Augustus to Constantine
Robert M. Grant
Number of quotes: 83
Book ID: 34 Page: x
Section: 3F
At the end of the sixth century Pope Gregory the Great was as influential as his imperial predecessor had been.
Quote ID: 577
Time Periods: 67
Book ID: 34 Page: 11
Section: 4B
....in 28 B.C. there were 4,063,000 Roman citizens; twenty years later there were 4,233,000; in A.D. 14 there were 4,937,000.{2} It is hard to make an estimate of the total population of the empire, including slaves, but apparently about 70 million is a reasonable figure for the time of Augustus.[Footnote 2] Res gestae 8 (pp. 18-21 Vokmann).
Quote ID: 585
Time Periods: 01
Book ID: 34 Page: 15
Section: 4B
Religion was essentially public, not private; it was supported and regulated by the state.
Quote ID: 586
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 34 Page: 16
Section: 2D2
He (Augustus) did build a temple for the Great Mother, now Roman.
Quote ID: 587
Time Periods: 012
Book ID: 34 Page: 17
Section: 3C
His successor Constantine, as we shall see, was finally deified by a grateful senate.
Quote ID: 588
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 34 Page: 17
Section: 2D2
Foreign cults had been accepted at Rome since the crisis of the second war with Carthage, late in the third century B.C., when political necessity had caused the introduction to Rome of the cult of the Venus of Eryx in western Sicily and the cult of the great Mother of the Gods from Pessinus in the realm of Attalus, king of Pergamum. From Mount Eryx on a clear day Roman observers could watch the Carthaginian fleet, and in Asia Minor the priests of the Mother proved useful allies to the Roman armies.
Quote ID: 589
Time Periods: 0
Book ID: 34 Page: 19
Section: 3B
Such was not the case with the Druids of Gaul and Britain, notorious for the practice of human sacrifice.{3} Augustus forbade Roman citizens to participate in the Druid religion; Tiberius “checked” the Druids; and Claudius “completely abolished the religion of the Druids.” He executed a Roman knight from Gaul who was carrying a Druid magic egg.{4}[Footnote 3] H. Last in JRS 39 (1949), I-5
[Footnote 4] Suetonius, Claudius 25, 5; Pliny, Nat. hist. 30, 13; 29, 54.
PJ Note: Romans hated human mutilation and human sacrifice.
Quote ID: 590
Time Periods: 01
Book ID: 34 Page: 20
Section: 2B,2B2
Mithras was identified with the “unconquered sun” whom Aurelian and other emperors recognized as the tutelary deity of the empire.
Quote ID: 591
Time Periods: 23
Book ID: 34 Page: 23
Section: 4A
It was in Alexandria that a vigorous attempt to correlate Judaism with Graeco-Roman culture, especially in philosophy, was made;......
Quote ID: 592
Time Periods: 234
Book ID: 34 Page: 52
Section: 4A
When we consider the Christian mission at the end of the second century and the beginning of the third, we must remember the difference between the administrators like Irenaeus, who was conscious of living among barbarians and taught a traditional theology, and the more modern theologians, especially at Alexandria, who made use of all the resources of Graeco-Roman culture they could baptize.
Quote ID: 593
Time Periods: 23
Book ID: 34 Page: 77/79
Section: 2D3B,3A1
The first and most important encounter between Christianity and the Roman government took place in the year 30 when Jesus himself was brought before the Roman prefect of Judaea, who condemned him to death and had the title “King of the Jews” affixed to his cross.. . . .
They could not accept the gods or the rites of the Graeco-Roman world. They were not concerned with restoring the Roman republic or with any particular form of governmental order.
Quote ID: 594
Time Periods: 1
Book ID: 34 Page: 81
Section: 4B
The torture of two slaves whom the Christians apparently called “deaconesses” added evidence of nothing but “a crude and exaggerated superstition”.
Quote ID: 596
Time Periods: 01
Book ID: 34 Page: 82
Section: 2C
In spite of the changed situation, Pliny still doubted that he had followed exactly the correct procedure, and he wrote to the emperor for guidelines. (1) What was to be investigated and punished? The name “Christian” or the crimes associated with the name? If the latter, Pliny’s investigation itself strongly suggested that there were no crimes. (2) To what extent should the investigation be carried out? Pliny himself was in doubt as to whether or not he should have accepted an anonymous accusation. (3) What penalty was to be inflicted? Should there be allowances for age and physical condition? (4) Could the charge of being a Christian be dismissed upon proof supplied by public recantation? Pliny himself strongly favored this course because of the return to religion was already under way.
