Early Church History

early church history

"the way": christianity ad 35-70

Acts of the Apostles suggests that, after the crucifixion and resurrection, although the disciples may have moved to Galilee temporarily, they returned to Jerusalem and the Early Church, or “the Way,” began from there.
The earliest Christians were apparently viewed as a “sect” of Judaism:
- Acts mentions that they continued to worship in the temple, alongside Jews with different beliefs.
Due partly to the fact that Christian claims about Jesus were viewed as heretical tension developed between Judaism and Jewish Christians.
Christianity was forced to move beyond Palestinian Judaism to find a receptive audience, and the first group it spread to was Hellenistic Jews.
- Acts preserves a tradition that “Stephen” was the leader of Hellenistic Jewish- Christians in Palestine.
- His martyrdom by the Jewish authorities caused Greek speaking Jewish Christians to scatter for fear of persecution.
- They took the gospel with them, and began Christian communities in cities throughout the Diaspora, including Damascus and Antioch.
- Soon afterwards, the Jerusalem church was forced to acknowledge the Gentile mission, and Peter traveled to Caesaria to preach there.
Around this time, Paul also began missionary journeys throughout the Diaspora, which although it may have been directed at both Jews and Gentiles, was more successful among the latter.
Herod Agrippa, a descendant of Herod the Great who was favored by the Jews, ordered a persecution of Christians in Palestine between 41-44 AD.
- James, “son of Zebedee” was martyred.
- Peter was imprisoned. When he was released, the church in Jerusalem was under the control of James, “the brother of the Lord.”
- He remained in control until 62 AD, when he was martyred by the Jewish authorities.
- Not much is known about James:
  - He is mentioned in Acts as the leader of the church in Jerusalem with little explanation why he was chosen.
  - In the gospel of Thomas, Jesus commits the church to him rather than Peter, as in MT (& JN).
  - He seems to have continued to believe that Christians needed the Mosaic law to be saved. His beliefs about who Jesus was are less clear.
- When Paul and James met at the Jerusalem council in 49 AD, they agreed on two separate missions:
  - One for Jews under Peter.
  - One for Gentiles under Paul, although he also appealed to Hellenistic Jews and “God-fearers.”
Herod Agrippa's persecution in 41-44 was one of the few formalized persecutions of Christians, and up until about 64 AD, most of the danger faced by Christians throughout the Roman empire came from Jews- the Romans themselves essentially left the Christians alone.
One possible exception: The Roman historian Seutonius mentions that the emperor Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome in 49 AD because they had instigated a riot over a "Chrestus"- possibly a reference to Jewish Christian tension in that city over claims about Jesus.
- Acts mentions that Prisca and Aquilla were expelled from Rome around this time, but the persecution was temporary. By the time Paul wrote Romans, the situation had subsided.
Then, on July 19, 64 AD, a fire destroyed two quarters of the city, killing thousands and leaving thousands more homeless.
- Suspicion initially fell on the emperor Nero, because the fire occurred in a part of the city that was crowded and run down- Nero wanted to rebuild it and extend his palace into it.
- Tacitus records the event:
  - He suggests that Nero may have transferred blame to the Christians, because they were hated and made for an easy scapegoat.
  - Tacitus claims that the Christians were executed not for arson, but for "hatred of the human race."
  - Ultimately, Nero's persecution was an isolated incident, and the Roman community was re-established one generation later.
Generally, it appears that Christians were not "sought out" by the Romans in the first century- they were only persecuted if they called attention to themselves.
By the time the Jewish Revolt broke out in 66 AD, relations between Jews and Christians had all but broken down.
- James had been martyred in Jerusalem by the Sanhedrin in 62 AD.
- In 67-68, Christians chose not to get involved in the revolt and fled across the Jordan to the Greek city of Pella.
- This was the final blow to Jewish Christian relations. Orthodox Judaism took control of Jerusalem, and Christianity there nearly died out with James. The Christians that did remain became a persecuted minority.

