Happy break everyone… Read the instructions very closely for this assignment.
You will read “Early Christianity” on pages 280 to the very top of page 290. Make sure you mark up your text, paying close attention to events and dates. Be sure to indicate time periods and events in the margins.
Read carefully: The first person will post a comment with the first event from the reading, the second person to comment will post on the second event in the reading, the third person on the third event, and so on and so forth. Each post must include:
1. the event and year of the event
2. a page number and location in the textbook
3. explanation of the event
4. your thoughts on why its important.
If you feel that someone has missed or skipped an event you may comment on their comment, inserting the missed event with the relevant info above. Got it? If not, call me and I will explain. NO DOUBLE POSTS. All posts must be up by Tuesday 2/21 by 9PM. HINT: get started sooner rather than later. You can’t all wait until the last minute to post.
The first event in this section of reading is on page 281, near the bottom of “The Life of Paul”. This event happened around 60 CE. It was when Paul entered Rome. Paul was imprisioned during this time (about 64 CE) and eventueally executed. This event is so important because Paul had such an impact on early Christianity. On page 281, in the middle of the second paragraph, it states that it was Paul more than anyone else who who branched out to non-Jews alowing them to become Christians without first being Jews. Paul escalated the Christian religion’s population. He effected Christianity in general. His arrival and execution is extremely important to the early Christian religion.
Just a quick post to say, Nikky, wonderful example of a great comment. You covered exactly what I asked for very thoroughly! Great model, great job!
The second event that happened in the section of reading was on page 281. The last paragraph was about ” The Worship of the Early Church”. This event happened in 70C.E. This event was about the worship in churches rather than being in temples or in synagogues. Paul however would preach and then traditions started to form in churches. This made traditions to start to form. Such as baptism and “Eucharist, or communion meal”(282). This began to form the worship of early Christians. My thoughts about this event are that it was important because it start of the establishment of early worship. Also it began various results for this religion. Also this is event is still effecting Christianity because it was a starting point for the religion.
1. The third event in this reading is near the top of “The Production of the New Testament” on page 284 and it is about the earliest Christian writings which began in the 50s and 60s of the first century C.E. These letters, or epistles as they were called, were written by Paul to the Christian congregations that he had established. Fourteen of the twenty-seven books in the New Testament are attributed t him, but some modern scholars doubt that he had written all fourteen. This is very important for many reasons. One major one is that this affects every major religion, Judaism, Christianity (every sect), and and Muslim. Many people base how they act and their whole lives on their religions and count on them. Second, that means that with out the Apostle Paul either someone else might have wrote them but if not the second half of the bible would be pretty bare, over half of the books were established by Paul.
4. your thoughts on why its important.
The event that goes before Marcionism, as Alena writes, is Gnosticism. The text doesn’t mention what year it began, though. It is located under the section “Early Theological Controversies” on page 285. Gnostics considered themselves to be a sect of Christianity. They believed that all humans have an immortal, divine spark that comes from an un-known god. They also believed that spirit is good and flesh is evil. Gnostics also believed that the Supreme God, who is pure spirit, did not create the fleshy world. I think Gnosticism is important because they considered themselves Christian when what they believed goes against Christianity.
The forth event in the reading was on page 286 in the middle. This event took place from about 140 C.E. to 160 C.E. Marcion was the son of the Bishop of Pontus. He was also a Gnostic. He went to Rome in 140 C.E. to see if he could be part of the Church. He taught that there was more than one god. He had many followers but he was excommunicated in 144 C.E. and died in 160 C.E. This is an important event because it was the start of preaching about Gnostics and therefor was the start of a different branch of Christianity.
The fith event was when early christianity and jerusalem exercised leadership over the church. I found this on page 287 under “Growth of the Chirch of Rome”. After 70C.E. ddifferent cities toke over the ledader ship these cities were Alexandria and Antioch. The reason that these cities toke over were because they had outstanding thinkers, there wrightings had influenced Christianity for a long time. This was a very important event because it is when not just people but cities started controlling leadership.
The sixth event starts on page 287. Section called “Emergence of Christianity as the Religion of the Roman Empire.” This event was between 64 c.e. and 330 c.e. This event was when Christianity became the main religion of Rome. The Roman Empire wasn’t found of Christianity at first because they refused to accept other Roman Gods. The Christians “refused to give first allegiance to the empire” (Hopfe 288). Then under emperor Constantine, the Christians began to rain. Constantine was not a Christian but was highly influenced by both his wife and mother who were Christians. This event is important because it was the first time Christianity had become big among many people. After this, Christianity only grew larger.
The seventh event in the reading was on page 288 and titled Augustine. Augustine influenced Christianity greatly. He lived from 354-430 C.E. Augustine is known for his Christian literature called Confessions and City of God. He is also famous for his “formulations of the doctrine of original sin” (Hopfe 289). This is important because of his ideas of sin and his influence on the religion.
