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acampbell2491
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What were some of the reasons why pagans were suspicious about Christianity?
- * Christianity was misunderstood
- * Accused of sexual immorality and cannibalism
- * Their lifestyles provided sharp contrast to non-Christians
- * Appealed to lower classes
- * Thought to be unpatriotic and guilty of treason
- * Considered theologically absurd
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How would you characterize the persecution of Christians in the early church?
- * Came in waves
- * Not all Christians were fearless
- * Some found ways to live through times of persecution (hide or secured a certificate that says you made a sacrifice
- * There were martyrs who confessed Christ and died for the faith
- * Church continued to grow even during persecution
- Was it official Roman policy or was it more sporadic?
- * Sporadic; more by local feeling than by policy
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What was the significance of the Decian and Diocletian persecution?
- * Decius (Decian) � �general persecution� against all Christian leaders, against all Christians
- * Diocletian � �Great Persecution� all scriptures were to be surrendered/destroyed, churches destroyed, worship prohibited, clergy were arrested and executed for refusing to sacrifice
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How did the apologists help to clear up misconceptions about Christianity?
* They help correct misconceptions based on the ability to understand and speak to non-Christian objections
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What were the rationale and the significance of the conversion of Constantine?
- * Constantine appealed to any god who might help him defeat his rival Maxenties
- * Christ appeared to hi in a dream and told him to conquer in His name
- * He issues the Edict of Milan (a letter signed by emperors Constantine I and Licinius that proclaimed religious toleration in the Roman Empire)
- Why do some people question his conviction?
- * People say he pretended to do so because he knew it was politically better to authorize Christianity than to persecute Christians
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What was Gnosticism and why was it dangerous for the early Church?
- * Called the first and most dangerous heresy among the early Christians
- * Dualism of spirit (good) and material (evil)
- * Gain salvation-->must be enlightened with special knowledge to enable soul to return to God
- * Belief in demiurge�a good God couldn�t be responsible for the created order
- * Body (material) was evil-->body prompted pursuit of a course of self-indulgence and a divine being could not possess one (Docetism-Jesus only seemed to be real)
- * Salvation-->matter of knowledge; secret passwords and rituals enabled soul to pass through planetary region to return to God
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How did Christians utilize the �rules of faith� to combat Gnosticism?
- * Irenaeus used them to combat
- * It was a line of teaching that was in harmony with apostle�s teaching
- * All believers who held to the rule of faith were part of catholic church
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What was the significance of bishops in the early church prior to the formation of the New Testament?
- * Maintaining the doctrine passed on to them
- * Ability to determine who did/didn�t belong to the church
- * Had authority b/c many appointed by apostles
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What specific dangers did Marcion and Montanus pose to the early Church?
- * Marcion � �Thinline Bible� Cut out Old testament and some of New Testament; first to compile a list of �approved� Christian scriptures
- * Montanus � �Extended Bible� Declared himself to be �the Mouthpiece of the Holy Spirit.� He spoke in 1st person rather than 3rd; proclaimed end times had arrived; no marriage or sex; fasting
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How was the New Testament formed?
- * Christian writings (ex: letter of Paul) were recognized as an essential authority in the writings that placed them on same level as Old Testament
- * The Muratorian Fragment lists books being read in Roman Church
- o List includes all NT books except a few and included a few that weren�t included in NT
- * The Gospels were testimonies of Christ�s life and recognized as authoritative; �Memoirs of the Gospel;� 3 or 4 were eyewitness accounts
- * Rejection of these works by church demonstrates the authority of four gospels
- What criteria did the early church use to recognize books as canonical and/or to determine a book as non-canonical?
- * Apostolic authorship
- * Orthodoxy
- * Practicality
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How is a Catholic view of tradition and Scripture different from a Protestant view?
- * Catholic-->emphasis on tradition as a means of revelation
- * Protestant-->by faith alone, not tradition
- o Rom. 3:28, "For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.�
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What were the issues that led to the first four ecumenical councils?
* Accusations of misunderstanding the person of Jesus
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Which persons were accused of misunderstanding the person of Jesus, and which persons were responsible for correcting them?
