Lecture 21 Ch 500 Lecture 2 Historical Developments Dr. Ann T. Orlando

Lecture 2 2 Outline for Lecture Roman Imperial History AD Judaism in this period How Christianity spread; early centers of Christianity Christian Responses to Persecutions Background to Readings  Pagan authors: Tacitus, Pliny the Younger, Trajan  Christian authors: Paul, Ignatius of Antioch, Justin Martyr

Lecture 2 3 First Century Roman Emperors Julio-Claudian Emperors (31 BC to 68 AD)  Starts with Augustus, ends with Nero’s suicide  Consolidation of Empire won by Augustus  Succession hereditary; intra-family rivalries, often deadly  After Augustus, increasingly demonic emperors; Nero worst of all Flavian Emperors (Vespasian and his sons Titus and Domitian)  Destruction of Jerusalem Temple, 70  Vespasian built the Coliseum  Domitian was particularly ruthless against enemies, real and imagined NB Nero and Domitian were the only emperors that the Senate of Rome did NOT declare gods

Lecture 2 4 Second Century Roman Emperors The Five ‘Good’ Emperors: The Antonines (98-180)  Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius  Good because the Empire prospered with excellent government  Until Marcus Aurelius, each Emperor adopted a suitable successor rather than relying on a son  But not so good for Christians; continued practice of sporadic persecution  Also not so good for Judaism; Trajan and Hadrian both pursued wars against Jews

Lecture 2 5 Map of Roman Empire fsmitha.com/h1/map18rm.htm

Lecture 2 6 Third Century: Period of Unstable Rule Commodus (Marcus Aurelius’ son): Cruel, greedy, stupid  Fought ‘gladiators’ in the arena  Tried to have Rome renamed after himself;  Cheated the army  Murdered in 192 Set the pattern for grasping generals to murder and succeed predecessors  Financial Problems  Increased problems with tribes along the Danube and Persian Empire  Of note for Christians: Decius ( ) encouraged Empire-wide persecutions Poor leadership continued until Diocletian ( )  Very strong ruler  Worst persecution of Christians occurred during his reign Another period of instability after Diocletian retires and before Constantine the Great (312)

Lecture 2 7 Roman Blood Sports Roman Society was fond of blood sports. Typical day in Coliseum:  Morning: animal fights (including devouring prisoners)  Lunch: prisoner executions  Afternoon: gladiators, including mock naval battles Most important events were gladiatorial combats

Lecture 2 8 Judaism(s) During Jesus’ Lifetime End of Second Temple Period Before and during Jesus’ life there were many types of Judaism in Palestine (Josephus describes this):  Pharisees: upholders of the Law (Torah)  Sadducees: from aristocracy and high priests, did not believe in resurrection of dead; closely associated with Temple  Essenes: disgusted with impurities in Temple; left for desert ; Dead Sea Scrolls usually associated with them  Zealots: ‘terrorists’ against Roman occupation Diaspora Jews not living in Palestine but scattered around Mediterranean;  Greek Jews (Hellenists in Acts of Apostles); Septuagint (LXX) Greek translation of Bible c. 200 BC in Alexandria  Jews in Rome; ordered to leave Rome by Claudius in 44 CE  Jews in Mesopotamia who did not return after the exile in 6 th C BC, but flourished under Persian rule

Lecture 2 9 Concentration of Jewish Settlements in First Century darkwing.uoregon.edu/~atlas/europe/static/map11.html