christianity ad 70-135: sources

This period of roughly 60 yrs spans the time between the two great Jewish revolts against the Romans (in Palestine).
- In 70 AD, the Romans burned the Jerusalem temple to the ground.
  - The city of Jerusalem ceased to be the capital of Jewish nationalism.
  - The temple tax was still collected but given over to the Romans as tribute.
  - However...
    - Judaism remained a legal religion.
    - Jews in the dispersion continued to proselytize.
    - Palestinian Judaism found new leaders in Gamaliel and Rabbi Akiba.
    - A Jewish academy was established at Yavneh.
    - By 90 AD, the Jewish canon of scripture (OT) was established, and Christians were formally banned from the synagogue and cursed as heretical.
70 AD also marks a time of significant change for Christianity:
- This date marks the end of the first generation of the “Jesus movement.”
- Most of the evidence for this period is literary, but it goes beyond what is found in the NT.
  Sources for this time period:
  - The NT documents, most of which are believed to have been written within 100 years of the death of Jesus (30-130 AD).
    - What is preserved in the NT actually represents only one type of Christianity, “orthodoxy” (means “straight thinking”). This is the type that one out against the others.
    - As it turns out, through the end of the first century until the middle of the fourth century, Christianity was probably as diverse as Judaism was before the First Revolt.
  - The non-canonical Christian Apocrypha
  - The writings of Early Church leaders, known as the "Apostolic Fathers":
    - Refers to the authors of a collection of Christian texts dating from the 1st and 2nd centuries AD (@90-200).
    - Each writing is believed to have come from an author who knew one or more of the apostles, or who had received instruction from the disciples of an apostle.
    - The teachings contained in these writings were believed to reflect the testimonies of the original apostles.
    - Several of these writings are probably as old as those in the NT.
    - Many early church authorities considered some of these writings to carry the weight of scripture, even though ultimately none of them were included in the NT canon.
    - Most of these texts were preserved in monasteries throughout Europe and remained virtually unknown until the 16th century (Didache was discovered in 1883).
    - For the most part, they are believed to be free from scribal corruption.
    - These texts:
      
      offer insights into the situations in churches in Egypt (Barnabus), Asia Minor (Ignatius, Polycarp), Rome (1&2 Clement, Shepherd), and Corinth (1 Clement).
      
      bear witness to the diversity of early Christianity.
      
      Contain ancient hymns and creeds used by the early church.
      
      Are concerned with the practical problems that arose in the day to day life of the early church.
    - They share the following beliefs:
      
      Jesus' return has been delayed, so
      
      The daily affairs of the church become important:
      
      Church membership & leadership
      
      Proper teaching and worship
      
      They assert faith in only one God, although they do not agree on the God-Christ-Spirit relationship.
      
      They take ethical standards for Christian living from the OT and Greek philosophy.
      
      They try to define Christianity as distinct from both Judaism and Paganism.
    - Most commonly, these texts are in the form of letters:
      
      7 genuine letters of Ignatius
      
      1 letter from Rome associated with Clement (1 Clement).
      
      1 letter by the bishop Polycarp
    - 3 are in the form of a letter, but may not have circulated as such:
      
      2 Clement, an ancient sermon associated with the bishop of Rome.
      
      Letter of Barnabus, an ancient sermon by an unknown author.
      
      Letter to Diognetus, an apology, or defense.
    - One text is apocalyptic:
      
      The Shepherd of Hermas
    - One is a church manual for instructing leaders and new converts:
      
      Didache
  - Another literary source for this time period is the “Ecclesiastical History” of Eusebius of Caesaria, a 4th century bishop whose history of the church covers the period from Jesus to Constantine (30-312 AD).

church leadership

By 70 AD, Christianity had spread well beyond the borders of Palestine, as we can see from Paul’s letters and Acts:
- It was focused in three areas:
  - Alexandria, Egypt
  - Antioch, Syria
  - Rome
We can see from the NT writings and the Apostolic Fathers how church organization began to change over the first 100 yrs after Jesus' death.
As the focus of the early church shifted from Jesus' imminent return to living day-to-day, the type of leadership that was considered necessary changed as well.
Initially, Apostolic leadership defined the church:
- In Palestine, there was probably an inner council among the twelve, of Peter, James, and John (sons of Zebedee).
- In the diaspora, apostles, such as Peter, Paul, the Beloved Disciple, would travel and found various faith communities that would live together, apparently as equals, awaiting Jesus' return.
- In these communities, there was little or no localized authority, and a dependence on correspondence with the apostolic founder.
- By the end of the first century, two factors led to a change in the structure of church leadership:
  - the apparent delay of the parousia demanded a more permanent and consistent form of leadership.
  - the rapid growth of the gentile church demanded a leadership structure that could maintain orthodoxy in communities spread over great distances.
  - In Palestine:
    - a group of twelve remained, acting as a Christian "sanhedrin."
    - a leader equivalent to a Christian "high priest" was chosen (originally James).
  - In the Diaspora:
    - first, apostolic leadership was passed on to "prophets and teachers," but these also travelled, focused on Jesus' return.
    - this gave way to local councils of "presbyters" or elders, who were put into office by an apostle or teacher by "laying on hands"- i.e. passing on the spirit.
    - These presbyters were presumably older members who had been around since the earliest days in the development of the church.
    - By 100 AD, this gave way to local bishops and deacons, sometimes with a council of presbyters below the bishop.
    - This arrangement was firmly in place by the middle of the second century.

