scholarly journals Roman and Christian Just War: A Re-Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Olinski
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Military Service ◽  
Just War ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
Imperial Rome ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Roman Culture

There is no denying that the early Catholic Church grew up in a climate predominated by a rich and broad religious pantheon. Emerging at first as a perceived outgrowth of Judaism, Christianity was exposed to, among other things, Roman culture. Roman religious practice, which was typically very open to adopting foreign cults, felt threatened by Christianity, resulting in periods of persecution. As a result, the early Christian community had a very complicated relationship with Imperial Rome. The Church stressed non-collaboration, but evidence points that there was a divide between teachings and practice on the topic of military service. The patristic writings of the Early Church fathers are noticeably sparse until Ambrose and Augustine, who present what can generally be called a theory of just war. They also waver between support and condemnation, reflecting the needs of their congregations. Despite this relative absence of discussion, the prevailing attitude in the historical scholarship of the Early Church was that the pre-Constantine Church pushed for non-collaboration with Roman society, i.e. not serving in public office or the army. After Constantine, that same scholarship points towards an about-face in Church teachings, and a co-opting of the burgeoning Christian community. What this paper seeks to address is that Roman iustum bellum, and Christian just war, were developments specific to their contemporary societies and, while there is definitely a link, the two form distinct systems of thought. One might even say that iustum bellum was more concerned with justifying war, than the moral quandaries of Christian just war.

scholarly journals Prve kršćanske zajednice / First Christian communities

2019 ◽  
pp. 181-193
Author(s):  
Drago Župarić
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
Christian Communities ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
Roman Culture ◽  
Roman Province ◽  
Different Cultures ◽  
New Religion

Christianity, having developed in a Jewish setting, quickly separated from Judaism and opened itself to the aspirations of the Greco-Roman world. This paper will explore the first Christian communities in Jerusalem, Antioch and Rome, from whence Christianity spread to the ends of the Mediterranean basin, that is to say, through the Roman Empire. Each of the aforementioned  communities, which were very well respected, will be discussed with regards to  the date of their foundation, the source material concerning these communities, and their prominent characteristics. In other words, this paper will discuss  the spread of Christianity, with reference to the question of the triumphant  campaign of the young Church from Jerusalem to Rome. After the acceptance of pagans into their communities, Christianity as a new religion began to gain importance, and the number of adherents grew quickly. The Christian community was declared an opposition to imperial government, and was already heavily repressed by the mid-1  century. The communities that survived repression sought peace; that is, collaboration between the  Roman state and the “early Church”, which was seen as a new institution. The  cult opened itself more and more to the outside world and different cultures,  which led to the mingling of Christians and pagans, leading to many theological disputes, especially concerning the “divinity” of Jesus Christ. Between the 1st  and 2nd st  century the beginnings of Christianity should be viewed as an organization in which commissions and administrations are present, as the number of believers grew and the need for better organization arose. The basis of the rapid expansion of Christianity in the old world should  certainly be viewed in its universality. The author of this paper touches upon  the question of the beginnings of Christianity in Dalmatia and Pannonia, side by side with Roman culture. Christianity was not very influential in the Roman province of Dalmatia until the mid-3  century, even though it is likely that there were smaller Christian groups here, as well as organized Christian communities.

Respect for Context in Quotations from The Old Testament

1962 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. L. Edgar
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Distinctive Character ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The New Testament

The attempt to get behind the gospel record back to the authentic words and acts of Jesus has occupied many scholars of this generation. This has come about because of a scepticism regarding the historical value of the sayings as recorded, and has often concluded by assuming that the New Testament throws light only on what the early Christian community believed Jesus said rather than on what he did say. It is not the writer's intention to belittle the problem, but to suggest it may be approached from a fresh angle. This article seeks to show that in one respect at least the words of Jesus, as recorded in the gospels, are of a distinctive character, especially when compared with the editorial comments of the evangelists, and hence the form of the first may not be as dependent on the evangelists and the early church as sometimes claimed.

