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130-670: Early Church writers such as Justin Martyr , Irenaeus , and Tertullian denounced Marcion as a heretic or antichrist, and he was excommunicated by the church of Rome around 144. He published his own canon of Christian sacred scriptures , which contained ten Pauline epistles (including the Epistle to the Laodiceans , while excluding the Pastoral epistles ) and the Gospel of Marcion which historically

260-666: A Doctor of the Church , often referred to as the Doctor of the Assumption because of his writings on the Assumption of Mary. Those fathers who wrote in Latin are called the Latin (Church) Fathers. Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus ( c.  155  – c.  222 ), who was converted to Christianity before 197, was a prolific writer of apologetic, theological, controversial and ascetic works. He

390-517: A virgin and was accordingly excommunicated by his father, prompting him to leave his home town. Some scholars have taken this "seduction of a virgin" as a metaphor for Marcion's corruption of the Christian Church, with the Church portrayed as the undefiled virgin, and that Marcion apparently has become "the victim of the historicisation of such a metaphor, even though it contradicts the otherwise firm tradition of his strict sexual probity". Doubtful

520-570: A 3rd–4th century Christian author wrote in his early-4th-century Latin Institutiones Divinae ( Divine Institutes ): But all scripture is divided into two Testaments. That which preceded the advent and passion of Christ—that is, the law and the prophets —is called the Old; but those things which were written after His resurrection are named the New Testament. The Jews make use of the Old, we of

650-477: A Christian Platonism and has been described by scholars as "the founder of what was to become the great tradition of Christian philosophical theology." Due to his teaching on salvation and divine judgement in passages such as Paedagogus 1.8 and Stromata 7.2, Clement is often regarded as one of the first Christian universalists . Like Origen, he arose from the Catechetical School of Alexandria and

780-629: A Gentile, and similarly for the Gospel of Matthew, though most assert Jewish-Christian authorship. However, more recently the above understanding has been challenged by the publication of evidence showing only educated elites after the Jewish War would have been capable of producing the prose found in the Gospels. Authorship of the Gospels remains divided among both evangelical and critical scholars. The names of each Gospel stems from church tradition, and yet

910-446: A concubine and became a Manichean . He later converted to Christianity, became a bishop, and opposed heresies, such as Pelagianism . His many works—including The Confessions , which is often called the first Western autobiography —have been read continuously since his lifetime. The Catholic religious order, the Order of Saint Augustine , adopted his name and way of life. Augustine is also

1040-463: A corpus of fourteen "Pauline" epistles. While many scholars uphold the traditional view, some question whether the first three, called the "Deutero-Pauline Epistles", are authentic letters of Paul. As for the latter three, the "Pastoral epistles", some scholars uphold the traditional view of these as the genuine writings of the Apostle Paul; most regard them as pseudepigrapha . One might refer to

1170-539: A cosmic disaster, but as the creation of the Old Testament God; and he did not think divine sparks resided in human bodies that could be set free by understanding the true 'gnosis.' Moreover, his docetic view does not appear to have been the typical view of Gnostics." Early Church Fathers The Church Fathers , Early Church Fathers , Christian Fathers , or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established

1300-658: A different tradition and body of testimony. In addition, most scholars agree that the author of Luke also wrote the Acts of the Apostles . Scholars hold that these books constituted two-halves of a single work, Luke–Acts . The same author appears to have written the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, and most refer to them as the Lucan texts. The most direct evidence comes from the prefaces of each book; both were addressed to Theophilus , and

1430-539: A distinction between the Father and the Son (a distinction that Nicea had been accused of blurring) but at the same time insisting on their essential unity. John Chrysostom ( c.  347  – c.  407 ), archbishop of Constantinople , is known for his eloquence in preaching and public speaking ; his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and political leaders, recorded sermons and writings making him

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1560-461: A hierarchical structure in the Trinity , the temporality of matter, "the fabulous preexistence of souls", and "the monstrous restoration which follows from it." These alleged "Origenist errors" were declared anathema by a council in 553, three centuries after Origen had died in the peace of the church. Athanasius of Alexandria ( c.  293  – 373) was a theologian, Pope of Alexandria , and

1690-451: A lord over them, saith the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the LORD, I will put My law in their inward parts, and in their heart will I write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people; and they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying: 'Know the LORD'; for they shall all know Me, from

1820-464: A major rival to the other emerging church . After his death, it retained its following and survived Christian controversy and imperial disapproval for several centuries. Several theologians have viewed him as a proto-protestant. Study of the Hebrew Bible , along with received writings circulating in the nascent Church, led Marcion to conclude that many of the teachings of Jesus were incompatible with

1950-659: A noted Egyptian leader of the 4th century. He is remembered for his role in the conflict with Arianism and for his affirmation of the Trinity. At the First Council of Nicaea (325), Athanasius argued against the Arian doctrine that Christ is of a distinct substance from the Father. The Cappadocian Fathers are Basil the Great (330–379), who was bishop of Caesarea ; Basil's younger brother Gregory of Nyssa ( c.  332  – 395), who

2080-406: A peaceful shelter for their mother. Abbess Macrina fostered the education and development of her three brothers Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa and Peter of Sebaste ( c.  340 – 391) who became bishop of Sebaste. These scholars set out to demonstrate that Christians could hold their own in conversations with learned Greek-speaking intellectuals. They argued that Christian faith, while it

2210-468: A persecution. He later became a controversial figure and some of his writings were condemned as heretical. Using his knowledge of Hebrew, he produced a corrected Septuagint . He wrote commentaries on all the books of the Bible. In Peri Archon ( First Principles ), he articulated a systematic philosophical exposition of Christian doctrine. He at times employed an allegorical hermeneutic in his interpretation of

2340-511: A scholarly consensus that many New Testament books were not written by the individuals whose names are attached to them. Scholarly opinion is that names were fixed to the gospels by the mid second century AD. Many scholars believe that none of the gospels were written in the region of Palestine . Christian tradition identifies John the Apostle with John the Evangelist , the supposed author of

