教会历史 — 第 1 部分：三场战役（公元 30-400 年）

笔记： 这篇文章根据大卫·鲍森的 教会史 系列讲座（第 1 部分：公元 30–400 年）整理，讲座时长约 58 分钟。所有主要论点都直接来自鲍森。凡是查找资料、核对历史或更正细节之处，我都会把结果作为 琥珀色边注 融入文本，就像在书页边缘记下的一样。

历史上最惊人的故事

保罗写给罗马人的信: “他们的声音传遍大地，他们的话语传到世界的尽头。”

大卫·鲍森以一个简单却令人震惊的问题开始：基督教如何从公元 30 年的几名渔夫，传播到公元 400 年当时已知的世界，并一路取代其他宗教？

他们做到了，*没有军队，没有金钱，也没有有影响力的人物；他们是在罗马帝国全力反对的处境中做到的。

他们是谁？鲍森强调：大多数都是无名小卒。保罗写信给哥林多教会，“看看你们自己——有智慧的、有权势的、出身尊贵的都不多。” 早期教会主要由奴隶和社会最底层的人组成；然而正是这些不起眼的人竟然 赢得了一个帝国。

这是人类历史上最惊人的故事。

---

起点：使徒行传结束（公元 60 年）

《使徒行传》涵盖教会历史最初约三十年，即公元 30–60 年。这是一个未完成的故事：福音从“属灵世界的首都”耶路撒冷走向“世俗世界的首都”罗马。

但这个故事却不断向外传播。

鲍森总结了早期教会的优势：

罗马道路。 笔直的道路横贯地中海世界，使使徒和商人无需护照或签证即可出行。

通用希腊语。 整个帝国都说一种语言——福音可以用一种语言传播。

罗马和平。 罗马的和平——人们可以从一个国家旅行到另一个国家而不必担心战争。

犹太社区。 在大多数大城市，成群结队的犹太人已经了解旧约并愿意聆听。

一个在道德和精神上都病态的帝国。 人们渴望真正的东西。

然而鲍森说：即使有这些优势，这仍然是一个惊人的胜利。

他们没有建筑物，没有宗派组织，没有总部、经费或委员会。然而，他们做到了。

早期教会的组织。 它很简单：地方教会由长老牧养，由执事承担实际服事；使徒建立新的群体，传福音者宣讲福音，先知传达上帝的话。这是新约中可见的基本组织模式。

他们的崇拜。 浸入水中的洗礼。圣餐中的面包和酒。固定祈祷和自由祈祷的混合。唱歌——没有乐器，没有合唱团，但他们喜欢唱歌。

---

三场战役

鲍森的核心框架是：在最初四个世纪，教会必须面对 三场战役，并且在每一场中存留下来。

第一场战役——属灵的，起于与犹太教混合的诱惑。 第二场战役——思想的，起于希腊人的挑战。 第三场战役——肉身的，起于罗马人的迫害。

鲍森说：今天我们正在进行同样的三场战斗。这就是他教授历史的原因——因为这不是过去。这是现在。

---

第一场战斗：属灵的——反对融合主义

无论过去还是现在，有一种流行的观点认为基督教必须与其他宗教混合。所有宗教基本上都是相同的。我们都在通过不同的道路走向同一个上帝。

鲍森讲述了他搭便车的故事，他是一名接受宗教知识教授培训的学生。这个年轻人不相信上帝，但他的目标是向孩子们展示所有宗教本质上都是相同的。

这是早期教会面临的属灵争战。

第一个殉道者：司提反

第一个为耶稣献出生命的人是司提反；他为这一点而死：宣告基督教不会与犹太教混合，犹太教已经完成了它原有的阶段，而基督教是独特的、不能被稀释的信仰。

犹太人非常愤怒，把他拖到城墙外，用石头打死。

耶稣自己知道两者不能混合。鲍森回忆起他的教导：这样做就像 把新酒装进旧皮袋，或把一块未经缩水的布补在旧衣服上——补丁迟早会把衣服撕裂。两者不能混为一谈。

但争战并未因司提反而结束。保罗被卷入其中，后来成为外邦人的使徒；彼得是彻底的犹太人，原本不接纳外邦人，上帝不得不借着异象教导他。耶路撒冷圣殿在公元 70 年被罗马军队毁灭，人们也许以为犹太教就此终结，但事实并非如此。

此后三个世纪，仍有群体试图把基督徒带回摩西律法之下。鲍森提到 拿撒勒派 和 爱比奥尼派；他们要求外邦归信者遵守摩西律法和安息日。二者并非完全相同的群体，也不能把所有犹太基督徒都归入同一标签。

“今天这样做的人，” 鲍森观察到， “是基督复临安息日会——他们中的许多人都是好基督徒，但他们试图让我们回到第七日的安息日律法之下。”

最终这场战斗取得了胜利：基督教是独特的、纯粹的、独立于犹太教的。

万神殿和融合主义的诱惑

随着罗马帝国的扩张，他们建造了万神殿——字面意思是“众神的殿堂”（pan = 所有，theon = 众神）。每当一种新的宗教出现时，其神的雕像就会被放置在壁龛中。

鲍森叙述说，罗马人曾 邀请 基督徒在其中一个壁龛中放置耶稣的雕像；但这一邀请没有主要来源支持，不能当作确定史实。

基督徒拒绝了。坚决拒绝。

鲍森观察到：他参观万神殿时，所有壁龛都空了；但那里确实有耶稣的雕像，因为这座建筑后来被教会接管，成为礼拜场所。对他而言，那是胜利，而不是妥协。

这种做法称为 融合主义——把不同宗教混在一起；这是教会必须面对的战役。

“Religio Licita”——合法宗教

罗马帝国有受国家容许或支持的公共宗教制度，但并不存在一个适用于所有崇拜、类似现代登记制的统一“合法宗教”类别。对基督徒而言，拒绝参加公共献祭使他们处于法律和政治风险之中。

基督徒 拒绝注册。他们说：我们不是宗教。我们是耶稣基督的追随者。

这使他们的生活变得更加危险。

当凯撒成为神时

渐渐地，在某些时期和地区，罗马公共宗教要求向皇帝表达敬意；皇帝崇拜的象征也与帝国公共仪式相连。官员可能要求人们献香或作出忠诚宣告；基督徒拒绝把这项政治忠诚当作敬拜上帝。