Quote ID: 598
Time Periods: 1
Book ID: 34 Page: 85
Section: 4A
A woman converted to Christianity came to be alienated from her husband and finally divorced him. He thereupon denounced her as a Christian; she presented a petition to the emperor, asking for time to settle her affairs before presenting her defense. This request was approved; Justin says nothing about the outcome. Meanwhile her husband denounced her Christian teacher Ptolemaeus, who was cast into prison and tortured presumably so that he would recant. Finally he was brought before the uran prefect Q. Lollius Urbicus, former legate in Britain and builder of the Antonine wall.{6} Urbicus asked only whether or not he was a Christian, and then sentenced him to death. Another Christian in court protested the decision on moral grounds. “It seems to me,” said the judge, “that you too are one of them.” The Christian’s confession, followed by that of another bystander, immediately resulted in the death penalty. The only question, as Justin rightly pointed out, was that of the name “Christian”. Justin and other apologists attacked this procedure as immoral, but it followed the precedent in existence before Trajan and Hadrian.[Footnote 6] Prefect by March 146: W. Huttl, Antoninus Pius (Prague, 1933), I, 370.
Quote ID: 599
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 34 Page: 88
Section: 2D3B
In Lucian’s viewThose wretches have persuaded themselves that they are all going to be immortal and will live forever, so that they despise death and voluntarily give themselves up - most of them. Furthermore their lawgiver....persuaded them that they are all brothers and that once converted and having denied the Greek gods they should worship that executed sophist and live in accordance with his laws. They therefore despise everything equally and hold everything in common, having accepted such ideas without a soundly based faith.
Quote ID: 601
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 34 Page: 89
Section: 4A
Several later apologies had the same function. Melito of Sardis described his own work as a petition, and Eusebius rightly called it libellus.{7} Toward the beginning of the so-called “embassy” of Athenagoras we find verbs related to nouns for petitions, and it too was therefore a libellus.[Footnote 7] Eusebius, H. E. 4, 26, 5-6.
. . . with these apologies or, rather, libelli, we encounter the first moves made by Christians to try to change the legal and administrative circumstances under which they were suffering the death penalty.
. . . Christians alone are punished simply because of their name;
If an investigation were to be made it would show that their ethical outlook is far superior to that of pagan religions or of Gnostic groups which are not Christian. It would also show that they are loyal to the best philosophical traditions of the empire. They refuse only to worship false gods or human beings such as emperors.
Quote ID: 602
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 34 Page: 90
Section: 3A4C
(#1) In 176, . . . from this time we possess the remains of three apologetic treatises composed by Christian leaders. The first of them was addressed “to Antoninus” by the loyalist bishop Apollinaris of Hierapolis in Phrygia. In this work he told the story of the “thundering legion” which defeated Germans and Sarmatians on the Danube because of the prayers of Christian soldiers. Lightning drove the enemy back, while rain supplied water for the Roman troops.{8} This miracle, depicted on the column of Marcus Aurelius at Rome, took place in either 172 or 174.[Footnote 8] Eusebius, H. E. 5, 5, I-4.
Quote ID: 603
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 34 Page: 91
Section: 3A4C
Another libellus was by Apollinaris of Hierapolis in Phrygia. He tells of a legion’s miraculous victory in 172 or 174 because of the prayers of Christian soldiers. This miracle is attested to on the column of Marcus Aurelius at Rome! The Historia Augusta gives credit to the prayers of the emperor, while Dio Cassius give credit to an Egyptian magician. The legion itself was XII Fulminata. By claiming this legion for Christianity, Apollinaris was showing how loyal the Christians were. Sardis, in 175 or 176.
Quote ID: 604
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 34 Page: 91
Section: 4A
#2)Melito explicitly argues for official recognition of Christianity. It is a philosophy which at first flourished among barbarians: what he has in mind must be Judaism as the forerunner of Christianity. The philosophy appeared in the empire during Augustus’ reign and clearly aided the growth of the empire. Church and state grew up together.
Quote ID: 605
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 34 Page: 92
Section: 4A
#3)The third apologist was Athenagoras, perhaps an Alexandrian, who wrote between 176 and 180 and lavished extravagant praise upon the emperor and his son.
Such praises of Roman rule were reiterated and even intensified by Athenagoras. Athenagoras was the most outlandish of these early "apologists" who claimed to speak on the behalf of the church. He wrote his love letters to the emperor sometime between 176 and 180. He "lavished extravagant praise upon the emperor and his son. Such praise of rulers was common enough in the Roman world, as elsewhere. . . ." But Athenagoras "reiterated and intensified" such praises of Roman rule."
PJ note: In other words, he was "worse than the heathen" in his sycophantic praise of men. "Having men’s persons in admiration for advantage."
In speaking to the emperor, Athenagoras calls earth "your inhabited world". His effusive, gushing adulation of the emperor mirrors exactly pagan panagyrics to emperors.
Quote ID: 606
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 34 Page: 92
Section: 4B
Tatian believed that he had rejected nearly every aspect of Graeco-Roman culture when he turned to Christian “barbarism”. . .(#4)
Quote ID: 607
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 34 Page: 93
Section: 4B
It appears that the idea of a Christian empire was being promoted rather openly at this point.PJ note: The struggle had begun. Rome was being lured into the church’s bedchamber. She was taking off her linen garments for the beast’s pleasure, and the jilted pagan lovers of the beast were beginning to resist the empire’s attraction to the young virgin of Christ.