2470-451: A synod at Constantinople on a question which concerned the see of Bostra in the patriarchate of Antioch. While there, Theodore had the opportunity to preach before the emperor Theodosius I , who was then starting for his last journey to the West. The sermon made a deep impression, and Theodosius, who had sat at the feet of Ambrose and Gregory Nazianzus , declared that he had never met with such

2600-625: A teacher (John of Antioch, ap. Facund. ii.2). Theodosius II inherited his grandfather's respect for Theodore, and often wrote to him. Another glimpse of Theodore's episcopal life is supplied by a letter of Chrysostom to him from Cucusus (AD 404–407) (Chrys. Ep. 212). The exiled patriarch "can never forget the love of Theodore, so genuine and warm, so sincere and guileless, a love maintained from early years, and manifested but now." Chrysostom (Ep. 204) thanks him profoundly for frequent though ineffectual efforts to obtain his release, and praises their friendship in such glowing terms that Theodore's enemies at

2730-545: A uniformity of doctrine concerning the Mosaic Law , Jesus, faith, and various other issues. All of these letters easily fit into the chronology of Paul's journeys depicted in Acts of the Apostles. The author of the Epistle of James identifies himself in the opening verse as "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ". From the middle of the 3rd century, patristic authors cited the Epistle as written by James

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2860-524: Is Tertullian's claim in The Prescription Against Heretics (written c.  200 ) that Marcion professed repentance, and agreed to the conditions granted to him — that he should receive reconciliation if he restored to the Church those whom he had led astray — but that he was prevented from doing so by his death. The Marcionite church expanded greatly within Marcion's lifetime, becoming

2990-484: Is anachronistic due to his use of the Psogos. The Psogos, along with the encomium, were both rhetorical techniques used in the ancient world in a polemical context. With the encomium "one passes over a man's faults in order to praise him, and in a psogos, one passed over his virtues to defame him. Such principles are explicit in the handbooks of the rhetors, but an interesting passage from the church historian Socrates, writing in

3120-556: Is best known as the translator of the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into Latin. He also was a Christian apologist. Jerome's edition of the Bible, the Vulgate , is still an important text of Catholicism . He is recognised by the Catholic Church as a Doctor of the Church. Augustine (354–430), Bishop of Hippo, was a philosopher and theologian. Augustine, a Latin Father and Doctor of the Church,

3250-433: Is claimed to be an edited version of the Gospel of Luke . Some modern scholars, such as Matthias Klinghardt , have theorized that Marcion's Gospel was the oldest , although this has been contested . This made Marcionism a catalyst in the process of the development of the New Testament canon by forcing the proto-orthodox Church to respond to his canon. Epiphanius records in his Panarion (c. 375) that Marcion

3380-500: Is foreign to the original Hebrew word brit (בְּרִית) describing it, which only means 'alliance, covenant, pact' and never 'inheritance instructions after death'. This use comes from the transcription of Latin testamentum 'will (left after death)', a literal translation of Greek diatheke (διαθήκη) 'will (left after death)', which is the word used to translate Hebrew brit in the Septuagint . The choice of this word diatheke , by

3510-404: Is often thought that John the Apostle is John the Evangelist , i.e. author of the Gospel of John ) or to another John designated " John of Patmos " after the island where the text says the revelation was received (1:9). Some ascribe the writership date as c.  81–96 AD, and others at around 68 AD. The work opens with letters to seven local congregations of Asia Minor and thereafter takes

3640-528: Is one of the most important figures in the development of Western Christianity . In his early life, Augustine read widely in Greco-Roman rhetoric and philosophy, including the works of Platonists such as Plotinus . He framed the concepts of original sin and just war as they are understood in the West. When Rome fell and the faith of many Christians was shaken, Augustine wrote The City of God , in which he defended Christianity from pagan critics and developed

3770-457: Is recorded that he had been a disciple of "John". The options/possibilities for this John are John, the son of Zebedee , traditionally viewed as the author of the Gospel of John , or John the Presbyter . Traditional advocates follow Eusebius of Caesarea in insisting that the apostolic connection of Polycarp was with John the Evangelist and that he was the author of the Gospel of John, and thus

3900-529: Is scholarly debate as to the reason why the translators of the Septuagint chose the term diatheke to translate Hebrew brit , instead of another Greek word generally used to refer to an alliance or covenant. The use of the phrase New Testament ( Koine Greek : Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη , Hē Kainḕ Diathḗkē ) to describe a collection of first- and second-century Christian Greek scriptures can be traced back to Tertullian in his work Against Praxeas . Irenaeus uses

4030-745: Is the earliest extant epistle from a Church Father. In the epistle, Clement calls on the Christians of Corinth to maintain harmony and order. Copied and widely read in the Early Church , First Clement had been considered by some as part of the New Testament canon , e.g., listed as canonical in Canon 85 of the Canons of the Apostles , among other early canons of the New Testament, showing that it had canonical rank in at least some regions of early Christendom. As late as

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4160-501: Is written as follows: "Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James". The debate has continued over the author's identity as the apostle, the brother of Jesus, both, or neither. The Gospel of John, the three Johannine epistles , and the Book of Revelation , exhibit marked similarities, although more so between the gospel and the epistles (especially the gospel and 1 John) than between those and Revelation. Most scholars therefore treat

4290-739: The Evangelikon , a shorter version of the Gospel of Luke, and the Apostolikon , a selection of ten epistles of Paul the Apostle, which were also slightly shorter than the canonical text. Early Christians such as Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Epiphanius claimed that Marcion's editions of Luke and the Pauline epistles were intentionally edited by Marcion to match his theological views, and many modern scholars agree. However, some scholars argue that Marcion's texts were not substantially edited by him, and may in some respects represent an earlier version of these texts than

4420-457: The 27-book canon of the New Testament has been almost universally recognized within Christianity since at least Late Antiquity . Thus, in almost all Christian traditions today, the New Testament consists of 27 books: The earliest known complete list of the 27 books is found in a letter written by Athanasius , a 4th-century bishop of Alexandria , dated to 367 AD. The 27-book New Testament

