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Generally speaking, non-Jewish Christians left off observing the Sabbath in the period during and immediately after the Domitianic persecution of the Jews. Sunday had been a special day with Christians from the beginning, but now it assumed first priority as their weekly time for worship. Sunday was the first day of creation and the day of the resurrection of Christ, but in Jewish and pagan communities Sunday was usually a workday. Consequently, the assembly of believers for worship frequently took place in the twilight just before sunrise and then again after the workday was over. Sunday was referred to as the "day of the Lord" (Latin dies dominica; Greek kuriaké hémera). The first day of the week was not a day for fasting but a day of rejoicing; all prayers were offered while standing.
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Moreover, we should also note that the attitudes of these worshipers seem to parallel to some small extent the attitudes of the initiates of pagan mystery religions. We can see that the Church is tempted to conceive of itself as a qualified group engaged in the activities of a so-called secret discipline (disciplina arcani), an attitude that at least reflects something of the attitude of the pagan mysteries. Neither was fully open to public view. Only the properly qualified could attend.
Justin Martyr reports that the typical Sunday worship service began at first light with reading of the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets after which there was a sermon. Following the sermon every one stood for a period of intercessory prayer which was concluded by the kiss of peace. The bishop then was handed the bread and the wine mixed with water for which he expressed a prayer of thanksgiving concluded by a congregational Amen. Deacons then distributed the bread and wine to those present and took portions to those absent.
A detailed description of the Christian worship service is also found in Hippolytus' Traditio Apostolica, written about 220 AD. Other information comes from Tertullian, Origen and Cyprian, among others. There are two parts to the Sunday Christian service. Today we might describe the first part as a prayer service and the second part as a celebration of the Lord's Supper.
Sometimes called the "Service of the Word", and later known as the "Mass of the Catechumens", the first part of the worship service consisted of readings from the law, the prophets, the epistles and the gospels. Psalms were sung. Christian hymns were sometimes used. Prayers for the emperor, for all in authority, for peace and for delay of the final consummation--to allow more to be saved--were offered. Finally, a sermon on one of the scripture readings would be offered. At the conclusion of this part of the service the katechumenoi (unbaptised students of Christianity) and the penitents would be dismissed; the doors would be sealed; and the second part of the service would proceed.
The Eucharist or Lord's Supper was normally the heart of the second part of the Sunday worship service, although in the west in the latter part of the period the Eucharist was also held on the fast days. This closed service was called the "Service of the Faithful". It began with the exchange of the "kiss of peace" among all present--confined however to members of the same sex. Deacons placed gifts of bread and wine on the table. The officiating clergyman would place his hands on or over the offerings and pray: "Lift up your hearts . . . " in thanksgiving. The Faithful responded with "Amen". Next, Paul's words from I Corinthians 11:24-25 were recited and another prayer invoking the Father to "send down the Holy Spirit upon this offering" was offered. The officiating clergyman (bishop or elder) then distributed the bread; a deacon, the wine--frequently in a single chalice. Still another prayer, a hymn, and finally a deacon recited the "Go in peace . . ." ending the service.
Taking advantage of Constantine I's creation of the first day of the week as an urban holiday in honor of the solar deity, deus sol, and the legitimizing of Christian corporate activities, the urban Christians of the fourth century could finally begin staging their services during mid-day instead of before dawn. The order and components of worship, that is, of the Christian liturgy, was rapidly becoming much more elaborate due to the enormous increase in Christian worshipers in the fourth century. The Sunday Service of the Faithful, the one in which the Eucharist was celebrated, remained the central focus of worship throughout the church. By the middle of the fourth century the non-baptized catechumens and pagan visitors constituted a very large percentage of those in attendance at the Sunday Service of the Word.
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"Fast days" or "Station days," as they were called were midweek days when believers customarily worshipped, thinking of themselves as "on duty". The Jews had customarily fasted and prayed two mid-week days, normally Monday and Thursday. Christians who undertook to observe a "station" fasted with bread and water only until 3 pm. They were admonished to take the amount saved on food during their fast and give it to someone in need. Hence, the positive side of fasting was emphasized, e.g. abstain from bad habits, refrain from evil thoughts, do good things, help others, obey God, have faith, etc. These days were observed Wednesday and Friday and in Spain by the fourth century, also Saturday of each week.