Quote ID: 608
Time Periods: 34
Book ID: 34 Page: 94
Section: 2D3B
Toward the end of his elaborate treatise, Celsus severely criticize the Christians for their refusal to offer “due honors”, including rites of worship, to the emperors and their representatives. It looks as if they deliberately seek martyrdom. They refuse to take oaths by the Fortune or Genius of the emperor, though “earthly things have been given to him, and whatever you receive in this life you receive from him.”{9}[Footnote 9] Origen, Contra Celsum 8, 55-67.
If everyone were to do the same as you, there would be nothing to prevent him [the emperor] from being abandoned, alone and deserted, while earthly things would come into the power of the most lawless and savage barbarians, and nothing more would be heard among men either of your worship or of the true wisdom.{10}
[Footnote 10] Ibid., 8, 68 (tr. H. Chadwick).
Quote ID: 609
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 34 Page: 95
Section: 3A2A
And Celsus ends with a direct appeal for cooperation in the business of government.“[You should] help the emperor with all [your] power, and cooperate with him in what is right, and fight for him, and be fellow-soldiers if he presses for this, and fellow-generals with him. [You should] accept public office in our country if it is necessary to do this for the sake of preserving the laws and piety.”{11}
[Footnote 11] Ibid., 8, 73-74.
Quote ID: 610
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 34 Page: 95
Section: 2D3B
In effect an official Christian reply to Celsus was made by Theophilus, bishop of Antioch early in the reign of Commodus. He drew a sharp distinction between worship, to be offered only to the true God, and honor, legitimately due to the emperor, who owes his authority to God. Just as there is only one emperor and his subordinates cannot be given his title, so there is only one God, and only he can be worshipped. The honor due to the emperor is expressed through obeying him and praying for him.{12}
PJ NOTE: Theophilus, bishop of Antioch gave a perfect reply to Celsus.
[Footnote 12] Ad Autolycum I, II; for imperial power as given by God cf. Dio 71, 3, 4, ostensibly citing Marcus Aurelius. W. Ensslin (Sitzungsberichte der Bayerischen Akad. Der Wiss., Philos-hist. Abt., 1943, no. 6, 45 and 57) cites both passages but does not connect them.
Quote ID: 611
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 34 Page: 97
Section: 3A4A
Tertullian wrote two apologetic treaties in 197.It was possible that persecution would begin again; it was also possible that a new age was dawning. Tertullian hoped that his defense of the Christian position would bring about the reconciliation of the state with the church.
Pastor John’s note: Where in all of this was the pursuit of spiritual power, truth, gifts. The favor of Rome was their goal.
Quote ID: 612
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 34 Page: xi
Section: 1A,3A4A,4A
3A4AAs early as 150 a Roman apologist found the cross typified in the standards of the Roman legions, and a generation later several bishops in Asia Minor explicitly asserted the compatibility of Christianity with the Roman state.
. . . .
4A
At the same time, in spite of official church objections, Christian theologians continued a vigorous effort to interpret Christianity in terms derived from the leading philosophies of the day.
. . . .
1A
In spite of various vicissitudes and individual deviations from the general pattern, it is clear that during the third century Christians were making ready for the time when the church would be recognized by the state and there would be an empire at least nominally Christian.
Quote ID: 578
Time Periods: 23
Book ID: 34 Page: 102
Section: 4A
Under these circumstances, the apologetic movement of the second century, with its attempt to work out the relationships between Christianity and Graeco-Roman culture, was bound to have more effect within the Christian communities than upon the government officials to whom the apologies were usually addressed.No matter how an apologist like Justin might point to Heraclitus, Socrates, and Musonius Rufus as pre-Christian Christians, the leaders of the state were not convinced.
Quote ID: 613
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 34 Page: 104
Section: 4A
The apologetic movement as such really got under way when circumstances demanded its appearance.Hadrianic Hellenism was bound to result in a Christian response, for his program brought him into headlong collision with the Judaism out of which Christianity had arisen. Like Antiochus, who in the second century B.C. had tried to unite his kingdom on the basis of Greek culture and religion, Hadrian favored the worship of Zeus (Hypsistos) in Samaria and of Zeus (Capitolinus) at Jerusalem, where he proposed to rebuild the destroyed city and name it Aelia Capitolina, in honor of himself and/or Zeus.
Pastor John’s note : Why a response needed?
Quote ID: 614
Time Periods: 1
Book ID: 34 Page: 105
Section: 4A
Another attempt at apologetic writing is to be found in the work which Marcianus Aristides of Athens apparently addressed to the emperor Antoninus Pius early in his reign (138-161). This work, extant in full in a Syriac version along with some Greek fragments, begins with a philosophical definition of God, essentially Middle Platonist in origin.