the johannine community

An example of this gradual change in leadership can be seen in the development of the Johannine community:
Recall that the gospel of John was written between 90-100 AD.
John is actually thought to have been written in stages, with the final version edited around 100.
Jn 20:30-31 was probably the original ending of the book.
In the gospel, the conflict appears to be between Christians and the local Jewish synagogues.
- Most of John's language is directed against "the Jews."
- John mentions the expulsion of Christians from the synagogue.
- John claims that Jesus has replaced Jewish feasts and rituals, or superceded them.
- On what authority? He is himself God.
- This understanding of Jesus led John's community to have a heightened Christology.
Who had authority in John's community?
- In the earliest version of the gospel, apparently there was no authority figure in the community- except for the paraclete. Members of the community had equal access to the spirit.
  - Ch. 10 claims that Jesus is the only true "shepherd" or leader- shepherd being a key term used by Christians for the person who led a "flock."
- Now consider 1&2 John, written around 100 AD.
  - All of these letters are believed to be written by the same person, the "presbyter" mentioned in the greeting of 2&3 John.
  - Presbyter or elder suggests a leader or person of respect in the community.
  - In these letters, the conflict with Judaism has passed, and now the main conflict is internal, the "anti-christs" (1 Jn 2:18).
  - 1 John is written to protect a church that is part of the Johannine tradition from being influenced by the deserters, who were apparently sending apostles out to preach to other communities.
  - What were the anti-christs teaching that was wrong?
    - 1 Jn 1:5-9= They are sinful, yet claim they "are without sin.'
    - 1 Jn 2:9= They "hate their brothers."
    - 1 Jn 2:15= They "love the world and things of the world."
    - 1 Jn 2:22= They "deny that Jesus is the Christ."
    - 1 Jn 3:4-8= They sin, or fail to act "in righteousness."
    - 1 Jn 4:2-3= They do not acknowledge that "Jesus Christ come in the flesh belongs to God"
  - Generally, they seem to have denied the importance of Jesus' earthly ministry ("in the flesh"), and may have believed in an early form of docetism (derived from the Greek word for "to appear" or "seem")
    - Docetists believed in Jesus' complete divinity- but rejected the idea that God could be fully human at the same time.
    - For them, Jesus only appeared human, and therefore he did not experience human pain and suffering, esp. on the cross.
    - They believed that Jesus' physical or material presence was not important, only his spiritual presence.
    - If his "flesh" did not matter, then neither did theirs, so what they did with their bodies had no affect on whether or not they were saved.
    - Therefore, they could act however they wanted; they were "without sin."
  - How does the author respond?
    - 1 Jn 2:5-6= We know we are in union with Jesus when we "live as he lived."
    - 1 Jn 2:15= "If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."
    - 1 Jn 2:28= "If you consider that [Jesus] is righteous, you also know everyone who acts in righteousness is begotten by him
    - 1 Jn 4:7-10= We should love one another, because God himself is love, revealed to us through the Son he sent to be expiation for our sins.
    - 1 Jn 3:11-18= We recieved a commandment from Christ to "love one another." Whoever does not is a murderer and, like Cain, does not have "eternal life remaining in him."
    - 1 Jn 4:20-21= Whoever does not love a brother he has seen, cannot love a God he has not.
    - 1 Jn 5:6= Jesus came, "not by water alone (baptism/the spirit), but by water and blood (in the flesh)" [refers to Jesus' death in Jn, when water and blood pour out of him].
  - 2 John makes a similar plea:
    - 2 John 1:7= Those who "do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as come in the flesh" are "deceivers" and "antichrists."
    - In 2 John 1:10, the author goes so far as to warn his reader not to "receive" those who teach a false doctrine.
    - But it is not hard to see how these sorts of beliefs might have developed in a community that used a gospel such as John:
      - John focuses on Jesus' divinity
      - His Jesus never suffers, esp. when he dies confidently on the cross.
      - Jesus is "pre-existent" and incarnated (not born, like a human).
      - Jesus regularly claims that those who know him are "children of the light" and have eternal life, long before he dies on the cross in John.
      - One can begin to see where Christians might think of Jesus as only appearing human in the fourth gospel.
    - Consider 3 John:
      - This letter is believed to be written around the same time as the final version of the Gospel of John (circa 100).
      - Look at John 21 (the epilogue):
        
        This was probably written after the Beloved Disciple had died.
        
        Peter is given the three-fold command to "tend my sheep"
        
        Negating his three-fold denial of Jesus
        
        giving him authority as "shepherd" after Jesus departs.
        
