The first Christianity and their teachings. Life of the early Christians

The first records of Christian teaching

When the first, still very small Christian groups appeared in the cities of the Roman Empire (first in Palestine, and then in the neighboring eastern provinces), the last thing they thought about was writing down their teaching. And there was no teaching in the exact sense of the word. Wandering Christian preachers talked about the anointed of God Jesus, crucified and resurrected. Some said that they heard about Jesus from eyewitnesses and his disciples, others - that they heard from those who heard eyewitnesses. This is how the oral Christian tradition developed.

For about half a century, Christianity spread primarily through oral sermons and stories. The very word "gospel" (evangelism) did not initially have the specific meaning of a written work in the minds of Christians. The existence of oral "gospel" was reflected in the first Christian writings, in particular in the letters of Paul. In the Epistle to the Galatians, the author reproaches the Christians of Galatia for having switched over to “another gospel” (in the Greek text, the gospel), “which, however, is not different, but only there are people who confuse you and want to turn the gospel of Christ (i.e., misrepresenting the “gospel.” - J.S.)". The author of the epistle curses those who "evangelize" otherwise than he does, and adds: "The gospel that I preached is not human" (1:6-7, 11). A similar usage is found in 2 Corinthians 11:4: (gospel. - I. S.)... "The Epistle to the Romans says:" In the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secret deeds of men ... "(2:16).

It is clear that for the author of the epistles, the gospel is not scripture, but the "gospel" preached by itinerant prophets about Christ and his mission. It also follows from the epistles that the content of such evangelistic gospels was different for different preachers.

The very word "gospel", which seems specifically Christian, may have come into Christianity from a pagan environment: the Greek word "gospel" was used in glorifying the Roman emperors. In the inscriptions of the 1st c. BC e., discovered in two cities of Asia Minor, the emperor Augustus is called the savior (soter); it says that the birth of God (i.e., Augustus) was the beginning of the "gospels" (gospels) associated with him.

Christians did not recognize the cults, official and unofficial, that existed in the Roman Empire, opposing them with their belief in another god. They worshiped not the ruler, but the carpenter, not seated on a throne, but crucified on a cross, like a slave and a criminal... Contrasting themselves with the world of the pagans, dissociating themselves from it, Christians operated with its ideas, its terminology, thought, in essence, in the same concepts, only by "reversing" and reevaluating them. For example, the emperor was called the savior of the world in official inscriptions, for Christians it was Jesus, and instead of the gospels about the events from the life of Augustus, the path to salvation indicated by their messiah became the gospel for Christians. The gospel was “proclaimed” by wandering prophets and apostles, which are mentioned in the Didache (Teaching of the Twelve Apostles) - a guide to the inner life of Christian communities, written at the beginning of the 2nd century. As a rule, such prophets and apostles spent two days in each community, and then moved on, taking bread for the road. They continued to go and preach when the first scriptures appeared. We know that some Christians preferred the oral tradition to the written one. Eusebius in his “Ecclesiastical History” quotes the words of the writer Papias, who lived in the first half of the 2nd century, who collected oral traditions: “... if I happened to meet someone who communicated with the elders, then I carefully asked about the teachings of the elders, for example, Andrei said that - Peter, that - Philip, that - Thomas or Jacob ... For I believed that book information would not so much benefit me as a lively and more inculcating voice.

The long dominance of the oral tradition is explained both by the peculiarities of the Christian teaching itself and by the social psychology of the entire environment surrounding Christians. For the first followers of Christianity, "holy scripture" was only the books of the Jewish Bible - the Old Testament. For Greek-speaking preachers, the sacred text was the translation of the Bible into Greek, carried out in Egypt in the 3rd century BC. BC e. Jews who lived there (the so-called Septuagint - translation of the seventy). The Septuagint was revered by Jews living outside of Palestine, many of whom no longer knew Hebrew. The use of the Septuagint made quotations from the sacred Jewish books cited by Christian preachers understandable to the widest range of listeners. In preaching Christians invariably invoked the authority of the biblical books, especially the authority of prophecy. These references were then included in the gospels: there, for example, the expression “let what was spoken through the prophets come true” is often found when describing certain events from the life of Jesus. The authors of the gospels sought to prove in this way that the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah referred specifically to Jesus. There are borrowings in the New Testament from other books of the Old Testament. The holiness of "the law and the prophets," as the Christians usually referred to Jewish religious books, prevented them from writing new "sacred" books.

In science, there is a point of view (though not generally accepted) that the first Christian records were collections of quotations from the Old Testament, primarily those that dealt with the expected messiah (the so-called testimonies).

But not only the "sacredness" of the ancient biblical writings predetermined the predominantly oral nature of the preaching of the new religious teaching. In the ancient world, the role of the spoken word in general was exceptionally great. Handwritten books were expensive and not readily available, and literacy rates outside ancient urban centers were not as high. But the main thing was not that. Wherever in antiquity there were self-governing collectives - communities or city-states, oral speeches were used very widely: speeches were made in people's assemblies and at meetings of city councils; the outcome of a case often depended on a skillfully constructed speech delivered in court. Speeches have always been addressed to the collective, primarily to the collective of citizens. They did not just carry information, but were designed to excite a certain reaction of listeners. Such joint hearing united people, created a sense of their involvement in the “common cause”. 2nd century writer Lucian conveys the legend that the "father of history" Herodotus came to the Olympic Games and began to read his history there. Lucian himself also traveled to Macedonia to talk about his writings. And in the cities that had lost their independence as part of the Roman Empire, public eloquence continued to exist: there were their favorite orators and philosophers, their “Chrysostoms”, although often their speeches were reduced to praising the emperors.

The first Christians, among whom there were many people who were not part of the civil collective of the cities in which they lived - immigrants, freedmen, slaves, did not recognize official public celebrations, religious festivals, but even these people, gathering somewhere outside the city or in empty workshops, felt their community, listening to the preacher who came to them. This commonality, in turn, strengthened the emotional impact of the spoken word. Such an impact could not have been produced by solitary reading of the records of the life of Jesus or Bible prophecy.

