History of the Church
By: Matthew Chaump
Background Chapter- The Roman Empire
The Roman's pagan religion was highly influenced by the Greeks. The most worshiped god was Jupiter Optimus Maximus, he was the god of the Sky. A major component to the economy of the Roman's was slavery. Slaves were farm hands, manual laborers, and domestic servants. Also, a trending idea in the Roman Empire was stoicism. Stoicism was a philosophical school in Greece and Rome. Lastly, stoicism became one of the dominant moral philosophies among intellectuals in Rome.
Chapter 1- Jesus and the Founding of the Church
After Jesus was Crucified, there was a large amount of fear among the Apostles. They thought they were the next target of persecution. The Resurrection increased the fear of them. On Pentecost, all of the fears were vanished when Christ ascended into Heaven. Jesus appointed Peter as the head of the church and,"the rock." Christ is the cornerstone of the church
Chapter 2- The Early Christians
The early Christians held their Masses in Catacombs. "Catacombs were private rooms or an underground series of tunnels, chambers, and tombs that were dug by the Christians and served as burial places, shrines, and places of worship during the first few centuries after Christ." During the early years after Christ, Christians stuck very close to the Jewish religion. Around this time, any adult who wanted to be Baptized, did so freely. It was not until a few years later that they developed a more complex way to be Baptized. In this time, the idea of being baptized as an infant evolved as well
Chapter 3- Persecution of "The Way"
Roman's had a strong mistrust and stereotype of Christians which led to extreme ways of persecution. Many people were martyred for not denouncing their faith. A key figure during this time was, St. Ignatius. He was known for his desire to be martyred for the faith. He pleaded for people to not stop him from being killed. One last key event in this chapter was when Galerius issued an edict admitting his faults and allowed free exercise of Christianity as long as they promised to pray for him and the empire
Chapter 4- The Church Fathers and Heresies
Divine Intervention seemed as if it was the only thing that helped the church get through this time. The Athanasian Creed was often used to combat heresies. Material heresy and formal heresy are the two main types. The most common heresies are Gnosticism, Marcionism, and Docetism. Ecumenical councils were called to combat them. The Church Fathers shared the following characteristics; orthodoxy in doctrine, holliness, notoriety, and antiquity
Chapter 5- Light in the Dark Ages
The Church proclaims a message of trust in the life and light of Christ amid trials and tribulations and promises eternal life and death. The dark ages began with the Fall of the Roman Empire. A large portion of this chapter mentions how Pope Leo the Great dissuade Atilla from attacking Rome.
Chapter 7- The Great Schism
The founding of Constantinople was an ignition for a schism in the church. The schism finally took place in the year 1054 between the Eastern and Western churches. The schism was a result of many disputes especially the crowning of Charlemagne, and the doctrinal dispute over the Filoque.
Chapter 9- the Crusades and the Inquisiton
The Crusades was a religious war that took place between 1096-1270. They were a series of wars that had the intention of taking back the Holy Land and stopping Muslim expansion. There was a few positives of this. One of those are these wars offered a chance to embark upon an authentic religious pilgrimage. The Muslims ended up gaining then losing control over all of the Holy Land. Islam was the strongest power throughout the Medieval World.
Chapter 9- The Inquisition
The Inquisition started because of the Albigensianism heresy. This was a form of Gnosticism. Pope Gregory established a court of judges that were called on to examine and fight each heresy. The Inquisition had a step by step process which was used to convict someone of heresy
Chapter 10- The High Middle Ages
Scholarly development was a large aspect of the High Middle Ages. A result of this was Scholasticism. Scholasticism combined theological and philosophical methods in their efforts to understand the highest truths of philosophy and theology and man's relationship to God and his church. St. Francis and St. Dominic were notable leaders during this time. Also, universities began to be found, such as University of Paris, Notre Dame, and the University of Bologna.
Chapter 11- the Plague
In this time around the 1300's, a large famine broke out. Crops could not be grown because of such poor conditions and the soil. People than resulted to eating seed grain. All trade and business declined. The Black Death was from 1347-1351 and destroyed 1/3 of the population. Some people would flee from their family members if there was suspicion if they had the disease and they would let them die alone.
The Hundred Years War
This started as a result for a fight over land and when King Edward 3 declared the land his during trade. It was a series of short battles with times of peace mixed in. During this time, the long bow was introduced. France had conflicts within themself and that was taken advantage by Orleans. Henry then led English to destroy france and their aristocracy.
St. Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc had encounters with angels at a young age. In May 1429, she led an army and captured Orleans. She was captured by the English after leading another attack the following year. She was then put on trial for witchcraft. She was then burned at the stake. Pope Callistus lifted the sentence and canonized her in 1920.
Chapter 12- The Renaiassance
The Renaissance was a time of change. Most changes took place physically with an increase interest in the arts. Scholasticism became very popular again and everybody wanted to go to school. Also, an increase interest on the human body became apparent. Constantinople fell and there was a rise of Italian Free Cities..
Chapter 13- The Protestant Reformation
Many reformers tried to invent new ways and ideas to reach God. Some of those being John Wycliffe and Jan Hus. Heresy after heresy was fought and defended. A cause for this was the sale of indulgences. Martin Luther was a key activist during this and this is when he wrote '95 Theses.' He comdemned many heresies and this was the founding of the Lutheran religion.
The English Reformation
This started when Henry 8 wanted an anullment with his wife so he could move on to another woman. The Pope then refused the annulment and Henry 8 took over the church of England. Thomas More was involved in the reformation. Henry came up with the Act Of Supremacy which enforced that he was the head of the church. Also, he persecuted those that went against his will.
Chapter 15- Exploration and Missionary Movements
When missions opened, things began to come together. As a result of this, trade lines re-opened. Christopher Columbus discovered the New World and Dias rounded the southern tip of Africa. The Columbian exchange is also a result of this. A negative result was inflation from the gold founded in America. There was obstacles to missions as well. The main one being distance. Climate, language, and beliefs also played a role in this.
Chapter 16- The Age of Enlightenment
The Rise of soviet Communism
The Rise of Nazism
Nazism began in Germany in the 20 century. The Ruler of this party was Hitler. He believed in one dominant of race and that all Jews be persecuted. He did this by invading multiple countries and finding all of the jews and taking them to concentration camps to be killed. His dream was to eliminate all jews in the world but was stopped by the allies.
Pope Pius and World war 2
The church took much heat in the second world war for not doing enough. This was false. The Church stepped in but feared that more jews would be killed if they did step in. They let Jew's stay in the Pope's summerhouse and in secret house all around the Vatican. It is estimated they saved over 800,000 people from persecution.
Vatican 2
The second Vatican Council was convened because the church was in turmoil and people were beginning to leave the church. This is a result because the lay people had no role in the church and another main problem was it was in latin. Three declarations were made, 9 decrees, and 4 constitutions which shaped the church into what it is today.
Pope John Paul 2
Pope John Paul 2 is most well known for the Veritatis Splendor, a doctrine that talks about human ethics and principles. He faced many problems in North America and inWesteern Europe. He also published the new Canon Law and The CCC. He was shot at by a man during a speech and later forgave the man in prison. He declared 2004-2005 the year of the Eucharist. he died in 2005 because of the wearing effects of Parkinson's disease.
The Church of Immigrants to the U.s.
Slavery
Slavery became a very large problem in the world. People were enslaved and beaten and abused for various reasons. Mainly because of race. Millions were imported to America to be bought and sold for money or labor or both. They would come on ships and would be seperated from their families and were forced to work.