Church History: Part II

Destruction of the Temple 70 A.D Organization of the Church 110 A.D Edict of Milan 312 A.D Council of Nicaea 325 A.D Christianity use Greek Philosophy to talk

about the nature of God. The Great Schism The Crusades The Reformation/Counter Reformation

With time, the Church Spreads

The Apostles led by Paul, spread the Christian message and its morals to other groups of people.

In 325, the Emperor Constantine makes Christianity the official Religion of the Empire.

Council of Nicaea: Creed/Trinity/Scripture With each group of people who come in

contact with this new faith, the religion is influenced and takes on a different look as does the group/culture.

The Major Developments of the Greek, European time period…..

Period of Jewish Christianity

30-130 A.D Ananias and Saphira misappropriate

funds Example that sin still exists and that we

need some rules or norms to help us determine what is right/wrong.

It is over this first century in the Church that these 2 faiths slowly start to move in different directions.

Period of Greek Christianity

50-1964 A.D The encounter with the Greeks results in

Philosophy being infused in Christianity Rather than talking about the worship of

God we discuss the nature of God. This will be more evident with Aquinas

later. The period of Global Christianity is from

1964-present and will be discussed later

Evangelization of Northern Europe

It is from here that we develop a detailed understanding of Heaven/Hell and Angels/Demons

We also develop penitential practices (some severe) to help us atone for sins

It is important to note that every time the church encounters a culture that the church changes the culture and the culture changes the church.

Greek Philosophical thinking

First and foremost is the affect of Greek philosophical thinking on the Church

Plato: Goodness= happiness He wrote the Republic in which he spoke

of the ideal City State which would be run by a philosopher. The closest we come to understanding the real “GOOD” is through contemplation. (And as a Result Philosophers come closest to the Good)

He Compares the Good (God) to the Sun

The First encounter with Greek Philosophy

Different Christian thinkers used Plato’s philosophy as a tool to make the gospel understandable

Augustine

In the 5 Century, some blamed Christianity for the collapse of Rome. Augustine argued that the fall of Rome showed the power of evil in the world. People only thought of their own selfish interest. In his book, The City of God, he stated that the real purpose of history was to bring people to their destined end, eternal life with God. He stated that Jesus’ message of love for God and neighbour as explained by the Church was the guide to true human civilization.

Athanasius: Confessor and Doctor of the Church; born c. 296; died 2 May, 373. Athanasius was the greatest champion of Catholic belief on the subject of the Incarnation that the Church has ever known and in his lifetime earned the characteristic title of "Father of Orthodoxy", by which he has been distinguished ever since

Origen (Greek: Ὠριγένης Ōrigénēs, or Origen Adamantius, ca. 185–ca. 254) was an early Christian scholar, theologian, and one of the most distinguished of the early fathers of the Christian Church. According to tradition, he is held to have been an Egyptian[1] who taught in Alexandria, reviving the Catechetical School of Alexandria

Dark Ages and Monasteries

With the fall of the Roman Empire in the west, the Christian faith and morals almost disappears save for the work of those in the monasteries. They functioned as centres of learning where the monks spent much of their time copying books, thus preserving Christian culture, theology, ethics.

Since Monks were basically the only people who could read, rulers of different countries recruited them to teach basic learning to their people.

The Great Schism

As the Church grew larger, it began to slowly divide into two separate Churches.

As Christianity expanded into Western Europe, the influence of the Roman Bishop (or patriarch) increased and he came to be called “pope”. Serious disagreement developed as the pope claimed authority over the whole Church. There were also some major differences regarding doctrine:

Filioque Clause

The breaking point between the eastern and western Churches was the Latin word inserted into the Nicene Creed. The Roman Pope added the expression “and the Son” to the end of the Creed’s statement, “And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father.”

In 1054 the Pope in Rome and the patriarch in Constantinople excommunicated each other. This is known as the GREAT SCHISM.

Context

Once again in order to help us understand some of the Historical events that played a role in shaping and forming our Christian Ethics we will examine some of “Christianity: The Second Thousand Years”.

