THEOLOGY

M#3.1

OUTLINE is in these three days that we remember these

events.
I. ORIGINS
A. Paschal Mystery
B. Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus
B. Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus
C. Pentecost
The Resurrection of Jesus is the central doctrine
II. JERUSALEM COMMUNITY of Christianity. Without it, everything that Jesus
A. Lorem Ipsum started would lead to nothing(1 Corinthians 15:14).
B. Lorem Ipsum The Church would not have even been established
III. Penalties if Jesus has not risen from the dead, thus it is the
IV. Tables, Images and Figures
Greatest Feast in the Church

 Without the resurrection of Jesus, he would not

OBJECTIVES: have established the Church.
At the end of the lecture, the student should be able to:
1. Trace the origin of the Catholic Church to the time of  Jesus gave his final instructions especially to St.
Jesus Peter to “Feed his lambs and tend his sheep”,
2. Familiarize one’s self with terms, people, places and that is to take care of his community that he will
practices during the time of the early church be leaving. This is one of the passages that
supports the Papacy as the role of the pope is to
REFERENCES: be the Vicar or overseer of the Kingdom of God
1. Lecture Notes on earth.
2. Notes from Sir Maningas’ Visuals  40 days later, he ascended into heaven and
3. Various Sources from the Internet instructed his apostles to proclaim the Gospel
and baptize people of all nations. Two angels
Legend: told them that he would come back in the same
Remember
Lecturer Book
Previous
Trans Com
way he left
(Exams) Trans

     C. Pentecost

I. ORIGINS  St. Matthias was chosen to replace Judas

A. Paschal Mystery
 Simply defined as the Passion (suffering,
Death and Resurrection of Jesus
 It is pre-figured in the Old Testament with the
Exodus of the Jews, led by Moses, where they
were freed from slavery by the Egyptians. This
is commemorated by the celebration of the
PASSOVER, where the Angel of Death killed
the first-born of the Egyptians. The Israelites
were saved by the blood of the lamb on their
doorposts; this came from the lamb sacrificed on
the very first Passover meal.
 The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross has
parallels with the Jewish Passover. Here he
freed us from the slavery of sin and eternal
death by his blood as he is the LAMB OF GOD
 The Exodus event may also contribute to the
definition that the Church is the People of God
as this was when God chose the people of Israel
for his own
Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Black
Saturday are known as the Paschal Triduum. It
Iscariot; the latter killed himself in remorse of
betraying Jesus. This was needed to keep their
number 12, as the apostles were the ones who
were to sit on the thrones of the 12 tribes of
Israel.
The Church was born on Pentecost Day
When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled,
they were all in one place together and suddenly
there came from the sky a noise like a strong
driving wind and it filled the entire house in which
they were. Then there appeared to them tongues
as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each
one of them and they were all filled with the holy
Spirit and began to speak in different tongues,
as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim. – Acts
2:1-4
 Many foreign Jews visiting at that time
marveled at the apostles’ gift of tongues while
others made fun of them. St. Peter, standing as
the Head of the apostles, gave a speech
proclaiming the Paschal Mystery of Jesus. With
this, he was able to convince a huge number of

