Meditation%20Monday%20Fruits%20from%20God

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• Meditation Monday Fruits from God
• In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love,
  joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity,
  faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against
  such there is no law.  Gal.5.22-23
• God is Spirit and He is bringing fruits to your
  life! When you spend time in His presence praying
  and meditating when you read the Holy Scriptures
  or go to the mass when you take communion - his
  Spirit is working in you, bringing wonderful
  fruits to you life.
• There are many different fruits you can bring in
  the Kingdom of God. Those described above are the
  fruits of your internal transformation. God is
  changing you when you spend time with Him! His
  Holy Word is filling your soul when you read it. 
• How in short we can describe those fruits? They
  are features of Gods character. If you are
  changed and people can see those fruits in your
  life, they can see God in you! As children of God
  we should manifest his character!
• It is one of our main aims to be like Him! And
  it is possible my dear! It is possible for the
  least important lay person, not only for
  religious people! It is possible for you and me.
  You can resemble Gods character, because God
  said so!

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Early church

• 33 A.D. 313 A.D.

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Rapid Growth of Christianity

• Christianity spreads throughout the Roman Empire
  EXTREMELY FAST!
• 1. Divine Assistance help from J.C. and H.S.
• 2. Zeal of evangelists and converts
• 3. Catholic or universal this religion is for
  all
• 4. Sense of unity
• This quick expansion of the new religion causes
  Roman and Jewish authoritys fear and suspicion.

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Beliefs and Practices

• Baptism
• Sunday as the Sabbath
• Mass/Holy Eucharist (Body, Blood, Soul, and
  Divinity)
• Sacred Scripture used, not official Bible until
  4th c.
• Non-violent
• Against abortion and contraception
• Taught love and equality

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House Liturgies

• Eucharist is at the heart of Christian worship.
• Mass celebrations occurred within private homes
  or in catacombs. Had to be secret due to
  persecutions.
• Liturgy of the Word
• Liturgy of the Eucharist
• Some churches were built when tolerant Emperors
  ruled, often destroyed under future persecutions
  though.

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Hierarchy

• Different people have different roles within the
  Church which determine their level of leadership
  and responsibility
• Based on Pauls teaching that the different
  members of the Body of Christ have different
  functions
• From the early Church the roles and
  responsibilities of bishops, priests, deacons and
  laypeople were standard
• The formalities of the different roles developed
  with time as need arose

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Early Church Hierarchy

• Bishops name comes from Greek word for
  supervisor, regional leaders under the authority
  of the pope (the Bishop of Rome, called the 1st
  among equals)
• Deacon/Deaconess supported the ministry of the
  Bishop especially related to taking care of
  people with special needs
• Presbyters name comes from the word for elder
  exclusive representatives of the bishop as
  Christian communities grew (equivalent of modern
  day priests)

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Persecution and Martyrdom
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Timed Round Robin

• Same as Round Robin except each person has 20
  seconds to answer an open ended question.
• Describe a time you have been of seen someone be
  persecuted for their faith.

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Martyrdom

• Martyr Greek for witness
• First known Christian martyr St. Stephen
• Feast day December 26th immediately after
  Christmas - a way of making us aware of the early
  Church
• Early Christians expected to die for Christ.
  Their love and zeal for Jesus and each other is
  HUGE.
• Immense suffering was endured in the name of
  Christ.

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Persecutions

• a program or campaign to exterminate, drive away,
  or subjugate a people because of their religion,
  race or beliefs.
• Remember the Protomartyr Stephen. Stoned to
  death outside of Jerusalem.

• Christians are persecuted all over including
  Syria, Greece, Asia Minor, and Europe (France and
  Spain).
• The Roman persecution is perhaps the most
  infamous.
• Romans tolerated Christianity (because of their
  tolerance of Judaism) until it came into direct
  conflict with the desires of the emperor
• Ex Emperor worship

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History of Roman Persecutions

• 64 Nero (scapegoat for his fire)- Christiani
  non Sint
• 81 Domitian (1st worldwide)
• 98 Trajan (do not seek Christians but punish
  if reported and convicted)
• 138 Antonius Pius
• 161 Marcus Aurelius
• 193 Septimus Severus
• 211 First Era of Peace

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• 250 Decius (Required public worship of Roman
  gods) Disappointing amount of apostates.
• 257 Valerian
• 260 Second Era of Peace
• 303 Dioceltians Great Persecution very
  effective ruler who divided the empire into
  sections called dioceses as a way of controlling
  the empires growing problems
• 313 Edict of Milan ends major Roman Persecutions
  (next Chapter)

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Thinking Thursday

• A man walks into a bar and asks the bartender for
  a glass of water. The bartender reaches under the
  bar and brings out a gun and aims it at the man.
  The man says thank you and leaves. What happened?
• Solution The man had the hiccups and wanted a
  glass of water to help get rid of them. The
  bartender could hear the hiccups when the man
  spoke, so he brought the gun out to scare the
  hiccups away. It worked and the man thanked him
  and left, no longer needing the glass of water.

