The Church after the New Testament 100A.D. and beyond

Apostle Paul’s missionary journeys

The Second generation The first leaders of the church were now gone, either by martyrdom or death by natural causes. It was time for some new leaders to take the stage…

A growing church

Questions (and problems) arise Was Jesus a god? Was he a man? Was he both? How could he both? Is that possible?

An example: Marcion Marcion taught many various things such as… Jesus was not a human man, he only appeared to be The God of the Old Testament is not the same as the god of the New Testament.

An example: Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Polycarp Polycarp was a disciple of John. He wrote against Marcion’s teachings. Tertullian, a member of the church in Africa, wrote against him too. Irenaeus (a listener of Polycarp’s preaching) wrote entire book called Against Heresies.

Writing Letters Similar to the Apostles, the early church leaders were writing letters to one another at different churches to try and solve theological and situational problems. By what authority do these leaders have to do this? Is their writing as authoritative as the original Apostles?

Church Councils The Church Ecumenical Councils 1.1 First Council of Nicaea (325) 1.2 First Council of Constantinople (381) 1.3 First Council of Ephesus (431) 1.4 Council of Chalcedon (451) 1.5 Second Council of Constantinople (553) 1.6 Third Council of Constantinople (680–681) 1.7 Second Council of Nicaea (787) Also, church leaders would meet together at certain locations to discuss theological issues. Christians would come from all over the known world for the council.