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Religion 7
Chapter 2
The Growth of the Christian Church
A.
The Council of Nicaea
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In the early 4th century, Emperor Constantine made Christianity a legal religion. It
became the official religion of the Roman Empire and grew rapidly.
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Constantine paid for the building of new churches and thought that Christianity
would be an important source of peace within the empire. At the same time,
however, Constantine didn’t want the leaders of the early church arguing over
church doctrines and giving Christianity bad publicity.
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Constantine decided to bring all the early church leaders, called bishops, together
to create a formal statement of core Christian beliefs that everyone could agree on.
This meeting took place at Nicaea in 325 C.E.
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The church created a formal statement of principle Christian beliefs called the
Nicene Creed.
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One of the major issues at the Nicene Creed was over the term “begotten.”
Begotten means created or born of parents. Bishops argued over whether Jesus
was begotten by God or just made by God. They agreed that Jesus was begotten.
He was both fully human and fully God and thus a part of God. Others believed
that Jesus was not equal to God but created by God.
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The bishops felt that the Holy Spirit would guide them to make the right
decisions. The “Holy Spirit” is the unseen power and presence of God in the
Christian Church.
B.
The Impact of Patrick
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St. Patrick has been named the patron saint of Ireland.
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The term Patron Saint means a person who is recognized as holy and as having a
place in heaven. People look for protection and prayers on their behalf. To be
named a patron saint, a person would have had to show outstanding religious faith
or commitment during their lifetime.
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Patrick was probably born in Wales in the late 380's .
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When he was 16, he was kidnaped by pirates and taken to Ireland as a slave.
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He escaped when he was 22 and fled to France.
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Patrick joined a monastery for many years after his escape. A monastery is the
place in which a religious community, especially monks, live.
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Monks were male members of a religious community living under the vows of
poverty, obedience and chastity. Most monks worked as missionaries or wrote
scriptures by hand since there were no printing presses then.
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Patrick asked the bishop of Auxerre to make him a missionary to Ireland. Patrick
felt that his escape from the pirates was God calling him to spread His word. A
calling is a strong inner prompting to take a particular course of action. He
arrived in Northern Ireland preaching Christianity in 432 C.E.
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Patrick remained in Ireland until his death in 461 C.E. Patrick did leave behind
his book “Confessions” and a letter to a clan chief in England.
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The people of Ireland were descended from the Celts. Celts were ancient peoples
of western Europe and the British Isles who settled in what is now Ireland, Wales,
Brittany (in France) and parts of Scotland.
C.
Echoes of the Great Schism
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Denominations are branches of the Christian church. They include Roman
Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant religions.
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In the year 1054, the Great Schism took place within the Christian Church. A
schism is a division of a group into opposing sections due to differences. The
Christian Church became divided into two branches : the Roman Catholic Church
represented the western half of the old Roman Empire while the Eastern Orthodox
Church represented the eastern half.
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Even back to Emperor Constantine’s time, religion was strongly connected to
politics. When the Roman Empire was divided into two, the rulers from both
parts looked to the Church to unify their peoples.
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Christianity in the Roman Empire after 1054
Western
Eastern
Capital City
Rome
Constantinople
Church
Roman Catholic
Eastern Orthodox
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The western half was controlled from Rome and supported by the Roman
Catholic Church while the Eastern half was controlled from Constantinople and
called the Eastern Orthodox Church.
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The key differences between the Eastern Orthodox and the Roman Catholics were
as follows :
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
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Does the Holy Spirit originate from God the Father ?
Is the authority of the Pope in Rome parallel to, or above, the bishop of
Constantinople ?
Should priests marry ?
Should pictures etc... be worshiped ?
How should believers understand the relationship between Jesus’ divinity
and his human nature ?
What should be the stand on eating or drinking dairy products during
Lent?
Lent = the 40 day period leading up to Easter where Christians give up certain
foods etc...
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D.
Martin Luther and the 95 Theses
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Martin Luther was a Roman Catholic priest from Germany who was unhappy with
some of the practices that the Church was carrying out.
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Luther wished to debate some of these propositions within the Church. He
posted his 95 Theses on the church door to spark debate and to bring about some
changes. He never intended to start a new religion.
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The main change that Luther wanted to bring about was the selling of letters of
indulgences. These indulgences were letters having papal authority and sold to
Roman Catholics on the understanding that they could buy forgiveness from their
sins.
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Catholics believed that if they died and all of their sins were not pardoned, they
would have to go to purgatory until their souls were cleansed. Their souls had to
be cleansed before they could enter heaven.
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Luther claimed that indulgences were not necessary. He preached that people are
saved, not by what they have done, but by what Christ did. In other words,
salvation from sin was a gift already given to people by Jesus when he died for
our sins. You didn’t need to buy forgiveness.
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Martin Luther’s 95 Theses sparked great debate. Among other things, Luther also
disagreed with the Church issues such as :
A.
Authority of the Pope
B.
There were only 2 sacraments and not 7 as practiced in the Church.
C.
Priests, nuns & monks should be allowed to marry
D.
Popes and bishops are not superior to other people.
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He was later accused by the Church of heresy ( a belief, practice, etc... that goes
against what a given religion normally accepts ).
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Luther refused to recant his beliefs and was then threatened with
excommunication ( a punishment in which someone is officially excluded from
important Church activities ) and even threatened with death.
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Eventually a new branch of the Christian Church - the Protestant churchemerged.
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Reformation : the 16th century movement to change the R.C. Church and led to
the establishment of Protestant churches.
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Priest :
a minister of the R. C. Church with the power to perform certain
religious acts & ceremonies.
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All Saints Day :
heaven.
November 1st - a Christian festival in honour of the souls in
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Propositions :
topics to be discussed or debated.
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Pope :head of the Roman Catholic Church
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Mass :
the central church service for Roman Catholics
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Reformer :
practice.
a person who calls for improvements or changes in religious
.
E.
The Methodist Movement
Movement is defined as an organized effort to promote or reach a common end.
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As a result of the Reformation movement started by Luther, the Roman Catholic
Church decided to take a serious look at itself.
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Between 1545 and 1563, the Church met 3 times in Trento, Italy at what was
called the Council of Trent. At this council, they decided on some critical issues
such as strengthening the pope’s authority and getting rid of some of the abuses
that Luther had complained about.
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Meanwhile, other people began to separate from the Church as well. They either
interpreted the scriptures differently from the Church or they separated for
political reasons.
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King Henry VIII of England had a wife and daughter but wanted a divorce from
his wife so that he could marry another woman in hopes of eventually having a
male heir to the English throne. When the Pope in Rome refused to grant him a
divorce, he decided to form his own church The English Roman Catholic Church
separated and became the Anglican Church.
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The king/queen of England became the head of the Anglican Church and the
Archbishop of Canterbury became the spiritual leader of the Anglican Church.
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A group of people in England also broke from the Anglican Church. These
people were called Methodists. The Methodists, led by George Whitefield and
John and Charles Wesley, felt that the Anglican Church wasn’t reaching out
enough to the poor and the non-Christians.
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The Methodists were evangelical which meant that they preached or spread the
Christian gospel with the hope of leading people to become active Christians.
Wesley believed that people must allow God to convert them. Conversion is the
process of having one’s religious beliefs changed.
Basically, the Methodists see faith as a personal relationship with God.