Theology II History of the Church
Anna Grace Gregory
Background Chapter- The Roman History
Most of Rome's pagan religion originated from Greece, where the majority of their myths, stories, and names of gods were inherited. Roman pagan beliefs were heavily enforced to keep political unity. They were generally tolerant of local customs and beliefs and even local gods, as long as they still payed respect to the Roman gods. The republic transitioned into an empire and by this time the Roman population had increased and stratified. The governing class enjoyed wealth while the poor freemen of the countryside were significantly below the wealthy bit above the slaves. Jews at this time were considered to be second class, they were allowed to practice their belief as long as they worshiped the Roman gods as well.
Chapter 1- Jesus and the founding of the church
After Jesus ascended into heaven, the apostles suddenly felt alone. God did not leave his infant church unguided, before the crucifixion, Christ informed the apostles that he would give them the Holy Spirit. On the Jewish holiday of Pentecost, the Apostles received the Holy Spirit and went out to evangelize the word of God. Years after the resurrection, the Apostles were filled with grace of the Holy Spirit and set out the great task of building the Church. The Apostles started the history of Christianity by proclaiming the message of salvation.
Chapter 2- The Early Christians
The early Christians reflected on the Gospel message and began to live it out through their everyday life, the early tradition of the church began to take shape. Christians remained close with the Jews and kept many of their traditions. Adult converts into the church are to study and pray together for a long period of time before being admitted to the Church. The practice of baptizing infants came about in the third century, this allows for original sin to be forgiven. the celebration of the mass developed slowly over time. The Eucharist has always and will always be the most important part of mass.
Chapter 3- Persecution of "The Way"
In the early church, Romans carried fear of Christianity to an extant. Christians that refused to renounce their faith were martyed in many different places. Living the Way called for a life of integrity. ''The Way" refers to Christ so when some follows the Way then they are a christian who follows Christ. St. Ignatius was the third bishop of Antioch and was arrested for being a Christian. He wrote letters known as the Seven Epistles, he wrote for other christians and encouraged them to denounce violence.
chapter 4- The Church Fathers and Heresies
The persecutions in the fourth and fifth centuries were followed by many heresies that put the church in danger. The Athanasian Creed clearly states that in order to be saved you must keep the Catholic faith, meaning that you can not believe in false heresies. There are two ways to enter into a heresy: material heresy, which is having ignorance towards of the truth, misunderstanding, or noncomprehension of particular aspects of the faith. There is also formal heresy which is to freely choose, with a full understanding of the teachings of the church, and to believe that they are false. In order the face the many challenges caused by heresies, the Church had to have several ecumenical councils to address the issue.
Chapter 5- Light in the Dark Ages
The result of the Roman Empire falling, was that the Church now had to dissociate herself from the fallen empire. The west collapsed sometime in the fifth century. In 410, Alaric, King of the Visigoths, sacked Rome. In 476 Chieftain of the Heruli, Odoacer, ran a revolt to overthrow the last western emperor. The Ostrogoths invaded Italy in 489 and by 493 Odoacer was overthrown. The last of the empires did not reign for much longer before they were taken over by barbarians. As the Empire was having a hard time trying to keep invading Germanic tribes out a new threat emerged from northern China, the Huns. The Huns were powerful nomadic people and by 432 they had established themselves in the Eastern Empire. By 451 they had invaded Gaul and threatened the Western Empire. The rise of Monasticism came about which is men who devoted their whole life to prayer. The Monks would pray for the outside world and that the violence would end.
Chapter 7- The Great Schism
The growth between the East and West was growing quickly. As Constantinople begin to grow in power it begin to be more strict with the other ancient eastern centers of Christianity at Antioch, Alexandria, and Jerusalem. The Eastern Christians tended to minimize the Pope's status fro both political and theological reasons. At the third Council of Toledo in 589b the words "and the Son" were added to the Niceno-Constantinople Creed. But they adjusted the creed again and the Patriarch of Constantinople refused to accept it, this caused for controversy in the church. The eastern and western Churches finally split in 1054.
chapter 9-The Crusades
The crusades were a series of eight wars lasting from 1096 to o1270 with the motivation to take back the Holy Land was being taken over by muslims. Islam was spreading rapidly throughout christian lands and they were beginning to take over the Holy Land so Pope BI. Urban II began the Crusades by proclaiming an organized assault in defense of christian Europe. Four crusade armies came from Europe arrieved in Constantinople in April of 1097 were the met up and became one unified army to which the first crusade would begin. they first staged a successful siege on Nicæa and then moved on to Antioch which they defeated in 1098 and Jerusalem fell shorty after in 1099. The first crusades were very successful, they held back Turkish expansion for four-hundred years.
chapter 9- the Inquisition
In the middle ages the catholic faith started to become the dominant faith of Europe and the Church started to become tied socially, politically, and economically to European life. The inquistion began in response to the Albigensian heresy which was spreading through southern France in the beginning of the thirteenth century. The Albigensian heresy struck a huge threat to the Christian world since their teachings were going agist the core of the Catholic faith. They were given a month to confess for the Heresy. Then the trial started.
