Being a

Christian in
Early
Centuries
and
The Church in
the Christian
Empire


To be a Christian is to accept the good news of

Jesus and let your life be transformed by it.
Christian is not an isolated individual but
belongs to a community of God, His people,
the Church.

 Early Christians need a place for prayer.
There was also this Christian initiation
Eucharist
Penance
Other aspects of Prayer

 There was a
private
houses
converted to
a place of
worship

 They used
bathroom
(piscina)as
the place for A n exa m p le o f
p iscin a
baptism
 Early
Christians need
a place for
prayer.

 In the east,
Christians used
the roof high up
the roof.


 In the west, the

meeting place
was probably the
dining room.


 The oldest known

Christian building
is the house-
church of Dura
Europus on the
Euphrates River
(about 250 A.D.).
  Christian
initiations covers: baptism,
confirmation, and first communion

  Inbaptism, there was a rites being
followed
 Afterrehearsing all the candidates were
immerse in running water, in the absence of
running water, sprinkling the water three
times on the head while having the sign of
the cross.

 In confirmation, the bishop would lay his hands
on the candidates, absolve them, breath on
their faces and make sign of the cross on
their forehead, ears, and nostrils.

After the confirmation, the newly baptized
receives the Holy Communion which
concludes Christian initiations.


Meaning, to give thanks.
It is also the celebration of the Lord’s
Resurrection.
Usually done every Sunday.


 EasterDay
 The Eucharist


  Inthe New Testament, it is primarily
through baptism that God forgives sin.
 But Jesus give The Twelve and the church
community the power to abate sins and
excludes sinners.
 Sinswhich could be forgiven once on
Tertualian’s first view:
 Adultery
 Apostasy
 Homicide


 Some says that prayer extend through out the day.

 In the early centuries, there was also a marriage ceremonies.

 Leaders of community were encourage to visit the sick and
anoint them with oil.

 Christians venerated their dead.
 Ministries took several centuries to become
fixed

It is a primitive community
Twofold organization in Primitive
Community
 The Group of Twelve (Mark 3:16-19)-Aramaic
Speakers
 The Group of Seven (Acts 6:1-6)-Greek Speakers


 The Beginnings of Mission

After the death of Stephen, the Hellenistic

Jews scattered, which became
missionaries.
The Community of Jerusalem
Travelling Missionaries (1 Cor. 12:28)

S te p h e n
  Community of Jerusalem
 modeled themselves on Jewish
Community, James was the
head
 Travelling Missionaries (1 Cor.
12:28)
 practiced a Charismatic
ministry
 These were the apostles
who were not part of The
Twelve (Paul and Barnabas)
 They were Evangelists.
 Founded local communities
and appointed responsible
people called episkopoi
(overseers) and deacons
(those who ministers and
served)

 Development in
the second and
third
centuries.
1.Clement of Rome
and the Didache
spoke of
communities
having presbyter
(episkopoi) and
deacons. Clement of Rome
2.President emerged
from the college
of Epeskopois and
named episkopos

 3.Deacons was attached to the episkopos.
 Thislead to the order of ministries today;
Bishop, Priest, Deacon
 There were other ministries also which was

said to be inferior.
 They varied according to churches and

periods.



 Forordination of:
Bishop, the other bishops laid

on hands
Priests, it was the bishop and

other priests
Deacon, it was Bishop alone.


 Ministers of community concentrated
on:
 Preaching the Gospel while still

presiding at prayer
 Celebrating the breaking of bread

 Conducting the affairs of the

community
 Celibate was not obligatory for the

ministers of the Church.




  They were dedicated to prayer and visit
the sick
 Deaconesses are attested quite clearly in
Syria in the 3rd century. They were
equivalent to deacons in the ministry of
women and received a laying on of
hands.
 Virgins often formed a distinct group in the
community

 3. Division and Unity between the
churches

The church spread throughout the world

 Fromthe end of 2nd century, Christians
became aware of the universality of the
church.
 In the east, like Asia Minor and Syria
 In the West like Central Italy, Southern Spain

and in Africa.

