Lecture 3; Theology ; ATO1 Lecture 3 Theological Developments Dr. Ann T. Orlando 25 January 2011

Lecture 3; Theology ; ATO 2 Overview Review of history 100 – 312 Scripture: what is it; how shall we interpret it How (if at all) to use philosophy Liturgical and spiritual developments; Church leadership Introduction to Augustine This week’s readings NB: This lecture uses Scripture as the thread; other threads could have been chosen: Christology, Theodicy, Church authority (Ecclesiology), Anthropology, Ethics, Spirituality; these threads combine together to form the complete story of the early Church

Lecture 3; Theology ; ATO 3 Third Strand: Philosophical Background (from first lecture) Athenian Philosophy Before Alexander  Socrates and Plato: Platonism (and indirectly skepticism); Academy  Aristotle: Plato’s student, founder of Lyceum and Aristotelianism Hellenistic Philosophy (see Acts 17:18)  Epicurus, fought in Alexander’s army; opposed to Plato, founder of Epicureanism; the Garden Rabbinic word for ‘atheist’ derived from Epicurus  Zeno: opposed to Epicurus, founder of Stoicism; the Stoa Example: Prolog to John’s Gospel Neo-Platonism centered in Alexandria 250 AD Note that ancient philosophy was considered a way of life; not an academic discipline Catholic Christianity has always used contemporary philosophical methods as the language of theology and as an aid to interpret the Bible; philosophy as the handmaid of theology. Example: Virtue

Lecture 3; Theology ; ATO 4 History Overview Roman Empire at its height (Second Century) Christians suffer waves of persecutions, local in Second Century; Empire wide in Third Century (worst under Decius and Diocletian) Orthodox (Catholic) Church honors martyrs; but struggles to determine what to do about lapsed; orthodox Church opposed to Donatists Early Christian theologians develop arguments supporting Christianity (Apologies) Rome recognized as the ‘capital’ of Christianity

Lecture 3; Theology ; ATO 5 Issues Surrounding Christian Scripture The OT (Septuagint): in or out?  Relation of creator God to Father of Jesus Christ  How can there be suffering if the creator God is a good God? (theodicy problem)  Is God anthropomorphic; as OT might indicate?  Relation to Judaism What is in NT?  Paul primary or Gospels  What literature about Jesus is sacred  What writings of early believers is in/out (e.g., First Letter of Clement, Epistle of Barnabas, Shepherd of Hermes) Answers to these questions determined which books considered authoritative by various Christian groups In this era many Christian groups selected books to support their theology; Canon is from Greek word for rule or measure  Stoic philosophical term

Lecture 3; Theology ; ATO 6 2 nd C Gnosticism Gnosticism is really a ‘catch all’ term for several groups of early Christians which shared some beliefs, usually with a Platonic philosophical background Gnostic is from Greek, gnosis, knowledge Most Gnostic Christians believed:  Jesus was divine, not human (docetism);  Jesus was the son of Sophia (Wisdom) and God the Father  Physical, material world was, at best, irrelevant, at worst evil  Believers have special, secret, knowledge of divine things  But only a few are believers; most humans do not have souls

Lecture 3; Theology ; ATO 7 2nd C Gnosticism: Scripture and Gnosticism Gnostics rejected the OT  God of OT was evil, creator God  God of OT was anthropomorphic, not spiritual Gnostics accepted many different types of literature about Jesus  Gospel of Truth, Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Philip; Recent discovery (1945) of many Gnostic texts at Nag Hammadi, Egypt Key Gnostic: Valentinus, early 2 nd C, Alexandria and Rome

Lecture 3; Theology ; ATO 8 2 nd C Marcion: OT Out; only Paul, Luke In NT Most important impetus for development of Scriptural canon was Marcion (c ) Wealthy sea captain, who carefully studied Christian literature  Initially part of orthodox Roman church Decided that only Paul and parts of Luke were canonical Opposed to Judaism and so rejected OT Left Roman church to start his own church; spread very rapidly around Mediterranean; Marcionites in West for next 200 years; in East much longer