The first Christians did not need to write down their teachings also because the promises of salvation, the establishment of the millennium kingdom of God on earth, were directed specifically to them, to “this” generation. The main thing in the communities of the first Christians was to teach and preach, not to write. Even in the II century. various wandering preachers have been preserved, who were vividly described by the opponent of Christianity Celsus: “Many obscure personalities in temples and outside temples, some even beggars, wandering around cities and camps, very easily, when the opportunity presents itself, begin to behave like soothsayers. It is convenient and customary for everyone to declare: “I am a god, or a spirit of God, or a son of God. I came. The world is dying and you people are dying for your sins. I want to save you. And you will soon see me returning with the power of heaven. Blessed is he who will honor me now; on all others, on their cities and lands, I will send eternal fire ... And whoever obeyed me, I will grant eternal salvation to those who obey me. To these threats they then add incomprehensible, half-mad, completely incomprehensible speeches, the meaning of which no sane person can discover; they are confused and empty, but they give a fool or a charlatan a reason to use what has been said in whatever direction he pleases.

Although Celsus does not explicitly name Christians here, the content of the sermon he expounds points to its Christian origin.

Many modern scholars believe that during the period of the oral spread of Christianity, separate “blocks” of tradition developed: sayings, parables, tales of miracles, episodes illustrating biblical prophecies. Different preachers, in relation to their understanding of the new teaching, connected these “blocks” in different ways, throwing out something, adding something.

In conditions when prophecies played such a big role for believers, it is natural that the so-called revelations (apocalypses) appeared as one of the first genres of Christian literature - stories about visions that supposedly foreshadowed the end of the world. Under the influence of the Old Testament prophetic books and exalted oral sermons, the Revelation of John, or the Apocalypse, appeared later included in the New Testament canon. This is a description of the visions of the Last Judgment, addressed to seven Christian communities in the cities of Asia Minor. It begins as an instruction in which some Christians are condemned, others are approved, but then the author moves from these instructions to a story of visions, replete with symbols, allegories, frightening images of "what should be." The Revelation of John was created in the late 60s of the 1st century; it preserved vivid memories of the terrible fire that devastated Rome in 64; the connections of this work with the Old Testament prophecies are clear; there is no developed doctrine of Christ in it. F. Engels dates the Apocalypse to 68-69. Perhaps it was edited by scribes in the 90s, i.e. already after the fall of Jerusalem (70) and the defeat of the first Jewish uprising against the Romans (73). It is to this time that the creation of the Revelation of John is attributed by church tradition.

The Revelation of John mentions the followers of such arguing preachers within Christian communities: Nicolaitans, supporters of Balaam, supporters of the prophetess Jezebel. All these groups are condemned by the author of the Apocalypse. And, on the contrary, he speaks with praise of the Ephesian Christians for not obeying "those who call themselves apostles, but in fact they are not." The Christians of Smyrna, who are “in poverty and sorrow,” also “suffer slander” from those who “say about themselves that they are Jews, but in fact they are not.”

The same variety of sermons and preachers is reflected in the letters of Paul: in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, the author writes that the Corinthian Christians are torn apart by disputes: I am Christ's" (1:12). Calling for unanimity, the author of the epistles, in turn, argued with the "other gospel", with the "senior", or higher, apostles; accused Peter of hypocrisy (Gal. 2:11-13). Those Christians who preserved the Jewish rites considered Peter the chief apostle, and called Paul a false apostle, as Irenaeus writes about it.

We cannot always determine exactly what the differences between individual preachers were, but the very existence of differences is beyond doubt. Yes, it could not be otherwise. Preaching in different ethnic environments to people with different religious traditions, wandering prophets both phraseologically and essentially conveyed legends, parables, and teachings associated with the name of the Galilean preacher Jesus, in relation to the peculiarities of perception of their listeners. For Jewish Christians, the main role was played by biblical prophecies, paraphrased institutions and teachings of the Jewish sect of the Essenes, who lived in the Dead Sea region, with which the first Palestinian Christians were associated. But it was impossible to preach to the Roman poor only in the words of the Jewish "holy" books. And then another preacher, who gathered a handful of listeners in the stuffy dungeons of Rome, began the story of the disasters of Jesus with familiar words: “Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head ...” (Matt. 8:20 ). Similar words once sounded in the speeches of the defender of the Roman peasants Tiberius Gracchus; in any case, these words were put into his mouth by the writer Plutarch, who lived at the turn of the 1st and 2nd centuries: “And wild animals in Italy have lairs and holes where they can hide, and people who fight and die for Italy do not own there is nothing in it but air and light ... " (Plutarch. Tiberius Gracchus, 9) And the Galilean prophet became closer and more understandable to the descendants of those Roman peasants who once stood for Gracchus...

Differences in individual dogmas, rituals, and ethical norms among different groups of Christians were even more significant than differences in the figurative structure of sermons or individual word usage. We will deal with these differences in later chapters when we talk about the specific content of the apocryphal writings.

Only blind faith could support the consciousness of rightness among the small followers of Christianity, who isolated themselves from the surrounding Greco-Roman society, its worldview and ethics, which opposed themselves to the elements of the pagan world. But such a belief could and was inspired only by fanatical preachers, who considered every word of theirs to be true, and all other words to be false. Such was the paradox of the development of early Christianity. Each preacher sought to unite, rally Christians, and in this struggle for unity, each called another preacher, at least in some way diverging from him, a false prophet. And all these prophets in the struggle for the spread of the "only correct" faith waged a merciless struggle among themselves. The most active preachers sought to plant their understanding of Christianity as widely as possible in different Christian communities. Such preachers had to not only make oral speeches, but also write epistles, reminding, persuading, praising or, conversely, threatening punishment, to those cities where they could not come themselves and where they sent their supporters with letters. These letters were intended to be read aloud to the assembled believers. Most of the letters of Paul belong to this kind of letters, who, according to Christian legend, was at first a zealous persecutor of Christianity, and then became an even more zealous adherent of it. Since these letters are not theological treatises, not a generalization of the entire dogma, but a defense of certain views on Christianity in front of specific (already converted to Christianity) groups of people, there is neither a biography of Jesus nor a system of his teachings in Paul's epistles.