The eighth event began on page 289, the last sentence of the last paragraph under Augustine. In the seventeenth century Augustine doctrines received wider attention. This point is important because his views or the doctrine stated that Jesus only died for a handful of people to be forgiven and that everyone else in the world would be “doomed to eternal damnation” (289). By these views becoming more and more popular people would be changing their actions and thoughts of what is right and wrong making more things out to be controversial.
The ninth event began on page 289 in, “The Monastic movement”. This movement started in the third century C.E. and is a big part of today, and very important because Christianity is really the only major religions in the western world to encourage people living under religious vows, like nuns. There is proof of this starting in the third century because Jesus is said to have encouraged this. How it started is very interesting because it is said that various egyptian native religions may have been influencers to this. This is very important because we see many monasteries where people “dedicate themselves to a simple life of hard manual labor, prayer, fasting, and sometimes study” (290).
Actually this is the third event. bottom of page 283, “The Christian church of the new testament period (ca. 30-150) seems to have been amorphous(without a clearly defined shape or form) both in belief and structure” (Hopfe 283). Later on it also says that no large organization was trying hard to stop the growth and spread of christianity, I thought. This is important because it is say that Christianity had large popular support among people, unlike its disarranged brother Judaism.
p 289 Third paragraph third to last sentence of the monastic movement section. Simeon Stylites died 459 c.e. He was a monk and he raised himself and sat on a pillar. This was one of the first to bring large crowds and showed the purity of the world and attracted many people. I think this is really important because he showed everyone that christianity could be pure.
I believe that there may actually be a few earlier first events, such as what I believe to be the first, when Jesus’s followers met in Jerusalem after his death and resurrection. This is found on the top of page 280 first paragraph and occurred in the year of Jesus’s death, which is approximately 30-40 CE. Jesus’s followers gathered at the festival of Shavuot and were astoundingly able to deliver sermons in languages they did not know. This was the first time they had delivered sermons, as they were all scared they may share jesus’s fate This allowed for them to persuade many to join their church. I find this event to be important for multiple reasons, one being that it was the first expansion of Christianity after Jesus’s death. From this Christianity was born. As well this is very significant because of the fact that the religion was spread to many of different languages and cultures. This creates diversity and more opportunities for the religion to spread and grow, and may be what allowed for Christianity to eventually flourish. As well on a side note not directly related to the event, I found the authors bias towards this particular event to be interesting. Instead of saying that the bible said or legend says that the disciples spoke in unfamiliar languages, he appears to directly state that they did miraculously speak in a foreign language. I find this interesting, perhaps showing some of the authors own faith?
Schuyler Wagner
Since all the events have already been covered i decided to do the one that was most interesting to me.
The second event that occurred in the reading started on the bottom of page 281 near the “Worship of the early Church.” This event took place in around 70C.E, this event focused on the differences in the worship in churches rather then in temples or in synagogues. In addition to prayers, Scripture reading, hymns and the simple semens, Baptism and Eucharist were added. By adding the two things it created the worship of the early christians. I think this is important because it was the foundation of the early worship. By forming and having a set structure and worship, christianity became more popular and began to grow rapidly.
The the fifth paragraph in the Monastic Movement. “Historically, some of the best minds of the church were produced by these communities” (Hopfe 290). One of them was Jerome who translated the Hebrew and Greek biblical material into the Latin Vulgate, in 345-420 C.E. I am still wondering why when in the book they put a question mark next to the date “345.” (345?). I think this is important because if Christianity never had these people, what would happen to the biblical material would it ever be translated so early?
The final event is found in the Monastic Movement. In the last paragraph in the Monastic Movement section on page 289/90, the book talks about monasteries. These monasteries were places where people could fast, study, and pray. Learning was kept alive during the medieval period because of these monasteries. It is also said that Jerome(345?-420 C.E.), the person who translated the bible from Hebrew and Greek into Latin, produced this from the monastic movement. I believe that this is very important, for the religion would not be the same as it is today if it weren’t for the monasteries, because they kept the religion alive when it was at it’s weakest.
On page 283, the event in the first century was Simon Peter becoming the first Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. This is because Jesus said, “and on this rock I will build my church” (Hopfe 283). According to tradition, Simon Peter went to Rome and became leader of the church. His successors were the bishops and popes of Roman Church. This is important because Catholicism is a part of the Christian Church. Simon Peter had a big influence on Christianity because he was an apostle . Jesus had a great influence on him, so if Roman Catholics are based off Simon Peter they also are influenced by Jesus’s teachings.
All of the events have been covered so i will cover an event i found interesting. On page 285 Gnostics are explained. The Gnostics were the center of the most famous conflict within the early church. This was very interesting because all of the other christians believed in the same thing except for the Gnostics. The Gnostics did not believe that jesus was the creator of people because they believed flesh was evil. “… the supreme god, who was pure spirit, could not have created the fleshy world; it must have been created by a secondary deity” (285). They did not believe that a pure spirit would create evil by creating people. they also believed that the univers as we know it was controlled by evil. I think that this almost made sense because if jesus was so pure he may not create all of the suffering and violence we have in the world. I could not find an exact date for this event in the book.