Candace was the title and perhaps, name for the Meroë or Kushite queens. In the fourth century, bishop Monophysite priest named Julian converted the king and his nobles of Nobatia around 545 and another kingdom of Alodia converted around 569. By the 7th century Makuria expanded becoming the dominant power in the region so strong enough to halt the southern expansion of Islam after the Arabs had taken Egypt. After several failed invasions the new rulers agreed to a treaty with Dongola allowing for peaceful coexistence and trade. This treaty held for six hundred years allowing Arab traders introducing Islam to Nubia and it gradually supplanted Christianity. The last recorded bishop was Timothy at Qasr Ibrim in 1372.
See also
References
Bibliography
Further reading
External linksWikiquote has quotations related to Early Christianity.
|