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The term Early Christianity here refers to Christianity of the period after the Death of Jesus c.33 and before the First Council of Nicaea in 325. In a narrow sense the term is sometimes used of the very first followers (disciples) of Jesus of Nazareth as preached by his Twelve Apostles, their contemporaries, and their immediate successors. Origin
Persecution From the beginning, Christians were subject to various persecutions. This involved even death for Christians such as Stephen () and James the brother of John (). Saul, who later converted to Christianity and is best known as Paul of Tarsus, the "Apostle to the Gentiles" (, ), was a vigorous agent (, ) in the persecution by the Jerusalem authorities, having been present at the stoning of Stephen and approving it (, , ). Larger-scale persecutions followed at the hands of the authorities of the Roman Empire, beginning with the year 64, when, as reported by the Roman historian Tacitus, the Emperor Nero blamed them for that year's great Fire of Rome. In spite of these at-times intense persecutions, the Christian religion continued its spread throughout the Mediterranean Basin. Orthodoxy and orthopraxy The early Christian community had a number of different divisions, including some of them that were considered heretical. There were, of course, different strands of theological opinion among the early Christians, as there are even among those who fully adhere to a faith as highly articulated as that of today's Roman Catholic Church. The room for theological differences within the same body was then greater, since reflection was only beginning on many matters on which the Church reached a conclusion only later. "No Mainstream" theory Some claim that Christianity at first had no established orthodoxy or orthopraxy. Walter Bauer, in his Rechtgläubigkeit und Ketzerei im ältesten Christentum (Tübingen 1934; translated as Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity 1971), developed the thesis that, in earliest Christianity, orthodoxy and heresy do not stand in relation to one another as primary to secondary, but in many regions heresy is the original manifestation of Christianity. Bauer reassessed as a historian the overwhelmingly dominant view that for the period of Christian origins, ecclesiastical doctrine already represented what is primary, while heresies, on the other hand, are somehow a deviation from the genuine (Bauer, Introduction). A similar view has been put forward by Bentley Layton, that different versions of Christianity flourished side by side, each holding to its own beliefs as the true version. He wrote, "the lack of uniformity in ancient Christian scripture in the early period is very striking, and it points to the substantial diversity within the Christian religion." Mainstream Christianity Bauer's was admittedly a minority opinion in contrast to the view - which he himself, as quoted above, calls "the overwhelmingly dominant view" - that there were, in the early centuries, not just a variety of groups of equal standing, all claiming to be Christian, but also a clear mainstream Christianity which, as shown in Ignatius, the 3rd bishop of Antioch's Letter to the Smyrnaeans was called catholic, and which condemned doctrines that it judged to be incompatible with the teaching of the bishop: "Avoid divisions, as the beginning of evil. Follow, all of you, the bishop, as Jesus Christ followed the Father ... Wheresoever the bishop appears, there let the people be, even as wheresoever Christ Jesus is, there is the Catholic Church" (Smyrnaeans, 8); even to the extent of referring to those who propagated such beliefs as "beasts in the shape of men, whom you must not only not receive, but, if it be possible, not even meet with" (Smyrnaeans, 4). The term "Christianity" The earliest recorded use of the term Christianity (Greek ) is by Ignatius of Antioch, at the start of the second century. Of the two recensions of Ignatius's letters, the longer is considered to be interpolated and inauthentic. Only the shorter will be considered here. Ignatius's Letter to the Magnesians has three instances of the word "Christianity": CHAPTER X.--BEWARE OF JUDAIZING. Let us not, therefore, be insensible to His kindness. For were He to reward us according to our works, we should cease to be. Therefore, having become His disciples, let us learn to live according to the principles of Christianity. For whosoever is called by any other name besides this, is not of God. Lay aside, therefore, the evil, the old, the sour leaven, and be ye changed into the new leaven, which is Jesus Christ. Be ye salted in Him, lest any one among you should be corrupted, since by your savour ye shall be convicted. It is absurd to profess Christ Jesus, and to Judaize. For Christianity did not embrace Judaism, but Judaism Christianity, that so every tongue which believeth might be gathered together to God."