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Melito
Melito of Sardis ( el, Μελίτων Σάρδεων ''Melítōn Sárdeōn''; died ) was the bishop of Sardis near Smyrna in western Anatolia, and a great authority in early Christianity. Melito held a foremost place in terms of bishops in Asia due to his personal influence and his literary works, most of which have been lost. What has been recovered, however, has provided a great insight into Christianity during the second century. Jerome, speaking of the Old Testament canon established by Melito, quotes Tertullian to the effect that he was esteemed as a prophet by many of the faithful. This work by Tertullian has been lost but Jerome quotes pieces regarding Melito for the high regard in which he was held at that time. Melito is remembered for his work on developing the first Old Testament Canon. Though it cannot be determined what date he was elevated to an episcopacy, it is probable that he was bishop during the arising controversy at Laodicea in regard to the observance of East ...
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Peri Pascha
Peri Pascha (English title On the Pascha) is a 2nd-century homily of Melito of Sardis written between A.D.160 and 170 in Asia Minor. It was discovered last century and first published in 1940. It describes Christian doctrine on the Paschal mystery in the style of Second Sophistic period. It was originally conjectured to have probably been recited with the kind of cantillation customary in scripture reading. Its first editor, Campbell Bonner, entitled it mistakenly ''On the Passion''. It was corrected to ''On the Pascha'', thanks to the title found in the '' Papyrus Bodmer XIII,'' one of the Bodmer Papyri. Text and style One of the outstanding features of the ''Peri Pascha'' is its extensive use of classical rhetorical devices such as homoioteleuton, polysyndeton, isocola, alliteration, chiastic antithesis and the deployment of rhetorical questions. The extensive use of such devices argues against the hypothesis, advanced by some scholars, that it was originally written in Syria ...
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Quartodecimanism
Quartodecimanism (from the Vulgate Latin ''quarta decima'' in Leviticus 23:5, meaning fourteenth) is the practice of celebrating Easter on the 14th of Nisan being on whatever day of the week, practicing Easter around the same time as the Passover was to be kept. Quartodecimanism caused controversy in the Church over if Easter should be celebrated on a certain day of the week or at the same time as the Jews would sacrifice the lamb. History Early Christianity There is scholarly disagreement on which tradition is the original, some scholars believe that Sunday observance began before Quartodecimanism, while others have argued that Quartodecimanism was original. The Quartodecimans claimed that their traditions are inherited from the John the Apostle, Apostle John and Philip the Apostle, Philip, while western churches claimed that their views of Easter have been inherited from Paul the Apostle, Paul and Saint Peter, Peter. Quartodecimanism was mainly popular in Anatolia, Asia Mi ...
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Bishop Of Sardis
The See of Sardis or Sardes ( el, Σάρδεις, ''Sardeis'') was an episcopal see in the city of that name. It was one of the Seven Churches of the Apocalypse, held by metropolitan bishops since the middle to late 1st century,Otto F. A. Meinardus. 1974. "The Christian Remains of the Seven Churches of the Apocalypse." ''The Biblical Archaeologist''. Vol. 37, No. 3. p. 78–80. with jurisdiction over the province of Lydia, when this was formed in 295. After 1369 it became a titular see both for the Greek Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church. History According to the ''Menologion'', Clement, a disciple of Paul of Tarsus and one of the Seventy ( Philippians 4:3), was the first bishop of Sardis. Little is known about the ancient bishopric of Sardis, with the notable exception of Saint Melito, a contemporary of Marcus Aurelius from the 2nd century, whom some sources refer to as the second bishop of Sardis—citing the "improbability of seventy years in the episcopate"—ma ...
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Polycrates Of Ephesus
Polycrates of Ephesus (; el, Πολυκράτης; fl. c. 130 – 196) was an Early Christian bishop at Ephesus. Polycrates convened a synod to establish Quartodecimanism as the official position on Easter. His letter was written between 186-195 AD. Quartodeciman controversy When Pope Victor wanted to set an official practice of Easter on the whole Christian world, to celebrate Easter on Sunday, Polycrates writing in the name of the entire Asian church, argued that the apostles taught to celebrate Easter on the 14th day of Nisan. In his letter he appeals to the authority of Polycarp of Smyrna, Thraseas of Eumenia, Sagaris, Papirius and Melito Melito of Sardis ( el, Μελίτων Σάρδεων ''Melítōn Sárdeōn''; died ) was the bishop of Sardis near Smyrna in western Anatolia, and a great authority in early Christianity. Melito held a foremost place in terms of bishops in Asia ..., all of whom were Quartodecimans. Despite Polycrates convening a synod in Ephesus ...
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Biblical Canon
A biblical canon is a set of texts (also called "books") which a particular Jewish or Christian religious community regards as part of the Bible. The English word ''canon'' comes from the Greek , meaning " rule" or "measuring stick". The use of the word "canon" to refer to a set of religious scriptures was first used by David Ruhnken, in the 18th century. Various biblical canons have developed through debate and agreement on the part of the religious authorities of their respective faiths and denominations. Some books, such as the Jewish–Christian gospels, have been excluded from various canons altogether, but many disputed books are considered to be biblical apocrypha or deuterocanonical by many, while some denominations may consider them fully canonical. Differences exist between the Hebrew Bible and Christian biblical canons, although the majority of manuscripts are shared in common. Different religious groups include different books in their biblical canons, in varying ...
