The Early Days of the
Developing Christian Church
The Holy
Spirit moved through men to establish Christianity, possessing them with the
words that attracted society to empower their brotherhood, only to contradict man’s
free will to seek desires to harness this empowerment over society for selfish
gains. This caused deep insult to true
Christianity in many instances throughout the earlier days of the Church. Many times fear was placed upon society for
claiming their Christian faith as well as the intense accusations of not being
Christian enough. This fear should not
be confused with the presence or influence of God or of Christ but rather with
the intentions of man. The Christian
Church is established by men and the aspect of its rule over society was then through
men. Christ was not sent to us to
establish a church or set the rules of the church. He came to teach us the
blessed nature of the Father and through us individually in the Holy Spirit.
The early history of Christianity began with a mission of man, through the
power of the Holy Spirit, to spread the Word, however, the darkness of
spiritual warfare turned many men to use their influence over society to
tarnish the original plan of Christ.
Once Christ was
crucified by the Romans, during the Roman Empire, the mission to establish
Christianity became that of the Apostles. This was the beginning with the aide
of free will of the men who made the decision to form a brotherhood of man
under a unified presence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was introduced to
them in a day of Pentecost, an agricultural festival celebrating the first
fruits of the harvest in which foreign men attended from all across the
Mediterranean basin in the city of Jerusalem, city of the Jewish religion.
“Before Pentecost there were only 120 Christians in Jerusalem, and their
gathering was a large ‘upper room’, otherwise unidentified, but probably the
same chamber where Jesus had instituted the Last Supper” (as cited in Maier,
1974, pg 16, para 1). The Apostles and a
small society within Jerusalem, including Mary, mother of Jesus, becomes a
dramatic approach to such a small amount of people creating such a huge
response in the later days and spread of Christianity as it certainly manifests
question to whether man alone is capable of such influence over society.
At
this time the Holy Spirit appeared as a gust of wind that blew across the
festival of foreigners that gathered in Jerusalem, following flames that were
witnessed by the Apostles, and at that time a miracle was performed. Though
many of the travelers were foreign with many different languages, they were
able to understand each other. “In Luke’s record the miracle of Pentecost was
not primarily rushing sounds, tongues of flame, or instant linguistic genius,
but the arrival of God and the Holy Spirit who could inspire and transform a
man in such a way” (as cited in Maier, 1974, pg 21, para 3). On this day of Pentecost
in this mixed society of people, three-thousand people became Christians. “Not
even Jesus’s preaching drew such a response… or there would have been more
believers than the lonesome 120 Christians before Pentecost” (as cited in
Maier, 1974, pg 21, para 4). The history of the first days of Christianity
challenges that the church was not completely responsible for the spread of
Christianity in the individual heart of the society, but it led to the
establishment of the church.
Within the first
few decades of the spread of Christianity, the weight fell upon the Apostles,
and with the aide of the wisdom of elders and others, they formed a group that
was semi organized in order to be able to draw in donations to redistribute to
the poor and needy of the community as an outreach, and also to formulate
certain rules of doctrine over their newfound Christian religion. The main goal
was of course was to give the people of the world the knowledge of “the way” of
total salvation through the spreading of their faith. Still, it was not without
interruption of power struggles within for the politics of man became apparent
as to who knew the best ways to do so and the appropriate things to be
teaching. The beginning establishment of
the organization of men to spread the Christian faith was from the start riddled
with discrepancies of power struggles between men.
