After the death of
Stephen, the first martyr in the New Testament, the church did not experience
peace until the conversion of Constantine and the acceptance of Christianity in
Rome in 313 AD. Therefore, what started
with the persecution of Jewish leaders continued with the Roman government for
almost 300 years with extreme violence and hatred. This type of awful persecution was the
beginning of the fulfillment of Jesus’ words spoken in Matthew 24:9, “you will
be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all
nations because of me.”
During this time such
Emperors as Nero and Diocletian killed hundreds of thousands of Christians by
the way of the sword, gladiator fights, burning at the stake, and wild
beasts. Christians were not allowed to
meet in public, pray to their God, or celebrate their holy days. Christians were treated as the worst class of
citizens in the whole Roman Empire.
Followers of Jesus could not own property, hold jobs, and if they were
found guilty of worshipping Jesus they would face death.
Here are some of the
stories of these great soldiers of Christ that were preserved and handed down
for our remembrance as told by John Foxe:
“Peter, a young man, amiable for the superior qualities of his body and
mind, was beheaded for refusing to sacrifice to Venus. He said, "I am
astonished you should sacrifice to an infamous woman, whose debaucheries even
your own historians record, and whose life consisted of such actions as your
laws would punish. No, I shall offer the true God the acceptable sacrifice of
praises and prayers." Optimus, the proconsul of Asia, on hearing this,
ordered the prisoner to be stretched upon a wheel, by which all his bones were
broken, and then he was sent to be beheaded.”
“Agatha, a Sicilian lady, was not more remarkable for her personal and
acquired endowments, than her piety; her beauty was such, that Quintian,
governor of Sicily, became enamored of her, and made many attempts upon her
chastity without success. In order to gratify his passions with the greater
conveniency, he put the virtuous lady into the hands of Aphrodica, a very
infamous and licentious woman. This wretch tried every artifice to win her to
the desired prostitution; but found all her efforts were vain; for her chastity
was impregnable, and she well knew that virtue alone could procure true
happiness. Aphrodica acquainted Quintian with the inefficacy of her endeavors,
who, enaged to be foiled in his designs, changed his lust into resentment. On
her confessing that she was a Christian, he determined to gratify his revenge,
as he could not his passion. Pursuant to his orders, she was scourged, burnt
with red-hot irons, and torn with sharp hooks. Having borne these torments with
admirable fortitude, she was next laid naked upon live coals, intermingled with
glass, and then being carried back to prison, she there expired on February 5,
251.”
“Trypho and Respicius, two eminent men, were seized as Christians, and
imprisoned at Nice. Their feet were pierced with nails; they were dragged
through the streets, scourged, torn with iron hooks, scorched with lighted
torches, and at length beheaded.”
“Julianus, an old man, lame with the gout, and Cronion, another
Christian, were bound on the backs of camels, severely scourged, and then
thrown into a fire and consumed. Also forty virgins, at Antioch, after being
imprisoned, and scourged, were burnt.”
“At Utica, a most terrible tragedy was exhibited: three hundred
Christians were, by the orders of the proconsul, placed round a burning
limekiln. A pan of coals and incense being prepared, they were commanded either
to sacrifice to Jupiter, or to be thrown into the kiln. Unanimously refusing,
they bravely jumped into the pit, and were immediately suffocated.”
It is obvious by these
accounts that Christians were deeply dedicated in their love for Jesus. Could you imagine facing such horrible
circumstances just for believing in Jesus?
Could you imagine watching the closest people in your lives be put to
death just because they refused to accept another god or another way to
heaven? This was the everyday life of
the early church Christian and because of the Spirit of God within them they
were able to endure these great hardships and receive a much better reward in
heaven with Jesus.
However, with a quick
glance at the Roman Empire and its plurality of gods and goddess one may ask,
“What was the Romans big problem with Jesus?”
