Chadwick, The Early Church

Messiah of power and glory or weakness and crucifixion? Christians appealed to example of suffering servant of Isaiah and a new covenant in accordance with hope of Jeremiah 31:31-34

P13 Pharisees: respect both written scriptures and scribal tradition. Sadducees only scriptures not scribes and rejected resurrection as 'a doctrine only found in writings such as book of Daniel, composed long after Moses' time'.

Essenes discussed at length as having similarities to early church.

P16 pagans of Antioch coined term 'Christian', Jews retained 'Nazarenes' (p21)

Unclear exact relationship between Peter, Paul and James (the Lord’s brother). James reigned in Jerusalem until martyred in 62. Peter more open to gentiles (despite row with Paul in Gal 2:11ff) but martyred in Rome so clearly had some concern for the Gentiles

Everyone in ancient world knew 3 things about Jews:

Would this apply too to gentile Christians? Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15) largely favoured universalists but some compromise. p20 'Paul’s achievement'

P21 Suetonius' life of Claudius suggests possible rioting between Jews and Christians as early as AD50 in Rome. Judean Christians 'kept bridges open' as long as they could until around AD85 change of liturgy ensured their exclusion

P23 evolution of Judean Christians from self-named 'Ebionites' (derived from 'the poor') thru Irenaeus lumping them with other heresies denying the virgin birth to Tertullian supposing them to be founded by Ebion and later writers even quoting Ebion’s alleged writing!

Primitive church refused to identify itself with Jewish zealots. Not disposed to quarter with gentile authorities for whose conversion they prayed

P26 Nero AD64 needed someone to blame for fire, but nonetheless established precedent for execution of Christians merely for being Christian

Domitian (81-96) styled himself 'master and god' and required the oath 'by the genius of the emperor' which was problematic for Jews(and presumably Christians)

Titus Flavius Clemens (consul in 95) and wife Domitilla accused of atheism with Jewish sympathies according to Dio. Revelation may refer to this period

Trajan (98-117) 'did not like his cult being made a compulsory loyalty-test'. Pliny the younger governed Bithynia at this time and exchanged letters with Trajan about 'the exact nature of [the Christians'] crime' though out of curiosity not sympathy

Reply was to ignore anonymous reports and not conduct general investigation. Death for any advised by passion of God standing, convicted and refusing you recant.

P28 authorities find Christians virtuous but hostile and obstinately so to old gods.

P29 top list of martyrs. Bottom: Tertullian (bishop of Rome) observed 'the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church

P30 tendency to provoke martyrdom. montanists (ref p52) especially quick to see cowardice and moral compromise

Mid 3rd c saw official recognition and verification of martyrs

P31 gnostics (ref p36) argued pagan gods not devils but non existent, so indifferent to sacrificial meat

P31 the sporadic and local nature of persecution and authorities not taking Christianity seriously till 3rd c gave time for church to roams and deal with internal problems

Paul already had issues in his dealings with Corinth. They were dualists shunning the body in favour of the soul. Hence the moral license, extreme aesthetic of abstaining from sex in marriage and looking down on bodily resurrection.

In Colossae there was a syncretistic heresy blending angelic powers with Christianity

Both known as gnostic

Big question is whether Christianity was added to Gnostics or vice versa. Certainly something of the kind predates Christ but unlikely to have been blended into identifiable doctrine at that time

Believed soul imprisoned in body by precosmic disaster and on death the elect traveled back to heaven in the 7 planets, providing had all the secret passwords.

P37 Adam and Eve story blended with Plato’s Timaeus. Key idea from Christianity was redemption but not always with Christ as redeemer

Docetism (from dokesis) understands Christ’s body as mere optical illusion, higher beings would have seen through it.

P38 fusion of popular astrology, magic and Pauline language of predestination produced a rigid determinism. Valentinius softened the hopelessness by suggesting some twilight happiness for the church members without knowledge (the psyche) who were neither the elect nor the unelect

Gnosticism also interpreted Old Testament as associated with physical and therefore without value.

Marcion excluded cosmogony and banners of angels making him 'the most formidable of heretics'. Wrote 'antitheses' and excommunicated AD144. Rejected any idea of birth or childhood of Jesus in physicality

Marcion required NT authors to have misunderstood Jesus because they presupposed continuity with Old Testament. He admired Paul but had to excise corruptions from the Judaisers. Only one gospel could be right and even that - Luke’s - had been corrupted

Marcion first to draw up a canon but shorn of Old Testament and anything in NT respecting it.

Valentinius was happy with Old Testament as allegory fitted with his Platonism. His idea was secret knowledge shared by disciples and passed down in parallel to public teaching of the church

The problem of legitimate authority after the apostles

Ignatius of Antioch proposed bishops as local representatives of God

Clement in writing to Corinthians identified apostolic succession (this undermining any secret knowledge argument)

Marcion and Valentinius also drove need to form an authorized NT incorporating oral tradition. This was still not complete at time of Irenaeus (185-90)

Apostolic endorsement was key to inclusion this excluding valued works like Shepherd of Hermas and letter of Clement

The third and final weapon against heresy was 'rule of faith' (creed). Originators include Irenaeus and Tertullian. Irenaeus argued bishops taught it therefore true by apostolic descent. Tertullian that had separate authority to Bible to cut out endless arguments and get to a short and direct answer. This leads to almost equivalence between scripture and tradition as distinct sources of revelation.

Acknowledge that Bible authority is circular argument.