* * The English translation by J.B. Lightfoot of the shorter recension of Ignatius's Letter to the Romans, chapter 3, also contains the word "Christianity": Ye never grudged any one; ye were the instructors of others. And my desire is that those lessons shall hold good which as teachers ye enjoin. Only pray that I may have power within and without, so that I may not only say it but also desire it; that I may not only be called a Christian, but also be found one. For if I shall be found so, then can I also be called one, and be faithful then, when I am no more visible to the world. Nothing visible is good. For our God Jesus Christ, being in the Father, is the more plainly visible. The Work is not of persuasiveness, but Christianity is a thing of might, whensoever it is hated by the world. The modernizations of Lightfoot given on several websites also have the word "Christianity". There is disagreement among websites about the Roberts-Donaldson English translation of the shorter recension of this one chapter, though they have exactly the same text for all the other chapters. Some, such as this example give a text that contains the word "Christianity": Chapter III.-Pray Rather that I May Attain to Martyrdom. Ye have never envied any one; ye have taught others. Now I desire that those things may be confirmed by your conduct, which in your instructions ye enjoin on others. Only request in my behalf both inward and outward strength, that I may not only speak, but truly will; and that I may not merely be called a Christian, but really be found to be one. For if I be truly found a Christian, I may also be called one, and be then deemed faithful, when I shall no longer appear to the world. Nothing visible is eternal. "For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." For our God, Jesus Christ, now that He is with the Father, is all the more revealed in His glory. Christianity is not a thing of silence only, but also of manifest greatness. Others, such as this give a text that does not contain the word "Christianity" and that is identical with the text that the other set of sites present as belonging to the longer recension. Which is the true text of the shorter recension of Romans, chapter III? There is doubt about what is the text of the Roberts-Donaldson translation, but none about the Lightfoot translation, which does contain the word "Christianity". Moreover, the Greek text given as the original of the shorter recension does contain the word "Christianity": "" This same text , containing the word "", is given also in The Apostolic Fathers: Greek Texts and English Translations (Paperback) by Michael W. Holmes (Editor), Baker Academic; Revised edition (November 1999), ISBN: 0801022258. Whether Ignatius used the term "" four times or only three, nothing in any of the contexts in which he used it can be pointed to as indicating that he considered it a neologism. It is simply the abstract form of the word "" ("Christian"), which he uses repeatedly in his letters. In fact, according to , the term "Christian" (Greek "" - Strong's G5546) was first used some seventy years earlier, in the early 40s of the first century, while Ignatius, on the other hand, wrote his letters on his way to martyrdom in Rome in about 110. In a modern version, such as NIV, the generally accepted text of is translated as: "... when he Barnabas found him Saul, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch." The Western version of Acts, which no modern Bible version chooses as the basis for its text, gives the verse in the form: "And having heard that Saul was at Tarsus, he went out to seek him; and when he met him he exhorted him to come to Antioch. And they, when they had come, for a whole year were gathered together ... much people, and the disciples were called Christians then first in Antioch"; or, according to Bruce Metzger, "... when they had come, for a whole year a large company of people were stirred up, and then for the first time the disciples in Antioch were called Christians." According to , King Agrippa II used the term "Christian" when interrogating Paul, while in contrast, the earlier presented the lawyer Tertullus accusing Paul of being "a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes". The term "Christian" also appears in . It has been theorized that the term "Christian" was associated with the activity of Paul in encouraging non-Jewish believers in Jesus not to adopt Jewish customs, but this theory is disputed (see also New Perspective on Paul). Also, the so-called "Jewish customs", the Halakah of Rabbinic Judaism, were still under development at this time, as the Jewish Encyclopedia article ''Jesus'' affirms: "Jesus, however, does not appear to have taken into account the fact that the Halakah was at this period just becoming crystallized, and that much variation existed as to its definite form; the disputes of the Bet Hillel and Bet Shammai were occurring about the time of his maturity." On the topic of Paul (who was himself Jewish, as he stressed in ) and "Jewish customs", the Catholic Encyclopedia article ''Judaizers'' writes: "Paul, on the other hand, not only did not object to the observance of the Mosaic Law, as long as it did not interfere with the liberty of the Gentiles, but he conformed to its prescriptions when occasion required (). Thus he shortly after circumcised Timothy (), and he was in the very act of observing the Mosaic ritual when he was arrested at Jerusalem ( sqq.)