Grade 5 - Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States
Grade 5 - Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States
Grade 5 - Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States
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Sunday School Curriculum <strong>Grade</strong> 5<br />
2. Evangelism<br />
To <strong>the</strong> Jews:<br />
The first time when St. Peter addressed <strong>the</strong> crowd after <strong>the</strong> Pentecost (Acts 2:14-47).<br />
―Then those who gladly received his word were baptized: and <strong>the</strong> same day <strong>the</strong>re were<br />
added unto <strong>the</strong>m about three thousand souls‖ (Acts:2:41).<br />
―Praising God, and having favor with all <strong>the</strong> people. And <strong>the</strong> Lord added to <strong>the</strong> church<br />
daily such as should be saved‖ (Acts 2:47).<br />
―And believers were <strong>the</strong> more added to <strong>the</strong> Lord, multitudes both <strong>of</strong> men and women‖<br />
(Acts 5:14).<br />
―For he was a good man, and full <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Holy Ghost and <strong>of</strong> faith: and much people was<br />
added unto <strong>the</strong> Lord‖ (Acts 11:24).<br />
The Ethiopian who was baptized by Philip (Acts 26-40).<br />
To <strong>the</strong> Gentiles:<br />
Cornellius was <strong>the</strong> first that St. Peter visited and baptized him and his family (Acts 10:<br />
23-48).<br />
3. Persecution<br />
We all know <strong>the</strong> story about Saul and his conversion (Acts 9) and <strong>the</strong> killing <strong>of</strong> James by<br />
Herod.<br />
The Jews inflected <strong>the</strong> early church with many affectations, it was considered as a sect:<br />
―For we have found this man a plague, a creator <strong>of</strong> dissension among all <strong>the</strong> Jews<br />
throughout <strong>the</strong> world, and a ringleader <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> sect <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Nazarenes‖ (Acts 24:5) and ―But<br />
we desire to hear from you what you think; for concerning this sect, we know that it is<br />
spoken against everywhere‖ (Acts 28:22). The attack on Christianity started by attacking<br />
Christ Himself (John 8:48, Mat<strong>the</strong>w 9:34, 12, 24, Luke 11:15). This led <strong>the</strong>m to falsely<br />
accuse Christ and crucify Him. After <strong>the</strong> destruction <strong>of</strong> Jerusalem <strong>the</strong>y organized attacks<br />
on Christians led by a Rabbi named Tarpho who said ―<strong>the</strong> gospels deserve to be burned‖,<br />
he also labeled Christians as dangers to Judaism for <strong>the</strong>y know <strong>the</strong> truth and disobey it<br />
intentionally. They put restrictions for dealing with Christians. Gamilian <strong>the</strong> second (<strong>the</strong><br />
end <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> 1 st century) established punishments for those who convert to Christianity. We<br />
read about <strong>the</strong> persecution in El-Hameer country (Yemen now) and how thousands <strong>of</strong><br />
Christians were martyred at <strong>the</strong> hands <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Jewish King Zonowas in 523 AD. On <strong>the</strong><br />
o<strong>the</strong>r hand many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir philosophers were amazed with Christ and His teaching; among<br />
<strong>the</strong>m were <strong>the</strong> French Barouch Sbinwoz and Henry Bergson.<br />
Christianity was also persecuted from <strong>the</strong> Romans. This started right after Christianity<br />
was declared as a religion separate from Judaism (98 – 117 AD). It is said that Emperor<br />
Tragan considered Christianity to be a bunch <strong>of</strong> hallucinations and magic and rights to<br />
live as a Christian were denied. The attacks were physical and verbal; <strong>the</strong>ir philosophers<br />
wrote many books and letters disputing <strong>the</strong> Christian faith. Celcus wrote a book named<br />
―The True Letter‖ in it he attacked Christianity with harsh criticism, which lead <strong>the</strong><br />
Christian teacher Origen to write <strong>the</strong> book ―Anti-Celcus‖ to refute his accusations. Many<br />
o<strong>the</strong>rs like Lucian and Philostratus were encouraged to write against Christianity by Julia<br />
124 JULY