Church buildings in the early church

Places of Christian assembly: their building, dedication, parts, and furnishings. Part of Worship.

Octavius 10.2Minucius Felix · ca. 197–250 · Why do Christians have no temples, altars, or images, and meet in secret, unless they have something to hide?
Didascalia 2.57Anonymous · first half of the third century
Against Celsus 8.20Origen · ca. 248 · The righteous are the precious stones of God's temple; Christians refuse pagan altars, images, and temples not as a secret sign but because Jesus has shown them the true way of piety.
Canons of Hippolytus, canon 29Anonymous · 4th century · The consecrated elements are to be guarded from falling or contamination, silence kept within the veil, psalms sung after communion, the altar dust thrown into the baptistery, and the forehead signed with the cross like the Passover blood.
Church History 7.13.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Gallienus ended the persecution and by rescript restored the churches' places of worship and cemeteries.
Church History 7.30.19Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · When Paul refused to leave the church building, Aurelian ruled it belonged to those in communion with the bishops of Italy and Rome.
Church History 8.1.5Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Church leaders were respected by officials, and congregations grew so large that new, spacious churches were built in every city.
Church History 8.2.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · In March 303, near Easter, Diocletian's first edict ordered churches razed, Scriptures burned, and Christians stripped of rank and freedom.
Church History 8.17.9Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Since the Christians still would not worship the gods, the emperors pardon them, allowing them to be Christians and rebuild their meeting houses, provided they keep order.
Church History 10.3.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Church dedication festivals were held everywhere, with bishops and believers from far and near gathering in unity.
Church History 10.4.37Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Paulinus enlarged the site and surrounded it with a strong wall.
Church History 10.4.38Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · A great east-facing gateway lets passers-by, even unbelievers, see inside and be moved to enter.
Church History 10.4.39Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Inside the gate lies a square courtyard (atrium) surrounded by colonnades with lattice screens, open to the sky.
Church History 10.4.40Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Fountains in the courtyard offer symbolic cleansing, and the court serves as a place for those still receiving first instruction.
Church History 10.4.41Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Three doors lead into the church on the east side, the central one taller and adorned with bronze reliefs.
Church History 10.4.42Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The side aisles have matching doors and upper windows with carved woodwork, and the main hall (basilica) is built of rich materials.
Church History 10.4.43Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · Eusebius will not describe the building's dimensions and splendor in detail, including its cedar roof, which recalls the psalm about the cedars of Lebanon.
Church History 10.4.44Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 300–325 · The church has high thrones for the clergy, benches for all, and in the center the altar, enclosed by a finely carved wooden screen.
Recognitions 10.71Anonymous · Greek original 3rd–4th century; Rufinus's Latin translation before 407 · Within seven days more than ten thousand are baptized at Antioch, and Theophilus dedicates the great hall of his house as a church, where a chair is set up for Peter.
Testament of Our Lord 1.19Anonymous · ca. 350–500
Appendix of Ten Documents on the Donatist Controversy 10Anonymous · documents of 303–330 · Constantine praises the Numidian Catholic bishops for not seeking vengeance after the Donatists seized the basilica he had built at Constantina, grants them a property of the treasury for a new church built at public expense, and confirms the clergy's exemption from public duties.
Martyrs of Palestine (shorter recension) 13.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 311–314 · When the confessors at the Palestinian copper mines built houses for worship, the governor denounced them to the emperor.
On the Deaths of the Persecutors 12.3Lactantius · ca. 314–315 · The emperors, watching from the palace, debated burning the church.
On the Deaths of the Persecutors 12.5Lactantius · ca. 314–315 · The praetorian guard demolished the church in a few hours.
On the Deaths of the Persecutors 15.7Lactantius · ca. 314–315 · Constantius only demolished church buildings and spared the Christians themselves.
On the Deaths of the Persecutors 48.7Lactantius · ca. 314–315 · Confiscated meeting-places are to be returned to the Christians without charge.
Theophany 3.20Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 325–337
Tricennial Oration (In Praise of Constantine) 9.12Eusebius of Caesarea · 335–336 · The cross brought Constantine victory over enemies and demons, and in thanks he ordered churches built everywhere.
