Church History and Patrology for Pre-servants Lecture 3
CH&PAT_3: The Church in the 1st Century (Apostolic Era)
Part-3 Heresies & Martyrdom
Objective: Knowledge about the heresies of the 1st century; most of them exist today and how to refute them. Also learn about martyrdom and how to experience martyrdom in its wide meaning today.
References:
- http://www.suscopts.org/servantsprep/materials/index.html
3.1 Main heresies of the 1st century
3.1.1 Judaizers (Re-Judaism):
- Practiced Moses Law in Christianity mixing Judaism with Christianity.
- They denied the Lord Jesus Christ as God Incarnate considering Him a prophet.
3.1.2 Gnosticism:
- A philosophy that refused blind faith. Faith should be based on logic and knowledge.
- Though appeared in the 2nd century, its roots go back to the Apostolic Age.
- They believed in two sources of creation, the spirit (for good) and the material (for evil).
- They believed that Christ is just a phantom / apparition denying His incarnation despite St. John in his epistle; 1John 4:2-3
3.1.3 Sorcery / Simony:
· Simon the Sorcerer was mentioned in the Book of Acts where he used sorcery in Samaria (Acts 8:9-24).
· The Samarians worshipped Simon as the 1st god as he called himself the 1st god and his logic incarnated from a woman called Helena who was a prostitute at that time. He declared that the highest god appeared as Jesus the Son among Jews, himself as the father among Samarians and in other states as the Holy Spirit.
3.1.4 Nicolaitans:
· They were mentioned in Revelation 2:6 and 2:15-16.
· They belong to Nicolas one of the seven deacons who were appointed by the Apostles (Acts 6:5).
· They encouraged pagan worship and sacrifices, denied that God created the world, and called for sexual immoralities.
3.1.5 Other types are paganism, ethicism, etc.
These heresies that appeared during the Apostolic Age shared:
- Denying the Divine nature of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Incarnation for salvation.
- Considering the Lord Jesus Christ as just a man or apparition and did not confess unity between Divinity and humanity in the Lord Jesus Christ.
3.2 Martyrdom
3.2.1 Motives for martyrdom in Christianity:
o World is limited as compared to eternity; 2Cor 4:17, 1John 2:17.
o Christians are strangers to this world; 1Peter 1:17, Hebrews 11:13,2Cor 5:6-8
o In life there will be tribulations; John 16:33, Rev 21:4.
o Death will lead to glory; John 12:24-25, Romans 8:17-18, 2Tim 2:11.
Therefore they became unconcerned for anything materialistic or worldly; Job 1:21, 1Tim 6:7-8, 2Cor 6:10 and desired to be released from the body; Phil 1:23, John 14:2
3.2.2 Persecution history:
o The first martyr in Christianity is St. Stephen the deacon; Acts 7, then Christ’s followers, Acts 8:1-3, 9:1, and then the rest of Christ’s disciples.
o The Roman emperors starting with Nero and ending with Diocletian became the greatest enemy to the new Christian faith over 3 centuries in 10 major persecutions (resembling the 10 plagues of the Old Testament and the 10 horns of the beast in Revelation).
o Nero killed Sts. Peter and Paul in the year 67 A.D and Diocletian’s era was the most terrible of all the ten persecutions that the Coptic calendar (Martyrs) started at the start of his reign on 284 A.D.
o They martyred for the sake of faith, purity, and dogma. They were tortured mentally, physically and emotionally
3.2.3 Evaluating martyrdom:
o Desire: They proclaimed their Christianity without being arrested and were given numerous chances to escape but refused because of their love to Christ; Hebrews 11:35
o Courage Hebrews 11:33-34, Cyprian the Bishop wrote “Those who were tortured were more courageous than those who tortured them”.
o Evangelizing: Tertullian said “The blood of martyrs are the seed of the church; John 12:24. The more severe the torturing, the more people were added to the Christian faith.
Assignment (for Aug 21th, 2009):
1. Please choose one of the 1st century’s heresies that exists today:
a) What did it claim?
b) How do you respond to it?
c) Does it have any flavor at our time? If so, what is known by?
2. Today martyrdom may not be physical but has many shapes; how can we experience martyrdom in its wide meaning?