Lecture 2 10 Development of Rabbinic Judaism During the First War with Rome AD, the Sadducees, Essenes and Zealots were destroyed In 117 AD the Emperor Trajan destroyed the Hellenistic Jewish community in Alexandria; after this the Greek (or Hellenistic) Jews seemingly either converted to Christianity or rabbinic Judaism Second Palestinian War, Emperor Hadrian, Bar Kochba rebellion, ; after this war, Romans did not allow Jews into Jerusalem The Pharisees were the group out of which rabbinic Judaism grew in the 2cd and 3 rd C AD.  Reestablished contact with the Mesopotamian Jews and their theology;  Rejected use of Greek philosophy and parts of the OT written in Greek, not Hebrew Hellenistic (Greek) Jewish theology was taken over, preserved and used by early Christian theologians, especially in Alexandria  Philo of Alexandria, contemporary of Jesus and Paul; extensive use of allegory and Platonic philosophical concepts in his OT commentaries

Lecture 2 11 Christianity End of First Century Christianity spread through missionary activities to urban centers, especially with large Diaspora Jewish populations  Importance of the Septuagint - - Greek Old Testament Remember, when Paul writes Romans, he is writing to a predominantly Jewish (Diaspora) Christian community that he did not found; he writes to introduce himself and his theology to Christians already in Roman Christianity appeared to most outsiders (and some who considered themselves Christian) like another form of Judaism Nero used Christians as scapegoats for fire in 64 AD  Jewish Christian community was small  Execution of Peter and Paul probably took place during this time Rome quickly became the ‘capital’ city of Christianity  Place where Peter and Paul died  Capital of Empire  “No one” left in Jerusalem

Lecture 2 12 Christianity Second Century Further distancing from Judaism  Example: when to celebrate Easter: on Sunday or Passover?  Converts increasingly have no previous contact with Judaism Important centers of large Christian communities and learning: Rome, Alexandria, Antioch Christianity offers itself to everyone, including women and slaves  Notable for care of poor, widows, sick (ministry of deacons)  Notable because Christians are unconcerned with conventional societal patterns (Church more important than family)  Notable for willingness to die rather than sacrifice But there is not one type of Christianity  One of earliest ‘heresies’ is docetism; Jesus only appeared to be human  Another contested issues is that God the Father of Jesus is not the Creator of OT  What literature written in 1 st and 2cd C about Jesus is canonical  Who has authority to teach

Lecture 2 13 Christianity Third Century Extensive persecutions; Christians seen as a threat to Empire, especially during reign of Decius and Diocletian  But this was also a period of great instability in Empire  Jews not considered a threat in the same way because of Roman respect for antiquity of Judaism  Under Decius (249 – 251) everyone required to sacrifice and receive a certificate that they had done so, a libelli But in spite of persecutions, Christianity continues to grow and attract converts from many different levels of society

Lecture 2 14 Early Spread of Christianity

Lecture 2 15 Christian Responses to Persecution 1. Intellectual: Apologies written to justify Christianity to Roman authorities 2. Facing torture and death without apostasy; often even looking forward to martyrdom eagerly as a proof of solidarity with Jesus 3. But, if you believed that Jesus only appeared to be human (docetists), then there seemed little reason to be a martyr yourself 4. Some did not have the courage when accused, and so apostatized and/or paid others for their libelli

Lecture Response to Persecution: Apologies Type of literature that often had the form of a legal defense It was intended for a highly educated pagan (i.e., philosophical) audience; often drew heavily on philosophical concepts to explain Christianity Tried to establish antiquity and respectability of Christianity It tried to show that Christianity was not to be feared, but encouraged good citizenship St. Justin Martyr wrote two Apologies; Tertullian wrote an Apology

Lecture Response to Persecution: Martyrdom and Christianity Martyr comes from Greek word for witness Did not actually have to die to be a martyr, but to suffer for faith (slavery, prison, mines) Note: Romans tried to avoid creating Christian martyrs; accused were given several opportunities to offer sacrifice In 3 rd Century, Roman authorities started issuing a receipt, or libellus to those who sacrificed; authorities also attacking Christianity as such, destroying Scripture