Tricennial Oration (In Praise of Constantine) 9.13Eusebius of Caesarea · 335–336 · The persecutors who destroyed the churches were swiftly destroyed by God, while Constantine built new churches far finer, in Constantinople, Nicomedia and other chief cities.
Tricennial Oration (In Praise of Constantine) 9.15Eusebius of Caesarea · 335–336 · In Antioch Constantine built a great octagonal church.
Tricennial Oration (In Praise of Constantine) 9.16Eusebius of Caesarea · 335–336 · In Jerusalem Constantine built a great church at the place of the cross and adorned Christ's tomb.
Tricennial Oration (In Praise of Constantine) 9.17Eusebius of Caesarea · 335–336 · Constantine built churches at three caves: of the birth, of the ascension, and of the tomb.
Tricennial Oration (In Praise of Constantine) 17.4Eusebius of Caesarea · 335–336 · Christ then filled the world with new churches, called 'the Lord's' houses after their Master.
Tricennial Oration (In Praise of Constantine) 18.3Eusebius of Caesarea · 335–336 · Constantine, knowing God's help in war and government, built the church at Christ's tomb as a trophy of the victory over death, proclaiming his faith to all.
Life of Constantine 2.45.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · Church building was to be paid from the imperial treasury; bishops received letters, including Eusebius.
Life of Constantine 2.46.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · Constantine writes to Eusebius that church buildings have suffered under persecution.
Life of Constantine 2.46.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · Eusebius is to have clergy repair, enlarge, or build churches, with costs met by the governors.
Life of Constantine 3.25.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · Constantine resolved to build a church at the site of Christ's resurrection in Jerusalem.
Life of Constantine 3.29.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · Constantine ordered a magnificent church built around the tomb and wrote to Bishop Macarius.
Life of Constantine 3.31.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · The church must surpass every other building.
Life of Constantine 3.32.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · Constantine asks whether the ceiling should be coffered and gilded.
Life of Constantine 3.33.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · The new church, perhaps the prophesied new Jerusalem, centered on the adorned tomb.
Life of Constantine 3.34.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · The tomb was adorned with columns and ornament.
Life of Constantine 3.35.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · An open court paved with stone and surrounded by colonnades lay beyond the tomb.
Life of Constantine 3.36.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · The basilica, east of the tomb, was vast and faced with marble and polished stone.
Life of Constantine 3.36.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · The roof was leaded outside and gilded coffered work within.
Life of Constantine 3.37.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · Double aisles lined the nave, and three eastern doors admitted the crowds.
Life of Constantine 3.38.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · A hemisphere with twelve columns, for the twelve apostles, crowned the basilica.
Life of Constantine 3.39.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · An atrium, court, and gateway led from the marketplace into the church.
Life of Constantine 3.40.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · The church was richly furnished with gifts of gold, silver, and jewels.
Life of Constantine 3.41.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · Constantine also adorned the caves of Christ's birth and ascension, in memory of his mother.
Life of Constantine 3.43.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · Helena founded churches at Bethlehem and on the Mount of Olives.
Life of Constantine 3.43.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · Helena and Constantine adorned the cave of the Nativity.
Life of Constantine 3.43.3Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · On the Mount of Olives Helena built a church over the cave where Christ taught his disciples.
Life of Constantine 3.47.4Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · Constantine built fine new churches in every province.
Life of Constantine 3.48.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · Constantine filled Constantinople with churches and martyrs' shrines.
Life of Constantine 3.50.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · Constantine built great churches at Nicomedia and Antioch, where the octagonal church was unique in size and beauty.
Life of Constantine 3.51.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · Constantine ordered a church at Mamre, where God had appeared to Abraham.
Life of Constantine 3.53.2Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · Count Acacius is to destroy the idols and altar, and the bishops are to plan a basilica; pagans are barred from the site.
Life of Constantine 4.58.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · Constantine built the richly adorned church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople.