Even more than
the struggle within the men of the church, were the conflicts that were faced
in the society that they were attempting to teach to during these first
missions into the world. Paul is a true example of how a person can condemn the
Christians enough that the direction that he chose for his life was to
persecute them. What better choice in men than a man who knew the minds of
those who persecute, to form his highly educated gift of debate to defend the
faith once he received his change of heart given to him from the Holy Spirit on
the road to Damascus on his way none other than to persecute the Christian
society. Paul’s influence over men with his intelligence, using his deep
understanding of the Jewish prophetic doctrine and his ability to debate,
combined with his bilingual skills and his protected class- status of Roman
citizen, was able to bring about the first primitive congregations of
Christians in cities peppered across the Mediterranean basin, ending with Rome,
the capital of the then Roman Empire under the Emperor Nero. Eventually Nero
persecuted the Christians and had Paul put to death with Peter, another Apostle
that was in Rome establishing the faith. (Maier, 1974) Another conflict in the
earliest days of the spread of Christianity is found with Ananos, the high
priest of Jerusalem in the Jewish religion, as “convened the high council of
judges and brought before them James, the brother of Jesus (called the
‘Messiah’), and several others” (as cited in Arnold, 1970, pg 62 para 2). This
interjected the emotion of fear in society in claiming their Christian faith.
The execution of the Apostles and other martyrs over the beginning few decades
was to be the incomprehensible irrationality that persecuted Christians for
merely believing in their own salvation.
At this point in
the history of the Christian Church, the human element becomes apparent and fear
becomes a contributing factor of the outcomes of countless situations; either
in fear to be a part of, or fear of, the
Christian community. “Based in part on prior research showing that fear,
threat, and anxiety decrease cognitive capacity and motivation, we hypothesize
that under high(vs. low) threat, people will seek to curtail open-ended
information searches and exhibit motivated closed-mindedness (one aspect of the
need for cognitive closure)” (as cited in Thorisdottier & Jost, 2011). The
attraction of the open-ended information that the Salvation in Christianity
attracted people initially brought upon secondly close-mindedness due to the
extreme fear that was posed in the persecution of the Christian community. It
stands to wonder the circles carried about of acceptance then persecution
throughout the ages, what limits in cognitive ability in the community suggests
alternate sequences of events. As “…open-mindedness is essentially a matter of
assessing one or more sides of an intellectual dispute in a fair and impartial
way” (as cited in Baehr, 2011, para 1), it is plausible to think that the
relevant facts throughout history on the fear factor that stumped society also
placed limits on the Christian faith in truth to be exonerated. In order to
overcome the persecution, certain challenges would have to be enforced into the
minds of non-believers, and most of them became entrenched in their positions
of finding fault in the Christian faith rather than simply and fairly examining
it. This combined with the building of wealth, helped to sway the hearts of
power seeking individuals
The church
continued to grow following the death of the Apostles and the original members
of the faith, “in classical literature as the scapegoats Nero tried to pin the
blame on for the catastrophe” (as cited in Cheetham, 1982, pg 5, para 3), of
the extreme fires that destroyed much of the city of Rome. Still, this display of unfounded hate did not
displace Christianity as it thrived in the community. Domitian became emperor of
Rome and “Finally, he showed himself the successor of Nero in enmity and
hostility to God…he was in fact, the second to organize persecution against
us…” (as cited in Williamson, 1965, pg 125, para 2).
In the earlier
days of the Christian church, the structure was somewhat informal. The titles
given to the leaders of each city’s congregation were with less significance in
meaning than later noted in the official history of succession of bishops and
popes. The leader of the church in Rome in the beginning was the Apostle Peter,
followed by Linus and Cletus. However, “while it may be convenient to describe
them as ‘popes’, it must be kept in mind that this title did not exclusively
designate the heads of the Roman Church until the ninth century at the
earliest” (as cited in Cheetham, 1982, pg 8, para 1). The third leader elect of
the church in Rome was Clement, a man of higher class and culture, attracting a
wide variety of social class in the community to the Christian church.
Clement’s strong leadership skills were derived mainly from his stance that he
took on the observance of the Apostles. “Clement invokes the example of the
Apostles, whom he had almost surely known in his youth” (as cited in Cheetham,
1982, pg 9, para 2). Christian worship at this time took place in the homes of
the wealthier Christians.
Immigrants from
Syria, Asia Minor, and Egypt flooded Rome in the early second century. “The
Bishops of Rome were glad to receive visits from such pillars of the eastern
churches as Ignatius of Antioch and Polycarp of Smyrna, the representative of
Christian congregations far larger and more solid than those of Italy and the
whole western part of the Empire” (as cited in Cheetham, pg 10, para 3).