Over time, the differences between the various versions of the oral tradition became more and more significant. There were disputes about the need to observe the rites and norms of the Jewish religion. Ideas about the ways of salvation changed. The Last Judgment was relegated to an indefinite future. As we shall see later, the problem of the kingdom of God (its essence, "location", the possibility of achieving it) will become one of the most important theological problems that Christians will discuss in the 2nd century. The incessant disputes of Christians among themselves were noticeable to their opponents. So, the philosopher of the II century. Celsus wrote about them: “At first they were few and they had one mind, but having multiplied, they disintegrate immediately and split: everyone wants to have his own faction ...”

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Lesson on the history of the Ancient World in grade 5 on the topic: "The first Christians and their teachings"

Goals: - introduce students to the first Christians,

Find out what early Christians told about the life of Jesus;

Find out what Jesus Christ taught people;

Equipment : presentation, computer

During the classes.

1. Organizational beginning of the lesson.

2. Checking homework:

verbal response

3. Communication of the topic and objectives of the lesson.

(sl. 2) Lesson plan:

1. What the early Christians told about the life of Jesus.

2. Who were the first Christians.

3. Belief in the various fates of people after death.

(sq. 3)Task for the lesson:

Guess what could draw people to this religion?

4. Learning new material.

1) teacher's story:

- (sl. 4) The founder of the new religion was an itinerant preacher named Jesus, originally from Palestine. The stories of his students have been preserved about him, in which truth and fiction are intertwined.

(sl. 5)What did early Christians say about the life of Jesus? . Almost two thousand years ago, in the cities and villages of Palestine, Syria and Asia Minor, which were under the rule of Rome, there appeared people who called themselves disciples of the Son of God - Jesus. (Sk. 6) They claimed that the mother of Jesus was Mary - a poor resident of the Palestinian town of Nazareth. His father was the Jewish God Yahweh. (sl. 7 - 8) At the moment of the birth of Jesus, a star lit up in the sky. By this star, simple shepherds and wise men from distant eastern countries came to bow to the divine baby. When Jesus grew up, he mastered the craft of a carpenter, but did not acquire any property. (Sk. 9) He gathered his disciples around him and walked with them through Palestine, working miracles: he healed the sick and the crippled, raised the dead. Jesus said: the end of the world, mired in evil and injustice, is approaching. The day of God's judgment on all people will soon come. This will be the Last Judgment: the sun will fade, the moon will not give light, and the stars will fall from the sky. People will be in fear and expectation of disasters. All who have not repented of their evil deeds, all worshipers of false gods, all villains and murderers will be punished. But for those who believed in Jesus, who suffered and were humiliated, the Kingdom of God will come on earth - the kingdom of goodness and justice.
(Sk. 10) Jesus had twelve closest disciples. He also had enemies. The priests of the temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem were indignant that some poor carpenter declared himself the Son of God. And for the Romans, Jesus was just a troublemaker, in whose speeches they saw the undermining of the power of the emperor in Palestine.

- (s. 11) One of the twelve disciples named Judas agreed to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. At night, Judas led the guard in the vicinity of Jerusalem, where Jesus was with his disciples.

- (sl. 12) Judas approached Jesus and kissed him as if out of love. By this conventional sign, the guards recognized Jesus in the darkness of the night. They seized him, tortured him and mocked him in every possible way.

- (sl. 13 - 14) The Roman authorities condemned Jesus to a shameful execution - crucifixion. The friends of Jesus removed the dead body from the cross and buried it. But on the third day the tomb was empty. Jesus has resurrected.

- (sl. 15) After some time, the resurrected Jesus appeared to his disciples, promising them to return again to complete the Teachings of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount of God's judgment. He sent his disciples to spread his teachings to different countries and peoples. Therefore, the disciples of Jesus are called (sl. 16) apostles (translated from Greek, “messengers”).

Who were the first Christians. Admirers of Jesus called him Christ (which can be translated from Greek as "chosen of God"), and themselves Christians. The poor and slaves, widows, orphans, cripples became Christians - all those who had a particularly difficult life, who were defenseless against the cruelty and arbitrariness of the Roman authorities. Jesus and his disciples were Jews, but gradually more and more people of other nationalities appeared among Christians: Greeks, Syrians, Egyptians, Romans, Gauls. Christians proclaimed that before God all are equal: Hellenes and Jews, slaves and free men and women. Every believer can enter the Kingdom of God if he is merciful and does good deeds. (s. 17) The Roman authorities were hostile to Christians who did not want to worship statues of emperors. Christians were expelled from cities, beaten with sticks, thrown into dungeons, sentenced to death.

- (p. 18) They were forced to secretly gather in abandoned quarries, cemeteries and other secluded places. Christians helped each other, looked after the sick and the elderly, brought food to those imprisoned, hid those who were persecuted by the Romans. Christians chose priests to lead their prayers. Read the gospels aloud. This is the name of the records of stories about the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. (p. 19) The word "gospel" in Greek means "good news."

3. Christianity about the difference in the fate of the rich and the poor after death . Christians were waiting for the second coming of Jesus, but years passed, and he did not appear and the Kingdom of God did not come on earth. Then they were imbued with the belief that they would be rewarded for all suffering after death. Believers recalled the instructive story about Lazarus and the rich man, once told by Jesus.

There lived a rich man. He dressed in purple clothes and spent every day in feasts and fun. There also lived a beggar named Lazarus, all in rags, covered with sores. He lay at the gate of the rich man's house, picking up pieces thrown to him from the banquet table. And stray dogs licked his sores. The beggar died and went to heaven. The rich man also died. In the afterlife, he suffered torment. And Lazarus was delivered from them! The rich man raised his eyes and saw Lazarus in the distance. The rich man prayed, began to ask Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water: “May it cool my tongue, for I am tormented by fire!” But the answer to the rich man was this:

"Not! Remember that you have already received good in life, and Lazarus evil. Now he is comforted here, and you are suffering.” Christians believed that the souls of people who suffered during life would go to heaven after death, where they would be blessed.

