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Ch 500 Lecture 2Historical Developments 100-312Dr. Ann T. Orlando

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Outline for Lecture

Roman Imperial History 1-300 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

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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

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Second CenturyRoman 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

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Map of Roman Empirefsmitha.com/h1/map18rm.htm

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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 (249-251) encouraged Empire-wide

persecutions Poor leadership continued until Diocletian (284-305)

Very strong ruler Worst persecution of Christians occurred during his reign

Another period of instability after Diocletian retires and before Constantine the Great (312)

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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

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Judaism(s) During Jesus’ LifetimeEnd 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 6th C

BC, but flourished under Persian rule

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

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Development of Rabbinic Judaism During the First War with Rome 66-73 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, 132-135; 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 3rd 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

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ChristianityEnd 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

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ChristianitySecond 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 1st and 2cd C about Jesus is canonical Who has authority to teach

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ChristianityThird 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

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Early Spread of Christianitywww.studylight.org/se/maps/browse.cgi?st=170#132

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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

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1. 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

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2. 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 3rd Century, Roman authorities started issuing a receipt, or libellus to those who sacrificed; authorities also attacking Christianity as such, destroying Scripture

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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 3rd C bishops

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3. 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

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4. 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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Readings (cont.)

Trajan and Pliny Trajan, Emperor 98-117 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

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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 (225-237) 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?