Quote ID: 615
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 34 Page: 112
Section: 4A
What Justin had done when he moved from philosophy to Christianity was to discover a new religious sanction for his inherited and acquired culture. God and the philosophers were to some extent replaced by God and the prophets.
Quote ID: 619
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 34 Page: 114
Section: 4A
Justins basic acceptance of the rightness of Roman power is clearly indicated, as Henry Chadwick has pointed out,{14} in his statement that the cross, symbolized in all nature, is represented by the vexillae and trophies of the Roman legions, symbols of Roman power and of divine power at the same time (I, 55).[Footnote 14] Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 47 (1965), 275-97.
Quote ID: 621
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 34 Page: 115
Section: 4A
If such a parent happened to encounter the Oration of the Christian critic Tatian, his worst fears would be confirmed. Tatian took positive delight in his own alienation from society and claimed that it was essentially Christian. “I do not wish to rule, I do not wish to be rich, I despise military honors . . .”{15} Christians like him regarded philosophy and rhetoric as meaningless compared with knowledge derived from revelation and personal experience.[Footnote 15] Or. II; cf. Hippolytus, Apost. Trad. 16, 17-19.
Quote ID: 622
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 34 Page: 117
Section: 4A
A similar emphasis on resurrection occurs in the first book Ad Autolycum, composed by Theophilus, bishop of Antioch, around 180. All three of Theophilus’ books reflect the attempted fusion between Christianity and culture which was being made in his time.
During this era, there was an attempt at a fusion of the faith with the Graeco-Roman culture (PJ Note - which was not limited to the philosophical realm. see pg. 118b).
Quote ID: 623
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 34 Page: 118
Section: 4A
the acute Hellenization of Christianity occurred on all sorts of levels during the second century.
Quote ID: 624
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 34 Page: 133
Section: 4B,2D3A
we may proceed to see in Montanism a reaction against any attempt to correlate Christianity with the life of the Graeco-Roman world.The anonymous author to whom we have referred ascribes Montanism to a recently baptized Christian named Montanus, who at the village of Ardabau on the Mysian-Phrygian border began to go into trances and “utter strange sounds.”
COPIED
Quote ID: 625
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 34 Page: 134
Section: 2D3A
Behold, man is like a lyre and I hover over him like a plectrum. Man sleeps, while I awake. Behold, it is the Lord who makes men’s hearts ecstatic and gives new hearts to men.It is I, the Lord God Almighty, who am present in a man. I am neither an angel nor an emissary; I, the Lord God the Father, have come.
I am driven from the sheep like a wolf. I am not a wolf; I am word and spirit and power.
Quote ID: 626
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 34 Page: 135
Section: 2D3A
The reaction of the Christian leaders of Asia Minor, like the Montanist Movement itself, seems to have crystallized only after a considerable lapse of time.The most vigorous critic of the movement seems to have been Apollinaris, bishop of Hierapolis.
Quote ID: 627
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 34 Page: 135
Section: 4A
Other writings of Apollinaris clearly show that he was loyal not only to the Roman church, whose date for Easter he accepted against the usual Asian custom, but also to the Roman state. In an apology now lost he told the story of a legion miraculously victorious after Christian soldiers had knelt in prayer.{16}[Footnote 16] Ibid., 5, 5, 4.
Quote ID: 628
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 34 Page: 135
Section: 2D3A
This is actually page 136.Irenaeus could not condemn the “new prophecy”. Indeed, in writing against heresies he criticized the anti-Montanists for opposing both the gospel and the prophetic Spirit and argued that they were driving prophetic grace out of the church.
Quote ID: 629
Time Periods: 23
Book ID: 34 Page: 141
Section: 2D3A
. . . the larger cities were fairly free of Montanists, chiefly because in them the organized episcopate was strong. Ultimately the problem was settled - in so far as any historical problem is settled - not so much by argument as by the changed situation of the church in the reign of Constantine. An edict which he issued in the year 331 ordered the public “houses of prayer” maintained by heretics, including Montanists, transferred to the Catholic Church, while their private meeting places were simply confiscated by the state.{17}[Footnote 17] Eusebius, Vita Constantini 3, 64-65.
John, bishop of Ephesus, struck a fatal blow at the movement not only by burning its temples to the ground but also by digging up and burning the bones of Montanus, Maximilla, and Prisca.{18}
The movement had already lost its future; John deprived it of its ties with the past.
[Footnote 18] P. de Labriolle, Les sources de l’histoire du montanisme (Paris, 1913), 238 (no. 195).
COPIED
Quote ID: 630
Time Periods: 234
Book ID: 34 Page: 142
Section: 2D3A,4A
Christian leaders had taken great pains to argue that the revelation was in harmony with philosophy at its best because philosophers had in part been inspired by the Logos.What underlay the symptoms, however, was the Montanists’ basic concern. They were reviving the apocalyptic eschatology, based on Jewish and Jewish-Christian documents, from which the churches had gradually been turning away. Their revival of primitive Christian concerns was basically irrelevant for the leaders of late second-century Christianity and for their followers as well. The church was now coming to terms with Graeco-Roman culture and finding a place for itself in the world.
