Introduction

• Up until the 60s all of the New Testament information was about the Exalted Jesus, written by - Paul

Fire in Rome 64 CE

• Great fire in Rome - 64 CE

• Emperor Nero - not well liked and blamed for the fire in Rome

• Rumors and Facts

  • Fact - Nero was vacationing in Italy and then went back to Rome to organize after the fire

  • Rumor - Nero had soldiers set fire to Rome behind him while playing the violin for drama

  • Rumor - Nero had set fire to Rome while performing a play about the fall of Try

  • Rumor - Nero set fire to the portion of Rome because he wanted to redo it and wouldn’t get money to do so

  • Counter rumor - the Christians set fire to Rome (Nero did this because a portion of Rome that did not burn was lived in by many Christians)

    • Christians - marginalized group after Claudius’ reign and an easy target

• Problem - Nero wanted to serve “justice” to the Christians

Neronian Persecution

• Neronian Persecution was Limited to Rome - not a widespread persecution

• Neronian Persecution was Violent - Christians were thrown to the lions because they were Christians, Nero would impale Christians on poles and leave them lining the path to his house, Nero would throw dinner parties and use Christians as human torches when it got dark, Christians would be chained in a field and wild dogs would be released on them as entertainment

  • Some Romans hated Nero for his cruelty

Jewish War 66-73 CE

• Riot in Caesarea - The Greeks celebrated a trial win against Jews too raucously and Roman guards let them attack Jews

• Jerusalem Taken - Word gets to Jerusalem and Zealots begin attacking Romans; The High Priest comes to power and talk of the Messiah coming again to restore Israel happens more often

  • The Christians did not participate with the Jews in the riot - they were hid in Pella

  • Zealots - Jews at the ready, at all times, to fight their enemies

• Vespasian’s Revenge - Retook Jerusalem

  • Vespasian - led four legions to retake Jerusalem and went back to Rome to lead

  • Titus - Vespasian’s son, took over role of conquering

• Jerusalem Destroyed - 70 CE

• Faith was Challenged - The temple was destroyed, pillars of Christian faith dead, Jews are exiled in the world

• Wailing Wall - The only things Romans’ left of the temple

Masada

• Masada - tall plateau where Jews fled and could defend themselves against the Romans

• Titus’ 3 year siege - Engineers built an dirt ramp so soldiers could march up and kidnap the Jews

• Mass Suicide - The patriarch of every family killed their own family and then drew straws on who would kill the others and then themselves

Hebrew Christians Migrate

• Pella - Where Christians hid during the Jewish War

• Oppressed by Jews and Romans - Jews do not see them as Jews, Romans do not distinguish between Christians and Jews

• Hellenist Christians Grow - Grow large enough in Jerusalem to take over the church

• Hebrew Christians Migrate - Most to Sinai Peninsula and some to Northern Africa (remaining Hebrew Christians join others when Hellenists’ takeover the church)

Heterodoxy: Ebionites

• Ebionites - aka Judaizers, Elkesaites, Nazoreans

• Ebionites diversity - Some more conservative than others

• Characteristics of Ebionites - Reject Paul and his teachings, Law is dear to them and still observed, Jesus is the Messiah and not God, monotheism, venerate James and Peter, accept only Matthew’s Gospel, rejected the virgin birth

Heterodoxy: Gnosticism

• Gnosis - “knowledge”

• Matter = evil - the Earth, trees, your flesh is evil because it is physical

• Spirit = good - God is 100% spirit, therefore good

• Docetism - the body of Jesus was an illusion

• Cosmology - God created “eons” - spirit beings, the dome holds the world, our bodies were a prison to our souls

• Gnosticism - Very diverse belief structures (some avoided all pleasure, some fully embraced pleasure)

Leading Congregations

• Four Leader Churches - Alexandria, Antioch, Ephesus, Rome

• Alexandria - Egypt, first Christian seminary (Catholic Church)

• Antioch - Next to Jerusalem, launch point for Paul (Church of the East)

• Ephesus - Asia minor, mentioned in New Testament and Timothy may have been a bishop (Greek Orthodox)

• Rome - Italy, Peter and Paul martyred there (Latin Church/Roman Catholic Church)

Sources of Authority

• Septuagint - Bible of the first century; Greek translation of the Hebrew Tanakh; contained the Apocrypha

• Letters of Paul - seen as special and later seen on equal level to the Septuagint

• Itinerant Evangelists - Paul, Apollos, Peter, John, Cephas, Epaphroditus, etc.

• Oral Traditions - aka Tradition of the Apostles