Church History, Research Paper Example

The Early Church

The early church can be traced in the period from the crucifixion of Jesus to the first council of Nicaea (325 A.D.) which spreads in the 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th Century. The early church revered the Jewish scriptures but through the missionary experiences of apostles, they added their own writings[1]. A siege on Jerusalem led to the expulsion of Jews, among those who left was majorly the Christian population. The Jewish leadership that was comprised of circumcised men was replaced the gentile leadership that was comprised of men who were not circumcised. Many Jews occupied the Roman Empire in the 1^st Century; the Christian Jews did not pay taxes while ethnic Jews did. This made the Roman authority distinguish Christians from Jews.  In the year 49 AD, the Roman authorities expelled Jews during the reign of Emperor Claudius; Emperor Nero later allowed them to return but began the persecution of Christians after the great fire in Rome in the year 64 AD.

Christianity in the 2^nd Century spread considerably, while in the 3^rd Century by 250, the Christian population of the Roman Empire constituted of two percent of the population. Christian monarchies were established where Armenia became the first Christian country officiated by Gregory the Illuminator. By 380 Christianity was adopted as a state religion in the Roman Empire in the Edict of Thessalonica while Christendom rose in the Byzantine Empire. Christianity became more favored and significant over paganism due to its doctrine that addressed human needs. This early church was faced with inter and intra church conflict in leadership due to competing personalities and contradiction of doctrine due to competing ideologies. This cost the early church deaths of apostles Peter and Paul and the Christian multitudes persecuted by Emperor Nero. With the first council of Nicaea, this era of the early church ended, but this church has remained an ideal example to Christian unity

The Jewish Background of Christianity

The first of Jesus followers were Jews known as proselytes. They viewed Jesus as their long awaited Messiah in the Judaism religion in their expectation that the Kingdom of God had finally come. Many groups including church elders with a strong Jewish belief dedicated and inscribed Jewish catacombs to Jesus in the first century. The Torah and the Jewish law was faithfully practiced and even accepted among Gentile converts. Nazarenes were a sect of Christians loyal to the Jewish law who were later labeled as Judaists and denounced. The general labels for heresies were Ebonite’s and Marchioness after the condemnation of Nazarenes. Only Gentile Christians called the Pauline Christians remained as orthodox Christians.

The Ebonite’s differed with the Pauline Christians on the gentile’s coverts circumcision and the perception of Christ. Pressures from outside and internal schisms diluted the relation between the gentile and Judaism Christianity. Early Jewish followers also continued in the attendance of temple worship and home prayers according to the apostle’s acts and also fasted and observed holy days like the Passover. Circumcision according to the Mosaic Law was a major point of controversy especially in the first century. Notable were the many letters of Paul in his epistles to Antioch and Galatia to address these issues which threatened the very foundation of the Christian faith.

It is at council of Jerusalem in year 50 AD that apostle Paul was given mandate of mission among the gentiles. At this point, there was a parallel drawn between Judaism that was based on the legal acts of Mosaic Law which brought about righteousness with the apostolic Christianity that was based on faith through the works and righteousness of Jesus Christ. The council of Jerusalem decreed that male gentile converts were free to be circumcised or not but the rabbinic Judaists were strict to circumcise all male converts.

A rift between Jews and Christians which included a different tax system in the Roman Empire in which Christians were exempted and denied the freedom of Jews grew as the Christian community gradually became a gentile religion. As a result of naming Simon, Barkokhba as a Jewish messiah, Christians rejected Jews because they believed Jesus as their Messiah. A revolution led all Jews to be barred from entering Jerusalem which wiped off the identity of the Jewish Christian church in Jerusalem.

The Greek Background of Early Christianity

This can be referred to as the pagan of gentile influence on the early church in which the Hellenist and the Romans were a major influence. The Hellenists were ruled by Alexander the great while Romans were ruled by Roman emperors. Greek was a universal language in the first century like the 21^st century English language which influenced the writings of the early church even in Rome. The other language worthy of translation of Christian writings was Latin. The Greek language contributed to the translation of Jewish scriptures called Septuagint. The Greeks interaction with the early church lead to the issue of introduction of the Pagan culture and worship known as polytheism which was widely rejected by the Christian community. The polytheist ideology influenced social custom which included honoring of Pagan gods in ceremonies and as witnesses in courts of Justice. Christians refused to eat in Pagan festivals and were therefore sidelined as atheists and antisocial.