Additional material:

From a letter from the governor of the province, Pliny the Younger, to Emperor Trajan:

Those Christians, Vladyka, who did not want to renounce Christ, I sent to execution. I released those who denied that they were Christians when they made a sacrifice in front of your image and blasphemed Christ. True Christians, they say, cannot be forced into such acts. I'm asking for your advice. The case of Christians, in my opinion, deserves discussion. The infection of this superstition has passed not only through the cities, but also through the villages and estates.

From Trajan's reply to Pliny:

You did quite the right thing in investigating those who were reported to you as Christians. There is no need to look for them: if a denunciation comes against them and they are exposed, they should be punished. But those who deny that they are Christians and pray to our gods should be pardoned. An unnamed denunciation of any crime should not be taken into account. This would be a bad example and is not in keeping with the spirit of our times.

Page 258, 260 - in a blue frame

5. Summing up the lesson:

Questions on page 261

6. Homework:

Paragraph 56, questions, terms.

The early period of the history of Christianity covers the first three centuries of our era - before the first Ecumenical Council. An event of epochal importance took place in the city of Nicaea, located on the territory of modern Turkey, in 325. At the Council of Nicaea, the main tenets of the Christian faith were adopted.

Researchers call the first century of our era apostolic. At this stage, the closest disciples of Jesus Christ went to preach his teachings. The apostles left Jerusalem at a time when the persecution of Christians began in this ancient city. In 49 AD (according to other sources - in 51) the Apostolic Council was held - this is the most important event in the history of Christianity. The main reason for convening the council was the attempt by some preachers to bind pagans converted to Christianity by Jewish law. The results of the meeting was the rejection of some of the norms that until that time had been observed among baptized pagans:

Rejection of animal sacrifices;
Refusal to circumcise;
Rejection of the marriage custom of levirate;
The abolition of the rites that were introduced by the scribes and Pharisees into the life of the Jews.

At the same time, the rituals established by the elders, and many other laws set forth in the Torah, were preserved.

The decision of the council did not suit everyone - soon two groups formed among the "Judaists":

Ebionites - Christians who preferred to adhere to the traditions of circumcision, kashrut, observed the Sabbath. Presumably the name arose from the Hebrew word for "poor" or from the name of the founder of this doctrine. A current arose in the second half of the 1st century, and disappeared, presumably in the 5th-7th centuries.

Nazarenes - Jews who observed dinners: do not eat grapes, do not cut their hair, do not touch the dead. The adherents of this trend were ascetics, which contradicted the essence of Judaism itself. Naziriteism was not widespread, but references to Nazirites are found in the sources of the Middle Ages in the context of the designation of a monk.

The first half of the 1st century is characterized by the coexistence of Judaism and Christianity, but this symbiosis was put to an end by the Jewish War of 66-70. During the time of Judeo-Christianity, adherents of the new faith still visited the Temple in Jerusalem.

The war began with an uprising against the central Roman authorities of the Jerusalem nationalists - at this time, the Roman Empire was ruled by Nero. The emperor sent Titus and Vespasian to pacify the rebels. The war ended with the destruction of Jerusalem, which the Christians managed to leave. This version of the vision of the events of the 1st century is offered by secular historians.

Church history denies the existence of a symbiosis between Judaism and Christianity. According to this concept, the Jews initially did not accept Christianity and denied it, acted as persecutors. Church history finds evidence of this in the New Testament. Mention is made of an uprising of Jews in Palestine who opposed Christians. Rabbi Akiva was proclaimed the messiah and recommended killing Jewish Christians.

The apostolic period ended with the death of John the Evangelist - one of the 12 apostles - approximately in the year 100. The reign of Nero marked the beginning of large-scale persecution of Christians by the emperors of the Roman Empire. After the destruction of Jerusalem, Rome becomes the religious center, and the most Christianized areas are the eastern regions of the empire.

The second stage in the development of early Christianity is the time of the “men of the apostles”. The period covers the I-II centuries and is characterized by the active work of the disciples of the apostles, who became early Christian writers. The most famous of them in the eastern part of the Roman Empire are Polycarp of Smyrna and Ignatius the God-bearer.

Ignatius the God-bearer, the third Bishop of Antioch, was a disciple of John the Evangelist. Ignatius is known for his controversy with fans of Docetism, a Christian heretical doctrine that denied the suffering and death of Jesus. The Docets believed that if Jesus died in reality, this is an illusion and the incarnation of God in a material body is impossible in principle. According to Ignatius the God-bearer, salvation is possible only in a really existing church.

Polycarp of Smyrna, a disciple of John the Theologian, was considered the father and leader of Christianity throughout Asia. The bishop had students, among whom the most famous was Irenaeus of Lyons. Polycarp is the author of the Epistle to the Philippians, some researchers believe that it was he who wrote some of the texts of the New Testament.

The western part of the empire had two important religious centers - Rome and Athens. The most famous "men of the apostles" in this territory were:

Saint Clement - preacher, Pope of Rome, author of the Epistle to the Corinthians.
Dionysius the Areopagite - was the first bishop of Athens and a disciple of the Apostle Paul, thinker, saint. He received a good education in Athens, studied astronomy in Egypt. He was baptized and ordained a bishop upon his return from Egypt.

The next stage after the time of the “men of the apostles” was the period of the appearance of apologies. It was at this time that theology was born. Apologia was a word of justification about the justice of Christianity, which the fathers of the Church addressed to persecuting emperors. Apologies are Christian truths that theologians have "translated" into the language of reason in order to combat opponents and heretics.

In the second half of the second century the Council of Laodicea was convened and the tradition of Alexandrian theology was founded. "Five books against heresies" - one of the most famous and large-scale works of that time, the authorship of Irenaeus of Lyon.

In the middle of the 3rd century, the bloodiest period of persecution of Christians began, associated with the beginning of the reign of Emperor Decius. At this stage, a category of "fallen" Christians appeared - for the sake of saving their lives, they renounced their faith. In different parts of the empire, new heresies arose - the Bogomils, the Waldensians, the Cathars. A long period of persecution strengthened Christians in their faith.

