church history week 3
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Apr 3, 2024
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Uploaded by davisveronica
Discussion Thread: Persecution and Theology
The persecution of Christians can be historically traced from the first century of the Christian era
to the present day. Christian missionaries and converts to Christianity have both been targeted for persecution, sometimes to the point of being martyred for their faith, ever since the emergence of Christianity.
1
How did the periods of persecution cause the church to think about the doctrines of salvation and the church?
The periods of persecution brought into tension two conflicting ideals of the church: Rigorists saw the church as the saved people separated from sin: laxists saw the church as the instrument of salvation. The former position is represented by Tertullian, Hippolytus, and Naovatian; the latter by Callistus, with Cyprian attempting a mediating position but rejecting the consistent rigorist view.
2
Because of Jesus’ promise that those who confessed faith in him in times of persecution would posses the Holy Spirit, confessors claimed authority of the individual and the authority of the institution ended with the bishops gaining sole authority to represent the church in granting forgiveness (Cyprian).
3
That is, if a baptized believer succumbed to persecution and gave up his/her faith, did the church believe salvation was lost as a result?
Cyprian provided anecdotal evidence to prove the loss of salvation through various experiential references including a lapsed individual vomiting after taking communion to prove the Eucharist does not ameliorate the ignoble, instead, the denial caused the Lord to withdraw.
4
One might to be associated with the former at entrance into the church through the laying of hands, Cyprian added that sound faith or good character was not necessary in the administrator and that the invocation of the name of Jesus possessed peculiar powers. Cyprian’s view made the validity of baptism dependent on the administrator of baptism, and that always introduced and element of uncertainty into one’s salvation.
5
According to the book, Stephen, relying on the tradition of the Roman church, said that a person in a schismatic or heretical group who had received water baptism in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit did not have to be baptized again on seeking fellowship with his church but instead, only the laying on the of the bishop was necessary to receive the person’s baptism, or more likely an act of reconciliation of one regarded as a penitent being restored to the fellowship of the church.
6
Also, could the church include Christians who denied their faith?
During the absence of Cyprian, many of the confessors gave out pardon letters to the lapsi, for those who have fallen away during the time of persecution and demanded immediate 1
www.wikipedia.org/persecutionandtheology
2
Everett
Ferguson, Church History Volume 1: From Christ to the Pre-Reformation: The Rise and Growth of the Church in Its Cultural, Intellectual, and Political Context. 2nd ed.
(Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013). Pg. 145.
3
Ibid., 4
https://www.livestransforming.com/history-of-confession/
5
Everett
Ferguson. Church History Volume 1: From Christ to the Pre-Reformation: The Rise and Growth of the Church in Its Cultural, Intellectual, and Political Context. 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2013). Pg. 149.
6
Ibid.,
reconciliation for the church. Cyprian objected, saying that such action should await a return of peace when the bishops could meet and the whole church could agree on a unified policy toward the apostates who wanted forgiveness and a return to the church.
7
7
Ibid.,
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