History of Early Christians - Essay Example

History of Early Christians History of Early Christians The Virgin Mary in the Early Christian Art The Virgin Mary is one of the most common figures in the early Christian church. This first historic manifestation of Mary that was borrowed from the Apostolic Church is demonstrated in the Roman catacombs. In majority of the Christian art that was produced during this period, Mary is severally depicted together with and without her heavenly son. Given that the Apostolic Church was not overly obsessed with the Virgin Mary as the catacombs did, it therefore makes it important to ask why there was some sudden obsession with the Virgin Mary1. One of the most significant pieces of art that were found in the French catacombs of St. Agnes shows the image of Mary placed between St. Peter and St. Paul with her arms extended towards the two saints. The increased interest in the Virgin Mary that was evident during the catacombs came about as a result of a new doctrine by the Church Fathers who represented the Virgin Mary as the “New Eve”. The church fathers taught that just in the same way that Eve had played an important role in bringing the downfall of Adam, the Virgin Mary as the New Eve had played an important role in the redemptive ministry of Jesus who was seen as the new Adam. According to this teaching, both Eve and Mary had played secondary but significant roles in the lives of Adam and Jesus2. Ideally, this understanding was not popular in the Apostolic church and hence the reason why there was little art depicting the Virgin Mary in the earlier period. Although Mary had been recognized in earlier literature within the church, the assumption by the Church Fathers that she participated in the work of Salvation with Jesus Christ had given her new status within the church. By the 3rd century, most people within the church had accepted the Virgin Mary under the title “Mother of God” even though this title had not been solemnized until two centuries later. Under this new status, praying directly to Mary was no longer seen as idolatry but rather as a spiritual communication with God3. By the time the Council of Ephesus was convened in 431 A.D., where the Virgin Mary was officially christened as the “Mother of God” there were numerous cathedrals that had been dedicated to her name in most parts of Rome and Jerusalem and this was also the time within which art was also developing. After the Council of Ephesus, the went through a flourishing period of dedication to the Blessed Virgin in most parts of the East and the West and the quantity of this dedication was mostly brought out through art. This devotion was also propelled by the spread of Western Civilization, which had brought about the Anno Domini effect. The post Council of Ephesus was also dominated by the Marian devotion to art and Marian paintings. This marks the period in which most of the catacombs paintings were drawn and hence the reason why there was a great spread of Christian art depicting the Virgin Mary4. According to historians, art is influenced by the teachings that are prevalent at certain times just in the same manner that the world is governed by its ideals. During this medieval period when the Virgin Mary’s paintings gained prominence, the world was beginning to recognize the contribution of women in the society and her sanctity. The rise to prominence of women was best personified through the Virgin Mother and as in any other society her new status found her place in the current art. This representation of the prevalent themes in the society has continued to the modern day and modern art still represents the dominant themes at that particular moment5. Another theory that best explains the dominance of the Virgin Mary visual could have been that the Church Fathers were looking for a way to ensure that the “New Eve” doctrine was engraved in the minds of their subjects. The best way to have done this was through ensuring that the images of the Virgin Mary spread everywhere since this was the only way that those who were not active Catholics could understand this doctrine. Due to the influence that the Catholic doctrines had on western civilization, the Virgin Mary images spread to nations like France where the catacombs images were dominant6. Homosexual Attitudes in the Early Christian Church The early Christian Church is no stranger to the homosexual debate and many controversies surrounded this issue. Perhaps the debate is shaped by a Kiev art museum that holds a rather inquisitive image from St. Catherine’s Monastery that is located on Mt. Sinai in Israel. The image is that of two robed Christian saints complete with their priesthood robes. In the middle of these two men is a traditional Roman best man usually recognized as ‘pronubus’ supervision the wedding between the two men. The marriage that this man is overseeing is between two men and hence they can be said to be homosexuals7. The question that seems to come out of this image is on whether Christ sanctioned homosexual marriages or not. This idea seems revolting but the answer can be seen by this icon of St. Sergius and St. Bacchus, two Roman martyrs in the early Christian Church. These Roman soldiers learnt of the rage of Sovereign Maximian when they were revealed as secret Christian by rejecting to go in a pagan temple. The two soldiers were sent to Syria where one of them is thought to have died from torture; the one who did not die from the floggings was beheaded8. While the bringing together of saints especially in the early Christian church was not uncommon, the union between these two men was seen as rather intimate. In his opinion, Severus, the Patriarch of Antioch (512-518 CE) pointed out that it was not wise to separate the two gentlemen since they had been joined in life9. The speech by Severus shows that the bond between these two saints was not only simple friendship but a bond between intimate souls. In the 10th account of the