Transcript CH 500 Lecture 1 Introduction and Background

CH 500 Lecture 1
Introduction and Background
Dr. Ann T. Orlando
11 January 2011
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Introduction to Class
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Introductory remarks
Importance of Church History for me
Review Syllabus
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Primary sources
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Requirements
Structure of course
Course Web Site
Where are they?
How to read them
‘Running start’ from “In the beginning…” to c. 100
AD (CE)
Review Readings for next week
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Importance of Church History
(or why I love Church History)
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Gives me the context for the theological answers
that have been developed and taught by the Church
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Often, can’t appreciate the answer without knowing the
question
Example: Jesus Christ whom we confess as one person
with two natures
Gives me an appreciation for importance of Catholic
Church in Western civilization
Gives the examples of holy men and women for me
to follow
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Requirements
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Class attendance and active participation.
Each class will consist of two parts;
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Reading for each class will include approximately 100 pages.
The 1 page paper every week; should focus on the primary source readings.
The paper should start with a one sentence thesis statement, followed by
supporting arguments that answers the paper topic question.
Two Exams:
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Reading of one page papers and discussion by class
Lecture
Midterm will cover first half of semester (closed book)
Final will cover second half of semester (closed book)
Both midterm and final will include matching quotes to primary source authors;
identification of terms and people; geography identification; brief essays
Grade:
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1/3 papers and discussion (100 pts)
1/3 midterm (100 pts)
1/3 final (100 pts)
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Texts for Class
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John Vidmar, The Catholic Church Through the
Ages (New York: Paulist, 2005).
John McManners, Oxford Illustrated History of
Christianity (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990).
Augustine, Confessions, Chadwick or Boulding
translations preferred.
CCC
Course Pack
Internet sources
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Be very careful here; please opnly use a web source if I
suggest it.
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Structure for Course
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Divide Church History into approximately 300
year intervals; devote two classes to each
interval
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First class discuss political situation, church-state
issues
Second class for each period focus on theological,
liturgical and spiritual developments
Note that these are often not independent
categories, but one will often effect the other
See syllabus for examples
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Structure for Each Class Period
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One page paper will be read by class-member;
followed by class discussion of readings
Break
I will lecture on what the readings cover for the
coming week
I will review readings for coming week
Primary and Secondary Readings are to be read for
the NEXT week
See syllabus for example
Each week will alternate secondary reading between
Vidmar and McManners
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Web Site for Class
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web.mit.edu/aorlando/www/ChurchHistory/
Several files
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PDF file of syllabus
Web file (html) with links to web primary readings;
other background resources of interest;
Basic map of key historical regions (large pdf file)
Lecture slides; posted day after each lecture, in a
folder called Lectures; PDF
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Primary Sources
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Different, multiple sources each week; should be focus of papers
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Reference ancient works using Book/Chapter/Paragraph numbering (e.g., Luke 1:1-4)
Some are found in packet from BC, others are available on the web; URL provided in
syllabus and web site
Read everything critically (includes secondary sources)
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What is author’s perspective
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Dwyer: modern, late 20th C American Catholic
McManners: modern, late 20th C English Protestant
What issues is author addressing; how important is the historical circumstance to those
issues
Who is the audience
What is genre of the work (homily, thesis, poem, letter, Biblical commentary)
Caution using Web Resources
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Anybody can put anything on the web and claim that it is ‘authoritative’
Many ancient works, especially early Church Fathers, are available, but in older
translations
Maintenance of a web resource is still on an individual basis; no guarantee that
information will be well maintained
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Difficulty of Primary Source Readings
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I know that this is a lot of material
I know that it is often very difficult to read
Therefore
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At the end of each class I will strongly suggest
what should be read carefully, and what should be
skimmed
I will try to point out key themes
It will serve you well to bring the next weeks’
readings with you
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Background to the Beginning of
Church History
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Broad Historical Periods
Three Strands Leading into First Century
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Story of people Israel (Old Testament)
Secular history
Philosophical history
New Testament
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As history of early Church
Missionary Activities
Early decisions by Apostles
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First Strand: “In the beginning…
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Adam, Eve, the Fall and God establishes a people with a special relationship to
Him: dateless, timeless; Genesis
Moses c. 1250 BCE (BC) Exodus through Deuteronomy
David c. 1000 BC Samuel, Kings, Chronicles
Destruction of 1st Temple; 586 Babylonian Captivity by Nebuchadnezzar; Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Ezekiel,
Return and rebuilding of Temple (Second Temple) 539 BC by Persian King
Cyrus; Ezra, Nehemiah
Israel between two great Greek powers; 330 BC to 160 BC; Maccabees appeal
to Rome for help; Daniel writes about whore of Babylon, but really is referring to
Seleucids
Palestine a client of Rome 160 BC to 4 BC (death of Herod the Great)
Jesus Christ 1 to 33 AD
Palestine revolts; destruction of Second Temple in 70 AD; occupied by Rome
until 650 AD and Arab conquests
New Testament written between 50 and 90 AD
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Second Strand: Secular History
Background
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Alexander the Great
 Son of Philip of Macedonia; Student of Aristotle
 Conquers the ‘world’ by age of 33
 Founds Alexandria, center of learning for next 600 years
 Dies in 323 BC; leaving his generals in charge of various parts of
his conquests
Hellenistic (Greek) Empires 323 – 31 BC
 Macedonians: Greece, Sicily, southern Italy
 Seleucids: Asia Minor, Syria and Mesopotamia
 Ptolemies: Egypt and Cyrene
 As a result of this extended period of Greek rule, the ‘lingua
franca’ of the Mediterranean was Greek from the 4th C BC until
the 5th C AD in the West and the 15th C in the East
Israel between two major competing Empires: Seleucid and
Ptolemy
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Map of Conquests of Alexander Great
http://library.thinkquest.org/10805/alexmap.html
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Rome
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Traditional founding date of 753 BC
Started as a Republic ruled by Senate
Punic Wars, conquers and destroys Carthage 202
BC
Maccabees ask Rome for help against Seleucids
160 BC
Julius Caesar conquers Gaul 80 BC
Augustus defeats Anthony and Cleopatra (last
Ptolemy ruler of Egypt) at Actium in 31 BC; Roman
Empire established
Roman Empire existed in some form between 31 BC
and 1453 AD
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Roman Society
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Roman religion was a public, civic obligation;
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Roman Emperor increasingly was a general who was ‘adopted’ by current
Emperor (Augustus).
