Early Christianity

Early Christian image of Christ as the Good Shepherd. Second century.

The term Early Christians here refers to Christians of the period before the First Council of Nicaea (325). In a narrow sense the term is sometimes used of the very first followers of Jesus of Nazareth as preached by his Twelve Apostles, their contemporaries, and their immediate successors.

Origin

Third century Coptic bust showing early use of wearing a cross (3D image)

Christianity began as a Jewish sect during the late Second Temple period of the 1st century (, , ). Other Jewish sects of that time period were the Sadducees (), the Essenes and the Pharisees (, ). Their distinguishing mark was their belief that Jesus was the Messiah or Christ, two words (the first of Aramaic, the second of Greek derivation) meaning Anointed ; ; ; ; ; etc.. Even though Jesus had been crucified, they believed that "God raised him from the dead", , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , that he "had risen", , , , , , , , ,, and that he ascended to heaven, and would return again to fulfil the rest of Messianic prophecy. Their belief quickly spread to non-Jews, whom the Jews called Gentiles. This spread was seen as fulfilment of Bible prophecy such as () and () and (). See also proselyte.

Among the earliest Christians, the apostles had an acknowledged leadership role, as shown, for instance, in the following episodes recounted in the Acts of the Apostles: it was in their teaching that the first Christians "continued steadfastly" (Acts ); they sent envoys to enquire into novelties that arose (Acts ); appeal was made to them, along with the elders, to settle a dispute about the obligations of Christians (Acts ). Some of Jesus' relatives were also prominent early Christians, his mother being a notable follower, and two of his four named brothers from the New Testament, James the Just and Jude, and Simeon of Jerusalem were noted as leaders.

Later writings, such as the Gospel of Mary Magdalene (which survives in two third-century Greek fragments and a longer fifth-century translation into Coptic), attributed prominence among the earliest Christians also to certain individuals mentioned in the canonical (first-century) Gospels as associated with Jesus during his lifetime, such as Mary Magdalene, Salome [1], Lazarus of Bethany and his sisters Martha and Mary, and Nicodemus. Some of these documents present the figures in question as being among the leadership of the apostles. See, for example Sophia of Jesus Christ

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[2], 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

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."

Bauer's was admittedly a minority opinion in contrast to the view (which he himself 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 of Antioch's Letter to the Smyrnaeans was called catholic (Smyrnaeans, 8), and which condemned doctrines that it judged to be incompatible with the teaching of the bishop: "Follow, all of you, the bishop, as Jesus Christ followed the Father ... wheresoever Christ Jesus is, there is the Catholic Church."; 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 earliest recorded use of the term Christianity (Greek Χριστιανισμός) is by Ignatius, for example in his Letter to the Magnesians 10 (68-107)Walter Bauer, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, 2ed., 1979. According to the term Christian (Greek and variant , Strong's G5546) was first used in Antioch. Ignatius also rejected Judaizing (Mag 10.3), perhaps the Sabbath (Mag 9.1), and advocated the bishop (Eph 6:1, Mag 2:1,6:1,7:1,13:2, Tr 3:1, Smy 8:1,9:1).

The New Testament itself contains warnings against teachings considered to be only masquerading as those of Jesus (for instance, the Olivet discourse, , 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.

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.

Gnosticism was seen as particularly incompatible with other forms 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).

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. According to Tertullian 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."

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.[3] [4] Also significant was Montanism, from which some draw parallels to Pentecostalism.

Organization

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 (in 397 a.d.) 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, not of their lives.{| valign="top" |
*Paul of Tarsus 35~65
*Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, 68~107
*Clement, bishop of Rome, 88~101
*Papias, bishop of Hierapolis, 110~130
*Marcion of Sinope, rejected the Old Testament, declared heretical in 144
*Valentinius (+153), Gnostic, declared heretical in 175
*Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, 110~160
*Justin Martyr ~165
*Melito, bishop of Sardis, ~180
*Tatian ~185
*Athenagoras of Athens ~190
*Polycrates, bishop of Ephesus, ~196
*Montanus, self-proclaimed prophet and founder of Montanism, last quarter of second century