In The Beginning …
of the Church
1 minute = 8 years
Filling in the Gap
Persia (539-330BC)
High Priest – local ruler
Judea limited freedom
Descent through mother
Synagogues
Alexander (330-323BC)
Hellenism (koine)
Still limited freedom
Ptolemies & Seleucids
Hellenism (optional)
Still limited freedom
Maccabees &
Hasmonean Period
Antiochus IV ‘Epiphanes’ (175BC)
Forced Hellenization
Judah Maccabee ‘the Hammer’
Jerusalem 164BC – Hanukkak
Hasmoneans – Independence
Monotheism finally, forever
Purity, law newly emphasized
Hasmonean civil war 63BC
Pompey, later Caesar (Roman)
Jewish Political/Religious Parties
Pharisees
Laymen, not priests (Saul/Paul)
Resurrection
Predestination & Free will
compatible
Letter of the Law, not the Spirit
Sadducees
Temple priests
Free will
No afterlife/resurrection (Dan 12:2;
Acts 23:8)
Torah only (1st 5 books)
Essenes
Predestination
Communal, silent meals
DO NOT GO TO TEMPLE
Herod the Great
Governor of Galilee (47-40BC)
NOT Hasmonean
Parthian invasion (40BC)
Flees to Rome
Made ‘King of the Jews’ (40-4BC)
By decree of Roman Senate
Married Hasmonean princess
Recaptured Jerusalem (37BC)
Upgraded Temple
Built pagan temples, too
Gen 49:10-11; Num 24:17; Isa 11:1-9
Guess who crashes
this party?
Now after Jesus was born in
Bethlehem of Judea in the days
of Herod the king, magi from the
east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,
“Where is He who has been born
King of the Jews? For we saw his
star in the east and have come to
worship Him.”
When Herod the king heard this,
he was troubled, and all
Jerusalem with him.
Matt 2:2-3 (NASB)
A
th
4
Jewish Sect?
Resurrection (Sorry, Sadducees)
“The Way” a Jewish Sect
Attended Temple
Followed rituals
Observed dietary laws
Spread the Gospel (Acts 13:15-16)
What of “God Fearers”?
Jerusalem Council (49-50AD)
Acts 15:1-30; Amos 9:11-12
Destruction of Jerusalem (70AD)
Church now Gentile
Pilgrim Church
Greek philosophies
Justin Martyr and Origen
Order, justice, and beauty
Pax Romana (27BC-180AD)
Ideal for spread of Gospel
Roman theological pluralism
Emperor Domitian (81-96)
Dominus et Deus
“Lord and God”
Anti-Christian pogroms begin
How did
Ignatius of
Antioch face
martyrdom?
“I hope to obtain by your
prayers, the privilege of
fighting with the beasts at
Rome. Suffer me to be
eaten by the beasts, that I
may be found the pure
bread of Christ. Entice the
wild beasts that they may
become my tomb, and leave
no trace of my body. Then
shall I truly be a disciple of
Jesus Christ, when the
world shall not even see my
body.”
©Witnesses impressed with Christian steadfastness
©Some Romans converted BECAUSE of martyr courage
©Stories of martyrdom actually used to encourage Christians
Emperor Constantine (306-337AD)
Worshiper of Sol Invictus
Battle at the Milvian Bridge (312)
Dreams “Chi Rho”
“In this sign, you will conquer”
Edict of Milan (313)
Christianity “legal” now
Slippery slope?
From Pilgrim to Imperial Church
Sunday made holy day (321)
1st Council of Nicaea (325)
Nicene Creed
December 25th celebrated Jesus’
birth
Was Sol Victus’ festival day
Eusebius, a bishop in Palestine
Writes 1st church history
Writes Constantine bio
“13th apostle”
Edict of Thessalonica (380)
Christianity only legal religion
Shifts in Focus
Early Church
Jewish - mixed
Synagogues – caves
Long suffering
End Times focused
Imperial Church
Gentile
Churches (Constantine’s mother)
Accepted & in power
“White Martyrdom”
Monastic separation
Mix of this world & next
Next time …
The Medieval Mind:
Fusion and Order