Hot Topics in Church History

Saint Anne Adult ForumLent 2013

Previews of Coming AttractionsWeek 1: Lost Christianities

Early Christians and faiths we never knewWeek 2: Establishment of the Church Canon

Books that didn’t make the bible and whyWeek 3: The Council of Nicaea

Establishment of Christian orthodoxyWeek 4: The Crusades

Religious wars in the name of ChristWeek 5: Establishment of the Anglican Church

A rift between England and Rome that became a new faithWeek 6: Modern Hot Topics

Contemporary topics, still unresolved after 2000 years of discussion

Lost ChristianitiesEarly Christian faiths we never knew

OutlineThe Christian world of 100 to 300 ADDifferent interpretations of what it meant to be

a ChristianEbonitiesMarconitesGnostics

Why did these different interpretations exist?What became of these Christianities?How do the differences in these Christian faiths

continue to influence our own faith today?

The Roman Empire 117 AD

The State of ChristianityNo established canonNo established set of beliefs (Council of

Nicaea wouldn’t meet until 325 AD)Many, many books available describing the

life and teachings of JesusMuch information about the life of Jesus was

still shared by word-of-mouthDifferent groups had very different

understandings of what it meant to be “Christian”

Where Does Our Information About These Groups Come From?Original texts and

writings generally don’t survive

Irenaeus – second century author who wrote against these interpretations, and sometimes quoted their texts

The EbionitesAccepted Jesus as the Jewish

Messiah, but still kept the Jewish law

May have been closely associated with James, the brother of Jesus

Believed that Jesus was fully human (not divine), and became a “Son of God” by keeping The Law perfectly

Had a gospel similar to the gospel of Matthew (less the first two chapters), plus the books of the Old Testament

MarcionitesTheology developed by Marcion

(85 – 160 A.D.) of SinopBelieved Jesus was fully divine

(not human)Did not think one had to keep

The Law to be right with God (i.e. did not have to be Jewish

Held that there were two Gods – one of the Old Testament (who also created the world) and one of the New

First to develop a canon of accepted scripture: Book similar to gospel of Luke

(called the Gospel of Marcion) Ten letters of Paul

Sinop

GnosticsVery little known about Gnostics

until the discovery of many Gnostic texts at Nag Hamadi, Egypt in 1946

Believed that the world is an evil place created by an inferior god, but many of us have the “spark of the divine” and are trying to return to the true God

Believed Christ entered the body of a man named Jesus, and came here to reveal this knowledge to us

Felt that the world wasn’t what it appeared to be, and that we aren’t supposed to be here

Gnostic TextsFollowed Gospel of

Mark and JohnMany other Gnostic

texts, including:Gospel of ThomasGospel of Truth

Alternate UniverseWhat would modern Christianity be like if

these other interpretations had “won”?Ebionites - Christianity would be a specialized

subset of JudiasimMarcionites – much shorter canon (no Old

Testament)Gnostics – Emphasis would be on discovering

your inner “divine spark”

What Were the Disagreements?Who was Jesus?

Was he fully human, but kept the law perfectly and became a Son of God? (ebionites)

Was he fully divine, and only appeared to be human? (Marcionites)

Was he a divine being who entered the body of a man named Jesus?

What was Jesus’ purpose here?To deliver a new interpretation of The Law?To be the perfect sacrifice?To deliver the knowledge needed to return to the

divine realm?

How Did Our Current Understanding of Christianity “Win”?Located in Rome

Roads – able to communicate the theology and the scriptures which eventually became the canon

Wealth – churches in Rome could send funds to help support like-minded Christian churches elsewhere in the Empire

Old – once the Old Testament was adopted, became credible and authoritative by virtue of its age (i.e. older than Homer, Plato, etc)

Popular – once adopted by Constantine, Christianity became quite popular

Ebonites – not very appealing (must become a Jew and keep The Law)

Marcionites – not very old, thus lacked authority and credibilityGnostics – elitist (only some, but not all, can be saved)

Questions?

On display through April 14, 2013

Next WeekBooks that didn’t make the bible and why