“What did the Christians do to make them so mad?” History shows that the Romans loved to have
wild sex parties at the altar of their gods, they committed gross violence to
the enemies they fought in wars, and they had tremendous toleration and
open-mindedness to practically all faiths and religions, why would a group of
“Jesus people” make them so angry? The
answer: the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
During this time
Romans loved to celebrate the different holy days to the gods of the Greeks and
enjoy the philosophy of the wise men but they had no toleration of Christians
because the Christians claimed that the Roman holy days were evil and wicked in
God’s eyes, all the wisdom of the world was foolishness to God, and unless a
person accepted Jesus as their one and only Lord they would all perish for
eternity in hell.
Therefore, the Romans
began to remove the Christians and their teachings from off the face of the
earth. But what they meant for evil God
meant for good. During this time known
as the Great Persecution the church continued to grow at a rapid rate. At the beginning of the second century (100
AD) there were only thousands of Christians but by the time of Constantine (313
AD) there were approximately 10-15 million Christians. The small group of a hundred disciples in the
upper room literally led to the overturning of the greatest earthly power of
their day in less than 300 years!
Resources
Defenders
At the same time the
church was facing great persecution it was also being attacked by false
prophets and false doctrines from within.
The first council of Jerusalem was brought about by the false teachings
of Jews who had accepted Jesus and were teaching all Gentiles to follow the
Laws of Moses in order to be saved, Acts 15.
Just a few years after Paul had planted the church of Corinth he was
under attack from false apostles in Corinth who were trying to lead the people
away from the “real Jesus," 2 Corinthians 11:4-6. John had to warn his flock against
antichrists that had left the truth and were trying to lead the people astray, 1 John 4:1-3. And just sixty years
after Pentecost, Jesus gave John the Revelation of the seven churches to him as
a report of their progress and all seven churches were either fighting against
heresy or already giving in to it, Revelation 2-3!
From the book of
Galatians to the rebuke of Jesus in Revelation the true church has always been
fighting for the truth. Jesus said in
Matthew 24:5, “For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Christ, and
will deceive many” and Paul warned in 1 Timothy 4:1-2, “1 The Spirit clearly
says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving
spirits and things taught by demons. 2 Such teachings come through hypocritical
liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.” Therefore, the early church fathers had to
continue to fight against the many attacks of doctrines of demons and the
false-christs of their day.
Here is a brief list
and description of the different kinds of false doctrines the early church
fathers had to fight against:
Gnosticism (90-150 AD) | Gnosticism comes from the Greek work “gnosis”
which means “knowledge” and it originates from combining Greek dualism with
Christian teachings. The Gnostics
believed all matter in the material world was evil and came from the god of the
Old Testament known as the “demiurge” and all good came from the Supreme
spiritual being who was Jesus spoke about in the New Testament. Thus, they believed in two gods, one good,
and the other evil. This was how they
explained the existence of both good and evil.
They believed each
person had a divine soul and needed to follow the “hidden knowledge” of Jesus
to be free from all material sin and evil.
Because they did not believe soul and flesh could mix they believed
sinning in the flesh did not affect their soul.
Therefore, this lead to Gnostics living immoral lives while yet claiming
to be followers of Christ. And because
they believed the flesh was evil they did not believe Jesus took on flesh but
rather was the illusion of a man and thus never physically died or rose for
sins.
Marcionism (144-208 AD) | Marcionism came from the teaching of Marcion;
a priest that left the Christian faith to teach a form of dualism likes the
Gnostics, but with a more legalistic twist.
Marcion believed the god of the Old Testament-Yahweh (also known as the
“demiurge”) was evil and the god of the New Testament-Jesus was good.
He only accepted the
writings of Paul and the Gospel of Luke because he was a companion of
Paul. And in contrast to the Gnostics
Marcion taught sin should be avoided and only baptized those who were not
married because he believed all sex was a sin.
Salvation was obtained by following the way of Jesus, which is love and
forgiveness, and those who rejected it were subject to the demiurge in the lake
of fire for eternity.