lives of these two men, St. Sergius is usually seen as a faithful companion and lover of St. Bacchus. This close relationship between these two saints has led majority of modern scholars to claim that the two men were undoubtedly lovers. The orientation and association between these two men was not only accepted, it was totally accepted and tolerated by the early Christian church10. According to historians, the church in the 10th and the 11th centuries celebrated ceremonies such as the Office of Same-Sex Union and the Order for Uniting Two Men. These two symbols had all the markings of same sex marriages. According to historians, the entire community met in church where a blessing for the couple was pronounced by the presiding priest. The prevailing attitudes towards same sex marriages in the early Christian church supposedly come from the fact that the church fathers were not keen on dictating the nature of marriage between couples11. While homosexuality has not exactly been permitted during Roman times, homophobic literature was not available in Western Europe till the end of the 14th century. Despite this, homosexual marriages that were ordained in church continued to take place. Early records show that the Catholic Church used to join as many as thirteen same-sex unions at the same time. Academicians claim that the available literature concerning heterosexual marriages is so plain such that the modern church has no reason whatsoever to ignore it. Unlike the modern church, the past church was unwavering in its attitudes towards homosexuality and that is why such marriages were tolerated within the church12. From examining the issue of the early Christian attitudes towards homosexuality, it is obvious that Christendom saw homosexual relationships as a representation of the god-given love and commitment that was supposed to characterize the life of all Christians towards the other people around them. This love could be celebrated, respected, and blessed by the priests and therefore in the presence of God. Actually, same sex unions were so accepted such to a point where there majority of the ancient Greek prayer books have numerous prayers that are meant to bless same sex unions13. The usual view that the early church had negative views towards homosexuals was challenged by a Yale academician Professor John Boswell who points out that the early church had a place for homosexuals. In his book titled Christianity, Homosexuality, and Social Tolerance gives sufficient evidence to prove that homosexuality had a central place in the early church until sometimes in the 5th century that imperial legislation began to be introduced against them. The change in this attitude must have come from the devolution of the Roman Empire to the provinces where the induction of more rural people into the empire brought about conservative sexual values. This book discusses the various bible passages that are seen to be against homosexuality and tries to prove that such passages are often misquoted. Given that the modern church uses these same scripture to reject homosexuality within the church, it is therefore evident that the early church interpreted these bible passages in a different manner and hence the reason why they were more tolerant towards gays14. Early Christian Eschatology The function of the Jewish apocalyptic thought and its eschatological consequences are usually disregarded wherever the teachings of Jesus and early Christianity come up. As it emerges, Jesus and the early Christians while not necessarily emulating their apocalyptic forbearers and colleagues were largely influenced by them and helped in defining both apocalyptic and messianic thought in interesting and unique ways. One thing that comes out wherever the discussion of eschatology in the early church is brought up is that very few of these doctrines were borrowed from Judaism. However, the gospel had only insisted on Jesus being given the central place whose appearance from heaven was supposed to mark the end of the time as well as the resurrection, the reign of God on earth and the promise of eternal life. Secondly, this promise was meant to come to pass in a very speedy manner seeing that the messiah had already come in person to play his role. Due to the coming of the messiah, the early Christians were not only living the dream of a life that would come in the future but they were certain that the great day when all would be transformed was already taking place during their generation15. In his sermons, Jesus himself tried to show that the end of all current system was at hand and he did this by saying that there are people who were living during his time that would not taste death until they saw the promise of the new kingdom. In this assumption, Jesus never pointed out that all this would take place during his lifetime but during the next generation of the disciples. It was therefore not surprising that the doctrine of eschatology was firmly rooted with that of eternal life since the new Kingdom was supposed to usher in the eternal kingdom of God on earth. To the early Christians, the fact that Jesus would come back to rein in a new world order and they were certain that they were living in the middle of this apocalyptic moment. Their conviction came from the fact that Jesus had told them that he would return in the same manner that they had seen him go16. After the ascension of Jesus, it was only logical that the disciples went around that Jesus was ordained to rule on the earth and that he would return quickly to take his rightful place as the ruler of the world. The early Christians led by Peter felt that the Kingdom would be established during their lifetime, that they were truly the remnants, and that he would not die before Christ returned. Having been present with Jesus, the disciples no doubt believed that they could hurry the eschatology by going to the entire world and proclaiming that Jesus would be coming before long and that those who