Down to the Roots

The Origins and Practices of Early Christianity

From Judaism to Jesus

Moses Jesus

The Passover (Sacrificed Lamb eaten, eternal remembrance, Exodus 13:1-10, Deuteronomy 16:1)

Last Supper (Jesus Sacrificed Lamb, Eaten, Do this in Remembrance of Me, Luke 22:19-20)

The Exodus (Slavery in Egypt to Promise Land) Exodus from Slavery to Sin to Heaven

The Covenant on Sinai The New Covenant (Luke 22:19-20, 28-29)

Ark of Covenant (Staff of Aaron, Manna, Commandments)

Mary (Jesus New High Priest, Eucharist, Great Commandments)

Manna (Heavenly Bread) The Eucharist (New Heavenly Bread, John 6:58)

“The Prophet like onto Moses” Deuteronomy 18:15-18

Solomon Jesus

Son of David Son of David (Mathew 1:1-17)

Temple of Solomon New Temple (John 2:18-22)

To’dah Sacrifice (Thanksgiving, Bread and Wine)

The Eucharistic Sacrifice (Thanksgiving, Bread and Wine)

Prime Minister, Keys to Kingdom Peter, the first Pope, Keys to Kingdom (Mathew 16:18-19)

The Apostles Creed (175-189 AD)

This creed, established by Pope St. Eleutherus sometime in between the years 175-189 AD, was the earliest summary of existing Christian beliefs as transmitted by the Apostles, predating the Bible by about 200 years (assembled in the fourth century by Saint Athanasius and approved by Pope Innocent I in the year 405 AD). It should be noted that the phrase “the dead” (or “hell” with a lower-case h, depending upon the translation) referred to the Semitic word “She’ol”, the place of the dead, neither Heaven nor Hell, but in sort of a place were people who cannot go to either go.

I Believe in God,

The Father Almighty,

Creator of Heaven and Earth;

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son Our Lord;

Who was conceived by The Holy Spirit,

Born of the Virgin Mary,

Suffered under Pontius Pilate,

Was crucified, died, and was buried;

He descended into the dead,

The third day He arose from the dead;

He ascended into heaven,

Sitteth at the right hand of God,

The Father Almighty;

From thence he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

The Holy Catholic Church,

The Communion of Saints,

The forgiveness of sins,

The resurrection of the body,

And life everlasting

Amen.

Whosoever will be saved, before all things it is necessary that he hold the Catholic Faith. Which Faith except everyone do keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly. And the Catholic Faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity. Neither confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Substance. For there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Ghost. But the Godhead of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Ghost is all One, the Glory Equal, the Majesty Co-Eternal. Such as the Father is, such is the Son, and such is the Holy Ghost. The Father Uncreate, the Son Uncreate, and the Holy Ghost Uncreate. The Father Incomprehensible, the Son Incomprehensible, and the Holy Ghost Incomprehensible. The Father Eternal, the Son Eternal, and the Holy Ghost Eternal and yet they are not Three Eternals but One Eternal. As also there are not Three Uncreated, nor Three Incomprehensibles, but One Uncreated, and One Uncomprehensible. So likewise the Father is Almighty, the Son Almighty, and the Holy Ghost Almighty. And yet they are not Three Almighties but One Almighty. So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God. And yet they are not Three Gods, but One God. So likewise the Father is Lord, the Son Lord, and the Holy Ghost Lord. And yet not Three Lords but One Lord. For, like as we are compelled by the Christian verity to acknowledge every Person by Himself to be God and Lord, so are we forbidden by the Catholic Religion to say, there be Three Gods or Three Lords. The Father is made of none, neither created, nor begotten. The Son is of the Father alone; not made, nor created, but begotten. The Holy Ghost is of the Father, and of the Son neither made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.

So there is One Father, not Three Fathers; one Son, not Three Sons; One Holy Ghost, not Three Holy Ghosts. And in this Trinity none is afore or after Other, None is greater or less than Another, but the whole Three Persons are Co-eternal together, and Co-equal. So that in all things, as is aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity, and the Trinity in Unity, is to be worshipped. He therefore that will be saved, must thus think of the Trinity.

Furthermore, it is necessary to everlasting Salvation, that he also believe rightly the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the right Faith is, that we believe and confess, that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man.