There is some evidence they may also have begun very soon to meet together for prayer and singing hymns before and perhaps after work. By the end of our period worship services at daybreak or just before were being held on Wednesday and Friday. In the east it was only a service of reading the Word, prayer, praise and exhortation, but in the west they also had communion. Cyprian of Carthage seems to indicate that the Eucharist was held daily in his area.
The New Testament admonition to "pray without ceasing" had been interpreted variously in various regions to mean anywhere from two to twenty-four times a day. In early centuries some of these prayer times in some communities were corporate prayer services, particularly those just before dawn and after dusk, but others were probably conducted in their homes. Hence these prayer and praise services had been more or less part of the discipline arcani. In the fourth century when Christianity could come out of its closet into the public, such daily prayer services began to be developed both in monastic circles and in the secular church. Generally the liturgy that developed utilized the Psalms and selected passages of other Scripture related to the Church Year together with singing in addition to the liturgical prayers. Today these prayer and praise services are typically carried out in liturgical churches and monasteries and called the "Divine Office". Roman Catholics call the Divine Office the liturgy of the hours, that is the seven canonical hours of prayer (Matins/Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, Compline).
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Worship was conducted either in private homes or in rented facilities during the earliest part of this period. By the end of the second century congregations are found to own the houses in which they worship. There is a record of a "Christian temple" being destroyed by a flood in Edessa, c. 202. The building at Dura Europus on the Euphrates River in Syria dating c. 232 has been excavated. It was an ordinary house that had been partially remodeled. One interior room was enlarged for corporate worship and equipped with a baptistery. As late as the fourth century there are references to houses where Christians meet.
Buildings erected specifically to house worship services also appeared by the end of the third century. The "temple" mentioned above may have been and early example. In the latter part of the century special little shrines were erected in or near the cemeteries where influential Christians or martyrs had been buried. Services at the shrines were held in the open air. Extensive services at these shrines were conducted on the anniversary of the martyr's death. Temporary shelters may have been built over the shrines at first, but these were soon replaced with permanent structures. Other worship buildings were erected to replace old inadequate structures (e.g., remodeled dwelling houses) on church owned lands.
During the last months of 2005 the news media sizzled about the new archaeological find at Megiddo. From the outset of the excavation beside an Israeli prison, archaeologists who have inspected the find ventured that it is possibly evidence of the earliest Church structure so far to be found in Palestine. Controversy surrounds its dating. It was most likely built after Emperor Gallienus ruled that Churches might own property. The mosaic floor is largely in tact although some of the inscriptions are partially fragmented. If the building was built in the late third century it was possibly destroyed during the great persecution in the early years of the fourth century. Many scholars are dubious about the third century dating because of the assumed degree of hostility between Rome and the Christians prior to the decrees legitimizing the Church in that area of the Empire following the great persecution. Even if it is eventually shown to date to the fourth century, it remains the earliest structure of its type found in Palestine.
As churches began to erect buildings for assembled worship there was no known uniform standard, but from long customary usage in the Roman world any structure within which larger groups could assemble was called a basilica (from the Greek basilika meaning "king's property", or perhaps "king-sized house"). Basilica structures had been employed for several centuries as centers of governmental administration, judicial proceedings and business dealings. The largest such secular basilicas ever built were erected in the days of Constantine the Great. The Christian buildings of the third century, if there were any, were tiny by comparison, but possibly employing the same principles of design and structure. After the great persecution Constantine ordered several church buildings enlarged at state expense; and several that had been destroyed, he had rebuilt on a grand basilica scale.
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The iconography of baptism generally shows the candidate, nude, standing in water ranging from ankle deep to waist deep. The administrator is always pictured larger than the candidate is and with his hand on the candidate's head. Hippolytus explained that the hand was placed on the head at the instant of the candidate's confession of faith. Much debate has not resolved whether the candidate is then laid back in a horizontal position or is instructed to kneel and put his head down in the water following the practice of Jewish immersion ritual.