这也使肉身的迫害开始了。

“无神论者”还形成了双重指控：罗马人因基督徒拒绝众神而如此称呼他们；基督徒则认为罗马人虽有许多神，却不认识真神。保罗在保罗写给以弗所人的信说，外邦人从前“在世上没有神”。

因此保罗在雅典从“献给未识之神”的祭坛开始宣讲，向雅典人介绍他们不认识的独一真神。鲍森用这段话说明：拥有许多神像并不等于认识上帝。

---

第二场战斗：思想——反对哲学

这是一场 更难 的战斗，因为它发生在教会 内部，而不是教会外部。

希腊人是杰出的思想家。当基督教遇到知识界时，最大的危险是知识分子会 改变 基督教，创造所谓更高级的版本，以迎合智力而牺牲真理。

鲍森说：“我的智力有很多问题还没有得到解答。但感谢上帝，在我的智力完全满意之前，我已经准备好相信了。”

这场战斗必须用文字和笔进行，教会历史上一些最重要的著作也由此产生。爱任纽 写下《反异端》，系统驳斥诺斯替思想；亚历山大的 奥利根 留下大量书籍、书信和论著，捍卫基督教信仰。

与马吉安的战斗

马吉安被鲍森比作第一个用剪刀剪圣经的人。他不喜欢旧约中上帝审判与忿怒的形象，于是断言旧约的神与新约的神是不同的神。

他的解决方案是：删掉整本旧约。

他于是删去整本旧约，以及与旧约关联密切的《启示录》；保罗书信和福音书中不合他神学的段落也被删改。

鲍森指出：“他是第一个发现当你用剪刀剪圣经时，你无法停止的人。”

结果是 两位神：一个属于旧约，一个属于新约；这正是教会所拒绝的异端结论。

这是我们今天仍在与之斗争的异端邪说。

与诺斯替主义的战斗

这是一场规模更大的战斗。诺斯替主义来自一种思想的混合——埃及的、波斯的，可能还有印度的——具有一个基本哲学：

灵界的东西都是好的；物质的东西都是邪恶的。

这导致了一系列破坏性的结论：

• 如果物质是邪恶的 → 上帝就不可能创造它。
• 如果物质是邪恶的 → 耶稣就不可能真正取了肉身。
• 因此 → 耶稣只是 显现为 有身体，是一个幻影。
• 因此 → 他没有真正受死，也不会真正饥饿或疲倦。
• 因此 → 身体复活就成了荒谬之事。

鲍森解释说：“这就是约翰写福音书和第一封书信的原因——他在教会内部与这种想法作斗争。”

《约翰一书》的开头说：“论到从起初原有的生命之道，就是我们所听见、所看见、亲眼看过、亲手摸过的。” 这正是在反驳否认基督真实肉身的诺斯替主义。

教会中最重要的思想家都反对它：北非迦太基的 德尔图良，亚历山大的 克莱门特 与 奥利根，以及 西普里安；他们都以著作驳斥这种思想。

属灵争战的三大成果

教会做了三件事来赢得这场战斗：

1. 新约正典。 面对众多假福音，教会必须辨认哪些书卷承自使徒见证。到公元 200 年，许多新约书卷已被广泛承认，但完整的二十七卷名单直到四世纪才在各地趋于一致。正是在那场争战中，我们更清楚地辨认出今天的新约。

2. 信经。 为了清楚地表达信仰，教会开始列出信仰要点——“信经”一词来自拉丁语 credo，意为“我相信”。使徒信经是对诺斯替主义的直接回答：

• “我相信全能的父上帝，天地的创造者”——上帝 做过 使物质成为现实。
• “耶稣……在本丢彼拉多手下受苦，被钉在十字架上，死了并被埋葬”——他 有 一个真实的身体。
• “我相信身体的复活”——身体 是 好的。

3. 会议。 主教们聚集，不只是为了管理组织，更是为了共同捍卫信仰并保持合一。

与阿里乌主义的斗争——耶稣是完全的神吗？

当君士坦丁在公元 312 年前后转向基督教时，教会正陷入严重争论。亚历山大的长老 阿里乌斯 教导，圣子是受造者，不与父同等永恒；这与后来耶和华见证人的某些教义有相似处，但不能把两个历史运动简单等同。

阿里乌斯说：耶稣是“上帝的儿子”，却不是与父同等的上帝；他是被造的，而非永恒受生。他“像上帝”，却不是完全的上帝。

这场争论迅速席卷教会和帝国，许多主教支持或容忍阿里乌斯的立场。

其中一位关键人物看到正在发生的事情并敢于反抗。

他的名字是 亚他那修。当时他还是年轻执事，后来成为亚历山大主教；他坚持说，若圣子不是完全的上帝，便不能真正施行救赎。

后来形成拉丁格言：Athanasios contra mundum——“亚他那修反对世界”。

他一生被四位不同的皇帝五次流放。他从未放弃。

我事奉他八十六年了，他从来没有亏待过我。那么我怎么能亵渎我所侍奉的国王呢？——坡旅甲（约公元 155 年）

---

尼西亚会议（公元 325 年）

君士坦丁召集了来自帝国各地的大约 300 位主教。他们来到 尼西亚（今土耳其伊兹尼克），因为这里靠近皇帝当时的驻地尼科米迪亚；公元 325 年的君士坦丁堡尚未建成。

主教们进入大厅时身上带着迫害的痕迹——用鲍森的话来说， “残废的和瘸腿的进来了。” 身体上的战斗刚刚结束，老兵们正坐在房间里进行属灵的争战。

亚他那修当时还是执事，虽没有主教的投票权，却在会议中参与辩论，是这场争论的核心人物之一。

辩论集中在 一个字母 上：

• ὁμοούσιος（homoousios）：耶稣与天父“同质”——耶稣 是真神。
• ὁμοιούσιος（homoiousios）：耶稣“具有相似的本质”——耶稣只是 像 上帝。

区别：一个字母 ι （iota）。但这就是信仰和异端之间的区别。

尼西亚会议确认了亚他那修所捍卫的信仰表述。 会议制定了尼西亚信经：

“我相信一位主耶稣基督……上帝之神，光之光，上帝之上帝，受生而非被造，与天父同质……”

