Christian Church and Christians

Threats to Early Christians

There were many assets and assisting of the early Christian movement. However, there were also a lot of threats and challenges that had to be faced by Christians. These threats came in the form of the Gnostics, the Montanists and the Marcion. The threats and challenges that were faced by Christians by each of these groups will be detailed and described. Beyond that, examples of each of the groups and what they did to post a threat to Christians will also be covered. While the times of early Christians had a lot of good times and progress, there were also people that were violently opposed to what the Christians had to offer.

First up is the group known as the Gnostics. Many label their brand of religion as "heretical" and otherwise polluted. Indeed, they were a blend of Christianity, Greek philosophy and oriental mysticism. None other than the apostle John labeled them as being in the "camp of the Antichrist." What made the Gnostics so devious and deceptive is that they often self-identified as regular Christians. However, this was simply not the case. While they did not outright reject the Bible as the Word of God, they also asserted that there was additional and more superior information and knowledge that should be included in the paradigm of Christianity. They held themselves as more enlightened and wiser than non-Gnostic Christians. Rather than assail the Bible directly as being incorrect, they instead used nuance and the like to change the message into something else. Some Gnostics made things even worse and suggested that the body was corrupt. As such, there was no harm in doing corrupt things involving the body. Since this and other lessons like it clearly did not mesh and fit with the message of Christianity, it was seen as polluting Christianity and giving the implication that traditional Christians had things wrong (Christianity, 2016).

Montanism arose in about the second century CE and it came from a self-ordained prophet by the name of Montanus. The suggested that he was speaking with the help of the Paraclete, the helper of Christ. Even with the apparent self-made nature of his power, he was able to create quite a movement during his time. The Christian church was still quite young and thus was subject, unfortunately, to being questioned and decried by loyalists to Montanus and his version of faith. One major and specific effect that this all had on the Christian Church is that some Christians gave favor to the Montanists and this stood in contrast to the propaganda movement that was created to fight the same. This created greater divisions within the Christian church as people that were in favor (even if just a little) of the Montanists would be assailed and attacked by those that greatly opposed the Montanists. This nastiness and ire continued into the fourth century and the Montanists were eventually suppressed. One thing that the Montanists and Gnostics shared was a rejection of the role of the clergy and this was seen as a "great flaw" of both groups. Finally, there is Marcion. He was the son of a Bishop and was born 110 CE. Like the other groups, he took Christian teachings and changed them (or added to them) in a way that got him branded a heretic. One example of his clear divergence from Christians is that he openly rejected the Old Testament. Further, he only accepted one of the four gospels in the New Testament, that being of Luke (Bible.ca, 2016).