COPIED
Quote ID: 631
Time Periods: 234
Book ID: 34 Page: 143
Section: 2D3A
It is fairly obvious that the Montanist movement was fairly close to Jewish Christianity, which in essence it attempted to revive. By the time when the movement arose, however, Christianity had already moved far away from its origins. The cumulative effect of the decisions made by Christian leaders was to bring the church into the world and to multiply its numbers until it could win the world to Christian allegiance.COPIED
Quote ID: 632
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 34 Page: 146
Section: 2C
The author of the Didache stands, however, at a turning point in the church organization. He instructs his congregations to appoint bishops (episkopoi) and deacons (diakonoi) worthy of the Lord. Such men perform the task of the prophets and teachers. “Do not hold them in contempt, for they are honorable men among you, along with the prophets and teachers” (15, 1-2). The situation is one of transition. On the one hand, the prophets and teachers have been, or are to be, supplanted by bishops and deacons; on the other, the older ministries are not at once to disappear.
Quote ID: 633
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 34 Page: 147
Section: 2C
Here the situation is more carefully defined than in the Didache. The strong practical bent of Roman Christianity is coming to the fore. The underlying situation at Rome, as ideally at Corinth, is one in which presbyters govern the church (54,2), though only one of them, presumably, exercises the office of administration and offers the “gifts” characteristic of it.{19}[Footnote 19] I Clem. 44, I. 4.
Quote ID: 634
Time Periods: 34
Book ID: 34 Page: 149
Section: 2C
Ignatius refers to his own prophetic utterances as coming from God or the Spirit.Thus for Ignatius, as contrasted with the Didache, there is no question of despising the bishops and deacons; they have taken over all the functions which prophets and teachers previously held.
. . . the monarchical episcopate would eventually triumph and come to be universally accepted.
Quote ID: 635
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 34 Page: 151
Section: 2D1
Five or ten years later 170 a Christian writer named Hegesippus, about whom we know little more than that he traveled from somewhere to the east through Corinth to Rome, wrote a treatise in which he laid strong emphasis on apostolic succession, perhaps deriving some of his information about it from the leaders of the church of Jerusalem. As A. Ehrhardt pointed out, the idea, or at least the emphasis, seems closely related to the Jewish concern with the succession of the high priests, and Hegesippus believed that James the Lord’s brother had worn the high priest’s breastplate.{20}[Footnote 20] The Apostolic Succession (London, 1953), 63-66. For the fragments see Eusebius, H. E. 2, 23, 4-18; 3, 7-8; 4, 22, 2-4.
In Hegesippus’ view, heresy arose in the early church only after the apostolic age, and it did not arise everywhere.
Pastor John note: False
Quote ID: 636
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 34 Page: 153
Section: 2D1
The foundation of Irenaeus’ doctrine therefore lies in the apostolic appointment of the earliest bishops. “The blessed apostles....committed the ministry of the episcopate to Linus” at Rome, and at Smyrna to Polycarp. Clement “in the third place from the apostles was given the lot kleroutai, cf. Kleros, Acts I:26 of the episcopate,” at a time when “many survived who had been taught by the apostles.”{21}[Footnote 21] Ibid., 3, 3, I. 4.
Quote ID: 637
Time Periods: 12
Book ID: 34 Page: 156
Section: 2D1
It is quite possible that Irenaeus had the theme in mind as he wrote. In addition, he lived among the Celts, as he points out in his preface. This point has suggested to V. White an odd parallel in Caesar where the Roman general describes the succession of chief priests among the Druids. One who has had supreme authority is succeeded by another, and in the middle of Gaul Druids assemble “from everywhere” to decide upon the successor.{22}[Footnote 22] Caesar, Bell. Gall.6, 13; V. White in Dominican Studies 4 (1951), 201-3.
Quote ID: 638
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 34 Page: 158
Section: 2D1
Polycrates of Ephesus [PJ: 130–196] laid considerable emphasis on a kind of family-succession not unlike that advocated in Palestine. In arguing against Victor, he relied on the traditions of his family. “Seven of my kinsmen were bishops, and I am the eighth; and my kinsmen always observed the day when the people put away the leaven.”{23} Another emphasis both Jewish and familial was expressed in his concern for the fact that the apostle John wore the petalon or high priest’s breastplate; similarly Epiphanius probably relying on a source related to Jewish Christianity, says that it was worn by James of Jerusalem.{24} At Rome presbyters and bishops were compared with Jewish priests and high priests,{25}.........[Footnote 23] Ibid., 5, 24, 6.
[Footnote 24] Haer. 29, 4, , 4; cf. 78, 14, I.