每年圣诞节，我们仍会唱赞美诗：“听！先驱天使歌唱——上帝之神，永恒之光……”；我们也在宣认尼西亚会议所捍卫的基督论成果。

---

第三场战斗：肉身对抗——面对罗马迫害

在最初四个世纪里，教会没有用武力传播福音；宗教裁判所更是后来才出现。教会所宣称使用的唯一力量是 爱。

但他们一次又一次遭到肉身的暴力对待。

为什么基督徒遭受如此多的苦难？

人们指责这些谣言——基督徒是食人者（对圣餐的误解），他们举行淫秽的“爱情盛宴”，他们拒绝参加正常的社会习俗，他们是一个威胁帝国安全的秘密社团。

但鲍森说，那些并不是真正的根本原因。

真正的原因，鲍森归结为耶稣的话：“他们无缘无故地恨我。” 他认为人心深处对上帝、进而对上帝子民有非理性的敌意。

鲍森走得更远——这需要明确的历史背景：他认为 “反犹太主义的另一面是犹太人对基督徒的态度，” 还有那个 “是犹太人首先一次又一次地给基督徒带来了苦难。” 这是鲍森在 1960 年代采用的、如今已经过时且有争议的框架；本文引用这一说法并不认可把苦难归咎于整个犹太群体。使徒行传确实记录了一些犹太领袖的早期反对，但现代历史学家对这种集体归因持谨慎态度——后来的迫害绝大多数来自罗马国家，而不是犹太社区。

尼禄和迫害的开始（公元 64）

有一天，鲍森站在罗马尼禄皇宫花园的废墟上，知道土壤已被鲜血浸透。

据古代史料，公元 64 年罗马大火后，尼禄把责任推给基督徒。关于他是否亲自纵火仍有争议；可以确定的是，罗马十七个行政区中有十四个被烧毁，尼禄随后以基督徒为替罪羊。

他逮捕并处决了一批罗马基督徒；塔西佗记载，有人被兽皮包裹后遭犬撕咬，有人被钉十字架，还有人涂上沥青，在夜间作为人形火炬照亮皇帝花园。这里不能把史料中的群体叙述写成“每一个基督徒”都被捕。

这就是开始。后来的基督教史家把从尼禄到戴克里先之间的若干迫害浪潮整理为“十次迫害”；这是一个具有象征意义的传统框架，不能理解为十次同样规模、连续不断的全国性行动。

鲍森举起一本他二手捡到的旧书——福克斯的烈士书，曾经是基督徒的必修周日读物。他指出，这表明，直到写下这本书的时候，从来没有一个十年没有基督徒遭受殉难——“但还是没有。”

使徒约翰在拔摩岛

约公元 95 年，传统认为图密善皇帝把使徒约翰流放到爱琴海的拔摩岛。启示录只说他“为上帝的道”在那里，并没有可靠证据证明他被关在盐矿或锁在监狱墙上。

《启示录》在拔摩岛的流放背景下写成；这让人联想到班扬后来在贝德福德监狱写作《天路历程》，但两者不是同一类型的记载。

鲍森引用保罗的话： “我可能被锁链锁住，但神的话语不受束缚。”

普林尼和图拉真（约公元 110 年）

公元 110 年前后，新总督普林尼抵达小亚细亚西北部的比提尼亚和本都。他感到惊讶：异教神庙似乎门可罗雀，便询问原因。

“基督徒，先生。他们太多了。”

普林尼开始审讯并处决拒绝献祭的基督徒，却对他们的数量和生活方式感到困惑。他询问了曾参加基督徒聚会的人。

调查者的报告说：他们在黎明前聚会，向基督如同向神一样唱诗，并以誓约约束自己不偷盗、不通奸、不谋杀。

普林尼非常困惑，便写信给图拉真皇帝。图拉真的答复是：不接受匿名指控；若有人被正式指控并确认仍坚持基督徒身份，应给他机会献祭。若拒绝，便按当时的国家法律处罚。

安提阿的伊格内修斯

伊格内修斯是安提阿的主教。他被捕，从安提阿押解到罗马，传统认为在那里被处以兽刑。

他的旅程是一场胜利的盛会。一路上，基督徒离开家，与他同行，与这位走向死亡的人分享团契。

鲍森从伊格内修斯的书信中读到：“如今我开始作门徒；凡靠近刀剑的，就靠近上帝；凡在兽中的，就与上帝同在。”

伊格内修斯每天晚上休息时都会写下令人难忘的信——他被锁在罗马士兵身边。他写信给士麦那主教坡旅甲： “尽管经常被击打，但仍要站稳，像铁砧一样坚定。”

四十年后，坡旅甲殉道。

士麦那的坡旅甲（约公元 155 年）

士麦那举行庆典纪念皇帝时，人群喊道：“除掉无神论者！”这里的“无神论者”是指拒绝罗马众神的基督徒。坡旅甲随后被捕并带到竞技场。

一名士兵被派去逮捕他。他们来到士麦那郊外的一座小平房。他们敲门。坡旅甲来到门口。他们不认识他，就问道：“这里有一个叫坡旅甲的人吗？”

他本可以说不。他很想这么做。但主给了他胜利。他说：“我是坡旅甲”，然后伸出手腕去拿铁链。

竞技场上，总督看着老人的白发说道：“可怜你这个年纪，只要咒骂基督，你就可以回你的小屋了。”在那之前，已有十一名基督徒被称为“无神论者”、拖进竞技场并投入狮子；人群随后又要求坡旅甲出场。

坡旅甲回应：

“我事奉他八十六年了，他从来没有亏待过我。我怎么能亵渎我所事奉的国王呢？”

他们原本要把他交给野兽，但后来改用火刑。记载说火焰没有立刻吞噬他，最后一名士兵用匕首结束了他的生命；这些细节来自《坡旅甲殉道记》，应当按殉道叙事来阅读。

基督徒记录了那次殉难，并以这样的对比结束：“……卢修斯·斯塔提乌斯·夸德拉图斯任执政官，但耶稣基督永远作王。” 这句话不是说夸德拉图斯亲自行刑，而是把地上的官长与永恒作王的基督作对比。