Cult of Roman Emperor as god in his lifetime was started by Nero
Roman household was composed of patron (father) and clients (wife, children,
slaves, business associates dependent upon him)
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NOT a way to have a personal relationship with Divine
‘mystery religions’ became very popular in 1st through 3rd Century Roman Society
(Cults of Mithra; Isis and Osiris; Dionysius)
Anyone who did not offer sacrifice for the good of the state was considered an atheist
Father had complete control of clients
Adoption was very common
Owning property was far more prestigious than commerce
Excellent road and mail system throughout the Empire
Note that the most Latin (least Greek) part of the Empire was North Africa
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Third Strand: Philosophical
Background
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Athenian Philosophy Before Alexander
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Hellenistic Philosophy (see Acts 17:18)
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Socrates and Plato: Platonism (and indirectly skepticism);
Academy
Aristotle: Plato’s student, founder of Lyceum and
Aristotelianism
Epicurus, fought in Alexander’s army; opposed to Plato,
founder of Epicureanism; the Garden
Zeno: opposed to Epicurus, founder of Stoicism; the Stoa
Neo-Platonism centered in Alexandria 250 AD
Note that ancient philosophy was considered a way of life; not an
academic discipline
Catholic Christianity has always used contemporary philosophical
methods as the language of theology and as an aid to interpret the
Bible; philosophy as the handmaid of theology. Example: Virtue
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Platonism and Aristotelianism
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Platonism
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Happiness is found in choosing the good and the beautiful
Uncertain whether virtue is learned or gift of gods
The physical world is only a shadow of the real world
Socrates always searching for knowledge (but does he ever find it?)
God is not material
Aristotelianism
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Happiness is an activity of the soul in accordance with virtue
Virtue is the mean between two vices as a prudent man would define it
Knowledge leads to virtue; exceptional people can make themselves
virtuous
Keen interest in the physical world; especially systems of classification
‘Metaphysics’ is Aristotle’s treatment of ethics; it occurs in his works ‘after
physics’
God as prime mover and as the end (telos)
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Stoicism
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Happiness is following the will of God
God everywhere, god as logos (rational necessity); god as a type
of gas that permeates everything
His providence rules everything (see Acts 17:28)
Ethics based on following God’s plan for you; no free will;
emphasis on virtues; judgment by God after death
Natural law as part of Providence’s eternal law
Passions are to be subordinated to intellect
Allegorical interpretation of Greek myths
Dominant philosophy of Roman Empire
Seneca, Epictitus, Marcus Aurelius
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Epicureans
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God or gods are uninterested in created world
Free will; not bound by ties of family or duty
No life after death
Ethics based on pleasure
Science and technology very important; based on random motion
of atoms
Justice based upon contractual agreements
Opposed to allegory and prophecy as a way of knowing
Favored philosophy of intellectual Romans who wanted to
withdraw from society
Women encouraged to join as full members of schools
Lucretius, Philodemus
Roundly condemned by all other philosophies; rabbinic word for
atheist is derived from Epicurus
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History of Church in
New Testament
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Paul’s Letters are the oldest Christian documents we have.
However, Paul was not writing a general history, he was
responding to specific problems in specific communities (except
for Romans)
[Paul and Peter martyred in 64 AD by Nero]
Gospel of Luke and Acts of Apostles
 written in an ancient historical style; Luke gives an ‘ordered
account’ of Jesus and the early Church
 Council of Jerusalem in which Paul’s position that Gentiles do not
need to convert to Judaism is affirmed (Acts 15)
 Story of how the Church was spread by Paul’s missionary activity
Revelation (most scholars believe) is based on persecution of
Christians in Asia Minor during Domitian’s reign; Rome as whore
of Babylon
Note: John’s Gospel is most philosophical; Jesus as Logos
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Review Readings for Next Week
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Vidmar, pp 1-24
CCC 759-760 (God’s Plan); and 95 (Theology)
Dei Verbum (all)
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Fides et Ratio (Introduction, Ch I, Ch IV)
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What is relationship of faith and reason
What is role of philosophy and history in study of theology
TRUTH
Biblical Readings
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Read carefully Ch II; III; V;
Role of apostles and bishops
TRUTH
Consider historical context of events
Luke 1:1-4, TRUTH
Josephus
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Brief account of Roman destruction of Temple
Josephus is very often cited as an important 1st C source
NB Josephus was also a traitor from Jews to Romans; living under protection of Titus
How does this color what he is writing?
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