Prayer to Our Guardian Angel
Angel of God, My Guardian Dear to whom God's love commits me
here.Ever this day be at my side to light
and guard and rule and guide.Amen.
Announcements
• Exam on Monday!!• PPT notes on websites • Antonian vs. CC: Thursday 6/8pm • Sunday Clean up (9am -1pm)
Exam: Chapter 4
• 10 MULTIPLE-CHOICE• 10 MATCHING
(2 points each)• 10/ 15 SHORT ANSWER
(5 points each)• 1 ESSAY QUESTION
(10 points)
Study:
• Your notes! • Review worksheets (#28-
33, 39-44 will be covered on the next exam)
• Review readings! • Study Graphic
Organizers! • Study, Study, Study!
Chapter 4Church Fathers and Heresies
Athanasian Creed
• Profession of Faith • The author is unknown. • Three Divine Persons of the
Blessed Trinity • Incarnation of God the Son• Emphasizes the equality of
the three different persons of the Trinity
• A direct response to those who attacked the faith and introduced heresies into the Church
PART IEarly Heresies
Heresy:
• “A species of unbelief, belonging to those who profess the Christian faith, but corrupt its dogmas”. (St. Thomas Aquinas)
Heresies…
• Deny or alter some part or parts of the Deposit of Faith
Material Heresy • A heresy that results
from a mistake. • Comes from a
misjudgment, ignorance of the truth, etc.
• Although, this heresy comes from a mistake, it is a GRAVE mistake that needs immediate correction.
Formal Heresy
• Willingly choosing to keep doctrines that are contradictorily to those of the Church
• Keeping doctrines that have been condemned as being false
Material Heresy Examples:
• Jesus was a sinner• Mary was not a Virgin • God created Christ
Formal Heresy Examples:
• Rejection of the Eucharist • Teaching that Jesus didn’t
overcome death by way of the Resurrection
• Rejecting the Church’s teaching on Sunday Obligation
Gnosticism• Secret knowledge• Exists a Demiurge
(creator god) • Rejected MOST of
the NT (Hebrews 1:4-14)
• “The Kingdom of God is within you.” (Gospel of Thomas)
Gnosticism: View of Jesus
• Jesus was merely a “messenger”• Jesus entrusted one disciple with
secret teachings • Denied or limited the real
humanity of Christ • Jesus not born: “appeared”
Gnosticism’s Ethics
• Rejected ethical teachings of the Church
• Body = nature of evil: 1. self mutilation of the body
2. No possible way good soul can be damaged by actions of the body
Gnosticism: the Appeal??
• Promised “salvation”: escape of the soul from the material world
Ridiculed by Church Fathers:
• “My God made heaven and earth, and you cannot point to a measly vegetable yours has produced over all these centuries!”
Tertullian
Gnosticism: The Final Overview
• What: Gnosticism
• Who: ? (unknown)
• Where: Judea/ Roman Empire
• When: Birth of Christianity – Present day
• Central Belief: Salvation may be achieved through knowledge
• View of Christ: Christ was NOT human
Marcionism (144-400s)
• Founded by Marcion • Demiurge (god of the
OT/Jealous god) • Jesus sent to destroy the
OT god/Demiurge
Marcion: Founder of Marcionism• Father was a Bishop • Was a wealthy shipbuilder• Survived Empire’s “put down”
of Jewish uprising• Excommunicated as a heretic
Marcionism: • Jesus did not have
a true human body/was not from God
• Rejected the OT• Christian life must
be freed from material reality
Marcionism Differed from Gnosticism:
• Did not claim possession of secret knowledge
• No unique scripture • No divine beings
(pleroma)
Church’s Rejection of Marcionism:
• Rejected Monotheism • Rejected creation was good• Rejected the true humanity of Jesus
(death on Cross was payment to the creator god)
Marcionism: the Final Overview
• What: Marcionism
• Who: Marcion
• When : 144-400s AD
• Where: Rome
• Central Belief: God of Jesus Christ sent to destroy the Demiurge
• View of Christ: Jesus was NOT truly human
Manichaeism (250s –1000s):
• Elaborate brand of Gnosticism
• Founded by Mani
• Goal was to share a secret knowledge that led to liberation
Mani:
• Persian • Condemned to death • Viewed self as a
spiritual leader (Buddha, Jesus)
• Provided path to true freedom
Manichaeists Believed …
• Satan had stolen light particles from the brains of men/women
• Goal was to liberate humanity from Satan
• In living an ascetic life
• Jesus was/is NOT Divine
Manichaeism: The Final Overview
• What: Manichaeism
• Who: Mani
• When: 250s-1000s
• Where: Persia/India (Roman Empire)
• Central Belief: Man can be liberated from Satan through a secret knowledge
• View of Christ: Jesus was NOT Divine (only a human spiritual leader)
Montanism (156-200)• Were they an early women’s
rights group? • A form of monasticism? • A strange group waiting for the
end of the world? • … a little bit of all of these.