God, of the substance of the Father, begotten before the worlds; and Man, of the substance of His mother, born into the world. Perfect God and Perfect Man, of a reasonable Soul and human Flesh subsisting. Equal to the Father as touching His Godhead, and inferior to the Father as touching His Manhood. Who, although He be God and Man, yet He is not two, but One Christ. One, not by conversion of the Godhead into Flesh, but by taking of the Manhood into God. One altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by Unity of Person. For as the reasonable soul and flesh is one Man, so God and Man is one Christ. Who suffered for our salvation, descended into @#!*% , rose again the third day from the dead. He ascended into Heaven, He sitteth on the right hand of the Father, God Almighty, from whence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies, and shall give account for their own works. And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting, and they that have done evil into everlasting fire. This is the Catholic Faith, which except a man believe faithfully and firmly, he cannot be saved.

The Athanasian Creed (361 AD)Written in 361 AD by a Synod of bishops headed by the Archbishop of Alexandria, St Athanasius, hence the name. It’s primary purpose was to combat various heresies that were circulating at the time, and to prevent new ones from emerging and leading the people astray.

The Nicene Creed (381 AD)

This creed was developed at the very end of council at Nicea, or the Nicene Council. Although the council was intended to be a universal meeting for the church, it was mostly populated by eastern bishops, who had to deal with the worst of the heresies. In fact, the Pope himself never actually showed up, but sent two priests in his stead. Emperor Constantine of presided. The purpose of the council was to combat yet another wave of heresies that was popping up in the eastern churches. It was compiled about a year before the official compilation of the Bible.

I believe in one God, The Father almighty,

Maker of heaven and earth,

Of all things visible and invisible.

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,

The Only Begotten Son of God,

Born of the Father before all ages.

God from God, Light from Light,

True God from true God,

Begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;

Through him all things were made.

For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven,

And by the power of the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,

And became man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,

He suffered death and was buried,

And rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.

He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,

And his kingdom will have no end.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

The Lord, the giver of life,

Who proceeds from the Father and the Son,

Who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,

Who has spoken through the prophets.

I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.

I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins,

And I look forward to the resurrection of the dead,

And the life of the world to come.

Amen.

The Seven Sacraments: Baptism

“When we are baptized, we are enlightened. Being enlightened, we are adopted as sons. Adopted as sons, we are made perfect. Made perfect, we become immortal ‘and sons of the Most High’ [Psalm 82:6]. This work is variously called grace, illumination, perfection, and washing. It is washing by which we are cleansed of sins, a gift of grace by which the punishments due to our sins are remitted, an illumination by which we behold that holy light of salvation” (St Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor of Children 1:6:26:1, 191 AD)

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, Baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you till the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

The Seven Sacraments: Confirmation“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house in which they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” (Acts 2:1-4)

“[Father…send your Holy Spirit] on us and on this oil which is before us and consecrate it, so that it may be for all who are anointed and marked with it holy myron, priestly myron, royal myron, anointing with gladness, clothing with light, a cloak of salvation, a spiritual gift, the sanctification of souls and bodies, imperishable happiness, the incredible seal, a buckler of faith, and a fearsome helmet against all the works of the adversary.” (The Syriac liturgy of Antioch, from the Eastern Orthodox Liturgy)

The Seven Sacraments: Reconciliation“Consider, to, the point that he who has received the Holy Ghost has also received the power of forgiving and retaining sin. For thus it is written: ‘receive the Holy Spirit: whosesoever sins ye forgive, they are forgiven unto them, and whosever sins ye retain, they are retained.’ So, then, he who has not received the power to forgive sins has not received the Holy Spirit. The office of priest is a gift of the Holy Spirit, and His right it is specially to forgive and to retain sins.” (St Ambrose of Milan, Two Books Concerning Penance 1:5-8, circa 340-397 AD)

“All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting us to the message of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We beseech you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake He made Him to be sin, who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:18-21)

