Download Introduction to Select Lectures in Church History

Introduction to Select
Lectures in Church History
21 February 2007
Ann T. Orlando
Introduction to Class
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Introductory remarks
Importance of Church History for me
Review Syllabus
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Primary sources
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Requirements
Structure of course
Course Web Site
Where are they?
How to read them
Periods of Church History
Background to Ignatius of Antioch
Importance of Church History
(or why I love Church History)
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Gives me the context for the theological answers
that have been developed and taught by the Church
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Often, can’t appreciate the answer without knowing the
question
Example: Jesus Christ whom we confess as one person
with two natures
Gives me an appreciation for importance of Catholic
Church in Western civilization
Gives the examples of holy men and women for me
to follow
Requirements
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Class attendance and active participation.
Each class will consist of two parts;
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Reading of one page papers and discussion by class
Lecture
The 1 page paper every week; should focus on the
primary source readings.
The paper should start with a one sentence thesis
statement, followed by supporting arguments that
answers the paper topic question.
Structure for Each Class Period
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One page paper will be read by classmember; followed by class discussion of
readings
Break
I will lecture on what the readings cover for
the coming week
I will review readings for coming week
Primary Sources and CCC NEXT week
See syllabus for example
Texts for Class
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Augustine, Confessions, trans. Chadwick
Handouts or web accessible readings
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Ignatius of Antioch
Benedict of Nursia
Thomas Aquinas
Martin Luther and Ignatius Loyola
CCC
Primary Sources
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Different, multiple sources each week; should be focus of papers
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Read everything critically
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Reference ancient works using Book/Chapter/Paragraph numbering
(e.g., Luke 1:1-4)
What issues is author addressing; how important is the historical
circumstance to those issues
Who is the audience
What is genre of the work (homily, thesis, poem, letter, Biblical
commentary)
Caution using Web Resources
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Anybody can put anything on the web and claim that it is
‘authoritative’
Many ancient works, especially early Church Fathers, are available,
but in older translations
Maintenance of a web resource is still on an individual basis; no
guarantee that information will be well maintained
What this class is NOT
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This is not a class in Church History
Not a systematic study of the major strands in
Church History
Not an analysis of historical developments;
each lecture self-contained.
So, What is it?
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Reading a few important, classic works in
Church History
Historical background of the reading will be
discussed
Historical and theological significance of the
reading will be emphasized
Importance of reading will be emphasized
through use of the CCC
Terminology: Periods of Church History
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Patristic: 100 ~ 700
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Early Medieval: 400 ~ 1000
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Crusades, Popes and Kings, Rise of Universities
Thomas Aquinas
Late Middle Ages and Reformation: 1300 ~ 1600
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Rise of Islam, Rise of Europe
Augustine, Benedict of Nursia
High Middle Ages: 1000 ~ 1300
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Rise and Fall (in West) of Roman Empire
Ignatius of Antioch, Augustine
Fracturing of Christendom in West; Fall of Roman Empire in East
Martin Luther and Ignatius Loyola
Beginning of Modernity and the Enlightenment: 1600 ~ ??
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Separation of Church and State
Rise of science, decline of faith
Background to Ignatius of Antioch
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Height of Roman Empire
Early developments in Christianity
Martyrs
Early heresies
Rome
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Traditional founding date of 753 BC
Started as a Republic ruled by Senate
Punic Wars, conquers and destroys Carthage 202
BC
Maccabees ask Rome for help against Seleucids
160 BC
Julius Caesar conquers Gaul 80 BC
Augustus defeats Anthony and Cleopatra (last
Ptolemy ruler of Egypt) at Actium in 31 BC; Roman
Empire established
Roman Empire existed in some form between 31 BC
and 1453 AD
Second Century
Roman Emperors
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The Five ‘Good’ Emperors: The Antonines (98-180)
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Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius
Good because the Empire prospered with excellent
government
Until Marcus Aurelius, each Emperor adopted a suitable
successor rather than relying on a son
But not so good for Christians; continued practice of
sporadic persecution
Also not so good for Judaism; Trajan and Hadrian both
pursued wars against Jews
Map of Roman Empire
fsmitha.com/h1/map18rm.htm
Roman Society
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Roman religion was a public, civic obligation;
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Roman Emperor increasingly was a general who was ‘adopted’ by current
Emperor (Augustus).
