The Ancient Church

The Book of Acts - 21st Century

“…I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:19

The First 300 Years - A Church Built on The Blood of The Martyrs

Jesus had foretold that His disciples would be hated and persecuted for His sake, with some being put to death (Luke 21:12). His words were soon fulfilled, as Stephen the Protodeacon was stoned to death outside the Temple. The Apostle James was also stoned after being violently pushed from the heights of the Temple. The Apostles Peter, Andrew, Phillip, and Bartholomew were crucified, and the Apostle Paul was beheaded. The Apostle Thomas was speared to death. Only the Apostle John did not taste martyrdom, but he suffered other forms of persecution. Others, like St. Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna and disciple of the Apostle John, were bound and burned at the stake.

The Jewish religious leaders were in hot pursuit of Christians throughout Palestine - men, women and children. They concocted false reports of Christians in order to incite the Roman emperors. One example is the tale that the Christians ate human flesh and drank human blood, a reference to the Holy Eucharist. Roman misfortunes, such as the great fire of Rome in 64 A.D. gave Emperor Nero impetus to blame it on the Christians without any evidence, and to order their arrest and lethal punishment. According to the historian, Tacitus, Nero used Christian prisoners as human torches for his garden parties. Subsequent emperors were enraged at Christians for their refusal to offer sacrifices or prayers to their false Roman idols. Every conceivable tool of torture was employed. From Nero to Galerius, 11 emperors over a span of nearly 300 years failed to destroy the Church during their reign of terror.

The Church Emerges Victorious

The early Jewish converts to Christianity oftentimes gathered for prayer either at the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, at synagogues, or in the homes of affluent members like Aquila and Priscilla (1 Corinthians 16:19). In the West, the Christians fleeing Rome hid in caves carved atop the unique mountain formations of Cappadocia, Turkey. In Rome, they celebrated the Divine Liturgy secretly in the catacomb caves underneath the city streets. As they learned about the martyrdom of one of their spiritual brethren, they would collect the martyr’s holy remains and bury them with joyful sadness, knowing that a crown of glory awaited them. It was customary for the Church to celebrate the Divine Liturgy at a different martyr’s tomb each Sunday, in honor of that saint. The holy chalice containing the consecrated gifts of the transformed bread and wine was placed over the tomb, which served as an altar. To this day, every consecrated Orthodox altar contains small bone fragments of early Church martyrs, as a testimonial to the historical Church founded on the blood of Jesus and His victorious martyrs. We also commemorate one or more saints each Sunday during the Divine Liturgy, as was done 2,000 years ago.

On 312 A.D., at the battle of Milvian bridge over the Tiber River, Roman emperor Constantine saw a vision of the Chi Rho symbol (the first two Greek letters of the name “Christ”) in the sky and heard the words: “By this sign, conquer!” Constantine attributed his victory over his rival Maxentius to divine favor. In 313 A.D. he issued the Edict of Milan, legalizing the Christian faith and ending the persecutions. The Church was now able to meet openly. He eventually transferred the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome (the West) to Constantinople in Turkey (the East), and also decreed Christianity as the official religion of the empire. Prior to his death, he converted to the Christian faith, and is regarded as one of the great saints of the Holy Orthodox Church. The Church has his holy relics.

Emperor Constantine’s mother, Empress Helen, was a Christian convert. With her son’s imperial authority and resources, she set out to locate the most important Christian holy sites and erected large, beautiful basilicas. One notable example is the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, housing the site of Golgotha and the Holy Tomb. Another example is the Church of St. Katherine at the base of Mt. Sinai in Egypt (the chapel was built over the roots of the original burning bush). She also led the imperial expedition to unearth the site of the Golgotha limestone quarry and recover the True Cross.