Mission and Evangelization

2016 ◽  
pp. 328-345
Author(s):  
Daniel A. Keating
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Vatican Ii ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Second Vatican Council ◽  
Catholic Theology ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
Roman Culture ◽  
Theology Of Mission ◽  
Catholic Tradition

This chapter examines the theology of mission and evangelization in the Catholic Church. It begins with a brief overview of how mission developed in the Catholic tradition up to the twentieth century, with particular emphasis on the biblical grounding for a universal mission and the crucial transitions the early Church made from being a Jewish movement to a Gentile-inclusive movement that engaged with and accommodated itself to Greco-Roman culture. It then considers developments in the period leading up to and including the Second Vatican Council, along with the ‘missionary crisis’ and other challenges following Vatican II. Finally, it discusses important continuities and changes in the Catholic theology of mission and evangelization and describes the characteristics of this theology today.

scholarly journals Our Common Breath: ‘Conspiration’ from the Stoics to the Church Fathers

2021 ◽  
pp. 55-68
Author(s):  
Phillip Sidney Horky
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Second Century ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Third Century ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The Third ◽  
History Of ◽  
Christian Thought ◽  
The Church

AbstractThis essay tracks a brief history of the concept of ‘co-breathing’ or ‘conspiration’ (συμπνοία), from its initial conception in Stoic cosmology in the third century BCE to its appropriation in Christian thought at the end of the second century CE. This study focuses on two related strands: first, how the term gets associated anachronistically with two paradigmatic philosopher-physicians, Hippocrates and Pythagoras, by intellectuals in the Early Roman Empire; and second, how the same term provides the early Church Fathers with a means to synthesize and explain discrete notions of ‘breath’ (πνεῦμα) through a repurposing of the pagan concept. Sources discussed include figures associated with Stoic, Pythagorean, and early Christian cosmologies.

scholarly journals Odpoczynek Boga (Rdz 2,1-3) w interpretacji Ojców Kościoła

Vox Patrum ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 62 ◽  
pp. 81-92
Author(s):  
Bogdan Czyżewski
Keyword(s):  
Early Church ◽  
Biblical Text ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
The World ◽  
The Church

The theme of this paper is the exegesis of Gen 2:1-3 in selected writings of the Church Fathers and early Christian writers. The Early Church authors pon­dered over the passage in question, seeking to find the meaning of God’s resting on the seventh day from all his work of creation of the world and man. In their statements, early Christian writers clearly stated that the Biblical text should be read spiritually while treated as a metaphor. For God does not need rest, but man. It is for man that the Creator made the Sabbath day, and made it holy, and since the Resurrection of Christ, Sunday has been a holy day designated for rest and celebration. Concurrently, it was the announcement of the eighth day, or eternity, in which a man, free from all the trouble and bodily decay, will forever rest in God and live a true union with Him.

Thomas More’s Humor in his Religious Polemics

Moreana ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 53 (Number 203- (1-2) ◽  
pp. 7-50
Author(s):  
Elliott M. Simon
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Physical Punishment ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Rhetorical Strategy ◽  
Religious Polemics ◽  
The Catholic Church ◽  
New Comedy

Thomas More’s humor was influenced by his studies of Greek Old and New Comedy and Lucian’s Dialogues. He was fascinated by the multiple ways human follies could be exposed to provoke laughter. Although aware of the “anti-laughter” tradition of the Early Church Fathers, he asserted that the intellectual, moral, and spiritual superiority of “the man who laughed” justified using humor to provoke “critical laughter” as an effective rhetorical strategy to ridicule the comic incongruities and corruption of “the inferior man who was laughed at.” In his religious polemics: Responsio ad Lutherum, Supplication of Souls, Dialogue Concerning Heresies, and Confutation of Tyndale’s Answer, More enjoyed using invectives, lampoons, and scholastic parody to denigrate Lutherans and their heretical doctrines. He considered laughter an appropriate response to heresy, and his vituperative humor provided a rhetorical punishment of derision as an alternative to the horrifying physical punishment of execution proscribed for heretics. More’s humor was intended to discourage his readers from accepting Lutheran doctrines, but it also invited them to share his joyful superior affirmation of faith in the tenets of the Catholic Church that will lead them to “the eternal merriment of heaven.”

