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The term Early Christians here refers to Christians of the period before the First Council of Nicaea (325). In a narrow sense the term is sometimes used of the very first followers of Jesus of Nazareth as preached by his Twelve Apostles, their contemporaries, and their immediate successors.

Origin

Christianity started out as a 1st century, Jewish, late Second Temple, "sect" (Acts 24:5; 24:14; 28:22), a term, Template:Polytonic in Greek, applied also to the Sadducees (Acts 5:17), the Essenes and the Pharisees (Acts 15:5; 26:5).

Their distinguishing mark was their belief that Jesus was the Messiah or Christ, two words, one of Aramaic, the other of Greek derivation, that have the same meaning (Acts 2:31–38; 3:6; 3:18–20; 4:10; 5:42; 9:22 etc.).

Their belief quickly spread to non-Jews, whom the Jews called Gentiles. This spread was seen as fulfilment of prophecies such as Isaiah 49:6 (Acts 13:47) and Amos 9:11–12 (Acts 15:16–17).

Among the earliest Christians, the apostles had an acknowledged leadership role, as shown, for instance, in the following episodes recounted in the Acts of the Apostles: it was in their teaching that the first Christians "continued steadfastly" (Acts 2:42); they sent envoys to enquire into novelties that arose (Acts 8:14); appeal was made to them, along with the elders, to settle a dispute about the obligations of Christians (Acts 15:2). The relatives of Jesus were also prominent.

Later writings, such as the Gospel of Mary Magdalene (which survives in two third-century Greek fragments and a longer fifth-century translation into Coptic), attributed prominence among the earliest Christians also to certain individuals mentioned in the canonical (first-century) Gospels as associated with Jesus during his lifetime, such as Mary Magdalene, Salome , Lazarus of Bethany and his sisters Martha and Mary, and Nicodemus. Some of these documents present the figures in question as being among the leadership of the apostles. See, for example Sophia of Jesus Christ

Beginning with the year 64, when, according to the Roman historian Tacitus, the Emperor Nero blamed them for that year's great Fire of Rome, early Christians were objects of at-times intense persecution by the authorities of the Roman Empire. In spite of that, the Christian religion continued its spread throughout the Mediterranean Basin.

Orthodoxy and orthopraxy

Some claim that Christianity at first had no established orthodoxy or orthopraxy.

Walter Bauer, in his Rechtgläubigkeit und Ketzerei im ältesten Christentum (Tübingen 1934; translated as Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity 1971), developed the thesis that, in earliest Christianity, orthodoxy and heresy do not stand in relation to one another as primary to secondary, but in many regions heresy is the original manifestation of Christianity. Bauer reassessed as a historian the overwhelmingly dominant view that for the period of Christian origins, ecclesiastical doctrine already represented what is primary, while heresies, on the other hand somehow are a deviation from the genuine (Bauer, Introduction).

A similar view has been put forward by Bentley Layton, that different versions of Christianity flourished side by side, each holding to its own beliefs as the true version. He wrote, "the lack of uniformity in ancient Christian scripture in the early period is very striking, and it points to the substantial diversity within the Christian religion."

Bauer's was admittedly a minority opinion in contrast to the view (which he himself calls "the overwhelmingly dominant view") that there was, in the early centuries, not just a variety of groups of equal standing, all claiming to be Christian, but also a clear mainstream Christianity which, as shown in Ignatius of Antioch's Letter to the Smyrnaeans, was called catholic (Smyrnaeans, 8) and condemned doctrines that it judged to be incompatible with the teaching received from the apostles, even to the extent of referring to those who propagated such beliefs as "beasts in the shape of men, whom you must not only not receive, but, if it be possible, not even meet with" (Smyrnaeans, 4).

The New Testament itself contains warnings against teachings considered to be only masquerading as Christianity (for instance, the Olivet discourse, Matthew 24:4–14, 2 Corinthians 11:13–15; 2 Peter 2:1–17; 2 John 7–11; Jude 4–13), and shows how reference was made to the leaders of the Jerusalem Church to decide what was correct doctrine and practice: Acts 15, see also Council of Jerusalem.