Montanus: • Founder of Montanism• Began movement by
preaching • Originally a pagan priest • Excommunicated by the
Church (Turkey)• Had two female prophets
with him• Believed that the “end”
was at hand
Montanism
• Age of the Father • Age of the Son • Age of the Holy
Spirit (final age)
Montanism• New Heavenly movement would begin in Pepuza
• Canon of Scripture should NOT be closed
• “Charismatic” • Believed Church was too
soft on sinners
Montanism: The Final Overview
• What: Montanism
• Who: Montanus
• Where: Turkey/Rome/ Pepuza
• When: 156-200s
• Central Belief: A New heavenly kingdom would be revealed by the power of the Holy Spirit in Pepuza (the end was near)
• View of Jesus Christ: Jesus was Divine and human
Docetism (30s-100s)
• Branch of Gnosticism • “to appear” • Jesus’ humanity was merely an
appearance
Docetism:• Jesus was did not suffer the pain of the
Crucifixion and death• Preached that someone else switched
places with Christ before the Crucifixion• Christ escaped from it.
Docetism: The final overview
• What: Docetism
• Who: ? (unknown)
• When: 305 -1000s
• Where: Roman Empire
• Central Belief: Christ did NOT suffer the Crucifixion; Gnostic
• View of Jesus Christ: Christ was not fully human
PART IIThe Ecumenical Councils
Ecumenical Councils
• There has been 21 ecumenical councils
• All the Bishops of the world (under the Pope) meet to discuss issues facing the Church.
Types of Councils • Synod• Diocesan • Provincial • Plenary
Synod: • Meeting between the Bishops
and the Pope (their leader)
Diocesan Council
• Meeting of the Bishops, laymen/laywomen, and representatives of the Clergy meet and discuss matters of the diocese.
Provincial Council • Meeting of the Archbishop with his
suffragan bishops
Plenary Council
• Meeting of all Bishops within a single nation
PART IIIChurch Fathers
Characteristics of the Church Fathers:
• Orthodoxy in doctrine• Holiness• Notoriety• Antiquity
• Two Groups: Latin/ Greek
Patristics • The writings of the Church
Fathers
Doctor of the Church
• Title only given by the Pope to those whose development of theology is extraordinary
St. Ambrose of Milan
• Governor of Milan • Anointed Bishop (was
only a Catechumen) • Defended the
independence of the Church from the State
• Did not get along with Emperor(s) because of high moral standards
St. Jerome
• Translated the Hebrew Bible into Latin (Vulgate)
Latin Vulgate
• Most accurate translation of the Bible
• Translation of Scripture into Latin
• Uniformed Scripture for the West
St. John Chrysostomthe Golden Mouthed
• Patriarch of Constantinople
• Combined the Biblical Meaning with practical application/ captured the deep spiritual meaning
• On the Priesthood: the morality of the priests.
St. John Chrysostomthe Golden Mouthed
• Called for a moral reform among the Emperors and Bishops.
• He was twice banished by the Empress, but quickly returned from exile.
• In 407, he was forced into a Death March.
PART IV
Heresies of the Fourth and Fifth Centuries
The “Golden Age”
• Lack of persecution • Christians experienced
a renewed freedom
Alexandrian School
• Gave special status to the Divinity of Christ
Antiochene
• Jesus’ followers were first called Christian.
• Focused more on literal and historical meanings of Scriptures.
Arianism • Result of the manner that
Christians had come to think about the Nature of Christ
Arianism …
• Direct result of the Christians turning to Philosophy to explain their Faith
Pagan Philosophers …
• One Supreme Being • Supreme Being created
pagan Gods• Could not conceive of
how One God = One God
Christians …
• Taught pagans the god the pagans worshipped is the same God that they worshiped
Arianism • Jesus is neither God nor equal to the
Father
Arianism
• Reduced the status of Jesus to being a creature of the Father
• Jesus, however, was above every other creature in dignity and perfection.
