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Much of this early church history that we've talked about should remind us of the book of Revelation, and our purpose tonight is to try and cover the post Nicene period from 03/25 to 500. But in all honesty, we're gonna go back a little earlier than that and kinda ramp our way up to the year 500. And so I wanna start in Revelation 17. Revelation 17-19 talk about the judgment on the great harlot who is the great beast, who is Babylon the great. And I would suggest that this section, there are parts of the book of Revelation that sound just like Jerusalem, sound like Jerusalem is is where the judgment is coming, but of all the chapters, Revelation 17-19 sounds most not like Jerusalem, but like Rome.

That Rome is the one receiving this condemnation from God. And so we see that here in Revelation 17:1. Start there with me. Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me saying to me, come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters. Does that describe Jerusalem?

Jerusalem sits on how many waters? None. I mean, if you count a spring, there's a spring there, but no waters. Landlocked mountain is Jerusalem. And maybe people say, well, it's symbolic.

Absolutely. The symbolism is explained in verse 15. Then he said to me, the waters which you saw where the harlot sits are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. Does that really describe Jerusalem? Maybe we could make a case for it, but what does it describe better?

I think it describes Rome. Look in verse 9. Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. If I were to say to you the big apple, what city am I talking about?

If I said the city of brotherly love, the Windy City, a city that sits on seven hills, well, that's Rome. Rome is known as the city of seven hills, and it sits on seven hills. Verse 18, and the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth. What great city reigned over the kings of the earth? Well, Babylon in its time.

But in this time, the city that reigned over the kings of the earth was Rome. And so I suggest that the city of Rome is personified as this great harlot. Now read with me verses 1-6. We read verse 1 already. Start in verse 2.

This great harlot with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and 10 horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, colors of royalty and war, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of the abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. And on her forehead, a name was written, mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth. I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.

And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement. How is Rome depicted in ancient Roman literature? Well, Rome is depicted as a woman, specifically as a goddess, the goddess Roma. And she has a spear and a war helmet and the world in her hand. She rules the world, and she wages war.

And many cities in Asia Minor to whom revelation was addressed, the churches, seven churches of Asia, had temples to Roma. And, actually, she wasn't really worshiped in Rome, but she was expected to be worshiped in the provinces. And this vision calls her a what? A harlot. And this woman has spread her evil everywhere.

Everyone has drunk of her harlotry. Notice how she is branded. Her name is the mother of harlots. Is is that a compliment? If I were to talk about the mother of all storms, what am I saying?

It's a big one. If I say that's the mother of all traffic jams, is is it a good thing? No. But it's describing the greatness, the bigness of that. She is the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth.

And in verse 7, but the angel said to me, why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the 10 horns. The beast which you saw was and is not and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go down to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel whose names are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world when they see the beast that was and is not and yet is to come. Does that sound like anybody else in the book of Revelation?

Who was and is and is to come? The alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. That's Jesus. That's God. Right?

The one enthroned. And yet we find this one who is described in similar terms to emphasize that Rome was trying to be the source of power and the source of divinity, and yet she was not. Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. There are also seven kings.

Five have fallen, one is, and the other is not to come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. The beast that was and is not is himself also the eighth and is of the seven and is going to perdition. Lots of explanations on, these kings and how you try and fit that into, the Roman emperors. Maybe there's some good explanations for that, but I like Haley's explanation best.

These seven kings are the symbol of secular anti Christian power. They represent all kings or kingdoms, past, present, and future that would oppose the kingdom of God. And we think about this harlot, what was she drunk on? The blood. What blood?

The blood of Christians, the blood of the saints, the blood of faithful martyrs. And we see that Rome acts like a god and is not. Drop down to chapter 18. After these things, I saw another angel coming down from heaven having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory, and he cried mightily with a loud voice saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling pace of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird. For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.

The kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich to the abundance of her luxury. Rome did fall despite what was desired by these kings of the earth. They wanted her to fall in one sense, and yet when she did fall, it hurt them economically and in other ways. Constantine moved the capital in 03/30. The city was sacked in 04/10 and fell in 476 with the removal of the last western emperor.

And it is this time of the fall of Rome that we study tonight up to the year 500. The first five hundred years after Christ were a period of good and bad on the same coin. There was persecution that waxed and waned based on who was in power, what emperor was in power, and where you lived and who happened to... Their attitude toward Christianity where you were. And, again, we think about the book of Revelation.

I want you to go back to Revelation 2, if you would. Revelation 2. To the angel of the church in Smyrna write. Personally, I think he's saying to the preacher in Smyrna write these things. These things says the first and the last who was dead and who came to life.

I know your works, tribulation, and poverty, but you are rich spiritually. And I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Verse 10, do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, and you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death. So we find this often called the persecuted church, the church in Smyrna. And it is appropriate then that the first recorded martyrdom outside of the New Testament comes from what city? The city of Smyrna, this very one where he's...

He tells them to be faithful to death. There's a letter called the martyrdom of Polycarp. Polycarp died in one fifty five AD in Smyrna, and then there was a letter written fifty years later describing his martyrdom, and it includes the miraculous elements that parallel the passion of Christ and those sorts of things. But the earliest copy that we have dates from the fourth century. Smyrna was one of those seven churches of Asia.

It was a large ancient city on the coast of Asia Minor. It was approximately 35 or 40 miles north of Ephesus. So Ephesus is here. Smyrna is here. It had great access to a waterway because there's a little gulf that comes in right here, and ships could come in protected into Smyrna.

And so it became a place of travel. It became a place of trade. It had two excellent harbors. This is an artist's rendition of what that might have looked like, the city of Smyrna. It was totally destroyed in the seventh century but rebuilt by New Testament times.

The city died and became alive again. Smyrna was at the head of one of the chief highways to the interior, and so it was an awesome trading center and a chief port. It was second only to Ephesus, though they didn't they didn't take that. They didn't say we're second to Ephesus. No.

The actual motto of Smyrna in the first and second centuries was first. First in beauty, first in literature, first in loyalty to Rome. And which one actually was first? Well, it probably depends. Who who thinks Texas A and M is better than the University of Texas?

Who thinks Texas is better than A and M? Why do you think that? You probably have some connection to one of those schools. They're both good schools. I know it pains you...

Some of you to hear that. They're both good schools, successful schools, those sorts of things. These are both incredible cities. It depends on where you live. It was a big city, over a 100,000 people, probably as large as 200,000 during this time.

Rome was only 300,000 itself, and it had celebrated schools of science and medicine. It was a sophisticated city where they had no problem killing Christians. It had become a very loyal city to Rome. In twenty six AD, it became the Neocoris, which is the official site for the emperor cult. In thirty three AD...

What else probably happened in thirty three AD? The crucifixion, they completed a temple to Augustus, and it was later chosen to be the site for the Temple Of Tiberias. And so there's a huge amount of tradition surrounding this martyrdom of Polycarp. This is a wood carving from the eighteen hundreds that is in the American edition of Fox's book of martyrs. And Polycarp was supposedly a pupil of John the apostle, and he was killed again mid second century probably at one fifty five AD.

And we don't know exactly what happened with certainty, but this is the way the story goes. Polycarp was on the run from the authorities. He was 80... He was in his nineties by this point. And he was willing to die, but he's not just gonna give himself up, I think, the example of Paul in that.

When soldiers caught him after he was betrayed by some of his servants, they asked if he had eaten and they served him a meal. He requested an hour of prayer, and then he was brought before the governor of Smyrna. He was given the opportunity to deny Christ and live, but his response was, eighty six years I have served him, and he has done me no injury. How then can I blaspheme my king and savior now? The martyrdom of Polycarp has this passage.