        But doesn't this seem to contradict Jn 10, where only Jesus is the "Good shepherd"?
      - The letter begins with a greeting from the Presbyter, this time to a "Gaius."
      - The Presbyter has become frustrated with a "Diotrephes," who has taken control of one of the Johannine churches and refused to allow travelling preachers into his church.
      - But hasn't Diotrephes done exactly what the Presbyter himself advised in 2 John?
        
        He has attempted to keep out those who teach doctrine he perceives as false.
        
        He has, in other words, taken over sole authority in his community. He has become the "shepherd" of his church.
    - What has happened is this:
      - In the earliest days of the Johannine community, there was no formal leadership, no “shepherd.”
        
        Instead, the community was collectively guided by the spirit/paraclete, with members being seen as equals.
        
        The community may have originally found leadership in the testimony of the Beloved Disciple, but thought that continued leadership came through the presence of Jesus in the form of the paraclete.
      - However, as time passed, this form of leadership did not work, because various members of the church were guided “by the spirit” in various and contradictory ways. (Much like the Christians to whom Paul addressed 1 Corinthians)
      - A new form of leadership became necessary to insure that Jesus’ message was carried forth faithfully in to the future.
      - As a result, the community accepted the institutionalized leadership common in other churches, with a “shepherd” as guide.
      - The gospel of John was re-edited to accommodate this change in perspective.
      - Only because of these changes, and because of the presence of the Letters of John as an interpretive key, was the gospel of John accepted into the canon.

challenges to orthodoxy

While Palestinian Judaism became increasingly hostile to Rome. Diaspora Judaism did not, and Jews living outside Palestine often prospered. However, it could not compete with Christianity.
- This was mainly because Gentiles and "God fearers" were turned off by the rigorous demands of the Jewish law, esp.
  - circumcision, which they saw as barbaric,
  - and food or dietary laws which they saw as pointless.
- Christianity offered the chance to be part of Jewish monotheism and salvation history without the law.
Yet as Christianity spread, it constantly competed with Judaism for converts, and this competition forms the background of the NT and Christian and Jewish lit outside the NT, which was written around this time.
We can also observe from these writings the changing nature of the relationship between Christians and the rest of the world, as they struggled to define themselves against three groups: Judaism, Paganism, and "heretical" movements within Christianity itself.

christians & judaism

Christians tried to lay claim to the title of "true Judaism" so that they could claim ancient origins and therefore be protected from persecution by the Romans.
This led to bitter rivalry between Christians and Jews, which developed into Christian anti-Semitism.
Early on, Christians were apocalyptic, expecting Jesus' imminent return.
As time passed and Jesus did not return, many probably went back to their former ways of Judaism or Paganism.
Many early Christian writings attempted to respond to this:
- Hebrews, 80-90 AD
  - The author is unknown, but it was long thought to be written by Paul (ref to Timothy).
  - Not originally a letter, probably a sermon or homily.
  - Tries to demonstrate Christianity as superior to Judaism, by showing Christ as superior to individual elements of Judaism.
  - Themes of Hebrews:
    - 3:1-6= Christ is superior to Moses
    - 4:14-5:10= Christ is a more perfect high priest
    - 8:1-13= Christ has formed a more perfect covenant
    - 10:1-18= Christ is the perfect sacrifice
    - Jesus replaces and is superior to Judaism in every way
      - What does this mean to those who know him and reject him?
        
        2:1-4= If we ignore salvation in Christ, we will not escape judgment.
        
        5:11-6:8= To fall away after knowing Christ is to "recrucify" him, and to ultimately be "cursed."
        
        10:26-31= Those who show "contempt for the Son of God" will experience "vengeance."

