A Journey to Discover the Early Christian Church, Part I

The Church is a physical entity and has a definite beginning. The Church was founded upon Christ Jesus, “and on this rock I will build My church, (Matt. 16:18).” The start of the church began at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles and empowered them, 

“When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance, (Acts 2:1-4).” 

From the beginning of Christ's church it had three important characteristics:

Thus, the Church is guided by the Holy Spirit in all things and in all truths. The Church is also where God dwells through His Spirit. Because of these two characteristics, the Church is the house of God such that the Church itself is “the pillar and ground of the truth.” It should be noted that “the pillar and ground of the truth” is not a written text, but rather the “house of God, which is the Church.”

Here we see that it is the Church which functions as the guardian and repository of the Holy Spirit's teachings and of Jesus' teachings to His Apostles. The Apostles were the foundation upon which Jesus built His church,

having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, (Eph. 2:20).

The Apostles were the first leaders of the Church. This leadership role is termed episkopos, which meant an overseer, presbyter, or bishop. 

One of the leadership actions the Apostles performed was appointing assistants, or deacons, to help resolve a problem related to church growth:

Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, there arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution, (Acts 6:1).

The number of disciples in the church had grown such that the Apostles needed help with this task, so the Apostles enlisted deacons to perform the needed task,

Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word, (Acts 6:2-4).”

Another of the leadership actions the Apostles performed was appointing a replacement for Judas Iscariot. 

And they prayed and said, “You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.” And they cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles, (Acts 1:24-26).

By appointing another apostle to replace Judas, the Apostles show that the position of an apostle or overseer is to be passed on continuously. This is stated clearly in 2 Timothy:

And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also, (2 Tim 2:2).

This appointing of Overseers is mentioned in the document written around AD 95 from St. Clement, lead Overseer (or Bishop) of Rome, to the church in Corinth,

The apostles have preached the gospel to us from the Lord Jesus Christ; Jesus Christ [has done so] from God. Christ therefore was sent forth by God, and the apostles by Christ. Both these appointments, then, were made in an orderly way, according to the will of God. Having therefore received their orders, and being fully assured by the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and established in the word of God, with full assurance of the Holy Ghost, they went forth proclaiming that the kingdom of God was at hand. And thus preaching through countries and cities, they appointed the first fruits [of their labours], having first proved them by the Spirit, to be bishops and deacons of those who should afterwards believe. Nor was this any new thing, since indeed many ages before it was written concerning bishops and deacons. For thus says the Scripture in a certain place, "I will appoint their bishops in righteousness, and their deacons in faith" (Clement, Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 42).

After Clement describes in Chapter 42 how the Apostles installed new bishops (overseers) and deacons and how the appointing of overseers and bishops is a continuous process, Clement also writes:

Our apostles also knew, through our Lord Jesus Christ, that there would be strife on account of the office of the episcopate. For this reason, therefore, inasmuch as they had obtained a perfect fore-knowledge of this, they appointed those [ministers] already mentioned, and afterwards gave instructions, that when these should fall asleep, other approved men should succeed them in their ministry. We are of opinion, therefore, that those appointed by them, or afterwards by other eminent men, with the consent of the whole church, and who have blamelessly served the flock of Christ, in a humble, peaceable, and disinterested spirit, and have for a long time possessed the good opinion of all, cannot be justly dismissed from the ministry, (Clement, Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 44). 

Successors to the Apostles include Church Fathers such as:

Additional information of those who succeeded the Apostles includes that of Simeon, the son of Clopas. Simeon was elected by the remaining Apostles and disciples to succeed Apostle James, who was martyred around AD 62, as bishop of Jerusalem. 

The success of the unity of the Apostles’ teaching can be read in the writings of St. Irenaeus. Irenaeus describes in his writing, Against Heresies, Book 1, Chapter 10, how the Church, even though it was spread far and wide, still stood in unity and faithfully adhered to apostolic teaching. Records of the popular fourth century Christian historian named, Eusebius, writes about Church Fathers stating how closely related by time they were to the Apostles. St. Irenaeus, for example, was a second generation disciple from Apostle John. Eusebius begins his work with the words, “The succession from the holy apostles,” which demonstrates the early Church establishment of an apostolic line. 

Specific areas of teaching will be covered later.