reigned with him would live eternally17. To the disciples and the early Christians, the promise given by Jesus was definite and they therefore taught it with all the conviction. However, these teachings were strange to those around them and they therefore could not understand the basis of what the Christians were trying to communicate. Perhaps the thing that made the Jews to view the early Christians as people who were out of their minds is due to the concept of God that they had since time immemorial. Although Jesus had walked and preached among the Jews, they had no accepted him as the messiah since they believed that God would be far removed from the sinful world around him18. In most cases, the religions that existed during the early Christian period all believed in the redemption during the future but the early Christians were preaching that eschatology was going to take place in their lifetime. This position must have made the early Christians to look confused before the mysterious cults of Hellenism that were prevalent during that period. While the foundation of the early Christian’s teaching was founded on hope, the people around them wanted tangible proof and since this was not available, the early Christians must have been seen as confused19. Early Christianity as a Counter-Culture The rise of the Christian faith in the Roman Empire was founded on various factors and its spread was a sign of considerable social uprising and transforming environments. While the debate on the mystical story of Jesus can be examined from various angles, the belief in his existence accounts for the fast spread of Christianity in the Roman Empire. Jesus the man is covered in mystery as his birth, but the common theories and teaching of his later ministry are well documented. Due to the association of Jesus crucifixion and the well known dates of the period that Pontius Pilate served as the leader of Judea, the death of Jesus is claimed to have taken place between 30 and 35 AD. This period is considered to have been significant in Roman history due to the social conditions that characterized the period20. During this period, Judea and Palestine were ruled by Rome and the people in their desire to ensure their religious freedom were often hostile to any kind of unfamiliar rule. In fact, majority of them were resistant of Herod’s rule mostly due to his bad governance. The teaching of Jesus under the auspices of Jewish law promoted social equality, unity and the autonomy of men to choose their own destiny. These teaching led to a small yet slowly rising following for a new kind of optimism and thought at a time when the people were under heavy oppression by the Roman authority21. It is truly hard to determine the effect that the death of Jesus had on his following but the high level of ant establishment theory without a doubt played a major role. Any observer might think that the death of a master would derail the concepts that were existent but the death of Jesus became a cause that people were ready to die for and this cause became dominant in the early religion. Christianity spread modestly in the region and formed its base in Syria but the true spread took place during the period of the early missionaries. From Judea, the church spread to Palestine, Armenia and Rome where Peter was installed as the head of the church. However, it was Paul of Tarsus who helped in spreading Christianity to various regions in the Roman Empire. His writings depict the early struggles of the Christian church as well as the challenges that it went through22. It is hard to determine the exact number of Christians in the early church or how fast they spread in the region but the mission of Paul transformed the new sect from being just a Jewish affair to a Gentile cult. The Jewish group was unique to the new gentile cult, but the conducting principles mostly remained the same. In his mission, Paul’s teaching centered mainly on equality before the sight of God as well as the eternal life in the new kingdom that God was going top establish. This message was appealing to the poor, the slaves and to all the other people who felt that they were oppressed by the Roman social system that did not offer people to rise above their current social status. In most cases, the early converts were in places that were outside the Roman rule but as they began migrating to the urban places, Rome was also affected the new religion. Although paganism persisted for long, Rome began to take note of this new subversive, counter culture cult and the early church were forced to live out their new found faith in secret23. The link between early Christians and the Jewish faith, as well as the basis of the cult deeply ingrained in a people that were used to religious fanaticism actually helped the new religion to take ground. The Jews were used to opposing political authority so that they can practice their own religion and the change to Christianity in a way helped to bring about a sense of colonial confrontation. To the Romans, Christians were people who only met in secrecy and this led them not to take any serious note on them since they equated this to the shame that the new religion brought24. Following the stigma that accompanied the Christians as a result of being branded subversive, the Roman rule believed that this would discourage membership to the cult but this actually gave the new religion room to spread. In 64 AD, Christianity was spreading so fast such that the new emperor Nero began persecuting Christians. However, the emperor did not carry out this persecution directly but he would carry out crimes, which he would attribute to the Christians. However, in the following events, his theory was refused and the Christian fraternity went on to spread their teachings in the entire Roman Empire. The spread of Christianity during this period provides crucial lessons for the modern day church since the same tactics that were used by the early church can be used to the