Questions tagged [early-church]
Relating to first several centuries of the Christian church; usually considered to end in the 4th century
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Anyone aware of any ancient source material regarding casting lots? [migrated]
Is anyone aware of any ancient source material regarding the biblically described practice of casting lots, including when it was used by the first Christians to replace Judas? Most Google search ...
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Did the Early Church believe that Mary was sinless? [duplicate]
Both Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christians uphold the doctrine of the sinfulness of the blessed Mary, a belief that Mary remained sinless and perfect throughout her entire life, but did any of the ...
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Protestant view on the canon [closed]
I am currently researching the Protestant view of the biblical canon and have encountered a variety of perspectives on the infallibility of the canon. For instance, the renowned Reformed theologian R....
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What date was the second Easter?
When did the early Christians celebrate the second Easter? Did it fall on the same day as the Jewish Pasch (Sabbath day / Saturday) or on the next day (Sunday)?
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Technical term for a Christology of divine and flesh nature
In the first few centuries, there appears to have been many Christian currents in the Mediterranean and Near East. While Christology was often not a sound basis to delineate between these groups (as ...
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Did any of the Church Fathers believe in natural theology?
As Christians we are called to study the works of the Lord (Psalms 111:2), but did any of the Early Church Fathers between 50-800 AD, believe in natural laws theology/law? (i.e. that knowledge or ...
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Early Church on image veneration?
Is there any archeological or written evidence for image veneration in the first few centuries especially in the ante Nicene period outside the Rome?
Related - What was the ante-Nicene Fathers' ...
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What was the Early Church's view on slavery? [duplicate]
Slavery exist in both the Old and the New Testament with God even regulating slavery in the Old Testament (Exodus 21:20-21, Deuteronomy 23:15) and St. Paul advocating for the freeing of slaves saying ...
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Was there any early church fathers who affirmed the Death Penalty? [duplicate]
The death penalty is clearly supported in the scriptures (Genesis 9:6, Exodus 21:12, Numbers 35:30-31, Deuteronomy 17:6, Job 19:29, Romans 13:1-4) but was there any Early Church Fathers between 80 AD ...
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What was the early Church Fathers' view on divorce?
Matthew 5:30-32, Luke 16:18, and 1 Corinthians 7:10-11 give clear criteria for divorce, but what was the early Church fathers' view on divorce? Did they adhere to the same Bible principles on this ...
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Why did Origen oppose birthdays? Was this a Jewish belief?
I found this quote of Origen condemning birthdays as the practice of the gentile sinners.
...of all the holy people in the Scriptures, no one is recorded to have kept a feast or held a great banquet ...
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Did the early church believe that Jesus was uncreated?
Among the early church there was a dispute on the nature of Christ, with some Christians claiming that Jesus was not only God but was uncreated and some like Arius believing that Jesus Christ was ...
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Did any other church father other than St. Augustine believe in the just war theory?
St. Augustine is the most commonly known inventor of the just war theory, which is that war is sometimes justified if the outcome is peace, but did any other early church father other than St. ...
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Did any early church fathers view the Creation account in Genesis as being allegorical?
In the first chapter of Genesis, it gives us a description of God creating the heavens and earth and it says that on the seventh day he had finished his word and had rested (Genesis 2:2-3), but did ...
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Did the Early Church practice the salutation of “Peace to this House”, as had been taught by Jesus in Luke 10:5?
We Jesus instructing his disciples in Lk 10:1-5:
After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them,...
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Did any Jews have the same canon as Jesus during the time of Christ and did the early church ever quote from it?
Orthodox Christians have a much larger canon than both Roman Catholic and Protestant Christians, this includes books such as 3 Maccabees. During the time of Jesus there were different sects of Jews. ...
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Was "peace be with you" a common greeting in the Early Church?
In the Old and the New Testament "peace be with you" was a common greeting among Jesus Christ and the prophets (Genesis 43:23, Judges 19:20, Luke 24:36, John 20:19) but was "peace be ...
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What did the Gnostics in first and second century believed about Jesus
I recently read some very well-known gnostic writings that are under the name of "Gospel of Judah Iscariot" and "Gospel of Thomas", but they aren't written by Judah or Thomas. I ...
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Did the apostolic or early church fathers acknowledge Papal infallibility?
The Roman Catholic dogma of Papal Infallibility (P.I.) wasn't officially defined until 1870. This doctrine, defined dogmatically at the First Vatican Council of 1869–1870 in the document Pastor ...
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Did any of the Early Church Fathers believe in the supremacy of St. Peter? [duplicate]
Catholics believe that the Early Church Fathers held to the primacy of St. Peter (ie that Christ gave authority to St. Peter and to his successors to lead the church), but did any of the Early Church ...
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Did only bishops preach in the early Church?
Cardinal Manning, The Eternal Priesthood p. 175 claims:
In the beginning it was the Bishops alone who preached. The needs of the faith compelled them to delegate this, their chief office, to the ...
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Did any Early Church Fathers believe in postration when praying?
In the old and the new testament, prophets like Moses and Aaron (Numbers 20:6), Abram (Genesis 17:3) David (1 Chronicles 20:6), and Jesus Christ (Matthew 26:39), uses prostrations in prayer, but did ...
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What is the biblical and early church basis against religious tolerance?
Christianity is very often labelled as being tolerant, especially towards other religions. But is there a biblical and historical (i.e. the church fathers) basis against so called "religious ...
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Did the early church believe that Jesus was celibate?
Jesus Christ in the gospels was never married nor did he ever have children and it is believed historically that Jesus himself was celibate but did any of the Early Church Fathers believe that Jesus ...
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How do Biblical Unitarians deal with the fact that the early church accepted the divinity of Christ?
