CHURCH HISTORY Early Church

Apostolic Witness Pentecost – Birth of the Church Peter’s Leadership –Peter stirs the crowd (Acts 2) –Works wonders in Jesus' name (Acts 3) –Rebukes dishonesty (Acts 5, 8) Paul’s conversion & mission –Conversion of Saul of Tarsus (Acts 9) –St Paul - who never met Jesus, traveled extensively, preaching the good news and started Christian communities through those visits. –Paul's 3 missionary journeys – Asia Minor/ Greece/ Italy

Early Christian Community Devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to fellowship Day after day spend much time together in prayer and praise Broke bread at their homes Ate food with glad and generous hearts Sold their possessions and distributed the proceeds to the needy Day by day Lord added to their numbers Ichthys: Early Christian symbol of a fish. Greek for fish is an acrostic for Jesus, Christ, God, Son, Saviour

Shaping the Church Disputes –Must non-Jews (Gentiles) become Jewish first? –Was Jesus the Messiah Jews were awaiting? –Christian believers were forced out of Jewish communities Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:1-35, 49 AD) –St Peter-appointed head of the Church by Jesus, led the Council of Jerusalem. –Peter’s decision on Gentiles – ‘saved thru the grace of Jesus’ (Acts 15: 11) –To be a Christian faith in Jesus was the only requirement –For centuries, Church would hold councils to decide matters of faith, teaching and practice.

Books of the New Testament GOSPELSWHEN WRITTENAUTHORFOR WHOM MatthewAD 60-65Matthew Jews (disciple) MarkAD 55-65John MarkChristians in Rome (accompanied Paul) LukeAD 60LukeGentiles (Greek doctor) JohnAD 85-90JohnNew Christians/ (apostle) non-Christians EPISTLES ActsAD 63-70LukeTheophilus/believers RomansAD 57PaulChristians in Rome/ Believers 1st Cornithians AD 55 PaulChurch in Corinth 2nd Corinthians AD PaulChurch in Corinth GalatiansAD 49Paul Churches in Galatia EphesiansAD 60PaulChurch in Ephesus PhilippiansAD 60PaulChurches in Philippi ColossiansAD 60PaulChurch in Colosse, Turkey

Books of the New Testament (Contd.) EPISTLESWHEN WRITTENAUTHORFOR WHOM 1 Thessalonians AD 51 Paul Church in Thessalonica 2 Thessalonians AD 52Paul“ “ 1 TimothyAD 64Paul Timothy/young church leaders 2 Timothy AD 66/67Paul“ “ Titus AD 64 PaulGreeks HebrewsAD 70PaulHebrew Christians JamesAD 49JamesJewish Christians 1 PeterAD 62-64PeterJewish Christians (apostle) forced out of Jerusalem 2 PeterAD 67PeterChurch at large 1-3 JohnAD 85John Gentlies (Apostle) Revelation AD 95John7 churches in Asia Believers everywhere

Martyrdom First Martyr – St Stephen (ACTS 6,7 - AD 34) Peter martyred at Rome during the persecution under Emperor Nero (AD64); Paul was arrested many times and most letters were written from prison, pouring out his love and encouragement to Christians. He was put to death in Rome.

Age of Martyrs Age of martyrs (100 – 313) –St. Ignatius, a bishop of Antioch martyred in Rome (AD 115) –St. Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna (AD155) –St. Agnes (AD 304) –“We are beheaded, we are crucified, we are exposed to the beasts, we are tortured with chains and by fire and by the most dreadful torments" (St. Justin, AD 150 ) Persecutions of Christians lasted for 300 years. The faith of martyrs gave other Christians the courage to die for Christ. In time the tomb of martyrs buried in Rome (catacombs) became Christian shrines.

Freedom to Believe! Emperor Constantine Constantine the Great ( ), with co-emperor Licinius in the East, granted Christianity religious freedom (Edict of Milan, AD 313) Moved capital of Roman Empire from Rome to Constantinople (AD 330) Made it possible to hold the first general council of the Church, at Nicea in AD 325 (Nicene Creed)

Western Church In AD 410 the city of Rome was captured by the Germanic tribe and the government could no longer function. The most important person then was the Bishop of Rome. He was then called “the Pope.” Rome and Constantinople became the two main centers of Christianity. Jerome-a scholar and translator, translated the old testament from Hebrew to Latin (Vulgate) St. Augustine's genius provided the Church with a theological analysis that was popular for a thousand years, and has never lost value

Eastern Church Great Creativity-beautiful hymns, prayers Vestments and chalices, mosaics and church buildings, were designed to give glory to God Bishop of Constantinople allowed churches to pray in their own languages When Germany was conquered, its peoples were brought into the empire and the church Sts. Athanasius, Basil, John Chrysostom, Cyril of Alexandria, wrote about faith and developed prayers