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Early Centers Of Christianity
Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewish diaspora. The first followers of Christianity were Jews or proselytes, commonly referred to as Jewish Christians and God-fearers. The Apostolic sees claim to have been founded by one or more of the apostles of Jesus, who are said to have dispersed from Jerusalem sometime after the crucifixion of Jesus, c. 26–36, perhaps following the Great Commission. Early Christians gathered in small private homes, known as house churches, but a city's whole Christian community would also be called a church – the Greek noun ἐκκλησία (''ekklesia'') literally means assembly, gathering, or congregation but is translated as church in most English translations of the New Testament. Many early Christians were merchants and others who had prac ...
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Pope Victor I
Pope Victor I (died 199) was the bishop of Rome in the late second century (189–199 A.D.). The dates of his tenure are uncertain, but one source states he became pope in 189 and gives the year of his death as 199.Kirsch, Johann Peter (1912). "Pope St. Victor I" in ''The Catholic Encyclopedia''. Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company. He was born in the Roman Province of Africa—probably in Leptis Magna (or Tripolitania). He was later considered a saint. His feast day was celebrated on 28 July as "St Victor I, Pope and Martyr". Biography The primary sources vary over the dates assigned to Victor's episcopate, but indicate it included the last decade of the second century. Eusebius puts his accession in the tenth year of Commodus (i.e. A.D. 189), which is accepted by Lipsius as the correct date. Jerome's version of the Chronicle puts his accession in the reign of Pertinax, or the first year of Septimius Severus (i.e. 193), while the Armenian version puts it in the seventh ye ...
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Smyrna
Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prominence. The name of the city since about 1930 is İzmir. Two sites of the ancient city are today within Izmir's boundaries. The first site, probably founded by indigenous peoples, rose to prominence during the Archaic Period as one of the principal ancient Greek settlements in western Anatolia. The second, whose foundation is associated with Alexander the Great, reached metropolitan proportions during the period of the Roman Empire. Most of the present-day remains of the ancient city date from the Roman era, the majority from after a second-century AD earthquake. In practical terms, a distinction is often made between these. ''Old Smyrna'' was the initial settlement founded around the 11th century BC, first as an Aeolian settlement, and l ...
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Eusebius
Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist. In about AD 314 he became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima in the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. Together with Pamphilus, he was a scholar of the biblical canon and is regarded as one of the most learned Christians during late antiquity. He wrote ''Demonstrations of the Gospel'', '' Preparations for the Gospel'' and ''On Discrepancies between the Gospels'', studies of the biblical text. As "Father of Church History" (not to be confused with the title of Church Father), he produced the ''Ecclesiastical History'', ''On the Life of Pamphilus'', the ''Chronicle'' and ''On the Martyrs''. He also produced a biographical work on Constantine the Great, the first Christian Roman emperor, who was ''augustus'' between AD 306 and A ...
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Nisan
Nisan (or Nissan; he, נִיסָן, Standard ''Nīsan'', Tiberian ''Nīsān''; from akk, 𒊬𒊒𒄀 ''Nisanu'') in the Babylonian and Hebrew calendars is the month of the barley ripening and first month of spring. The name of the month is an Akkadian language borrowing, although ultimately originates in Sumerian ''nisag'' "first fruits". In the Hebrew calendar it is the first month of the ecclesiastical year, called the "first of the months of the year" (Book of Exodus 12:1-2), "first month" (Ex 12:14), and the month of ''Aviv'' (Ex 13:4) ''ḥōḏeš hā-’āḇîḇ''). It is called Nisan in the Book of Esther in the Tanakh and later in the Talmud, which calls it the "New Year", Rosh HaShana, for kings and pilgrimages. It is a month of 30 days. Nisan usually falls in March–April on the Gregorian calendar. Counting from 1 Tishrei, the civil new year, it would be the seventh month (eighth, in leap year), but in contemporary Jewish culture, both months are viewed as t ...
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Lydia
Lydia (Lydian language, Lydian: ‎𐤮𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣𐤠, ''Śfarda''; Aramaic: ''Lydia''; el, Λυδία, ''Lȳdíā''; tr, Lidya) was an Iron Age Monarchy, kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the modern western Turkey, Turkish provinces of Uşak Province, Uşak, Manisa Province, Manisa and inland Izmir Province, Izmir. The ethnic group inhabiting this kingdom are known as the Lydians, and their language, known as Lydian language, Lydian, was a member of the Anatolian languages, Anatolian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. The capital of Lydia was Sardis.Rhodes, P.J. ''A History of the Classical Greek World 478–323 BC''. 2nd edition. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010, p. 6. The Kingdom of Lydia existed from about 1200 BC to 546 BC. At its greatest extent, during the 7th century BC, it covered all of western Anatolia. In 546 BC, it became a province of the Achaemenid Empire, Achaemenid Persian Empire ...
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Vigiliae Christianae
''Vigiliae Christianae: A Review of Early Christian Life and Languages'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Brill Publishers Brill Academic Publishers (known as E. J. Brill, Koninklijke Brill, Brill ()) is a Dutch international academic publisher founded in 1683 in Leiden, Netherlands. With offices in Leiden, Boston, Paderborn and Singapore, Brill today publishes 27 ... in the field of History of Christianity, early Christian studies. According to the publisher: The initiators of this journal were Jan Hendrik Waszink and Christine Mohrmann. Current editors The current editors-in-chief of the Journal are: * Katharina Greschat (Ruhr University Bochum) * Joseph Lössl (Cardiff University) * Johannes (Hans) van Oort (Radboud University Nijmegen) * Bart D. Ehrman (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) * G.A.M. Rouwhorst (Tilburg University) * David T. Runia (University of Melbourne) * Clemens Scholten (University of Cologne) Abstracting and index ...
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