*Week 9-The Early Church and the World Turned Upside Down

The Rise of Christianity

What you will be doing this week:

Journaling

Mapping worksheets

Vocabulary

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Monday

We have learned and seen God’s hand and how history has unfolded up until now.  How God has prepared the way for the coming Messiah! Today we will look at the Septuagint to see it’s importance in the spreading of the gospel.

Septuagint (journal entry)

The Septuagint is an ancient manuscript that still exist today!  They are the oldest Greek translations of the Old Testament.

Ptolemy was one of Alexander’s generals that took over after his death.  Ptolemy was Greek and his family ruled over Egypt, in the city of Alexandria.

During this time, the Jews occupied about one-quarter of the city.  After some time, the Greeks accepted the Jews and befriended them.  The Jews, being away from their “home” for so long, started to lose their language (Hebrew).  As time went on, they completely lost the Hebrew language and began to speak Greek.  This is why there was a need for the Greek translation of the Old Testament, because the Jews no longer could read or understand the Hebrew scriptures.

Who thought of the idea for the translation, is still a mystery.  But legend says that 70-72 men translated the first 5 books of the Old Testament in 70-72 days!  The word “septuaginta” means “seventy” in Latin, which is where the word Septuagint comes from.

This translation helped the Greek-speaking Jews greatly! They were now able to read and teach the scriptures again, and be reminded of the coming Messiah.

Bible Translations (journal entry)

Read about the History of Bible Translations

take notes

Herod the Great (journal entry)

Read and take notes on Herod the Great

**** There is a lot of information here so please just look over it and write down important things like who, what, when,  and where.

God used Herod in many ways, including rebuilding of the temple and fulfilling prophecy.  Even though Herod the Great was a terrible man, God was working out HIS plan through him to prepare the world for JESUS!

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Tuesday

The Wailing Wall (journal entry)

Having the Temple rebuilt was probably the only “great” thing Herod did.  There is a remnant of the temple, which was destroyed in 70 A.D. by the Romans. It is called the Wailing Wall.  This wall is the last that remains of the Temple that Herod built.  It is very important to devout Jews today.  It is a place where many go to pray every year.

Assignment

Either draw or print out a picture of the wailing wall.

Research what Jews do there.  What is their practice?  Why do they go there?  Why is it important to them?

The Rise of Christianity (journal entry)

Read and take notes only on Rome and Christianity on the Rise of Christianity

Acts 2-5 is the real story!  On your own time, I encourage you to read it… It is fascinating!

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Wednesday

Church History (journal entry)

• The Apostolic Church
• The Persecuted Church
• The Imperial Church

The Early Church (journal entry)

And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also… Acts 17:6

The early Christians made such a huge impact on the world. Why? Because they believed the ONE who came to set the world free.  Never before had the world seen so many people trying to convert others to their religion.  Of course, conquerors had tried to impose their religion on there subjects and philosophers promoted their ideas; but this message that the church had was something new and exciting!

The 12 Apostles – The Apostolic Church (journal entry)

Jesus appointed 12 men, the apostles, to continue His work of preaching and teaching after His death.

And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. Matthew 16:18

Jesus promised them that they would be empowered by the Holy Spirit so that they could do His work.  After His resurrection, Jesus told his followers to go and tell the world!

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Matthew 28:19

Afterward He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen.  And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.  Mark 16:15

10 days after the ascension of Jesus, the Holy Spirit descended on the early church in Jerusalem.  Following Jesus’ directions, early Christians took the gospel to the far corners of the earth, and planted churches throughout the Roman world.  These were the first missionaries!

The Way (journal entry)

The name which was widely used for the believers, and is most unknown to Christians today would be the title “The Way”. Probably originating from Christ Himself, who called Himself “The Way”(Joh 14:6), this name was used widely in the Book of Acts. The below verses prove that they were known more widely as “the Way”, than the “Christians”, especially as Paul introduces himself as a follower of “the Way” to the Governor, and not as a “Christian”(Acts 24:14), even though they were known as “Christians” by Acts 11:26.