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people and so, around 3,000 people became
believers that day
 This account and all stories regarding the early
Church in Jerusalem are recorded in the ACTS
OF THE APOSTLES, written by St. Luke the
Evangelist, a companion of St. Paul and a
Physician by profession.
II. JERUSALEM COMMUNITY
The Apostles and early converts later engaged
in communal life
 “They devoted themselves to the teaching of
the apostles and to the communal life, to the
breaking of the bread and to the
prayers.………... Every day they devoted
themselves to meeting together in the
temple area and to breaking bread in their
homes……… –Acts 2:42-47
 The community was considered a sect of
Judaism as scribed in the Gospel Passage
above
 The movement was met with resistance by the
Jewish authorities as they feared that their
growing numbers might overthrow their
authorities. So they launched a persecution
against them
 ST. PETER – formerly known as Simon, he
was a fisherman from Bethsaida when Jesus
called him. Jesus gave him a new name
Cephas or Peter which meant Rock, as he
chose him to be the shepherd of his Church.
Although he denied Jesus three times during
his Passion, he was forgiven by Jesus and
stood as the leader of the apostles and early
Church after Pentecost.
 ST. STEPHEN – one of the first 7 deacons
chosen by the apostles to minister to the less
fortunate members of the community. He was
arrested by the Jewish authorities after
preaching about Jesus. Standing firm in his
belief about Jesus while connecting him with
the prophecies of the Old Testament, he was
dragged outside the and was stoned to
death. He is considered as the First Christian
Martyr
 ST. PAUL – formerly known as Saul, he came
from the city of Tarsus and was a student of
Rabbi Gamaliel and a zealous Pharisee. He
was present at the stoning of Stephen and
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approved of it. From there he asked
permission to launch a persecution of the
believers. On his way to Damascus, Jesus
appeared to him and asked him to follow him.
He was blinded after this, but regained his
sight after three days and was baptized by
Ananias. From then on he was a staunch
preacher of the Gospel and a well-known
missionary throughout the Roman Empire.
His letters to the different Christian
communities form half of the New Testament.
He is known as the Apostle to the Gentiles
 Antioch – The place where the followers of
Christ were first called CHRISTIANS
 COUNCIL OF JERUSALEM – the meeting
convened by the Apostles to settle the
differences between Jewish and Gentile
Christians. The early Christians were either
converts from Judaism or non-Jews. The
Jewish converts argued that one must follow
the law of Moses and keep Jewish
customs, such as circumcision and the
prohibition of eating of food offered to idols in
order to become a Christian as the believe
Jesus is the Messiah of the Jews. St. Paul,
although a Jew, but coming from another
country argued that you don’t need to
adhere to Jewish law as long as you
believe in Jesus as he viewed Christianity as
a separate sect from Judaism
St. Peter helped resolve the issue by narrating
his own experience of having a vision of a
large sheet of animals considered unclean by
Jewish law. He was then instructed to kill and
eat them. He refused, being a devout Jew
himself but was told by a voice that whatever
God has made clean should not be
considered unclean. This made him realize
that considered the non-Jews part of his plan
of salvation. After the vision, he eventually met
the family of the centurion, Cornelius and
baptized them. They were one of the first
Gentiles to be accepted in the early church.
The resolution of the council was to exempt
non-Jews from laws such as circumcision
but still prohibit them from eating food
offered to idols as it defeats the purpose of
recognizing Jesus as Lord and the sharing of
the common meal.
III. THE CHURCH IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE
A. Persecution
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 From Jerusalem, different Christian communities
grew around parts of the Roman empire through
the efforts mainly of St. Paul and the other apostles.
 Is said that St. Peter went to Rome to
accommodate the growing number of Christians
outside the Holy Land. Since Rome was the center
of the empire, it was best that the headquarters
from Jerusalem be transferred there.
 Like the Jewish authorities before him, the Roman
Emperor Nero feels threatened by the growing
population of Christians in the City. He finds an
opportunity by blaming them for the Great Fire of
Rome (64 A.D.) and from there he launches a
persecution of the Christians.
 He starts arresting leaders like Peter and Paul and
sentences them to death.
 Tradition has it that St. Peter was sentenced to be
crucified as it was a form of punishment for slaves
and non-Roman citizens. When the cross as about
to be raised, he told his executioners that he was
not worthy to die in the same way as Jesus, so he
ended up being crucified upside-down on Vatican
Hill.
St. Peter’s Basilica is believed to be erected
upon the place of Peter’s crucifixion
 St. Paul on the other hand, was ordered to be
beheaded as he was a Roman citizen. Legend has
it that his head bounced three times and from the
spots where his head landed arose three fountains.
This site is believed to be the church of San
Paolo alle Tre Fontane in Rome
 Christians were martyred in different ways, the
most common of which was being thrown into the
arena to be ripped apart by hungry lions. Others
became human torches in Nero’s gardens. It
became a spectacle to the citizens of Rome that
most them watch it for entertainment purposes
 Because of the these, Christians had to meet in
secret. Their most common hiding place where the
Catacombs – underground cemeteries where they
would celebrate mass and meet each other,
especially at night.
 After Nero, a wave of persecutions continued
throughout the empire for the next 300 years.
Christians were made to offer sacrifice to the
Roman gods, or even worship the emperor as god
or face torture and death. The fiercest persecution
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launched against the Christians was that of the
Emperor Diocletian known as the Great
Persecution.
B. Constantine the Great
 Constantine was known to have changed the face
of the Roman empire at the time of his accession
as Emperor. He was the son of Constantius, a co-
Emperor of Rome during the time of the Emperor
Diocletian and Helena, who would later be made
famous the legends of the finding of the True Cross
of Jesus
 Diocletian subdivided the empire into both the East
and West. At the time of the accession of
Constantine, his rival, the Emperor Maxentius held
Rome and citizens. He sought to take the city, yet
his army was greatly out number
 Days before he faced Maxentius in battle, he had a
vision. In the sky appeared the Greek letters Chi
(P) and (Rho) intertwined together along with a
voice that said “IN HOC SIGNO VINCES” (By this
sign you shall conquer). Incidentally, these were the
Greek initials for Christ. Some say in a dream,
others even say that he saw a comet in the sky.
Believing it would help them become a good omen
in battle, he ordered the sign to be painted on the
shields and armor of his forces
 The two rivals faced each other on October 27, 312
at the Milvian Bridge. Constantine won a decisive
victory against Maxentius, who drowned in the river
Tiber. It is said that he attributed the success of the
battle to the Christian God. He later took hold of the
Eastern empire by offering the hand of his sister,
Constantia to the ruler Licinius.
 In 313 A.D., both Constantine and Licinius issued
the Edict of Milan, which allowed Christians to
worship freely throughout the Empire without being
forced to sacrifice to the Roman gods.
Non-Catholics always misinterpret this as the
event wherein Constantine became the founder of the
Catholic Church.
 Constantine would then build Churches and
Basilicas throughout the empire.
 Constantine had Licinius executed later after
hearing that there was an attempt to overthrow him.
Constantine became sole Emperor of Rome
 It is debatable whether Constatine was a good
Christian or just used the Christians for his political
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motives. That is one of the reasons why he isn’t

recognized as a saint up to now.

C. Council of Nicea
 This event was known as the first of the Ecumenical
Councils of the Church. It was convened to respond
to the heresy promoted by the priest. Arius, who
claimed that Jesus merely a man and not God,
contrary to the belief that he has two Divine
natures.
 Constantine called for this council to prevent
disunity in the Church. This happened in the city of
Nicea (presently Iznik, Turkey) in 325 A.D.

 The resolution of this council brought forth the

Nicene Creed, our profession of faith which we
continue to recite at the mass.

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