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[German Version] an early Anti-montanist from Asia Minor, composed c. 200 (?) a lost polemic against Montanism. It is said to have refuted the prophecies of the Montanists (Eusebius …

[German Version] “Alogi” is the name given by Epiphanius to certain heretics who rejected John and Revelation on the grounds that they were written by the Gnostic Cerinthus. The word is probably a collective term for groups from Asia Minor (origin?) and Rome (Gaius) – not necessarily considered heretical by their contemporaries (c. 200) – whose rejection of the Johannine literature was probably also motivated by anti-Montanist motives (against reliance on the promise of the Paraclete, John 14:16; Montanism). Georg Schöllgen Bibliography A. Bludau, …

[German Version] By the early 2nd century at the latest, the church included women who chose to live as virgins; they enjoyed great respect. In the late 2nd century, there developed an order of virgins, which attracted many women. Originally they bound themselves by private pledges, later by public consecration and vows, the breaking of whic…

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[German Version] (217–222), bishop of Rome. His life and teachings are known almost exclusively from the portrayal by his competitor and opponent Hippolytus ( Haer. 9.11f.; 10.27), who depicts him as a social climber and careerist. Born a slave, Callistus was entrusted with the banking affairs of his Christian master. A conflict with Roman Jews (debtors?) led to his condemnation as a Christian and to forced labor in the Sardinian mines. After a pardon, manumission, and a decade-long sojourn in …

[German Version] The Letter to Diognetus (titled simply “To Diognetus” in the authoritative manuscript) is not a letter at all but an anonymous apologetic and protreptic tract. After an introduction …

[German Version] I. Early Church – II. Orthodox Canon Law I. Early Church The metropolitanate is an outgrowth of the emergence of synods, which in the late 2nd century slowly began to develop into the most important regional ecclesiastical authorities (see also Church polity: I, 3.a). As soon as synods began to assemble regularly on a provincial level (Ecclesiastical province), the bishop of the provincial capital acquired new authority, which increasingly beca…

[German Version] I. New Testament – II. History – III. Ethics I. New Testament The summary descriptions in Acts paint a picture of the first Christian community in Jerusalem in which the ¶ unanimity of the believers finds expression in the community of goods (2:44f.; 4:32–35). This community is depicted as free, not forced (5:4), and not egalitarian: The goods offered to the community were divided according to the needs of each i…

[German Version] I. New Testament – II. Church History – III. Dogmatics and Canon Law – IV. Missiology I. New Testament The NT contains no evidence of the episcopate in the traditional Catholic sense (a single bishop at the apex of a hierarchical clerical ministry functioning as head of a Christian community), but it does use the word ἐπίσκοπος ( epískopos; the etymological source of bishop) for functionaries and officials …

[German Version] I. History – II. The Present – III. Orthodox Church – IV. The Study of Canon Law and Church Law – V. Practical Theology – VI. Oriental Orthodox Canon Law I. History 1. Early Church. The church has had laws ever since Christians recognized the need for a generally recognized authority to regulate the uncertainties, problems, and controversies involving church discipline brought about by the rapid expansion of Christianity. After the death of the initial authority figures (e.g. the founders of the various Christian communities), the apostolic tradition developed into the defining norm for community discipline. Church orders (I) such as the Didache …