[Footnote 25] I Clem. 44; Hippolytus, Apost. Trad. 3-4; Ref. I, praef. 6. See also Didache 13, 3.
PJ Note: see above, p. 151.
Quote ID: 639
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 34 Page: 163
Section: 4B
By the beginning of the third century the Christian movement had practically completed its most crucial development or metamorphosis.
Quote ID: 640
Time Periods: 3
Book ID: 34 Page: 166
Section: 3B
The reign of Alexander Severus (222-235), was marked by closer relations between Christians and the court. The emperor may have kept statues of Christ, Abraham, Orpheus, and Apollonius of Tyana - along with some of the deified emperors - in his private chapel.{26}[Footnote 26] SHA Severus Alexander 29, 2.
Quote ID: 641
Time Periods: 3
Book ID: 34 Page: 167
Section: 3B
Indeed, Philip was so friendly toward Christian leaders that Eusebius was able to transmit legends pointing toward his active acceptance of Christianity.{27}[Footnote 27] H. E. 6, 34.
An enormous restructuring took place, in order to stabilize the shaky empire. And it succeeded in large measure.
Quote ID: 642
Time Periods: 3
Book ID: 34 Page: 170
Section: 3B
After Valerian came to power in 253 the persecution ended. Dionysius of Alexandria could write that “all his house was filled with godly persons and was a church of God”. . .
Quote ID: 643
Time Periods: 3
Book ID: 34 Page: 171
Section: 3B
After Valerian died in captivity, the Persians stuffed his skin and placed it in a temple.
Quote ID: 644
Time Periods: 3
Book ID: 34 Page: 176
Section: 2C
By writing to the bishops, the emperor implicitly acknowledged their legal status as officers of Christian communities.{28}[Footnote 28] Eusebius, H. E. 7, 13; compare the earlier letter from the legate of Arabia to Demetrius of Alexandria (p. 204).
Quote ID: 645
Time Periods: 34
Book ID: 34 Page: 177
Section: 2A3,2E3,3A3A
The legal difficulty remained, at least in theory. Under Roman law, temples and their sites were res sacrae, consecrated to the gods by the authority of the Roman people, by a law or a decree of the senate; but the “houses” of the church were not temples. Tombs and cemeteries were res religiosae, consecrated to the gods below (dis Manibus) by legal burials made by persons competent to make them. Christian cemeteries could not be dedicated to the dii Manes.{29}[Footnote 29] Cf. M. Kaser, Das romische Privatrecht I (Munich, 1959), 105-7, 175-76.
In 321 Constantine insisted that property could be left by will to “the most holy and venerable council [concilium] of the Catholic church,” presumably with individual churches in view.{30}
[Footnote 30] Cod. Theod. 16, 2, 4; cf, Kaser, op cit., 348; H. Dorries, Das Selbstzeugnis Kaiser Konstantins (Gottingen, 1954)m 183.
Quote ID: 646
Time Periods: 14
Book ID: 34 Page: 177
Section: 4B
No extant evidence suggests that any church writers really understood the social or the economic situation of the third century.. . . the middle class, from which Christian leaders were generally recruited, was engaged in a struggle for economic survival.
Quote ID: 647
Time Periods: 3
Book ID: 34 Page: 179
Section: 2D1
By the end of the second century, the Christian church at Rome was widely regarded as possessing some kind of primacy among the churches.
Quote ID: 648
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 34 Page: 180
Section: 3A3
Just as the Roman state gave support to Roman communities within the empire, so the Roman church provided for Christians throughout the world.The Roman church was a center for Christian orthodoxy and Christian finance.
Quote ID: 649
Time Periods: 4567
Book ID: 34 Page: 220
Section: 4A,4B
All these examples illustrate the close correlation of third-century Christianity with the philosophical and governmental world of the time.At the end of the third century, Christians had spread geographically, but were also steadily climbing upwards on the Graeco-Roman social ladder.
Quote ID: 650
Time Periods: 3
Book ID: 34 Page: 226
Section: 2C,3B
The provinces were too large for efficient control, and as Lactantius says, the emperor “chopped them into slices”{31} At the same time the provinces were combined in larger groupings known as “dioceses,” each under the control of a deputy of the praetorian prefects. This deputy was called a vicarius, a title which like “diocese” later occurs among Christians.{32}[Footnore 31]De mort. Persec. 7, 4.
[Footnote 32] On vicarius cf. W. Ensslin in RE XXII 2418 and VIII A 2023-44.
Quote ID: 651
Time Periods: 234
Book ID: 34 Page: 227
Section: 3A4C
Though the proconsul of Africa reminded him that other Christians were soldiers, he remained obdurate and was executed.{33}[Footnote 33] Acta Maximiliani (pp. 86-87 Knopf-Kruger).