里昂的布兰迪娜（公元 177 年）

迫害蔓延至法国。在里昂，年迈的牧师波蒂努斯被投入监狱并死在那里。然后他们带走了一个十几岁的年轻女奴——她的名字叫布兰迪娜。

他们从早到晚折磨她，最后连施刑者也承认她无法被击垮。

她在痛苦中得到安慰和缓解的是这声反复的哭声： “我是基督徒，我们没有做过任何卑鄙的事。”

第二天，在鞭打、野兽袭击和灼热刑具之后，她被裹在网中扔到公牛面前，最终死去。

史家记载： “她就像一位高贵的母亲，为她的孩子们欢呼，带着喜悦和狂喜赶到他们身边，就像她被邀请去参加一场婚宴一样。”

北非监狱中的一名妇女

鲍森讲述了另一个来自北非的故事。一名基督徒妇女被监禁。她的婴儿在隔壁牢房里——挨饿、哭泣。她不被允许给孩子喂奶。折磨她的人提出了这样的提议： “只要你说凯撒是主，你就可以喂你的孩子了。”

她拒绝了。这是她的回答：

“我们尊崇凯撒为凯撒。但我们敬畏并敬拜基督为主。”

对德修斯和戴克里先的迫害

经过约三十年相对和平后，德修斯皇帝（公元 249–251 年）首次试图在整个帝国范围内 系统地 压制基督教，而非只针对局部地区。

鲍森说这是一个悲伤的时刻，因为许多基督徒 屈服了。有人说“凯撒是主”。有些人贿赂官员。有些人逃跑了。这造成了一个痛苦的问题：当和平回归时，那些否认基督的人想要回到教会。应该做什么？这几乎将教会撕成两半。

德修斯之后出现了约四十年的相对和平，教会的数量、财富和影响力持续增长。

随后是“撒但最后一次放纵”——戴克里先在公元 303 年发动大迫害：下令拆毁教堂、焚烧圣经、剥夺基督徒公职，并在后来法令中要求献祭，违者受刑。

鲍森指出：“撒旦知道他正在失败。现在基督徒太多了。帝国正在被蹂躏。这是最后的战斗。”

---

胜利：君士坦丁和米尔维安桥（公元 312 年）

公元 312 年，君士坦丁向罗马的敌人进军。鲍森诚实地说，他无法确定异象叙述哪些是真实、哪些是后来的加工；传说君士坦丁看见十字标记并听见“借此征服”（拉丁文 in hoc signo vinces）。

据后来的传统，他命令士兵在盾牌上标记基督教符号，并在胜利后公开支持基督教；不能把这概括成每一名士兵都立即成为基督徒。

鲍森不确定这完全是一件好事。但皇帝已经成为基督徒。

君士坦丁的政策包括：

• 将星期日设为部分公共事务的休息日（并非历史上第一次设立休息日）
• 改善妇女和家庭在法律中的处境
• 限制部分残酷刑罚和奴隶虐待

罗马帝国的肉身战争就此结束。迫害停止了。

但思想和属灵的争战尚未完全结束。

君士坦丁的亲戚朱利安和异教复兴尝试

鲍森说，君士坦丁的年轻亲属朱利安后来宣布恢复罗马传统宗教；他不是君士坦丁的孙子，而是侄子。

朱利安重新开放并资助异教寺庙。

没有人来。

但这场复兴很短暂。到公元 380 年，狄奥多西一世以尼西亚信仰为帝国规范；到公元 400 年，基督教已成为罗马帝国最受官方支持的宗教，但异教并未瞬间消失。

蔓延至整个帝国

到公元 400 年，基督教已经传播到：

• 英国：圣阿尔班——传统中的殉道者；早期记载把他描述为庇护逃亡神职人员的维鲁拉米乌姆居民，并未说他是罗马士兵。
• 非洲：教会深入非洲
• 叙利亚和印度: 教会向东传播
• 整个罗马帝国：当时的世界已经听到了福音

肉身的战斗胜利了，思想的战斗胜利了，属灵的战斗也胜利了。

到公元400年，教会已经在鲍森所说的意义上为耶稣基督“占领了世界”。

---

是什么让教会在苦难中成长

鲍森对所有这些迫害提出了两个重要的观察。

第一个观察——痛苦的事实： 虽然我们知道许多殉道者的名字，但我们也知道成千上万的基督徒在迫害中屈服了。有人说“凯撒是主”。有些人贿赂官员。有些人逃跑了。这是痛苦的事实。当和平到来时，他们想回到教会——这几乎将基督教社区撕成两半。

第二个观察——最大的悖论： 教会从未像在这些苦难下成长得如此强大或如此迅速。

北非基督徒德尔图良说过这样一句不朽的话： “殉道者的鲜血是教会的种子。”

如果你想建立一座教会——那就种植一位殉道者。德尔图良就是这么说的。

这是对教会遭受苦难的痛苦但真实的答案：因为迫害 筛选了 会众，只留下能承受考验的人。它使基甸的手下只剩下能承受战斗的 300 人，也使教会成为它应有的样子——一支高贵的军队。

鲍森总结道：痛苦的答案不是我能完全理解的。但这是事实：教会在哪里受苦，哪里就成长。

铁幕东边，是肉身之战。在铁幕以西——在英格兰，在我们这里——这是一场精神斗争。而且更难。 — 大卫·鲍森

---

今天我们正在打同样的仗

这就是鲍森教授历史的原因。

今天的属灵争战： 就在本次演讲举行前几周（1960年代），在剑桥最著名的教堂里，为“世界宗教大会”举行了一场仪式——佛教徒、印度教徒、巴哈伊教徒、犹太人、基督徒都在场一起礼拜。 参与条件：不得提及耶稣基督的名字。

这就是我们正在进行的战斗。

鲍森以启示录的图景警告，未来可能出现要求所有人服从的统一宗教与政治秩序；这是他的末世解释，不应写成已经得到历史证明的预言时间表。

今天的思想争战： 我们这个时代的哲学不叫诺斯替主义——它叫 存在主义。你可以在让·保罗·萨特的文学、德彪西的音乐、毕加索的艺术和流行文化中找到它。你可以在年轻人的毒品文化中找到它。你可以在马歇尔·麦克卢汉的宣言中找到这一点： “媒介就是信息。” 在神学中，你可以在布尔特曼和蒂利希这样的人身上看到这一点——这套思想通过约翰·罗宾逊（伍尔维奇主教）等人传播开来；罗宾逊写有争议的著作《对神诚实》，而 霍华德·威廉姆斯 当时担任浸信会联盟主席。

