Papers

Early Christian Church or Sect?

Romans and Christians

Pauline Churches

The Bible in E.A. Robinson

Christian Kingship

      In the early part of its history the Christian religion finds itself shaped and molded by a particular self-image. Ernst Troeltsch and Louis Swift utilize a sectarian model of the Church that points to an almost wholly devoted concern for the Church over the surrounding society. As with any theoretical model, there are inconsistencies and unexplainable elements, but taken as a whole, the sectarian Church is most like the Church that develops before the fourth century.

      The sectarian Christian community sees itself as a group separate and distinct from the community at large. Indeed, this can be seen in even the language used to describe the two radically different groups. The author of The Martyrdom of Polycarp notes that the onlookers at Polycarp's public martyrdom notice "a difference between the unbelievers and the elect." The holy man's death is something remarkable to the Christians because of their veneration of the martyrs, but allegedly the crowd also finds the martyrdom remarkable in that Polycarp seems to be under supernatural protection from the flame. The language of "unbeliever" contrasted with "elect" demonstrates how the Christians see themselves as a people chosen out of the multitudes to know the one true God. It is to Polycarp's credit that "he is even spoken of by the heathen in every place." A more condemning and specific term than "heathen" is "idolater," because it underscores the specific sin with which the heathen offends God. Often the church fathers used the example of the heathen to shame the Christians. Tertullian writes that Christians are judged by a greater number of offences than "even the heathen world has decided to punish." He also writes that the "heathen are more faithful to their own persuasion," not celebrating Christian festivals in the way that Christians celebrate the ones. Implicitly these references are used in such a way as to say that Christians are meant to be different from the heathen, and not only different but more moral and holy. The terms of their speech represent the Christian mindset.

      Christian subculture involves many practices that differ from the traditional. These practices serve to separate the Christians in deed as well as in word. The instruction of the Didache to pray the Lord's Prayer three times a day seems similar enough to the prayers offered at the shrines to the gods that one would find walking through the public spaces of any Greco-Roman city. Other religious observances such as the Eucharist cannot so easily be equated with a similar practice. John Chrysostom feels the need to dispel the attacks of the s who say that the Christians are cannibals because they claim to eat the body and blood of Christ. Throughout their early history, Christians are commonly attacked for their refusal to participate in the imperial cult and the polytheistic worship rituals that are so much a part of life. With so much to set them apart, it is no wonder that Christians feel opposition on every side. Tertullian writes that the "blasphemy which attests my Christian faith by detesting me because of it, is close to martyrdom." Athenagoras compares the opposition to Christians with the opposition to great men of ancient Greece such as Pythagoras, Hera us, Democritus, and Socrates. He sees such opposition as the natural order of things and the only possible reaction to the virtuous Christians. Perhaps Athenagoras is also implying here that the s will later come to respect the Christians whom they persecute just as they now call the Greek thinkers great.

      The chasm between the two worlds of the Christians and the s is excellently illustrated in St. Augustine's City of God. Augustine contrasts two character types represented by a self-serving earthly city and a God-serving Heavenly one. Both co-exist but they are by their very natures opposed. Tertullian encourages the Christians to "mourn while the world rejoices and afterwards rejoice when the world mourns." He also warns, "We are allowed to live with the heathen, but we are not allowed to die with them.... We share the world with them, but not in their error." So even as Christians were forced to live side by side with s, they were urged not to be like them, not to live like them, not to sin like them. Such concern for their own holiness apart from the s may be the principle reason why they behave in a sectarian manner, introverted on themselves, and lacking a strong impetus to reform their society and the people with whom they make daily contact in life.

      There are still other reasons why Christians seemingly lack a social outlook in their early sectarian history. One is that they still believe in Christ's imminent and glorious return. The Didache quotes Matthew 24 and Luke 12 when it warns to "'be ready,' for 'you do not know the hour when our Lord is coming.'" Christians may be more concerned with preparing their own souls for judgment following the second coming than leading the lost to the path of righteousness. Athenagoras tells Christians that "it is not enough to be just - justice consisting in returning blows - but we have to be generous and to put up with evil." Perhaps Christians practice too much toleration and not enough reform. Maybe they feel content to be freed from the of the evil world in which they live. Such complacency may also be found in Athenagoras' mentioning that Christians pray for the emperor's well-being and the growth of his empire in order that they "may lead a quiet and peaceable life. The Christians seek peace and not conflict. Evangelism and social reform are nearly always accompanied by some amount of strife. Perhaps they only desire to carry on in their own perfection.

