Transcript Gregory et al

From Augustine to Charlemagne
Turmoil and Survival
Background (Political)
Late in the third century, Diocletian divided
the Roman Empire into two main divisions:
East and West. The line of division ran
north-south just to the east of the Italian
peninsula.
 The split became permanent with the East
becoming Greek speaking while Latin was
the language of the West.
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East-West
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In the East, the church went its own way where it
came to be known as the “orthodox” church.
The western church was ruled from Rome.
Rome never accepted the split, but always claimed
the supremacy over both parts (in vain).
Rome called itself the head of the entire Christian
world (katholou [Gr.]). So it called itself the
Catholic Church, supreme over all Christendom.
Constantine (emperor 306-337)
Ruled the entire Roman world from the new
capital of Constantinople.
 Wanted Christianity to be the state religion
of the Empire, but only on condition that it
could settle its doctrinal disputes.
 Summoned bishops from all parts of the
Empire to a meeting at Nicaea where the
thorny question of Christ’s true nature was
settled.
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Where was the nerve-centre…?
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Constantine had seemingly made his eastern
capital the cultural and administrative centre
of Christianity.
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But the Romans demurred.
The Apostolic succession…
The bishops of the church claimed authority
by virtue of a succession of ordination
going back directly to Christ and his
disciples/apostles.
 But Rome claimed that Peter was named by
Christ as the head of the twelve apostles and
Peter, they said, was buried under the
church in Rome.
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Background: Christians oppose
Paganism
305 Arnobius writes a work entitled
“Against the Heathen.” Its purpose is to
show the superiority of Christian belief.
 335 Athanasius produces a more
sophisticated work with the same title.
 In general Christians did not attack Jewish
beliefs, but they did blame them for having
Jesus put to death.
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Time line 1
 410 Visigoths sack Rome.
 413-427 Augustine writes City of God.
 439 western empire overrun by
barbarians.
 529 Justinian closes Plato’s Academy.
Benedict of Nursia founds monastery
in Monte Cassino.
Time line 2
 590-604 Papacy of Gregory the Great.
 622 beginning of Islam.
 Through this time (from the fifth
century) until 1054 the eastern and
western churches grew apart. In 1054,
the separation (schism) became
formal.
 Already, the western scholars had lost
contact with Greek.
Pope (Saint) Gregory the Great
Born c. 540 C.E. in Rome.
 C.552 Justinian, the Roman Emperor based
in Constantinople, retook Italy from the
Goths.
 The Goths largely destroyed Rome in 547
before being driven out by the forces from
the east.
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More Gregory…
After his father’s death, Gregory converted
the family home into a monastery.
 Located beside the ruins of the old Roman
Forum it was close to the heart of the city.
 This was the beginning of the monastic
phase of his life (c. 574-590).
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Yet more…
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In 579, Gregory was appointed
ambassador to the court of the emperor in
Constantinople.
He hated courtly life and spent as much
time as he could in monkish study and
contemplation.
He never took the opportunity to learn
Greek.
Pope Gregory 590-604
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Set out rules for Bishops to follow.
Made changes to Church liturgy, which took
hold in the west but not necessarily in the east.
Actively centralized Church wealth and
influence.
In a dispute with the eastern Church, he
pressed his claim to full authority as head of
the Catholic Church.
1. Rules for Bishops
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# only one skilled already as a physician of the soul is
fitted to undertake the "supreme rule" of the episcopate
(Bishop).
# he describes how the bishop's life should be ordered
from a spiritual point of view;
# how a bishop ought to teach and admonish those
under him,
#how, in spite of his good works, he ought to bear in
mind his own weakness, since the better his work the
greater the danger of falling through self-confidence
(Catholic Encyclopedia).
2. Liturgy
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His changes had to do with the order of
the mass and what was sung and said at
which times.
From about this time, the liturgies of the
eastern (orthodox) Church and the
western (catholic) Church diverged.
3. Church Wealth
Church lands are estimated at 1300-1800
square miles.
 The Catholic Encyclopedia estimates
revenue from these lands at $1,500,000 a
year.
 Gregory seems to have micromanaged this
vast estate.
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4. External Relations
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Gregory claimed that the Pope at Rome
was the head of all Christendom,
including the Church centered at
Constantinople, in the east. The eastern
Church remained aloof.
Gregory accepted the separation of
Church and state, but assumed the right
to interfere with rulers on moral
grounds and demanded that they
protect the Church.
Tarnas ( 151, on the Augustinian Legacy): “Since
The Church and its sacred institutes were
Divinely established vehicles of God’s grace,
The Church was suprahumanly significant, its
Hierarchy absolutely authoritative, its laws
Definitive. Because human beings were intrinSically prone to sin and lived in a world of
Constant temptation, they required stern
Church-defined sanctions against uninhibited
Actions and thoughts, lest their eternal souls
Fall to the same fate as their temporal bodies.
Especially in the west, under the historical
Exigencies of the church’s responsibilities for the
Newly converted (and from the Church’s…
…perspective), morally primitive) barbarian
Peoples, a pervasive verticality in the inStitutional church was established, with
All spiritual authority flowing downward
From the supreme papal sovereign.”
Sources: Tarnas, Passion of the Western Mind.
The Catholic Encyclopedia (on line).