这些人根据异教哲学重新定义基督教——一种基本上是无神论的哲学，使上帝非人格化或不存在。 “上帝死了”——这句话是基督教神学家遵循这一哲学的结果。

鲍森说：属灵争战需要我们培养出最优秀的头脑。必须用言语和笔去战斗。我们需要勇气说：“这不是基督教信仰。这不是我们所相信的。”

今天的身体对抗： 在铁幕以东（本次演讲是在冷战期间进行的），肉体的战斗如一世纪一样激烈。

鲍森讲述理查德·伍姆布兰德的故事：这位罗马尼亚牧师曾在共产主义监狱中受酷刑，当时正在前往剑桥，准备质问一位主持“世界信仰大会”仪式、甚至称耶稣为同性恋者的教会人士。鲍森以此强调，教会内部的思想争战同样需要勇气与爱。

马丁·路德在这次演讲之前450年把他的论纲钉在了教堂的门上。鲍森问：“今天我们要去哪里把东西钉在教堂的门上？” 这就是思想战。它就在这里，就在我们的教会内部。

鲍森总结道：

“为什么要让伍姆布兰特——他已经在东方打过肉身之战——来替我们打这两场仗？这是我们必须打的仗。我们必须清楚而有爱地说：这就是信仰；我们不会为了迎合今天的知识分子而改变它。这是带来救恩的福音。”

---

三场争战留下三项持久遗产

01

不妥协的身份

教会在混合宗教的压力下，仍持守关于耶稣的信仰告白。

02

一份变得清晰的信仰

圣经、正典和信经帮助教会回应思想上的挑战。

03

一个坚持到底的群体

群体经历了迫害；君士坦丁之后迫害结束，但故事并未结束。

这份遗产不是装饰性的图像；它是教会保持身份、清晰表达信仰并在压力中生活的方式。

Note: This post is compiled from David Pawson's History of the Church lecture series (Part 1: AD 30–400), approximately 58 minutes long. All major arguments come directly from Pawson. Wherever I looked something up, checked it against the historical sources, or corrected a small detail, I've left it as an amber margin note woven right into the text — the way you'd jot in the margin of a book you're reading.

The most astonishing story in history

Paul’s letter to the Romans: "Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world."

David Pawson opens with a simple but stunning question: How did Christianity spread from a handful of fishermen in AD 30, across the then-known world by AD 400, replacing every other religion along the way?

They did it without an army. Without money. Without influential people. And they did it against the full might of the Roman Empire.

And who were they? Pawson stresses the point: mostly nobodies. Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, "Look at yourselves — not many wise, not many powerful, not many of noble birth." The early Church was largely made up of slaves and the lowest ranks of society — and yet these were the people who won an empire.

This is the most astonishing story in human history.

---

The Starting Point: End of Acts (AD 60)

The Book of Acts covers the first 30 years of Church history — AD 30 to AD 60. It's an unfinished story: from Jerusalem, the capital of the sacred world, to Rome, the capital of the secular world.

But the story kept spreading outward in ripples.

Pawson summarizes the advantages the early Church had:

Roman roads. Straight roads running around the Mediterranean world, allowing apostles and merchants to travel without passports or visas.

Common Greek language. The whole empire spoke one language — the gospel could be preached in one tongue.

Pax Romana. The Roman peace — people could travel from country to country without fear of war.

Jewish communities. In most large towns, groups of Jews already knew the Old Testament and were willing to listen.

A morally and spiritually sick empire. People were hungry for something real.

And yet Pawson says: even with these advantages, this was an astonishing triumph.

They had no buildings. No denominational organizations. No headquarters. No financial resources. No committees. And yet they did it.

The organization of the early Church. Utterly simple: local groups called churches, each with elders for spiritual leadership and deacons for practical service. Between churches moved apostles who planted new ones, evangelists who preached the gospel, and prophets who brought the word of God. That is the only organization you find in the New Testament.

Their worship. Baptism by immersion. Bread and wine at the Lord's Supper. A mixture of fixed prayers and free prayer. Singing — no instruments, no choirs, but they loved to sing.

---

Three Battles

Pawson's core analytical framework: in the first four centuries, the Church had to fight three great battles — and in each one, it won.

The first battle — Spiritual, beginning with the Jews. The second battle — Mental, beginning with the Greeks. The third battle — Physical, beginning with the Romans.

Pawson says: we are fighting the same three battles today. That is why he teaches history — because this is not the past. It is the present.

---

First Battle: Spiritual — Against Syncretism

There is a popular idea — then and now — that Christianity must be mixed with other religions. That all religions are basically the same. That we're all traveling to the same God by different roads.

Pawson tells of picking up a hitchhiker, a student training to teach religious knowledge. The young man didn't believe in God, but his goal was to show children that all religions are fundamentally the same.

This is the spiritual battle the early Church faced.

The first martyr: Stephen

The first person to give his life for Jesus was Stephen — and he died for this one thing: declaring that Christianity would never mix with Judaism. That Judaism had become obsolete. That Christianity was unique and could not be diluted.

The Jews were so angry they dragged him outside the city wall and stoned him to death.

Jesus himself knew the two would not mix. Pawson recalls his teaching: to do so is like pouring new wine into old wineskins, or sewing a patch of unshrunk cloth onto an old garment — sooner or later it pulls and tears away. The two cannot be blended.

But the battle didn't end with Stephen. Paul was drawn in, and Peter was flung into it against his will — Peter, a Jew to his fingertips who had no time for Gentiles until God had to teach him otherwise. When the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Roman armies in AD 70, people might have thought that was the end of Judaism. But it wasn't.

For three hundred more years, various sects kept trying to drag Christians back under the Jewish law. Pawson names them: the Nazarenes and the Ebionites — who insisted that Gentile converts must still observe the Mosaic law and the Sabbath. They persisted for three full centuries.

"The people doing it today," Pawson observes, "are the Seventh-day Adventists — good Christians, many of them, but they are trying to bring us back under the Sabbath law of the seventh day."

Finally the battle was won: Christianity was unique, unmixed, independent of Judaism.

The Pantheon and the sin of syncretism

As the Roman Empire expanded, they built the Pantheon — literally "the house of all gods" (pan = all, theon = gods). Every time a new religion appeared, a statue of its deity was placed in a niche.