Christians were also mistaken in their ideology of faith in reference to the holy Eucharist where they had the symbolic un-bloody sacrifice of Christ and also their biblical marriage within the community of faith was seen as incest. The Greek background of Christianity can also be traced with the Arian controversy in the Greek speaking east whose teachings were heretical. Christianity was termed illegal in the Roman Empire by year 314 where many Christians were persecuted and Christianity was considered a deadly superstition as Christians were blamed for the great fire of Rome In year 64 and were treated cruelly by Emperor Nero. The Greeks are also seen to have greater citing about Easter in the Nicene Creed that we have today.

The Two Major Heresies That Faced the Early Christian Church

Arianism

This was named the most challenging heresy by the first council of Nicaea. It caused a major shake up in the fundamental Christian belief. According to this heresy, Jesus was denied complete divinity as God and was only a model created by God the Father to create the world and therefore with God in nature and eternity. Jesus was also different from other creatures as a direct creation of God. The Bishop of Alexandria excommunicated Arius, the leader, from the church and as a result of this controversy, the first Council of Nicaea convened to discuss this issue. They ruled that Jesus had the same Deity as God and had common equality and oneness of being.

Gnosticism

They were referred by the general word, secret knowledge. In many accounts of early church heresy, Simon Magus is a common figure and is perceived to be the founder of heresy. Valentius was a priest in the first century, who developed cosmology. He argued that the world was a prison created by evil spirit and the God of material world called demiurge. That God was the God of the Old Testament. This doctrine proposed that one would return his soul to the true God who dwelt in the realm of light. This mandate was given to Jesus the Savior who would be sent to the material world by God of light to liberate the imprisoned souls. The Gnostic elements could be traced in early Christian writings but have been refuted.

The gospel of John connotes Jesus as one connecting the spiritual and physical worlds but does not indicate that He is trying to escape any of them as taught by Gnostic beliefs. The Gnostic movement later in the century seems not to have made any attachments to the Jesus Christ and his teachings. This is because they claim that He was a false Messiah who perverted the beliefs and teachings entrusted to Him by His predecessor John the Baptist. This heresy influenced other heresies such as Marcionism and Montanism. Most of the Gnostic beliefs in the Alexandrian church were influenced by the Hellenic tradition that proposed that souls would escape the material world on earth and return to the spirit’s realm of light. Most heresies however emerged due to loss of confidence in popes and bishops who introduced monastery and autocratic leadership. They introduced orthodoxy in the second century of the early church while the Roman church struggled to gain dominance.

Two Dimensions of the Term ‘Catholic’

Catholic is a term that can be understood; one as the Christianity within the Roman Catholic Church, and secondly as a theory and practice of catholic theology in biblical interpretation. The second definition also refers to the study of man’s participation in the historical truth and knowledge. The first dimension discusses Catholic particular to the denomination while the second studies it as general and universal term.  The definition of this term can be traced from the origins of catholic as a universal church after the first council of Nicaea (325 A.D.). Hence the universal aspect of this term is defined. This is a deduction from the experience of the Christian community that is common for Catholics, Protestants, and Jews. After the Roman Catholic Church disintegrated to other denominations, the catholic tradition and philosophy remained with the Catholic Church in which comes an understanding within which each catholic stands to interpret reality. The universal catholic term is a philosophical definition of catholic while the Catholic Church interpretation of this term is a theological definition.

The Council of Nicaea (325 A.D.)

According to the Roman calendar, the first council of Nicaea was convened in May 20- July 25 in the year 325 by the Roman emperor Constantine I. This marked the first of the ecumenical councils. Constantine was a leader of a cult called Sol Invictus translated as Invincible Sun. He converted to Christianity with an aim to unite Christians under the universal Church of Rome. He therefore legalized Christianity that had been banned by emperors Nero and Lacinius.

The mandate of this council was to discuss major issues that disintegrated the early church. This council was of historical significance to attain consensus of all Christendom. Notable was that among the 1800 bishops invited by Constantine, only about 318 attended. These bishops brought each three deacons and two priests thus those in attendance were above 1500. This council was prominent especially with the end of Christian persecution through the Edict of Milan by February 313. Constantine did not vote in this council and was a mere observer but organized the council in the laws of the Roman senate.

He had first designated Ancyra in Galatia, today’s Ankara in Turkey, as an assembly of bishops (synods), but due to the Arianism division of the church there, Nicaea in Bithynia was a better assembly. There was great union between the church and the state hence Constantine provided his palace grounds as meeting place. There was a sharp contrast of the use of imperial power of the Roman Empire which formerly was abused in persecution of Christians and was now used in their favor. Constantine appealed for unity and peace among the church. The bishop of Rome was assumed to have held a position of authority over other bishops since Rome was the seat of power in government.