4550-561: The Epistle to the Laodiceans and the Third Epistle to the Corinthians as examples of works identified as pseudonymous. Since the early centuries of the church, there has been debate concerning the authorship of the anonymous Epistle to the Hebrews, and contemporary scholars generally reject Pauline authorship. The epistles all share common themes, emphasis, vocabulary and style; they exhibit

4680-671: The Genesis account of Yahweh walking through the Garden of Eden asking where Adam was, proved that Yahweh inhabited a physical body and was without universal knowledge , attributes wholly incompatible with the Heavenly Father professed by Jesus. According to Marcion, the god of the Old Testament , whom he called the Demiurge , the creator of the material universe , is a jealous tribal deity of

4810-434: The Gospel of John . Traditionalists tend to support the idea that the writer of the Gospel of John himself claimed to be an eyewitness in their commentaries of John 21 :24 and therefore the gospel was written by an eyewitness. This idea is rejected by the majority of modern scholars. Most scholars hold to the two-source hypothesis , which posits that the Gospel of Mark was the first gospel to be written . On this view,

4940-453: The Jewish Bible 's Book of Jeremiah , Judaism traditionally disagrees: Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; forasmuch as they broke My covenant, although I was

5070-550: The Jews , whose law represents legalistic reciprocal justice and who punishes mankind for its sins through suffering and death. In contrast, the God that Jesus professed is an altogether different being, a universal God of compassion and love who looks upon humanity with benevolence and mercy. Marcion also produced a book titled Antitheses , which is no longer extant, contrasting the Demiurge of

5200-521: The canon of the New Testament once it reached its final form. Many of the writings derive from the same time period and geographical location as other works of early Christian literature that did come to be part of the New Testament, and some of the writings found among the Apostolic Fathers' seem to have been just as highly regarded as some of the writings that became the New Testament. The first three, Clement, Ignatius, and Polycarp, are considered

5330-547: The sacraments , the role of bishops , and the incarnation of Christ . Specifically, concerning ecclesiology, his letter to the Romans is often cited as a testament to the universal bounds of the Roman church. He is the second after Clement to mention Paul's epistles. Polycarp of Smyrna ( c.  69  – c.  155 ) was a Christian bishop of Smyrna (now İzmir in Turkey). It

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5460-684: The "Father of the Latin Church". He was evidently a lawyer in Rome. He is said to have introduced the Latin term trinitas with regard to the Divine ( Trinity ) to the Christian vocabulary (but Theophilus of Antioch had already written of "the Trinity, of God, and His Word, and His Wisdom", which is similar but not identical to the Trinitarian wording), and also probably the formula "three Persons, one Substance" as

5590-471: The 14th century Ibn Khaldun mentions it as part of the New Testament. Ignatius of Antioch (also known as Theophorus) ( c.  35  – c.  110 ) was the third bishop of Antioch , and was said to be a student of the Apostle John . En route to his martyrdom in Rome, Ignatius wrote a series of letters which have been preserved. Important topics addressed in these letters include ecclesiology ,

5720-611: The 2nd century. The Pauline letters are the thirteen New Testament books that present Paul the Apostle as their author. Paul's authorship of six of the letters is disputed. Four are thought by most modern scholars to be pseudepigraphic , i.e., not actually written by Paul even if attributed to him within the letters themselves. Opinion is more divided on the other two disputed letters (2 Thessalonians and Colossians). These letters were written to Christian communities in specific cities or geographical regions, often to address issues faced by that particular community. Prominent themes include

5850-636: The Apostle ( Acts 16:10–17 ; arguing for an authorship date of c.  AD 62 ), which is corroborated by Paul's Letter to the Colossians ( Col. 4:14 ), Letter to Philemon ( Philem. 23–24 ), and Second Letter to Timothy ( 2 Tim. 4:11 ), the gospel account of Luke "was received as having apostolic endorsement and authority from Paul and as a trustworthy record of the gospel that Paul preached" (e.g. Rom. 2:16 , according to Eusebius in Ecclesiastical History 3.4.8). The word testament in

5980-605: The Apostle John. Polycarp tried and failed to persuade Pope Anicetus to have the West celebrate Passover on the 14th of Nisan , as in the Eastern calendar. Around AD 155, the Smyrnans of his town demanded Polycarp's execution as a Christian, and he died a martyr . The story of his martyrdom describes how the fire built around him would not burn him, and that when he was stabbed to death, so much blood issued from his body that it quenched

6110-437: The Apostles is a narrative of the apostles' ministry and activity after Christ's death and resurrection, from which point it resumes and functions as a sequel to the Gospel of Luke . Examining style, phraseology, and other evidence, modern scholarship generally concludes that Acts and the Gospel of Luke share the same author, referred to as Luke–Acts . Luke–Acts does not name its author. Church tradition identified him as Luke

6240-593: The Catholic Church. Chrysostom is also noted for eight of his sermons that played a considerable part in the history of Christian antisemitism , diatribes against Judaizers composed while a presbyter in Antioch, which were extensively exploited and misused by the Nazis in their ideological campaign against the Jews. Patristic scholars such as Robert L Wilken point out that applying modern understandings of antisemitism back to Chrysostom

6370-535: The Chalcedonian position that Jesus had both a human and a divine will. Maximus is venerated in both Eastern Christianity and Western Christianity. His Christological positions eventually resulted in his torture and exile, soon after which he died; however, his theology was vindicated by the Third Council of Constantinople , and he was venerated as a saint soon after his death. His feast day is celebrated twice during

6500-610: The Epistle to the Hebrews does not internally claim to have been written by the Apostle Paul , some similarities in wordings to some of the Pauline Epistles have been noted and inferred. In antiquity, some began to ascribe it to Paul in an attempt to provide the anonymous work an explicit apostolic pedigree. In the 4th century, Jerome and Augustine of Hippo supported Paul's authorship . The Church largely agreed to include Hebrews as