The Romans invited Christians to place a statue of Jesus in one of those niches.

The Christians refused. Absolutely refused.

Pawson observes: when he visited the Pantheon, all the niches were empty — but there was a statue of Jesus, because the building was eventually taken over by the Church and turned into a place of worship. That was victory, not compromise.

This policy is called syncretism — the mixing of religions. This was the battle the Church had to fight.

"Religio Licita" — Legal Religion

The Roman Empire had a religion registration system. If you registered, your religion became religio licita — a legal faith recognized by the state.

Christians refused to register. They said: We are not a religion. We are followers of Jesus Christ.

This made their lives considerably more dangerous.

When Caesar Became God

Gradually, all the religions found their niches in the Pantheon — and finally, they placed a statue of Caesar there. Caesar became a god. And the Roman Empire declared: from now on, our religion is the worship of Caesar. Burn incense to Caesar. Say "Caesar is Lord."

That is when the physical battle began.

But there is an interesting double charge of atheism: the Romans called Christians atheists because they refused to worship the Roman gods. And Christians called the Romans atheists — because despite all their gods, they had no God. The word "atheist" appears once in the Bible — in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, where Paul tells the Gentiles they were "without God in the world."

That is why Paul at Athens said to the Athenians: "I have seen all your altars — but I noticed one inscribed: To The Unknown God. I have come to tell you about that God — the one God you do not know." Atheists, every one of them.

---

Second Battle: Mental — Against Philosophy

This was the harder battle because it happened inside the Church, not outside it.

The Greeks were the brilliant thinkers. The intellectuals. The know-alls. And when Christianity encountered the intellectual world, the greatest danger was that intellectuals would alter Christianity — producing what they claimed was a superior form of it, compromising truth to fit the intellect.

Pawson says: "There are many questions that I have with my intellect that I still haven't got answered. But thank God I got to the point where I was prepared to believe before I got my intellect entirely satisfied."

This battle had to be fought with words and pens — and some of the finest writings in Church history come from it. Irenaeus wrote five books under the title Against Heresies — a systematic refutation of every branch of Gnostic thought. Origen of Alexandria produced an astonishing 6,000 books, letters, and pamphlets in defence of the faith. The intellectual arsenal of the early Church was formidable.

The battle with Marcion

Marcion was the first to take scissors to the Bible. He didn't like the God of wrath in the Old Testament, and concluded that the God of the Old Testament was a different God from the God of the New Testament.

His solution: cut out the whole Old Testament.

But then he found he needed to cut more. Revelation looked too much like the Old Testament — out. Paul said some uncomfortable things — out. Even the Gospels had passages he didn't like — out.

Pawson notes: "He was the first to discover that when you apply the scissors to the Bible, you cannot stop."

He ended up with two Gods — one for the Old Testament, one for the New.

That is a heresy we are still fighting today.

The battle with Gnosticism

This was a much larger battle. Gnosticism came from a mixture of thought — Egyptian, Persian, possibly Indian — with one basic philosophy:

Spiritual things are good. Material things are evil.

This led to a chain of damaging conclusions:

• If matter is evil → God could not have created it.
• If matter is evil → Jesus could not have had a physical body.
• Therefore → Jesus only appeared to have a body. He was a phantom.
• Therefore → He did not really die. He was never hungry or tired.
• Therefore → The resurrection of the body is absurd.

Pawson explains: "This is why John wrote his Gospel and his First Epistle — he was fighting this thinking inside the Church."

The opening of 1 John: "That which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched — this we proclaim concerning the Word of life..." — that is combat against Gnosticism.

The greatest minds of the Church set themselves against it: Tertullian of Carthage in North Africa, Clement and Origen of Alexandria, and Cyprian — all wrote to refute this thinking.

Three achievements of the mental battle

The Church did three things to win this battle:

1. The New Testament Canon. With so many false gospels circulating, the Church needed to identify what was real. They collected all the books that genuinely traced back to the apostles — those who received truth directly from Jesus. By AD 200, the New Testament had been assembled. We have the New Testament today because of that battle.

2. The Creeds. To state the faith clearly, the Church began making lists — creeds (from credo = "I believe"). The Apostles' Creed is a direct answer to Gnosticism:

• "I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth" — God did make material reality.
• "Jesus... suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried" — He had a real body.
• "I believe in the resurrection of the body" — the body is good.

3. Councils. Not to organize the Church, but to share the battle and close ranks for the faith.

The battle with Arianism — Is Jesus fully God?

When Constantine became a Christian in AD 312, he discovered the Church was in a terrible state of argument. The cause: a tall, handsome, brilliantly gifted preacher from Alexandria named Arius was teaching exactly what Jehovah's Witnesses teach today — that Jesus Christ is not quite God.

Arius said: Jesus is the "Son of God" but not God Himself. He was created, not begotten. He is like God but not God.

This swept through the Church like a craze, like a women's fashion trend — almost the entire empire followed Arius.

Only one person saw what was happening and dared to stand against it.

His name was Athanasius. He was a young deacon, physically small — some called him a dwarf. Arius was a tall, commanding bishop with thousands of admirers. Athanasius said: "That is wrong. And I will fight it."

The Latin proverb was born: Athanasius contra mundum — "Athanasius against the world."

In his lifetime he was exiled five times by four different emperors. He never gave up.

Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He has never done me wrong. How then can I blaspheme my King whom I serve? — Polycarp (c. AD 155)

---

The Council of Nicaea (AD 325)

Constantine summoned about 300 bishops from across the empire — he had no room large enough in Constantinople, so they crossed the Sea of Marmara to a city called Nicaea (modern-day İznik, Turkey).

The bishops entered the hall bearing the marks of persecution on their bodies — in Pawson's words, "the maimed and the lame came in." The physical battle had just ended, and its veterans were sitting in the room to fight the mental battle.

Athanasius — still only a deacon, too young to be admitted to the main debate — sat outside. But he was the central figure in the argument. He continuously passed arguments through a friend: the friend ran in, presented Athanasius's point, then ran out to relay Arius's response so Athanasius could counter it.

The debate turned on two words:

• ὁμοούσιος (homoousios): Jesus is "of the same substance" as the Father — Jesus is God.
• ὁμοιούσιος (homoiousios): Jesus is "of similar substance" — Jesus is like God.