Martyrdom

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan W. van Henten
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
Imperial Rome ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Noble Death ◽  
Definition Of

Martyrdom in the Greco-Roman period is a scholarly construct. Which writings are relevant sources depends on the definition of martyrdom. Broad definitions imply that various forms of noble death among Greeks and Romans can be considered martyrdom. More strict definitions suggest that martyrdom first occurred among Jews in the 2nd century bce during the oppression by the Seleucid king Antiochus IV (168–167 bce) or only in the context of imperial Rome. The occurrence of the witness vocabulary (martys and related phrases) in the documents is often considered a decisive factor in this discussion. Van Henten and Avemarie 2002 (cited under Anthologies) consider martyrdom a specific form of noble death and define a “martyr” as a person who in an extremely hostile situation prefers a violent death to compliance with a demand of the (usually pagan) authorities. Middleton 2006 (cited under General Treatments) defines a martyrdom as “a type of narrative which describes a death which reinforces a group’s (whether religious, political or national) view of the world.” Middleton 2014 (cited under General Treatments) considers a definition elusive because martyrdom is a contested phenomenon (cf. Rajak 2012, cited under General Treatments). Recla 2014 (cited under General Treatments) argues that martyrdom is an intentional and violent act of self-formation by self-death. The early Church considered Daniel and his three companions (see Daniel 3 and 6) as well as the so-called Maccabean martyrs models for Christian martyrs. The Maccabean martyrs were even included in the official calendar of martyrs of the Roman Catholic Church, with 1 August as their anniversary. Relevant primary sources include Daniel 3 and 6 (with the Greek additions); 2 Maccabees 6:18–31, 7:1–42, 14:37–46; 4 Maccabees; the acts and passions of Christian martyrs; and rabbinic passages about martyrdom. The New Testament has no elaborate sections devoted to martyrdom, but there are interconnections with this theme in several ways.

Philosophers, Scribes, Rhetors … and Paul? The Educational Background of the New Testament

2005 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Riley Estep
Keyword(s):  
Christian Education ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Educational Background ◽  
First Century ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Roman Culture ◽  
History Of

Of increasing interest to New Testament scholars is the educational background of Paul and the early Christians. As evangelical educators, such studies also engage our understanding of the Biblical and historical basis of Christian education. This article endeavors to ascertain the early Christian community's, and particularly Paul's, assessment of education in first-century A.D. Greco-Roman culture as one dimension of the interactions between the early Christian community and its culture. It will (1) provide a brief review of passages in the New Testament that reflect or interact with the educational community of the first-century A.D., (2) Conjecture Paul's assessment of education in Greco-Roman culture, with which early Christians interacted, (3) Itemize implications of Paul's opinion on Greco-Roman education for our understanding on the formation and history of Christian education, and finally (4) Address the need for further study of the subject.

scholarly journals CONCEPT OF PRACTICES OF JEWISH AND EARLY CHRISTIAN MEDICINE

2020 ◽  
pp. 129-138
Keyword(s):  
Old Testament ◽  
Close Contact ◽  
Jewish People ◽  
Early Church ◽  
Church Fathers ◽  
Main Attention ◽  
Early Christian ◽  
Sick People ◽  
Sanitation And Hygiene ◽  
The Church

The article examines the theological and philosophical origins of Jewish and early Christian medicine. We have shown that the basis of the medical practice of the ancient Jews and early Christians were the books of the Old Testament. The principles of nutrition, sanitation and hygiene have been considered in detail in the context of the topic. We also have analyzed the rules of care for sick people and the means used by the Jewish people in the treatment of infectious diseases. It has been shown that in order to prevent the spread of an infectious disease, Jews isolated an infected person from close contact with other people, thus avoiding the spread of various diseases and epidemics. Some Jewish works of the post-biblical period contain a description of the development of philosophy and ethics in medicine; the main ones are the Midrash, the Mishnah and the Talmud. In the article we also have analyzed conceptual medical foundations set forth in the Pentateuch of the Moses and the Talmud. It has been shown that the main attention of Jewish treatment practitioners was focused on disease prevention, as they attached great importance to the principles of ritual purity, which in turn was directly related to public hygiene. We also have studied a number of works of the early church fathers, who initiated the practice of caring for the physically ill. As a result, it was found that in the writings of the church fathers there are many mentions of surgery and treatment of mental illness.

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