Lesson 59
Subject: history.

Date: 07.05.2012

Teacher: Khamatgaleev E.R.

Purpose: to acquaint students with the process of the birth and development of a new religion, to trace the dependence of religious ideas on specific historical conditions.
During the classes
Current control of knowledge and skills.

The task is retelling.

Describe the reign of Nero.

Plan for learning new material

First Christians.
Persecution of Christians by the Roman authorities.

Studying the first question of the plan. First Christians.

Teacher's explanation

Faith in Christ originated in the eastern province of the Roman Empire, in Palestine, and then spread throughout the Roman Empire. Christianity arose in the 1st century. n. e. The first Christians were the poor and slaves, whose lives were hard and joyless. There were many uprisings in the Roman state, but they ended in defeat, the death of leaders, and the execution of the vanquished. This led to the fact that the poor and slaves lost faith in their own strength, they began to rely not on themselves, but on the help of the “good god”. The hope of the arrival of a savior god encouraged the poor and slaves to give up the struggle to improve their lives. In many cities and villages of the Roman Empire, the arrival of a good god was expected. But the savior god still did not appear, and then they began to speak differently: “Probably, God had already come to earth and lived among us in the guise of a man, but not all people knew about it.” About the god-savior they put together a legend.
Textbook work
Assignment 1. Read aloud the section “What the Early Christians Told About the Life of Jesus.”

Task 2. Answer the questions:

What was the name of Jesus' hometown?
What were the names of Jesus' father and mother?
What was the purpose of God's judgment?
Explain the expressions that have become winged: "thirty pieces of silver", "kiss of Judas." In what cases can these expressions be used today?

textbook material

The founder of the new religion was an itinerant preacher named Jesus originally from Palestine. The stories of his students have been preserved about him, in which truth and fiction are intertwined.

What did early Christians say about the life of Jesus? Almost two thousand years ago, in the cities and villages of Palestine, Syria and Asia Minor, which were under the rule of Rome, people appeared who called themselves disciples of the Son of God - Jesus. They claimed that the father of Jesus was the God Yahweh, who was worshiped by the Jews, and his mother was Maria, poor Palestinian woman Nazare that. When the time came for Mary to give birth, she was not at home, but in the city bethlee me. At the time of the birth of Jesus, a star lit up in the sky. According to this star, wise men from distant lands and simple shepherds came to bow to the divine baby.

When Jesus grew up, he did not stay in Nazareth. Jesus gathered the disciples around him and walked with them around Palestine, working miracles: he healed the sick and the crippled, raised the dead, fed thousands of people with five loaves. Jesus said: the end of the world, mired in evil and injustice, is approaching. The day of God's judgment on all people will soon come. This will Last Judgment: the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give light, and the stars will fall from the sky. All those who do not repent of their evil deeds, all those who worship false gods, all the evildoers will be punished. But for those who believed in Jesus, who suffered and were humiliated, there will come Kingdom of God on earth kingdom of goodness and justice.

Jesus had twelve closest disciples. He also had enemies. The priests of the temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem were indignant at the fact that some beggar was called the Son of God. And for the Romans, Jesus was just a troublemaker, in whose speeches they saw the undermining of the power of the emperor. One of the twelve disciples named Judas agreed to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. At night Andat Yes led the guard to the neighborhood of Jerusalem, where Jesus was with his disciples. Judas approached the teacher and, as if out of love, kissed him. By this conventional sign, the guards recognized Jesus in the darkness of the night. They seized him, tortured him and mocked him in every possible way. The Roman authorities condemned Jesus to a shameful execution - crucifixion. The friends of Jesus removed the dead body from the cross and buried it. But on the third day the tomb was empty. After a little time resurrected(that is, made alive again) Jesus appeared to the disciples. He sent them to spread his teachings to different countries. Therefore, the disciples of Jesus began to be called upabout tables(translated from Greek - messengers). The apostles believed that Jesus had ascended to heaven and that the day would come when he would return to perform the Last Judgment.

The stories about Jesus were written down by the first Christians, these records are called Eva gels. The word "gospel" in Greek means "good news".

Who were the first Christians. The worshipers of Jesus called him Christabout with(by this word they understood God's chosen one), and himself Christians. The poor and slaves, widows, orphans, cripples became Christians - all those who had a particularly difficult life.

Jesus and his disciples were Jews, but gradually more and more people of other nationalities appeared among Christians: Greeks, Syrians, Egyptians, Romans, Gauls. Christians proclaimed that before God all are equal: Hellenes and Jews, slaves and free men and women.

Every believer can enter the Kingdom of God if he is merciful, forgives his offenders and does good deeds.

The Roman authorities were hostile to Christians who did not want to worship statues of emperors. Christians were expelled from cities, beaten with sticks, thrown into dungeons, sentenced to death. Christians helped each other, brought food to the imprisoned, hid those who were persecuted by the Romans, cared for the sick and the elderly. Christians gathered in the houses of fellow believers, in abandoned quarries, in cemeteries. There they read aloud the Gospels, chose priests who led their prayers.

Belief in various fates of people after death. Christians have been waiting second coming Jesus, but years passed, and the Kingdom of God on earth did not come. They were imbued with the belief that even before the Last Judgment they would be rewarded for all suffering after death. Christians remembered the edifying story about Lazarus and the rich man, once told by Jesus.

The beggar died and went to heaven. The rich man also died. He was tormented in hell. And Lazarus was delivered from them! The rich man raised his eyes and saw Lazarus in the distance, and next to him was the progenitor Abraham. The rich man prayed, began to ask Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water: “May it cool my tongue, for I am tormented by fire!” But Abraham answered the rich man: “No! Remember that you have already received good in life, and Lazarus evil. Now he is comforted here, and you are suffering.”

Christians believed that the souls of people who suffered during life would go to heaven after death, where they would be blessed.

