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Read Ebook: The Early Christians in Rome by Spence Jones H D M Henry Donald Maurice
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Ebook has 2100 lines and 169678 words, and 42 pages
These "assemblies" constituted a powerful factor in the acceptance and organization of the religion of Jesus--Their high importance is recognized by the great teachers of the first days--Quotations from these are given 107
OF WHOM THESE PRIMITIVE "ASSEMBLIES" WERE COMPOSED
Information respecting these early meetings of Believers is supplied by leading Christian teachers--Quotations from these are given 110
WHAT WAS TAUGHT AND DONE IN THESE "ASSEMBLIES"
A general picture of one of them by Justin Martyr-- Dogmatic teaching given in these meetings-- Almsgiving--Is shown to be an inescapable duty--Is pressed home by early masters of Christianity on the faithful--All offerings made were, however, purely voluntary--No communism was ever taught or hinted at in the early Church-- Special dogmatic instruction respecting the value of almsgiving was given by some early teachers--Several of these instructions are given here-- Apart from this somewhat strange dogmatic teaching on the value of almsgiving, the general duty of almsgiving was most strongly impressed on the faithful--Passages emphasizing this from very early writers are here quoted-- Special recipients of these alms are particularized; amongst these, in the first place, widows and orphans, and the sick, appear-- These alms in some cases were not to be confined to the Household of Faith-- Hospitality to strangers is enjoined--References here are given from several prominent early teachers--Help to prisoners for the Name's sake enjoined--Assistance to be given to poorer Churches is recommended-- Burial expenses for the dead among the poorer brethren are to be partly defrayed from the "alms" contributed at the assemblies, partly from private sources--Lactantius, in his summary of Christian duties, dwells markedly on this duty--Important witness of the Roman catacombs here 113
THE SLAVE IN EARLY CHRISTIAN LIFE
Position in Christian society--How the slave was regarded in the "assemblies"--Paulinus of Nola quoted on the general Christian estimate of a slave--How this novel view of the slave was looked on by pagans 134
A general summary of the effect which all this teaching current in the primitive "assemblies" had on the policy and work of the Church in subsequent ages 137
DIFFICULTIES IN ORDINARY LIFE AMONG THE EARLY CHRISTIANS
Difficulties in common life for the Christian who endeavoured to carry out the precepts and teaching given in the "assemblies" are sketched--In family life--In trades--In the amusements of the people--In civil employments--In the army--In matters of education--A general summary of such difficulties is quoted from De Broglie 140
THE ASCETIC AND THE MORE PRACTICAL SCHOOLS OF TEACHING
WHAT THE RELIGION OF JESUS OFFERED IN RETURN FOR THIS HARD LIFE TO RIGOURISTS, AND IN A SLIGHTLY LESS DEGREE TO ALL FOLLOWERS OF THE SECOND SCHOOL
Freedom from ever-present fear of death--S. Paul, Ignatius, and especially epitaphs in the Roman catacombs are referred to here-- New terminology for death, burial, etc., used-- The ever-present consciousness of forgiveness of sins-- Hope of immediate bliss after death--The power of the revelation of S. John in early Christian life-- Was Christian life in the early centuries after all a dreary existence, as the pagans considered it? 153
THE INNER LIFE OF THE CHURCH
PART I
A.D. 64-A.D. 180
INTRODUCTORY
The early Church remained continually under the veiled shadow of persecution--This state of things we learn, not from the "Acts of the Martyrs," which, save in a certain number of instances, are of questionable authority, but from fragments which have come down to us of contemporary writings--Extracts from two groups of the more important of these are quoted 163
QUOTATIONS FROM APOSTLES, ETC.
QUOTATIONS FROM WRITINGS OF THE SECOND CENTURY
PART II
TRAINING FOR MARTYRDOM
INTRODUCTORY
The sight of the martyrs' endurance under suffering had a marked effect on the pagan population. This was noticed and dreaded by the Roman magistracy. Efforts were constantly made by the Government to arrest or at least to limit the number of martyrs 193
OF THE SPECIAL TRAINING FOR MARTYRDOM
The Church conscious of the powerful effect of a public martyrdom upon the pagan crowds--established a training for--a preparation in view of a possible martyrdom--This training included: A public recitation in the congregations of Christians of the "Acts," "Visions," and "Dreams" of confessors-- The preparation of special manuals prepared for the study of Christians--In these manuals our Lord's words were dwelt on-- A prolonged practice of austerities, with the view of hardening the body for the endurance of pain 197
QUOTATIONS FROM TERTULLIAN, ETC.
Certain of Tertullian's references to this preparation, and to the austerities practised with this view, are quoted. S. Ignatius's words in his letter to the Roman Church are a good example of what was the use of the Church in the early years of the second century--Some of the words in question are quoted 202
THE GREAT NUMBERS OF MARTYRS IN THE FIRST TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS
INTRODUCTORY
Christian tradition by no means exaggerates the number of martyrs--the contrary, indeed, is the case--In the first two hundred and fifty years the general tone of the early Christian writings dwells on those blood-stained days--But the great pagan authors of the second century, Tacitus and Pliny, are the most definite on the question of the vast number of martyrs--Here is cited a new piece of evidence concerning these great numbers from notices in the "Pilgrim Itineraries" or "Guides" to the catacombs of the sixth and following centuries--These tell us what the pilgrims visited--The vast numbers of martyrs in the different cemeteries again and again are dwelt upon 207
List of the various cemeteries and their locality, with special notice of numbers of martyrs buried in each 210
SPECIAL REFERENCE IN THE "MONZA" PAPYRUS, ETC.
The "Monza" Catalogue--made for Queen Theodolinda by Gregory the Great, with notices of number of martyrs from the catalogue in question--Inscriptions of Pope Damasus--References by the poet Prudentius on the number of martyrs 214
DEDUCTIONS FROM THE "MONZA" CATALOGUE AND "PILGRIM" GUIDES
General summary, allowing for some exaggeration in the "Pilgrim" Guides and in the "Monza" Catalogue, on the great numbers of these confessors and martyrs 215
BOOK IV
THE ROMAN CATACOMBS
PART I
INTRODUCTORY
The nature of the catacombs' witness to the secret of the "Inner Life" of the Church--A brief sketch of the contents of the Fourth Book 219
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