Unit 2.2: Jesus Establishes His Church (Apostles/Early Church) Flashcards
Apostle
Greek for “one who is sent”
Bishops
Are the successors to the apostles
Christ’s authority is passed down from bishop to bishop throughout history
St. Peter
The ‘Fisher of Men’
The rock of the church
Christ gave peter the keys to the kingdom
Gentile
A Non-Jewish person
St. Paul
Apostle to the gentiles
Saul Becomes Paul
3 Missionary Journeys
Focused on Old Testament
Areopagus
The alter of the ‘Unknown God’
Blasphemy
Speaking, acting, or thinking about God in a way that is irrelevant, mocking, or offensive
Describe Saul
(Before he became St. Paul)
A tent maker from tarsus
Roman citizen
Educated in Hebrew Scriptures
Arrested and tortured Christians
What happened to St. Paul on the way to Damascus?
He was blinded and asked:
“Saul, why are you persecuting me”
What happened when St. Paul got to Damascus?
He was healed and baptized by an elder of the church
Apostles accepted him as ‘one who is sent’
Becomes greatest missionary in church history
What did Nero blame St. Paul for doing
Starting the fires that destroyed Rome
Who started the fires in Rome?
Nero
Acts 13:16
Paul preaches in a synagogue in Antioch
What philosophies did St. Paul use
Pagan Philosophies
Martyrdom
Greek word for ‘Witness’
To die rather than deny faith in Christ
Tertullian (155-200 AD)
“The blood of martyrs is the seed of Christianity”
3 Roman persecutions of the Early Church
1.) Religious
2.) Political
3.) Economic
Religious Persecution
Christinas refused to participate in idolatry of pagan worship
Political Persecution
Refusal of the civic worship of the emperor as the son of God was treasonous and punishable by death
Economic Persecution
St. Paul taught that idols were futile and worthless, undermining temple commerce and derailing the empires economic system
Red Martyrdom
Physical torture and death
White Martyrdom
A life of heroic devotion to God, enduring mocking, hatred, and persecution
St. Stephen
1st Christian Martyr
Stoned to death
What was the Council of Jerusalem and what did it decide?
For the sake of melding the Jewish and Gentile cultures within the Antioch church
Decided that Gentiles converting to Christianity were not obligated to keep most of the rules prescribed to the Jews by the Mosaic Law
How did St. Paul continue to lead the Churches he started?
He tried to keep up his converts’ spirits, answer their questions, and resolve their problems by letter and by sending one or more of his assistants
