Spreading the Message

1
Chapter 2

• Spreading the Message
• The Church Enters the Empire

2
Martyrs

• Martyrdom is the ultimate witness to a persons
  faith a martyr bears witness by dying for the
  faith (CCC 2473)
• _________________________________________________
  ___________________.
• Tertullian
• ___________ of the ____________
• Greek word martyr means witness

3
Early Martyrs

• The first martyrs were victims of
  _________________ from 30 70 A.D.
• Hellenistic Jewish-Christians
• Fled to __________ and other cities after
  Stephens martyrdom
• Antioch becomes a center of ______________________
  ________
• First use of the term Christian

4
Roman Persecutions

• Originally, Christianity was considered to be a
  sect of _____________, thus acceptable
• Factors leading to persecution
• After the separation Christianity seen as a
  threat to the Empire (____________________)
• Christianity _______________ throughout empire
• Allowance of ____________ into community
• Christianity considered to be a __________

5
Persecutions (cont)

• Emperors demanded ________________________________
  __ of the gods
• Importance of the __________________
• Belief that if the gods were happy, peace would
  rule the land
• ___________ considered to be _________ themselves
  demanding worship

6
An Age of Persecutions

• Roman persecutions begun by _________ in 64 A.D.
• Ended in _________. Edict of Milan
• Over ___________ executed during this period
• _________________ designed to turn people away
  from Christianity
• Severity varied according to emperor
• Often _____________ organized

7
Notable Periods of Persecution

• _______________ 81 A.D.
• Expanded to across empire
• Trajan 98 A.D.
• __________________
• Decius 250 A.D.
• _______________ certificate of sacrifice
• _____________ 303 A.D.
• Most intense and most severe persecutions

8
Notable Martyrs

• Ignatius of Antioch
• _________ and _________ of early Church
• Sent _________ to other churches to encourage
  _______ and faithfulness to Christ

9
Notable Martyrs

• Perpetua Felicity
• Story on page 30 of textbook

10
Catacombs
11
Catacombs

• Early __________________ sites
• Originally Roman ____________________ system
• Gathering places to escape ______________
• Imagery on the walls depicted theological themes
• Fish _______________
• Greek word translating to
• Jesus Christ of God, Son, Savior

12
Anti-martyrs

• _________________
• Christians who renounced their faith in order to
  avoid martyrdom
• Posed a problem for the early Church of how to
  respond when they wanted to come back
• ______________________
• Developed during this period as a way for
  apostates to rejoin the community
• Involved _________________________________ in
  front of the local bishop

13
The Church Takes Shape

• The expansion of Christianity required its
  leaders to address ____________________
• As the Church began to emerge as a growing faith,
  its leaders focused on three key areas
• _________________
• _________________
• _________________
• Significant _________ over these issues resulted
  in ___________ that have shaped the Church as we
  know it today

14
Essential Beliefs

• Christianity emerged into a _____________ from
  Judaism while retaining some of its beliefs about
  _________
• Greek thought also added due to ______________
  and the conversion of Gentiles
• Result a ___________________________ ideas about
  God

15
Greek Influence

• Judaisms focus was on __________ responsibility
  to _________ God and the Law
• The influence of Greek ____________ led
  Christians to explore this relationship and the
  reality of God
• Theology
• The study of God (_________)

16
Growth of Theology

• As more leaders and thinkers debated about the
  nature of God, various truths and teachings
  emerged
• ______________
• Thinkers who defended and explained Christian
  beliefs
• ______________
• Thinkers who held contrary teachings to those
  held by the Church
• ____________ grew out of these discussions
• Without the Heretics much of __________________
  would never have been expressed

17
Prominent Criticisms

• Apologists dealt with 4 main issues in defending
  Christianity
• ____________
• Christians were accused of atheism because they
  refused to worship Roman gods
• ____________
• Heresies regarding the humanity and divinity of
  Christ
• Christian practices
• Linking the _________________ seemed suspicious
  to outsiders
• ______________
• Seen as disruptive and anti-social

18
To question or not to question?

• That was the ____________ that preoccupied
  leaders in the early Church
• The heretics were ________ in their beliefs and
  were not mere _______________
• Without the heretics, the Church would have never
  ___________ its teaching also known as
  ____________