Prepare 5-7 points from this section on “The Crusades” and/or “The Reformers” to prepare to write a paragraph question on your test.

The Medieval Church

IN 1095, Pope Urban II proclaimed a great expedition to recover Jerusalem and the Holy Land from Muslim rule. This is better known as the beginning of the Crusades which lasted more than a century (there were at least 5 waves). This helped to unify Europe and extended the reach of the Roman Catholic (Western) Church.

This point of time is often called the Age of Faith or the age of Christendom. People thought of themselves as Christians first, not their nationality.

The Church takes on a greater role as a “moral power” against cruelty and violence against the poor and defenseless. It offered the peace of Christ as a social ideal.

Monastic orders like the Dominicans and Franciscans stated their calling was to serve the needs of the people in need.

Universities emerged where Christian thinkers discovered the use of reason. One of the greatest theologians of this time was Aquinas who discovered the teachings of Aristotle.

Aristotle/Aquinas Connection

Plato’s student was Aristotle Ultimate good=God Good is inscribed in all things by God Must find a things purpose or nature to

discover its goodness Want happiness, you must live ethically Develop good character by practicing

good virtuous behaviour Follow the mean

Thomas Aquinas Aquinas rediscovers Aristotle’s teachings in the

1200s and uses them in creating a Christian understanding of ethics.

He considers Aristotle THE PHILOSOPHER. Like Aristotle believes Good = God but for

Aquinas it is the Holy Trinity. Our desire, our design is to be good.

Natural Law

Because it is our design (teleological) to be good, there is obviously a natural law we must follow.

CCC 1954: The Natural Law is the Original Law inscribed into our Heart by God

Like Aristotle, he believed there were “cardinal virtues” we should follow:

A) Prudence B) Temperance C) Fortitude D) Justice Aquinas also believed the “Complete” person

Possessed the three Theological Virtues as well (Faith/Hope/Charity)

Reformation

By the late 1400s, Europe is no longer in the age of Faith. Nationalism is now important, kings of different countries are demanding taxes and therefore are paying less to the Church.

The R.C. Church came up with “unique” ways to make money, one of the most controversial was Indulgences.

Martin Luther, a monk in Germany called for a simpler Church and challenged issues such as Indulgences. The Church excommunicates him marking the beginning of the Protestant Reformation.

Other Reformers

Other “Protest-Ants” followed;

King Henry VIII who started the Anglican Church

John Calvin who preached predestination

The Council of Trent and the Catholic Counter Reformation

Because of the Protestant Reformation, the Catholic Church came to realize:

A) It needed to end corruption in its ranks B) Doctrine must be clarified (it was

necessary to know just what exactly the Catholic position was).

In 1545, the Pope (Paul III) called for all the bishops to meet in Trent to discuss these issues and reform from within. This council would last until 1563.

The Council restated the Church’s teaching on

The sacraments Celibacy of the clergy The meaning of the Eucharist Emphasized that tradition was just as important as scripture in

guiding one’s spiritual life Although faith is important, good deeds DO help to procure

God’s grace. It made a commitment to holiness, worship and the spreading

of the Gospel. It asserted the need for seminaries in dioceses that did not

have universities so as to educate its clergy (the Church recognized that many of the problems the Protestants pointed out was due to the lack of education of the clergy).

Orders such as the Jesuits were founded to spread the Catholic doctrine to places as far as the “New World” (which they proved time and time again they were willing to die for).

In Review

Period of Jewish Christianity 30-130 Sin still existed Ananias/Saphira Needed guidelines or Norms Influence of Greek and W. Eur.

Christianity 110 Ignatius of Antioch Gnostics Edict of Milan 325 Council of Nicaea

Review

New Breed of Christians: Monk New Thinkers: Augustine and Origen Church changes Culture and vice versa Evangelization of Northern Europe Political Turmoil/Great Schism (Filioque) Crusades : Urban II/Innocent III/Sack Age of Christendom/Renaissance Re-Discovery of Aristotle/Aquinas Reformation/Reformers Counter Reformation/Trent/Jesuits