Early Christian Schisms - Before Imperium - Extra History - Part 1
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📜 Early Christian Schisms - Part 1 - Extra History
One of the toughest questions early Christians had to face was Mosaic Law. Did the laws of Moses still apply, or did the teachings of Jesus Christ replace them? The issue of circumcision became a focal point for this conflict. In an era without surgical anesthetic or procedures, asking grown men to have their foreskins removed was a painful process. Paul the Apostle argued vehemently against the practice because he believed that Christianity needed to be accessible to Romans, the gentiles, and he knew that requirements like circumcision would vastly reduce the number of people willing to convert. Gradually, Judaizing forces were pushed out of mainstream Christianity as the religion began to convert more Romans. But it soon faced another crisis: what was the nature of Christ? This issue would come up time and time again, but one of the earliest conflicts over it came from the Docetists. They believed Christ was a being of pure spirit, and that it would denigrate his godhood to consider him a human man. But in the Epistles, John argued fervently against that idea, saying that Christians must believe in Christ "in the flesh" in order for his sacrifices to be meaningful. A bishop named Ignatius of Antioch embraced that idea when facing a conviction to be thrown to lions in the Colosseum, believing that his martyrdom echoed Christ's and he was proud to give his body to prove his faith. Then the 3rd Century Crisis hit, and the Roman government fell apart. The Church stepped in, and many people believed its prophecies of apocalypse had come to pass in this era. Although the government eventually recovered thanks to men like Aurelian and Diocletian, conversion rates had gone up. But civil war rocked the empire again, and it came down to the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. Constantine, one of the claimants for the throne, supposedly had a vision telling him to paint "Chi Rho" (the Greek letters for Christ) on his soldiers' shields. He did so, and won the day. In gratitude, he converted to Christianity and eventually brought most of the empire with him, with the population going from about 10% Christian to 50% Christian followers.
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*Miss an episode in our Early Christian Schisms Series?*
Part 1 - https://youtu.be/E1ZZeCDGHJE
Part 2 - https://youtu.be/hZsZXHPDwsw
Part 3 - https://youtu.be/6d2lOQpuqd4
Part 4 - https://youtu.be/f9lEcwLnwfg
Series Wrap-up & Lies Episode - https://youtu.be/6dnECIPXIRY
♪ "Oxyrhynchus Hymn" by Sean and Dean Kiner - Available on Patreon!
Thanks for the high-quality conversations & for following our community guidelines here: https://bit.ly/ECFansRNice
*Interested in sponsoring an episode? Email us: [email protected]*
Artist: David Hueso I Writer: James Portnow I Voice: Daniel Floyd I Editor: Carrie Floyd
I ♪ Music by Demetori: http://bit.ly/1EQA5N7
#ExtraHistory #Christian #History
One of the toughest questions early Christians had to face was Mosaic Law. Did the laws of Moses still apply, or did the teachings of Jesus Christ replace them? The issue of circumcision became a focal point for this conflict. In an era without surgical anesthetic or procedures, asking grown men to have their foreskins removed was a painful process. Paul the Apostle argued vehemently against the practice because he believed that Christianity needed to be accessible to Romans, the gentiles, and he knew that requirements like circumcision would vastly reduce the number of people willing to convert. Gradually, Judaizing forces were pushed out of mainstream Christianity as the religion began to convert more Romans. But it soon faced another crisis: what was the nature of Christ? This issue would come up time and time again, but one of the earliest conflicts over it came from the Docetists. They believed Christ was a being of pure spirit, and that it would denigrate his godhood to consider him a human man. But in the Epistles, John argued fervently against that idea, saying that Christians must believe in Christ "in the flesh" in order for his sacrifices to be meaningful. A bishop named Ignatius of Antioch embraced that idea when facing a conviction to be thrown to lions in the Colosseum, believing that his martyrdom echoed Christ's and he was proud to give his body to prove his faith. Then the 3rd Century Crisis hit, and the Roman government fell apart. The Church stepped in, and many people believed its prophecies of apocalypse had come to pass in this era. Although the government eventually recovered thanks to men like Aurelian and Diocletian, conversion rates had gone up. But civil war rocked the empire again, and it came down to the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. Constantine, one of the claimants for the throne, supposedly had a vision telling him to paint "Chi Rho" (the Greek letters for Christ) on his soldiers' shields. He did so, and won the day. In gratitude, he converted to Christianity and eventually brought most of the empire with him, with the population going from about 10% Christian to 50% Christian followers.