- * Arius � �there was a time when Christ was not�
- o Council of Nicea corrected
- * Appollinarius � Jesus couldn�t have a human mind
- o Council of Constantinople corrected
- * Nestorius � the divine and human natures of Christ were essentially separate
- o Council of Ephesus corrected
- * Eutyches � Jesus was more divine than human
- o Council of Chalcedon corrected
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What was the outcome of each council?
- * Nicea-->Jesus is Divine
- * Constantinople-->Jesus is Human
- * Ephesus-->Jesus is one person
- * Chalcedon-->Jesus has two natures
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What was the significance of each theologian mentioned?
- * Tertullian
- o �Father of Latin Theology�
- * Praxeas
- o �trinity�
- o taught modalistic view of God
- o Father became son-->�Patripassianism�
- * Cyprian
- o The role of bishop became standard/customary because of him
- o �Outside of the Church there is no salvation.�
- * Origen
- o �All truth is God�s truth wherever it may be found.�
- o One of the most prolific writers-->800+ manuscripts
- o Died as a martyr; refused to deny his faith
- * Augustine
- o Donatist Controversy
- * Some Christians renounced the faith and handed over the scriptures
- * Donatus believed that traditores were no longer Christians; such priests were no longer qualified to serve
- o Essential problem with Donatism-->there is only one church�everyone agreed on this
- o Rejected rebaptism and the idea of a pure church on earth
- o Believed force was needed to remove Donatist threat
- o �Non posse non pecarre� means �Not able not to sin (or) only able to sin;� freedom of will means we are free to choose sin and sin is passed down physically
- o �Massa damnata� means �massive damnation�
- o The City of God (and the fall of Rome) � wrote history of world in light of Scripture under thesis that the plan of God couldn�t be set aside by any human sir or disaster
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From which theologian do we get the word �Trinity?�
* Praxeas
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What did Cyprian mean by the statement, �Without the church as mother, one cannot have God as father?�
- * there was an essential equation of the church itself with the community of bishops.
- * Outside of the church, there is no salvation
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What did Origen mean by �spoils of the Egyptians� and what was problematic about some of his teachings?
- * the people of God are permitted to make use of the truths of pagan culture and philosophy in the work of theology and biblical interpretation.
- * Christianity as an intellectual level
- * Cannot be dismissed simply as religion for the ignorant
- * Problem: Origen chose to ignore or alter reality to make it fit with his beliefs.
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What was the significance of Augustine in the Donatus and Pelagius controversies?
- * Donatus believed that traditores were no longer Christians; such priests (Augustine was a priest before he became bishop) were no longer qualified to serve
- * Pelagius � distinction between Adam and all who follow and original sin and process of salvation (anti-infant baptistm and predestination necessary if any are to be saved)
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How did The City of God explain the fall of Rome?
* Augustine wrote history of world in light of Scripture under thesis that the plan of God couldn�t be set aside by any human sir or disaster
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What is the irony of church history according to Dr. Chute?
* People are unaware of the main thing God is doing-->calling people to worship him
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Why do people seem to not know about church history or ignore it altogether?
- * It is assumed that Christianity is one part history and two parts propaganda�Jesus� followers made more of Him then He intended
- * Christian histories were simply bad history
- * Genuine spirit battle
- * Christians have failed to live up to their own standards
- * Shift between the ways people understand history, as reason replaced the church and the Bible as central means of authority
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In what ways is a Christian view of history different than secular history?
- * Christians view history from a Trinitarian perspective
- o Implications of a Christian view of history:
- * History isn�t cyclical
- * Not always progressive
- * Not always clear
- * Not complete
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In what ways did Christians value their Jewish heritage?
- * Strong Jewish roots� continued to participate in the religious life of the Jewish people
- o Observe Jewish laws, attend synagogue
- o Read and studied OT
- o Worship matched worship in synagogues
- o Baptism was similar
- * Portions of NT written with Jewish people in mind
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What tensions existed between Christians and Jews in the early church?
- * Persecution by Jews
- * Flood of gentile converts to Christian religion
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How was the crisis of self-definition resolved?
- * Christianity spread outside Jewish boundaries
- * Conversion of Saul
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What are the four reasons why the gospel spread, according to Bruce Shelley?
- * Christians were convinced that Jesus rode from the dead and they shared story with others
- * The Gospel message met the needs of people who wondered if God cared for them or could help them
- * Practical expressions of Christian love won people over to the Christian life
- * Christians often stood firm in times of public persecution
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