6630-437: The Evangelist , the companion of Paul, but the majority of scholars reject this due to the many differences between Acts and the authentic Pauline letters, though most scholars still believe the author, whether named Luke or not, met Paul . The most probable date of composition is around 80–90 AD, although some scholars date it significantly later, and there is evidence that it was still being substantially revised well into

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6760-575: The Gospels of Matthew , Mark , Luke and John all be accepted as canonical . Clement of Alexandria (c. 150–215) was the first member of the church of Alexandria whose writings have survived, and was one of its most distinguished teachers. He saw wisdom in Greek philosophy and sought to harmonize it with Christian doctrine. Clement opposed Gnosticism , and yet used some of its terminology; for instance, he valued gnosis that with communion for all people could be held by common Christians. He developed

6890-407: The Gospels were written forty to sixty years after the death of Jesus. They thus do not present eyewitness or contemporary accounts of Jesus's life and teaching." The ESV Study Bible claims the following (as one argument for gospel authenticity): Because Luke , as a second generation Christian, claims to have retrieved eyewitness testimony ( Luke 1:1–4 ), in addition to having traveled with Paul

7020-564: The Greek (Church) Fathers. In addition to the Apostolic Fathers, famous Greek Fathers include: Justin Martyr , Irenaeus of Lyons , Clement of Alexandria , Athanasius of Alexandria , the Cappadocian Fathers ( Basil of Caesarea , Gregory Nazianzus , Gregory of Nyssa ), Peter of Sebaste , Diodorus of Tarsus , Theodore of Mopsuestia , John Chrysostom , Cyril of Alexandria , Maximus the Confessor , and John of Damascus . Justin Martyr

7150-569: The Jewish translators of the Septuagint in Alexandria in the 3rd and 2nd century BCE, has been understood in Christian theology to imply a reinterpreted view of the Old Testament covenant with Israel as possessing characteristics of a 'will left after death' (the death of Jesus ) and has generated considerable attention from biblical scholars and theologians: in contrast to the Jewish usage where brit

7280-559: The Just . Ancient and modern scholars have always been divided on the issue of authorship. Many consider the epistle to be written in the late 1st or early 2nd centuries. The author of the First Epistle of Peter identifies himself in the opening verse as "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ", and the view that the epistle was written by St. Peter is attested to by a number of Church Fathers : Irenaeus (140–203), Tertullian (150–222), Clement of Alexandria (155–215) and Origen of Alexandria (185–253). Unlike The Second Epistle of Peter ,

7410-450: The Latin " tres Personae , una Substantia " (itself from the Koine Greek "τρεῖς ὑποστάσεις, ὁμοούσιος; treís hypostasis , Homoousios "), and also the terms vetus testamentum ( Old Testament ) and novum testamentum ( New Testament ). In his Apologeticus , he was the first Latin author who qualified Christianity as the vera religio , and systematically relegated the classical Roman imperial religion and other accepted cults to

7540-416: The New Testament were all or nearly all written by Jewish Christians —that is, Jewish disciples of Christ, who lived in the Roman Empire , and under Roman occupation . The author of the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts is frequently thought of as an exception; scholars are divided as to whether he was a Gentile or a Hellenistic Jew . A few scholars identify the author of the Gospel of Mark as probably

7670-462: The New Testament were only a few among many other early Christian gospels. The existence of such texts is even mentioned at the beginning of the Gospel of Luke. Many non-canonical gospels were also written, all later than the four canonical gospels, and like them advocating the particular theological views of their various authors. In modern scholarship, the Synoptic Gospels are the primary sources for reconstructing Christ's ministry. The Acts of

7800-407: The New: but yet they are not discordant, for the New is the fulfilling of the Old, and in both there is the same testator, even Christ, who, having suffered death for us, made us heirs of His everlasting kingdom, the people of the Jews being deprived and disinherited. As the prophet Jeremiah testifies when he speaks such things: "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new testament to

7930-449: The Old Testament with the Heavenly Father of the New Testament. Marcion held Jesus to be the son of the Heavenly Father but understood the incarnation in a docetic manner, i.e. that Jesus' body was only an imitation of a material body, and consequently denied Jesus' physical and bodily birth, death, and resurrection. Marcion was the first to codify a Christian canon . His canon consisted of only eleven books, grouped into two sections:

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8060-401: The Old Testament, and was partly influenced by Stoic , Neo-Pythagorean , and Platonist thought. Like Plotinus , he has been thought to believe that the soul passes through successive stages before incarnation as a human and after death, eventually reaching God. However, more recent scholarship has concluded that Origen actually denied the preexistence of disembodied souls, and simply taught

8190-475: The Son is of like substance with the Father ( homoiousios ), as against the outright Arians who taught that the Son was unlike the Father ( heterousian ). So the Son was held to be like the Father but not of the same essence as the Father. The Cappadocians worked to bring these semi-Arians back to the Orthodox cause. In their writings they made extensive use of the formula "three substances ( hypostases ) in one essence ( homoousia )", and thus explicitly acknowledged

8320-437: The actions of Yahweh , characterized as the belligerent god of the Hebrew Bible . Marcion responded by developing a ditheistic system of belief around the year 144. This notion of two gods—a higher transcendent one and a lower world-creator and ruler—allowed Marcion to reconcile his perceived contradictions between Christian Covenant theology and the gospel proclaimed by the New Testament . In contrast to other leaders of

8450-419: The authors of the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke used as sources the Gospel of Mark and a hypothetical Q document to write their individual gospel accounts. These three gospels are called the Synoptic Gospels , because they include many of the same stories, often in the same sequence, and sometimes in exactly the same wording. Scholars agree that the Gospel of John was written last, by using

8580-440: The authors of the Gospels do not identify themselves in their respective texts. All four gospels and the Acts of the Apostles are anonymous works . The Gospel of John claims to be based on eyewitness testimony from the Disciple whom Jesus loved , but never names this character. The author of Luke-Acts claimed to access an eyewitness to Paul ; this claim remains accepted by most scholars. Objections to this viewpoint mainly take

