History of Christianity - Lesson 2 by Don Noenoehitoe

History of Christianity - Lesson 2

Don Noenoehitoe

1. How do we know that Jesus Christ is a historical person and what are the historical evidences?

The name "Christus" was associated with the  beginning of Christianity by Roman historian Tacitus (AD55 - AD117),

who in the Emperor Tiberius reign was crucified under the judgment of Pontius Pilate, a Roman Governor & Procurator in Judea.

Pliny, propraetor of Bithynia and Pontus of Asia Minor, wrote letter to Emperor Trajan around AD112 seeking advice concerning

the Christians, Pliny's letter to Trajan provides insights about Christ. 

Suetonius' Lives of the Twelve Caesars: Vita Claudius mentioned"Chrestos" (i.e. Christ) as the cause that the Jews were thrown

out of Rome by Claudius.  Lucian, around A.D. 170 wrote about the Christians & crucified Jesus.

The Pagans sources are important historical evidences that came from cultured-Romans who generally mocked Christianity.

With these historical evidences, in addition to the Cannonical writings & the Gospels, Christ did in fact historically exist.

2. What makes the personality and character of Jesus Christ special?

Holy Scriptures & the Gospels offers some insights on the personality and character of Jesus Christ with a profound originality & authority.

When Jewish and other authorities quote others in their testimonials, Jesus, on the other hand, gave the phrase "I say."

These occurrences in the Gospels show Jesus' originality, creativity & authority which amazed the people of His day (Mark 1:22; Luke 4:32).

Jesus' genuineness is very apparent in the scriptural records - Jesus was was true to others & could be completely Himself (John 8:46).

The Gospels - from the parables to the Sermon on the Mount - also bear witness to Jesus' balanced character. There was no excess in Jesus' character.

This unworldly personality & characters can only be sufficiently explained by the historical account of Jesus' Virgin Birth.

3. How does Christ's person and work constitute the beginning of Christianity?

The death and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ - the Living God, along with His character, works, and teachings, constitute the beginning of Christianity. Despite the existence of numerous religions that exist without their human founders, Christ are inseparable from Christianity.

Christ provided to His church the two sacramental ordinances, the Apostles, its fundamental messages of the kingdom of God, its paramount discipline (Matthew 16:16-19; 18:15-20), and the Holy Spirit to be the One to work through the Christian church in the spread of the Good News to all the world. Christ left no fundamental organizational structure, no clearly defined systematic theology, nor personally authored sacred books and writings. All of these things would be sorted out by the Apostles under the leading of the Holy Spirit.

History of Christianity - Lesson 1 by Rev. Noenoehitoe

History of Christianity - Lesson 1

Don Noenoehitoe

1. How did the Roman Empire help Christianity spread throughout the Mediterranean world of the 1st century A.D.?

The early Greco-Roman believed in strong, centralized government where the Emperor's reign were supreme, which advocated
a single and uniformity in its philosophy, codes of law, political and religious belief.

Furthermore, the paramount importance of Rome's citizenship, legions supremacy, provincial auxiliaries, and vast road networks; 

in which all greatly contributed to spread the Christian Gospel - Salvation for the sinners only come from Jesus Christ - a universal

idea that Rome helped spread and institutionalized within its realm.

Interestingly, even Alexander the Great had failed to constitute the sense of unity within his vast empire - prior to the era of Pax Romana

2. What were the effects of Greek language and philosophy upon the rise of Christianity?

Greek language & philosophy were flourished under Rome's reign, especially within the trade routes throughout the ancient world.
It became the vessel for the spread of Christianity, whereas most educated Romans were fluent in both Latin & Greek during Rome's infancy.
Koine Greek: "Street Greek" was the language widely used to by the early Christians.  The language was modified from Classical Greek, deeply
rooted in Hellenistic world & Roman Empire, in which greatly contributed to the rise of early Christianity

The Greek Philosophy were in decline during the rise of early Christianity.  "The Fall" of Greek Philosophy & Greco Romans beliefs were
stemmed from dissatisfaction toward classical deities & mystery cults within the Roman Empire; the human reasons cannot reach the Divine,
whereas Christianity spiritual approach to life were slowly accepted & filling the void

