Early Christianity: Rituals, Worship, Leadership, and Symbols

Agape

Greek for 'love.' A communal 'love feast' of early Christians, closely tied to the shared meal and the Eucharist.

Altar

The table where the Eucharist is prepared. It grew out of the dining table of the house church and was placed under the apse in basilicas.

Asceticism

Renouncing worldly attachments and private property to live a disciplined life of celibacy and prayer. It became popular in the 4th century.

Basilica

A large Roman public hall with an open space, rows of columns forming aisles, and a front apse. Christians adopted it for churches after legalization (e.g., Sant'Apollinare in Ravenna).

Betrothal

The Roman/Byzantine promise or contract to marry in the future. Families arranged it, fathers negotiated, mothers had to consent, and it could even involve infants.

Bishop

The 'overseer' of Christians in a city and the final word in the episcopal model. They mark out territories called dioceses, and the _______ of Rome is the Pope.

Cardinal

An honorary member of the diocese of Rome from anywhere in the world. They pick the next Pope in a secret conclave.

Catacombs

Cemeteries/tombs where Christians gathered. They did not use them to hide from Rome. These tombs were fairly public and existed in few cities, and the real reason was the Roman cult of the dead.

Catechesis

Instruction and teaching that prepared adults for baptism.

Celibacy

A lifelong vow to abstain from sex, seen as a higher, purer state. Catholic bishops and priests and Orthodox bishops are required to be ------.

Cenobitic monasticism

Monks living together in a community. It developed in Egypt and Palestine in the 4th century.

Chancel screen

A barrier in a basilica that kept people from crowding the altar.

Charismatic practices

Spiritual gifts such as prophecy, visions, trances, and speaking in tongues. They were common in the earliest worship but became controversial and were gradually regulated.

Charismatics

The modern movement that seeks to revive these gifts while staying within existing churches. Pentecostals, by contrast, formed separate churches.

Chrismation

Anointing with oil (chrism) after baptism, especially in Eastern Christianity. It is linked to receiving the Spirit, and in the West it corresponds to confirmation.

Clericalizing

A ritualization strategy that assigns the ritual to special authority figures or religious leaders.

Concubinage

A recognized long-term partnership in the Roman world that was not a legal marriage, usually between partners of unequal status.

Confirmation

A rite in which someone baptized as a baby affirms their baptism when older. It is now a separate sacrament but was originally part of baptism, tied to the laying on of hands and anointing (Acts 19:5-6).

Deacon

'Attendant/waiter.' They first served at the banquet table (a role held by enslaved persons), and their role grew more ambiguous over time.

Deipnon

Greek for the main dinner of a banquet, followed by the drinking portion. Paul uses related language for the Lord's Supper.

Didache

An early Christian handbook. It describes baptism in a way that mirrors Jewish immersion, and says a visiting apostle staying past three days is a false prophet.

Domus ecclesia

The 'house church.' Early Christians met in homes, usually those of wealthier members, and the format continued into the 4th century.

Dowry

Property or money the bride's family gave to the marriage, a central part of arranged Roman marriages.

Dura Europos

A Syrian city with an early house church and a synagogue, both decorated with art. It is evidence that early Christians worshipped in art-filled spaces.

Eastern Catholics

About 20 million Catholics who follow Eastern Christian traditions while in communion with the Pope. Roman Catholics number about 1.2 billion.

Elevating

A ritualization strategy that assigns sacred or special meaning to an action.

Episcopal model

Church leadership of bishops, then priests/presbyters, then deacons. Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans, and some Lutherans use it.

Eremitic monasticism

(hermits) Leaving the world to live alone in remote areas, as in Egypt and Palestine.

Eucharist

The communal meal of bread and wine linked to the body and blood of Jesus (also called communion). It was the center of early Christian worship.

Euergetism

The cultural expectation that wealthy people benefit their community. Wealthy Christians applied it by hosting and funding congregations.

Icons

Two-dimensional sacred images with standardized motifs. Catholics and Orthodox venerate them, while most Protestants object.

Immersion

Being dipped or submerged in water, the original form of baptism (Greek baptizo means 'to dip').

Infusion

Pouring water over a person. It became common in the West for babies and is used in emergencies such as hospice or NICU baptisms.

Kingdom of God

The supernatural kingdom Jews expected to arrive soon, led by a messiah and ending polytheism. John preached it, and early Christians believed it was imminent.

Martyrium

A large enclosure built around a martyr's tomb to hold growing crowds of visitors.

