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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Do Evangelical Protestants consider the "Elders" of Philippians 1:1 formalized in the Early Church as those listed in Ephesians 4:11?
Formalized Ministry The constituency of the Early Church was listed as saints, elders, and deacons in Philippians 1:1. And we know that the early Christians were familiar with the Synagogue style of ...
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Did Early Church acknowledge the Holy Spirit as Feminine?
Did the Early Church acknowledge the Holy Spirit as Feminine?
An article recently titled “ The Holy Spirit as feminine: Early Christian testimonies and their interpretation”
note that the early Church ...
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Did ancient Roman Christians celebrate any Roman national holidays?
Did ancient Roman Christians celebrate any Roman national holidays? Or were all their national holidays festivities which honored pagan gods?
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Were there any lay Christian writers in the Early Church?
Were there any lay Christian writers/theologians as prominent as Church Fathers in the Early Church? Also, why was there a lack of laity representation in bible studies and theology?
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Was Foot Washing a regular practice in early Christianity?
We see in John 13:1-17 Jesus washing the feet of his disciples prior to the Passover meal as an example to be followed by them. He then institutes the Holy Eucharist. While the second part is ...
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Did St. Augustine, as a priest, listen to people's confessions of sin?
Today, in some Christian churches, there is the practice of confession.
The penitent – person who feels remorse for sins – goes to a priest, to whom one confesses one's sins, and the priest might ...
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The Apostolic Fathers on "the Gates of Hell" (Matt. 16:18)
According to Britannica:
Apostolic Father, any of the Greek Christian writers, several unknown, who were authors of early Christian works dating primarily from the late 1st and early 2nd centuries. ...
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Is the term “Followers of The Way” related to Taoism?
I read that some early Christians were called “Followers of The Way”. I also know that The Tao (of Taoism) is often translated as “The Way”.
Is there any connection either etymologically or in the ...
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Did the 1st Council of Nicea have a predecessor?
Prior to the First Council of Nicea was there any single meeting or ongoing group that attempted organization of the faith and its followers in any similar way ?
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How Many Fathers of the Catholic Church are There; and Where to Find a Reliable List?
Does anyone know for sure how many Church Fathers have been so declared by the Catholic Church (assuming that the last one is St. John Damascene); and where I may find a reliable list of them?
Thank ...
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Church Fathers Who Have Commented on Matthew 18:20
Matt. 18:20 (D-R):
For where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
Does anyone know of any Fathers of the Catholic Church whom have commented on this ...
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On the End of the Patristic Era as Considered by the Catholic Church
Does the Catholic Church officially consider the end of the Patristic era to have occurred with the death of St. John Damascene in the eighth century? I have read that some consider St. Bernard of ...
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Naive question: Origin of the Holy Ghost
I have heard that there is a lot of influence from the Greeks in the development of Christianity, the Stoics and Platonists, and the concept of logos, the Word, and Jesus. You can see this in the ...
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Early Church Fathers' Commentary on Luke 10:16
According to Wiki:
The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the ...
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What did the Earliest Church Fathers teach about the Woman of Revelation 12?
This question is a rephrase of a different question asking if any early church fathers believed that Revelation 12:1-5 is about the Virgin Mary. It may be clearer and easier to find out what they ...
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What did "one baptism" in the Nicene Creed mean back then?
In the following statement in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (AD 381), what exactly does "one" mean for the framers (i.e., not to subsequent interpretation)?
English: We [or I] ...
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Did any of the Early Church Fathers believe that Revelation 12:1-5 is about the Virgin Mary?
The doctrine of the queenship of Mary, is the belief that once Mary had passed away and ascended to heaven, that she was crowned as the queen of heaven and given a special and exalted role as the ...
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How Did the Earliest Church Define Salvation?
This question came up for me in a discussion of the meaning of "saved" in Acts 15:1.
But certain ones having come down from Judea were teaching the brothers, "Unless you are
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Was Nestorius Ever Excommunicated by the Catholic Church?
From what I gather, Nestorius rejected Mary as the Theotokos (which means "God-bearer") and proposed instead that she merely be called, the Christotokos; or rather, "Christ-bearer" ...
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Is there evidence that Arius "reformulated" his Christology post-exile?
I realize that it may not be completely possible to answer this question given that so much of what Arius wrote has been lost and/or misrepresented by his opponents. However, I have read his few ...
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What did the early Church Fathers (pre-Nicea A.D. 325) have to say about faith, baptism and if it is the act of baptism that saves?
This question is asked in response to this recent question: Where does the idea that faith must be a condition for baptism originate from?
I am trying to find evidence from the writings of Clement, ...
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Did the religion of Christianity arise in AD70?
It has been suggested that the religion of Christianity arose as a result of the destruction of the Jewish temple and the Jewish priesthood by the Romans in the year 70. This date marks the inception ...
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Are there any passages in Early Christian literature that discuss angels and pagans?
Are there any passages in Early Christian literature that discuss angels and pagans?
Are there any statements that suggest that angels were created specifically by God only for Christians and not for ...
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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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