8710-436: The authorship of which was debated in antiquity, there was little debate about Peter's authorship of this first epistle until the 18th century. Although 2 Peter internally purports to be a work of the apostle, many biblical scholars have concluded that Peter is not the author. For an early date and (usually) for a defense of the Apostle Peter's authorship see Kruger, Zahn, Spitta, Bigg, and Green. The Epistle of Jude title

8840-435: The canonical versions. Like the Gospel of Mark , the gospel used by Marcion did not contain elements relating to his birth and childhood. Interestingly, it did contain some Jewish elements, and material that challenged Marcion's ditheism—a fact that was exploited by early Christians in their polemics against Marcion. The centrality of the Pauline epistles in Marcion's canon reflects the fact that Marcion considered Paul to be

8970-422: The chief ones. Clement of Rome (also known as Pope Clement I) was a late 1st-century bishop of Rome who, according to Tertullian , was ordained by St. Peter . According to Irenaeus , Clement was the fourth bishop of Rome after Anacletus . Eusebius described him as the "co-laborer" of Paul and identified him with the Clement mentioned in Philippians 4:3 . The First Epistle of Clement ( c.  96 )

9100-423: The concept of the Church as a spiritual City of God , distinct from the material City of Man. Augustine's work defined the start of the medieval worldview , an outlook that would later be firmly established by Pope Gregory the Great . Augustine was born in present-day Algeria to a Christian mother, Monica of Hippo . He was educated in North Africa and resisted his mother's pleas to become Christian. He took

9230-402: The correct interpreter and transmitter of Jesus' teachings, in contrast to the Twelve Disciples and the early Jerusalem church. In Marcion's view, the other apostles were under the auspices of the Demiurge. Marcion is sometimes described as a Gnostic philosopher. In some essential respects, Marcion proposed ideas which aligned well with Gnostic thought. Like the Gnostics, he believed that Jesus

9360-401: The date of composition of the latest New Testament texts. John A. T. Robinson , Dan Wallace , and William F. Albright dated all the books of the New Testament before 70 AD. Many other scholars, such as Bart D. Ehrman and Stephen L. Harris , date some New Testament texts much later than this; Richard Pervo dated Luke–Acts to c.  115 AD , and David Trobisch places Acts in

9490-620: The debates of the Council of Chalcedon , the fourth ecumenical council . Gregory I the Great ( c.  540  – 604) was pope from 3 September 590 until his death. He is also known as Gregorius Dialogus ( Gregory the Dialogist ) in Eastern Orthodoxy because of the Dialogues he wrote. He was the first of the popes from a monastic background. Gregory is a Doctor of the Church and one of

9620-534: The development of later Christian theology, but certain elements of their teaching were later condemned. The Apostolic Fathers were Christian theologians who lived in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, who are believed to have personally known some of the Twelve Apostles , or to have been significantly influenced by them. Their writings, though popular in Early Christianity , were ultimately not included in

9750-506: The drawing up of his Antitheses, centres in this, that he may establish a diversity between the Old and the New Testaments, so that his own Christ may be separate from the Creator , as belonging to this rival God, and as alien from the law and the prophets . By the 4th century , the existence—even if not the exact contents—of both an Old and New Testament had been established. Lactantius ,

9880-541: The early development of Christian theology, and he is recognized as a saint by both the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. He was a notable early Christian apologist . He was also a disciple of Polycarp. In his best-known book, Against Heresies (c. 180) he enumerated heresies and attacked them. Irenaeus wrote that the only way for Christians to retain unity was to humbly accept one doctrinal authority—episcopal councils. Irenaeus proposed that

10010-459: The epistle to the Hebrews, based on its distinctive style and theology, which are considered to set it apart from Paul's writings. The final book of the New Testament is the Book of Revelation , also known as the Apocalypse of John. In the New Testament canon, it is considered prophetical or apocalyptic literature . Its authorship has been attributed either to John the Apostle (in which case it

10140-579: The expression "New Testament" refers to a Christian new covenant that Christians believe completes or fulfils the Mosaic covenant (the Jewish covenant) that Yahweh (the God of Israel) made with the people of Israel on Mount Sinai through Moses , described in the books of the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. While Christianity traditionally even claims this Christian new covenant as being prophesied in

10270-597: The fifth Ecumenical Council made unsuccessful efforts to deny the identity of Chrysostom's correspondent with the bishop of Mopsuestia. Cyril of Alexandria ( c.  378  – 444) was the Bishop of Alexandria when the city was at its height of influence and power within the Roman Empire . Cyril wrote extensively and was a leading protagonist in the Christological controversies of the late 4th and early 5th centuries. He

10400-476: The first division of the Christian Bible, is called the Old Testament , which is based primarily upon the Hebrew Bible ; together they are regarded as Sacred Scripture by Christians. The New Testament is a collection of Christian texts originally written in the Koine Greek language, at different times by various authors. While the Old Testament canon varies somewhat between different Christian denominations ,

10530-444: The five as a single corpus of Johannine literature , albeit not from the same author. The gospel went through two or three "editions" before reaching its current form around AD 90–110. It speaks of an unnamed "disciple whom Jesus loved" as the source of its traditions, but does not say specifically that he is its author; Christian tradition identifies this disciple as the apostle John , but while this idea still has supporters, for

10660-442: The flames around him. Very little is known of Papias apart from what can be inferred from his own writings. He is described as "an ancient man who was a hearer of John and a companion of Polycarp" by Polycarp's disciple Irenaeus ( c.  180 ). Eusebius adds that Papias was Bishop of Hierapolis around the time of Ignatius of Antioch . In this office, Papias was presumably succeeded by Abercius of Hierapolis . The name Papias

10790-621: The form of an apocalypse , a "revealing" of divine prophecy and mysteries, a literary genre popular in ancient Judaism and Christianity. The order in which the books of the New Testament appear differs between some collections and ecclesiastical traditions. In the Latin West, prior to the Vulgate (an early 5th-century Latin version of the Bible), the four Gospels were arranged in the following order: Matthew, John, Luke, and Mark. The Syriac Peshitta places