Cult of Roman Emperor as god in his lifetime was started by Nero
Roman household was composed of patron (father) and clients (wife, children,
slaves, business associates dependent upon him)
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NOT a way to have a personal relationship with Divine
‘mystery religions’ became very popular in 1st through 3rd Century Roman Society
(Cults of Mithra; Isis and Osiris; Dionysius)
Anyone who did not offer sacrifice for the good of the state was considered an atheist
Father had complete control of clients
Adoption was very common
Owning property was far more prestigious than commerce
Excellent road and mail system throughout the Empire
Note that the most Latin (least Greek) part of the Empire was North Africa
Development of Rabbinic Judaism
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During the First War with Rome 66-73 AD, the Sadducees, Essenes
and Zealots were destroyed
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Destruction of Temple in 70
In 117 AD the Emperor Trajan destroyed the Hellenistic Jewish
community in Alexandria; after this the Greek (or Hellenistic) Jews
seemingly either converted to Christianity or rabbinic Judaism
Second Palestinian War, Bar Kochba rebellion, 132-135; after this
war, Romans did not allow Jews into Jerusalem
The Pharisees were the group out of which rabbinic Judaism grew
in the 2cd and 3rd C CE. They reestablished contact with the
Mesopotamian Jews and their theology; rejected use of Greek
philosophy and parts of the OT written in Greek, not Hebrew
Hellenistic (Greek) Jewish theology was taken over, preserved and
used by early Christian theologians, especially in Alexandria
Christianity
End of First Century
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Christianity spread through missionary activities to urban centers,
especially with large Diaspora Jewish populations
Remember, when Paul writes Romans, he is writing to a
predominantly Jewish Christian community that he did not found;
he writes to introduce himself and his theology to Christians
already in Roman
Christianity appeared to most outsiders (and some who
considered themselves Christian) like another form of Judaism
Nero used Christians as scapegoats for fire in 64 AD
 Jewish Christian community was small
 Execution of Peter and Paul probably took place during this time
Rome quickly became the ‘capital’ city of Christianity
 Place where Peter and Paul died
 Capital of Empire
 “No one” left in Jerusalem
Christianity
Second Century
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Further distancing from Judaism
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Important centers of large Christian communities and learning:
Rome, Alexandria, Antioch
Christianity offers itself to everyone, including women and slaves
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Example: when to celebrate Easter: on Sunday or Passover?
Converts increasingly have no previous contact with Judaism
Notable for care of poor, widows, sick (ministry of deacons)
Notable because Christians are unconcerned with conventional
societal patterns (Church more important than family)
Notable for willingness to die rather than sacrifice
But there is not one type of Christianity
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One of earliest ‘heresies’ is docetism; Jesus only appeared to be
human
Another contested issues is that God the Father of Jesus is not the
Creator of OT
What literature written in 1st and 2cd C about Jesus is canonical
Who has authority to teach
Most Profound Experience of Church in
Second and Third Centuries: Persecution
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Why did Romans persecute Christians?
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Civic duty to worship gods
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In antiquity, what was old was honored (Judaism)
Christians seemed to be threat to social order
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Could also participate in other religions, but had to worship
gods
Christianity appeared ‘new’
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Because Christians would not honor Roman gods
‘Impiety’ not only not worshiping gods, but Church more
important than family or Empire
Most persecutions were local, sporadic
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Persecution of Decius c. 250 and Diocletian ealry 300s
were Empire wide
Christian Responses to Persecution
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1. Intellectual: Apologies written to justify Christianity
to Roman authorities
2. Facing torture and death without apostasy; often
even looking forward to martyrdom eagerly as a
proof of solidarity with Jesus
3. But, if you believed that Jesus only appeared to
be human (docetists), then there seemed little
reason to be a martyr yourself
4. Some did not have the courage when accused,
and so apostatized and/or paid others for their libelli
1. Response to Persecution:
Apologies
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Type of literature that often had the form of a legal
defense
It was intended for a highly educated pagan (i.e.,
philosophical) audience; often drew heavily on
philosophical concepts to explain Christianity
Tried to establish antiquity and respectability of
Christianity
It tried to show that Christianity was not to be
feared, but encouraged good citizenship
St. Justin Martyr wrote two Apologies; Tertullian
wrote an Apology
2. Response to Persecution:
Martyrdom and Christianity
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Martyr comes from Greek word for witness
Did not actually have to die to be a martyr,
but to suffer for faith (slavery, prison, mines)
Note: Romans tried to avoid creating
Christian martyrs; accused were given
several opportunities to offer sacrifice
Martyrs
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Real desire to prove the totality of Christian faith
(e.g., Origen On Martyrdom)
Those who died were (still are) considered heroes of
the faith
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Pilgrimage to place of burial
Remembering their sacrifice in “Acts”; Peter (Quo vadis);
Perpetua and Felicity; Justin Martyr
Those who suffered but did not die (also known as
confessors) were popularly considered able to
forgive sin of apostasy
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Problem for 3rd C bishops
3. Response to Persecution:
Docetists (Gnostics)
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Heavily influenced by Platonism
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Believed that Jesus was God, and therefore could
not suffer
Physical was not important; one should try to rise
above the physical to the spiritual
Martyrdom had little value
Knowledge (gnosis) of faith was a secret revealed
by God to individual, not taught and open to all
Docetists were bitterly fought by ‘orthodox’
Christians, especially bishops
4. Christian Response to Persecution:
Apostates (or Lapsed)
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Very often, after persecution subsided,
apostate wanted to return to Church
Some sought forgiveness from martyrs
Some Churches refused to allow them to
return; Church only for pure: Donatists
Some wanted them to be rebaptized
Church needed a uniform policy
Ignatius of Antioch, d. 112
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Seven letters to churches in Asia Minor and
Rome; among most important early Christian
writings
Note importance of suffering (opposed to
docetists)
Note importance of Bishop
Eucharistic references
Remember when he talks about being eaten by
beasts, this is not metaphorical, but factual
Church Organization
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Bishops, presbyters (elders, priests), deacons
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Bishop as leader very early on (Ignatius)
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Based on Biblical divisions
Bishops selected by presbyters and people; confirmed and
ordained by local bishops in area
Presbyters primary mission was to help bishop
teach, assist at liturgy
Deacons run the ‘business’ of Church; feed poor,
manage Church property and cemeteries; assist
Bishop at Easter vigil baptisms
Assignment
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Ignatius Letter to Romans
CCC: 2473-2474
Write 1 page paper suggestions: role of
bishop; importance of martyrs