christians & rome

Around 95 AD, the so-called persecution of Domitian occurred:
Domitian was the younger son of the emperor Vespasian, who succeeded his older brother Titus to the throne.
- He was emperor from 81-96 AD
- Traditionally, he is seen as the second great persecutor of Christians, but there is no clear evidence of this.
During his reign, Domitian revived the imperial cult, assuming the title "lord and god," and demanding divine homage.
- In 95, he sent his own niece Domitilla into exile, and had her husband, Flavius Clemens, executed for refusal to participate in the imperial cult
- in the same year he initiated a persecution of Christians (and, probably, Jews) in Rome and Asia.
- Apparently, however, no decision was made to persecute Christians throughout the empire as a matter of policy or simply for being Christian.
Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons, later claimed that it was during this persecution that John, author of Revelation, was exiled to Patmos.
Domitian's persecution forms the background to Revelation, and to many of the later letters of the NT as well.
The cemetery of Domatilla later became a Christian burial site, but there is little evidence that Domitilla herself was a Christian.
Much Christian literature from this period seems to be written in response to Roman persecution:
- It is not clear that Christians were ever exposed to systematic, empire-wide persecution, but it is clear that they occasionally experienced persecution from the pagan culture in which they lived.
- Christianity was seen as disruptive to Roman society:
  - Converts were often forced to separate from their families, who disapproved of their conversion.
  - Their meetings were closed to outsiders, which led to rumors of suspicious behavior:
  - The agape meal, or "love feast," often included a kiss of peace- it was sometimes portrayed as an orgy.
  - Since Christians referred to one another as "brother and sister," their relationships were often seen as incestuous.
  - Even worse, they were often thought of as cannibals because they ate the "flesh and blood" of the "son"- sometimes characterized as infanticide.
In ancient Rome, religion and politics were intertwined (unlike today):
- The success of the empire was seen as the will of the gods (incl. the emperor).
- All the gods were thought to ask in return was the proper sacrifice and due honor.
- The refusal to offer this sacrifice by Christians was a problem for two reasons:
  - It was seen as a rejection of the Roman state (treason).
  - If anything went wrong in a region of the empire where Christians resided (famine, drought, earthquake, etc.), it was seen as divine punishment for failure to offer proper worship.
    - The Christians were immediately blamed.
- The three charges brought against Christians were the following:
  - They were antisocial. They held secret, closed meetings which were seen as suspicious and conspiratorial if they came to the attention of a local magistrate.
  - They were sacrilegious. Since they did not participate in the recognized religion of the state, they were often portrayed as atheistic, and their denial of the gods was sometimes believed to lead to divine punishment.
  - They were dangerous. Early Christians were apocalyptic, and preached of a violent end to the world, typically describing the final judgment as a great fire in which the unclean would be purged. They were in some cases (Rome in 64, for example) accused of being arsonists because of this.
- How did Christians respond?
  - Consider 1 Peter:
    - The letter claims to be written by the apostle Peter, but this is doubtful.
    - It is considered to be pseudonymous:
      - Means written under a "false name."
    - It is part of the "Christian pseudepigrapha:
      - "False writings" (most written in the first half of the second century) ascribed to famous/respected Christians so that they would be accepted by their readers as authoritative.
      - There are many such writings outside of the NT (and in it, as well), and several are ascribed to Peter.
      - Most Christian writings from the second century are pseudepigrapha.
    - 1 Peter was probably written around 100-110 AD.
    - This letter actually mentions the Greek word for "suffering" more than any other NT writing, even Luke-Acts combined.
      - Clearly, the recipients of this letter were experiencing suffering/persecution.
      - SEE 1:6, 4:12-19
    - How does the author of 1 Peter defend Christianity against its critics?
      - Christianity is anti-social:
      - Citizenship: 2:13-17
      - Slaves: 2:18-25
      - Spouses: 3:1-7
      - 3:13-15
      - 2:11-12
In 112 AD, Pliny the Younger, the recently appointed governor of Pontus-Bithynia (on the coast of the Black Sea), wrote a letter to the emperor Trajan:
- The letter reveals the presence of Christianity in the province of Asia Minor.
- Shows the attitude of Rome towards Christians at the time.
- Pliny had been informed that attendance at and care of local pagan temples was in decline, and Christians were to blame.
- Those accused were brought before him and asked 3x to deny the accusation of being Christian. If they refused, they were executed.
- Pliny's concern was that Christians had formed a "collegium," or association, a word used to refer to secret societies, which were illegal in Rome.
- The Christian agape or communal meal was seen as an indication that it was an illicit association.
In 115-117 AD, Jews of the Diaspora revolted against Rome, esp. in Alexandria, Egypt.
- The emperor Trajan was busy on a military campaign in Mesopotamia.
- A Jewish messianic claimant named Lucuas/Andreas took the title of king and sought to overthrow the Romans at what he thought was an opportune time.
- The revolt was centered in Alexandria and Cyrene, both along the Northern coast of Africa. It also broke out on the island of Cyprus, with minor uprisings in other cities throughout the diaspora.
- Trajan committed two of his generals to ending the revolt. When it was over, thousands of Jews throughout the empire had been killed, and ties between diaspora Jews and Rome were broken.
- This inevitably benefitted the Christians, who essentially sat back and watched.
After 117 AD, anyone who wanted to accuse a Christian of a crime was brought under the calumnia procedure:
- This meant that a Christian could cross-charge his accuser, and penalties for false accusations were severe.
- This privilege was not extended to the Jews.
The emperor Hadrian took a bitter dislike to the Jews.
- In 130 AD, he equated circumcision with castration, making it a criminal offense.
- He ordered the full restoration of Jerusalem, but as a pagan city, Aelia Capitolina.
- After 2 yrs of minor conflict, a major revolt broke out in Jerusalem in 132 AD.
  - The revolt was led by Simon bar Kochba (son of the star- a messianic title), who successfully took control of the city from Rome.
  - Bar Kochba declared Palestine independent from Rome and began minting his own coins.
  - Rabbi Akiba endorsed Bar Kochba as messiah.
  - By 135 AD however, Rome had re-asserted control and nearly 1000 Jewish cities and villages had been destroyed.
    - Jews were banned from coming within eyesight of the city.
    - A temple was built in the city and dedicated to the god Jupiter.
    - With the death of Bar Kochba, Jewish messianic and apocalyptic hopes began to die out as well.