Ignatius was the first to call the Christians “Catholic” the Greek word meaning
universal. (Cheetham, 1982) The Catholic
Church was faced with great hurdles of heresies that developed to encourage
their own followers, combining Jewish theology with magic or universal levels
of cosmologies. There were also periods that certain emperors, such as Antonius
Pius (138-61) persecuted Christians for being different than his philosophical
intellect that he wished for his rule. (Cheetham, 1982). Christianity was
protected by the Catholic Church that insisted on the original path that the
Apostles set for them.
The
political nature of the Church then was power in hierarchy. The bishops of the
church were to make decisions for the future of the Church, and it became a
slow climb into the ranks. Such a decision would be in the disagreement among
bishops of several lands on the actual day of Easter. Many of the Palestine
bishops assembled, and “composed a lengthy review of the traditional Easter
festival which had come down to them without a break from the Apostles…” (as
cited in Williamson, 1965, pg 234, para 1), and they also agreed with the
bishop in Alexandria who answered the letters, “to ensure that we keep the holy
day in harmony and at the same time” (as cited in Williamson, 1965, pg 234,
para 2). Irenaeus, a Christian from Smyrna, wrote five books “slashing denunciation
of the heretics” (as cited in Cheetham, 1982, pg 11) and claimed Rome as the
center of the Church, even though not as strong as those churches in Asia, they
were founded by two great Apostles. “All roads led to the city and the center
of the Empire; it was there that all the traditions and experiences of the
church were gathered, examined and reconciled” (as cited in Cheetham, 1982, pg
11). The politics of the city then began to change dramatically outside of the
politics of the Church that caused many great beginnings for the establishment
of the Catholic Church and the power over society.
The Roman Emperor was called off to
different wars as the Empire was under pressures from potential conquerors, so
he delegated seats to care for sections of the Empire called Augustus. In the
year 305, Constantine was promoted to Augustus, and he enforced that the
persecution of the Christians become lax with new toleration laws, as he had a
Christian wife. (Cheetham, 1982).
Constantine and “his soldiers entered the city [of Rome] with the emblem
of the cross displayed on their shields” (as cited in Cheetham, 1982, pg 16,
para 3). He found that politically speaking, Christianity would benefit his
rule as it was something that he thought the people would need, a combination
of both the unifying factor and the intellectual and emotionally fulfilling
religion. Constantine then awarded Silvester, then the Bishop of Rome, the name
of universal Pope “bequeathing to him and his successors Rome and all the provinces
in the west and he would take up rule in the east (Cheetham, 1982). He then
built the first two great basilicas adjoining the Lateran Palace as well as the
grave site that honored the Apostle Peter at the Vatican cemetery. (Cheetham,
1982). At this period of time, even though there would have been a rush to join
the Christian faith as a sense of security in society under Constantine, as
nice of a thought in building the congregation to a larger size, not all of the
new members would be with the right intentions.
The papacy gained
power as they maintained a direction for the Christians of the Roman Empire
upon the collapse of the Empire. They did this through their strong leadership
as bishops from each early established church reported to the pope elected in
Rome. Not only did this allure Christians to feel guided, but it attracted
political agendas from the conquerors. “The adoption of Roman Christianity
ensured that medieval Europe would inherit crucial cultural elements from
classical Roman society, including the Latin language and the institutional
Roman church” (as cited in Bentley, Ziegler, & Streets, 2008, pg 260, para
3).The politics were instituted as a part of the church with somewhat of an
arrangement between Clovis, a Frank, and the Carolingians as Charlemagne vowed
to protect the papacy, creating a foothold in the political ring for the pope
elect. For example, “the Carolingians received recognition and backing from the
popes, including the award of Charlemagne’s imperial crown of the hands of Pope
Leo III” (as cited in Bentley, Ziegler, & Streets, 2008, pg 260). This
stage of the Christian Church was a conversion from Christianity as a personal
journey to a political authority with all aspects of men’s agendas for power
included, as well as securing a future for the Christian Church.