After the birth of the Church at Pentecost, the Church spread and expanded through the teaching of the Apostles, whom Jesus commanded to “make disciples of all nations, (Matt. 28:19-20).” The Church expanded throughout Judea (Matt. 10:5-6) and into Samaria, which is north of Judea (Acts 8:5). Following the stoning of Stephen in Jerusalem, the Church spread to the Jews and eventually the Gentiles at Antioch (Acts 11:19-21) in modern day Syria. In time the Church expanded into Asia Minor and beyond into Italy, France, Spain, Egypt, England, and Ireland. All the while the Church “continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers, (Acts 2:42) as had been the tradition. 

In Paul’s first missionary journey he established churches in Cyprus (Acts 13:4) at Salamis and around the southern coastline to Paphos (Acts 13:6). Paul departed Paphos and went to Perga in Pamphylia (Acts 13:13), which is now known as Murtana, Turkey. From Perga Paul traveled north to Antioch of Pisidia and preached in that region (Acts 13:14-49). Paul was expelled from Antioch of Pisdia and then traveled east to Iconium (Acts 13:51), which is in modern Konya, Turkey today. He stayed in Iconium a long time and they spoke boldly of the Lord. Paul escaped being stoned at Iconium and fled southwest to Lystra in the region of Lycaonia. Through Paul the Lord healed a crippled man (Acts 14:8-10) while in Lystra. Paul was stoned in Lystra from where he and Barnabas fled and went to Derbe. While in Derbe Paul taught and discipled many believers (Acts 14:21) for a time. They returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and to Antioch in order to confirm the souls of the disciples and to exhort them to continue in the faith in Christ (Acts 14:21-22). After these cities, Paul returned to Pisidia and to Perga before heading to Attalia, which is in Antalya, Turkey today. Paul sailed from Attalia and returned to Antioch in Syria and gave testimony of his work (Acts 14:24-27). During Paul’s missionary journey he ordained overseers in every church (Acts 14:23) to shepherd the believers in those churches. 

Paul’s second missionary journey, AD 50-52, began with visits to churches throughout Syria, Cilicia, Derbe, and Lystra to strengthen the existing churches (Acts 15:40-41; 16:1-5). Paul and his companions Silas and Timothy proceeded through Phrygia and the region of Galatia in Asia Minor (modern Turkey). From Galatia they went to Mysia down to Troas (Acts 16:6-8). Paul set sail to Philippi from Troas after having a vision of a man pleading with Paul to go over to Macedonia and help them (Acts 16:9-10). 

After disembarking from Troas, Paul and his companions landed in Neapolis (Acts 16:11), which is now called Kavala. Neapolis is only nine miles from Phlippi, which is where Paul went and founded a church there with the help of a righteous woman named Lydia (Acts 16:12-15). The Church at Philippi was exceedingly faithful and generous (Phil 4:15-16).

Paul established additional churches in Greece southwest of Philippi in the cities of Amphipolis and Apollonia (Acts 17:1) as well as in Thessalonica (Acts 17:1, 4). After fleeing a mob in Thessalonica, Paul and Silas traveled to Berea and founded a church there also (Acts 17:10-12). Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea while Paul was forced to leave and traveled to Athens. From Athens Paul traveled to Corinth, where Paul “entered the house of a certain man named Justus, (Acts 18:7)” after many members of the synagogue rejected the Gospel of Christ. 

In some instances during the early days of a church the community of believers would gather in the homes of believers converted by Paul such as Justus (Acts 18:7) and Gaius who was “the host of the whole church,” (Romans 16:23). 

The Apostle Paul remained in Corinth for a year and six months (Acts 18:11). According to Tradition, while Paul was in Greece, he wrote six epistles including:

And, of course, from the New Testament we know that five books were written by Paul to churches in Greece: 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, and 2 Thessalonians.

The early church was one united body of Christ. Within this body were five Patriarchates. A Patriarchate is a major center of churches in a region. The five Patriarchates were Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, Constantinople (modern Istanbul), and Rome. 

Although some schematic sects and false teachers were present during the early church era, in the first centuries of the church these departures from apostolic faith and tradition were viewed as heretical and addressed by a council of bishops. In spite of heretical sects the early church remained a unified whole. 