While he spoke these things and many other light things, he was filled with confidence and joy, and his countenance was so full of grace that the pro council was astonished and sent his herald to proclaim in the midst of the stadium thrice. Polycarp has confessed that he is a Christian. This proclamation having been made by the herald, the whole multitude, both of the heathen and Jews who dwelt in Smyrna, cried out with uncontrollable fury and in a loud voice, this is the teacher of Asia, the father of the Christians and the overthrower of our gods. He who has been teaching many not to sacrifice or to worship to the gods. And, again, this account from at least fifty years later says that the fire was lit but did not consume him, so they stabbed him, and his blood flowed to where it put out the fire.

It's gruesome and terrible. But these persecutions, again, two sides of the same coin, stand in stark contrast to what would happen in the early three hundreds. The worst of the persecution came in the first decade of the three hundreds, but then it became fashionable and socially acceptable to become a Christian after the reign of Constantine. Only 10% or so of the Roman population were Christians when Constantine became emperor, but many, many more were converted after first he made it allowable, and then a number of years later, it was made the official religion of Rome. And certainly, many of those converts were half hearted.

Here's a question. Was it a good thing or a bad thing for Christianity to intermingle with the state and politics? Give me a thumbs up if you think it was a good thing. Give me a thumbs down if you think it was a bad thing. Bonnie's doing this.

Well, it depends on your perspective. In terms of persecution, was there a lot less persecution? Yeah. In terms of... I think of how we're called to be salt and light.

I would suggest that this intermingling was actually a good thing in terms of salt. It made the Roman Empire a much better, safer, more godly place because of that. The treatment of slaves, the treatment of women, the treatment of life was all improved because of this. But in terms of light in actually bringing people to genuine Christianity and bringing people to Christ, I don't know that it was. The fires of persecution separated the wheat from the chaff.

Ain't that what we're talking about here? And so those who were truly dedicated to Christ served him and served him faithfully during those days. But let me also say this. A study of church history, I think, tempts us to only think of persecution in terms of martyrdom, in terms of these great men like Polycarp, you know, who said these awesome things and all those sorts of things. But was that the majority of persecution in the first five hundred years after the death of Christ?

No. It wasn't the majority. Most persecution was much more tame. The oldest surviving illustration of Jesus, so somebody drew a picture of Jesus, that we have today, comes from the late second or early third century. It's graffiti in Rome that is actually making fun of a Christian.

It depicts this donkey headed Jesus on a cross. It's written in crude language probably probably by schoolchildren. And the, inscription that's found in this, graffiti is, Alexaminos worships his god, and this is what his god looks like. To our knowledge, this young man was not killed for his faith, but was he persecuted? I would say that he was.

How much are you willing to give for Jesus Christ? Are you willing to die for him? I hope that we would say yes to that. But which kind of persecution are you more likely to face in your lifetime? Many believers say that they would die for him, but are we as willing to take up our cross daily and live for him to put up with this kind of nonsense?

When the question of commitment comes in the form of a hypothetical Colosseum two thousand years ago, perhaps our faith is strong. When the question of commitment comes in the form of a small duty in our lives this week, today, right now, do we have the same strength of faith? Because whatever we would or wouldn't be willing to do in the future, right now, are we willing to live for Christ or only live for ourselves? The apostle Paul was willing to and ultimately did die for Christ. In fact, in a very real sense, that was his desire.

Remember in Philippians 1? He said what? To live is Christ, and to die is gain. He says to go and be with Christ is far better, but he says to live is Christ. Now to die is gain because that's Christ too, but to live is Christ.

And those are no idle words. Is that our confession? Is that our witness? Somebody in here... Who's reading from the ESV?

I asked a few people ahead of time, and they were all good to be reading from the New King James like you're supposed to be, like it's like it's supposed to be. Alright. Ty's reading from the ESV. Billy, will you hand him a microphone? Will you read Revelation 2:13?

So this is to the angel of the church in Pergamos. And who's reading from the New King James? Okay. So you read along... Oh, Jacob's right there.