Arian Controversy

This controversy was a heresy that shook the foundations of the early church and even the Roman Empire which prompted the quick intervention of the emperor. Arianism believed Jesus was lesser God the Father in that He was a model for creation of other creatures, and differed in equality and eternity with God. This was declared a heresy and the council agreed on a common belief in the Unity of God, that Jesus was one in being with the Father and of the same substance with God. The Arian books were condemned and burnt by the council. All except two bishops alongside Arian signed this declaration. They were bishops Secundus of Ptolemais and Theonas of Marmarica. They were banished from the church.

The Universal Church of Rome

The council of Nicea officially declared the roman church as universal from which the word catholic means universal. The holy Roman Catholic Church was born of a pagan church in the roman government established in order to control the Roman subjects to participate in common worship alongside the roman citizens. The emperor commissioned the delivery of 50 bibles to the church which was also prepared for his successor son Constantine (337-350). This council also confirmed holy Mary as the mother of God which is affirmed even today in the catholic doctrine.

The Date of Easter

The Easter Sunday was to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus and a universal observance of this day was supposed by all Romans and this was supposed to be on a Sunday after the first full moon of the vernal equinox. This was stipulated to be after the Jewish Passover in the lunar calendar (14^th of Nisan). The change of the holy Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday was also agreed upon and the change of the date of birth of Jesus was fixed to December 25^th in the Roman calendar. Easter was introduced as an equivalent to the feast of Ishtar of pagan worship.

Alexandrian Patriarch

This was a question of canon 6 to bring order to the Alexandrian church after the melitan schism.  Ordination by Meritus was declared invalid and was therefore denied Episcopal rights thus only the bishop of Alexandria could ordain priests. This canon listed the metropolitan centers in order of importance. This was meant to establish order and responsibility to strong centers of Christian teaching. Alexandrians jurisdiction comprised Egypt, Libya and Petropolis. Alexandria was placed second to Rome while Antioch was third and Jerusalem fourth which was under the Jurisdiction of Caesarea. This is because Jerusalem had lost its Christian identity since the destruction in year 70 by Titus. The bishops under jurisdiction were Alexandra of Alexandria, Eustacias of Antioch, Macarios of Jerusalem and Sylvester I of Rome.

The Nicene Creed

Its distinctive elements included:

Jesus Christ divinity was proclaimed as (God from god, light from light, true God from true God).

Jesus Christ co-eternity with God is said to be begotten and not made. Jesus was God and not Gods creation

Jesus Christ is said to be the substance of the father which directly contrasts Aryanism

The 20 listed Nicene canons in summary were:

• Prohibition of self castration
• Minimum term for catechumen
• Prohibiting younger women in clerics house in case he is suspected
• Bishops to be ordained and presided by at least three provincial bishops and confirmed by the metropolitan.
• Two synods to be held annually
• Exceptional acknowledgement for patriarchs of Rome and Alexandria in authority of their respective region.
• Recognition of Jerusalem for honorary rights
• Agreement with novationists
• Mild procedure against those lapsed in persecution
• Removal of priests prohibited
• Prohibiting taking of usury among the clergy
• The bishops and presbyters to preside before deacons in Eucharist
• Baptism of Pauline heretics declared invalid
• Kneeling was prohibited during liturgy and the fifty days of Easter side

The Aftermath

Arianism did not stop spreading and cause division in the church in the fourth century since Constantine was succeeded by Arian empire. Though its intention was not achieved in the short term, the council of Nicea achieved long term effects in its doctrinal statements backed by the emperors. The canons of this council have been adopted by denominations to date. Bishop Athanasius of Alexandria was a great proponent of these canons and fought against Arianism after succeeding Bishop Alexandra. He was deposed in 335 by the first synod of Tyre alongside Marcellus of Ancyra.

The Influence of the Council of Nicea Upon the Church Today, Case Study: Greater Grace Church of the United Church of Christ

The united church of Christ was a member of the congregational organization which was part of the state church of Massachusetts which broke away from the Unitarian movement. This movement has a separate search for spiritual growth and do not share the creed. Today, the Unitarian movement shares in social justice initiative along side the united church of Christ. The United Church of Christ shares precepts in the council of Nicea unlike Unitarianism which traces its roots from Aryanism. Like the Nicene council, the united church of Christ has canons of the Holy Communion and Eucharist which are not present in the Unitarian church. These canons have been adopted in the statement of faith even among other churches such as the Roman Catholics, old Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, eastern and oriental Orthodox among other denominations.

[1] The four main Apostles were Mathew, John, mark and Luke