The difference: one letter ι (iota). But it was the difference between faith and heresy.

Athanasius prevailed. The Council of Nicaea produced the Nicene Creed:

"I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ... God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten not made, being of one substance with the Father..."

And every Christmas, we still sing it: "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing — God of God, Light of Light eternal..." We are singing the outcome of the Council of Nicaea.

---

Third Battle: Physical — Against Roman Persecution

In the first four centuries, the Church never used physical force to establish the gospel. The Inquisition was to come much later. The only force they used was love.

But physical force was used against them, again and again.

Why did Christians suffer so much?

People blamed the rumors — that Christians were cannibals (a misunderstanding of the Lord's Supper), that they held obscene "love feasts," that they refused to participate in normal social customs, that they were a secret society threatening imperial security.

But Pawson says: those were not the real reason.

The real reason is the words of Jesus himself: "They have hated me without a cause." There is an irrational hatred in the depths of the human heart toward God — and therefore toward His people.

Pawson goes further — and this needs context: he argues that "the other side of anti-Semitism is the attitude of the Jews toward Christians," and that "it was the Jews who first caused the sufferings of Christians, again and again." (Note: this is how Pawson framed it in the 1960s. Acts does record early opposition from some Jewish leaders, but modern historians are cautious about such collective attribution — the great majority of later persecutions came from the Roman state, not Jewish communities.)

Nero and the beginning of persecution (AD 64)

One day Pawson stood in the ruins of Nero's palace gardens in Rome, knowing that the soil was soaked with blood.

The mad emperor Nero, in his ambition to rebuild Rome as a great metropolis, allegedly set the city on fire. Fourteen of seventeen districts were razed. Hundreds died. When blame began to fall on Nero, he looked for a scapegoat: "The Christians did it."

He arrested every Christian within reach of Rome. He wrapped them in the skins of wild beasts and set his dogs on them. He beheaded them. He crucified them. And finally — he covered them with pitch, stuffed them alive into barrels, and lit them as human torches in his garden while he drove his chariot madly around in the darkness.

That was the beginning. And from then until AD 300, the Church endured ten periods of persecution — the most frightful it had ever known.

Pawson holds up an old book he picked up secondhand — Foxe's Book of Martyrs, once compulsory Sunday reading for Christians. He notes it shows that, down to the time it was written, there had never been a ten-year period without Christians suffering martyrdom — "and there still isn't."

The Apostle John on Patmos

Around AD 95, Emperor Domitian exiled John — the last of the twelve apostles — to the salt mines, then to the tiny island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea, where he was chained to a prison wall.

From that prison cell came the Book of Revelation — just as Bunyan would later write Pilgrim's Progress from Bedford jail.

Pawson cites Paul: "I may be in chains, but the word of God is not bound."

Pliny and Trajan (c. AD 110)

Around AD 110, the new governor Pliny arrived in Bithynia in Asia Minor. He was astonished — the pagan temples were deserted, the idolatrous shrines had no business. He asked why.

"The Christians, sir. There are too many of them."

Pliny began arresting and executing Christians. But he was puzzled — both by their ever-growing numbers and by the quality of their lives. Finally he sent a spy into one of their early morning services.

The spy returned with his report: "They meet before daybreak. They sing hymns to Christ as God. Then they take an oath — a sacramentum — not to steal, not to commit adultery, not to murder."

Pliny was so puzzled he wrote to Emperor Trajan. Trajan's reply: don't accept anonymous accusations, but if someone is confirmed as anti-Roman religion, test whether they will say "Caesar is Lord." If they won't — execute them.

Ignatius of Antioch

Ignatius was the bishop of Antioch — Pawson calls him "one of the youngest ministers of the Church in those days." He was arrested and escorted from Antioch to Rome to be thrown to the wild beasts in the Colosseum.

His journey was a pageant of triumph. All along the road, Christians left their homes and walked with him for stretches, sharing fellowship with the man walking to his death.

Pawson reads from one of Ignatius's own letters: "Now I begin to be a disciple. He who is near the sword is near to God. He who is among the wild beasts is in company with God."

Ignatius wrote unforgettable letters every night as he rested — chained to his Roman soldier. He wrote to Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna: "Stand fast, firm as an anvil, though often smitten."

Forty years later, Polycarp was martyred.

Polycarp at Smyrna (c. AD 155)

The Roman games were being held at Smyrna to honor the emperor. The crowd grew excited. Blood began to flow. Then someone cried, "Away with the atheists!" — and eleven Christians were dragged into the arena, called atheists, and thrown to the lions. Then the crowd cried for Polycarp.

A soldier was sent to arrest him. They came to a small cottage outside Smyrna. They knocked. Polycarp came to the door. They didn't recognize him and asked: "Is there a man called Polycarp here?"

He could have said no. He was tempted to. But the Lord gave him the victory. He said, "I am Polycarp," and held out his wrists for the chains.

In the arena, the governor looked at the old man's white hair and said: "Have pity on your age. Just curse Christ and you can go back to your cottage."

Polycarp replied:

"Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He has never done me wrong. How then can I blaspheme my King whom I serve?"

They could do nothing but kill him. The lions had been taken away, so they built a bonfire and tied him to a stake. But the wind was strong and blew the flames away from Polycarp — which deeply impressed the crowd. Finally, a Roman soldier, out of pity for the old man, plunged a dagger into his heart.

The Christians recorded that martyrdom, and ended the account with these words: "...Quintus Statius Quadratus being consul, but Jesus Christ being King forever." Quadratus's name goes down as the executor. Jesus Christ's name goes down as King.

Blandina at Lyon (AD 177)

The persecution spread to France. At Lyon, the aged minister Pothinus was thrown into prison and died there. Then they took a young slave girl in her teens — her name was Blandina.

They tortured her from morning till evening. Her tormentors grew tired and weary and acknowledged they were conquered — they could do no more to her.

Her comfort and relief in the pain was this repeated cry: "I am a Christian, and there is nothing vile done by us."

The next day — after the scourging, after the wild beasts, after the red-hot chair — she was enclosed in a net and thrown before a bull. The bull tossed her. And she died.

The historian records: "She, like a noble mother who had cheered on her children, hastened to them with joy and exultation, as though she were bidden to a marriage feast."

