0-500 AD The time of the Mustard Seed, Persecution, Conversion,
& Councils
Slide 3
The first main event of the beginning of the Church is
Pentecost (33 AD) The Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles to
give the courage to proclaim the Gospel
Slide 4
The Stoning of St. Stephen (the 1 st martyr in Church history)
The Beheading of St. James the Greater (the 1 st Apostle to be
martyred)
Slide 5
Paul was the greatest missionary for the Church St. Paul went
on three great missionary journeys (4558 AD). The three main
effects of Pauls mission journeys are: Paul spread the faith
throughout the known Roman empire Paul mentored and built up the
Christian communities Paul wrote letters to the communities, which
make up 14 of the 27 books of the New Testament
Slide 6
The first big question that the Church dealt with was, What do
we do with the Gentiles (non-Jewish people) who are converting to
the Catholic faith? Do they have to follow Jewish dietary laws or
not? The Decision: Gentiles did not need to follow Jewish dietary
laws
Slide 7
Nero Burns Rome (64 AD; blamed it on the Christians) Roman Army
Destroys the Jerusalem Temple (70 AD)
Slide 8
St. Justin Martyr Origen Tertullian
Slide 9
The Roman emperors wanted the Christians to worship the false
pagan gods They said everyone in the empire must make a public
sacrifice before the pagan gods If someone refused to do so, they
were put to death Many Christians lost their lives when they
refused to worship the false gods
Slide 10
St. Agnes St. Lucy St. Sebastian
Slide 11
Diocletian recognized that the empire was too big/large for one
man to rule He formed the tetrarchy by dividing the empire in half,
the Western part, which was centered in Rome, and the Eastern part
After Diocletian died, a civil war broke out in the West between
Constantine & Maxentius as to who was going to be the Emperor
in the Western half of the Empire
Slide 12
On his way to Rome, Constantine & his army saw a miraculous
vision in the skya Cross with the following words around the Cross:
In hoc signo vinces (In this sign, you shall conquer) Even though
Constantine was not a Christian, he knew of the Christian faith
& understood that this was a sign from God Constantine had his
soldiers paint on their shields the Greek monogram for Christ, the
Chi Rho, as they marched into battle against Maxentius Constantine
was victorious!
Slide 13
Soon after Constantine became Emperor, he pass an edict of
toleration for the Christiansknown as the Edict of Milan (313 AD)
The persecution against the Christians that was enacted by Nero in
the year 64 AD was completely eradicatedit was perfectly legal to
be a Christian in the Roman Empire The Edict of Milan legalized the
Catholic faith, but he allowed the pagan faith to remain
Slide 14
Soon after, a priest named Arius was teaching that Jesus was
not God; rather, Jesus was just a creature of God This heresy was
known as Arianism (named its founder) The Bishops of the Church met
in for the Council Nicaea in 325 AD and did two things They condemn
Arius teachings; Arius was wrong & Jesus was God, co-eternal
with the Father The Council Fathers formulated a creeda written
statement of what the Church actually believed, which we recite at
Mass to this very day (i.e., the Nicene Creed)
Slide 15
Ariusyeah, he was wrong Council of Nicaea Nicene Creed taught
that Jesus was God
Slide 16
One of the most influential persons in Church & all of
western civilization was St. Augustine (354430 AD) He has been
described as the bridge between the old world (i.e., the Roman
world) & the new world (i.e., the Catholic world) He was an
unmatched thinker & theologian for the next 800 years
Slide 17
In his early life, St. Augustine led a very immoral life &
one away from the teachings of the Church, much to the chagrin of
his mother, St. Monica She prayed constantly during his life that
one day the light of Christ would come into her sons soul &
would embrace the faith Augustine converted to the faith &
became bishop of the city of Hippo in North Africa in the year 395
AD
Slide 18
Council of Constantinople I (381 AD): Taught the Holy Spirit,
the Person of the Trinity, was fully God Council of Ephesus (431
AD): Taught that since Jesus was fully God, Mary was the Mother of
God
Slide 19
Council of Chalcedon Pope St. Leo the Great Called this
council
Slide 20
The Council taught the hypostatic union Jesus Christ is one
divine person who has a human nature & a divine nature His
human nature & divine nature exist in the unity of his
personhood, his one divine person