christians & heretical movements: gnosticism

Both Jews and Christians increasingly found an apocalyptic outlook unacceptable, and many began to react against it.
One such reaction took the form of Christian Gnosticism.
- These were Christians who believed that Gnosis (knowledge) was necessary for salvation.
- They saw the physical/material world as evil.
- Those who wanted to escape this evil needed knowledge of the spiritual.
- Christ was thought to bring this knowledge.
- Those who received the knowledge were saved.
Up until 1945, the only way we knew about Gnosticism was from the writings of its opponents, the orthodox Christian church fathers.
- In 1945 an Egyptian bedouin accidentally discovered a clay jar containing 13 ancient books, with a total of 52 literary works.
- This is known as the Nag Hammadi library- named after the place in Egypt where it was found.
  - Most of these writings were previously unknown.
  - All of the writings are in Coptic- an Egyptian language related to Greek.
  - The books themselves were made in the 4th century AD- but many of the documents were originally written much earlier, some during the 2nd century.
  - Many of these writings contain teachings of and traditions about Jesus that are otherwise unknown- and at odds with his NT portrayal.
Gnosticism probably existed before and independent of Christianity.
- It was a blend of various Greco-Roman religious and philosophical traditions.
- It appears to have integrated Christian beliefs just as it did those of other religions.
Basic beliefs of Gnosticism:
- Dualism: There are 2 fundamental components of reality
  - The material, which was seen as evil.
  - The spiritual, which was seen as good.
  - Gnostics saw the material world as inherently evil (by nature), therefore it could not have been created by the good or true God.
    - They did not see the struggle between good and evil as eternal.
- They thought the world had been created as the result of a cosmic catastrophe- and they told various myths to explain this.
- The divine realm: Gnostics believed that the true God had existed eternally- he was unknown and unknowable.
  - At some point, this divine spirit produced offspring (aeons) that were also spirit.
  - Acc. to some myths, an aeon named Sophia (wisdom) overstepped her bounds by trying to understand the entire divine realm.
  - As a result, she fell from the divine realm, becoming angry, afraid, and upset in the process.
  - These imperfect emotions took on a life of their own, and became imperfect beings.
  - These beings sought to capture Sophia and take her divine power.
  - They created the material world as a prison, and divided Sophia into countless pieces.
  - Each piece was then trapped in matter- specifically, each piece was trapped in a human body.
- Humans: Gnostics considered themselves to be those humans in which the divine "spark" was imprisoned.
  - They were the "elect"- and they did not belong in this world.
  - Gnostics thought of most humans as merely material, and destined to perish with the rest of the world.
  - The Gnostics themselves, however, could be saved, if they could learn how to release the divine spark within them.
  - How was this done? By acquiring a secret knowledge (gnosis).
- Knowledge/Salvation: Gnostics believed that only those who knew and understood their teachings and mythology would be saved
  - Of course, we don't know most of the content of this knowledge- because it was secret; only believers knew.
  - But we do know this: Since the material world was evil, it could not possibly be the source of this secret knowledge- such knowledge had to come from the divine realm.
  - The only way the knowledge could come into this world was if an aeon came down and gave the knowledge to humans.
- The divine "Christ": Gnostics believed that the divine messenger could not possibly be human- since that would mean that it had taken on the form of evil.
  - Therefore, the "Christ" could not have been flesh-and-blood, could not have been born, suffered, died. (Note that Gospel of Thomas has no birth story, no suffering, no crucifixion)
  - So how could Gnostics claim that Jesus was the Christ? They resolved this problem in one of two ways:
    - Some gnostics were docetic- they believed that Jesus only appeared to be human. He came in the likeness of flesh- but he was not really flesh.
    - Other gnostics thought that Jesus was flesh and blood- but that Jesus and the Christ were two different beings.
      - Jesus was seen as a righteous man that the divine spirit of Christ chose to dwell in.
      - Gnostics related this to the story of Jesus' life:
        
        They claimed that the divine spirit entered him at the moment of his baptism, giving him the power to perform miracles and teach gnosis.
        
        Then, just prior to Jesus' death, the divine spirit of the Christ left his body to die alone, feeling abandoned.
        
