Transcript Persecutions & Heresies

Persecutions & Heresies
Persecutions & Progress
Church grew quickly
 Persecutions, imprisonment, martyrdom
 Even St. Paul was a persecutor
 Even the Romans considered Christians a
threat to the established order
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– Worship of many gods – including the
emperor
– Jews received exemption – did not apply to
the Christians
– Easy scapegoats when turmoil occurred
– Often martyred rather than renounce Faith
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The Blood of the Martyrs
– Christians deemed atheists and cannibals
– Blamed for earthquakes, fire, plagues
– Nero
 Fire in Rome
 Blamed Christians
 Martyred Paul and Peter
 Public recreation
 Continued under Domitian
 Others like Trajan did not hunt down Christians
 Diocletian- worst persecutions – decided to
eradicate Christians
– Seized property, sacred books
– The Seed of the Church
 Tertullian – “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of
the Church”
 Stood out for their love and care for the poor
 Appealed to intellectuals and those of good will
– Reasons for the growth
 Christian evangelists
 Gentiles open to it
 Common language
 Roman roads
 Constant ships to other lands
 Pax Romana- Roman Peace- 2 centuries
Early Christian Worship
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Sunday – official day of rest and worship for
Christians
– Easter
– Pentecost
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Eucharist was the heart
Gathered in homes
Liturgy of the Word
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Old testament
Often sang Psalms
Letters from Paul or Peter
Talk by presider and prayers for the community
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Liturgy of the Eucharist
– Someone brings bread, water, wine
– Presider takes them and offers glory to the
Father
– Deacons give the eucharist to those present
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The Collection
– Council of Jerusalem –”be mindful of the
poor”
– Even left over gifts were given to the presider
and distributed to the poor (food & money)
– Romans provided no pensions or retirement begging
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The Didache or The Teaching of the 12
Apostles
– Gives instructions on the Eucharist
The Early Apologists
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Apologists
– Writers and Philosophers
– To show that Christianity was reasonable,
creditable, respectable
– Apology (Greek) – a defense of a belief or a
way of life
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St. Ignatius of Antioch
– Refused to renounce his faith
– Called the Way = Christians
– Wrote letters of encouragement & instruction
to Christians of Asia Minor & Greece
 Remain faithful to apostolic teaching
 Bishops are successors to the Apostles
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St. Irenaeus
– Combated Gnosticism
– Gnosticism
 Knowledge would earn us salvation
 Salvation was for a chosen few
 Led to denial of human nature of Jesus
Authority in the Church
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Peter- the first Pope
– Peter & Paul hard at work spreading the
Gospel
 Peter – mainly Jews
 Gospels not yet written
 The keys to the Kingdom
 Peter emerged as Bishop of Rome – primacy over
all bishops
– See (seat) of Peter
– Head of the college of bishops
– Vicar of Christ and Pastor (shepherd)
– Eventually called Pope- father
– Constantine moved capital to Constantinople
– Church remained in Rome
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Letters to Timothy
– Bishops, priests, deacons
– No seminaries
– Learned from their family
– Community judged him worthy
– Laying on of hands
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Deacons
– Stephen – first Christian martyr
– Help the Apostles- widows, orphans, poor
– Vatican II reestablished deacons
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Roles of Bishops and Presbyters
– Delegate their helpers
– Presbyters and deacons share in the mission
of the Church but lack the authority
Constantine & the Edict of Milan
Emperor Constantius died in 306 –
Constantine chosen an Emperor
 Faced opposition when he reached Rome
 Had a dream- saw Chi-Rho on banners &
shields of soldiers
 Won the battle- became Emperor
 Christianity Legalized
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– 313- Edict of Milan
– Religious tolerance
– Practice faith freely
– New privileges
 Clergy exempt from taxes
 Christian property returned
 Building of churches
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Changes in Worship
– Churches not homes
– Eucharistic celebrations for whole
congregations
– Churches modeled after basilicas
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Worship in East and West
– Constantine became Emperor of East and
West
– Moved to Byzantium – became Constantinople
(now Istanbul)
– Different styles of celebrating the Eucharist
and architecture
– Essential elements of liturgy the same
Fathers of the Church
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Fathers
– Shaped the direction of the Church for the
future
– Theological positions within accepted doctrine
– Writings and teachings approved by the
Church
 best remembered for his
role in the conflict with
Arius and Arianism
 Bishop of Alexandria
 Athanasian Creed is based
on his teachings
 Exiled several times for his
opposition to Arianism
 Arius- Christ not fully God
