2024 Theology II: Church History Midterm Vocabulary

Imported from the quizlet given to us by mrs methvin

Apostolic Succession

The uninterrupted passing on of preaching and authority from the Apostles directly to all bishops. It is accomplished through the laying on of hands when a bishop is ordained in the Sacrament of Holy Orders as instituted by Christ

Messiah

Hebrew word for "anointed one." The equivalent Greek term is christos. Jesus is the Christ and the Messiah because he is the Anointed One.

Charism

A special gift or grace of the Holy Spirit given to an individual Christian or community, commonly for the benefit and building up of the entire Church.

Covenant

A personal, solemn promise of faithful love that involves mutual commitments and creates a sacred relationship.

Apostle

Generally means "one who is sent" and can be used in reference to teh 12 companions chosen by Jesus, also known as "The Twelve," the term refers to those special witnesses of Jesus on whose ministry the early Church was built and whose successors are the bishops

Fathers of the Church

During the early centuries of the Church, those teachers whose writings extended the Tradition of the Apostles and who continue to be important for the Church's teachings.

Theotokos

A Greek title for Mary meaning "God bearer"

Hypostatic Union

The union of Jesus Christ's divine and human natures in one Divine Person.

Doctor of the Church

A title officially bestowed by the Church on those saints who are highly esteemed for their theological writings, as well as their personal holiness.

Ecumenical Council

A gathering of the Church's bishops from around the world convened by the Pope or approved by him to address pressing issues in the Church.

Sacred Tradition

Refers to the process of passing on the Gospel message. It began with the oral communication of the Gospel by the Apostles, was written down in the Scriptures, and is interpreted by the Magisterium under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Martyrdom

Witness to the saving message of Christ through the sacrifice of one's life.

Deposit of Faith

The heritage of faith contained in Sacred Scripture and Tradition, handed on in the Church from the time of the Apostles, from which the Magisterium draws all that it proposes for belief as being divinely revealed

Presbyter

A synonym to "elder" in the Acts of the Apostles and an alternative word for priest today.

Magisterium

The Church's living teaching office, which consists of all bishops, in communion with the Pope, the Bishop of Rome.

Papal Bull

An official letter or charter issued by the Pope, named for the bulla, or wax seal, that was used to authenticate it.

Simony

Buying or selling something spiritual such as a grace, sacrament, or relic. This also relates to the buying of Church positions.

Iconoclasm

The deliberate destruction of religious icons and symbols

Scholasticism

The method of thinking, teaching, and writing characteristic of the medieval universities of Europe from 1100 to 1500. Mostly concerned with teachings and writings about God.

Summa Theologica

a 21-volume work written by St. Thomas Aquinas in which he shows the logical realtionship between faith and reason

Filioque

Latin for "and from the Son," this phrase was added to the Nicene Creed in the Roman Church to express that the Holy Spirit descended from the Father and the Son, rather than from the Father and through the Son, as the Byzantine Church expressed.

Antipope

A person claiming to be Pope in opposition to the Pope chosen in accordance with Church law.

Mendicants

Members of religious orders that emphasize reliance on the generosity of others for charity or support

Transubstantiation

At the consecration of the liturgy of the bread and wine are truly changed in substance to the body and blood of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit

Feudalism

A system that evolved in Western Europe in the eighth and ninth centuries in which society was ordered around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service and protection.

Papal States

An independent country ruled by the Pope until 1870, covering a wide strip of land in the middle of the Italian Peninsula. The Papal States were awarded to the papacy in 756 in a formal deed called the Donation of Pepin.

Christendom

The Church's sphere of power and authority, both politically and spiritually, during the Middle Ages.

Gothic

A type of architecture that includes flying buttresses, detailed rose windows, spires that point to heaven and large stained glass windows

Universities

With the steady growth of European society, the system of education evolved from catherdral schools to this form of education

St. Francis

the central them of this Saint was the Imitation of Christ

Faith

The theological virtue by which one believes in all that God has said and revealed to man and that the Church proposes for belief.

St. Thomas Aquinas

Greates among all the scholastics, one of the most influential medieval theologians and scholars in the Church's history

Lateran Council IV

The documents of this meeting (occuring during the High Middle Ages) strengthened and affirmed the Church's teachings

Pascal Mystery

The work of salvation accomplished by Jesus Christ mainly through his Passion, death, Resurrection, and Ascension.

Albigensian

A heresy that taught that the spirit was created by God, and was good, whiule the body was created by an evil god; spirit is good - matter is evil.

Salvation History

The story of God's saving action in human history

Kingdom of God

The reign of God proclaimed by Jesus and begun in his Life, Death, and Resurrection.

Second Coming

The final judgment of all humanity when Christ returns to earth. It is also known by it's Greek name, Parousia, which means "arrival."

Ascension

The event that "marks the definitive entrance of Jesus' humanity into God's heavenly domain." It is from heaven that Christ will come again.

Pentecost

From the Greek for "fiftieth day," a Jewish harvest feast occurring fifty days after Passover; the first Pentecost for Christians was when the Holy Spirit appeared to the Apostles in the form of wind and fire fifty days after Jesus' resurrection.

Evangelical Counsels

Vows of personal poverty, chastity (understood as a lifelong celibacy), and obedience to a bishop or superior of a religioius community

Martyrs

literally means to "witness" in Greek. They are witnesses to the truth of faith who endure even death to be faithful to Christ.

Apologists

Christian writers who defend the Church against anti-Christian writings or heresies through the use of reason and intellectual defenses

Pagan

In early times, it referred to a person who was polytheistic. Today a broader definition refers to a person holding religious beliefs other than those of one of the major world religions or being polytheistic.