Mensa (mensae)

An offering table for the dead. Christians left food on them, and holes for pouring offerings appear in burials at Basilica San Paolo.

Messiah

'Anointed one.' The expected Jewish leader of the Kingdom of God, whom Christians identified as Jesus of Nazareth.

Mikveh

A Jewish ritual bath for purity, ideally in 'living water.' It is self-performed and repeated, and it is a precursor to baptism.

Ordination

The ritual of selecting and consecrating someone for church leadership, centered on the laying on of hands, sometimes with oil, by a bishop.

Paedobaptism

Baptizing infants.

Pagan

The term for polytheistic, traditional Greco-Roman religion (non-Jewish, non-Christian), which was practice-centered and based on sacrifices to the gods.

Pentecostals

Early 20th-century revival movement that formed separate churches emphasizing speaking in tongues and being 'slain in the spirit.'

Pope

The Bishop of Rome and head of the Catholic Church, picked by the cardinals. Orthodox Christians and Protestants disagree over the scope of his authority.

Prescribing

A ritualization strategy that creates a specific, expected way to perform a ritual.

Presbyter/Priest

'Elder.' In the episcopal model, presbyters serve under the bishop and often lead individual congregations.

Presbyterian model

Presbyters, elders, and bishops are combined into one office (often called 'pastor,' meaning shepherd), plus deacons. Most Protestants use it.

Prophet

An early Christian who showed special gifts and was recognized as a class, relaying supernatural messages, sometimes in ecstatic states.

Proto-Catholics

The branch of early Christianity that developed into later Catholic/Orthodox Christianity. It standardized the episcopal model and labeled rivals (Montanists, Valentinians, etc.) as heretics.

Repeating

A ritualization strategy that performs the ritual regularly and frequently.

Ritual

A structured practice made up of actions, actors, places, times, objects, languages, and groups (Ronald Grimes). Rituals are always experienced through the body.

Ritualizing

'The art of ritual making,' the strategies that make a ritual meaningful: traditionalizing, elevating, repeating, singularizing, prescribing, stylizing, situating, and clericalizing.

Sacrament

A central ritual of Christian life, also called a 'mystery.' Baptism is one in most traditions.

Singularizing

A ritualization strategy that makes something rare, momentous, or special.

Situating

A ritualization strategy that ties the ritual to special times or places.

Speaking in tongues

Ecstatic speech that early Christians saw as a result of receiving the Spirit. It is unclear exactly what it involved, and it is practiced today by Pentecostals and charismatics.

Stylizing

A ritualization strategy that adds flair, detail, or distinctive elements.

Torah

The law summarizing God's expectations of the Jewish people: worship one God, circumcision, kosher diet, feasts (Sabbath, Passover), and purity rituals.

Traditionalizing

A ritualization strategy that claims ancient or historical origins.

Triclinium

The Roman dining room with three reclining couches, the setting for banquets and likely for house-church meals.

Constantine

The emperor who legalized Christianity in 313 and converted by his death. His successors privileged Christianity, which led to imperial sponsorship, basilicas, and converts flooding in.

Elijah

A Hebrew Bible prophet tied to the Jordan River who passed the Spirit to Elisha through his cloak.

Jesus

A Jew from Nazareth, baptized by John in the Jordan. Christians identified him as the messiah, and his last meal is the origin of the Eucharist.

John the Baptist

A Jewish apocalyptic preacher at the Jordan who called for repentance because God's kingdom was near.

Montanus

A 2nd-century prophet from Phrygia who delivered teachings in an ecstatic frenzy and promoted a rigorist Christianity.

Paul

An early apostle whose letters shaped Christian thought on baptism and celibacy.

Tertullian

An early North African Christian writer. He was the earliest critic of infant baptism, though he accepted it in emergencies.

Alpha and Omega

The first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, meaning Christ is the beginning and the end.

Fish

A hidden Christian symbol based on a Greek acronym for Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior.

Lamb

A depiction of Jesus emblematic of sacrifice and purity.

Phoenix

A symbol of resurrection.

Wheel/XP (Chi-Rho)

The first two Greek letters of 'Christ' (XPISTOS), often disguised as a wheel.

Anchor

seemingly neutral imagery that secretly stood for the cross

Halo

From solar imagery, applied to Jesus and later to other saints

Stibadium

Semicircular banquet couch in Roman dining

Stational Eucharist

Non-meal gatherings with a simple distribution of communion

Priene Synagogue

Ancient synagogue in modern-day Turkey that provides evidence of Jewish worship spaces and religious arts