10920-484: The form of the following two interpretations, but also include the claim that Luke-Acts contains differences in theology and historical narrative which are irreconcilable with the authentic letters of Paul the Apostle . According to Bart D. Ehrman of the University of North Carolina , none of the authors of the Gospels were eyewitnesses or even explicitly claimed to be eyewitnesses of Jesus's life. Ehrman has argued for

11050-530: The four great Latin Fathers of the Church (the others being Ambrose, Augustine, and Jerome). Of all popes, Gregory I had the most influence on the early medieval church. New Testament The New Testament ( NT ) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon . It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus , as well as events relating to first-century Christianity . The New Testament's background,

11180-514: The fourteenth letter of Paul, and affirmed this authorship until the Reformation . The letter to the Hebrews had difficulty in being accepted as part of the Christian canon because of its anonymity. As early as the 3rd century, Origen wrote of the letter, "Men of old have handed it down as Paul's, but who wrote the Epistle God only knows." Contemporary scholars often reject Pauline authorship for

11310-633: The heresies of Apollinarianism and Macedonianism, and sent legates (papal representatives) to the First Council of Constantinople that was convoked in 381 to address these heresies. He also wrote in defense of the Roman See's authority, and inaugurated use of Latin in the Mass , instead of the Koine Greek that was still being used throughout the Church in the west in the liturgy. Jerome ( c.  347  – 420)

11440-461: The house of Israel and the house of Judah, not according to the testament which I made to their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; for they continued not in my testament, and I disregarded them, saith the Lord." ... For that which He said above, that He would make a new testament to the house of Judah, shows that the old testament which was given by Moses

11570-467: The intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity . The historical period in which they worked became known as the Patristic Era and spans approximately from the late 1st to mid-8th centuries, flourishing in particular during the 4th and 5th centuries, when Christianity was in the process of establishing itself as the state church of the Roman Empire . For many denominations of Christianity,

11700-444: The late second century, the four narrative accounts of the life and work of Jesus Christ have been referred to as "The Gospel of ..." or "The Gospel according to ..." followed by the name of the supposed author. The first author to explicitly name the canonical gospels is Irenaeus of Lyon , who promoted the four canonical gospels in his book Against Heresies , written around 180. These four gospels that were eventually included in

11830-414: The least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more. The word covenant means 'agreement' (from Latin con-venio 'to agree' lit. 'to come together'): the use of the word testament , which describes the different idea of written instructions for inheritance after death, to refer to the covenant with Israel in the Old Testament,

11960-531: The major Catholic epistles (James, 1 Peter, and 1 John) immediately after Acts and before the Pauline epistles. The order of an early edition of the letters of Paul is based on the size of the letters: longest to shortest, though keeping 1 and 2 Corinthians and 1 and 2 Thessalonians together. The Pastoral epistles were apparently not part of the Corpus Paulinum in which this order originated and were later inserted after 2 Thessalonians and before Philemon. Hebrews

12090-552: The mid-fifth century, shows that the rules for invective were simply taken for granted by men and women of the late Roman world." Chrysostom's sermons along with Basil the Great's have greatly influenced the Christian Church's understanding of economic and distributive justice for the poor, being cited extensively by the Catechism of the Catholic Church as well as Pope Francis in his own sermons critiquing modern-day forms of capitalism. Theodore of Mopsuestia ( c.  350 – 428 )

12220-557: The mid-to-late second century, contemporaneous with the publication of the first New Testament canon. Whether the Gospels were composed before or after 70 AD, according to Bas van Os, the lifetime of various eyewitnesses that includes Jesus's own family through the end of the First Century is very likely statistically. Markus Bockmuehl finds this structure of lifetime memory in various early Christian traditions. The New Oxford Annotated Bible claims, "Scholars generally agree that

12350-460: The most prolific of the eastern fathers, and his ascetic sensibilities. After his death (or according to some sources, during his life) he was given the Greek epithet chrysostomos , meaning "golden mouthed", rendered in English as Chrysostom. Chrysostom is known within Christianity chiefly as a preacher and theologian, particularly in the Eastern Orthodox Church; he is the patron saint of orators in

12480-455: The nascent Christian Church, however, Marcion declared that Christianity was in complete discontinuity with Judaism and entirely opposed to the scriptures of Judaism. Marcion did not claim that these were false. Instead, he asserted that they were entirely true, but were to be read in an absolutely literalistic manner, one which led him to develop an understanding that Yahweh was not the same God spoken of by Jesus. For example, Marcion argued that

12610-452: The patron saint of many institutions and a number have been named after him. Pope Leo I ( c. 400 – 461) was pope from 29 September 440 until his death. He was active in defending the Latin Church against the threat of schism associated with Monophysitism , Miaphysitism and Dyophysitism , most remembered theologically for issuing the Tome of Leo , a document which was a major foundation to

12740-475: The phrase New Testament several times, but does not use it in reference to any written text. In Against Marcion , written c. 208 AD, Tertullian writes of: the Divine Word, who is doubly edged with the two testaments of the law and the gospel . And Tertullian continues later in the book, writing: it is certain that the whole aim at which he [ Marcion ] has strenuously laboured, even in

12870-449: The physical world (which Gnostics regard as an illusion) and embracing the godlike qualities within oneself. Marcion, by contrast, held that the Heavenly Father (the father of Jesus Christ) was an utterly alien God; he had no part in making the world, nor any connection with it. According to Bart Ehrman : "Marcion himself should not be thought of as a Gnostic; he held that there were only two gods , not many; he did not think of this world as

13000-438: The position of mere "superstitions". He used the early church's symbol for fish—the Greek word for "fish" being ΙΧΘΥΣ , which is an acronym for Ἰησοῦς Χριστός, Θεοῦ Υἱός, Σωτήρ (Jesus Christ, God's Son, Saviour)—to explain the meaning of baptism, since fish are born in water. He wrote that human beings are like little fish. Cyprian ( c.  200  – 258) was bishop of Carthage and an important early Christian writer. He

