Download History of Christianity - Discovery Class 2015

History of Christianity
Discovery Class 2015
Calvary Episcopal Church
Apostolic Age
• First century C.E. • Pentecost: Shortly after the ministry of Jesus, some 120 of his disciples were gathered in “an upper room” where they received the Holy Spirit as tongues of fire. • Paul was on his way to Damascus when he encountered Jesus and become a principle apostle to the Gentiles. • Apostles spread out all over the Roman Empire and founded churches in major cities.
Ante-Nicene Age
• Second-­‐Third centuries C.E. • Theological developments were multi-­‐
directional and not easily mapped. • Leaders such as Clement of Alexandria, Irenaeus of Lyons, and Origen of Alexandria created ways of understanding Christian identity, including divinity of Christ and Trinity. • Church structures began to be established in larger cities. Constantine
• Emperor Constantine I was introduced to Christianity by his mother, Helena. • Upon seeing a vision of the cross, Constantine believed he won a decisive military victory by having his troops paint crosses on their shields. • Constantinople was made the new capital of the Roman Empire and contained Christian churches within the city walls and no pagan temples.
Spread of Christianity
Spread of Christianity from 325 CE (dark) to 600 CE (light)
Ecumenical Councils
• The First Council of Nicea – 325 CE – This was the first council to attempt to attain consensus on a theological issue – Main accomplishments: • Declared Arianism heretical (Arius held that the Son of God was created by God the Father and did not exist in the beginning with God) • Composed the first part of the Nicene Creed (The Second Council finished the Creed in 382) • Defined the way to calculate the date of Easter
Ecumenical Councils
• The First Council of Ephesus – 431 CE – Main accomplishments: • Declared Nestorianism heretical (Nestorius held that Jesus had two separate natures, one human and one divine) • Declared Mary to be Theotokos (God-­‐bearer) and not Christotokos (Christ-­‐bearer)
Ecumenical Councils
• The First Council of Chalcedon– 451 CE – This is the last council that was truly ecumenical, as it began to split the churches in the Eastern Roman Empire from the West (Anglicans recognize it as the last church council) – Main accomplishments: • Declared that Jesus had two natures in one person (fully human and fully divine) • Completed a set of 27 disciplinary canons
Divisions in the Church
Decline of the West
• The bishop’s locations (seats or sees) that began to grow in influence included Rome, Constantinople, Jerusalem, Antioch, and Alexandria • The shift into the Early Middle Ages saw the Christian Empire grow and strengthen in the East (Constantinople) and begin to decline in the West (Rome) • Rome fell to Germanic invaders in 476 CE
Empire: East & West
Missionaries
• When Rome was left to fend for itself in the West, popes began to turn to support from those who were not historically in the Empire, especially the Germanic peoples. • Missionary activity began to spring north from Rome (esp. Gregory the Great), including: – St. Augustine of Canterbury (England) – St. Patrick and St. Columba (Scotland & Ireland) – St. Wilfrid and St. Boniface (Germany)
Monasticism
• As missionaries began to convert non-­‐Latin peoples, there arose a need to develop and maintain Christian churches in rural lands • Monastic orders arose to meet this challenge: – St. Benedict wrote The Rule of St. Benedict, a guide to monastic life that influenced western monasticism since the 7th century. • Cluny (France) • Cîteaux (France) – Cistercians • Mendicants – Dominicans, Franciscans The Great Schism
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• Since the 7 century, communications between the Greek East and the Latin West had all but ceased (physical limitations) and their mutual autonomy began to divide them • Two issues became the root of the division: – The primacy of the Bishop of Rome – The filioque clause (“…and the Son”) • The official schism in 1054 was the result of Pope Leo IX’s (Rome) excommunication of Patriarch Michael I (Constantinople) The Crusades
• The Crusades were a series of military conflicts sponsored by the Papacy for the defense of the Holy Land (Seljuk Turks disallowed Christian pilgrims to enter Jerusalem in 1071) – First Crusade (1095): crusaders captured Antioch in 1099, then Jerusalem – Second Crusade (1145): reclaimed Jerusalem – Third Crusade (1189): Richard the Lionheart and Saladin – Fourth Crusade (1202): sacked Constantinople Western Schism
• Following a prolonged papal election process, Clement V was elected as pope in 1305, but declined to move from France to Rome – The papal court was effectively moved from Rome to Avignon (seven consecutive popes) • In 1378, Pope Gregory XI died while visiting Rome and a Roman conclave quickly elected Urban VI, an Italian, who remained in Rome – This angered the French cardinals who elected their own pope, beginning the Western Schism (1378-­‐1416) – Later, a joint council declared both groups schismatic and elected a third pope, Alexander V – Martin V was finally elected in 1417 and ended the WS Pre-reformation
• John Wycliffe (1330-­‐1384) was an English scholar who spoke out against the corruptions of the Church and sponsored the first translation of the Bible from Latin into English – His followers were persecuted in England, but they remained an underground influence on the English church that culminated in the English Reformation • Jan Hus (1369-­‐1415) was a Czech theologian who, influenced by Wycliffe, also began to speak out against corruptions in the Church – His work influenced the Protestant Reformation Translating the Bible
• OT: Hebrew and Aramaic, NT: (Koine) Greek • Septuagint – a Greek version of the Bible, created by 72 Jewish scholars in the 3 c. BCE – This is the version of the Hebrew Bible that is quoted by writers of the New Testament, including the Gospels – Many of the oldest verses found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, correspond with the Septuagint The Septuagint
Translating the Bible
• OT: Hebrew and Aramaic, NT: (Koine) Greek • Septuagint – a Greek version of the Bible, created by 72 Jewish scholars in the 3 c. BCE – This is the version of the Hebrew Bible that is quoted by writers of the New Testament, including the Gospels – Many of the oldest verses found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, correspond with the Septuagint • Vulgate – a Latin version of the Bible, translated by St. Jerome, begun in 382 CE – Became the definitive Latin version for RC Church The Vulgate
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The Anglican Reformation The Episcopal Church (USA)