The Great Schism

For the first 1,000 years since Pentecost, there existed only One Christian Church, and despite cultural differences and wide distances, it remained intact as the One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. The word Catholic denoted the singularity or universality of this multi-geographic Body, while the word Apostolic denoted the historical authority of this Body. Through the journeys of the Apostles and missionaries, the Church spread the gospel message throughout the Roman Empire from as far east as Ukraine, to as far west as Great Britain and Ireland. The churches forming this One Body in the East were established in major ancient centers of Christianity in Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria and Constantinople under the oversight of bishops with the title of Patriarch, while the churches in the West were under the authority of the great see of Rome led by the bishop with the title of Pope. Until 300 A.D. Greek was the universal language of the Church and of the Bible. In 300 A.D. the church in Rome replaced Greek with Latin in its mass, while the churches in the East held to the Greek (later incorporating Arabic and other languages). The 4th century witnessed the propagation of heresies regarding the natures of Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mary, iconography, and other doctrines requiring 7 Ecumenical Councils (an assembly of bishops, priests and laypersons) from the 4th to 8th centuries to solidify the correct doctrine of the Church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The first two Councils developed the Church’s Creed, listing its foundational tenets or mission statement. The Church of the East (i.e. The Orthodox Church) recites this Creed every Sunday during Divine Liturgy. However, differences in theological and linguistic expressions, along with political ambitions emerged over centuries. By 1054 A.D. two main issues drove a wedge between East and West - the primacy of the Pope over all the bishops of the East, and the insertion by the West of the Filioque into the Creed. The Pope insisted on his supremacy under the belief he alone held the keys of the kingdom of heaven as successor to the Apostle Peter in Rome. The Eastern bishops maintained that while the Roman bishop was held in honor as “first among equals,” all bishops had equal authority in the Church. Indeed, the Apostle Paul, himself, defended his church authority against those in the Church who devoted their allegiances to certain individual leaders (1 Corinthians 1:12-14). The issue of the Filioque (Latin term: “and the Son”) involved the West’s addition to the Creed that the Holy Spirit proceeds from “The Father and The Son,” changing the original doctrine which affirmed that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father. At first glance it may seem a minor detail not worth splitting over, yet there is great significance. It fundamentally changed the correct theology that the Father is the Source of the Godhead, from Whom the Son is eternally begotten, and from Whom the Holy Spirit eternally proceeds. In John 14:26, Jesus tells His disciples that the Father would send the Spirit in Jesus’ name, in harmony with the early statement of the Creed. The unresolved differences in papal supremacy and in the Filioque resulted in mutual excommunication to this day, splitting the Church into East and West. The East became known in latter times as the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the West became known as the Roman Catholic Church. Over the centuries, the gulf between East and West widened, as the West introduced controversial innovations rejected by the East such as: indulgences, purgatory, papal infallibility, the Immaculate Conception, communion with unleavened wafers, and others. The East fought to maintain the faith of the apostles by resisting changes or additions to its early doctrines. The phronema, or spirit, of both sides became distinctive, as the West became more practical and scholastic (accommodating to the changing times), while the East remained deeply mystical and ageless.

The Rise of the Protestant Reformation

Following the division between East and West, Church relations suffered as the West applied political pressure on the East, especially as the threat of invasion from Ottoman forces against Constantinople became real. The year 1204 A.D. marked the infamous sacking of the Holy Orthodox seat of Constantinople during the 4th Crusade. During this attack, the Orthodox were slaughtered and the holy churches were looted of their sacred treasures, including the holy relics of apostles and saints which were transferred to Venice and other European centers. In 1517 A.D., a German Roman Catholic priest-monk, Martin Luther, revolted against the corruption in the Vatican for, among other things, instituting the sale of indulgencies (reduction in the length and severity of punishment for sins). The money collected from the indulgencies went to the Vatican’s treasury to finance the construction of St. Peter’s basilica. Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of All Saints Church in Wittenberg. His aim initially was solely to reform the Roman Catholic church, but eventually his followers sprang a new confession of faith. While he looked favorably upon the Orthodox Church, or, as he referred to it, the Greeks, for holding fast to the apostolic teaching and likewise rejecting the Roman Catholic practice of indulgences and its doctrines on purgatory, priestly celibacy etc., there were unresolved disagreements over the understanding of justification, intercessory prayers of the saints, the canonical books of the Bible, and the sacraments. The Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople, as a guardian of the Apostolic Faith, was not inclined to conform to Luther’s Augsburg Confession. Meanwhile, there also arose contemporaneous theological disagreements among the Protestant Reformers: Luther, Zwilling, and Calvin. With each of them holding firm to his own private interpretation of Scripture, their followers formed separate assemblies or churches. Now, 500 years later, there are thousands of “modern” denominations, each claiming to hold the true faith of the apostles, yet differing on central matters of the faith. So much doctrinal divergence and confusion over the last few centuries has led many today to search for the ancient Apostolic Church.

What is the Orthodox Church?

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**What does Orthodox mean?**

Words matter. The Early Church called herself the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. However, as heretical ideas crept within the Church concerning the nature of God, the dual nature of Jesus, the veneration of Mary, icons, and other doctrines, it became necessary for the Church to convene ecumenical councils to expound the truth. By the 4th century, those who embraced the Church’s true doctrine were referred to as orthodox, which in Greek means “true or correct glory.” Meanwhile, those remaining in error were referred to as heterodox, meaning “other glory” which runs contrary to the original Faith. When Jesus met the Samaritan woman by the well, she made the distinction of the Samaritans worshiping God on Mt. Gerizim in contrast with the Jews who worshipped in Jerusalem. Jesus told her that she did not understand what she worshipped. He went on to say: “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.” (John 4:23). The Holy Orthodox Church holds in her trust the preservation of the teachings passed down from Jesus, the apostles, and the holy fathers. This enables us to worship in spirit and truth. As times change, the Church remains the same bedrock of Truth. Rather than changing Truth to conform to society’s changing norms, we aim for the Truth to change us.