13130-496: The post-resurrection appearances, but the emptiness of the tomb implies a resurrection). The word "gospel" derives from the Old English gōd-spell (rarely godspel ), meaning "good news" or "glad tidings". Its Hebrew equivalent being "besorah" (בְּשׂוֹרָה). The gospel was considered the "good news" of the coming Kingdom of Messiah , and the redemption through the life and death of Jesus, the central Christian message. Starting in

13260-563: The preceding epistles. These letters are believed by many to be pseudepigraphic. Some scholars (e.g., Bill Mounce, Ben Witherington, R.C. Sproul) will argue that the letters are genuinely Pauline, or at least written under Paul's supervision. The Epistle to the Hebrews addresses a Jewish audience who had come to believe that Jesus was the Anointed One (Hebrew: מָשִׁיחַ—transliterated in English as "Moshiach", or "Messiah"; Greek: Χριστός—transliterated in English as "Christos", for " Christ ") who

13390-536: The preexistence of individuals' logoi in the mind of God. Yet Origen did suggest, based on 1 Corinthians 15:22–28, that all creatures, possibly including even the fallen angels, will eventually be restored and reunited to God when evil is finally eradicated. For Origen, God was the First Principle , and Christ , the Logos through whom salvation is accomplished. Origen's various writings were interpreted by some to imply

13520-462: The preface to the Acts of the Apostles references "my former book" about the ministry of Jesus. Furthermore, there are linguistic and theological similarities between the two works, suggesting that they have a common author. The Pauline epistles are the thirteen books in the New Testament traditionally attributed to Paul of Tarsus . Seven letters are generally classified as "undisputed", expressing contemporary scholarly near consensus that they are

13650-585: The relationship both to broader " pagan " society, to Judaism, and to other Christians. [Disputed letters are marked with an asterisk (*).] The last four Pauline letters in the New Testament are addressed to individual persons. They include the following: [Disputed letters are marked with an asterisk (*).] All of the above except for Philemon are known as the pastoral epistles . They are addressed to individuals charged with pastoral oversight of churches and discuss issues of Christian living, doctrine and leadership. They often address different concerns to those of

13780-412: The work of Paul: Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians and Philemon. Six additional letters bearing Paul's name do not currently enjoy the same academic consensus: Ephesians, Colossians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus. The anonymous Epistle to the Hebrews is, despite unlikely Pauline authorship, often functionally grouped with these thirteen to form

13910-651: The writings of the Ante-Nicene Fathers , Nicene Fathers and Post-Nicene Fathers are included in Sacred Tradition . As such, in traditional dogmatic theology, authors considered Church Fathers are treated as authoritative for the establishment of doctrine. The academic field of patristics , the study of the Church Fathers, has extended the scope of the term, and there is no definitive list. Some, such as Origen and Tertullian , made major contributions to

14040-685: The year: on 21 January and on 13 August. His title of Confessor means that he suffered for the faith, but not to the point of death, and thus is distinguished from a martyr. His Life of the Virgin is thought to be the earliest complete biography of Mary, the mother of Jesus. John of Damascus ( c.  676  – 749) was a Syrian Christian monk, priest, hymnographer and apologist. Born and raised in Damascus , he died at his monastery, Mar Saba , near Jerusalem. A polymath whose fields of interest and contribution included law, theology, philosophy, and music, he

14170-675: Was Bishop of Poitiers and is a Doctor of the Church. He was sometimes referred to as the "Hammer of the Arians" ( Latin : Malleus Arianorum ) and the "Athanasius of the West." His name comes from the Graeco-Latin word for happy or cheerful. His optional memorial in the General Roman Calendar is 13 January. In the past, when this date was occupied by the Octave Day of the Epiphany, his feast day

14300-442: Was a Christian theologian, and Bishop of Mopsuestia (as Theodore II) from 392 to 428 AD. He is also known as Theodore of Antioch, from the place of his birth and presbyterate. He is the best known representative of the middle Antioch School of hermeneutics . He is known to be a prolific writer and exegete with strong emphases on the literal, historical and rational interpretation of Christian scriptures. Throughout his lifetime, he

14430-509: Was a central figure in the First Council of Ephesus in 431, which led to the deposition of Nestorius as Archbishop of Constantinople . Cyril's reputation within the Christian world has resulted in his titles "Pillar of Faith" and "Seal of all the Fathers". Maximus the Confessor (also known as Maximus the Theologian and Maximus of Constantinople) ( c.  580  – 662) was a Christian monk, theologian, and scholar. In his early life, he

14560-548: Was a civil servant and an aide to the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius ; however, he gave up this life in the political sphere to enter into the monastic life. After moving to Carthage , Maximus studied several Neo-Platonist writers and became a prominent author. When one of his friends began espousing the Christological position known as Monothelitism , Maximus was drawn into the controversy, in which he supported

14690-537: Was against many of the ideas of Plato and Aristotle (and other Greek philosophers), was an almost scientific and distinctive movement with the healing of the soul of man and his union with God at its center. They made major contributions to the definition of the Trinity finalized at the First Council of Constantinople in 381 and the final version of the Nicene Creed . Subsequent to the First Council of Nicea, Arianism did not simply disappear. The semi-Arians taught that

14820-668: Was an early Christian apologist , and is regarded as the foremost interpreter of the theory of the Logos in the 2nd century. He was martyred , alongside some of his students, and is considered a saint by the Catholic Church , Anglicanism , the Eastern Orthodox Church , and the Oriental Orthodox Churches . Irenaeus was bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul , which is now Lyon (s), France. His writings were formative in

14950-462: Was bishop of Nyssa ; and a close friend, Gregory of Nazianzus (329–389), who became Patriarch of Constantinople . The Cappadocians promoted early Christian theology and are highly respected in both Western and Eastern churches as saints. They were a 4th-century monastic family, led by Macrina the Younger (324–379) to provide a central place for her brothers to study and meditate, and also to provide