So Jacob can tell us what the New King James says here in just a second. Alright. Read that for us, please, Ty. I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is, yet you hold fast my name, and you did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was killed among you where Satan dwells. So Antipas was God's faithful what, Ty?

Witness. Witness. Alright. Jacob? In the New King James, Antipas was God's faithful what?

Or you can read the whole verse. Just read the whole verse. Hold on. I know your works and where you dwell, where Satan's throne is, and you hold fast to my name and did not deny my faith even in the days in which Antipas was my faithful martyr who was killed among you where Satan dwells. What does the word martyr mean?

We know what it means in English. What what does it mean in Greek? It means witness. Are we willing to be witnesses? Are we willing to make confession of Jesus Christ in our lives even to the point of death?

Because that's what martyrs were. That's what polycarp was. He says, I'm not gonna deny Christ. I'm gonna confess him even to the point of death. So we have two sides of the same coin here in terms of the persecution and a number of other things during this time.

Another good thing from this time, we have the earliest known manuscript of a Christian hymn that contains both the lyrics and the musical notation. We have lots of hymns that predate this one. In fact, there are a number of things that Paul quotes that sound a lot like, maybe that's a song that he's quoting. Of course, we have the whole book of Psalms, and early Christians would have sung a number of those as well. But this is the first manuscript that has been found thus far.

In 1918, in the ancient city of Ocerenachus, a papyrus fragment was discovered, which later turned out to be not just a Christian hymn, but it has Greek musical notations in it. It is known as the hymn of the holy trinity. These are the words. Let the world be silent. Let not the stars shine their lights.

Calm the winds. Silence the rivers. Let all praise the father, the son, and the holy spirit. Let all sing together. Amen.

Amen. Let kings bow and God receive the glory, the sole giver of good things. Amen. Amen. This hymn dates from the third century AD.

And right now, I'm gonna have Eric... Do I need to click ahead or... What's the best way of doing this? Alright. Eric is gonna play.

Now it's an incomplete fragment, but this is a reconstruction of those musical notes as best we can tell. Whenever you're ready, That's pretty cool, ain't it? They were Christians, it looks like us, meeting in homes and schools and catacombs who sang simple praises to their god for who he is and what he gives. We're connected to those people because of the god that we serve. And you read that song, you say, hey.

That's pretty good. You know? I think I could sing those words. And yet, there's two sides to the coin, good and bad. Not all songs were truth.

Arius, who lived from about the two fifties to the three thirties AD... 336, we're pretty sure about his death. He was a prominent priest born in the modern day coastal Libya. He worked in North Africa and Egypt, Alexandria, especially. He taught a doctrine that became known as Arianism.

Who's... Raise your hand if you've heard of Arianism before. Okay? So the idea of that is Jesus was a created being, and he was not coeternal or equal in the divinity to God the father. And one of the ways that this doctrine spread was that Arius was a talented and avid songwriter, and he wrote songs about Jesus that portrayed him as not divine as created.

And because he was in Alexandria, Christian sailors took those songs throughout the world. That's not quite as good in terms of song and singing. Right? And so in 03/25, Constantine called the first ecumenical council, the idea of, alright. We're gonna get together as a church.

All branches of Christianity are gonna come together in Nicea, which is in modern day Turkey, and we're gonna we're gonna hammer this out. We're gonna respond to this doctrine. And over 300 bishops, because by this point, bishops had come to become... Come to be a different position, like a head elder, came together. I think it was 318 bishops came together in Nicea to discuss this particular doctrine whether Jesus was, in fact, divine.

It was in response to those things. And what came from that was the first creed called the Nicene Creed. Now the version that I'm gonna put up on the board actually was an expanded version that was accepted in the three eighties AD, but I want you to read this, and here's how how I want you to read it. I want you to read it with somewhat of a critical eye and say how much of this could I agree with? Give me a thumbs up if you understand the assignment.

