History of the Early Church (Essay Sample)

THE EARLY CHURCH
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Background
A celebrated Christian scholar as many calls him, Justus 1. Gonzalez has contributed a significant work here that keeps me exhausted whenever I bury my head into his works. This paper that I am writing seeks to assess some of his works in depth so as to bring out necessary issues that I find in them.
Faith and Money
Gonzalez in the introductory paragraph postulates that the Roman Empire turned Christianity completely after the massive murder of Christians that was experienced in the third century. He; however, notes that the penetration of Christianity amongst the senior government officials was taking place at snail’s pace. He continues to detail how early Christianity sprout around money and the charity work that promoted the position of the church in the eyes of many. This, according to Gonzales, is what brought about serious increase of members to thousands. Despite the fact that I agree with him here, there are other things which I feel contributed to this growth which he does not mention in this excerpt. Some people obtained conversion through understanding what Christianity means and getting convinced that the universe is under the control of some supreme being (GOD). Christian giving was pegged to the charity undertaking, which was the church’s main activity. Some elites were able to produce sermons and witnesses that led to the stability of the church in terms of finances (Gonzalez, 133-135).
Using the money well
Gonzales continues to unveil how the church later on started to manage the resources, which were gathered from the Faithful’s. Work became significantly large and the bishops in charge had to look for the assistants. The church also taught the congregation how to manage personal wealth. This to me appears conjoined with the church’s own needs of ensuring that the sources of these resources are well managed in order to guarantee the church a continuous supply of the resources. In general, the author is successful in the points he puts forth on how the earliest Christianity evolved around money and wealth. This is also seen today.
Lactantius Argument
Gonzalez brings out Lactantius’ argument about the virtues a true Christian is expected to portray to the society (Gonzales, 136-139). He reiterates on the overall behavior expected e.g. assisting the disadvantaged in the society and repenting of sins etc. as a Christian. I find this very true, and for this reason, I side with him. Lactantius argument is contrary to that of Plato in that Plato overemphasized on the material wealth than the spiritual wealth. His argument is what truly forms the Christianity we know today. This; however, does not mean that the Christianity present today is not material oriented. Ion fact, very few evangelists are committed to spreading Christianity without giving attention to material wealth that accrues. I; nevertheless, fail to concur with him when he says those who help others are only willing to assist the useful recipients who are likely to repay the gratitude debt that comes in between them and the helper once the help is delivered-some people help and forget.
Profile of the Rome City
The Rome city as is known today where early Christianity began. Sometimes it is called the Holy Sea. Richard Krautheimer on page I talk about Constantine who entered Rome and defeated the emperors who were ruling at that time and how he preserved the walls they had built. The ancient history about the Rome is well preserved even from the pictures on slides provided. As an emperor Constantine constructed very magnificent churched throughout the Roman Empire. He primarily did this because the church was now associated with him (Constantine)-the most powerful person in the empire. It is because of this reason that he committed the state resources in building the churches. He did this to earn a good reputation and to unite Christians in his empire. He knew this would make it easier for him to administer his rule.
Constantine’s Take on Paganism
Constantine opposed paganism as seen but his life was not different from those of the pagans in most aspects. He did kill many people during his reign. He did all the other things which were associated with the pagans. Many scholars in this field have brought out the main intention of Constantine. He only hid in Christianity to further his own personal interests of acquiring tremendous power (Freeman, pg. 232). Constantine believed the power of Christ was much higher than those of the other gods whom he recognized as powerful also (Freeman, pg. 226).
Constantine relied on the power of Christ that he also promoted. In some situations, however, he would compromise his conviction and spare the pagans for the reason that he understood their life as he lived that life. So he was a roman emperor who contributed a lot to the growth of Christianity and his contributions especially on the designs of the church and other buildings related to the church cannot be forgotten (Freeman, pg. 228).
Constantine’s Motives
Charles Freeman presents Constantine as the person who shaped the m...