The earliest baptistery so far excavated (c.242) was on the eastern frontier of Syria in the church building at Dura Europus on the Euphrates. It measured 3 feet and 1 inch in depth, 5 feet and 4 inches in length, and approximately 3 feet in width. Its bottom was about l foot below the floor of the room so access was gained by stepping up on an 8" ledge around the outside and then stepping over the edge of the baptistery to a ledge on the inside. The inside ledge, about l foot above the bottom of the baptistery, was on the front side and the two ends. Pillars stood on the front corners of the baptistery and supported the front of an arched canopy overhead. The wall behind the baptistery had a line painting on plaster of mediocre quality depicting "The Good Shepherd" above and "Adam and Eve" below. Other line paintings survived around the room: "The Woman at the well", "The healing of the Paralytic", "Jesus and Peter walking on water near a ship", and "David and Goliath".
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Church architecture was developing under the pressure of the growing number of worshipers beginning in the fourth century. The basilica structures, usually but not necessarily employing clerestory design with multiple aisles became common in both east and west during the fourth and fifth centuries. Emperor Constantine I had taken the initiative in utilizing the basilica structure in the churches he rebuilt and enlarged after the Great Persecution ended. The prototype models, as it were, were the Church of St. John's Lateran in Rome (built between 313 and 320) and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem (built between 325 and 336). Both of these were classic basilicas with five aisles.
In such structures the center aisle was called the nave or naos. While the width of the nave was restricted by the practical limitation imposed by the span of the wooden trusses supporting the ceiling and roof, the length of the nave had no architectural limits. Outside the main entrance some sort of colonnaded portico typically stood. The end of the nave opposite the main entrance bulged outward surrounding a semi-circular floor-space called the apse. At the center back of the apse on an elevated platform the bishop's throne was located, reminiscent of the position occupied by the provincial governor or representative of imperial authority when such structures were used as courthouses. Sometimes the entire floor of the apse was an elevated platform extending out some distance into the nave.
While smaller churches might consist of the nave only, additional aisles could be added to increase the floor space of the structure along either or both sides of the nave. In this design the lower part of the outer walls of the nave consisted of pillars and/or columns through which the floor extended to the additional aisles. The upper part of the nave walls supporting the nave roof rose above the roof of the aisles. Windows in this upper part of this wall, called the clerestory wall, as well as those in the side-aisle walls were main sources of daylight and ventilation for the interior. The width of the aisles had both structural and design limitations but they were usually as long as the nave. In exterior appearance the slanted roofs over the side-aisles leaned against the outside of the nave walls just below the clerestory windows.
Keep in mind the consequences of the fact that these windows in the clerestory high above the worshipers heads were only partially protected by the eves of the nave roof. They were doubtless shuttered by various means but had to be somewhat open when the building was in use in the Mediterranean climate. Blustery storms could on occasion deposit a few drops of rain in the nave, and flocks of birds constantly fouled the floors not to mention the unfortunate worshipers. I have always speculated that the practice of burning incense before and during the services may have acted as a temporary repellent to the otherwise omnipresent birds. Very early in the Christian utilization of such buildings a special canopy (ciborium) usually supported on slender posts was placed above the altar table to protect it from the elements. Soon it was customary to close the sides of the canopy with drapes between worship services probably to prevent birds from nesting in the canopy.
The altar table with its ciborium was located either at the front of the elevated apse floor or on a lower platform extending farther into the nave. From some very early point in the history of Christian worship the section of the nave surrounding the altar table was reserved exclusively for the clergy and called the Chancel, the Sanctuary, or Béma. This area was marked off with various types of physical barriers. Sometimes these barriers were low walls, sometimes rows of tall slender columns supporting an overhead beam. The worshipers stood outside these chancel barriers in the nave and the aisles.
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In lecture/essay seven we introduced the dynamic nature of the Christian Tradition. It is easy to forget that issues of rites and ritual practice were impacted as much, and as often, as the issues of doctrine. In the case of baptism doctrinal analogies doubtless influenced the actual physical practice in one way or another. Whether from the Egyptian or the Syrian branches of the Hellenistic culture or from the Aramaic culture of the Syria, converts brought different assumptions to the practice of baptism. The silence as well as the obscure authenticity of our existing sources does not allow us to distinguish among these divergent cultural influences with any certainty. The issue in the case of the baptismal ritual is the origin of what is called trine immersion. This practice appeared very early, but how early and in what subculture we can but conjecture.