3. In what ways did the Jews and Judaism impact the birth of Christianity?

Judaism & Christianity were closely related; the early Christianity were deeply rooted in Judaism, in which Monotheism (One True God)
was universal belief.  The Jews spiritual approach were different than the Greeks, whereas the Greeks emphasis on human reasoning has its questionable limits. The Jews, as God's chosen people, derived their belief from the Ten Commandments & their sacred history, where God revealed to them -
through Abraham, Jacob, Moses & their other great leaders - the only source of Salvation ( John 4:22)

The expectations of Messianic figure were popular in the Roman world because of the constant preaching of the Jews.  This hope of the coming
righteousness was unlike what Virgil's poems were written about: an ideal Roman ruler, Augustus' son, will come into being

Judaism moral philosophy - through the prevalence of synagogues, the supremacy of Ten Commandments & the Old Testament - were favorably
timed & accepted within the Roman Empire.  Furthermore, the central location of the land of Palestine greatly helped the spread of Judaism
cultures & belief in the Ancient Near East & Mediterranean world.

Lesson 16 master of Christian history - Rev. Longsden

Lesson 16 master of Christian history

The Middle Ages was a very lively time. Medieval church history took place upon a much wider stage than ancient church history did. As a consequence of the Teutonic tribes being won to Christianity and the mass conversions along with the forming of monasticism .Pope Gregory I ,was a link between two worlds, the classical and the medieval. He became a symbol of the new medieval world all that is modern and creative for the society of the day, where in culture became institutionalized within the church presided by the bishop of Rome. Those men who came after Pope Gregory I used the foundations that he laid to further develop the sacramental hierarchy that would shape the church in the Middle Ages. Pope Gregory I arranged Christian doctrine in an orderly fashion, and he made the church a significant player in secular political disputes.

Pope Gregory is also noted for creating seven monasteries from his own pocket which also encouraged the church to develop with its missions in adjacent lands .

 

The church in the west through monasticism could have eventually created the medieval church due to the decline of the roman empire and the conversion of so many persons to the Christian faith ,it could be said that pope Gregory was in the right place at the right time being able to fund new monasteries and new teachings.

 

Gregory believed that humanity was a sinner by nature and choice, but he softened Augustine's view of it by saying that human beings did not inherit guilt from Adam but only sin which all are subject. He believed in the verbal inspiration of Scripture, but he gave tradition an equal position with Scripture. He changed a little the Canon of the Mass which continued to show how the Eucharist was a sacrifice anew of Christ's body and blood each time it is observed. Gregory also stressed good works and the entreaty of the saints in order to gain their help. As such Pope Gregory was a great theologian. Along with Jerome, Ambrose, and Augustine. Along with writing books and being a theologian pope Gregory also prevented war by becoming one of the wealthiest popes he was able to raise an army and force a piece with the Aryan army and had them converted he sent a bishop to inland to introduce Catholicism and remove Celtic Christianity.

Rev. Andrew Longsden

Christian Ethics

Christian Ethics – Lessons 3 & 4 Test 2

 

1.           The first reason is the light that the Old Testament can throw on Jesus as we note what he retained from his heritage and what he gained from higher insights. The second reason is the need to fully understand the Old Testament and to see it in perspective. The third reason is that we get a sense of concreteness from the social teachings of the prophets.

 

2.           Israel's faith was not fully monotheistic before the sixth century BC.

 

3.           It was a covenant of grace.

 

4.           One test was circumcision and the other was the requirement of keeping the law.

 

5.           The most primitive code in the Old Testament is the ceremonial code in Exodus 34.

 

6.           The Covenant Code illustrates the blending of moral and religious considerations, and within the religious aspect the mixture of adoration and gratitude with the ceremonial observances.

 

7.           'The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath' is found in St Mark's Gospel chapter 2, verse 27

 

8.           a)  The law was not the barren interpretation that was made in Jesus' time or even in ours. It was based on the righteous and sovereign rule of God who demanded its observance.

b)  The Hebrew's moral outlook was intensive but tended to favour the Hebrews themselves or  those living within the Hebrew community. The Hebrews also believed that this was what God wanted regardless of what the prophets said.

c)  Jesus came to fulfil the law not destroy it or even change it, but to widen its scope so that the too narrow interpretation placed on it by those in authority could be looked at afresh and revitalised.