K? I believe in one God, the father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. I believe in the one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten son of God, born of the father before all ages, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the father. Through him, all things were made. Well, this is really at the heart of the controversy.

Was Jesus divine? Was he a created being? Was he equal with the father and the holy spirit? And so the biblical phrase that they came to use is begotten, emphasizing Jesus' uniqueness and relationship with the father that he's different from other sons, that's us, other children, different from created beings like the angels. He is not made, and that is specifically emphasized, that he is equal with God the father.

For us, men, and for our salvation, he came down from heaven by the Holy Spirit, was incarnate of the Virgin Mary and became man. For our sake, he was crucified under Pontius Pilate. He suffered death and was buried and rose again on the third day in accordance with the scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life who proceeds from the father and the son, who with the father and the son is adorned and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. I believe in one holy Catholic that is universal and apostolic church. I confess one baptism for world. Able to do probably want some explanation. What do you mean by that.

That? But, generally, I think that I could agree with what is said there. So if I agree with it and it stopped this false doctrine, at least to some degree, what's the problem with councils and creeds? They're from men. This is an expression of what these men believe that the Bible taught.

And just because I happen to agree with it doesn't mean that the concept of these creeds in order to fight back against false doctrine is what we need to accept in order to be followers of Jesus Christ. Instead, our creed should be, what did the apostles teach and our understanding of that? And let me show you the other side of the coin. In the minds of many, the most influential non inspired writer on Christian theology in all of history is Augustine of Hippo, more commonly known as Saint Augustine or Saint Augustine. And he had a rival named Pelagius, a humble monk from the British Isles.

Augustine was born in Roman controlled North Africa in 354. He was well off, but he wasn't from a spectacularly rich family. His ancestors had been Roman citizens for hundreds of years. He was a fine philosopher, a teacher, and a debater. He was well schooled in several religions of the day as well as Greek persuasive rhetoric, which he taught for a number of years.

He was a clergyman serving as a priest, a famous and powerful preacher in his own time, and, ultimately, he became the bishop of Hippo. Anybody any read... Ever read anything by Augustine, city of god, or anything like that? I mean, it's actually... He's a great writer, and some of the things that he says are are really, really good.

He was known for his refined and moving skills as an orator, his sharp mind, and his persuasive arguments. And all these abilities served him well in an ongoing debate he had against this guy, Pelagius. Now Pelagius was kinda the other side of the coin himself. He was a monk, but he was really a layman monk. He wasn't officially clergy.

He was in the British Isles, and little is known about his early life. He was roughly the same age as Augustine, but he was not well known. He was not well trained. He was not as powerful or persuasive of a speaker. And, sadly, Augustine's doctrinal thought prevailed over Pelagius.

Now one of the quotes that we used in the first class, Ty used for me is history is written by whom? The victors. And that is certainly the case between Pelagius and Augustine. Though we have many of the writings of Augustine, almost everything we know of Pelagius is from the perspective of his opponents. He was branded a heretic.

The Catholic church saw to it that his writings were destroyed. Even today, Pelagius is often misrepresented in order to make his positions easier to attack. Now maybe we're getting a little ahead of ourselves. Here's their positions. Augustine believed that every person is connected to Adam's sin and that everyone was there when Adam sinned in the loins of Adam.

Don't think about that too long. Because we all participated in the original sin, we all bear a co responsibility for the sin of Adam. We inherit from Adam a will that has already fallen, a will that chooses evil continually. You couldn't choose good if you wanted to. Thus, because man is unable to choose good, God's grace is a work from the outside, a work that operates upon the will and causes it to turn to God in faith.

In other words, God has to work upon you to change you on the inside, your will, because you can't choose God. You can't choose to do good. Augustine had his own demons and his own temptations, and perhaps that was part of the reason why he saw this kind of nature in man. Pelagius, on the other hand, even though he's working in the boonies of the British Isles, every soul came into existence at the time of a person's birth. Sin is not something passed down from Adam.