Once established,
Christianity took on a face of not the victim, fighting and fearing for its
existence, but rather that of the persecutor. Oppressive measures to rid the
land of heresies were manifested through the hierarchy of the papacy. Bishops
were faced with the decisions of exhuming bones of the dead who were later
presumed to not be Christian enough, and to burn them in fires joining actual
live peoples believed to be heretics. “Though both had been dead for more than
thirty years [two names are given], the Inquisition ordered their bones to be
exhumed and their property confiscated” (as cited in O’Brien, 1973, pg 97, para
3). Everyone seems to have jumped on the band wagon of purposely pocketing
presumed heretics’ fortunes and possessions, condemning them to death. “The
worst greed was by the civil magistrates who either shared with the
Inquisitors, or as in France, pocketed all the spoils on condition of bearing
all the expenses. But in either case the financial tie-up was harmful to
religion and undermined confidence in the Inquisition as a court of even-handed
justice” (as cited in O’Brien, 1973, pg 78, para 1). The confiscation policy of
heretics’ possessions became the center of purpose of claiming heretics and the
quarreling among those involved over the confiscated properties became utter
outrage in society. “For the Apostle says, ‘A man that is a heretic after the
first and second admonition avoid.’ Those are held captive by the Devil who,
leaving their Creator, seek the aide of the Devil, and so the Holy Church must
be cleansed of this pest” (as cited in O’Brien, 1973, pg 115, para 5).
Unfortunately the meaning behind the words was misinterpreted by the evil greed
that takes hold of the free will of men who confuse themselves with the fact
that the original doctrine, original words developed by men, were not to be
mistaken for the original message of Christ, upon which Christianity was
devoted to.
The early days of
the Christian Church were full of trial and error of men who attempted to
establish a lifeline to the teachings of Christ to the people of the world in
for future generations. The society of the generations that were succumbed by
the trials were influenced in that they were part of the political movements
that revolved around the establishment of the Christian Church both in
persecutions, upon where martyrs were honored, and for the political agendas of
the Emperors and leaders of the lands. In the beginning days, the world has
never witnessed such of some of the most miraculous conversions that took
place; miracles in the beginning as a gift from God to ensure the start of
Christianity. The early history of Christianity began with a mission of man,
through the power of the Holy Spirit, to spread the Word, however, the darkness
of spiritual warfare turned many men to use their influence over society to
tarnish the original plan of Christ.
References:
Arnold, E. (1970). The Early Christians, After the Death of the
Apostles. Plough Publishing House, Rifton, New York.
Baehr, J.. (2011). The
Structure of Open-Mindedness. Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 41(2), 191-213,357.
Retrieved January 15, 2012, from ProQuest Religion. (Document
ID: 2432495321).
Bentley, J., Ziegler, H., &
Streets, H. (2008). Traditions &
Encounters A Brief Global History. McGraw-Hill, New York.
Cheetham, N. (1982). Keepers of the Keys, The History of the
Popes from St. Peter to John Paul II. Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York.
Frank, I.W. (1996). A Concise History of the Medieval Church.
Continuum Publishing. New York.
Maier, P.L.. (1974). First Christians, Pentecost and the Spread
of Christianity. Harper & Row, Publishers. New York, Hagerstown, San
Francisco, London.
O’Brien, J.A., Ph.D., LL.D. (1973). The Inquisition. Macmillan Publishing Co. Inc., New York.
Thórisdóttir, H., & Jost, J.. (2011).
Motivated Closed-Mindedness Mediates the Effect of Threat on Political
Conservatism. Political
Psychology, 32(5), 785-811.
Retrieved January 15, 2012, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document
ID: 2425844741)
Williamson, G.A. (1965). Eusebius,
The History of the Church from Christ to Constantine. Penguin Books.
Baltimore, Maryland.
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