A Woman in a North African Prison

Pawson recounts another story from North Africa. A Christian woman was imprisoned. Her infant was in the cell next door — starving, crying. She was not allowed to nurse her child. Her tormentors made the offer: "You can feed your baby as soon as you say Caesar is Lord."

She refused. And this was her answer:

"We give honour to Caesar as Caesar. But we render fear and worship to Christ as Lord."

The persecutions of Decius and Diocletian

After about 30 years of peace, under Emperor Decius (c. AD 249–251), for the first time Rome systematically tried to crush Christianity empire-wide — not just locally.

Pawson says this was a time of grief because many Christians gave in. Some said "Caesar is Lord." Some bribed officials. Some fled. This created a painful problem: when peace returned, those who had denied Christ wanted to come back to the Church. What should be done? This nearly tore the Church in two.

After Decius came 40 years of peace — and the Church grew in numbers, wealth, and influence.

Then came "Satan's last fling" — under Diocletian (AD 303): he ordered every church destroyed, every Bible burned, every Christian in Roman office dismissed, and every Christian to be beheaded, burned, or drowned.

Pawson notes: "Satan knew he was losing. There were too many Christians now. The Empire was being overrun. And this was the final battle."

---

Victory: Constantine and the Milvian Bridge (AD 312)

AD 312. Constantine was about to march against the enemies of Rome. And in that moment — Pawson honestly says he cannot separate truth from fiction in what has come down to us — Constantine saw a vision in the sky. He saw a cross, and heard a voice: "In hoc signo vinces" — "In this sign, conquer."

He painted the cross on the shield of every Roman soldier. And declared: "From now on, I am a Christian. And so are you."

Pawson is not sure this was entirely a good thing. But the emperor had become a Christian.

And Constantine declared:

• Sunday would be a day of rest (for the first time in history)
• Women would be valued more highly in the Empire
• Slaves would be treated properly

That was the end of the physical battle in the Roman Empire. The persecutions ceased.

But the spiritual and mental battles were not yet fully won.

Julian, Constantine's kinsman, and the pagan revival attempt

Pawson says: "Constantine had two young kinsmen — one called Julian." They declared: "We don't like what he did. We are going to restore the Roman pagan gods."

They reopened the pagan temples.

Nobody came.

It was too late. The spiritual battle had been won. By AD 400, only one religion was prominent across the Roman Empire.

The spread across the empire

By AD 400, Christianity had reached:

• Britain: St. Alban — the first martyr in Britain, a Roman soldier dying for Jesus. We still call the place St. Albans.
• Africa: The Church spread deep into Africa
• Syria and India: The Church spread eastward
• All of the Roman Empire: The then-known world had heard the gospel

The physical battle was won. The mental battle was won. The spiritual battle was won.

The Church had captured the world for Jesus Christ by AD 400.

---

What Made the Church Grow Under Suffering

Pawson makes two important observations about all those persecutions.

First observation — The painful truth: While we know the names of many martyrs, we also know that thousands of Christians gave in under persecution. Some said "Caesar is Lord." Some bribed officials. Some fled. This is the painful truth. And when peace came, they wanted to return to the Church — which nearly tore the Christian community in two.

Second observation — The great paradox: The Church never grew so strongly or so quickly as under those sufferings.

Tertullian — the North African Christian — said the immortal words: "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church."

If you want to plant a church — plant a martyr. That is what Tertullian said.

And this is the painful but real answer to why the Church suffered: because persecution sifted the membership. It reduced Gideon's men to the 300 who could take it. It made the Church what it ought to be — a noble army.

Pawson concludes: the answer to the suffering is not something I can fully understand. But it is true: where a Church suffers, it grows.

East of the iron curtain, it is the physical battle. West of the iron curtain — here in England, here where we are — it is the mental battle. And it is harder. — David Pawson

---

We Are Fighting the Same Battles Today

This is why Pawson teaches history.

The spiritual battle today: Just weeks before this lecture was given (1960s), at the most prominent church in Cambridge, a service was held for the "World Congress of Faiths" — Buddhists, Hindus, Baha'is, Jews, Christians, all present to worship together. Condition of participation: the name of Jesus Christ must not be mentioned.

That is the battle we are fighting.

The Bible predicts there will be a unified world religion — and those who refuse to join will not be allowed to buy food (Revelation).

The mental battle today: The philosophy of our time isn't called Gnosticism — it's called existentialism. You find it in the literature of Jean-Paul Sartre, in Debussy's music, in Picasso's art, in pop culture. You find it in the drug culture of the young. You find it in Marshall McLuhan's declaration that "the medium is the message." And in theology, you see it in people like Bultmann and Tillich — popularized by people like John Robinson (Bishop of Woolwich) with his controversial book Honest to God, and Howard Williams, then president of the Baptist Union.

These are people redefining Christianity according to a pagan philosophy — one that is fundamentally atheist, making God impersonal or nonexistent. "God is dead" — that phrase is the result of Christian theologians following this philosophy.

Pawson says: the mental battle needs the finest brains we can produce. It must be fought with words and pens. And we need the courage to say: "This is not the Christian faith. This is not what we believe."

The physical battle today: East of the Iron Curtain (this lecture was given during the Cold War), the physical battle rages — just like the first century.

Pawson tells of Richard Wurmbrand — who had been tortured in Romanian Communist prisons and was present at this meeting — who was on his way to Cambridge to confront a churchman who had hosted the "World Congress of Faiths" service and had called Jesus a homosexual.

Martin Luther, 450 years before this lecture, nailed his theses to the church door. Pawson asks: "Where would we go today to nail things to church doors?" This is the mental battle. It is here. It is inside our churches.

Pawson concludes:

"Why should it be left to Wurmbrand — who has already fought the physical battle in the east — to fight both battles? This is the battle we must fight. And we must say very clearly and lovingly: this is the faith. We are not altering it for the intellectuals of today. This is the only gospel that saves."

---

Three battles left three enduring legacies

01

An uncompromised identity

The Church held to its confession about Jesus under pressure to blend religions.

02

A faith made articulate

Scripture, canon, and creeds helped the Church answer intellectual challenges.

03

A community that endured

Communities endured persecution; after Constantine it ended, but the story did not.

The legacy is not a decorative image; it is the way the Church keeps its identity, articulates its faith, and lives through pressure.