Chapter 10- The High Middle Ages
Prior to the thirteenth century education in Europe usually took place in monasteries and cathedral schools. But demand for education began to rise, these schools began to develop expanded areas of study for their students. The development of the University of Paris i 1175 began the growth of northern universities. Palatine, Notre Dame, and Sainte-Geneviève became especially famous universities in the middle ages. With universities having access to Aristotle's works they developed what is known as "Scholasticism" or "Science of the schools."
Chapter 11- The plague
Europe's population was growing so rapidly that only the very wealthy could afford food. A series of bad harvest and wet weathers made the land unusable and famine broke out, it lasted from 1315 to 1317. A huge epidemic of the bubonic plague, also known as the black death,broke out in 1315 and spread across Europe killing about 1/3 of its population. It first started off in the small, Genoese Black Sea trading post of Kaffa on the Crimean peninsula. Tarter Invaders brought the disease from Asia. Genoese sailors brought the plague with them back to Italy. The effect of the plague on Europe was huge, impacting its economic and financial systems and its population.
Chapter 11- hundred years war
The Hundred Years War was a series of short battles interrupted by long periods of peace. European kings kept unity faith to keep peace between the people, but that ended for England and France. In the fourteenth century these two countries would change the knightly warfare and transform not only the kingdoms of England and France but also the political makeup of Europe. The French outnumbered the English but lost to them at Crecy in 1346. In 1356 King Edward III's eldest son led an english offense at Poitier. after a very long and tiring battle both sides signed a truce. In 1415 King Henry V destroyed the elite of the french aristocracy and overwhelmed the king of France at Agincourt. The Hundred Years War dragged on bur France's future did not look good.
chapyer 11- Joan of Arc
St. Joan was born on January 6th, 1412 in Champagne. At the young age of thirteen she began to hear voices and had a vision of light in which St.Michael the Archangel, St.Margaret, and St. Catherine of Alexandria appeared to her, they designated her the liberator of France. St Joan was instructed by the saint to tell Charles VII that she would make his coronation possible. She dressed in mens clothes and succeeded in convincing the king of her mission. In May 1429, St. Joan led a small army against the English. Rheims was captured in July 1429 and then King Charles VII was finally crowned. She took a break from fight after a failed attack on Paris. Then in May she led an army of 500 against a larger English force to which they captured and killed her.
Chapter 12- Renaissance
As the fourteenth century ended, the Church and Europe were changing. With a more advanced education system resulted in fine works of literature and changes in people intellectual pursuits. The arts became very important in the Renaissance and the study of the human body, humanism, became very important. Artists, like Michealangelo, painted and perfected their works of the human body. This was a time where artists, writers, and thinkers had the confidence to explore human understanding and beauty outside the realm of religion.
Chapter-13 The Protestant Reformation
The Reformation was a split in the Latin Christian church persuaded by Luther in 1517 and over the next decade, it was evolved by others. A campaign came about which preposed a new approach to Christian faith called "Protestantism." This would possibly help solve different ideas which evolved over the western world, including Europe and the colonies. The Protestant reformation created the protestant church which has a changes from the Catholic Church. The split between the church has still not been put back together.
Chapter 13- The English Reformation
Henry VIII was the King of England from 1509 till 1547, he had had many wives and when he wanted to divorce Catherine of Aragon. The pope would not let him which, made the King very angry. He was so angry that he threatened the English Clergy and the pope's authority of England. Henry VIII went to Parliament and asked for an annulment, Parliament limited the papal influence and power in England which brought on the English Reformation. The Parliament and Henry VIII agreed to break away from the Catholic Church so that the King could have power of government and the church, which was no protestant.
chapter 15- Exploration and Missionary Movement
The church had reached the greatest missionary expansion of her history by reaching out to millions of new faithful around the world. This was done by a number of holy missionaries that traveled through Asia, Africa, and the new world to preach the word of God.As modern nations began to take shape, , princes began to accumulate the resources necessary to fund new exploration voyages. The Portuguese sailor, Bartholomew Dias, sailed down the western coast of Africa but accidentally entering into the Indian ocean, he had found a way to get to India by sailing trough around Africa. Columbus was funded by the King and Queen of Spain to find the indies but actually sailed across the world and stumbled across the Bahamas. By missionary work and exploring the new world the church was able to expand over the entire globe.
Chapter 16- The Age of Enlighentment
Monarchs began reorganizing their nations and assuming absolute power over their land. Their efforts would unleash new tensions between kings and subjects, which eventually resulted in new political philosophies. These new philosophies focus on the rights of an individual and the power of reason as a substitute for religion, which had caused a lot of tension in the past. in the seventeenth century scientific discoveries were coming a lot more common but skepticism was coming with it. People were starting to believe in science rather than love and faith of God which was challenging the church.