Quote ID: 652
Time Periods: 34
Book ID: 34 Page: 241
Section: 3C1
(Eusebius of Caesarea) The emperor himself, it would appear, was responsible for making one addition: the word homoousios, used to indicate that the Son was “consubstantial” with the Father. Presumably the term resulted from a compromise among eastern bishops and was intended to prevent Eusebius’ creed from being interpreted in Arian fashion. Constantine himself explained that it implied no corporeal substance or any division or separation of the Son from the Father, for the immaterial, spiritual, and incorporeal nature could not suffer any corporeal change. It was to be taken in a divine and mysterious sense, without analysis. “After our most wise and pious emperor made this philosophical statement”, says Eusebius, the bishops accepted his amendment;{34}[Footnote 34] Socrates, H. E. I, 8.
Quote ID: 653
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 34 Page: 241
Section: 2E4
The council also decided to accept the date for Easter in Favor at Rome and Alexandria (unfortunately in 326 the two dates were different!{35}), tried to resolve the controversy over Melitius at Alexandria,{36} and issued twenty canons.{37}[Footnote 35] C. J. Hefele and H. Leclerq, Histoire des conciles I (Paris, 1907), 469.
[Footnote 36] Ibid., 488-503.
[Footnore 37] Ibid., 528-620; cf. H. Chadwick in HTR 53 (1960), 171-95.
Quote ID: 654
Time Periods: 34
Book ID: 34 Page: 243
Section: 3C1
In 333 Constantine made up his mind again and decided to offer a final solution to the Arian problem. The books of Arius, like those of the anti-Christian philosopher Porphyry, were to be burned; the discovery of such writings if concealed was to result in the application of the death penalty.{38} In the same year he sent a letter of denunciation to Arius and his followers, pointing out that Arius’ presence in Libya had been predicted in the Sibylline Oracles, three thousand years previously, . . .[Footnote 38] Ibid., I, 9, 30; cf. Cod. Theod. 16, 5, 66.
Quote ID: 655
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 34 Page: 245
Section: 3C
As emperor, however, he retained the old title of ponitfex maximus,{39} and as late as 326 he was willing to provide the Eleusinian dadouchos with transportation to sacred sites in Egypt.{40} A rescript issued as late as 333 shows that he accepted religious traditions in honor of his family. The citizens of Hispellum in Umbria had asked permission to honor the Flavian house by erecting a temple, providing a priest, and holding theatrical games and gladiatorial combats. Constantine approved their proposal, but he stipulated that “the temple dedicated to our name should not be defiled by the falsehoods of any contagious superstitions.”{41}[Footnote 39] ILS 695-97; 8941-42.
[Footnote 40] OGIS 721; date: J. Baillet in Comptes rendus de l’Acad. Des Inscriptions, 1922, 282-96.
[Footnote 41] ILS 705.
Quote ID: 656
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 34 Page: 247
Section: 3C
[Bold parts used]The story of the Christian revolutionary movement may well end at this point, for the relation of Christianity to the society in which it was now established is another matter. The acceptance for which Christians had long been seeking had been achieved. Clement of Alexandria had believed that the iron-bronze state of the Greeks was inferior to the silver of the Jews and the gold of the Christians.{42} Now the golden age had dawned.
[Footnote 42] Clement, Str. 5, 98, I-4 (Plato, Rep. 5, 497 e). The question was politically important, for Commodus persuaded the senate to name his reign “The golden age” (Dio 72, 15, 6; cf. SHA Comm. 14, 3): Dio later noted the “golden kingdom” of Marcus Aurelius and the rusty iron of Commodus (71, 36, 4).
Quote ID: 657
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 34 Page: 247
Section: 1A
A certain measure of adjustment or even compromise was inevitable.
Quote ID: 658
Time Periods: 1
Book ID: 34 Page: 247
Section: 3C
We have already mentioned the fact that in 326 he informed the vicar of the diocese of the Orient that clerical privileges were to benefit only Catholic clergy. “It is our will, moreover, that heretics and schismatics shall not only be alien from these privileges but also shall be bound and subjected to various public services.”{43} In other words, an effort to harass non-Catholic clerics was to be made.[Footnote 43] Cod. Theod. 16, 5, I.
Quote ID: 659
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 34 Page: 249
Section: 2D3A
(Montanists) All public meetinghouses were to be surrendered to the Catholic Church, while private houses used for meetings were to be confiscated by the state.{44} The unity of the Christian movement was to be maintained by the power of the empire.[Footnote 44] Eusebius, V. C. 3, 64-65. This letter presumably preceded an edict of 326 according to which Novatianists were allowed to keep their buildings (Cod. Theod. 16, 5, 2); cf. Dorries, op. Cit., 82-84. Lactantius (Div. Inst. 4, 30, 10) gives an identical list, except that he has “Anthropiani” (cf. Cyprian, Ep. 73, 4) for “Paulianists”.