There were, of course, different strands of theological opinion among the mainstream Christians, as there are even among those who fully adhere to a faith as highly articulated as that of today's Roman Catholic Church. The room for theological differences within the same body was then greater, since reflection was only beginning on many matters on which the mainstream Church reached a clear conclusion only later.

Gnosticism was seen as particularly incompatible with mainstream Christianity, which insisted on the reality and essential importance of the life and death of Jesus (cf. 1 John 5:5–6, and the Letter of Ignatius to the Smyrnaeans). In 144, the Church in Rome expelled Marcion of Sinope as a heretic. He thereupon set up his own separate ecclesiastical organization, later called Marcionism. According to Tertullian Adversus Valentinianos, iv, Valentinus was a candidate for Bishop of Rome (the date would be about 143) and, when passed over in favour of another, "marked out a path for himself" distinct from that of the mainline Christian Church. The Encyclopedia Britannica article on Valentinus notes: "But on the whole it seems to be clear from the various notices that Valentinus did not, e.g. like Marcion, break with the Church from the very beginning, but endeavoured as long as possible to maintain his standing within it."

Some scholars believe that there were at least three distinct divisions within the Christian movement of the 1st century AD: the Jewish Christians (led by the Apostle James the Just, with Jesus' disciples, and their followers), Pauline Christians (followers of St. Paul) and Gnostic Christians (people who generally believed that salvation came through secret knowledge and introspection - for example, Romans 16:25, 1 Cor 2:7). Other scholars believe that Gnostic Christianity was a later development, sometime around the middle or late second century, around the time of Valentinus. Gnosticism was in turn made up of many smaller groups, some of which did not claim any connection to Jesus Christ. Though generally indiscriminately reckoned among the Gnostics, Marcionism actually represents a fourth interpretation of the significance of Jesus. Also significant was Montanism, from which some draw parallels to Pentecostalism.

Organization

Christianity continued many of the patterns of Judaism, adapting to Christian use synagogue liturgical worship, prayer, use of Sacred Scripture, a priesthood, a religious calendar commemorating on certain days each year certain events and/or beliefs, use of music in worship, giving material support to the religious leadership, and practices such as fasting and almsgiving.

Christians adopted as their Bible the Greek translation of the Jewish Scriptures known as the Septuagint and later also canonized the books of the New Testament.

A Church hierarchy seems to have been in development at latest by the time of the writing of the Pastoral Epistles in the latter half of the first century, and these structures were certainly formalized well before the end of the Early Christian period, which concluded with the legalization of Christianity in 313 and the holding of the First Council of Nicea in 325.

Significant Early Christian writers

Dates given, if not otherwise specified, are of their writings, not of their lives.

Significant early Christian texts of disputed authorship

See also

• Constantine I and Christianity
• Constantinian shift
• Messianic Judaism
• Judeo-Christian
• Gospel of Judas
• Jewish Christians
• Pauline Christianity
• Gnosticism
• Marcionism
• Montanism
• Judaism and Christianity
• Proselyte
• Council of Jerusalem
• Council of Jamnia
• Quartodecimanism
• Sabbath
• Antinomianism
• Legalism (theology)

Scholars

• Walter Bauer, Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity translated in 1971 (from Rechtgläubigkeit und Ketzerei im altesten Christentum, Tübingen 1934)
• John Crossan, The Birth of Christianity: Discovering What Happened in the Years Immediately After the Execution of Jesus, 1998, ISBN 0060616601
• James Dunn, Unity and Diversity in the New Testament: Enquiry into the Character of Earliest Christianity. SCM Press 1977 ISBN 0334024366
• Elaine Pagels, The Gnostic Gospels, 1979, ISBN 0679724532
• Philip Schaff
• Gerd Theissen, The First Followers of Jesus (1978) ISBN 0334004799 & The Social Setting of Pauline Christianity: Essays on Corinth ISBN 080062095X
• Walter Wink
• N.T. Wright

External links

• Early Christian Writings
• Christian Classics Ethereal Library
• Catholic Encyclopedia: The Fathers of the Church

• Patristics
• Ancient Roman Christianity
• Christian history
• Jewish Christian topics