Act 9:2  and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
Act 19:9  But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus.
Act 19:23  About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way.
Act 24:14  But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets,
Act 24:22  But Felix, having a rather accurate knowledge of the Way, put them off, saying, “When Lysias the tribune comes down, I will decide your case.”

Those who called themselves “the Way” were committed to living a new kind of life.  They believed they had learned an important truth about the One True God and felt compelled to tell others.

The Persecuted Church (journal entry)

Just like today, the Christians of the early church faced opposition.  The amazing thing about the early church and about a lot of Christians today, is that they were willing to suffer and be persecuted because of this belief.  We need to ask ourselves this hard question- Would I be willing to suffer for the cause of Christ?

We are in the end times… and there will come a time when we will answer this question, either to ourselves or to someone else.  Everyday there are men and women who risked their lives and count it all lost (Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ- Phil 3:8) to bring the good news of Christ to others.

It is said that Thomas, “doubting Thomas”, died and was buried in India on his return from a missionary journey to China.

Assignment:

Read Foxe’s Book of Martyrs Chapter 1

Add to your journal information for each of the following:

Stephen

James the Great

Philip

Matthew

James the Less

Matthias

Andrew

Mark

Peter

Paul

Nero (journal entry)

By this time, the church had grown to some 500,000 believers!  Satan, of course, was there to send the fiery fierce persecution on the church, to try to squash any attempt to witness for Jesus Christ.  The goal was to get rid of Christianity all together.  Christians faced fire, wild animals, beheading and other terrible torchers.

Read and take notes on Nero

The apostle Paul was beheaded by Nero.  He was a Roman citizen, so he was not tortured.

The apostle Peter was also martyred during this time.  He was sentenced to be crucified, and insisted it be upside down, because he thought himself unworthy to die the way Jesus did.

Domitian- The Second Persecution (journal entry)

Under Emperor Domitian, many believers suffered persecution because they would not worship him.  While Christians were willing to pray for the emperor they refused to pray to him.

The apostle John was exiled to the island of Patmos by Domitian.  It was there that he received and recorded the Book of Revelation.

Because of all the persecution during the first century, the early Christians began meeting beneath the city of Rome in big areas called catacombs.  They were used for safety, worship, and burial.

Scholars say that there are between 2 and 7 million Christians buried in the catacombs.

Assignment 

Read Chapter 2- Foxe’s Book of Martyrs

Constantine I (journal entry)

There came a point, around 311 A.D. when there was proclaimed toleration for the Christians.

Constantine I, gave legal protection and recognition to Christians throughout the empire with the Edict of Milan.

Read and take notes on Constantine

take the quiz and record your score

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Thursday

The Imperial Church

After this time of persecution the church experienced a time of rest and growth.  It was a time when God raised up godly men to defend the faith.  These were known as church fathers.  

Assignment add to your journal

Some of these church fathers sat under the apostle John.

Research the following:

Ignatius

Irenaeus

Papias

Gnosticism was a false doctrine that church fathers were fighting against.  It combined elements of Greek philosophy, Oriental religion, and Christian theology, that attacked the very foundations of Christianity.

Polycarp (journal entry)

Read about Polycarp and answer questions at the bottom

Faith Defined (journal entry)

Because of the rampant spread of heresies, the early Christians put together a statement of belief called a creed (Latin “I believe”).  

The Apostles’ Creed was the earliest of the creeds.  It was written between the 2nd and 5th centuries.  The creed answered the questions that the new believers were asked at baptism.  It is still used today.

The Nicene Creed was written in defense of a false doctrine, Arianism, which denied the deity of Christ.  The creed confessed the true biblical teaching that Jesus coequal, coessential, and coeternal with God the Father.

The Church not only faced persecution but also the threat of it being politicized and paganized.  There was no organizational unity, even though the independent churches had doctrinal and spiritual unity.  When Constantine I became a christian, he tried to unite the church institutionally under Roman state.  This made way for Christianity being the only legal faith- the state religion of the Roman Empire.  

Because of this, many who came to be baptized and join the church were bringing their false ideas and infiltrating the church.  What once was saints and martyrs conquering the Roman Empire, was now becoming the Roman Empire conquering the church.

**Add week 9 vocabulary to your journals.

See you tomorrow.

Blessings,

Ms. Eunice