Sin is an act done by each individual. Every man has sinned. You choose to sin and fall short of the glory of God. Man is basically good and is always able to choose good, and thus grace consists of the helps that God has provided to reach their human potential, reason, free will, the law of God, the teachings and examples of Christ that God, by his grace, equips us, but he doesn't force us to do what is right. Now, Pelagius, his motivations were primarily for the moral purity of all Christians.

He vehemently defended the personal responsibility and free will of every individual, and he's working in the context of this newly Christianized Roman empire. Again, we talked about this, but 1315, Constantine has the edict of Milan, freedom of religion. By the time of Pelagius and Augustine, so this is the late three hundreds, early four hundreds, Christianity has not just become permissible, it's socially advantage... Advantageous. It's a good thing for you to be a Christian.

And Pelagius believed that this problem was exacerbated by this exaggerated view of human weakness that was being taught by the church, that it was an excuse to live an immoral life because it was Adam's fault. And Pelagius was outraged by that moral complacency, And so to combat it, he emphasized free will. Now don't don't misunderstand me. I would not agree with everything that Pelagius taught, and I wouldn't disagree with everything that Augustine taught. But we look at those two things, which side of the coin do I find myself on?

I think much closer to Pelagius. And we think about all the way into the reformation movement. The doctrine of Augustine's original sin and all of the things that come from it influenced the church for hundreds and hundreds of years. These interactions came to a head at the council of Carthage in 04/18. Pelagius is a heretic.

Augustine is the official position, and there was a creed put put out to state that. So how do we feel about councils and creeds? This determined the direction of the Roman Catholic church and heavily influenced religions from then until today, and we're gonna study that next time. But I think there's some lessons that we need to learn here at the end of our class. And I'm gonna try to do this every time.

Were we drinking out of a fire hose tonight? Hundreds of years. Hundreds of years we're trying to cover. You know, people say I beat around the bush too much, not beating around the bush tonight. We're getting after it.

So consider these lessons from what we studied tonight and from last week as well. Apostasy, error, and the fight for truth is ongoing. When did that fight start for Christianity? When... From from not day one, but maybe day four.

I don't know. You know? We're... Very early on, we're having to fight against this apostasy and error and what is true. Paul goes on his first journey, and what does he have to do as soon as the journey is over?

He has to write a letter to all those churches saying, no. You don't have to become a Jew in order to be a Christian. And that truth, that fight for truth is ongoing. It's ongoing through this entire history, and it's ongoing today. Secondly, martyrdom is revealing, am I willing to die for Christ?

But so too is daily crucifixion of the flesh and taking up our cross and following him. That's what we need to focus on tonight and tomorrow and the rest of this week. Am I following Christ? Am I taking up my cross daily? Am I crucifying the flesh?

And maybe the day will come where I have to make the choice, confess Christ and die or reject Christ and live. Maybe I'll have to make that choice, but my choice tomorrow isn't that. My choice tomorrow is, will I take up my cross and follow him? The blending of church and state, as we see here during this time period, is always dangerous and a nonbiblical endeavor. And I think there's application to our world today.

We live in a nation that was founded on Christian principles. We have to be careful. We have to be careful about the blending of those things, and I think part of that is saying, well, what we sing matters personally and doctrinally. We need to sing with the sing with spirit and in truth, right, with the understanding of these things, but also that these things are true. And then finally, I'd end with this, creeds and the centralization of power, councils and this hierarchical leadership in the Catholic church, what would become the Catholic church.

It seems fine when expressed and practiced beliefs align with the truth, but they lay the foundation for a centralization and dogma of error that this is what's true because we all agree that it's true. We've all said that it's true. We voted that it's true. Instead of what does the word of god say, and can we find for ourselves what that truth is. So, hopefully, we can take those with us as we live for Christ.

Next time, we're gonna try and get all the way to the schism that took place between the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Church. Thank you for your good attention this evening.