History of the Church I: Week Six

What is the Church’s role in the affairs of men and Empires?  Jerome’s dream  How far should the Christian go in confronting culture?  School at Alexandra:  Asked big Q’s of life  Goal was to convert the upper classes steeped in Greek philosophy  Pantaenus started it A.D. 180  Clement came as a student and then took over

Clement Regarded as first “Christian scholar”  Goal was to bring seekers of wisdom to Christ  He appealed to the students of his time  He wanted not to win arguments but to lead Hellenistic intellectuals  Believed individual morality

Origen  Became master of Alexandrian school at 18 when Roman persecution forced Clement to flee  Saw that the Bishop of Alexandra was corrupt and was forced to flee to Caesarea

Origen  Gifted teacher and speaker, he believed the moral life was necessary to seek God  Pope Gregory was his student  Led by example in living out his Christian walk

Origen  He instilled in his students a love of virtue and they saw his life as an example of a wise man  A wealthy friend funded him with seven writers and the books poured forth

Origen  His main work was the exposition of Scripture  He saw the Bible as a whole book and the verses could not contradict themselves if you compared them to each other

Origen  He believed there are three levels of meaning to the Scriptures: literal, moral application and the allegorical (spiritual)  Let the Bible speak for itself and compare Scripture with Scripture

Origen  This proved invaluable in combating heresy  It allowed intelligent Christians to believe the Bible His work saved the Scriptures and formed the historical base for the faith

Origen  First Principles was the first systematic theology  He realized that if Christianity was going to shape culture it must appeal to the intellect as well as the heart

Origen  He went to too far though when he wrote that God’s love was so great eventually Satan himself would be saved and hell emptied  He and Clement paved the way for Christianity to shape civilization