* Watch Extra History ad-free & get 1-week early access on *NEBULA* https://go.nebula.tv/extrahistory
* Suggest & Vote on our next episodes, get exclusive content & 24-hour early access on *PATREON* https://bit.ly/EHPatreon
* Show off your fandom with *MERCH* from our store! http://extracredits.store/
*Interested in sponsoring an episode?* Email us: [email protected]
TWITTER: http://bit.ly/ECTweet I FACEBOOK: http://bit.ly/ECFBPage
INSTAGRAM: http://bit.ly/ECisonInstagram I TIKTOK: https://bit.ly/ECtiktokz
GAMING: https://www.youtube.com/@extracredits I TWITCH: https://bit.ly/ECtwitch
*Miss an episode in our Early Christian Schisms Series?*
Part 1 - https://youtu.be/E1ZZeCDGHJE
Part 2 - https://youtu.be/hZsZXHPDwsw
Part 3 - https://youtu.be/6d2lOQpuqd4
Part 4 - https://youtu.be/f9lEcwLnwfg
Series Wrap-up & Lies Episode - https://youtu.be/6dnECIPXIRY
♪ "Oxyrhynchus Hymn" by Sean and Dean Kiner - Available on Patreon!
Thanks for the high-quality conversations & for following our community guidelines here: https://bit.ly/ECFansRNice
*Interested in sponsoring an episode? Email us: [email protected]*
Artist: David Hueso I Writer: James Portnow I Voice: Daniel Floyd I Editor: Carrie Floyd
I ♪ Music by Demetori: http://bit.ly/1EQA5N7
#ExtraHistory #Christian #History
@Digital_Dragoneer
For the first time in youtube history, the comment section is actually decent in a religion video.
2.2K likes
@thegardenofesim1174
I think Constantine should have his own extra history series
1.6K likes
@PeanutsAlt92
One thing that I love about the Extra Credits team, is how fair and respectful they are to other's beliefs. Not to mention really well researched too.
571 likes
@joshuadspencer
I've got my Master's in Theology. This is legit.
112 likes
@ShootingStarNeo
>Lots of details about the early Christian church.
Yes.
>Schisms in schools of thought and doctrine.
YES.
>The ripple effects felt in today's culture.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAS.
685 likes
@MazHem
Dang, imagine if almost half the people within one modern day country changed their religion in such short a time.
182 likes
@dogsrsweet2015
As a Catholic and lover of history, I have to say this seems like it is going to be my favorite so far. And please do more like this concerning the other major religions of the world.
83 likes
@andrewsvideostash
You mean... They didn't just research Theology, Civil Service, Guilds or Metal Casting?
2.6K likes
@HuntingTheEnd
As a Catholic and a passionate lover of history, I am going to enjoy watching this series on something I know very little of.
147 likes
@LuccianoBartolini
A thing to notice about John and the docetist: John was the youngest of the apostles (he was at least 16-18 years old) and wrote his letters and evangely when he was an old man, Imagine that a group of people started to say that the person you followed, eated with and saw suffer in a cross, wasn't real... I'm pretty sure John was very angry at the docetist or at least insulted by them.
899 likes
@Librariansaysook
I find it slightly amusing that apparently being fed to lions was considered to be less alienating that circumcision to early converts
194 likes
@jaohonaxa
You know I found this series to be far more interesting than I thought I would. Religious history usually occupies the lower tiers of my list of historical interests, but what can I say, this group is just good enough to make anything engaging.
42 likes
@projecta3halkida
For anyone wondering 'ΙΧΘΥΣ' (read as 'Ihthis' in Greek) translates to fish in Greek. However every letter of the word, 'ΙΧΘΥΣ' is a word and if u analyze it, it reads 'Ιησούς Χριστός Θεού Υιός Σωτήρ' which in Greek means 'Jesus Christ God's son savior' . It was a way of identifying Christian communities. Similar but in a more subtle way was the symbol of the cartwheel carved nearby harbors. The word ΙΧΘΥΣ is hidden in this symbol too! I fancy the timing with holy Saturday for the orthodox Easter today! Looking forward to watching the rest of the series :D
320 likes
@EanHaworth
I might have to show this to my religion teacher when this series is done.
47 likes
@gantzisballs
The importance of circumcision in Rome's decision is pretty funny, but not quite as funny as the roll alcohol played in the conversion of Kieven Rus from Norse Paganism. In the 900s AD the Muslims were in their Golden Age and had greater military might, science, medicine, and artistic culture than the Christians. The Rus were leaning Islam, but the second they heard alcohol was banned, they threw out the Islamic missionaries and declared for East Orthodox Christianity of the Byzantine Empire.
1.1K likes
@GideonGleeful95
I'd love to see a future series on how the Buddhist faith was spread and how it split.
747 likes
@atomicb8222
The reason Paul was against circumcision was not because lack of converts.
8 likes
@RunItsTheCat
I expected the comment section to be much worse.
1.5K likes
@aztecgoldmontizuma
3:15 Love the pagan just dancing minding her own business
29 likes
@YacobTheKid
I'm surprised how tame the comments section is
40 likes