 

9        The first deduction is that the prophets proceeded from the assumptions of the covenant, never doubting that Israel was God's chosen people.

The second deduction is that the prophets were Hebrews and Hebrews only and only worked within this context.

The third deduction is that monotheism and universalism is implicit in their preaching although in itself it was a late development.

The fourth deduction is that the prophets saw sin not as a human failing but as actual sin against and they could therefore criticise kings as well as ordinary people for their sinful ways.

The fifth deduction is that they spoke to the situation prevailing at the time within the Hebrew community.

 

10.       Jesus took the following concepts from the Old Testament:

First, He shared with the Old Testament the structure of moral living which was God-centred.

Second, His ethical principles were those of Judaism, but with a different emphasis making them new in impact.

Third, He made the attainment of the kingdom of God the main point of his teaching rather than the triumph of Israel.

 

Derek Kemp

 

Christian Ethics

Christian Ethics Lessons 9 & 10 (Test 5)

 

1.           Ten assumptions are as follows:

a) Man is highest form of life in the universe.

b) Man is essentially a part of nature.

c) Man alone gives purpose to the universe.

d) Group standards provide validation of right or wrong.

e)The good life is for man's happiness and satisfaction of his desires.

f) Evil exists but sin is outmoded.

g) Improvement comes through man's own efforts socially, economically or politically.

h) Man is totally dependent on group resources.

I) Man's existence ends with his death.

j) Christ is solely an historical figure around which the church has been organised.

2.           A man may be respectable and law-abiding but is not a Christian as his primary insight is humanistic and not Bible-centred as the source of insight.

3.           Moralism is to define a person as a Christian because he possesses the required Christian virtues. Fractionalism is to take one aspect of Christian experience and treat it as the whole experience.

4.           The Christian virtues are shown in the Beatitudes:

Those who are humble in spirit.

Those comforted by God in their mourning.

Those who are unpossessive but have God's richest gifts.

Those eager in the quest for righteousness.

Those who are merciful.

Those who are pure in heart.

Those who are peacemekers.

Those faithful under persecution.

Those able to endure scorn for the Kingdom's sake.

5.           Christian virtues according to Paul are:

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

6.           These virtues are the 'fruit of the Spirit' from the indwelling presence of God; secondly, they are the fruits of a whole personality; and thirdly, there is no law against such attributes.

7.           Other portrayals of Christian virtues are in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 13.

8.           Calvin says that original sin is hereditary and a corruption of our nature in that even infants have the seed of sin within. Sin has possessed all the powers of the soul and impiety in man has seized both his mind and his very innermost heart.

9.           a) Is it ever right for a Christian to kill his fellow man?

b) Should a Christian ever lie, steal or cheat?

c) How should a Christian view or respond to the sins of the flesh?

10.       The message of Good Friday and Easter is that God has been victorious over sin because God so loved the world that he gave his Son for our redemption. This is our total Christian faith.

 

Historical Jesus and Evidence

How do we know that Jesus Christ is an historical person and what is the historical evidence

            Jesus Christ is mentioned by numerous pagan sources and Christian sources the Christian sources could at this point considered biased that is until we have looked at the pagan sources. The pagan authors consist of correspondence from emperors to senior officers in the Mediterranean and vice versa as such these would be considered very good sources in this instance the reason being despite their negativity they prove a religious group existed known as Christians and also a person known as Jesus Christ existed. Although this may sound and read as if you are following the pagans as an historian and a Christian you have know found substantial evidence this then leads us to believe the Bible is a good source of history and aspects of Jesus life and works and the persons that have followed not only him but his disciples which kept the faith developing to what it is today.

            Among the sources we have Tacitus a Roman Historian who has associated Christ with Pontius Pilate the Procurator under the Emperor Tiberius.

            Pliny who sent a letter to Emperor Trajan raising concerns about the Christians.

            Suetonius mentions that under Claudius the Jews were thrown out of Rome for rioting over Christ this shows that not only the name is known in the Mediterranean but also in Rome by the Jews Christian followers and Romans alike.

            These witnesses are of vast importance as the persons or authors and co responders that are mentioned are all educated persons and have positions in Roman life. The Bible itself then adds the final touches and gives us the links as too what the Jesus was doing and his message to his followers.