included Montanists and Catholics. During this time in the North African province of the Rome Empire, Montanism was becoming more apparent. Montanism was founded by Montanus, though at the time of Perpetua and Felicitas martyrdom, the term Montanism was not in use yet. During the third century Montanus followers were called Cataphrygians, they view themselves as prophets and prophetesses. Montanism was a sect of Christianity that claimed to receive prophecies, which they held to be just as important
Tertullian, the son of a Roman Centurion out of North Africa was considered to be among the most influential of the early Latin theologians. Although he was recognized as a steadfast proponent of the purity of Christian doctrine and as a tireless enemy of heresy and paganism; many of the details of his life are open to speculation and have been reconstructed by scholars through his literary works. Because of these works, Tertullian is thought of by most scholars as one of the forefathers for early
The great Christian writer Tertullian was born in Roman controlled Carthage, now known better as Tunisia. Around 200 AD he famously wrote De spectaculis, a work outlining the failing of the Roman moral system based around the gladiatorial games and the circus. Tertullian received a good education growing up and partook in “pagan” rituals such as sexual intercourse and observing the gladiatorial games. However, when the Roman Empire began executing Christians he felt compelled to become a Christian
The Diversity Found in Christianity in Its First Three Centuries “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” (1Cor 12: 12-13) The Christian religion is said to be a “diverse phenomenon”.[1] This is because there is so much diversity existing in it although it claims to be a religion with unity based at the very core of its teachings. According to the Oxford English dictionary, Christianity
ATHENAGORAS Athenagoras was a Christian apologist who flourished in the second half of the second century CE. Two extant works, the Plea on Behalf of Christians and On the Resurrection of the Dead, have traditionally been attributed to him. HIS LIFE Athenagoras does not appear in the ecclesiastical histories of either Eusebius, Socrates, or Sozomen. Methodius (d. 311 CE) is the only ante-Nicene writer to mention Athenagoras; Methodius' From the Discourse on the Resurrection 1.7 refers to