      This matter of perfection plays a key part in the identity of a sectarian Church. Louis Swift describes the sectarian church as directing "almost all its attention to sanctifying its own members according to some idealistic and absolute principles of orthodoxy and takes little cognizance of what others think." Much of early Christian literature is marked by the pursuance of perfection. Writers such as Tertullian note that Christians are expected to be more righteous and moral than the average person. Scripturally this higher standard is underscored in Matthew 5 where, according to Tertullian, Jesus points "to the adultery present even in desire, whenever there is a lustful glance of the eye or a shameless impulse of the soul." For the most part, the early Church follows the sectarian model very well in its conforming to the absolute righteousness that Christians find in the Scriptures. There are, however, several peculiar instances that seem to point to a more ecclesial Church that wants to make following the will of God easier for its members. In the Didache, one line reads, "If you can bear the Lord's full yoke, you will be perfect. But if you cannot, then do what you can." This seems to be opposed to the idea that there is one absolute standard of righteousness. It encourages each individual to work towards the ideal of perfection without realistically expecting the individual to attain it in full. Similarly the instructions for baptism in the Didache show a willingness to modify the details of religious practice to make it accessible for everyone. The teaching is non-restrictive and allows for individual freedom in the Christian's understanding of the religion. Tertullian deals with the problem of living in a world of evil by writing in one case, "Indeed I wish it were possible for us never to see what we must not do. But since the evil one has surrounded the world with idolatry, we may legitimately be present on some occasions when we are at the service of a man, not an idol." This seems to say in ecclesial fashion that Christians should still participate in society instead of closing themselves off. They accept the reality of the imperfect and try to adjust to it. Still these and other references make up only the smallest part of the literature in which they are contained. There are many more reasons to support the sectarian model of the Church.

      Most of the literature suggests that Christians, or at least the Christian leaders, approached their goal of perfection in very stringent and well-defined terms. The Didache points to a careful vigilance when it instructs, "'a lifetime of faith will be of no advantage' to you unless you prove perfect at the very last." Athenagoras says the same in writing that Christians "realize that God is a witness day and night of our thoughts and our speech, and that ... being pure light he can see into our very hearts." Remembrance of Jesus' words in Matthew 5 becomes all the more important when one believes that God can see sin manifested even in the inner workings of the heart and mind. And it seems that Christians do take Jesus seriously and place thought and deed on the same level of significance. Keeping this in mind, Athenagoras writes, "if [the religious salutation, or kiss] is defiled by the slightest evil thought, it excludes us from eternal life." This is a strong statement indeed. Partly it is a testament to the importance placed on religious ceremony or practice, but it also inspires utter holiness. Few concessions are made to those Christians who feel that sin is inevitable because of the sinful world in which they live or because of their own sinful natures. Tertullian does not give craftsmen, makers of idols, even an inch in allowing them to continue in the profession of their life before Christ. He teaches that Christians cannot go on sinning, even for the sake of earning a living. John Chrysostom's take on the sinful society is that Christians must not do as the heathen and attend the theater where there is lustfulness that brings shame to a marriage. This seems a sectarian Church view, but he does not advocate complete separation from society. He writes, "I do not make it a law that you are to occupy the mountains and the deserts, but to be good and considerate and chaste, dwelling in the midst of the city." Still it seems that this is more sectarian than ecclesial in that there is not a driving urge to reform the society but rather to be holy and blameless themselves, examples set apart from the world.

      It appears that, in keeping with the sectarian self-image of the Church, Christians keep a watchful eye for heresies and false teachings. To protect the purity of the body of Christ, they are quick to point out heretics and expel them. Just as strong as the need to be set apart is the need to be cohesive within the "sect." The Marcionite camp, as a well-organized heresy, takes the brunt of the purging. Tertullian speaks against those who ascribe "inconstancy to God, like the Marcionites who destroy his deity by making him mutable on the ground that he orders in one place what he forbids in another." Again a story about the blessed martyr Polycarp alleges "that once when Marcion, after whom the Marcionites are called, met the holy Polycarp and said, 'Do you know us, Polycarp?' he said to Marcion, 'I know you; I know the first-born of Satan.'" These Church fathers leave no doubt as to how they feel about heretics who teach against the established views of the Church. Even as the sectarian Church concentrates on purifying the individual members, the body too must be without false teaching. Tertullian applies the same harsh stance toward magicians such as Simon Magus who make light of the Holy Spirit and perform false miracles in His name. Heresies are an especially serious threat to a sectarian Church.

      The description of the pre-Constantinian Church as sectarian seems a very excellent way to understand the context of the various ethical concerns of that era. Social, cultural, and political opposition to the Christians forces them to draw away from the mainstream and to their own body of believers. It does not appear that this model needs any significant amount of revision as it provides a very well-supported framework for explaining the attitudes within the church. In Jeremiah 1.5, God speaks to Jeremiah saying, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations." The sectarian Church understands its calling from God to be distinct among the multitudes, but it does not yet understand His parallel calling to be a force of change among the nations.