        After his death, the divine spirit returned to Jesus and raised him from the dead, so that he could appear to his disciples and give them the gnosis they needed to be saved.
    - In either case, when this knowledge was written down, it was done in a veiled, symbolic way that only gnostics themselves could understand- otherwise everyone else could possess the knowledge and be saved.
- The Church: Gnostics divided humans into three classes:
  - The elect, the Gnostics themselves who possessed knowledge and would therefore receive salvation.
  - Other Christians, who mistakenly thought they had the truth, but only had a superficial and literal understanding of sacred writings and doctrines. They would receive some sort of salvation if they had faith and did good works, but it would not be as glorious as that of the Gnostics.
  - Everyone else, who had no part of the divine within them, and would perish with the rest of the material world at the end of time.
  - Many Gnostics were able to hide themselves within normal Christian churches, looking like any other Christian
  - But secretly, they believed that they were a chosen elect, and the only ones who understood the truth about Jesus.
- Ethics: Gnostics were often charged by their opponents with acts of indecency of immorality.
  - Of course, these are the very things the Romans often accused even the orthodox Christians of doing.
  - Some Gnostics may have believed that since their bodies did not matter, it did not matter what they did with their bodies.
  - Most however seemed to believe that, since the body was evil, one should not submit to physical desires, since they too were evil.
    - Most lived celibate, almost monastic lifestyles.
- Scriptures: Gnostics tended to use one of these gospels:
  - Mark:
    - Says nothing about Jesus' birth
    - Begins with his baptism
    - portrays Jesus as very human, even abandoned.
  - John:
    - For docetic Gnostics, portrayed Jesus as more divine than human.
    - Focused on salvation through "knowing" Jesus. (8:32)
  - Gospel of Thomas
    - A list of 114 of Jesus' sayings, with no narrative.
    - Found at Nag Hammadi in 1945.
    - This book more closely resembles the book of Proverbs in the OT (or similar wisdom lit) than any NT gospel.
    - Claims to be written by Judas Didymus Thomas (Didymus= Gk for "twin"; Thomas= Hebrew for "twin")
    - I.E. Judas "the twin" brother of Jesus
    - He is a legendary figure in the Early Church, the subject of several non-canonical writings
    - He is mentioned in the NT in Mk 6:3.
    - In this gospel, Jesus entrusts his church to James "the Just" rather than to Simon Peter.
    - The author of Thomas is not concerned with Jesus' life and death (to the orthodox, this was how Christ brought salvation), but with his teachings, many of which only an insider would understand.
    - Since Jesus' physical existence was not important, neither was that of his followers- so the gospel does not focus on historical/worldly events.
    - There is no belief in a future, coming kingdom of God.
    - Rather, the kingdom is in the here and now- within each believer, not a physical place.
    - Thomas has many sayings that sound similar to Jesus' words in the synoptics, and many that are quite different.
    - What is the relation between them? Could it be that some of the sayings in Thomas that are not also in the synoptics are also authentic?
      - It does not appear that one source copied from another- there are no extensive verbal parallels (like Mk to Mt), only similar sayings.
      - Instead, it appears that the author of Thomas was aware of some sayings of Jesus and understood them in light of his own Gnostic myth.
    - Dating Thomas:
      - Although it is possible that some of the sayings in Thomas go back to the 1st cent, most likely the gospel as we have it does not.
      - Gnosticism as a movement within Christianity cannot be traced back to before the mid-second century.
      - This put the most likely date for Thomas as we have it at 150 AD or later- possibly much later.
  - Gospel of Peter:
    - This gospel's existence has been known since at least the 4th cent, since it is mentioned in Eusebius.
    - But none of its content was known until a fragment was discovered in 1886 in the grave of a Christian monk in Egypt.
    - The fragment only narrates Jesus' death and resurrection.
    - This gospel may have been used by Docetic or Gnostic Christians in the 2nd Cent AD.
      - v.10= "He was silent as if he had no pain"
        
        Did he "appear" to feel no pain because he in fact felt none?
      - v.19= "My power, my power, you have left me."
        
        Is the "power" the spirit of the divine Christ leaving the body of the earthly Jesus?
      - He is then "taken up," even though his body remains on the cross.
    - Other unique details:
      - It is Herod, rather than Pilate, who orders Jesus' execution.
      - In one scene, the disciples speak in the first person (v.27).
      - Soldier in charge of watching the tomb is named Petronius.
      - Includes an actual account of Jesus' resurrection and emergence from the tomb.
      - The cross speaks.
    - Gospel of Peter appears to have been written in the second century.
      - It has a heightened Christology.
      - It singles out the Jews as responsible for Jesus' death.
      - Features Gnostic/Docetic themes.

