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Paul's contribution to the spread of Christianity
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The Christian church has endured struggles to remain dominant throughout history. Following the resurrection of Christ, many other religions appeared and quickly gained traction. Within Christianity itself, lied different beliefs all disputing each other. Through this internal fight for dominance, blossomed early church theologians. These theologians conveyed a fresh set of ideals that forever transformed the beliefs in the church. Many of which fought for their specific beliefs and reinforced them with biblical foundations. Among these was the theologian Clement of Alexandra who represented that perfectly. His teachings changed the church for the better and brought light to the hidden darkness of heresy. Throughout his life, Clement influenced the early church and in turn effected the beliefs still held by the church today.
Clement of Alexandria was born circa 150 A.D. in Athens, Greece. Not many details or specifics are known about his life other than his influence on the early Christian church. Most of the information we do know came from his own writings or those of Eusebius. “Clement studied first in Athens and then traveled to Italy, Syria and Palestine to seek further instruction.” (Marcovich, 1995) Eventually he made his way to Alexandria where he led the famous catechetical school and library because his studies had surpassed those of his instructors. Clement was an important author and theologian who flourished during the end of the second century A.D. and the beginning of the third. Clements teachings came during the time of the Gnostics and often rivaled their beliefs. He focused of the world of God and the allegorical interpretations of scriptures. (Jefford, 2012) His beliefs lead him to the true idea of gnostic, ...
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Works Cited
ANF. (n.d.). Exhortation to Heathen. In ANF, Exhortation to Heathen (pp. 171-206). ET.
Clement. (2nd Century-3rd Century A.D.). Protreptikos pros Hellenas. In Clement, Protreptikos pros Hellenas.
Foakes-Jackson, F. (1891). Early Church Theologian: Clement. In F. Foakes-Jackson, The History of the Christian Church from the Earliest Times to AD 461 (p. 64; 135; 148; 177; 178). Cambridge: J. Hall and Son.
Green, B. (2010). Clement. In B. Green, Christianity In Ancient Rome: The First Three Centuries (p. 65). T and T Clark International.
Jefford, C. N. (2012). Clement of Alexandria. In C. N. Jefford, Apostalic Fathers (p. 180). Baker Publishing.
Marcovich, M. (1995). In M. Marcovich, Protrepticus (p. 34). Leiden Brill: Vigiliae Christianae.
Schaff, P. (1819). An Introduction to Clement of Alexandria. In Fathers of the Second Century (pp. 166-175).
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition Bible. Eds. Dom Bernand Orchard, Rev. R. V. Fuller. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1966. Print.
1. Tim Cornell, John Matthews, Atlas of the Roman World, Facts On File Inc, 1982. (pg.216)
This paper will outline specific points in Saint Augustine’s Confessions that highlight religious views following the fall of Rome. Though Augustines views on religion may not reflect that of most people in his time period, it still gives valuable insight into how many, namely Neoplatonists,, viewed God and his teachings.
1)De, Selincourt Aubrey. Livy, the Early History of Rome: Book I - V of the History of Rome from Its Foundation. London: Penguin, 1960. Print.
Morey, William C. "Outlines of Roman History, Chapter 19." Forum Romanum. 1901. Web. 24 Apr. 2011. .
Born in the year 354 on African soil, Augustine spent his earlier years in the care of his Christian mother, Monnica. He spent his time blissfully living the life of any normal child; doing mischievous deeds and remaining apathetic to life’s worries. He despised Greek education, and by extension, those who attempted to mandate a need to obtain one. But not for superficial reasons, rather, Augustine’s animosity towards his instructors was related to irrelevant subjects taught in the schools. According to him, Greek instructors failed to adequately expound on topics that hold honest meaning. One was fiction, which Augustine found to be quite contradictory to one who hoped to escape the sin of lying. However, Augustine did give positive feedback on Greek scholar’s inst...
Livius, Titus. The Early History of Rome. Trans. Aubrey De Sélincourt. London: Penguin Group, 2002. N. pag. Print.
Bryan Byerly Mrs. Wagner Western World 10 Seminar- 4 4 December, 2013 Christianity in Rome Essay Christianity became more prevalent in Roman society as time went on because it appealed to Rome and what Roman ideals were. In the beginning Romans were skeptical of changing religion, but as the years went by, the Romans adopted and changed. Christianity appealed to the Roman ideals, as it gave certain perks that their current polytheistic religion did not offer to them. The emperors of Rome had many different views on Christianity; some emperors encouraged change, and others were more traditional and wanted to stick to their current, polytheistic religion. Roman views on Christianity have changed drastically from the early years of the Roman
Schaff, Philip, and Henry Wace. A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church. 5 vols. The Christian literature company, 1890.
Dio, Cassius. "Roman History - Book 50." 17 June 2011. University of Chicago. 31 October 2011 .
Clement was a French born pope with close ties to Philip IV. It is easy to deduce that he was the first pope to take up residency in Avignon. Despite being often asked to take up residency in Rome, he refused to leave his home of France. According to The Story of Christianity Vol. 1 by Gonzalez, Clement was the only pope during the Avignon Papacy to elect the most French cardinals. All but of his cardinals were of French descent. By electing almost all French cardinals he was proving to the King of France where his allegiance was and where the papacy should continue. His allegiance towards France did not stop there. As stated above Philip IV had many trials and tribulations with past popes not defending his rule. Clement V did not defend himself again the King as did he predecessors. Clement was weak in leadership. Often when disobeying the ideas of King Philip IV, he was shamed into changing his decisions. An example of his weakness would be his overthrowing of the bulls put into effect by Pope Boniface III. As touched upon above, King Philip IV once had tensions with King Edward I of England. According to Lectures for a Medieval Survey by Nelson, Boniface had issued the bull Clericis laicos. This made it illegal to any member of clergy to support either of the Kings. Later he issued the bull Unam Sanctam, which gave the papacy supreme power. It was this bull that led to his council in Rome to discuss King Philip.
Shelton, J.A. (1998). As the Romans Did: A Sourcebook in Roman Social History. (2nd ed.) New York: Oxford University Press.
Schaff, Phillip. History of the Christian Church. Vol. VI, §73. 3rd ed. Edinburgh: Hendrickson, 2006. Web.
Heichelheim, Fritz, Cedric A. Yeo, and Allen M. Ward. A History Of The Roman People. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1984.
Lane, T. (2006). A concise history of christian thought (Completely ed.). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.