." Theological disputes in the New Testament The idea of an orthodoxy and orthopraxy is found in the New Testament itself, which contains warnings against teachings considered to be only masquerading as those of Jesus (for example, the Sermon on the Mount, Olivet discourse, But to bring a sword, Rejection of Jesus, , , 2 Corinthians ; 2 Peter ; 2 John ; Jude ), and shows how reference was made to the leaders of the Jerusalem Church to decide what was correct doctrine and practice: Acts , see also Council of Jerusalem. Gnosticism Gnosticism was seen as particularly incompatible with what became recognized as the mainstream form of Christianity, which insisted on the reality and essential importance of the life and death of Jesus (cf. 1 John , and the Letter of Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans). Some scholars believe that there were at least three distinct divisions within the Christian movement of the 1st century AD: the Jewish Christians (led by the Apostle James the Just, with Jesus's disciples, and their followers), Pauline Christians (followers of St. Paul) and Gnostic Christians (people who generally believed that salvation came through secret knowledge and introspection — see, for example, and ). Other scholars believe that Gnostic Christianity was a later development, sometime around the middle or late second century, around the time of Valentinus. Gnosticism was in turn made up of many smaller groups, some of which did not claim any connection to Jesus Christ. It is argued that Marcionism is mistakenly reckoned among the Gnostics, and really represents a fourth interpretation of the significance of Jesus.* * According to Tertullian in Adversus Valentinianos, iv, Valentinus was a candidate for Bishop of Rome (the date would be about 143) and, when passed over in favour of another, "marked out a path for himself" distinct from that of the mainline Christian Church. The 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica article on Valentinus suggests that Valentinus did not break with the Church from the very beginning, but "endeavoured as long as possible to maintain his standing within it." Marcionism In 144, the Church in Rome expelled Marcion of Sinope as a heretic. He thereupon set up his own separate ecclesiastical organization, later called Marcionism. Like the Gnostics, he promoted dualism. Unlike the Gnostics, however, he founded his beliefs not on secret knowledge but on the vast difference between what he saw as the "evil" deity of the Old Testament and the God of love of the New. Montanism In the 2nd century CE, Montanism spread across the Roman Empire. It even boasted Tertullian as a convert. The sect's ecstasy, speaking in tongues, and other details are similar to those found in Pentecostalism. Organization Despite Ignatius' rejection of Judaizing, see above, Christianity continued many of the patterns of Judaism, adapting to Christian use synagogue liturgical worship, prayer, use of Sacred Scripture, a priesthood, a religious calendar commemorating on certain days each year certain events and/or beliefs, use of music in worship, giving material support to the religious leadership, and practices such as fasting and almsgiving and baptism. Christians adopted as their Bible the Greek translation of the Jewish Scriptures known as the Septuagint and later also canonized the books of the New Testament. There are however many phrases which appear to be quotations and other statements of fact, in the early church fathers, which cannot be found in the Bible as we know it. For example in Clement's First Letter he states that Paul "reached the limits of the West", and also appears to quote a variant form of Ezek 33. A Church hierarchy seems to have been in development at latest by the time of the writing of the Pastoral Epistles in the latter half of the first century, and these structures were certainly formalized well before the end of the Early Christian period, which concluded with the legalization of Christianity in 313 and the holding of the First Council of Nicea in 325. The Didache, which has been variously dated from 50 to 120 AD, speaks of "appointing for yourself bishops and deacons" and also speaks about teachers and prophets and false prophets. Significant Early Christian writers Dates given, if not otherwise specified, are of their writings or bishopric, not of their lives. Significant Early Christian texts of disputed authorship See also Scholars | |||||||||
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