Evidence from a number of these difficult sources leave scholars convinced that trine immersion was evidently generally practiced throughout the scattered churches by the third century. Possibly one of the oldest sources to allude to it was a compiled guidebook for clergy now commonly known under the name, the Didaché. In chapter seven of the Didaché dealing with baptism, the formula based on Matthew 28:19 is twice repeated. While expressing the preference that baptism be preformed in running water, the Didaché allows the use of standing water if running water is unavailable. Also if the water is not deep enough for immersion the officiating clergy may "pour water three times on the head". This three phase (three immersions, each following its appropriate confession) baptismal procedure is described in more detail in Hippolytus' Apostolic Tradition in the early third century.
Baptism in this period was understood as the spiritual counterpart to circumcision in the Old Testament; hence, that which initiates one into the company of believers. As the "seal" of eternal life it was the necessary "mark", the symbol of the New Covenant, identifying the individual as one of God's people. It was also understood to convey the gift of the Holy Spirit, illuminating and enabling the believer for spiritual combat. Moreover, it was also understood as a means of rebirth and the remission of sins, and that sometimes in the rather literal and legalistic, if not magical, sense of cleansing or purification. Indeed, by the third century the rite of baptism was preceded by an elaborate agenda of repeated exorcisms scheduled daily during the period of instruction and exhortation to prepare the candidates for baptism.
The instruction and preparation could require anywhere from several months to as much as three years. (See section below.) During this period of special instruction the student (katechumenos) was also allowed to attend the Sunday worship Service of the Word only. They were excluded from the Service of the Faithful until they had been baptised. The final examination and preparation took place during the last days and nights before Easter Sunday. By 200 AD the larger churches seem to have made formal arrangements for the modest numbers of catechumens they had to deal with. The catechetical school at Alexandria is the most famous, first headed by Pantaenus, c. 180, and then perhaps by Clement, c. 200.
Gathering beside the running waters at daybreak on the appointed day the bishop pronounced the epiclésis, a prayer invoking the Holy Spirit to come upon the baptismal waters. Hippolytus specifically mentions children being first followed by the men and then women. All the candidates disrobed, renounced Satan and Satan's works, and were anointed with specially exorcised oil in a final ceremony of exorcism to banish all evil spirits, before entering the water. In the Syrian custom the candidate was anointed a second time before entering the water perhaps symbolizing the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit. Once in the water the candidates were immersed three times. According to Hippolytus the deacon with the candidates in the water put his hand on the head of the candidate each time the candidate was immersed. Each immersion took place after the appropriate confession. So baptism consisted of being immersed once in the name of the Father, once in the name of the Son and once in the name of the Holy Spirit. Coming out of the water the candidate was anointed and put on their clothes. After going back to the church the Bishop laid his hands on each of the baptized and anointed each one yet again. The kiss of peace and the baptismal Eucharist followed this.
Although richly detailed Hippolytus' account together with the others do not answer all the questions the description raises. None of our sources clarifies whether at the moment of baptism the candidate is face down or face up, whether he is immersing himself or is being immersed. It is perhaps also appropriate to remind readers that in the days before soap was widely available, anointing oils were almost always used in bathing.
The controversy over the validity of baptism administered by schismatics and/or heretics emerged with the Decian persecution. Cyprian of Carthage argued that such baptism was invalid while Stephen bishop of Rome argued that the immersion in water in the name of the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit made it valid even if the administrator was out of fellowship with the church.
Baptism in this period was preferably performed in fresh running water; but archaeological evidence of specially constructed baptisteries first appears during the first half of the third century and rapidly proliferates by the middle of the fourth.
