Unit C: Historical Overview Flashcards
(41 cards)
Christianity is a religion based in and formed by
Community
Judaism which gave birth to
Christianity
What was judasim based on?
was a community-based religion expressing it’s existence in terms of relationship with God and each other. This is most clearly seen in the Torah (the Law)
What grows out of the torah
Ten commandments
The 10 Commandments provides both the
identity and the function of community, that is - what gave them unity and how to function within that unity.
Jesus continued this idea of faith being expressed in community with the summary of the law found in
Matthew
Love God with your whole being and love others as yourself.
Christian Community strips away
traditional divisions: Slave/Free, Male/Female, Jew/Greek and so forth:
What does Christian community replace these divisions with?
It replaces these divisions with the understanding that all are equal before God, and thus all should be treated equally.
Jesus continued this idea of faith being expressed in community with the summary of the law
Matthew
Love God with your whole being and love others as yourself.
What 4 images did the early church saw community as important
Family
Body of christ
Spiritual house
Holy nation
Family -
early Christians referred to each other as brothers and sisters and considered themselves part of an extended family, the bonds of which went deeper than mere friendship
Body of Christ -
the Apostle Paul used this image to emphasize that in spite of the diversity of people in these early Christian groups, they belonged together and worked together - being different from someone else didn’t mean you didn’t belong, rather it meant you had a different purpose or function within that community
Spiritual House -
an image that reflects the unique construction technique of fitting different shaped stones together to build strong walls and eventually a house. This image suggests that Christians have been chosen to part of the structure, that their presence is important to the integrity and strength of the structure, that they are not uniform bricks who all look and act alike, rather they are unique in shape and how they fit in
Holy Nation -.
the word ‘holy’ means set apart for a special purpose, thus Christians saw themselves as individuals chosen by God to be part of this new group of people. They no
‘longer see their primary allegiance as to the Roman Empire, for they were citizens of a more important nation - the kingdom of God (see / Peter 2:9)
Jesus of Nazareth summary
Christian history begins with Jesus of Nazareth, a Jew who was born in a small corner of the Roman Empire. Little is known of his early life, but around the age of 30, Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist and had a vision in which he received the blessing of God. After this event, he began a ministry of teaching, healing, and miracle-working. He spoke of the “kingdom of God,” condemned religious hypocrites and interpreted the Mosaic law in new ways. He spoke before crowds of people, but also chose 12 disciples whom he taught privately. They eagerly follówed him, believing him to be the long-awaited Messiah who would usher in the kingdom of God on
earth.
Jesus of nazareth death summary
After just a few years, however, opposition mounted against Jesus, and he was ultimately executed by crucifixion by the Romans. Most of Jesus’ followers scattered, dismayed at such an unexpected outcome. But three days later, women who went to anoint his body reported that the tomb was empty and an angel told them Jesus had risen from the dead. The disciples were initially skeptical, but later came to believe. They reported that Jesus appeared to them on several occasions and then ascended into heaven before their eyes.
Time line of christianity
4-6 BCE - Birth of Jesus
30-33 CE - Ministry of Jesus
33-7? CE - Missionary efforts of the original Apostles and Disciples
64 CE - Fire in Rome
70CE-Destruction of Jerusalem Of uS
250 CE - Emperor Decius launches first Empire-wide persecution
300 CE - Emperor Diocletion, then
Galarius order the Great Persecution
313 CE - Emperor Constatine issues
Edict of Milan
The Apostles
At the Pentecost Celebration, 7 weeks after Jesus’s death (Acts 2:1-36), the apostles received the fire of the Holy Spirit and Peter preached boldly about Jesus to the crowds gathered in Jerusalem for the Jewish festival, the Christian movement gained 3,000 converts on that day. Communal living among the faithful (Acts 2:44) was practiced and new converts willingly sold everything they owned to pool their resources to finance the new religion’s missionary efforts.
Who were The First Christians
The disciples were called “followers of the Way” or “the Sect of Nazarenes” (because Jesus was from Nazareth) but soon this changed to be just Christians or ‘followers of Christ.’ The number of Christians grew very quickly during the 50 years after the death of Jesus. According to tradition, Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples, went to Rome and preached about Jesus.
How did pual spread christanity
After his own dramatic conversion to Christianity the apostle Paul travelled widely and converted many people to Christianity. Taking advantage of the extensive system of Roman roads and the time of peace, Paul went on numerous missionary journeys throughout the Roman Empire. He started churches, then wrote letters back to them to offer further counsel and encouragement. Many of these letters would become part of the Christian scriptures, the “New Testament.”
How far did christianty spread?
The other disciples also travelled all over the Middle East and further afield. Some people believe that one of the disciples reached as far east as India. When Roman soldiers became Christians they took the new religion all over the Roman Empire as far north as the borders of Scotland, south to North Africa, West to Wales and East to modern day Russia. As the Christian faith moved out from Judea most of the converts were Gentiles (non-Jews) and after a council in Jerusalem it was decided that the Gentile converts did not need to follow Jewish traditions and laws.
Why did rome start killing christans
The first-century Roman historian Tacitus considered the Christians to be a sordid and shameful group as they were rumored to practice cannibalism (by taking the Eucharist) and incest. Because they didn’t partake in pagan holidays or believe in the Olympian gods, they were thought to be extremely anti-social atheists. When Rome had a great fire in 64 CE, the people blamed Emperor Nero who immediately shifted the blame to the Christians. As a result, many Christians were sacrificed to the lions and gladiators in public venues. The irony was that the new faith’s victims became martyrs which attracted even more converts.
Why did jews have to move out of thw holy land
At this same time, a Jewish rebellion broke out that ebbed and flowed until the Roman army destroyed the city and temple in 70 CE. From that point on, the Holy Land was no longer the home of Christianity and heavy persecution forced the new faith to go underground, especially in Rome where the faithful convened their meetings in the catacombs.
How did christanty find unity again?
By 100 CE the new faith found itself regionalized with centers in Antioch, Athens and Rome. They all, however, shared one tradition: the communal meal. It was truly a banquet held in conjunction with worshin in individual homes where the woman reigned. Women, therefore, held important positions within the early Christian church. Ignatius of Antioch in 110 CE felt that there should be a united front when facing pagan society and he centralized the authority of each community under a single person - a bishop. As a result, women soon lost their early influence.
