Reviews aspects of growth of the Christian Faith in the first three centuries, with special attention to the apologists, martyrs and the actions of "ordinary Christians"

1. Growth of Antenicene Christianity
100 AD - 325AD

2. 100AD – early 300s
The Ante-Nicene period covers the period after
the death of the last of the Twelve (St. John),
until the Council of Nicea in 325AD.
The period is the time of the height of Roman
power, and the beginning of its slow decline.
Since Christianity was not legal during this
period, much we don't know. A lot of our
knowledge comes from Eusebius of Antioch,
and several writers such as Irenaeus, Justin
Martyr and others.

3. During this period, there were no longer
any eyewitnesses to the life of Christ,
although there were some who had been
discipled by or met the twelve.

Clement of Rome (30-100AD). (1 work)

Ignatius of Antioch (35-117AD) (several works)

Papias of Hierapolis (60-130AD) (fragments)

Polycarp of Smyrna (69-155AD) (1 work)
These men provide insight into the nature of the
early church and the minds of the Twelve.

4. Quote from Clement, Bishop of
Rome, to the Church of Corinth,
(about 96AD)
“The apostles received for us the Gospel from
our Lord Jesus Christ, and our Lord Jesus
Christ received it from God... (The apostles)
appointed bishops and deacons, and gave a
rule of succession, so that when they had fallen
asleep, others, who had been approved, might
succeed to their ministry.”
<Compare with II Timothy 2:2>

5. Quote from Ignatius, Bishop of
Antioch, Epistle to the Ephesians
(written about 107AD)
“Very flesh, yet Spirit too;
Uncreated, and yet born;
God and Man in One agreed,
Very life in death indeed.
Fruit of God and Mary's seed
At once impassible and torn
By pain and suffering here below;
Jesus Christ, whom as our Lord we know.”

6. 1. The Apologists
A number of Christians took on the role of
defending the faith. There could be a number of
reasons for this:

Evangelizing or making the gospel more
palatable to Greek and Roman minds.

Strengthening the faithful

Challenging various heretical groups, such as
the various gnostic groups.

7. The Apologists

Quadratus (around 115AD)

Aristides (around 115AD)

Justin Martyr (100-163AD)

Irenaeus (115-202AD)

Origen (185-254AD)
They help us understand the culture and times
they lived in, understand the various heresies,
and gain insight to their understanding of what
is “orthodox.”

8. The Apologists
Dealing with heretical groups led to the
development of two major parts of the Christian
faith:
− Canon of Scripture (what is reliable)
− Theology (what is true)

9. 2. The Canon of Scripture and
Theology
Marcion, 2nd
century “heretic,” saw the God of the
Old Testament as evil, and the God of the New
Testament as good. Therefore, He saw the Old
Testament as false, and most of the New
Testament. The Marcion “Bible” included edited
versions of the Book of Luke and some of
Paul's letters.
This led the church to decide which Books were
indeed Canon (standards) for us.

10. The Canon of Scripture
Most all Christians accepted the four Gospels
and the letters of Paul. But there were slight
variations regarding some books like Hebrews,
II Peter, and Revelation. For the Old Testament,
the Hebrew Scriptures (following the rabbinical
scholars of their day) were accepted rejecting
certain books that we now call the Apocrypha.
By the 4th
century, the canon was settled (mostly)
and accepted that the God of the OT was also
the God of the NT.

11. Theology
The challenges of different ideologies, “Christian”
heretical groups, and difference of opinions
within the church, necessitated the
development and training in theology and
doctrine.
Various church leaders specialized in developing
and teaching theology. They sought to combine
divine revelation with reason to understand God
and the mystery of the church, as well as to
understand what we are to do.

12. Theological Education

Irenaeus (130-202AD) Lyons

Tertullian (155-230AD) Carthage

Clement of Alexandria (? - ca215AD)

Origen (182-ca251AD) Alexandria
Catechetical Schools (theological seminaries)
were set up. The earliest and best known were
in Alexandria and Antioch.

13. Theological Education
While catechetical schools were to train religious
leaders, catechumenate schools were to train
converts.
Originally, catechumenate training was fairly
simple to teach the basic doctrines of faith. In
the 3rd
and 4th
century they became more
challenging (up to 3 years long) to limit nominal
conversions.

14. 3. Martyrdom

The term “martyr” is from the Greek word for
“witness”. The ultimate witness for Jesus is one
who is willing to die for his or her faith.

