Basics Flashcards
(124 cards)
Clement of Rome
• prominent Christian leader in Rome
• I Clement, epistle (A.D. 95-6, traditional dating); letter addressing the factions at Corinth. Younger members had ousted presbyters from their positions; Clement called for the members to be restored to their positions.
Cyprian of Carthage
• c. A.D. 200-258, martyred
• bishop of Carthage
• converted c. 246 by Caecilian, a presbyter
• born into a wealthy and noble family, after conversion sold his estates for the poor, vowed chastity and was baptized; avid study of the Scriptures and Tertullian
• acclaimed by the people as head of whole North African clergy, aptly administered the bishopric, martyred in A.D. 258
• Hebrews not canonical (Tertullian had att’d it to Barnabas)
Ignatius of Antioch
• second or third bishop of Antioch
• escorted under armed guard from Antioch to Rome, martyred c. 110 under Emperor Trajan
• en route stopped at Smyrna and Troas, wrote 7 epistles including to Polycarp; desired to be martyred
• thrown to wild animals in the Coliseum, ‘coax the wild beasts that they may become a tomb for me’; ‘Allow me to be an imitator of the suffering of my God’ (Kruger, Christianity at…, ch. 2)
Tertullian
• born c. 150 A.D. in Carthage
• well educated, converted c. 195
• became leader of Montanist sect c. 205 in Africa due to ‘envy and laxity of the clergy in the Roman church’—Jerome
• prolific writer; coined term ‘rule of faith’ (Apostles’ Creed); opposed Marcion’s canon (wrote five volumes against him)
• believed Hebrews to be written by Barnabas
• wrote Apology to governors of the Roman provinces: ‘The oftener we are mown down by you, the more in numbers we grow; the blood of Christians is seed.’
Barnabas
• companion and co-worker of the Apostle Paul
Polycarp
• bishop of Smyrna; martyred A.D. 155
• knew Papias of Hierapolis and Apostle John
• sent copies of Ignatius’ letters to the church in Philippi after his martyrdom
Irenaeus
• bishop of Lyons, Gaul (c. 178)
• listened to Polycarp’s sermons as a child
• succeeded Bishop Pothinus, who was tortured in 177 during the interrogations over the riot at Lyons. He was over 90 years old
Gnosticism
1945 Nag Hammadi, Egypt, 13 codices found detailing Gnostic thought, among them the Gospel of Thomas
• Gnostic thought was very diverse
• physical world created by Elohim, the god of Judaism (demiurge)
• salvation comes through release from the physical world and back into the spiritual world
• special knowledge of origin and destiny of man through JC
• docetism and J was simply an emanation from the true God
Emperor Domitian’s reign:
c. AD 81-96, persecuted Christians
Who was Tacitus?
Roman historian, c. AD 116
Who was Suetonius?
Roman historian, c. 120
Justin Martyr
c. AD 103-165, Christian philosopher and apologist
• martyred under Emperor Marcus Aurelius
• wrote two Apologies to Antoninus Pius (c. 151-55) as formal petitions; the only example of a libelli among the 2nd century apologists
Emperor Antoninus Pius
Reigned c. AD 137-161
Acts of the Scillitan Martyrs
Account of 12 Christians before the Roman proconsul Saturninus Carthage, North Africa (c. AD 180)
‘Thanks be to God, today we are martyrs in heaven’
Lucian of Samosata
c. AD 115-200
• well known rhetorician and satirist
• wrote The Passing of Peregrinus (c. AD 165), a satire on Christianity which portrays Christians as uneducated simpletons with low social status
Galen
c. AD 129-199
• physician and philosopher, and friend of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus
• prolific author who disagreed with but respected Christianity; C was invalid due to lack of proof
Celsus
published True Doctrine (c. AD 177), an extensive critique of Christianity
• philosopher and one of C’s most influential critics in the second century
Quadratus
2nd century apologist who presented his work to Emperor Hadrian (c. AD 125)
• defended J’s miracles by explaining that those healed survived to ‘our own time’ (Kruger, Christianity…, ch. 2)
Aristides
Athenian philosopher and Christian apologist
• presented his work to Hadrian (c. AD 125)
• wrote Apology, in it he shows that many core beliefs (virgen birth, etc) were already established by the early second century
Epistle to Diognetus
Mid-2nd century
• focuses on defense of C in light of its “newness” and represents Christians as ordinary
Tatian
Born in Syria (c. AD 130), student of Justin Martyr
• wrote Diatessaron and Oration to the Greeks (c. 165)
What were the standard political and ethical charges leveled against Christians in Rome in the 2nd century?
• insubordination
• subversion
• atheism
• incest
• cannibalism
Athenagoras
Christian philosopher and apologist from Athens
• wrote Plea for the Christians (c. 177), addressed to Marcus Aurelius and Commodus
Theophilus
Bishop of Antioch in second century
• wrote To Autolycus (c. 180), three volume work contrasting the Christian God with the Greco-Roman gods