19
Internal Disputes

• Initially, Christian communities interpreted the
  stories of ______________________ for themselves,
  leading to ______________
• Different communities in different cities had
  their own ________________ about key theological
  issues
• One of the first major ________________ was the
  heresy of Gnosticism

20
Gnosticism

• First major heresy in Christianity
• ____________________
• Belief that all material things, including the
  human body, were evil. Jesus did not have a
  human body rather, he merely appeared on earth
  and was not human
• Salvation was only for those with
  ________________ the Gnostics themselves
• Challenged by ____________________ and other
  bishops of the Church
• Led to the development of the _________________
• A formalized statement of Christian beliefs used
  in early Christian worship

21
Setting the Canon

• Canon Greek word for __________________
• The authentic list of books which makes up the
  __________________________ chosen through
  apostolic tradition.
• Selection based on the following aspects
• ____________ account of someone who knew Jesus
• ___________________ of Jesus teachings
• Used in _____________ settings
• General ____________ regarding ______________ of
  the work

22
Tradition

• Tradition vs. traditions
• ______________
• Habits, patterns, or cultural themes handed down
  over time
• ______________
• The deposit of faith as found in the preaching of
  the Apostles, handed on through
  ___________________________

23
Chicken or the Egg?

• What came first?
• _____________________________________
• The dilemma is the same as the chicken and the
  egg
• The _________ of the early Church formed the
  _______________ but were also based on the
  existing Tradition
• The _____________ grew out of the ______________
  and the teachings but would later become the
  source for more teachings and _________________

24
Beginnings of a Sacramental Life

• Sacrament
• ___________________________, instituted by Christ
  and entrusted to the Church
• Vehicles of grace powered by the Spirit
• Mystery
• Something that is __________________ view a
  ___________________________ reality known through
  experience buy only partially understood
• Sacraments as signs of mysteries
• ______________ of speaking about the Churchs
  ______________

25
Origins of the Term

• Influence of _____________
• Christian apologist (defender)
• Helped to categorize these rites
• Demonstrated to Roman officials that Christians
  were not anti-religious
• First use of the term sacrament and mystery
• ________________ oath of fidelity
• ________________ something hidden or unseen
• _______________
• The ways that Christians enter into and celebrate
  the mystery of their life in Christ
• ________________ performed by Christians

26
Early Sacraments

• ____________ was initially carried out as a full
  bath to ________________________
• Eucharist was initially a ____________ including
  the _______________ of Christ
• As time passed, __________________ were
  incorporated to make sure that various
  ______________ were doing similar in practice
• ___________________________ any action
  involving the mystery of Christian life was
  considered sacramental

27
Sacraments and Initiation

• The reception of Baptism, Confirmation, and
  Eucharist was the way one formally entered the
  Church
• Reflected in the ________________________ today
• _________________
• Unbaptized preparing for membership in the Church
• Mystagogy
• __________________________________________

28
An Institutional Structure Emerges

• Jesus did not set up an __________________________
  _ on earth
• Peter as the leader, Apostles sent to preach
• The early Church had the task of
  __________________ to carry out the mission
• Important task of _____________________________
• Eventually, three offices emerge
• _______________________________________

29
Bishops

• Term taken from the Greek episcopos
• ____________________
• From the example of Jesus as the Good Shepherd,
  bishops are the ___________ or shepherds of a
  local church or flock
• Successors of the Apostles, connection from the
  ____ to every _________________________
• Symbols
• Mitre (pointy hat)
• Crosier (shepherds staff)

30
Priests

• Term taken from the Greek presbuteroi
• _______________________
• Leader of a local assembly under a bishop
• Carry out the ______________ to preach the faith
  and teach the people
• Remember Christs command to spread the faith to
  the ______________________

31
Deacons

• Term taken from the Greek diakonoi
• _______________________
• Assist bishops and priests in ____________________
  __________
• Today can be married or unmarried

32
Themes in Church Development

• Leadership positions ________________ in the
  earliest Christian community
• A variety of forms of __________________ in the
  earliest days of the Church
• As the Church grew, clearly ______________________
  _______ grew with it
• The model that exists in the Catholic Church
  today __________________ that is bishops,
  priests, deacons, and laity have different
  functions serving a _______________________.