Asia Minor
Syria
 3. Division and Unity between the
churches
The Church threatened by unrest and division
 In Liturgical procedure

 Arising over the forgiveness of apostates at the

time of persecution.
 Personal rivalries for Episcopal office


3. Division and Unity between the
churches
 Jewish Christians wanted to preserve at all
cost their own special rituals and
theologies.


 Those influence by Greek dualism, reinterpreted

the OT and NT in radically different way. They
denied the incarnation and appealed to a
knowledge mysteriously handed down through
small groups.
 Those influence by Greek dualism…
 Marcion eliminated from the bible everything which
indicated a creator God and incarnation, because he
believed that matter and the body are evil.
 Unity of the Church threatened by the teaching
of Marcion.
 According to him, only those who have learned

his teaching will come to salvation; the body

since it is taken from the earth, cannot be
saved.


M a rcio n
 The Rule of Faith
Characteristic of the true Church according to
Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons.
 The church proclaims an identical message
throughout the world
 One soul, one body

 The Church transmits the tradition of the

apostles in the succession of bishops.

 Irenaeus decreed that no heed be paid to
the scriptures which were handed down
outside the apostolic succession.

 Leaders of the community tried
to enlighten Christians as to
what was the true faith of the
church.
 Origen (185-253 A. D.)
 Tertullian
 Cyprian (200-258 A.D.)



Cyprian
Tertualian Origen
C h a p te r 4
The Church of Constantine
In 313 A.D, peace reigned in
the church

Constantine
 The C hurch in the
C hristian Em pire
The Church of
Theodosius
 The church really did
not come to become
the church of the
empire until around
380 A.D. under the
reign of Theodosius.

 From Religious freedom to state
religion
The religion of Constantine
The Christian Emperors
The slow elimination of paganism
Society Transformed by the Gospel

 The religion of Constantine
 The circumstances of his conversion to
Christianity are as uncertain as was the
nature of his faith.
 The edifying legend of the battle at the
Milvian Bridge allows us to say that
something happened there and that the
emperor thought of himself as a Christian
from that time onward.

 The religion of Constantine
 He was never a model Christian. He was
baptized on his death bed.
 His crimes against morality are many:
executed members of his own family;
ordering the deaths of his father-in-law,
three brothers-in-law, a son and his wife.

 The religion of Constantine
 Constantine, sole emperor-in 313 A.D. in
the West and Licinius ruled the East.
 He stayed in the East and founded a new
capital for the empire in a small town
called Byzantium and renamed it
Constantinople.

Constantinople
M ilvia n
B rid g e


 Emperorshas the title “Pontifex Maximus”

(Great Pontiff), but as Christians, they
played a similar role in the Church


 Looked on as the head of people


 The Christian Emperors
Emperors experience an Imperial favors.
 The emperor gave Christians official buildings
(basilicas) and palaces to put to religious use.
No emperor could dissociate himself from
religious affairs.
 The emperor was expected to intervene in
religious conflicts in order to maintain
stability within the empire.

The slow elimination of paganism
In 313, since Constantine gave all freedom of
religion.


Constantine, even though granted freedom to

worship, still, wanted to eliminate paganism.


Paganism enjoyed revival under the Emperor Julian (361-

3) whom Christians called The Apostate

E m p e ro r Ju lia n
The slow elimination of paganism
Emperor Julian (361-3 A.D.) was called the
Apostate by Christians. He was raised a Christian
but denounced it when he became emperor and
returned to the traditional old religion and tried
to revive it in the culture. He denounced
Christianity and was killed in battle shortly
thereafter.  This was considered to be just
punishment by the Christians. 

The slow elimination
of paganism
In 379 A.D., Gratian
rejected the title of
Great Pontiff.
In 380 A.D. Christianity
became the state religion
by Theodosius. Heretics
were persecuted and by
392 A.D. all paganism
was outlawed seriously
this time E m p e ro r G ra tia n
 The slow
elimination of
paganism
 Religion was still the
foundation and the
cement of society.

 Emperor Maximus in 385
A.D. stepped in to
arbitrate an accusation
against two Spanish
bishops accused of
Manichaeism. E m p e ro r M a xim u s

Society Transformed by
the Gospel

Christian Calendars give

rhythms to social life.