Lecture 2 18 Martyrs Real desire to prove the totality of Christian faith (e.g., Origen On Martyrdom) Those who died were (still are) considered heroes of the faith  Pilgrimage to place of burial  Remembering their sacrifice in “Acts”; Peter (Quo vadis); Perpetua and Felicity; Justin Martyr Those who suffered but did not die (also known as confessors) were popularly considered able to forgive sin of apostasy  Problem for 3 rd C bishops

Lecture Response to Persecution: Docetists (Gnostics) Heavily influenced by Platonism  Believed that Jesus was God, and therefore could not suffer  Physical was not important; one should try to rise above the physical to the spiritual  Martyrdom had little value  Knowledge (gnosis) of faith was a secret revealed by God to individual, not taught and open to all Docetists were bitterly fought by ‘orthodox’ Christians, especially bishops

Lecture Christian Response to Persecution: Apostates (or Lapsed) Very often, after persecution subsided, apostate wanted to return to Church Some sought forgiveness from martyrs Some Churches refused to allow them to return; Church only for pure: Donatists Some wanted them to be rebaptized Church needed a uniform policy

Lecture 2 21 Early Papal Controversies Issues of lapsed came to a head in Third Century Two important papal controversies occur over this issue:  Early Third Century Pope St. Callistus (d. 223) vs. St. Hippolytus (d. 223)  Mid-Third Century Pope St. Stephen and St. Cyprian (d. 258) Pope in these controversies is almost always more lenient than opposition

Lecture 2 22 Callistus and Hippolytus Callistus was a slave, but also a deacon, caring for Christian cemeteries in Rome (catacombs); he was sent to the mines; freedom bought by Roman Church Hippolytus was well educated presbyter; ran a Christian school in Rome; opposed Callistus becoming Pope Hippolytus became schismatic when Pope Callistus allowed lapsed and sinners to return to Church with appropriate penance Eventually Hippolytus reconciled with Callsitus; both martyred

Lecture 2 23 Cyprian and Stephen Key figure was St. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, and his relation with Rome Cyprian was Bishop of Carthage; disciple of Tertullian In regards to lapsed, Cyprian wrote supporting primacy of Pope; Rome as principal church Rome’s more lenient view of lapsed was correct against the Donatist (Novatian in particular) However, Cyprian believed that schismatic needed to be rebaptized. This is opposed by Pope Stephen. Stephen’s position eventually accepted; Cyprian reconciled with Stephen’s successor, Pope Sixtus II

Lecture 2 24 Introduction to Readings for This Week Vidmar (25-45)  Remember that ‘Jewish’ persecution of Christians (Stephen, James) was Jew against Jew (25)  Marcion not a Gnostic (32) Romans 13:1-7; basis for Christian citizenship in Empire; but also written before Roman persecutions Tacitus (55-117)  Roman historian  No friend of Christianity, but even less so of Nero  Wrote of events leading to Trajan’s reign in Annuls

Lecture 2 25 Readings (cont.) Trajan and Pliny  Trajan, Emperor  Pliny the Younger (61-112); Uncle was Pliny the Elder, Roman statesman and naturalist; killed in 79 AD because he investigated eruption of Vesuvius too closely; numerous of his letters have been preserved Ignatius of Antioch d. 112  Seven letters to churches in Asia Minor and Rome; among most important early Christian writings  Note importance of suffering (opposed to docetists)  Note importance of Bishop  Eucharistic references  Remember when he talks about being eaten by beasts, this is not metaphorical, but factual

Lecture 2 26 Reading (cont) Justin Martyr,  Justin had a Christian school in Rome; Justin martyred during the reign of the philosopher-Emperor, Marcus Aurelius ; he is now patron saint of philosophers  Read from First Apology this week and next  Why beginning and end, but not middle this week? Answer is in structure of work which is described in introduction ( )  Remember an apology is addressed to intellectual pagans (not Christians, like Ignatius)  Consider how Justin compares Christianity and pagan philosophy  How does Justin counter the charge that Christians are atheists?  How does Justin’s reference to Hadrian’s letter at the end compare with Trajan’s Letter?