This question is slightly related to How do Unitarians respond to quotations from Ignatius of Antioch that seem to show Ignatius believes Jesus is God? but I think I am presenting a unique challenge.
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Did the early church condemn getting tattoos?
Getting a tattoo is very clearly condemned in the bible (Leviticus 19:28) but did the Early Church Fathers condemn getting tattoos?
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Did the Gnostics have apostolic succession?
It is often claimed that the Gnostics had apostolic succession. In particular, Clement of Alexandria is often used to show that the Gnostics claimed apostolic succession.
Basilides, though he claims (...
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Looking for works pointing to Christianity as an alternative to human sacrifice
I'm curious if there is any significant scholarly research or works regarding a theory that a key driver of the spread of Christianity was to replace human and animal sacrifice from religious ...
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Did the Early Church Fathers believe in praying for the dead?
Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christians believe that praying for the dead is not only deeply rooted in the scriptures but also the apostolic church (ie the church fathers), but did any of the Early ...
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Did early Christian converts follow Kosher?
Did any in the Early Church require a kosher diet? and Did any of the early church fathers believe they had to follow dietary laws? ask about what early Christians believed with respect to Jewish ...
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How did the Apostolic Church manage to integrate different Tribes and Clans under its ambit?
We read in Matt 15:24 , of the initial response of Jesus to the pleadings of the Canaanite woman
He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
(NB: Some editions omit the ...
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What is a general survey of the Catholic traditions of the Apostle Paul visiting Spain?
Romans 15:24 describes Paul's desire (prediction?) of going to Spain. Many scholars believe that there is strong evidence in favor of Paul having visited Spain. They point out that it is reasonable to ...
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Early church fathers on Mary as mediatrix
I was doing some research and even though could find different resources on devotion to Mary, Mary as the mother of God, I couldn't find anything useful about Mary as mediatrix / "to Jesus ...
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Was the immersion in water by the hand of others, a part of joining Christianity?
Was the immersion in water by the hand/s of others (such as the pastor's) for joining Christianity, already practiced in the time of Jesus in Judea (or right after), or was it something relatively new?...
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Did the Early Church believe that Mary was the spouse of the Holy Spirit?
In Luke 1:34 the blessed virgin Mary is depicted as the spouse of the Holy Spirit, Luke 1:34-35 says:
Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not
a man?
And the angel answered ...
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Did any Early Church Father believe that being armed/self-defence was justified?
As you know there were many prophets in the Bible who were armed and had swords for self-defence. Jesus himself allowed St. Peter and his apostles to buy a sword for self-defence. But did any of the ...
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How did the early church view transgenderism?
I know that transgenderism is somewhat a new concept, but how did the Early Church Fathers view the act of transgenderism, did they condemn it or did they interpret the verses differently than we do? ...
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How does the LDS view of achieving godhood compare with the early church view of Theosis?
Many church fathers, from Justin Martyr to Tertullian, preached Theosis. For an example, take St. Clement of Alexandria, who says:
"Yea, I say, the Word of God became man, that thou mayest learn ...
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Why did Tertulian became a Montanist?
Tertullian becoming a Montanist is the key factor why he wasn't considered a Church Father and a Saint, although he is considered an important ecclesiastical writer (cf. wikipedia, 3rd paragraph).
Why ...
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Why was there a decline in the number of reported miracles in the first century?
In a related question, it is stated that the practice of apostolic gifts declined during the lifetimes of the apostles. For example, Norman Geisler in his book Signs & Wonders writes (p. 137):
......
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Leadership over smaller churches in early Christianity
I have heard a claim that during the early Church, bigger churches had leadership positions over smaller churches, which later developed into the idea of a single bishop ruling a dicosese. Are there ...
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Are there known uses of the title "Theotokos" in the second century?
Do we know of any uses of the title "Theotokos" from the second century? Wikipedia claims that the title has been in use only since the third century.
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Earliest quote by a Church Father on how saints can add their merit to the treasury which can then be applied to others
About Treasury of Merit
The teaching of the treasury of merit (GotQuestions article here) in connection to the communion of saints and indulgences is explained in CCC 1476-1477 and is based on the ...
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History of the formation of the Biblical canon. Searching for accessible bibliographical references
I am interested in finding bibliographical references narrating the formation of the Biblical canon in the first 5 centuries of the Christian era that are:
Academic books or articles written by ...
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Between Protestants & Catholics what are the major disagreements with respect to Church history?
I’ve recently wondered at the claims that the Catholic Church had stated that they began 2,000 years ago, and that the Protestant church only began back with Martin Luther or in the 1500’s.
In terms ...
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What, if anything, is known about the practice of baptism for the dead in the early church?
1 Cor 15 mentions church members performing baptisms for the dead. Apart from that, no further reference to this practice exists in the Bible as far as I am aware. What, if anything, is known about ...
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Did St. John Chrysostom believe in papal primacy?
Did St. John Chrysostom believe in papal papacy—i.e., that the pope has supreme power and primacy over the entire Church?
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Did the Ante-Nicene Church believe in the personhood of the Holy Spirit? [duplicate]
Did the Ante-Nicene Church believe in the personhood of the Holy Spirit?
What about the Apostolic Fathers and Ante-Nicene Fathers? Is there any evidence that they believed in a sentient and conscious ...
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Did the early church allow statues and images in church?
Protestants are against having statues and images and often quote Exodus 20:4, but Catholics and Orthodox Christians have beautiful statues and images in their church, but did the Early Church Fathers ...
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Did the early church believe in self defence?
Does any of the early church fathers teach that we as Christians are allowed to defend ourselves if our life is in severe danger and if so what church fathers taught this?
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