COPIED
Quote ID: 660
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 34 Page: 261
Section: 2D3B
Theophilus insists that among Christians “self-control is present, continence is practised, monogamy is preserved, purity is guarded, injustice is thrust out, sin is uprooted, justice is exercised, the law is lived...”({3}, {15}). For him the observance of law is evidently essential to the Christian life.
Quote ID: 661
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 34 Page: 276
Section: 2D3A
When Tertullian became a Montanist he insisted the only “the church of the Spirit” could forgive such sins, and like Hippolytus of Rome he was deeply offended by the claims of bishops like Callistus to do so.COPIED
Quote ID: 662
Time Periods: 23
Book ID: 34 Page: 306
Section: 2A4
On the other hand, some traditions were universal and came from the apostles. One should not kneel on Sunday or on Pentecost, for the resurrection was being celebrated;{45} kneeling was a specific sign of penitence.{46}[Footnote 45] Irenaeus, Frag. 7, pp. 478-46 Harvey.
[Footnote 46] Tertullian, De orat.23; Origen, De orat. 31, 2-3.
Quote ID: 663
Time Periods: 2
Book ID: 34 Page: 307
Section: 2E4
Indeed as a loyal supporter of the Roman position, Irenaeus had to write letters in defense of it. One letter went to the Roman presbyter Blastus, who held that “the Passover was not to be observed except in accordance with the law of Moses, on the 14th day of the month.{47} When he would not change his position he was deposed by Victor.{48} Another was sent to “an Alexandrian” and argued that Easter was to be observed on a Sunday.{49} Evidently there was opposition to Victor’s proposal both at Rome and at Alexandria.[Footnote 47] Pseudo-Tertullian, Adv. Omn. Haer.8.
[Footnote 48] Eusebius, H. E. 5; 15.
[Footnote 49] Irenaeus, Syr. Frag. 27 (Harvey).
Quote ID: 664
Time Periods: 234
Book ID: 34 Page: 308
Section: 2E4
The date January 6 was presumably chosen because of pagan festivals celebrating the “birth” of the new year.{50} By the early fourth century the feast of Christ’s Epiphany at his birth was being observed by Christians in the eastern half of the empire.[Footnote 50] Cf. Epiphanius, Haer. 51, 22, 8-10.
Quote ID: 665
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 34 Page: 308
Section: 2E4
Since the early third century the “birthday of the sun” had been observed in Egypt on December 25, when the days began to lengthen after the winter solstice, and at Rome after Aurelian’s erection of a temple to Sol invictus in 274 the same date was celebrated as the natalis Invicti, with thirty races in the circus.{51} By 336 Christians at Rome began observing December 25 as Christ’s birthday.{52}[Footnote 51] CIL I (ed. 2), p. 338; cf. Marbach in RE III A 910.
[Footnote 52] B. Botte, Les origines de la Noel et de l’Epiphanie (Louvain, 1932), 32-37.
Quote ID: 666
Time Periods: 34
Book ID: 34 Page: 310
Section: 2E1
Helena had made inquiries of the natives and was directed to a location where “ancient persecutors” had erected a shrine of Aphrodite. Encouraged by visions, she had the area excavated and found three crosses “in a confused order,” along with the superscription made for Pilate in Greek, Latin, and Hebrew (John 19:20). In order to determine which one was the true cross, the bishop of Jerusalem proposed to take a grievously sick woman and place her on each one. After his prayer for divine guidance she was placed on the first two, with no result; the third, evidently the authentic “saving wood”, restored her health. The queen mother built a church on the spot and kept part of the cross there in sliver reliquaries. She sent the nails from the cross, and part of the cross itself, to her son Constantine.
Quote ID: 667
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 34 Page: 310
Section: 4B
If the fourth century marks the end of the history of the early church, it must be noted that in this respect the end was like the beginning.
Quote ID: 668
Time Periods: 4
Book ID: 34 Page: 311
Section: 2D3B,3A4B
As Frend points out, the early Christian lived “under the guidance of the Spirit in the Last Times” and “felt no call to imitate his Jewish neighbour and rebel against the earthly dominance of Rome.”
Quote ID: 669
Time Periods: 123
Book ID: 34 Page: xiii
Section: 4B
In spite of our concern for papyri and inscriptions, most of the evidence is both literary and highly selective. The literary character of most of it means that we are dealing with the works of the more highly educated Christians, not with “average” or “medium” examples. In some measure the ideas of the others can be recovered by reading between the lines of what the literate theologians wrote. We are always in danger, however, of ascribing undue importance to the literary evidence.
Quote ID: 580
Time Periods: 123
Book ID: 34 Page: xiii
Section: 3C2
During the fourth and fifth centuries an effort seems to have been made to rewrite much of early Christian history.
Quote ID: 581
Time Periods: 45
Book ID: 34 Page: xiii
Section: 4B
One must wonder to what extent documents which came to be viewed as heretical or outmoded were allowed to perish.
Quote ID: 582
Time Periods: 123
End of quotes