Fortitude

The courage that Christians are called to embrace and rely on in order to evangelize and live their faith openly; also, one of the four carfdinal virtues (along with temperance, justice, and prudence)

Relic

The physical remains or personal effects of a Saitn that are approved by the Church for veneration.

Liturgical Year

Cycle of the liturgical seasons of Advent, Christmas, Ordinary Time, Lent, Triduum, and Easter, organized around the major events of Jesus' life. (The new year starts with first day of Advent).

Feast Day

The day on the liturgical calendar commemorating a saint's entry into heaven, typically celebrated on or close to the day when a saint died

Catechumens

People who are undergoing a period of study and spiritual preparation before receiving the Sacrament of Baptism

Heresies

Incorrect and otherwise errrant understandings or teachings about certain doctrinal matters or dogmas; they are opposed to the right teaching (orthodoxy)

First Council of Nicaea

The first ecumenical council; a meeting of three hundred bishops that took place in 325, most importantly to provide a response to the Arian heresy and a common profession of faith.

Arianism

A heresy of the fourth century that took its name from Arius, a priest from Alexandria. The heresy denied the divinity of Jesus, claiming that he was like the Father except that he was created by the Father.

Monasticism

Religious life in which men or women leave the world and enter a monastery or convent while devoting themselves to prayer, contemplation, and self-denial in solitude

Edict of Milan

A joint decloration by the Roman emperor Constantine and Licinius in the East in 313 that leaglized the practice of Christianity and other religions throughout the Roman Empire

Desert Fathers

Christians of about the fourth century who withdrew into the desert to live an ascetic life of prayer, fasting, and abstinence. Their teachings had a profound impact on the theology and spirituality of the Church and the development of monasticism.

Caesaropapism

The political theory often practiced when Christianity was legalized that held that a secular ruler could also have authority over the Church, including in matters of doctrine.

Patriarchs

Bishops of one of the five episcopal sees: Jerusalem, Antioch, Constantinople, and Alexandria in the East; and Rome in the West. The Bishop of Rome (the Pope) was acknowledged as the principal patriarch

Justinian Code of Law

A collection of laws written in Latin that were instituted by the Byzantine emperor Justinian (527-565) and became the basis of European law. Its Christian orientation gave women and children more protection than earlier law, but it still reflected the customs of its times, like bodily mutilation for some crimes and repressive measures against non-Christians, including Jews.

Schism

a break in Christian unity that takes place when a group of Christians separates itself from the Church. This happens historically when the group breaks union with the pope.

Canon

The official list of inspired books of the Bible. The Catholic version lists forty-six in the Old Testament books and twenty-seven in the New Testament

Codex Vaticanus

From the early fourth century, the oldest complete copy of the Bible in existence; it features the forty-six books of the Old Testament and the twenty-seven books of the New Testament.

Liturgy of the Word

The part of the Mass that includes the "writings of the prophets" (the Old Testament reading and psalm) and the "memoirs of the Apostles" (the New Testament Epistles and the Gospel), the homily, the profession of faith, and the intercessions for the world.

Nicene Creed

The foundational statement of Christian belief that was produced by the Church leaders gathered at the First Council of Nicaea in 325.

Christology

The systematic contemplation within the Church on the Divine Person and work of Jesus Christ.

Nestorianism

The heresy spread by Nestorius, a fifth-century patriarch of Constantinople, that asserted that some of Christ's traits were purely human and others were purely divine.

Monophysitism

Heresey taught in the 7th century that claimed that Jesus has two natures but one will - his divine nature

Monothelitism

The heresy taught in the seventh century that claimed that Jesus has two natures but only one will—his divine will.

Muhammad

Founder of Islam; regarded as a prohpet by Muslims

Lay Investiture

A practice in the Middle Ages whereby secular rulers chose the bishops for their territories, thus usurping the right of the pope to choose bishops.

Crusades

A series of military expeditions made accordingt to a solemn voy to return holy places and possession of th Church from the Muslims

Papal Inquisition

A Church tribunal established in the 13th century that was first designed to curb the Albigensian heresy. In collaboration with secular authorities, papal representatives employed the Inquistion to judge the guilt of suspected heretics with the aim of getting them to repent. Unfortunately, many abuses crept into the process

Purgatory

Final purification of all who die in God's grace and friendship but remain imperfectly purified.

Conciliarism

An erroneous idea, popular in the Middle Ages, that an ecumenical council of the Church had more authority than the pope and could depose him if they so desired.

Thomaism

Teachings that follow the theology and philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas, especially from Summa Theologiae. He presents five ways by which dhumans can infer the existence of God through reason. He also teaches that the highest truths are those which are freely revealed by God.

Renaissance

A cultural rebirth begun in the Late Middle Ages that rediscovered the ancient civilizations of Rome and Egypt. It stressed the natural and the human; it emphasized the pleasures of life, glorified the human body and celebrated education

Humanism

A cultural and intellectual movement that emphasizedthe redisvocery of the literatuyre, art and civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome

New World

the name given by Europeans to the Americas, which were unknown to most Europeans, as opposed to ther "Old World" of Europe

Colonization

The process by which a nation establishes a prominent presence by exerting an element of power or control in an area beyond their original borders.

Indulgences

a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven. They are closely linked to the Sacrament of Penance

Conquistadors

Spanish for "conquerors"; those explorers who left Spain to conquer new faraway territories and claim them in the name of the Spanish crown.

Accommodation

The method by which all religious missionaries, such as the Jesuits, adjust their evangelization methods to reach the cultural and linguistic elements of the group whom they are evangelizing