Ebionites (140-300 AD) | The Ebionites, which means “poor ones”, were
opposite of the Gnostics and Marcionites because they believed that Jesus was
simply a prophet who was sent by God to bring the lost people of Israel back to
God and to follow the Old Testament Laws of Moses. They did not believe in a New Testament or
that Jesus was divine or to be worshipped and they taught that Paul was a false
teacher and a corrupter of the teachings of Jesus.
They only accepted the
Gospel of Matthew and rejected the doctrine of “salvation by grace through
faith” and taught that a man was saved by faith in Jesus and keeping the Law of
Moses. These people were also known as
Judaizers and can be seen in the book of Acts at the council of Jerusalem and
the ones being fought against in the book of Galatians.
Arianism (300-500 AD) | Arianism can from the teaching of Arius that
taught Jesus was a lesser divine being than God the Father. Arianism was more destructive and long
lasting among the church because it held to most every tenant of the Christian
faith except for the triune nature of God.
Arians like modern day Jehovah Witness lived good lives, preached the
Gospel, and started many churches, however because they denied the equality of
Jesus with the Father they were the first major sect to be condemned in a
church council, thus the Council of Nicaea was formed to stop their heresy and
solidify the truth of the trinity.
Though there were many
other sects and heresies from other groups such as the Manicheans, who made the
Gnostic philosophy easier and more popular to follow, and the Montanists, who
believed Scripture and prophecy was still being written by new apostles, but the
church fathers stood their ground and waged war against the lies of their day
and stood on the unmovable truths of Jesus found in the Old Testament and in
the teachings of the original disciples.
Just like how Paul taught Timothy the truth and commanded him to teach
it to reliable men so that they might teach it to others, the torch of truth
was faithfully handed down from each disciple to a new generation despite all
the lies and attacks. Therefore, God’s
truth remained firmed and established for all to see in every generation (2
Timothy 2:2).
Some have made claims
that because of all the heresies and divisive sects in the history of the
church that it is impossible to know which “gospel” or “Jesus” is the “true
Gospel” and the “true Jesus”, but that accusation could not be any further from
the truth. It is because the Christian
faith and its core doctrines were tested so severely and publicly that an
open-minded observer can clearly see by reading the fathers defenses against
these attacks that what was handed down and preserved was indeed the pure truth
of Jesus Christ.
Resources
1. Clement of Rome’s Letter to the
Corinthians, here online.
2. "Christianity Through the Centuries,"
by Earle E. Cairns.
Organizers
During the time of
great growth and persecution the first disciples followed the structure of church
government set up by Paul in his Pastoral Epistles, mainly Elders and
Deacons. Because it was illegal to meet
in large public places the church was forced to learn how to manage and oversee
many smaller home churches throughout a city or region. This type of church planting and governing
can be seen during the life of Paul all the way until the time of Constantine.
For the first 300
years of church history there were only two major ways a church was governed. The first one was called a “two-level
leadership” structure. In the two-level
form of leadership the Elders worked together as a team to govern and teach the
churches and the Deacons assisted them with the work. There might have been a chief Elder among the
Elders, but for the most part all the Elders had equal authority and worked
together with their different giftings and strengths.
The second was called
a “three-level leadership” structure. In
the three-level form of leadership one Elder would be named “the Bishop”, and
he would be considered the leader and teacher of the other Elders, which was
called “the Presbytery,” and then the Deacons would serve the Presbytery and
Bishop, 1 Timothy 3 & Titus 1. This form of government was more popular
because it allowed one Bishop to oversee many different house churches that
each had their own set of Elders and Deacons.
This model is also the closest as seen in the Bible. For example:
Paul the Apostle planted the church of Ephesus and then left Timothy as
the “Bishop” to appoint and oversee the Elders and Deacons, 1 Timothy 1-3.
Each apostle or church
planter was responsible for their own church and leadership. Therefore, the first churches were designed
to be self-governing and independent.
