Chapter 2: The Church Enters the Roman Empire

Deacon Laurence

"Behold the treasure of the Church"; presented the treasure of the Church to the Romans as widows, maidens lepers, orphans, and those with disabilities; stripped and slowly roasted on a stick; "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church".

Bishops/episcopos

"Overseers"; ordained Church leaders who are successors of the Apostles and have received the fullest of the sacrament of Holy Orders

Theology

"faith seeking and understanding"

(1) Describe the experiences of early Christian martyrs.

(1) Addressing the issue, one has to be aware that Christianity was illegal first within Judaism, and in a larger context within the Roman Empire. Christians were required to worship the Roman Gods, but they refused to because of their own personal beliefs in one God and because they refused, they were breaking the Roman law. Persecution and execution was their punishment for breaking the Roman law. Sometimes they were widespread persecutions, other times they were not as common.

(2) Why were they killed?

(2) their faith contradicted society's beliefs. Jews persecuted Christians because they thought they were committing blasphemy against God by saying Jesus was the Messiah. The Romans persecuted Christians because in the Roman empire, it was illegal to believe in and openly worship one God. They thought that their gods would punish them if they didn't make the Christians worship and believe in them.

Give an example of heresy.

- Jesus is created to be not truly divine, yet greater than any of God's other creaons

Give an example of Orthodoxy.

- The Trinity consists of 3 persons in one God. - Jesus is 100% human AND 100% divine

What are the 3 sacraments of initiation?

1. Baptism 2. Eucharist 3. Conformation

What are two examples of non canonal gospels?

1. The Gospel of Peter 2. The Gospel of Thomas

What makes writings Scripture (or canon)

1. direct connection to Jesus, 2. accurately reflect the teachings of Jesus 3. consistently used in liturgical worship, 4. sacred and inspired by the Holy Spirit

(3) How were they killed?

3. Romans executed Christians in a number of different cruel ways such as burning them to death or throwing them into the coliseum with hungry lions for entertainment. Usually, the martyrs were gruesomely tortured before being beheaded or killed in some other way.

(4) Who killed them?

4. Jewish officials and roman officials for different reasons.

(5) Why did they not give in?

5. they believed that they would only be taken from earthly life, but brought into life in heaven with God. Their faith was so strong and it didn't allow them to give in. It allowed Christianity to withstand the test of time. We wouldn't be sitting here learning about Christianity if they didn't give up their lives to keep the faith alive.

Catechumenate

A lengthy process of initiation into the church lasting up to two or 3 years.

Laity

Baptized Catholics who share in Jesus' mission and continue his work in society; but are not ordained.

Atheism

Denial that God exists.

Community Organization

Different roles performed by various Church members

Orthodoxy

Doctrine that is consistent with revealed truth and with the Church's doctrine of faith

Hellenistic Jews

Earliest followers; Greek/ Latin; "different" from Jesus from Israel; worried about widows.

Sacraments

Effective signs of grace, instituted by Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit.

Presbyters

Elders or priests, closely related to the bishop in exercising leadership in some faithful communities.

Licinius

Emperor of Eastern Roman Empire; signed but did not follow Edict of Milan and killed Christians; was then killed and replaced by Constantine

Constantine

Emperor of West; signed Edict of Milan - 313 - (religious tolerance); had to defeat Licinius because he was killing Christians; became undisputed emperor of entire Roman world; became Christian on deathbed.

Creed

Essential beliefs of the faith

Which of the 7 sacraments was concidered "the heart and the summit of the Church's life"

Eucharist

Who is the real author of the scripture?

God - all of the gospels and scriptures were inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Incarnation

God assumed a human nature and became man.

Edict of Milan

Instituted tolerance for all religions in the year 313 AD. Signed by Constantine and Licinius. Roman persecution ended and the faith was allowed to grow and spread freely.

Why was the Catechumenate process so lengthy and thorough?

It was important for catechumens to know their faith because they could very easily die for their faith.