Lecture 3; Theology ; ATO 9 Defenders (Developers) of Orthodoxy 2nd Century defenders of orthodoxy  St. Ignatius of Antioch  St. Justin Martyr  St. Irenaeus  Tertullian Note how these people from different parts of Empire knew of each other; network of orthodox believers; Rome, Antioch, Alexandria centers for large, famous Christian schools

Lecture 3; Theology ; ATO 10 St. Justin Martyr (100 – 165) and Tatian Justin and his Christian school at Rome seems to have been very well known Justin used many Stoic concepts in his apologies (he was after all writing at time of Marcus Aurelius) Tatian was from Syria; came to Rome to study with Justin Tatian wrote the first harmony of gospels that is extant (Justin may also have developed one, now lost) Tatian’s harmony became canonical, used in liturgies in Syria Harmony developed and used specifically against Marcionites Tatian eventually became a gnostic, encratite sect

Lecture 3; Theology ; ATO 11 St. Irenaeus ( ) Born in Asia Minor ( ) Knew Polycarp; who knew Ignatius of Antioch Immigrated to Lyon, France; became Bishop Wrote extensively against Gnostics (Valentinus in particular) and Marcion Recognized orthodox Church in Rome as having primacy Quotes Ignatius, Polycarp, Justin Probably died a martyr

Lecture 3; Theology ; ATO 12 Tertullian ( ) Born in Carthage, North Africa; trained as a lawyer First Latin theologian; much of vocabulary of theological Latin originated with him; but also wrote some works in Greek  Sacrament  Trinity Vehement works against Marion and gnostics More works extant from him than any other 2cd C author Critical influence on Cyprian (3 rd C) and Augustine (4 th C) Questioned some (but not all) use of philosophy in theology, “What has Athens to do with Jerusalem” Near end of his life may have become a Montanist  Breaks with Rome over discipline

Lecture 3; Theology ; ATO 13 2nd C: Montanists Continuing Prophecy In ‘NT’ Started by Montus, Prisca, Maximillia late 2cd Century in Asia Minor Believed in continuing prophecy and revelation led by Holy Spirit Believed apocalypse immanent Believed that once Baptized, sins could not be forgiven (similar to Donatists); Church only for pure

Lecture 3; Theology ; ATO 14 Christian ‘Systematic’ Theologian: Origen ( ) Born in Alexandria; towering giant over Eastern theology; many subsequent debates trace to how to interpret Origen May have studied in same philosophical classes as Plotinus; also knew St. Clement of Alexandria (not to be confused with late 1 st C Pope St. Clement)  Along with Clement, Origen preserves the works of Alexandrian Jewish philosopher and theologian Philo Traveled extensively, including to Rome and met with Hippolytus Wrote:  An apology, Contra Celsum  Many Biblical commentaries, including on OT books  Biblical scholarship: Hexapla comparing Hebrew, and several different versions of Greek OT (not extant)  Different ways to interpret Bible, especially OT allegorically (debt to Philo)  ‘systematic’ presentation of Christianity: On First Principles Suffered persecution during Decius reign, eventually died from wounds Not declared a saint because of controversies about his ideas after he died

Lecture 3; Theology ; ATO 15 Styles of Scriptural Interpretation More literal; associated with Antioch  Paul of Samosata (3 rd C)  St. John Chrysostom (late 4 th C) Highly allegorical; associated with Alexandria; based on Stoic interpretive techniques  Origen (3 rd C)  St. Gregory of Nyssa (4 th C) NB: Church now recognizes two senses of Scripture: Literal and Spiritual; Spiritual includes allegorical, tropological (moral) and anagogical (goal) see CCC

Lecture 3; Theology ; ATO 16 3 rd C: Mani Founder was Mani ( ), Persian Synchristic combination of Gnostic and Montanist Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Buddhism:  “As once Buddha came to India, Zoroaster to Persia, and Jesus to the lands of the West, so came in the present time, this prophecy through me, the Mani, to the land of Babylonia" Very potent, well organized religion Accepts some aspects of NT Lasted for over a Millennium (Dominicans founded to combat Cathars, a Manichean sect is 13 th C) ‘Martyred’ by Persians