Christianity was illegal in the Roman empire...
it's adherents were often thought to be atheists,
incestuous, and cannibals.

Strangely, Christianity grew in such conditions...
mostly through the witness of commoners and
slaves. Celsus noted Christianity as being a
religion of slaves.

15. Famous Martyrs

Polycarp

Justin Martyr

Perpetua and Felicity
Martyrs would encourage Christians to remain
faithful, and would act as a testimony to
unbelievers.

16. Martyrdom. A strange twist

Martyrs were held in such high regard
(forerunner of the Catholic practice of
“sainthood”) that some would TRY to become
martyrs... such as blaspheming local pagan
gods, or otherwise offending the locals.

In response to that, the church refused to honor
those who tried to be martyred. The view was
that people should seek to be living witnesses...
dying only if it is a choice between death and
denying Christ.

17. 4. Social Ministry
Much of the growth of the church occurred
because of a willingness to express love to
those around them in tangible, inexplicable,
ways. This was especially notable in times of
plague (such as the Antonine, Cyprian, and
Armenian plagues). Christians cared for the
sick, fed the starving, and buried the dead at
their own expense... including unbelievers.

18. Social Ministry
Dionysius noted that the pagans "thrust aside anyone
who began to be sick, and kept aloof even from their
dearest friends, and cast the sufferers out upon the
public roads half dead, and left them unburied, and
treated them with utter contempt when they died." He
added that many Christians "did not spare themselves,
but kept by each other, and visited the sick without
thought of their own peril, and ministered to them
assiduously…drawing upon themselves their
neighbors’ diseases, and willingly taking over to their
own persons the burden of the sufferings of those
around them."'

19. Social Ministry
"if we only do good to those who do good to us,
what do we more than the heathens and
publicans? If we are the children of God, who
makes His sun to shine upon good and bad,
and sends rain on the just and the unjust, let us
prove it by our acts, by blessing those who
curse us, and doing good to those who
persecute us."
-Cyprian

20. Social Ministry
Eusebius of Antioch reported that because
of the Christians’ good example, many
pagans "made inquiries about a religion
whose disciples are capable of such
disinterested devotion." (Famine in
Armenia during reign of Maximius)

21. Social Ministry
“Atheism [i.e. Christian faith] has been specially
advanced through the loving service rendered
to strangers, and through their care for the
burial of the dead. It is a scandal that there is
not a single Jew who is a beggar, and that the
godless Galileans care not only for their own
poor but for ours as well; while those who
belong to us look in vain for the help that we
should render them.” -Emperor Julian the
Apostate (4th
Century)

22. 5. Ordinary Christians

The growth of the church was influenced less
by “super Christians” than by ordinary
Christians who were faithful in difficult times
and shared their faith simply and with humility.

Celsus noted that Christians were “a religion of
slaves”, and growth happened largely among
those that were ignored by other religions (such
as Mithraism) or were left without hope.

23. 6 Human Reasons for the Spread of
Christianity in the early Centuries
(Stephen Neill, summarized by John Piper)
1. First and foremost was the burning conviction
which possessed a great number of the early
Christians.
2. The solid historical message which Christians
brought was indeed good news, and a welcome
alternative to the mystery religions of the day.
3. The new Christian communities commended
themselves by the purity of their lives.

24. 6 Human Reasons for the Spread of
Christianity in the early Centuries
(Stephen Neill, summarized by John Piper)
4. The Christian communities were marked by
mutual loyalty and an overcoming of
antagonisms between alienated classes.
5. The Christians were known for an elaborate
development of charitable service, especially to
those within the fellowship.
6. The persecution of Christians and their
readiness to suffer made a dramatic impact on
unbelievers.

25. Christian Areas 200-400 AD

26. As the 4th
century (300s) are
coming in, there is a change.

Osrhoene (capital of Edessa... in modern-day
Syria) becomes the first “Christian” nation...
around 190AD.

Armenia followed in 301AD.

Christianity is growing in the Roman Empire. It
is no longer only the religion of the poor and
enslaved.

Christianity is showing signs of success, but
success can be as difficult to handle as failure.

27. References

Ruth Tucker, “From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya”

Stephen Neill, “A History of Christian Missions”

Charles Moore, “Pandemic Love” (web article)
http://www.plough.com/en/articles/2009/pandemic-love

John Piper, “Models of Faith” (web article)
www.solidjoys.desiringgod.org/en/devotionals/models-of-faith
