This discussion series contains videos from the Early & Medieval History playlist on Ryan Reeve’s YouTube channel. The topics covered here deal with topics from ancient history through the Late Middle Ages, just before the Reformation.
List of discussion pages based on the Early & Medieval History playlist from Ryan Reeves
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At the time the gospel spread throughout the Mediterranean in the first century AD, it mostly traveled through parts of the world under Roman control. For this reason, it is beneficial to examine Roman society and culture to help us get a better understanding of this world of the Early Church. Roman society influenced both Jewish and Christian communities and religious expression, and while the New Testament may have ended up written in Greek not Latin, the influence of Roman society and culture can nonetheless be felt all throughout, once you know to look for it.
Believers in the early church faced persecution from the Romans. Based upon how some textbooks and such talk about things, you might think believers in the first couple centuries after Christ were very systematically persecuted, but this was actually not the case. Up until around 284 AD (around when the imperial power structure shifted from what historians call the “Principate” to the “Dominate”), Christians faced persecution that was largely sporadic and localized, rather than empire-wide. In this video, we talk about some examples of persecution of early believers (for example, under the Roman emperors Nero and Trajan), as well as going over the concept of source analysis and how we can even know some of these things to begin with.
One of the heresies the Early Church faced came from the gnostics, a group people whose belief system emphasized truth beyond this world (to be attained through mystical experiences), hatred of the material world, and elitist or secret knowledge. The gnostics tended towards a strong form of self-denial and asceticism, and their total shunning of the material world led them to radically different interpretations in some areas, relative to Christianity proper. They were not much concerned with faithfulness to the scriptures, but freely borrowed from other philosophies and religions of their time, and wrote their own sacred texts external to the Bible. Since parts of the Bible clearly contradict their teachings just at first glance, it is no surprise that this group threw it out and went their own way. The gnostics did not pretend to be Christian, but set themselves above and against Christianity. Even today, certain patterns of thought can mirror the problematic beliefs of this long-ago group, so it can be useful to examine the issues with gnostic teachings and how they came about, in order to better understand them and protect against them.
While some credit the early Church Councils and Creeds with developing doctrine, they primarily sought to refine the theological terminology used to describe biblical doctrines (doctrines which Christians undoubtedly believed long prior to these formal meetings). Church Councils sought to clarify how the Church discussed theological concepts, often in response to heresy. Modalism (the concept that God is one being, yet shows Himself in three different “modes”) was one of the earliest heresies regarding the relationship between the Father and the Son (and the Spirit). Modalism was rejected by the Church due to its incompatibility with the truth of Scripture. Alternative explanations arose in response, including Arianism, which denies that Christ is co-eternal with the Father. In short, while giving us useful historical background to contextualize theological points, the determinations of Church Councils and Creeds are not the basis for our theological positions; that is a place reserved for the Bible alone.
To properly understand the council of Nicea, we must understand the historical, political, and spiritual backdrop surrounding that event. Constantine had come to the throne and unified the empire after the civil wars of the Diocletian era, and likely wanted to promote a unified and undivided Christianity. Heresies related to the doctrine of the Trinity were spreading. With anti-Modalism at its roots, Arius and others were teaching that the Father, Son and Spirit do not share the same essence but have unity of will, describing the Father as the “Unbegotton One” and teaching that the Son is a mere creature. In response to the threat of Arianism, some bishops prevailed upon Constantine to support an ecumenical council, thus giving Arians and Non-Arians a chance to discuss the doctrine of the Trinity. Alexander of Alexandria convinced the other bishops that Arianism violated a plain reading of Scripture and causes problems with soteriology. Those attending the Council of Nicea sought to affirm the unity of God while also affirming the proper division between the Father and the Son, and the Nicene Creed resulted.
Contrary to prevailing misconceptions, the Middle Ages did not merely consist of people laboring through their miserable lives only to die an early death. Although this time period had certain customs and beliefs that we in the 21st century might find odd, the world during this time was not completely lacking in hygiene, money, art, or medicine. Many interesting artistic, theological and literary developments occurred during the Middle Ages.
To help conceptualize the overall sweep of the times, the Middle Ages are typically broken down into three separate periods: The Early Middle Ages, The High Middle Ages, and the Later Middle Ages. The developments and events that took place across this span of time (c. 500 A.D. to c. 1500 A.D.) are important to understanding and explaining how Western Civilization came to be; you cannot skip straight from Greece and Rome to the Renaissance. To properly understand what led to the Reformation, we must study the Middle Ages. History is more than a jumble of names, dates and places. Events happen within specific circumstances, and studying the background context will help us trace the lines of cause and effect throughout history. So this is why we study the Middle Ages before turning our attention to the Reformation.
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