"Sons of Light" from Qumran
Long before the birth of Jesus, people appeared in Palestine who were also waiting for the establishment of a kingdom of goodness and justice on earth. They went into the desert Dead Sea and founded a settlement there. These people had common property, called themselves "beggars" and "sons of light", and all the rest - "sons of darkness." They urged to hate the "sons of darkness", they believed that a worldwide battle would soon break out, in which the "sons of light" would defeat evil. They kept their teachings secret. The settlement of the "sons of light" was excavated by archaeologists in the area, which is now called Qumra n.

Jesus knew about the "sons of light", but his teaching did not call for hatred. It was addressed to all people. “What I tell you in the dark,” he inspired his disciples, “speak in the light and what you hear in your ear, proclaim to everyone from the rooftops.”

Jesus' Teachings in the Sermon on the Mount
Christians venerate the four gospels as sacred. According to legend, their authors were: Matte th and And abouta nn - disciples of Jesus Mark - companion in the wanderings of the apostle Petera and Oniona – companion of the apostle Pa vla. The Gospel of Matthew quotes Jesus as saying:

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

You have heard it said: an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. But I say to you: do not resist evil. But whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

If you forgive people their sins, then your Heavenly Father also asks you.

Judge not lest ye be judged.

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek and you shall find; knock, and it will be opened to you.

And so in everything, as you want people to do to you, so do you to them.
From the stories of Christians about the Apostle Paul
Paul was at first an enemy of Christians, he argued furiously with them and even participated in their beating by a hostile mob.

One day, Paul was going to the city of Damascus to massacre the Christians living there. Suddenly he saw a blinding light, lost his sight, fell down and heard a voice: “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Get up and go to the city." In Damascus, one of the Christians healed Paul and restored his sight. From that time on, Paul believed in Christ and told everywhere that Jesus is the Son of God. The opponents of the Christians planned to kill Paul and began to guard him at the city gates so that he would not run away. Then Paul's friends put him in a basket and secretly lowered him from the defensive walls with ropes.

Paul died in Rome during the executions of Christians under Nero.
From a letter from the governor of the province Pliny the Younger to Emperor Trajan
Those Christians, Vladyka, who did not want to renounce Christ, I sent to execution. I released those who denied that they were Christians when they made a sacrifice in front of your image and blasphemed Christ. True Christians, they say, cannot be forced into such acts.
From a reply letter from Emperor Trajan to Pliny
You did the right thing by investigating those who were denounced as Christians. There is no need to look for them: if a denunciation comes against them and they are exposed, they should be punished. But those who deny that they are Christians and pray to our gods should be pardoned.

Nameless denunciation about must be taken into account.

The study of the second question of the plan. Persecution of Christians by the Roman authorities.

Teacher's explanation

The doctrine of Christians demanded to patiently endure adversity and wait for help from the “good God”, and not fight to improve their lives. Therefore, the emperor and his officials had nothing to fear from Christians. But who were the first Christians? The poor and slaves, dissatisfied with their position, ready to join any rebellion against the empire. Therefore, their actions were closely monitored by the Roman governors and military leaders.

Christians gathered in groups, created organizations, and elected leaders-priests. Christians boldly declared that they did not recognize the emperor as a god, and refused to worship him. They argued that not today or tomorrow the power of cruel Rome would collapse, just retribution awaits all the oppressors of the people.

Without thinking about the meaning of the teachings of Christians, without realizing that the new religion would help to keep the slaves in subjection, the Romans began to persecute Christians. Particularly strong persecution began under Diocletian, when, on his orders, prayer houses of Christians were destroyed, their books were burned, and many Christians were executed.

Consolidation of the studied material.

Questions to the class:

Where and when did Christianity originate?
Who were the first Christians?
What were the reasons for the emergence of Christianity?
How did Christians expect to have a happy life?
What was the attitude of the Romans towards the first Christians?

Questions and tasks of self-control.

What attracted the poor, slaves and other disadvantaged people to the Christian religion?
How did the Roman authorities treat Christians?
Take a look at the teachings of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount: have they retained their significance for people of our time? If yes, which ones?
How did the expressions "thirty pieces of silver", "kiss of Judas" come about? In what cases can these expressions be used today?

About a third of the world's inhabitants profess Christianity in all its varieties.

Christianity arose in the 1st century. AD. within the territory of the Roman Empire. There is no consensus among researchers about the exact place where Christianity originated. Some believe that this happened in Palestine, which was then part of the Roman Empire; others suggest that it happened in the Jewish diaspora in Greece.

Palestinian Jews have been under foreign domination for many centuries. However, in the II century. BC. they achieved political independence, during which they expanded their territory and did a lot for the development of political and economic relations. In 63 BC Roman general Gnei Poltei brought troops into Judea, as a result of which it became part of the Roman Empire. By the beginning of our era, other territories of Palestine also lost their independence, management began to be carried out by the Roman governor.

The loss of political independence was perceived by part of the population as a tragedy. Religious meaning was seen in political events. The idea of divine retribution for violations of the precepts of the fathers, religious customs and prohibitions spread. This led to the strengthening of the position of Jewish religious nationalist groups:

Hasidim- orthodox Jews;
Sadducees, who represented conciliatory sentiments, they came from the upper strata of Jewish society;
Pharisees- fighters for the purity of Judaism, against contacts with foreigners. The Pharisees advocated the observance of external norms of behavior, for which they were accused of hypocrisy.

In terms of social composition, the Pharisees were representatives of the middle strata of the urban population. At the end of the 1st century BC. appear zealots- people from the lower strata of the population - artisans and lumpen proletarians. They expressed the most radical ideas. From their midst stood out sicaria- terrorists. Their favorite weapon was a curved dagger, which they hid under a cloak - in Latin "sika". All these groupings, with more or less perseverance, fought against the Roman conquerors. It was obvious that the struggle was not in favor of the rebels, so the aspirations for the coming of the Savior, the Messiah, intensified. It is the first century of our era that dates back to the oldest book of the New Testament - Apocalypse, in which the idea of retribution to enemies for the unfair treatment and oppression of the Jews was so strongly manifested.

