HISTORY & ROLE OF THE CHURCH
The Very Complicated History of the Church(es)
I. INTRODUCTION:
The Great Difficulty in the Telling of Church History is in knowing exactly where to start, and what to define as the Church. Surely Jesus Himself had no difficulty nor the early Apostles in delineating who and what the Church was to be, but the early Christians of Antioch, Jerusalem, Rome and Corinth knew a very different Christianity (albeit a truer one) than we know today.....UNDER DEVELOPMENT
The Early Church
Many are familiar with the earliest history of the Church as Biblical accounts in the Gospels and Epistles as well as the Book of Acts, give detailed accounts of meetings, councils, evangelism, trials and persecutions of the earliest Jewish-Christian community. Contrary to the thinking of many, the Church while arising out of Galilee, Nazareth, Capenaum and Jerusalem and surrounds, actually came to be headed at Antioch. It was in Antioch, that the famous councils were held to determine what was required and what was not to walk holy and yet still maintain the integrity of the Great Grace give to the believer. The first and second century in the church were notably difficult. Jesus was crucified in 33a.d. and while his disciples displayed no courage early during his life, and showed outright fear before His resurrection, his reappearance and Pentecost brought out a fearless declaration of the Gospel in all parts of the known world and the establishment of churches or assemblies [ikklesia] throughout Rome, Greece and Northern Africa, over to Persia and India. Evidence of this still exists today via manuscripts both original and in corrupted form from all these areas.1After Jesus died and ascended, Pentecost descended on Jerusalem, in which the Book of Acts describes representatives of 16 nations present about 9 in the morning. Joy and rejoicing, heralded by speaking the various languages and tongues is reported, after which the vocation of spreading the Gospel and establishing assemblies of believers took place. Peter, whom the Roman Church accounts as the first Pope, is actually never reported in Rome, but in Jerusalem and Antioch. Notions of the central role of Peter in Rome come mostly from stories such as the "Quo Vadis" Legend. Antioch became the center of leadership and discussion for the early Church.
From the years 33-34a.d. to 70a.d. the Church prospered, growing and receiving members everywhere the Apostles and their followers went. Churches were established throughout Asia, and the Churches mentioned in the Epistles and Revelation were founded,with many home and clandestine meetings. The early Church did not begin as an entity separate from the synagogue, but as a movement within the Synagogue: it became more and more separate as the issue of Christ as Messiah divided; although the fate of the Jews and Jewish Christians stayed basically the same: they were persecuted all over the middle east. The Gospel traveled to Northern Africa, notably with the first convert from that region mentioned: the Ethiopian Eunuch who attended Candace, witnessed to by Phillip in the Gaza.
The New-Born Church
The new born church in the first and second centuries, may be somewhat over-romanticized, and accounts vary according to denomination but some tenets are held by most. The Apostles, headquarted in Antioch continued to send missionaries and plant churches in all of the reaches of the then known world. Contrary to some popular misconceptions, the church was not centered in Rome, in fact persecutions there drove both Jews and Jewish Christians underground and out of Rome. Also while Peter led the Church councils in Antioch, most of the debates from the beginning were not in forming rules or ordinances, but in deciding doctrinal issues and advising on the meaning of Christian Liberty. Early Christians kept Shabbat [sabbath] and the first day of the week, breaking bread and meeting for worship and preaching usually in homes. As letters and epistles were written by Paul and others, they were sent to the Church and spread abroad, and individuals copied them for personal study: in fact Clement advised the importance of daily devotions. Since most of the Christians of the time were Jews, they suffered the same persecutions as the Jews of the time, including the diaspora from Rome.
While the end of Paul's life is questioned, most agree he died in Rome at the hands of the government, and some legend suggests Nero may have tried to lay the burning of Rome on the shoulders of him and other Christians. One or two mentions of Christ are made from early records including a report of undecided credibility of a Roman soldier sent to check on the stories regarding Jesus in which his report stated a description of his appearance, and there were also mentions of 'Kristos' in the annals of Josephus in which Josephus calls Him a "Man, if he be a man" and reports briefly the phenomenal occurrences. As Paul dies in Rome @66bc, 33 years following the the crucifixion and resurrection, the Church continued to grow and expand greatly as did persecutions. The Apostle John, greatly loved is first imprisoned on the isle of Patmos, and dies an old man in approximately 90ad. His disciple, Polycarp, continues and is eventually executed. The other apostles die cruel and violent deaths from stonings, beheadings and one account of boiling in oil. The gospel moves from the region of the mid-east to Persia-India, Africa and Great Britain/Europe. Ships from Corinth and other major sea ports take new believers and their gospel around the world.
From 90-100ad until 300a.d., the fledgling "ikklesia suffers greatly under Roman persecution, which while beginning to decline still holds rule over almost everywhere the Gospel is taken, even in European regions. A series of Emperors ranging from "little boots"1, the violent and psychotic nephew of Nero, and Claudius, who while doing Rome good in public works, drove the Jews out violently to Domitan whose rule was so brutal to the Christians that even to own a copy of the scriptures could be a death sentence. Still, in hiding and persecution the church thrived. It was during this time that "Christians" a derogatory term meaning "little christs" were even made sport of for their endurance and belief. Christians were tortured in Roman arenas, notably the Coliseum /Circus Maximus often with the Emperors in attendance. Several instances are included of the lions and other animals lying down instead of attacking victims. Foxes Book of Martyrs includes a detailing of a woman named "Blandina" who was tortured for three days refusing to deny Christ, and eventually even fried on metal. The legend of Telemachus, a monk who in giving his life put an end to Gladiator fights is also from around this time. While a few emperors such as Marcus Aerilius(A.D. 161-180) were not as persecutory as Domitan, even in his reign, pogroms against Christians occurred:
"The state cult received full honor, and he recognized the validity of other people's beliefs, so that the variety of religions in the vast extent of the empire caused no difficulties for inhabitants or government, with one significant exception. The Christians were not hampered by any official policy; indeed the impact of the church spread enormously in the second century. Yet their availability as scapegoats for local crises made them subject to abuse or worse. There was violence against them in 167, and perhaps the worst stain on Marcus' principate stemmed from the pogrom of Christians in Lugdunum in southern France in 177. "2
Constantine 313a.d.
After the bloodbaths of the preceding emperors, Constantine took control of the Roman Empire in 313 a.d. The legend follows that during battle he was given a sign and told to conquer under that sign. His mother became a devout Christian and urged the end to persecutions of the Church. While many denote this as a 'new age' of Christianity flourishing, it is far less that and is a more accurate birthdate for the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) than Peter in Rome. Indeed during this period, the Jews were driven from the region in a bitter persecution, ordered by the "Edict of Milan" and a new State-Sanctioned Christianity was set. This new "State-Religion" gave birth to a paradigm which would continue through history.MORE TO FOLLOW.
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