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By the middle of the fourth century Christian authors universally speak of more than two Sacraments. Anything that signifies the presence or action of God can be thought of as a sacrament. Along with baptism and the eucharist many mention chrismation, penance and ordination. The tradition of the Apostles associated baptism with the laying on of the hands and receiving the Holy Spirit. Then in very early practice it became customary for baptism to be followed by anointing. The practice is believed to have been instituted by Jesus on the occasion of the Last Supper. Churchmen in both east and west speak of the chrismation, the anointing of the forehead with oil in the form of a cross following baptism, as signifying the giving of the Holy Spirit while the waters of baptism signified the cleansing and regeneration work of the Holy Spirit. However, in the west the importance and efficacy of these, both baptism and the anointing, came to be distinguished as a result of the Novatian and Donatist controversies. In the west the bishop, not a lesser clergyman, administered both. In the east, however, the lower clergy generally administered both.
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Two subsequent trends in orthodox catholic teaching can be traced to beginnings even before 200 AD. Both these developments treat baptism as a necessary external and physical prerequisite, not as an overt symbol signifying an internal, invisible spiritual reality. On the one hand, the tendency to delay baptism at least until after marriage, or even later, seems to hinge on the interpretation of baptism as purification, a solution to the life-long accumulation of sins. On the other hand children born to and raised by Christian parents were being given instruction at younger ages than those coming from pagan back grounds. This practice will culminate eventually in the practice of infant baptism, and seems to hinge on the sacramental notion of the effectiveness and necessity of physical baptism to produce the result of eradicating the handicap of sin inherited from Adam.
While the majority of those baptized in the period before 140 AD were adult Jews, the majority of converts after that date came almost exclusively from pagan backgrounds. While the majority of people baptized were adult converts from paganism, the practice of baptizing infants born to Christian parents is reported as an acceptable practice everywhere in the church from the mid-third century--especially if the infant was sickly. There remained a large number of exceptions-- children of Christian parents who were not baptized until mature ages, some well into their 20's. Tertullian, writing a little before 206, argues for the delay of baptism until the child is able to know Christ. Such an argument would be offered probably because there were those who favored very early baptism. Origen, writing after 232, commented that the Apostolic tradition included the practice of baptizing little children (Was he depending on Hippolytus?). In another place he commented that if a small child didn't need forgiveness of sin infant baptism would seem superfluous. A little earlier Hippolytus of Rome wrote a description of baptismal practices in his Traditio Apostolica. It speaks of the baptism of infants, but the procedures described seem to presuppose believers' baptism as the norm. About 255 at Carthage Bishop Cyprian reported on the consensus of an African council that had rejected the argument that parents should withhold baptism until the eighth day. The argument was that infants need baptism the instant they are born, not because they have committed willful acts of sin but because they have inherited Adam's sin. This argument became the principle justification of infant baptism in future centuries.
It should be noted that the emphasis on baby baptism advanced in the church parallel with the emphasis on penance as the appropriate response to the sins committed in this life. See The Problem of Sins after Baptism... in a subsequent lecture/essay. In the longer view this dichotomy in the solution to the sin problem produced different results in the Eastern and Western parts of the church in the Middle Ages.
For adult converts to Christianity it made sense to interpret baptism as a cleansing and purification rite--washing away the guilt and stain of the sins of their earlier life which were ultimately the product of Adam's sin. For those advanced in years it was tempting to delay baptism until retirement from active life--especially as there was uncertainty about the forgiveness of sins committed after baptism. Adults who had not been baptized need have no fear for their salvation if and when they fell under persecution for their witness to Christ. If they lost their lives in martyrdom they would go to heaven whether they had been baptized or not. When terminal martyrdom became a lost opportunity, people who felt their souls in jeopardy fled to the monastery.
Normally the bishop personally baptized the candidates, but he could apparently authorize others to perform the task if necessary. Tertullian reports that elders, deacons, or even laymen--but not lay women--could be asked to assist the bishop. However, in Syria deaconesses officiated under the bishop's direction at the baptism of women candidates.
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The Eucharist and the Agapé, the carry-in fellowship meal corresponding to the meal proper of the Last Supper, were separated and clearly distinguished by the beginning of the third century. Both were to be presided over by the bishop. The elements of the Eucharist are described in this period as the "flesh and blood of Jesus", the "medicine of immortality", and "the offering of the New Covenant". They also taught that the Eucharist served as a mystic bond of union between the believer and the Lord, and a symbol of fellowship among believers. Only baptized believers were allowed to participate in the Eucharist. Moreover, believers were admonished in the Didaché that before celebrating the Eucharist the believer must "confess your transgressions that your sacrifice may be pure". It was also celebrated at every baptismal service.