Tradition

Living and authentic transmission of the teaching of Jesus in the Church

Important women of Jesus

Martha (friend), Mary (friend), Mary (mother), Mary Magdala (follower), Susanna (follower), Joanna (follower)

Canonal Gospels

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John

Roman Emperor Trajan

More lenient: ordered not to go looking for Christians to persecute, but that if they caused conflict and controversy, it was ok to kill them.

Canon

Official collection of inspired books that make up the Catholic Bible; "measuring rod"

Liturgy

Official public prayer of the Church

Heretics

People who were baptized as Christians but denied officially defined teachings.

Martyr

People who witnessed so strongly to their beliefs that they accepted torture and death rather than renounce their beliefs.

Mystagogy

Period of time where people learned, reflected, and assimilated into the Christian community.

Important women of Paul

Phoebe (deaconess, Prisca, Aquila, Epaeneuts, Mary, Andronicus, Junia

Litany of the Saints

Recitation of various saint's names, chanted, sung, or spoken during certain liturgies.

Rites

Sacramental System

Deacon

Someone appointed to serve those who were needy in the community

Heresy

Teaching that is contrary to revealed truth and to the Church's doctrine of faith.

What is an example of Tradition?

The 7 sacraments; not in the Bible but are equally as important.

What is the most inportant service of the year and why is it so important?

The Easter Vigil; Easter is the most important day and the jewish day begins when the sun goes down.

What makes a Gospel, or any writing, canonal?

The writing is recognized as inspired scripture, thus is included in the canon of the NT.

What did atheism mean according to the Romans and Emperor Domitian?

They called Christians atheists because they refused to accept the Roman emperor as God.

Catechumens

Those who were in the process of becoming initiated into the Church.

Baptism

To plunge or immerse; sacrament of initiation that immerses one into water and anoints with oil; wipes person clean from original sin.

(6) The spirituality and faith of the early martyrs teaches us that living true to our Christian faith TODAY may indeed cost us something too, we might be persecuted. Explain what living true to one's Christian faith today might cost a teenage girl living in Baton Rouge TODAY.

We live in a country where we cannot be killed for our beliefs. "Salvation is free, but discipleship costs everything we have." People who don't understand my counter cultural way of living might judge me and ridicule me. I cannot conform to what society wants and says that a person should act like. I risk being excluded for not doing things with friends that they think are "cool" but are actually wrong. I would be in the minority.

Roman Emperor Nero

began Christian persecutions in Rome: 1st ever Roman persecution of Christians; blamed them for a fire he started and claimed it was the Roman gods punishing Rome for being un-loyal to them.

Roman Emperor Domitian

began the first EMPIRE-WIDE persecutions of Christians; accused Christians of being atheists because they were monotheists and that they were attempting to avoid paying the special tax on Jews.

Pope John Paul II

believed women need to be welcomed back fully as they were in the early Church

Roman Emperor Decius

certificate indicating that people were loyal citizens that also worshipped the Roman gods; Christians could never receive a certificate due to their faith and therefore could be persecuted

Stephen

deacon; first recorded martyr; preached; served; preformed miracles; "man of grace and power"; debated; condemned for "blasphemy"; stood for Jesus Christ against crowds; stoned to death

John Chrysostom

developed a liturgical form that became very popular around Constantinople and continues to be used by Byzantine Catholics today.

Roman Emperor Diocletian

established dioceses (12); East and West Empire; Great Persecution. Splitting the empire into sections/diocese made it easier to rule/control.

Saint Cecilia

martyr; member of an important Roman family who survived for three days after a botched attempt by a soldier to behead her.

Saint Numidicus

saw wife executed; was burned at stake but somehow survived and was rescued by his children; went on to be ordained a deacon and served the Christian Church in Carthage.

Saint Perpetua and Felicity

symbols of strength and courage within faith; when captured by the Romans, they were catechumens participating in the two or three-year process of Baptism; tossed in an arena to die for their faith.

Apologists

those who clearly and effectively explained and defended Christian beliefs

What was decided at Vatican II?

women could participate in mass, infants could be Baptized, and that the process of initiation needed to be reinstalled

How long did the persecution of Christians last?

~33 A.D. until 313 A.D. 280 years total (around 300)