Arianism …
• Denied the Church’s teaching that the logos was coeternal with God.
Arians Instead Believed …
• That there “was when He was not”
• God created “The Word”
Arianism: The Final Overview• What: Arianism
• Who: Arius
• When: Fourth Century
• Where: Roman Empire/ Constantinople
• Central Belief: Jesus was not Divine, but anointed by God to the position of “Supreme ‘Human’ Being”
• View of Christ: Jesus was not Divine; was a Supreme “Human” Being
The Council of Nicaea (325 AD)
• Convened by Constantine the Great
Primarily Addressed: • Arianism• Readmission of the
lapsed • Election of Bishops • Role of the office of the
Bishops
The Council of Nicaea (325 AD)
• Failed to combat Arianism through Scripture alone
• Developed a Creed to combat Arianism
Constantine/St. Athanasius: • homoousios –of the
same substance –the Son was just as Divine as the Father.
The Council of Nicaea (325 AD)
• The development of the Creed did NOT end the controversy!
What Developed: • Homoousians : identical
(Orthodox)• Homoiousians :
similar(Arian)
After the Death of Constantine:
• “The entire world woke from a deep slumber and discovered that it had become Arian.” St. Jerome
The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed:
• Second Ecumenical Council of Constantinople (381).
Differences Between the NC and N Creed:
• 2nd section = the Son. • 3rd section = the Holy
Spirit• last section = Church,
Baptism, forgiveness of sins, and the Resurrection.
• “from the substance of the Father” is absent in the later Creed.
Apollinarianism (360-381)
• Apollinaris refused to accept the Church’s Authority
Apollinarianism (360-381)
• Christ had a human body
• Denied that Christ had a human mind and will
• Christ did not live a COMPLETE human life as a man
• Word of God replaced rational soul
Apollinarianism: The final Overview
• What: Apollinarianism
• Who: Apollinaris
• When: 360-381
• Where: Syria (Eastern Roman Empire)
• Central Belief: Denied existence of human mind and will in Christ
• View of Christ: Christ did not live a complete human life
Nestorianism (351-451)
• Christ was the unity of a Divine person and a full human person.
• Mary = Christotokos “the bearer of Christ”
Nestorianism: the final Overview
• What: Nestorianism
• Who: Nestorius
• When: 351 – 451
• Where: Antiochene
• Central Belief: Christ human and divine, but not fully human/divine
• View of Christ: Ditto.
Monophysitism (400s-600s)
• Reaction to Nestorianism
• Christ = ONE nature (Divine)
Monophysitism: The Final Overview
• What: Monophysitism
• When: 400s – 600s
• Where: Alexandrian School
• Who: ? Unknown
• Central Belief: Christ did not have two natures – only Divine nature existed
• View of Christ: Human nature absorbed by the Divine nature
Monothelitism:
• Response to Monophysitism
• Emperor Heraclius/Patriarch Sergius
• Pope Honorius: “one will”
Monothelitism: The Final Overview
• What: Monothelitism
• Who: Emperor Heraclius
• When: 600s
• Where: Constantinople/ Eastern Roman Empire
• Central Belief: Christ had only One will. But two natures
• View of Christ: Ditto.
Donastism (311-411)Sacramental Heresy
• Sacraments are invalid: 1. Priest/Bishop formally rejected the Faith2. Priest/Bishop in state of sin
Donastism
• Christ is the only true administrator of the Sacraments(Augustine)
Donastism: The Final Overview
• What: Donastism
• Who: ? (those who rejected the ordination of Bishop Caecillan )
• Where: Carthage (Roman Empire)
• When: (311-411)
• Central Belief: Sacraments are invalid if done by a lapsed priest or Bishop
• View of Christ: Jesus was human and Divine (Orthodox)
Pelagianism (late 300s-431):Dogmatic Heresy
• Man can be redeemed and sanctified without grace
• No Original Sin • Sacraments are
unnecessary
Pelagianism: The final Overview
• What: Pelagianism
• Who: Pelagius
• Where: Roman Empire
• When: 300s - 431
• Central Belief: Sacraments are unnecessary; Graces can be achieved by own human efforts
• View of Christ: Orthodox