Eventually after the deaths of the original disciples, other Elders or
Bishops voted the new Bishops of Elders of the churches in as often as they
need to be replaced. The churches across the Roman Empire were held together by
their common beliefs and similar structure, but they were not subjected to each
other in a hierarchal fashion. The
mandatory subjection of Bishops to other Bishops did not become a norm until
after the sixth century.
Here is a brief
description of the three-fold level of leadership:
Bishop | The Bishop being considered the head or lead Elder was responsible for
the oversight of one or many churches.
His main role was to appoint new Elders to rule over smaller churches
and to maintain the purity of teaching within the Presbytery and Deacons. He would also be accountable to other
neighboring Bishops so that he would continue in the right path and not lead
others astray. When members of his
church would sin or need correction he would act as the disciplinarian and
bring order to the church. The example
of a Bishop in the New Testament would be Peter and Paul (Acts 14:23 & 1
Peter 5:1-5). (Note: Even though Peter and Paul were also
considered Apostles - church planters, they were also considered Bishops
because they were the first Elders in the churches they started).
Presbytery | The Presbytery would be a group of Elders
that worked together in an area to grow and develop the local churches. Though they were subjected to their Bishop
they were held in great honor by the people of God and were given the same day-to-day
responsibilities as the Bishop, mainly to the teach the Word of God correctly
and maintain order and discipline within the church. The Elders in Paul and Peter’s various
churches would be a New Testament example of a Presbytery (Acts 20:17-38 &
1 Peter 5:1-5).
Deacons | The Deacons were the helpers to the Elders and the servants to the
people of God. They were involved in the
servanthood tasks of the church and at times the preaching of the Word. Just like in the book of Acts they would help
feed the poor, clean the tables, and do whatever could to help the Elders spend
more time in prayer and in the study of God’s Word. The first New Testament example of deacons was
called “The Seven” who served the widows their daily food (Acts 6:1-7).
This type of church
government enabled the disciples to grow and become strong both doctrinally and
morally. For this reason the church
could grow from hundreds to millions in just a short period of time. All of the early church fathers worked within
these parameters of church structure and when trouble came by way of heresy or
wicked behavior they used the structure of government to keep safe the flock of
God so that the church could faithfully be preserved from generation to the
next.
Paul said it best in
his instructions to Titus, his appointed Bishop of the Presbytery in Crete, in
Titus 1:5-16,
5 The reason I left
you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and
appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. 6 An elder must be blameless,
the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to
the charge of being wild and disobedient. 7 Since an overseer is entrusted with
God's work, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given
to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. 8 Rather he must be
hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy
and disciplined. 9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has
been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those
who oppose it.
10 For there are many
rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the
circumcision group. 11 They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole
households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of
dishonest gain. 12 Even one of their own prophets has said, "Cretans are
always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons." 13 This testimony is true.
Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith 14 and
will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject
the truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted
and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences
are corrupted. 16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him.
They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
Today’s churches would do well to
learn from the early church father’s way of governing and organizing the
church. In modern times a person can
leave a church under discipline because of sin and simply “hop” to another
church and be received into leadership, however, in the early church the
Bishops would never have allowed this to happen for the sake of the purity of
the Body of Christ. Also, TV preachers
can change the Gospel of Jesus to a money making program and not be held
accountable to other Bishops, when in the early church whole books were written
against false doctrine just to warn the saints to avoid such people. This was normal to the church and was not
considered “harsh”, “unreasonable”, or “slanderous” because they wanted purity
above all else. (Also see Acts 5:1-10, 1 Corinthians
5, and Titus 3:9-11).
The
early church was able to maintain both purity in doctrine and character over
three continents, with millions of people, and for over 500 years without any
telephones, computers, or compromise; truly Jesus’ words were held true that
the “gates of hell would not prevail” against His church!
Reflection
1. What kind of feelings did you get when you read about the martyrs?
2. Do you agree that its the Christian's job to give a defense of the faith to unbelievers?
3. Do
you desire to be an Elder or a Deacon?
4. Pray
for the leaders in your church and the leaders in the churches around the
world.
Resources