church advantage in the modern society. The fact that the Christians pointed out the ills that were perpetuated by the Roman Empire against its subjects might be the same thing that is contributing to the spread of the church since in a large way the church today is seen as exposing the ills that the current governments are exposing its people to. For this reason, the conditions that led the early culture to be branded subversive and a counter culture cult might be working to the advantage of the modern church25. Early Christian Martyrs Martyrdom has always been a common feature in the Christian church. Those who hate what others stand for often persecute them for not adhering to their own doctrines. For many years now, Christians have undergone persecution at the hands of people who were anti church or simple people who thought that they had deviated from the true bible teachings. The early Christians underwent austere persecutions but these helped in spreading the gospel. This was in fulfillment of Jesus words in Mathew 10: 17-21 where he had warned his disciples to “Beware of men, for they will deliver you u to councils and scourge you in their synagogues. You will be brought before governors and kings for my sake, as a testimony to them and to the gentiles. Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.” The first martyr of the Christian church was Stephen who was killed after he reminded the Jews of how they had rejected Jesus. The killing of Stephen marked a great persecution of the Christian church as documented in Acts 11:9. Those who fled for fear of being killed traveled to Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch where they spread the gospel to these cities. The persecution of the Christians was propagated by the belief among the Romans that the Christians were planning a revolt against the Emperor and they therefore had to be stopped after the killing of Stephen, James of Zebedee as outlined in Acts 12: 1-3. Although Herod seized Peter immediately after this, it was not until 66 AD that he and Paul were martyred by Emperor Nero26. To many Jews, the early martyrs did not have any cause to die for since the Jesus that they were trying to preach about had himself been killed even after saying that he was indestructible. The Christians could therefore, have chosen to adhere and accept the teaching of the Roman leaders to stop the oppressions. It is believed that there were about 10 waves of persecutions directed towards the early Christians by the Roman emperors. During this period, Christians were tormented including women and children as well as children because of their faith. However, as all this was happening, the Christian church kept on increasing27. Perhaps the person who encouraged the Christians to soldier on with preaching the gospel was Paul who had been the greatest tormentor of the church but had been converted in mysterious ways. Although the persecutions were supposed to stop the spread of the church, in reality, it had the reverse effect and many people were converted after they witnessed the boldness of the martyrs. The persecutions were so common to a point that religious historians write that the seed of the church is founded in the blood of the martyrs28. To the Romans, the persecution was necessary since they regarded the Christians to be atheists after they failed to regard Caesar as God. Many people felt that the Christians were unreasonable since they were not being asked to worship Caesar as their only God but they were in reality supposed to add him to their other God and they would be allowed to live. However, the Christians chose the prospect of dying on the stake that the promise of living free lives and forsaking their savior. What the Romans failed to realize was that these Christians had their sight on the eternal kingdom, which they believed was about to be set up by Jesus himself upon his return. Majority of those who were martyred believed that the end of the current Roman rule was near since the apocalypse was about to take place. In a large part, the Jews who were living during the Roman rule were religious zealots who could go to any length to defend that which they believed was right. These Jews were not ready to accept any foreign worship that they were not used to and they therefore did everything possible to stop this from happening. However, this turned out in the favor of Christianity since upon conversion; these Jews defended Christianity in the same breath29. Bibliography Ashton, Michael. Raised to Judgement Bible Teaching about Resurrection & Judgement Christadelphian, Birmingham, 2011. Bauckham, Richard. Counter Cultural Church. News Extra 6, 2013. Boswell, John. Christianity, Social Tolerance and Homosexuality, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010. Dynes, Wayne & Donaldson, Stephen. Homosexuality and Religion and Philosophy. New York & London: Garland, 2002. Elliot, Michael. Freedom, Justice and Christian Counter-Culture. London: SCM, 2010. Gagnon, Robert. The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts and Hermeneutics. Abingdon Press, 2002. Guinan, Michael. Raptured or Not? A Catholic Understanding", Catholic Update, October 2005, http://www.americancatholic.org/Newsletters/CU/ac1005.asp Hahn, Scott. Hail, Holy Queen: The Mother of God in the Word of God. Doubleday, 2001. Keane, Paul. The Martyrs Crown. Family Publications, 2009. Morton, Smith (2006). Clement of Alexandria and Secret Mark: The Score at the End of the First Decade. Studies in Homosexuality 12 (3): 295-300, 2006. Pelikan, Jaroslav. Mary Through the Centuries: Her Place in the History of Culture. Yale University Press, (2008). Ronald E. Osborn. Anarchy and Apocalypse: Essays on Faith, Violence, and Theodicy. Evangel Publishing House, 2010. Salisbury, Joyce. The Blood of Martyrs: Unintended Consequences of Ancient Violence. London: Routledge, 2004. Tripp, York. The Purple Crown: The Politics of Martyrdom. Herald Press, 2007. . Read More