The handling of disputes, false teachings, and disputes by councils is rooted in scripture. In AD 40, for example, a disagreement arose over whether Gentile converts had to adhere to Jewish laws and practices regarding circumcision, 

And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question, (Acts 15:1-2).

This dispute was resolved through a council of bishops or elders at the Council of Jerusalem, “Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter, (Acts 15:6).” Then the Council sent word of their decree to the church at Antioch after discussion and prayer, “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, (Acts 15:28).” 

This scriptural precedent for a synodal council curtailed the possibility of misinterpreting apostolic teachings, of misinterpreting scripture, and of the spread of schismatic sects. This is not to suggest, however, that significant disputes and false teachings did no happen during the early church. There are several examples of of such disputes and false teachings including:

In opposing and in addressing these false teachings, fourth century Church Fathers such as St. Basil, St. John Chrysostom, St. Athanasius, St. Cyril of Alexandria, and St. Gregory of Nyssa held ecumenical councils. The term “ecumenical” means “all the inhabited earth” in Greek. It is important to understand that these council meetings were not convened in order to create new doctrine or new teachings but rather functioned to preserve what Jesus taught His apostles (the apostolic faith) as handed down to them and functioned to correct false teachings. 

The first ecumenical council was held at Nicea in AD 325. Arianism was denounced and defeated at this council. The common statement of Christian orthodox faith known as the Nicene Creed was also issued at this council. Additionally, seven other ecumenical councils from 325 AD to 787 AD were convened to discuss false teachings and decided on correct orthodox Christian doctrines. Many important local councils were also assembled to address local issues. For example, the Third Council of Carthage was held in 397 AD in which the canonization of scripture was finalized and adopted. This list of canonized scripture was later adopted by an ecumenical council thus making this list of scriptures the official collection of scripture for the Christian Church. 

Scripture, in many places, condemns schisms:

Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment, (1 Corinthians 1:10).

The word “division,” as stated in this Scripture, in Greek is “schismata,” which in English is “schism.” This word is also found in 1 Corinthians 11:18,

For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it. 

And it is also found in these scriptures:

that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another, (1 Corinthians 12:25).

so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another, (Romans 12:5).

For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread, (1 Corinthians 10:17).

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling, (Ephesians 4:4).

The early Church Father St. Clement addressed his concerns over schisms in his epistle to the Corinthian church,

Your schism has subverted [the faith of] many, has discouraged many, has given rise to doubt in many, and has caused grief to us all. And still your sedition continues, (Clement, Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 46).

On his way to Rome from Antioch to be martyred in AD 107, St. Ignatius wrote several letters to various churches. To the church in Smyrna he wrote, “But avoid all divisions, as the beginning of evils, (Epistle to the Smyrnaeans, Chapter 7).” To the church at Philippi Ignatius wrote, “flee from division and wicked doctrines, (Epistle to the Philadelphians, Chapter 2), and again 

If any man follows him that makes a schism in the Church, he shall not inherit the kingdom of God. If any one walks according to a strange opinion, he agrees not with the passion [of Christ.], (Epistle to the Philadelphians, Chapter 3).

Here are additional scriptures that request for Christians to remain steadfast in the teachings they have received from Paul and the Apostles:

“Therefore, brothers, stand firm and cling to the traditions we taught you, whether by speech or by letter,” (2 Thessalonians 2:15).

“Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from any brother who leads an undisciplined life that is not in keeping with the tradition you received from us,” (2 Thessalonians 3:6).

“He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it was taught, so that by sound teaching he will be able to encourage others and refute those who contradict this message,” (Titus 1:9).

“Now I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and obstacles that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Turn away from them,” (Romans 16:17).

"Anyone who runs ahead without remaining in the teaching of Christ does not have God. Whoever remains in His teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you but does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your home or even greet him. Whoever greets such a person shares in his evil deeds," (2 John 1:9-11).

The Didache is a well known text of early church traditions and is also known as “The Lord's Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations.” This text contains and preserves many oral teachings and traditions that Gentile converts were taught. The Didache also speaks of church unity of doctrine,

And you shall seek out day by day the faces of the saints, in order that you may rest upon their words. You shall not long for division, but shall bring those who contend to peace, (Didache, Chapter 4).

These scriptures, texts, and writings strongly suggest that early church leadership promoted doctrinal unity and condemned schism. 

Continue to Part II