The liturgy of the Eucharist in the third century became a little more elaborate than it had been in the second. Hippolytus' Traditio Apostolica included a step by step description of the service complete with model prayers. The "offertory" began the service as the deacons brought the elements to the bishop. With arms uplifted and outstretched the bishop spoke the sursum corda, "Lift up your hearts"; the congregation responded with arms uplifted and outstretched: "We have them with the Lord". Next, the bishop put his hands on, or over, the bread and watered wine, and said the thanksgiving prayer. It outlined the history of salvation, reiterated Jesus' words instituting the ordinance and the anamnesis, his command that it be a memorial of his death and resurrection. The Eucharistic prayer concluded with the epiclésis, a petition for the coming the Holy Spirit on the offering (bread and wine) so that all those who partake will be filled with the Holy Spirit. Then the elements were distributed to the worshipers with each one responding with an "Amen". If it was a baptismal Eucharist, the new Christian was also given a cup of milk with honey and a cup of water.
The agapé or communal meal continued in practice in the West, especially in North Africa where it survived throughout the fourth century. There it was most often held on the anniversary of a martyr or in connection with a funeral wake. The evidence for it in the East is very slight in this period.
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Formal instruction developed in response to concern to protect and maintain the integrity of the Christian tradition. The emerging emphasis on instruction prior to baptism seems to evidence the church's reaction to threats of heresy deriving from both the Jewish and pagan sources. Many pseudo-Christian sects practiced baptism, some teaching that the baptized person must refrain from all sins after baptism if he is to be saved. For some this required complete celibacy and careful dietary restrictions. Others taught that baptism was effective in warding off evil in this life, or it might serve as a passport ticket through the evil realms of the afterlife on the road to heaven. Alternately, some taught that you might be rebaptized periodically. The Carpocratians, a group of Gnostic Christians, didn't even use water; they branded their converts behind the earlobe. Orthodox Christians were troubled by such extreme ideas.
In the earliest part of this period the instructional task had been accomplished sometimes by the clergy, and sometimes by laymen who were mature and well educated. We hear of such Christian teachers operating independently all the way down to the third century. It is obvious that such an arrangement was susceptible to corruption and confusion given the wide variety of heretical Christian ideas circulating. By the third quarter of the second century the clergy in larger congregations found it advisable to take a firmer control over the education of converts by establishing authorized schools for the purpose. In smaller congregations the bishop continued to be the exclusive teacher, but not so in larger congregations.
Alexandria was the educational center of the Roman world in the early third century. That the first church to formalize its Christian education would be in Alexandria comes as no surprise. Other churches probably developed similar practices, though none was so notable as the Alexandrian example. Alexandria was by the middle of the second century very possibly the largest local congregation. The Alexandrian school had a series of outstanding teachers beginning with a converted Jew trained in Stoic philosophy, Pantaenus of Sicily, shortly after 180. Clement and Origen were his most illustrious successors. Those being instructed were called catechumens, hearers or listeners (Greek, katécheo teach by word of mouth, katéchumenos those being instructed; Latin, audientus).
The new converts passed through three or four stages of instruction in preparation for baptism. After they were baptized they were numbered with the Faithful. First was a group called the Seekers. These were individuals who had expressed a desire to become Christians.
The curriculum of the catechumenate began on the basis of the Christian tradition that had been largely communicated by word of mouth in Greek. The Greek version of the Old Testament (LXX) continued to be the major resource, but during the second third and early fourth centuries there were increasing amounts of Christian and quasi-Christian literature in ciruculation. The teachers were doubtless concerned to warn their students to avoid the literature not approved as part of the orthodox catholic tradition.
The catechumenate in the early fourth century served as something of a halfway house for those migrating between paganism and Christianity. Once they had entered the catechumenate they were identified as Christians and often delayed baptism, sometimes for years. The enormous influx of catechumens choked the traditional instructional procedures forcing the clergy to adapt their formerly small private instructional sessions to regular mass assemblies where Bible reading, preaching and teaching were emphasized.
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