St Athanasius
– St. Ambrose
 Opposed the resurgence of
paganism
 Tutor of St Augustine
– St. Augustine of Hippo
– Bad boy
 Son of Monica
 Bishop of Hippo, Africa
 Taught by Ambrose
– St Gregory the Great
 Established papal power in
temporal affairs
 Relief for the poor
 Education of priests
 Evangelized barbarians
Church Councils and Doctrine
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Council of Nicea
– 325- called by Constantine
– Ecumenical Council – in response to Arianism
– Jesus was not God therefore he cannot
redeem us
– Nicene Creed- further developed by the
Council of Constantinople (381)
– Consubstantial with the Father
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Council of Ephesus (431)
– Nestorian Heresy – rejected Theotokos- said
Mary was only Mother of the human Jesus
– Hypostatic union- human and divine
inseparable
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Eastern Patriarchs
– Early Church – 3 Patriarchs- Rome,
Alexandria, Antioch
– Later Patriarch of Constantinople – pilgrims to
the Holy Land
– Today there are 6 Patriarchs
– 21 Ecumenical
Councils
– Latest- Vatican II
(1962-1965) –
modernized
– Eastern Orthodox
accept first 7 Councils
Fall of the Roman Empire
Eastern Roman Empire continued to grow
in power and influence
 Western Empire faced collapse
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– Barbarian invaders
– Social and moral decay
– Weakened military
– Economic hardships
– Rome sacked in 410
– Rome fell in 476
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Eastern Empire
– Captured by Ottoman Turks in 1453 – when
Constantinople captured
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Leo the Great
– Shaped the role of the Papacy
– Leadership in the Western Empire
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Contributions of the Papacy and the
Church
– Provided leadership in a vacuum
– Took care of basic needs of citizens
– Provided for the poor
– Schools for the clergy
– Education for the laity
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End
The Eastern Schism
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Disputes
– Nestorian Heresy
– Council of Chalcedon
 Elevated Patriarch of Constantinople to a position
only 2nd to the Pope
 Pope Leo rejected it
 Split loyalties
– Church and State relationships
 East accepted Emperor’s dominance over Church
 Emperor seen as Vicar of Christ
– Use of icons
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Emperor condemned veneration of sacred
images
 Ordered destruction of all icons- idolatry
 Pope in opposition
– Final break
 Both accepted the Pope as successor of Peter
 Took away power of Patriarch of Constantinople
 Patriarch declared the Churches could not be in
union
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Closed all Latin churches
Excommunicated those loyal to the Pope
Mutual excommunication
Eastern Orthodox Church
Crusades
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Beginning
– Byzantine Emperor sent request for help to
Pope Urban II
– Turkish Muslims had invaded their territory
 Destruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher
 Churches pillaged – mosques built in their place
 Pilgrimages blocked – Jerusalem
– Church responded quickly
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First Crusade
– Urban turned to the French to recruit men
 Take back Jerusalem
 Suspicious motives of crusaders
 Massacred Jews and Muslims alike
– Jerusalem retaken
– Granted indulgences
– Also rewards – loot
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Other crusades
– 2nd – Muslims recaptured Holy Land
– 3rd- Kings Crusade
 Richard the Lionhearted, Philip II, Frederick
Barbarosa
 Failed to recapture
– Children’s Crusades
 Death, disease, starvation
 Survivors abducted and sold into slavery
– Outcomes
 Minor successes
 Brought back many goods and inventions
 Advances in astronomy, math, science
 Works of Greek philosophers
Challenges to the Papacy
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Pope Innocent III
– After his reign – papacy regan to lose
temporal power
– England & France – struggle over territorylasted for nearly 100 years
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Decline of the Papacy
– Boniface VIII
 Rise of nationalism
 England & France – gain control- tax clergy
 Pope forbade
 Philip sent troops to arrest the Pope (rescued)
 Next Pope – French
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Avignon Papacy
– Pope Clement – dominated by King
– Moved from Rome to Avignon
– European Christians believed Pope should be
in Rome
– Catherine of Siena
 Avignon lasted for more than 70 years
 Persuaded Pope to return
 Condemned materialism, pride of Papal court
Black Death
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Bubonic plague (maybe phlegmatic)
– Killed 1/3 of European population
– Likely spread by fleas on rats from mercant
ships
– Many clergy died- scrambled to replace with
ill- prepared
– Time of concentration on the Passion of Christ
Great Western Schism
Elected Italian pope – Urban VI –
pressured by Romans
 French Cardinals elected own Pope –
Clement VII
 Confusion for Christians
 Church Council – deposed both Popes
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– Named Pope – Alexander V
 Died on way to Rome
 Elected John XXII
Council of Constance – ended schismelected Martin V
 Consequences- papacy lost dignity, cynical
view
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