Lecture 3; Theology ; ATO 17 Main Points of Manichaeism Solve the theodicy problem by saying that there are two gods: one evil, one good Material world associated with evil god Special knowledge comes from good god; only available to initiated Manicheans Scripture includes parts of NT, Zoroastrianism and works of Mani  Mani considered himself reincarnation of Apostle Paul and/or incarnation of Holy Spirit

Lecture 3; Theology ; ATO 18 New Philosophical Development: NeoPlatonism Plotinus ( ) Alexandria, pagan philosopher  Considered himself a Platonist; wanted to defend Plato against gnostics  Knowledge of the One is available to everyone  Steps to achieve spiritual unity with the One  Material world is not bad (but not complete; completion only in the One) Most important philosophical statement as solution of theodicy problem: Evil is the absence of a good that should be there (see definition of evil in CCC)

Lecture 3; Theology ; ATO 19 Catholic Opposition to Manichaeism: St. Augustine ( ) Born in North Africa Included here because most famous opponent of Manichaeism in West; he was a Manichean hearer for 11 years Towering giant of Western Christianity (even more than Origen was in the East) Only limited knowledge of Greek; wrote in Latin Story of his move away from orthodox Catholic Church toward Manichaeism and his return is chronicled in Confessions Like Origen, developed rules for interpretation of Scripture

Lecture 3; Theology ; ATO 20 Liturgical and Spiritual Developments Limited sources Early liturgical descriptions:  Paul  Jewish background to order and style of early liturgies  The Didache late 1 st C  Justin Martyr, First Apology 2 nd C  Hippolytus, Apostolic Tradition 3 rd C Spirituality  Desert monks (from Greek meaning one, solitary)  Popular Christian symbols: fish, anchor, good shepherd, chi-rho, alpha-omega  Early baptismal creeds (Apostle’s creed)  Tradition of fasting on Wednesday and Friday (Didache)

Lecture 3; Theology ; ATO 21 Church Organization Bishops, presbyters (elders, priests), deacons  Based on Biblical divisions Bishop as leader very early on (Ignatius)  Bishops selected by presbyters and people; confirmed and ordained by local bishops in area Presbyters primary mission was to help bishop teach, assist at liturgy Deacons run the ‘business’ of Church; feed poor, manage Church property and cemeteries; assist Bishop at Easter vigil baptisms

Lecture 3; Theology ; ATO 22 Readings Chadwick, Ch 1 in McManners  More difficult reading than Vidmar  Also more nuanced and much more insightful  Read all carefully, especially p. 29 before you write your papers Justin Martyr First Apology P21-67 (p )  Does Justin go too far in his comparison of Jesus with gods of Greek and Roman myths P21, 22?  Notice how Justin embraces OT, while distancing Christianity from Judaism P30-53  Plato borrowed from OT P59, 60  Early description of Christian worship P 65-67

Lecture 3; Theology ; ATO 23 Readings (cont.) Irenaeus; read it all carefully  Importance of apostolic succession  Importance of four Gospels  Exegesis of Acts 15 and Galatians 2  Role of Mary in plan of salvation  Importance of Plato Origen  Use Scripture to explain Scripture  Levels of understanding  Importance of apostolic succession  Refers to Pope St. Clement (like Irenaeus)  Read P 1,2,4,6,9 most carefully

Lecture 3; Theology ; ATO 24 Readings (cont.) Augustine Confessions Book III  Read it all carefully  Lust vs. love i, ii, iii  Importance of philosophy iv  Note why Augustine turns away from Catholic Christianity v  Note some of his descriptions of Manichean customs vi, x  Discussion on evil as absence of good vii  Natural law, justice, local custom vii, viii  Reaction of Monica; especially her dream in which she sees Augustine standing next to her on the same rule xi, xii

Lecture 3; Theology ; ATO 25 CCC on the senses of Scripture on importance of apostolic succession Read definition of evil in glossary