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St. Ignatius of Antioch Letter to the Romans

• Read Chapter 1-8.
• Each member should read 2 paragraphs to their
  team.

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• Questions to Answer (separate sheet)
• Round Robin Write
• Why does Ignatius not want to be saved from his
  death?
• How does he expect/want to die?
• What things is Ignatius willing to go through so
  long as he attains Christ?
• Having read the Letter what are your impressions
  of Ignatius?
• What can you relate the passion and zeal of
  Ignatius to in you own lives?

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Primary Source

• The following account was written by the Roman
  historian Tacitus in his book Annals published a
  few years after the event. Tacitus was a young
  boy living in Rome during the time of the
  persecutions.
• "Therefore, to stop the rumor that he had set
  Rome on fire, he Emperor Nero falsely charged
  with guilt, and punished with the most fearful
  tortures, the persons commonly called Christians,
  who were generally hated for their enormities.
  Christus, the founder of that name, was put to
  death as a criminal by Pontius Pilate, procurator
  of Judea, in the reign of Tiberius, but the
  pernicious superstition - repressed for a time,
  broke out yet again, not only through Judea, -
  where the mischief originated, but through the
  city of Rome also, whither all things horrible
  and disgraceful flow from all quarters, as to a
  common receptacle, and where they are encouraged.
  Accordingly first those were arrested who
  confessed they were Christians next on their
  information, a vast multitude were convicted, not
  so much on the charge of burning the city, as of
  "hating the human race."

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Why is this happening? (Causes of Persectution)

• Christians were not pagan
• Christians believed in equality
• Romans feared slave rebellion
• Emperors were not worshipped or seen as divine.

• Rumors and fallacies about Christianity also
  sparked persecutions.
• Eucharist thought to be cannibalism
• Idea of brothers/sisters of Christ thought to
  bring about incest.

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Effects of Persecution

• I.UNITY - Created a profound unity among the
  Christians and led to a more organized structure
• II. MORE CHRISTIANS -Increased the number of
  converts
• People thought that there must be something to
  the faith if these people were willing to die for
  it.
• III. MORE PERSECUTIONS - Frustration grew among
  the oppressors and set off more persecution

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Catacombs

• An underground series of tunnels, chambers and
  tombs dug by Christians to serve as burial
  places, shrines, and places of worship.
• Many martyrs and Christians were buried within
  these underground cemeteries.

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Martyrs of the Church

• The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the
  Church Tertullian.
• St. Ignatius (50-107 A.D.) First to use
  Catholic Church eaten by lions
• St. Justin Martyr (100-165 A.D.)- Great apologist
  of the faith- scourged and beheaded.
• St. Irenaeus (130-202 A.D.)- Orthodox defender of
  the Faith
• St. Clement of Rome His letters to the
  Corinthians first evidence of Papal Primacy.

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St. Clement of Rome

• Third successor of Peter (4th pope)
• Martyred by Trajan in 110 AD
• His letter to the Corinthians provides example of
  Papal Primacy. His tone of authority reveals the
  executive position that the Bishop of Rome had
  early on in the Churhc.

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Heresy in the Early Church

• Gnosticism
• Marcionism (144-400s)
• Manichaeism (250s 1000s)
• Montanism (156-200s)
• Docetism (30s -100)

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Apologists-Theyre not sorry

• Apologetics- The defense of the Faith. Coming
  from the Greek word apologia meaning defense.
• St. Aristides
• St. Justin Martyr
• Tatian
• Athenagoras
• St. Thepophilus
• Minucius Felix
• Tertullian

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Gnosticism

• Gnosticism thought to predate Christianity but
  borrows and copies many rites and figures.
• Believe that the Spirit is good and matter is
  bad- dualism.
• Comes from Greek word gnosis meaning knowledge
• Denied the Incarnation (God Who is good could not
  have taken on a body which is evil. Proved this
  with secret knowledge

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• https//www.youtube.com/watch?vYqQUHXfqR6I

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Gnosticism Continued

• (114) Simon Peter said to him, "Let Mary leave
  us, for women are not worthy of life." Jesus
  said, "I myself shall lead her in order to make
  her male, so that she too may become a living
  spirit resembling you males. For every woman who
  will make herself male will enter the kingdom of
  heaven." Gospel of Thomas (Gnostic literature).