There were charitable

institutions created.


Christianizing was also

limited


E a rly C h ristia n
C a le n d a r
The Development of worship and progress
of evangelization.
The evolution of baptism and penance.
 It was in the best interest of citizens to become
Christians, but many were unwilling to accept
the moral demands made on them by
baptism
• Baptism - many were marked by
the sign of the cross, received
elementary instructions, tasted
blessed salt, and went no further
• Penance - it could only be granted
once in a lifetime. A Christian
who committed a serious sin
confessed it to the bishop in
secret and then given a public
penance

 The Splendor of Worship
Eucharist became more and more a time of
manifestation and circumstance through
the richness of the dress, buildings,
liturgical objects, speeches, processions.
 The Liturgical Year
By the end of the second century the celebration of
Easter lasted fifty days.
The forty days of Lent came into practice after
there was peace between church and state.
The festival of Pentecost only dates back to the
fourth century.
 Two festival with fixed date


In the East January 6th, Epiphany.



In the West, approximately 330 A.D. the birth of

Jesus was celebrated on December 25th

 The Progress of Evangelization
Within the boundaries of the empire:
 Christianity spread throughout the empire,
especially into the rural areas
Beyond the empire:
 The Persian church reorganized after 410 A.D.
and spread towards the Persian Gulf and Central
Asia. The Armenian Church reorganized in 441
A.D. producing St. Mesrop who invented the
alphabet. The African church joined to the
Alexandrian church. The church in Germany
spread to the Caucasian countries.

 The Beginnings of
Monasticism
The origins of a life dedicated to the
church--from the very beginning the virtues
of virginity and chastity for the sake of the
kingdom was held in high honor in Christian
communities based on the example of Jesus
Christ ( Mt. 19:22,30), (1 Cor.7) (I Tim. 5),
(Acts 21:8-9).
 The first
Eastern monks
St. Basil of Caesarea
(330-379 A.D.) reacted
against monastic
eccentricities and wrote
a Rule for his monks
The first
Eastern
monks
A n to n y ( 2 5 1 -3 5 6 A . D .),
live d to b e 1 0 5 ye a rs
o ld .   H e is th e fa th e r o f
h e rm its a n d a n ch o rite s
in th e E g yp tia n d e se rts
 Monastic life in the
West
St. Ambrose suggested the virgin Mary as a model
for virgins.
St. Jerome (347-419 A.D.) defended the superiority of
virginity over the married state in life.
St. Augustine (354-435 A.D.) established a new hallmark
of monastic life. He assimilated priests into monks and
required celibacy as a part of his Rule of Life.
S t. Jo h n C a ssia n ( 3 6 0 -4 3 5 A . D .) visite d
m o n a ste rie s in th e E a st, re tu rn e d to M a rse ille s,
Fra n ce a n d e sta b lish e d m o n a ste rie s fo r m e n
a n d w o m e n w h ich fo rm e d a b rid g e b e tw e e n th e
m o n ks o f th e E a st a n d W e st.
T h e R u le o f S t. B e n e d ict--( 4 8 0 -5 4 7 A . D .) w a s th e
in sp ira tio n o f a llth e m o n a ste rie s o f th e W e st u p
to th e tw e lfth ce n tu ry. It in siste d o n sta b ility: th e
m o n k h a d to p ro m ise to live in h is m o n a ste ry.
 TERMS
 a. MONK: Greek (Monachos), solitary; originally the monastery was
the abode of a monk.
 b. HERMIT: Greek (Eremos), desert, someone who lives in the
desert away from society.
 c. ANCHORITE: Greek (Anachorein), withdraw, take to the hills,
someone who has left this world. Synonymous with hermit.
 d. CENOBITE: Greek (Koinos bios), common life, someone who lives
in an organized community.
 e. ABBA/APA: father, abbot or superior.
 f. AMMA: mother, abbess, or superior.
 g. MONASTICISM: state of life for those dedicated to God away
from the world. Two forms: solitary life; common life.