ebionites & marcionites

Some examples of other early Christian communities we are aware of, and what they believed:
- Ebionites (from Hebrew "ebion," means "poor"): name may have originally been self-descriptive, but it came to mean "poor in spirit."
  - They were Jewish Christians, ethnically Jewish and maintaining Jewish customs.
  - They traced themselves back to James, the brother of Jesus, who became the leader of the Jerusalem church after Jesus' death.
  - They were diametrically opposed to Paul, because they believed in keeping the law.
  - They argued that Jesus fulfilled the scriptures.
  - They maintained strict monotheism.
  - Claimed that "only God is God," Jesus is not God, he is God's Messiah; a very righteous man chosen by God to be savior of the world.
  - How did they justify these beliefs, in light of the NT?
    - They did not have our NT.
    - Their scripture was like our Gospel of Matthew, without chapters 1 & 2 (Eusebius claims that it was written in Aramaic).
    - They rejected the writings of Paul.
- Marcionites: named after the second century theologian and philosopher Marcion.
- About Marcion:
  - He lived in Asia Minor.
  - Around 139 AD, Marcion went to Rome to bring his gospel there. He stayed there 5 years.
  - He presented his theology to the first known official church council in Rome in 144 AD. It was rejected.
  - He went through Asia Minor converting people to his gospel, Marcionites remained there until the fifth century.
  - Marcion was a major follower of Paul, who believed that Paul had been given the true gospel.
  - He thought that the law of the Jews was at odds with Jesus' message.
  - He went so far as to say that the God of the Jewish laws was not the same as the God of Jesus.
    - Jesus represents the "good" God, while Moses represents the God that created the world.
    - Jewish God was "just"- and punished those who broke his laws.
    - Jesus' God had nothing to do with creation. He was the God of love.
    - Jesus was a temporary embodiment of the God of love, but his body wasn't "real" (not material, and therefore not from the "just" God).
    - Jesus' death on the cross allowed us to be rescued from the "just" God's punishment.
  - Marcion's canon:
    - A version of the Gospel of Luke.
    - Ten of Paul's letters, but Marcion thought that people who didn't understand the God of Jesus had corrupted these texts, so he re-edited them.
  - He was di-theist
  - He was docetist, seeing Jesus as fully God, but not human.
  - For him, Paul was the "true" apostle.

proto-orthodoxy & the canon

Proto-orthodox: These were the forerunners of orthodoxy; they opposed the groups listed above.
- They agreed with the Ebionites that Jesus was fully human, but disagreed that he was not God.
- They agreed with the Marcionites that Jesus was fully God, but disagreed that he was not human.
- They agreed with the Gnostics that Jesus was human and divine, but disagreed that he two people.
  - Jesus was fully human and fully divine; the three-in-one God, a paradox.
- The proto-orthodox came up with the 27-book canon to buttress their own beliefs about Jesus against opposing groups.
- It is striking that from very early on, early Christians saw the words of Jesus and the apostles as being as authoritative as the Hebrew scriptures:
  - 1Tim 5:18; refers to two sayings as scripture. The first comes from Torah, but the second comes form Jesus (see Mt 10:10).
  - 2Pet 3:16; some are corrupting the letters of Paul, just as they do the other scriptures (i.e., Paul=scripture).

The New Testament Canon: How did we get these twenty-seven books?
In the early second century, Justin Martyr lived in Rome around the same time as Marcion.
- He wrote three books defending Christianity from pagans.
- He mentions the existence of more than one gospel, but does not give a specific number.
Roughly thirty years later, Irenaeus wrote a five-volume work against Gnostics.
- He claimed there were four and only four gospels (book 3, ch. 14; Against Heresies).
- Irenaeus became so definite probably in response to Marcion.
The earliest known canon is the Muratorian canon, a Latin fragmentary text written around the second century, possibly in Rome:
- Contained twenty-two books from our NT, plus the Apocalypse of Peter and the Wisdom of Solomon.
In 367 AD, Athanasius, in his 39th Festal letter, lists the books belonging in the NT exactly corresponding to our own. This is the first time in recorded history we find such a list, and disputes still continued after this.
- Four criteria were used to determine canonicity:
  - Antiquity: Books had to be very old, and therefore closer in time to the ministry of Jesus and the first apostles.
  - Apostolicity: A book had to be written by an apostle or by the companion of an apostle.
  - Catholicity: The book had to be used widely (universally) throughout the church.
  - Orthodoxy: The book had to describe the faith of the proto-orthodox and not contradict it.
- By the end of the fourth century, the canon was fairly well agreed upon, and almost universally by the 5th and 6th centuries.
- There was one major divergence between the eastern and western canon: In Western Christianity, the Apocalypse of John was originally rejected, while in Eastern Christianity the Letter to the Hebrews was rejected. When the canon became universal, each side compromised by accepting both.

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