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Apologetics

10. Questions about the Early Church

(Why it is important)

A series that helps consider the foundations for faith

Contents:

   

Introductory Comments

•  it is important to know about the realy Church 

1. Who were some of the Key Players of the First Century?

•  Rulers and history

2. What was Happening in the First Century?

•  Key events.

3. What were the Main Problems facing the Early Church?

•  Setting the scene for the following pages

 

    

      

Introductory Comments

   

      

Few Christians, it seems, have much knowledge about the early church. This means that when others attack their faith and assert that there is little or no foundation for the Christian faith, those Christians have no answer.   On this and the following pages, we will be looking at various facets of the early church following Jesus Christ, and we'll see why the things that happened then are important for us to understand, and how they can strengthen our faith today.   On this page we'll simply introduce the first century of the Christian Church to see who continued after Jesus' ascension and the passing of the Twelve. This page thus sets the scene for the next three pages We will look in detail the the key important ‘Early Church Fathers' on a later page.   The following are particular elements of the early centuries of church history that are helpful to understand which we'll be looking at on this and following pages:   a) Who were involved in those early centuries        Jesus, Paul and the other apostles in the first half of the first century     The leaders who followed on in the second half of that first century      “Early Church Fathers” who lived and led in the following centuries   b) The Events & Trends of those times     The centuries following Jesus were characterised by persecutions, oppositions and heresies that we will considered on the following three pages.

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1. Who were some of the key figures of the First Century?

  

     

Answer:   Let's try and outline the first hundred years in table form:   Romans Palestinian New Testament Emperors Ruled Ruler Ruled People/Events Dates Augustus 27BC-14 AD Herod the Great 37-4 BC     Tiberius 14-37 AD Herod Antipas 4 BC-39 AD Jesus Possibly 3 BC to 30? AD Caligula 37-41 AD Herod Agrippa 37-44 AD Paul converted 34 or 35 AD Claudius 41-54 AD Herod Agrippa II 44-100 AD Jerusalem council 48 AD Nero 54-68 AD Fire of Rome 64 AD Vespassian 69-79 AD Fall of Jerusalem 70 AD Titus 79-81 AD     Domitian 81-96 AD Persecution 81-86 AD Nerva 96-98 AD     Trajan 98-117 AD           NB. We will consider the Roman emperors more fully on the following page when we consider persecutions.   To see fuller details of those who were martyred go to Christian Classic Ethereal Library - http://www.ccel.org/ and look under author for “Foxe” for Foxe's Book of Martyrs. Alternatively try Christian Martyrs by Robert Backhouse.   Most Christians are familiar with the first half of the first century – the life of Jesus, Paul etc. but starting to put dates to them helps build the picture, so let's now add more detail.

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2. What was Happening in the First Century?

Answer:      The following gives an indication of some of the key important things that happened in that first century, largely as seen in the New Testament.         Time Event N.T. references About AD 30/33 Jesus crucified and rose from the dead All 4 Gospels AD 34/35 1st Jerusalem persecution Acts 8:1 AD 34/35 Paul's Conversion Acts 9 Uncertain Cornelius converted Acts 10 Uncertain Church started in Antioch Acts 11 AD 44 James martyred, Herod Agrippa I dies Acts 12 AD 46-47 Paul's first missionary journey Acts 13,14 AD 49 The Council at Jerusalem Acts 15 AD 49 Paul's second missionary journey begins Acts 15 AD 52 Paul's third missionary journey begins Acts 18 AD 57-59 Paul's Caesarean imprisonment Acts 23,24 AD 60-62 Paul's imprisonment in Rome Acts 64 AD 64 Probable martyrdoms of Peter & Paul in Rome ….. AD 70 Fall of Jerusalem   AD 81-96 Persecutions under Domitian   AD c.100 Death of John

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3. What were the Main Problems facing the Early Church?

Answer:     The centuries following Jesus were characterised by persecutions, competition and heresies   Without doubt these were centuries of all-out spiritual warfare with the enemy seeking to inhibit church growth, yet the opposite happened:   Enemy action Intention Effect Persecutions To frighten Christians and those who might be turning to the faith. The grace of God in the martyrs showed the reality of the faith and many were converted.   Competing Beliefs To steal away converts or prevent people becoming Christian believers    In fact were revealed as inadequate in the face of Christianity   Heresies To distort, confuse and water down the faith. The struggles against untruth meant the New Testament was written and creeds formulated to establish accepted doctrine.     In the following three pages we will consider each of these forms of the enemy's activity against the Church of the early centuries, and then on the fourth page look in some detail at the key Christians in the first three centuries who helped build the church.

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