Chapter 19- The Rise of Soviet Communism
The rise of soviet communism had a hugely terrible impact for the future. Soviet communism was the evil force behind an international program of subversion, revolution, conquest, oppression, and religious and political persecution that resulted in the death of millions and threatened the peace and stability of the world for seventy years. Karl Marx, with the help of Friedrich Engles, first set their key ideas in the Communist Manifeso in 1848. The Russians were skilled in propaganda and were able to convince most of the Western intellectuals that during the 1920's and 1930's, Russia was a workers' paradise. During in the reign of Joseph Stalin, almost fifty million people of the regime were either executed or sent to the vast system of Siberian prison camps and penal colonies, other known as the gulag. During the Communist program, religious persecution was a major element, Catholic and Orthodox churches were destroyed or desecrated to be used as other things.
Chapter 20- The rise of Nazism
The rise of Adolf Hitler to power and the Nazi party in Germany was a very critical challenge for Pope Pius XI. The dictator was trying to work on consolidating power at home and win influence and favor from across the world, he first tried to seek a new concordat with the Church. On July 20, 1933, Germany and the Vatican signed an agreement. The Concordat did help the Church to stay independent in Hitler's Germany, and therefor conduct many effects to try and spare the lives of those persecuted by the Nazis. The Concordat led to self-disbanding of the once power Catholic Center Party, which may have possibly have led to early resistance against the Nazi dictator. From the very start Hitler had violated the Concordat and Pope Pus XI sent thirty-four separate letters of protest to the German government. Eventually, on March 14, 1937 the pope had published the encyclical Mit Brennender Sorge. This was a powerful indictment of Nazism and the nazi regime. This was sent out to every Catholic Church in Germany charging the regime of many violations to the concordat and an open attack of the church.
Pope Pius XII and World War II
On March 2, 1939, Pope Pius XII was elected to be Pope, but by the time he was elected, war in Europe in was horrible with no end in sight. Nonetheless. Pope Pius XII only promoted peace. in 1943, church institutions throughout Rome sheltered thousands of Jewish and non-jewish refugees. Hundreds of Thousands of lives were saved by the works of Pope Pius XII and other Vatican officials. Many people accused Pius XI of not speaking out against the Nazi persecution of Jews. Pope Pius XI position was clear from the beginning, he wanted peace and unity for everyone.
Chapter 20- Vatican II
The second Vatican council took place in four stages: October 11-December 8, 1962; September 29- December 4,1963; September 14-November 21,1964; and September 14- December 8, 1965. General congregations took place in St. Perter's basilica, about 2860 bishops came but 274 could not because of age, health, or Communist governments not permitting them to come. Representatives from other Christian Churches attended along with selected clergy, religious, and lay people. The work of the Second Vatican council is embodied in sixteen documents, there are four "constitutions," nine "decrees," and three "declarations." The four constitutions are the main documents of Vatican II that provide the theological basis and vision for the rest of the council's documents.The Dogmatic Constitution on The Church sets out collegiality, according to which the bishops share in teaching and governing the Church. The Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation joins Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture as God's divinely inspired Word with approval of the responsible use of contemporary and scholarly methods. The constitution on The Sacred Liturgy this helped the Church expand it's use of vernacular languages and to liturgical adaptions for some groups. The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in The Modern World emphasized Pope BI John's vision of the church becoming more direct at the service of the world.
Chapter 20- Pope St. John Paul II
BI. John Paul II expressed his opinion in a detailed encyclical, Redemptor Hominis. which was published on March 4, 1979. He emphasized the dignity, rights, and destiny of a human person which can only be seen by Christ. The Redemptor Hominis made it clear that BI John Paul II was instructed by God to lead the Church into the third millennium of the Christian era. He saw two threats to Christianity in the contemporary world: the secular Humanism of Marxist Communism, and the secular humanism of the consumer society present in the U.S. and Western Europe, which gave rise to a "Culture of death." The fall of communism, breakup of the Soviet Empire and the soviet union, and the end of the cold war began with the Pope's visit to Poland. John Paul II had a great talent of writing and teaching and was able to write fourteen encyclicals and many other documents to teach the world about major issues.
Chapter 21- The church of Immigrants To The U.S.
The promise of work, land, and religious freedom is what attracted a massive amount of Catholic immigration from Europe to the United States. This began in the nineteenth century and continued well into the twentieth century. Due to immigration and higher birth rates, the growth of American Catholicism was huge. They were in need of parishes, schools, convents, and other institutions to keep up with expansion. Partly to conform to American civil law, partly of enthusiasm for democracy,and partly in imitation of the congregational system in American Protestantism, laymen became the owners of parish property, administered parish affairs, and in some even began hiring their own pastors in defiance of the bishop. conflict over lay trusteeism became a major problem. The rise of anti- Catholicism was on the rise because of the amount of catholics coming to America. The Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk was a book that was published to that told lies about life in a convent. It was a widely popular book in 1835 and made people hate Catholics.
The Chapter 21- Slavery
Pope Gregory XVI had condemned the slave trade in 1839, but Catholic leadership had little to say abut the issue. Actually, some Catholics, particularly in the south supported slavery. Large numbers of Catholics fought on both sides of the Civil War. Of the four million slaves that were emancipated in 1863, an estimated 100,000 were Catholics and about 60,000 of those in nNw Orleans. Race was a huge problem in later years of American history but it eventually was absolved