The Seven Sacraments: Eucharist“We call this food Eucharist, and no one else is permitted to partake of it, except one who believes our teachings to be true and who has been washed in the washing which is for the remission of sins and for regeneration and is thereby living as Christ enjoined. For not as common bread nor common drink do we receive these; but since Jesus Christ our Savior was made incarnate by the word of God and had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so to, as we have been taught, the food which has been made into the Eucharist by the Eucharistic prayer set down by him, and by the change of which our blood and flesh is nurtured, is both the flesh and the blood of that incarnated Jesus” (St Justin Martyr, First Apology 66, 151 AD).“For I have received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, ‘This is My Body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the New Covenant in My Blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the Body and Blood of the Lord/ Let a man examine himself, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the Body eats and drinks judgment upon himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we should not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are chastened, so that we may not be condemned along with the rest of the world.” (1 Corinthians 11:23-32)

The Seven Sacraments: Holy Matrimony“Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24)

“But Jesus said to them, ‘[…] But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.’ And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. And He said to them, ‘Whoever divorces his wife and marries another, commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.’ (Mark 10:2-12)

The Seven Sacraments: Ordination“And he called to him the twelve, and began to send them out, two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. And He said to them, ‘Where you enter a house, stay there untill you leave the place. And if any place will not receive you and they refuse to hear you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet for a testimony against them.’ So they went out and preached that men should repent. And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.” (Mark 6-7-13)

“And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsab’bas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthi’as. And they prayed and said, ‘Lord, who knowest the hearts of all men, show which one of these two thou hast chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside, to go to his own place.’ And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthi’as; and he was enrolled with the eleven apostles.” (Acts 1:15-26)

“And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bound on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:18-20)

The Seven Sacraments: Extreme Unction

“Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for each other, that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous man has great power in it’s effects.” (James 5:14-16)

*This sacrament is interesting in that it is almost never administrated apart from the sacraments of confession and the Eucharist.

AD 64 Nero Begins Persecutions

AD 70 Fall of Jerusalem; Christianity moves it’s center to Rome

AD 110 The term “Catholic” is first used by St Ignatious Describing the episcopacy

AD 175-189 Apostles Creed

AD 303 Height of persecutions under Diocletian

AD 313 The Edict of Milan and end of Persecutions

AD 361 Athanasian Creed Synod of Alexandria

AD 325-381 Council of Nicaea

AD 381 Nicene Creed

AD 382 Bible put together during the Nynod of Rome

AD 1095-1270 Crusades

AD 1517 Protestant Reformation

AD 1547 The Council of Trent

AD 1571 Battle of Lepanto

Christianity Throughout the Ages

Clarifications and Councils

Turning Points: The Edict of Milan

The Edict of Milan by Emperors Constantine and Licinius in AD 313 ended the 249 years of organized Christian persecution by Rome started by Emperor Nero in AD 64. Allowed the Christian faith to develop and internally refine itself.

Turning Points: The Reformation and The CounterreformationIn 1517 a German priest Martin Luther posted his ninety-five theses. Martin was ignored by the Church, turning Luther’s discouragement into dissention, and he split from the Church and took a good portion of Europe with him. Pope Paul the Third in the Ecumenical Council of Trent in 1547 went and addressed each of Luther’s Theses and made amendments accordingly. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done. Luther's Church began to splinter at an alarming rate away from what he thought the Church should be. The Reformation ultimately weakened the Church so much that it began to loose it’s prominence in Europe.

Turning Points: The Battle of LepantoIn 1521, the Turks launched a fleet to take over the Mediterranean. Within a year they had complete control of the Mediterranean and were beginning to pick off Christian communities left and right. Pope St Pius V finally managed to get all the Christians of Europe to band together into a tenuous resistance. Pope Pius ordered that Don Juan of Austria, heir to King Charles V of the former Holy Roman Empire, would be admiral of this fleet, which became known as the Christian League. Using what was left of his authority over the church, he requested that all Christians pray the Rosary each day for the victory of the Christian League until the Turkish fleet was defeated. On October 7, 1571, the Christian League and the Turkish fleet met at Lepanto. The Christian League had 200 ships and 66,000 men, and the Turkish fleet had approximately the same number. A sudden change in the wind gave the Christians an unprecedented advantage, and the Turkish fleet was annihilated. There were over 30,000 Turkish casualties, and only 7,500 Christian casualties. In addition, 12,000 Christian slaves who had been forced to be rowers for the Turkish galleons were freed. Pope Pius attributed this miraculous outcome to Mary interceding to God on their behalf, and so October 7th became the Feast Day of Our Lady of the Rosary.

Appendix: The Church in the World

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