The most interesting is the sect Essenes or Essenes, because their teaching had features inherent in early Christianity. This is evidenced by those found in 1947 in the Dead Sea area in Qumran caves scrolls. Christians and Essenes had ideas in common messianism- waiting for the coming of the Savior, eschatological notions about the coming end of the world, interpretation of the idea of human sinfulness, rituals, organization of communities, attitude to property.

The processes that took place in Palestine were similar to those that took place in other parts of the Roman Empire: everywhere the Romans robbed and mercilessly exploited the local population, enriching themselves at its expense. The crisis of the ancient order and the formation of new socio-political relations were painful for people, caused a feeling of helplessness, defenselessness before the state machine and contributed to the search for new ways of salvation. Mystical moods increased. Oriental cults spread: Mitra, Isis, Osiris, etc. There are many different associations, partnerships, the so-called colleges. People united on the basis of professions, social status, neighborhood, and so on. All this created fertile ground for the spread of Christianity.

Origins of Christianity

The emergence of Christianity was prepared not only by the prevailing historical conditions, it had a good ideological basis. The main ideological source of Christianity is Judaism. The new religion rethought the ideas of Judaism about monotheism, messianism, eschatology, chiliasme- faith in the second coming of Jesus Christ and his millennium kingdom on earth. The Old Testament tradition has not lost its significance, it has received a new interpretation.

The ancient philosophical tradition had a significant influence on the formation of the Christian worldview. In philosophical systems Stoics, Neo-Pythagoreans, Plato and Neo-Platonists mental constructions, concepts and even terms were developed, rethought in the New Testament texts and the works of theologians. Neoplatonism had a particularly great influence on the foundations of Christian doctrine. Philo of Alexandria(25 BC - c. 50 AD) and the moral teaching of the Roman Stoic Seneca(c. 4 BC - 65 AD). Philo formulated the concept Logos as a sacred law that allows one to contemplate being, the doctrine of the innate sinfulness of all people, of repentance, of Being as the origin of the world, of ecstasy as a means of approaching God, of logoi, among which the Son of God is the highest Logos, and other logoi are angels.

Seneca considered the achievement of freedom of the spirit through the realization of divine necessity as the main thing for every person. If freedom does not flow from divine necessity, it will prove to be slavery. Only obedience to fate gives rise to equanimity and peace of mind, conscience, moral standards, universal values. Seneca recognized the golden rule of morality as a moral imperative, which sounded like this: Treat those below as you would like to be treated by those above.". We can find a similar formulation in the Gospels.

A certain influence on Christianity was the teaching of Seneca on the transience and deceitfulness of sensual pleasures, caring for other people, self-restraint in the use of material goods, preventing rampant passions, the need for modesty and moderation in everyday life, self-improvement, and gaining divine mercy.

Another source of Christianity was the Eastern cults flourishing at that time in various parts of the Roman Empire.

The most controversial issue in the study of Christianity is the question of the historicity of Jesus Christ. In solving it, two directions can be distinguished: mythological and historical. mythological direction argues that science does not have reliable data about Jesus Christ as a historical person. The gospel stories were written many years after the events described, they have no real historical basis. historical direction claims that Jesus Christ was a real person, a preacher of a new religion, which is confirmed by a number of sources. In 1971, a text was found in Egypt "Antiquities" by Josephus Flavius, which gives reason to believe that it describes one of the real preachers named Jesus, although the miracles performed by him were spoken of as one of the many stories on this topic, i.e. Josephus himself did not observe them.

Stages of the formation of Christianity as a state religion

The history of the formation of Christianity covers the period from the middle of the 1st century. AD until the 5th century inclusive. During this period, Christianity went through a number of stages of its development, which can be summarized in the following three:

1 - stage current eschatology(second half of the 1st century);

2 - stage fixtures(II century);

3 - stage struggle for dominance in the empire (III-V centuries).

During each of these stages, the composition of believers changed, various new formations arose and disintegrated within Christianity as a whole, internal clashes were incessantly boiling, which expressed the struggle for the realization of vital public interests.

Stage of actual eschatology

At the first stage, Christianity has not yet completely separated from Judaism, so it can be called Judeo-Christian. The name "actual eschatology" means that the defining mood of the new religion at that time was the expectation of the coming of the Savior in the near future, literally from day to day. Enslaved, destitute people suffering from national and social oppression became the social basis of Christianity. The hatred of the enslaved for their oppressors and the thirst for revenge found their expression and detente not in revolutionary actions, but in the impatient expectation of the reprisal that would be inflicted by the coming Messiah on the Antichrist.

In early Christianity there was no single centralized organization, there were no priests. The communities were led by believers who were able to perceive charisma(grace, the descent of the Holy Spirit). Charismatics united groups of believers around them. There were people who were engaged in explaining the doctrine. They were called didaskaly- teachers. Special people were appointed to organize the economic life of the community. Originally appeared deacons performing simple technical duties. Later appear bishops- observers, overseers, as well as presbyters- elders. Over time, the bishops assume a dominant position, and the presbyters become their assistants.

adaptation stage

At the second stage, in the II century, the situation changes. Doomsday does not come; on the contrary, there is some stabilization of Roman society. The tension of expectation in the mood of Christians is replaced by a more vital attitude of existence in the real world and adaptation to its order. The place of eschatology, which is common in this world, is occupied by individual eschatology in the other world, and the doctrine of the immortality of the soul is being actively developed.

The social and national composition of communities is changing. Representatives of the wealthy and educated segments of the population of different peoples that inhabited the Roman Empire begin to convert to Christianity. Accordingly, the doctrine of Christianity changes, it becomes more tolerant of wealth. The attitude of the authorities to the new religion depended on the political situation. One emperor carried out persecution, the other showed humanity, if the internal political situation allowed it.

The development of Christianity in the II century. led to a complete separation from Judaism. Jews among Christians in comparison with other nationalities became less and less. It was necessary to solve problems of practical cult significance: food prohibitions, the celebration of the Sabbath, circumcision. As a result, circumcision was replaced by water baptism, the weekly celebration of Saturday was transferred to Sunday, the Easter holiday was converted to Christianity under the same name, but was filled with other mythological content, just like the feast of Pentecost.

