College Notes
Church History
Lecture 3
The Growth of Christianity
I. First century history is very
unclear
A. Early extra-Biblical accounts are mostly speculation and
tradition
B. Early traditions of Christ show him preparing for the work
of the Church
C. What did He do from age 12 - 3O?
1. He may have been taken to Britain by an uncle
2.
Possibly He went to Britain to discover the location of the lost ten
tribes
II. Jesus gives a commission to the
disciples (Mt. 10:1-23)
A. Go to the lost sheep of the house of
Israel
1. From 700 B.C. after Babylonians were
in power the ten tribes did not return to the holy land with the
Jews.
2. Israel migrated north and west from
Assyria over to Eastern Europe and further to Western Europe; this took
centuries.
B. Paul's commission
1. Paul's
commission not limited to Gentiles only (Acts
9:15)
2. Conversely, the apostles' commission
was limited to the house of Israel - they were not trained to go before
kings
C. Three Apostles shown in Biblical
history
1. Peter who went to the
Jews
2. Paul who went to the
Gentiles
3. John who was to complete the first
century
D. We just don't know about the others
E. We can't say with
any real authority what took place
F. Many radical ideas exist that are
highly unlikely
III. Gibbon explains the first century
"The scanty and suspicious materials of ecclesiastical history seldom enable us to dispel the dark cloud that hangs over the first age of the church." (The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire, chapter 13, 7th Edition, p. 219)
IV. Jesse Hurlbut
"We name the last generation of the first century, from 68 to 1OO A.D., 'The Age of Shadows,' partly because the gloom of persecution was over the church; but more especially because of all periods in the history, it is the one about which we know the least....For fifty years after St. Paul's life a curtain hangs over the church, through which we strive vainly to look; and when at last it rises, about 12O A.D. with the writings of the earliest church-fathers, we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St. Peter and St. Paul" (The Story Of The Christian Church, p. 41)
V. Why is this part of history so
clouded?
A. This is not Worldwide Church doctrine - this is
fact
B. We are not the only ones who realize that the false system grew
and the true church was submerged
C. Satan caused the false system to
develop at this time
D. If it were not so clouded, all could see the
deception
E. As it is, 85-95% of all Catholics and Protestants believe
that the Catholic church is the remnant of the original church started by
Christ.
VI. Gibbon wrote about the reasons
for Christianity's growth
A. Gibbon famous for chapters 15-2O on
church history
B. Gibbon was agnostic not a Catholic historian
C.
Dealt with Christian growth in the empire
D. He gives his points from a
philosophical view
VII. Five reasons for growth
(Gibbon)
A. Zeal
1. Judaism had an
inflexible and intolerant zeal
2. They had few
convert because of their many do's and
don'ts
3. Christianity seemed to be more
flexible
a.
Circumcision not
required
b. No
sacrifices or rituals
4. Did not have to adopt
Jewish culture, but did adopt holiness
B. Had a doctrine of future
life
1. Culture of the time thought man
important and had questions of what man's purpose
was
2. Christianity had answers to the
questions
3. The teaching of the Kingdom
of God had wide appeal
4. This evolved to
the doctrine of the immortal soul
C. Had a record of miracles
performed
1.
Tongues
2. Dead
raised
3. Healings
4. Prophecy
D. Had a high standard of morality
1.
Gentile world immoral
2. Many in society
suffered from this and saw the ultimate fall that would
result
3. This was a strong attraction to Gentiles
especially women
4. The doctrine of forgiveness of
sin was important
5. People liked and needed a way
to remove guilt that came from sin
E. Had unity in the church
government
1. This is where Gibbon goes
astray
2. The Church developed a government
that took over the world
3. The government could and
did wield great power