Unit 1 Vocab

Agape

A communal meal Christians share to celebrate unity, charity, and fellowship. It comes from a Greek word meaning the highest, unconditional form of love described in the Bible. Early Christians gathered for these meals to remember Jesus, share food, and build community bonds.

Catacombs

Vast underground networks of tunnels and chambers used as cemeteries by early Christians from 2nd to 5th centuries. The dead were not cremated, but burried due to the belief in the physical resurrection of the body and death as a temporary sleep.

Catechesis

The systematic, foundational instruction of children and adults in Christian doctrine, beliefs, and a way of life. Often as a foundational preparatory step for baptism, especially for adults entering Christianity.

Chrismation

A sacramental rite in Eastern Christianity where a person is anointed with consecrated oil (holy chrism) to receive the gifs of the Holy Spirit.

Directly follows baptism and is equivalent to confirmation in Western traditions. Is part of baptism at infancy. It is seen as a way to complete/perfect baptisms and is also performed on Christians baptized in other denominations.

The Orthodox annoint with oil on several places on the head to purify these openeings to the outside world as sin gets a foothold through the senses.

Clericalizing

making them performed only by specially qualified persons

Confirmation

A Christian rite or sacrament where a baptized person publicly affirms their Christian faith and receives spiritual strengthening from the Holy Spirit.

Many Christians who were baptized as babies get it later in life. It is viewed as a rite of adult passage, where a child fully accepts the baptism.

Originally was part of baptism. Many Western Christians (Italy, Gaul, North Africa) tied the gift of the Spirit closely to these actions that completed baptism. Originally Bishops would travel town to town to complete baptisms.

Deipnon

A specialized term that refers to an evening banquet. Served in dining rooms, attendants would stand and serve guests, and guests would usually recline.

Common formats included the triclinium and stibadium.

Tended to follow a certain sequence where it began with various preliminaries such as washing, prayer of hymn, and libation. Then during the meal, casual conversation was possible.

Didache

A short early Christian treatise complied around the 1st century. The earliest church manual that details moral duties, intstructions for baptism/eucharist, church leadership, and community life.

Explains how baptisms should be in living [running] water, if no living water into other water, if no cold water in warm water, if none of the above pour out water three times upon the head.

Domus Ecclesia

Term used to describe early Christian meeting places that meet in private residential homes before Christianity gained legal status in the Roman empire.

Dura Europas

An acient Roman garrison town in modern-day Syria where the most famous example of domus ecclesia s found.

Elevating

assigning them sacred meanings rather than other cultural ones

Eucharist

Christian sacred meal of bread/wine. In certain centuries/regions, the ritual also involved consuming milk and honey.

Earliest descriptions follow this format:
Meal and wine courses: do not recline until we have first tasted of prayer to God; as much is eaten as to satisfy the hungry; only as much is drunk to satisfy the chaste, they have to praise God into the night. They talk as those who know the Lord is listening
After meal: after water for washing the hands, and lights, each is invited to sing publicly to God as able from holy scripture or from their own ability… prayer closes the feast.

Euergetism

The ancient Greco-Roman practice of wealthy civic gift-giving transformed under Christian influence into directed care for the poor, redfining elite duty as Christian charity

Immersion

Form of baptism where Christians dip people in water.

Infusion

Form of baptism where Christians pour water.

Kingdom of God

God’s active rule and sovereign over human hearts and the world.

Messiah

Anointed one, king

Would lead to the end of polytheism and would lead a new kingdom

Mikveh

Jewish ritual bath to wash away various impurities

Impurities include touching dead animals, menstruating, skin diseases.

Performed in rushing rivers (if not then ocean, spring, large pools, small ponds exposed to rain, or stadning/manmade water)

Still practiced especially among Orthodox Jews

Paedobaptism

Christian practice of baptizing infants and young children of believing parents.

Pagan

Beliving in polytheisim and worshipping many/all of these beings.

Prescribing

becoming specific and inflexible with how they are performed

Priene Synagogue

a prominent ancient Jewish house of worship located wihin the archaeological ruins of the ancient lonian city of Priene, situated in modern-day Gullubahce, Turkey.

Repeating

increasing the frequency of an act so that they become integral to identify

Ritual

a repeated, structured sequence of actions or behaviors performed in a specific, precise way, often imbued with cultural, religious, or personal meaning.

Ritualizing

The act of cultivating or inventing rites

Sacrament

the principal rituals of Christian life

Singularizing

offering them as rare or momentous events

Situating

associating them with special places or times

Stational Eucharist

Ancient form of Christian worship where the bishop gathers with the local cleregy and faithful at a desginated “stopping place” to celbrate Holy communion

Stibadium

A crescent shape table used for deipnon. One of the earliest table formats depicted in Christian worship.

Stylizing

Adding flair to them

Torah

The central and most sacred text of Judaism. Consists the first five books of the Hebrew Bible.

Includes worshipping one god, circumcision, dietary restrictions (kosher), observance of feasts (Sabbath weekly and Passover during the spring to celebrate the national liberation from Egyptian slavery), and rituals to maintain community purity and holiness (sacrifices at Judaism’s only Temple and ceremonial washings to remove guilt, impurities, etc.)

Traditionalizing

Claiming they originated a long time ago

Triclinium

C-shaped table around which people reclined on couches, lying toward the center where food is. Enslaved workers bering your ofod through the opening in the C. Open space is also a place where entertainers can stand and discuss. Could be where the preachere stands to read biblical texts.

Elijah

Was a prophet in the Hebrew Bible who miraculously crossed the Jordan river with his follower Elisha before being taken up to Heaven.

While going up, he threw down his hairy garment upon Elisha, giving the spirit of God that once dwelled in him.

John the Baptist is very similar to him and patterned his ministry after him.

Bible contains prophecies that he would return just before the end of time to prepare Israel.

Covered in hair with a leather belt tied around his waist.

John the Baptist

He presents himself as Elijah (spiritually) and patterns his ministry after Elijah.

His job was to prepare people for the end of the world

He invited followers to enter the Jordan with him to receive the Spirit.

Jesus said “he is Elijah”

Clothed with camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist.

Jesus receives God’s spirit when baptized by him.

He baptized many through immersion in water. Pioneered/innovated baptism as we know of it today. Resemblence to mikveh.

Jesus

Christianity is centered around him and is the Messaiah.

Paul

Was an apostle known for his extensive missionary journeys across the Roman Empire, planting early churches, and writing a large portion of the New Testament.

Tertullian

Early Christian theologian and writer who lived about a century after the New Testament was completed. Founding father of Western Christianity and defined God as the Trinity.

Earliest critic of infant baptism, and thinks infant baptism is necessary in cases of emergency, like death, as baptism was widely seen as necessary for salvation.

He also described the Christian Eucharist to follow a format:
- Meal and wine courses: we do not recline until we have first tasted of prayer to God; as much is eaten as to satisfy the hungry; only as much is drunk as to satisfy the chaste, they have to praise God into the night. They talk as those who know the Lord is listening 
- After meal: After water for washing the hands, and lights, each is invited to sing publicly to God as able from holy scripture or from their own ability… prayer closes the feast. 

Constantine

In 314, this Roman emperor legalized Christianity and converted to it by death.