The influence of other peoples on the formation of a cult in Christianity was manifested in the fact that rites or their elements were borrowed: baptism, communion as a symbol of sacrifice, prayer, and some others.

During the III century. there was the formation of large Christian centers in Rome, Antioch, Jerusalem, Alexandria, in a number of cities in Asia Minor and other areas. However, the church itself was not internally united: there were differences among Christian teachers and preachers regarding the correct understanding of Christian truths. Christianity was torn from within by the most complex theological disputes. Many directions appeared, interpreting the provisions of the new religion in different ways.

Nazarenes(from Hebrew - “refuse, abstain”) - ascetic preachers of ancient Judea. An external sign of belonging to the Nazirites was the refusal to cut hair and drink wine. Subsequently, the Nazirites merged with the Essenes.

Montanism originated in the 2nd century. Founder Montana on the eve of the end of the world, he preached asceticism, the prohibition of remarriages, martyrdom in the name of faith. He considered ordinary Christian communities as mentally ill, he considered only his adherents to be spiritual.

Gnosticism(from Greek - “having knowledge”) eclectically connected ideas, borrowed mainly from Platonism and Stoicism, with Eastern ideas. The Gnostics recognized the existence of a perfect deity, between which and the sinful material world there are intermediate links - zones. They included Jesus Christ. The Gnostics were pessimistic about the sensory world, they emphasized their God's chosenness, the advantage of intuitive knowledge over rational knowledge, they did not accept the Old Testament, the redemptive mission of Jesus Christ (but recognized the saving mission), his bodily incarnation.

Docetism(from the Greek. - "seem") - a direction that separated from Gnosticism. Corporeality was considered evil, the lower principle, and on this basis they rejected the Christian doctrine of the bodily incarnation of Jesus Christ. They believed that Jesus only seemed to be clothed in flesh, but in reality his birth, earthly existence and death were ghostly phenomena.

Marcionism(after the name of the founder - Marcion) advocated a complete break with Judaism, did not recognize the human nature of Jesus Christ, in his basic ideas was close to the Gnostics.

Novatians(named after the founders - Rom. Novatiana and carf. Novata) took a tough stance towards the authorities and those Christians who could not resist the pressure of the authorities and compromised with them.

Stage of the struggle for dominance in the empire

The third stage is the final approval of Christianity as the state religion. In 305, the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire intensifies. This period in church history is known as "age of martyrs". Places of worship were closed, church property was confiscated, books and sacred utensils were confiscated and destroyed, plebeians recognized as Christians were enslaved, senior members of the clergy were arrested and executed, as well as those who did not obey the order to renounce, having honored the Roman gods. Those who yielded were quickly released. For the first time, the burial places belonging to the communities became for a time a refuge for the persecuted, where they performed their cult.

However, the measures taken by the authorities had no effect. Christianity has already become strong enough to offer worthy resistance. Already in 311 the emperor galleries, and in 313 - the emperor Konstantin adopt decrees on religious tolerance towards Christianity. The activities of Emperor Constantine I are of particular importance.

In the course of a fierce struggle for power before the decisive battle with Makentius, Constantine saw in a dream the sign of Christ - a cross with a command to come out with this symbol against the enemy. Having done this, he won a decisive victory in the battle in 312. The emperor gave this vision a very special meaning - as a sign of his election by Christ to establish a connection between God and the world through his imperial service. This is how his role was perceived by the Christians of his time, which allowed the unbaptized emperor to take an active part in solving internal church, dogmatic issues.

In 313 Constantine published Edict of Milan, according to which Christians become under the protection of the state and receive equal rights with pagans. The Christian Church was no longer persecuted, even during the reign of the emperor Juliana(361-363), surnamed Renegade for the restriction of the rights of the church and the proclamation of religious tolerance for heresies and paganism. under the emperor Feodosia in 391, Christianity was finally consolidated as the state religion, and paganism was prohibited. The further development and strengthening of Christianity is associated with the holding of councils, at which church dogma was worked out and approved.

Christianization of pagan tribes

By the end of the IV century. Christianity was established in almost all provinces of the Roman Empire. In the 340s. through the efforts of Bishop Wulfila, it penetrates to the tribes ready. The Goths adopted Christianity in the form of Arianism, which then dominated the east of the empire. As the Visigoths moved westward, Arianism also spread. In the 5th century in Spain it was adopted by the tribes vandals and Suebi. in Galin - Burgundians and then Lombards. Orthodox Christianity adopted by the Frankish king Clovis. Political reasons led to the fact that by the end of the 7th century. in most parts of Europe, the Nicene religion was established. In the 5th century The Irish were introduced to Christianity. The activity of the legendary apostle of Ireland dates back to this time. St. Patrick.

The Christianization of the barbarian peoples was carried out mainly from above. Pagan ideas and images continued to live in the minds of the masses of the people. The Church assimilated these images, adapted them to Christianity. Pagan rites and holidays were filled with new, Christian content.

From the end of the 5th to the beginning of the 7th century. the power of the Roman pope was limited only to the Roman ecclesiastical province in Central and Southern Italy. However, in 597 an event occurred that marked the beginning of the strengthening of the Roman Church throughout the kingdom. Dad Gregory I the Great sent preachers of Christianity led by a monk to the Anglo-Saxons-pagans Augustine. According to legend, the pope saw English slaves on the market and was surprised by the similarity of their name with the word "angels", which he considered a sign from above. The Anglo-Saxon Church became the first church north of the Alps, subordinate directly to Rome. The symbol of this dependence is pallium(a kerchief worn on the shoulders), which was sent from Rome to the primate of the church, now called archbishop, i.e. the highest bishop, who was delegated powers directly from the pope - the vicar of St. Peter. Subsequently, the Anglo-Saxons made a great contribution to the strengthening of the Roman Church on the continent, to the alliance of the pope with the Carolingians. Played a significant role in this St. Boniface, a native of Wessex. He developed a program of deep reforms of the Frankish Church with the aim of establishing uniformity and subordination to Rome. Boniface's reforms created the overall Roman church in western Europe. Only the Christians of Arab Spain preserved the special traditions of the Visigothic Church.

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