Life of Constantine 4.59.1Eusebius of Caesarea · ca. 337–339 · The church stood in a great colonnaded court with buildings for its staff.
Encyclical Letter 3Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 339 · Athanasius describes how the prefect Philagrius let mobs loose on the churches, which were burned and profaned, and how virgins and monks were assaulted.
Catechetical Lecture 14.14Cyril of Jerusalem · ca. 350 · Though the chief priests bribed the guards, the women saw the risen Christ; the emperors have now adorned the church of the Resurrection, and the world has believed.
Defence before Constantius 14Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 353–357 · Athanasius answers the charge of using the great church before its dedication: the Easter crowds were too large for the small churches, and his predecessors and others had done the same.
Defence before Constantius 17Athanasius of Alexandria · ca. 353–357 · Athanasius answers the objection that prayer should not have been held in the unfinished church, citing the returning exiles who worshiped at the site before the temple was rebuilt, and invites the emperor to dedicate it.
Letter 94Basil of Caesarea · ca. 357–378 · Basil defends to the governor Elias his building of a great church complex with a hospice, hospital, and workshops outside Caesarea against his slanderers.
Moral Rules (Moralia) 27Basil of Caesarea · ca. 360-370 · Basil's twenty-seventh rule, on imitating God and the saints, with Rules 28 (testing those who counterfeit the truth), 29 (proving oneself by works) and 30 (not profaning holy things), whose headings the scan lost.
Oration 4.24Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gallus's shrine for a martyr rose, but Julian's would not stand, a sign of his later impiety.
Oration 18.39Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory describes the octagonal church his father built at Nazianzus, calls himself its priest and his sufferings its sacrifice, and addresses his dead father in prayer.
Oration 33.3Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory contrasts the Arians’ violence under their emperor (assaults on worshippers, desecration of churches and virgins, torture of bishops, burning of presbyters at sea) with his own conduct.
Oration 42.7Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · God promises to enlarge his people; Gregory tells the Arians, proud of their buildings and numbers, that a faithful few in the open air are worth more to God than many who deny the Godhead.
Oration 42.22Gregory of Nazianzus · ca. 362–383 · Gregory asks the bishops to release him with their prayers and to choose a successor who will not merely please, and bids farewell to his church of the Anastasia, the great church, the clergy, the people, the court, the city, East and West, the angels and the Trinity.
Tractates 1.14.1Zeno of Verona · ca. 362-380 · Zeno begins a sermon at the dedication of a new church, saying that fine buildings are not the church's chief glory, as Solomon's temple shows.
Tractates 1.14.2Zeno of Verona · ca. 362-380 · Zeno teaches that God's true temple is not walls but the faithful people, and rejoices that the new church is too small for the crowd.
Tractates 1.14.3Zeno of Verona · ca. 362-380 · Zeno describes the spiritual church built on Christ, the one cornerstone, with seven columns, the living sea of the font, three members of one fullness, and twelve gates guarded by the cross.
Against Parmenian the Donatist 6.1Optatus of Milevis · ca. 366–385 · The Donatists broke, scraped or removed Catholic altars, the seat of Christ's body and blood, on which they themselves had once offered, and so struck Christ as the Jews did.
Letter 52.10Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome criticizes lavish church decoration while ministers are chosen carelessly, arguing that the gold of the temple belongs to the figures of the old law.
Letter 60.12Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome praises Nepotian's care for the cleanliness and decoration of the church and the martyrs' shrines.
Letter 114.2Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome praises Theophilus's book for teaching reverence for the altar and its vessels, which share in the holiness of the Lord's body and blood.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 30.11.9Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Josephus asked leave to build churches in Jewish towns.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 30.12.1Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · Josephus began building at Tiberias.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 30.12.3Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · He began converting it into a church.
Panarion (Adversus Haereses), Haer. 1-64 30.12.9Epiphanius of Salamis · 374-377 · He finished a small church at Tiberias and moved to Scythopolis.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.57.3Anonymous · ca. 380 · The church building is oblong, facing east, like a ship.