15080-539: Was born in North Africa , probably at the beginning of the 3rd century, perhaps at Carthage, where he received an excellent classical ( pagan ) education. After converting to Christianity, he became a bishop and eventually died a martyr at Carthage. He emphasized the necessity of the unity of Christians with their bishops, and also the authority of the Roman See, which he claimed was the source of "priestly unity"'. Hilary of Poitiers ( c.  300  – c.  368 )

15210-486: Was born in Carthage, the son of a Roman centurion. Tertullian denounced Christian doctrines he considered heretical, such as allowing widows to remarry and permitting Christians to flee from persecution, but later in life adopted Montanism , regarded as heretical by the mainstream Church, which prevented his canonization. He wrote three books in Greek and was the first great writer of Latin Christianity, thus sometimes known as

15340-463: Was born the son of a bishop in Pontus (modern-day Turkey), likely Philologus of Sinope . Rhodo and Tertullian , young men in Marcion's old age, described him as a "mariner" and a "ship-master" respectively. Some time in the late 130s, Marcion traveled to Rome, joined the Roman church, and made a large donation of 200,000 sesterces to the congregation there. Conflicts with the church of Rome arose and he

15470-474: Was essentially a divine spirit who appeared to human beings in human form, but did not actually take on a fleshly human body. However, Marcionism conceptualizes God in a way which cannot be reconciled with broader Gnostic thought. For Gnostics, some human beings are born with a small piece of God's soul lodged within their spirit (akin to the notion of a Divine Spark ). God is thus intimately connected to and part of his creation. Salvation lies in turning away from

15600-770: Was eventually excommunicated in 144, his donation being returned to him. Irenaeus writes that "a certain Cerdo, originating from the Simonians, came to Rome under Hyginus [...] and taught that the one who was proclaimed as God by the Law and the Prophets is not the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" ( Against Heresies , 1, 27, 1). Also, according to them, Marcion and the Gnostic Valentinus were companions in Rome. In 394, Epiphanius claimed that after beginnings as an ascetic , Marcion seduced

15730-454: Was first formally canonized during the councils of Hippo (393) and Carthage (397) in North Africa. Pope Innocent I ratified the same canon in 405, but it is probable that a Council in Rome in 382 under Pope Damasus I gave the same list first. These councils also provided the canon of the Old Testament, which included the deuterocanonical books. There is no scholarly consensus on

15860-474: Was given the by-name of Chrysorrhoas (Χρυσορρόας, literally "streaming with gold", i.e. "the golden speaker"). He wrote numerous works expounding the Christian faith, and composed hymns which are still used both liturgically in Eastern Christian practice throughout the world as well as in western Lutheranism at Easter. He was particularly known for his defense of icons . The Catholic Church regards him as

15990-631: Was hailed as one of the outstanding, prolific biblical theologians and staunch defender of Christ's humanity. More than a century after his death, he was condemned in person in the Chalcedonian Church at the Second Council of Constantinople . However he continues to be recognised as a Greek Doctor in the Church of the East, which honours him with the title 'Theodore the Interpreter'. In 394, he attended

16120-464: Was moved to 14 January. Ambrose was an archbishop of Milan who became one of the most influential ecclesiastical figures of the 4th century. He was a governor before becoming bishop. He is counted as one of the four original doctors of the Church. He offered a new perspective on the theory of atonement . Pope Damasus I (305–384) was active in defending the Catholic Church against the threat of schisms. In two Roman synods (368 and 369) he condemned

16250-468: Was not perfect; but that which was to be given by Christ would be complete. Eusebius describes the collection of Christian writings as "covenanted" (ἐνδιαθήκη) books in Hist. Eccl. 3.3.1–7; 3.25.3; 5.8.1; 6.25.1. Each of the four gospels in the New Testament narrates the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth (the gospel of Mark in the original text ends with the empty tomb and has no account of

16380-604: Was predicted in the writings of the Hebrew Scriptures. The author discusses the superiority of the new covenant and the ministry of Jesus, to the Mosaic Law Covenant and urges the readers in the practical implications of this conviction through the end of the epistle. The book has been widely accepted by the Christian church as inspired by God and thus authoritative, despite the acknowledgment of uncertainties about who its human author was. Regarding authorship, although

16510-405: Was the usual Hebrew word used to refer to pacts, alliances and covenants in general, like a common pact between two individuals, and to the one between God and Israel in particular, in the Greek world diatheke was virtually never used to refer to an alliance or covenant (one exception is noted in a passage from Aristophanes ) and referred instead to a will left after the death of a person. There

16640-471: Was variously incorporated into the Corpus Paulinum either after 2 Thessalonians, after Philemon (i.e. at the very end), or after Romans. Luther's canon , found in the 16th-century Luther Bible , continues to place Hebrews, James, Jude, and the Apocalypse (Revelation) last. This reflects the thoughts of the Reformer Martin Luther on the canonicity of these books. It is considered the books of

16770-761: Was very common in the region, suggesting that he was probably a native of the area. The work of Papias is dated by most modern scholars to about AD 95–120. Despite indications that the work of Papias was still extant in the Late Middle Ages , the full text is now lost; however, extracts appear in a number of other writings, some of which cite a book number. Autocephaly recognized by some autocephalous Churches de jure : Autocephaly and canonicity recognized by Constantinople and 3 other autocephalous Churches: Spiritual independence recognized by Georgian Orthodox Church: Semi-Autonomous: Those who wrote in Greek are called

16900-612: Was well-versed in pagan and biblical literature. Origen, or Origen Adamantius ( c.  185  – c.  254 ) was a scholar and theologian. According to tradition, he was an Egyptian who taught in Alexandria, reviving the Catechetical School where Clement had taught. The patriarch of Alexandria at first supported Origen but later expelled him for being ordained without the patriarch's permission. He relocated to Caesarea Maritima and died there after being tortured during

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