Story of Christianity: Volume 1: The Early Church to the Reformation (The Story of Christianity)

by Justo L. González

Some authors have dramatized the “church of the catacombs,” depicting them as secret places where Christians gathered in defiance of the authorities. This is at best an exaggeration.

The catacombs were cemeteries whose existence was well known to the authorities, for Christians were not the only ones with such subterranean burial arrangements.

the reason why they gathered there was not that they feared the authorities, but rather that many heroes of the faith were buried there, and Christians believed that communion joined them, not only among themselves and wi...

Once again, the idea was that they too were part of the church, and that communion joined the living and the dead in a single body. It was this practice that gave rise to saints’ days;

This is the origin of our present-day Lent.

This latter date was actually a pagan festival which, after the time of Constantine, was preempted by the celebration of Christmas.

But, as the Church became increasingly Gentile, it was necessary to require a period of preparation, trial, and instruction prior to baptism.

lasted three years.

Usually baptism was administered once a year, on Easter Sunday.

The candidates were completely naked, the men separated from the women.

Then they were anointed, thus making them part of the royal priesthood;

Baptism was usually by immersion. The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, a document of uncertain date, prefers that it be done in “living”—that is, running—water. But where water was scarce it could be administered by pouring water three times over the head, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

To this day, scholars are not in agreement as to whether the early church baptized infants.

Although the New Testament does refer to bishops, presbyters, and deacons, these three titles do not appear together, as if they were three clearly defined functions that always existed together.

Actually, the New Testament would seem to indicate that the organization of local churches varied from place to place, and that for a certain time the titles of “bishop” and “elder” were interchangeable.

It is clear that by the end of the second century the leadership of the church was entirely masculine.

But the matter is not quite as clear in earlier times. Particularly in the New Testament, there are indications that women also had positions of leadership.

What actually seems to have taken place is that during the second century, in its efforts to combat heresy, the church centralized its authority, and a by-product of that process was that women were excluded from positions of leadership.

Eventually, the word “widow” changed its meaning within the church and came to mean, not a woman whose husband had died, but any unmarried woman who was supported by the community and who in turn performed some particular functions within it.

The answer may surprise some modern Christians, for the ancient church knew nothing of “evangelistic services” or “revivals.”

Therefore, evangelism did not take place in church services, but rather, as Celsus said, in kitchens, shops, and markets.

But the fact remains that most

converts were made by anonymous Christians whose witness led others to their faith.

Gregory Thaumaturgus—a name that means “wonderworker.” He was from the region of Pontus, and had been converted through the learned witness of Origen. But upon returning

and that the apostles and the Virgin appeared to him and guided his work.

Gregory was also one of the first to use a missionary method that has appeared again and again in later times: he substituted Christian festivals for the old pagan ones, and made sure that the Christian celebrations outdid the others.

Another surprising fact about the early expansion of Christianity i...

Testament, very little is said of any missionaries going from place to place, like Pa...

difficulty. It was long after Constantine that Christianity could claim most of the rural population of the Empire.

But as soon as Christians began having their own cemeteries—the catacombs—and their own churches—such as the one in Dura-Europos—Christian art began to develop.

Since communion was the central act of worship, scenes and symbols referring to it are most frequent.

The significance of the fish, apart from its connection with the miraculous feeding of the multitudes, was that the Greek word for fish—ichthys—could be used as an acrostic containing the initial letters of the phrase: “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.”

Jesus and the Samaritan woman,

Early in the fourth century, however, the last and worst persecution broke out.

Diocletian,

Part of Diocletian’s reorganization had consisted in placing the government on the shoulders of a team of four emperors. Two of these had the title of “augustus”: Diocletian...

Galerius under Diocletian, and Constantius Chloru...

for Diocletian planned that a “caesar” would succeed his “augustus,” and that then the remaining emperors would appoint someone to fill the vacancy left by the promoted caesar. Diocletian hoped that this would avert the frequent civil wars that racked the Empire over the question of succession. As we shall see, this hope proved futile.

Of the three emperors, it seems that only Galerius had given any indication of enmity towards Christianity. Both Diocletian’s wife, Prisca, and their daughter, Valeria, were Christians. The peace of the church seemed assured.

The first difficulties probably appeared in the army.

In any case, around A.D. 295 a number of Christians were condemned to death, some for refusing to join the army, and others for trying to leave it.

Galerius saw this attitude of Christians towards military service as a serious danger, for it was conceivable that at a critical moment the Christians in the army would refuse to obey orders. Therefore, as a measure required for military morale, Galerius convinced Diocletian that all Christians should be expelled from the legions.

But in some areas, probably due to an excess of zeal on the part of some officers who did not wish to see their ranks thinned, there were attempts to force Christian soldiers to deny their faith.

The result was a number of executions, all of them in the army of the Danube, under the command of Galerius.

in 303 he finally convinced Diocletian to issue a new edict against Christians. Even then, the purpose was not to kill Christians, but to remove them from positions of responsibility within the Empire. It was then ordered that Christians be removed from every government position, and that all Christian buildings and books be destroyed.

But soon the conflict grew worse, for there were many Christians who refused to turn over their sacred writings, and in such cases they were tortured and condemned to death.

Some Christian writers of the period suggest that Galerius himself was responsible for the

fires, which he had set in order to blame the Christians.

Prisca and Valeria complied, but the Grand Chamberlain Dorotheus and several others suffered martyrdom.

there were areas where overzealous officials followed the emperor’s example and put Christians to death.