Apostolic Constitutions 2.57.4Anonymous · ca. 380 · The bishop sits in the centre with the presbyters, the deacons stand by, and men and women sit separately.
Apostolic Constitutions 8.34.8Anonymous · ca. 380 · If the church cannot be used, the faithful gather in a house.
Pilgrimage (Itinerarium) 25.8Egeria · ca. 381-395 · On the feast the churches are adorned with gold, gems and silk.
Pilgrimage (Itinerarium) 25.9Egeria · ca. 381-395 · Constantine adorned the buildings with gold, mosaic and marble.
Pilgrimage (Itinerarium) 48.1Egeria · ca. 381-395 · The Encaenia celebrate the dedication of the churches and the finding of the cross.
Pilgrimage (Itinerarium) 48.2Egeria · ca. 381-395 · The feast coincides with Solomon's dedication of the temple.
Petition to the Emperors (Libellus precum) 29Faustinus · ca. 383–384 · At Oxyrhynchus in Egypt, bishop Theodore, after being demoted and reordained by the Arian George, persecuted the strict Nicene congregation and its bishop Heraclidas, finally sending his clergy to demolish their church and altar.
Petition to the Emperors (Libellus precum) 36Faustinus · ca. 383–384 · The petitioners ask only to be allowed to worship Christ in peace, even in humble places, and sign their petition; the emperors' rescript to the prefect Cynegius praises their petition and orders that Gregory of Elvira, Heraclidas and like-minded priests be protected from harassment.
Letter 29.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine read the people Paul's lists of sins that exclude from the kingdom, including drunkenness, and his rebuke of feasting at the Lord's supper, arguing that no banquets belong in the church.
Letter 185.27Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine recounts the Donatist assault on Maximian, Catholic bishop of Bagai, who survived being beaten, stabbed, and thrown from a tower.
Homilies on Matthew 32.6John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · The peace the apostles brought is given now by the one who presides in church; the congregation must receive it and the preacher’s words with attention and love, not with chatter and secret slander.
Homilies on Matthew 50.3John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Christ himself gives the Eucharist through the priest as at the Last Supper, so communicants must be free of robbery and enmity, and he is honored not by golden vessels bought by injustice but by care for the poor, who are his body.
Homilies on Matthew 50.4John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · Gifts to adorn churches are acceptable, but almsgiving must come first, since Christ hungry, naked and imprisoned in the poor is a truer temple, and almsgiving cleanses sin and opens heaven.
Homilies on Matthew 80.2John Chrysostom · ca. 390 · The woman’s deed is sung throughout the world while the exploits of kings are forgotten; Christ protected her budding faith, as we should not overturn gifts already offered to the church, though gifts not yet made should go to the poor; at that very moment Judas, one of the twelve, went to sell his Master, as the evangelists frankly record.
Sermon 163.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Preaching where idols once stood, Augustine compares the dedication of a former pagan place to God with the conversion of people into God's temple, enlarged by love so that God may walk in them.
Sermon 318.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · At the deposition of relics of Stephen, found recently by revelation as Gervasius and Protasius were found at Milan in Augustine's youth, Augustine explains that the altar is built not to Stephen but to God, since the death of his saints is precious to him.
Canon 30Anonymous · 397 · Clergy and people are not to hold banquets in church buildings.
Tractates 17Gaudentius of Brescia · ca. 397-410 · At the dedication of his basilica of the 'Assembly of the Saints' in Brescia, Gaudentius lists its relics (John the Baptist, Andrew, Thomas, Luke, Gervasius and Protasius, Nazarius, the martyrs of Anaunia, and the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, received from Basil's nieces at Caesarea) and retells the martyrdom of the Forty.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 10.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Christ's cleansing of the temple, even of lawful trade, condemns much more the drunken feasting some practise in holy places.
Commentary on Jeremiah 2.32Jerome · ca. 414-419 · Confidence in the temple, or in splendid churches, is vain without justice and true faith; likewise bodily virginity without purity of mind.
Seven Books of History against the Pagans 7.39.1Orosius · ca. 417–418 · Alaric sacks Rome but spares the churches.