Religion Exam I

What 3 major internal events challenged Christianity during its early formation?

1. Destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 CE

2. Expansion of Christianity (diff. interpretations)

3. Passing of the Apostle

How did the Destruction of the Jerusalem temple affect Christians?

It permanently structurally split Christianity and Judaism- no common place to worship. Christians went to home churches, jews went to synagogues

How did the passing of the Apostles create challenges for Christianity?

Growing number of interpretations of the meaning of Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and message

What 3 crucial internal needs emerged as Christianity expanded?

1. Need for authoritative teachings

2. Need for leadership

3. Need for authoritative texts

How did the church respond to the need for leadership?

Local leaders: Congregational leadership- appointed bishops, elders, and deacons.

Created regional city centers- like Jerusalem, Rome, Antioch, each with local jurisdictions

How did the church respond to the need for authoritative texts?

Formation of the New Testament canon

• not written by one person at once, but multiple writers and sent to multiple places at diff. times

How did the church respond to the need for authentic teaching?

The Formulation of Creed

• any interpretation of the Bible must accommodate the creeds’ ideals

What 2 forms of institutional leadership developed in early Christianity?

1. Local church leaders

2. City centers

What 3 titles of local church officers are identified in the presentation?

Bishops, elders, and deacons

What major city centers became important in the institutionalization of Christianity?

Jerusalem, Antioch, Rome, Athens, Constantinople, North Africa (Alexandria + Carthage)

Which 2 cities emerged with especially high administrative status?

Rome and Constantinople

Why did Rome acquire particularly high status?

• burial site of 2 Apostles

• imperial capital

• large size + number of Christians, bishops, deacons and elders

Which cities became especially important for Christian writings?

North African cities- Alexandria and Carthage

What is a canon?

A list of books that a religious community accepts as sacred and authoritative.

What is canonization?

The process of making the list of books and making decision of who has authority over the community.

What are the 2 major parts of the Christian Bible?

The OT: 39 Books

The NT: 27 Books

How/When did the canon of the Hebrew Bible develop?

200 years before Jesus

When were most NT books composed?

Between 50 and 125 CE

What is a creed?

Brief summaries of core Christian beliefs and sometimes practices that were intended to serve as shorthand guides for Christian belief

What purposes did creeds serve?

To express Christian beliefs in a clear way + reflect questions and concerns of the time:

• proper interpretation of the Bible

• instructing converts

• corporately affirming the faith during the worship

• identifying heresy (improper ideas and beliefs)

What was the Creed of Hippolytus?

Was used as a question-answer for the baptism of new converts- became Apostles Creed in year 700

What was the primary focus on the Nicene Creed of 325 CE?

Jesus is fully divine - Jesus’s divinity

What was the primary focus of the Chalcedonian Creed of 451 CE?

The 2 natures of Christ- Jesus is both fully human and divine at same time

What happened to Christians under Nero in 64 CE according to the presentation?

There was local persecution- 10/14 sections of Rome burned, Nero was blamed, so he blamed Christians

Was persecution under Nero presented as the normal experience of Christians in the early centuries?

No, mostly they lived peacefully

What was imperial persecution?

State sanctioned form of persecution

How did Emperor Constantine change the situation of Christianity?

He converted and issued an Edict of Toleration in 313 that stopped Christian persecution

What happened to church buildings after Constantine’s change in policy?

They were renewed and new churches were constructed

How did Constantine involve himself in church affairs?

Convened and preceded over the Council of Nicaea, Modified the Roman laws to be compatible with Christian values, Built a new monotheistic capital for the Empire at Constantinople

What did Emperor Theodosius do in 392?

Made Christianity the official religion of the state

How did Theodosius’s policy change the religion position of Christianity?

Condemned all forms of Christianity that did not fit with Ancient Traditions, banned all public ceremony of other religions, persecuted church became imperial church

Into what languages was the Bible translated as Christianity expanded?

7 Languages- Latin, Syriac, Coptic (Egyptian), Gothic, Armenian, Ethiopic, and Georgian

What is meant by the ‘imperial paradigm’ of Christianity?

People saw the Roman Empire as the (Spiritual) Kingdom of God

How did some Christians interpret the Christian Roman Empire?

As the Kingdom of God

Why did monasticism develop in the empire?

It became too easy/fashionable to be Christian so people wanted to separate themselves

What does the word ‘monk’ mean according to its Greek root?

“alone”

How did monasticism contribute to a 2-tiered view of Christian life?

Rise of a new class of holy men and women:

Top-tiered: Monastic/ascetic Christians

Bottom tier: rest of the Christians living in the world

What language was important for Christianity in Persia?

Syriac (a form of Aramaic)

How early did Christianity arrive in India?

Very early: maybe as early as the 1st century

Who, according to tradition, first brought the gospel to India?

St. Thomas the Apostle

What other ethnic/national Christianity’s are identified in the presentation?

4- Armenia, Georgia, Ireland, the Kingdom of Axum (Ethiopia)

How did Christianity in India and Persia differ from it in the Roman Empire?

Christianity was never in debate to become state religion, never grew very large, persistence and survival characterized it here, not persecution to power

What 4 major Christian tradition/form are identified around the year 1000?

1. Latin Christian West (Catholic)

2. Byzantine/Greek Christian East (orthodox)

3. Miaphysite/Oriental Orthodox Christianity’s

4. Church of the East (Persian)

What major change did the rise of Islam introduce into the Christian world

Created a new world order, geographically, politically, and socially over many of Christianity’s oldest centers.

How did Christianity experience expand and contract at the same time?

Expanded throughout Europe (where it wasn’t), contracted in ancient strong places like the Middle East

Which Christians accepted the Council of Chalcedon?

Accepted the Chalcedonian Tradition- later became Catholic and Orthodox

Why should Christian division not be reduced to either ‘mere politics’ or abstract theology alone?

theology, language, geography, authority, culture, ad political power all interacted

What later traditions developed within Chalcedonian Christianity?

Catholic and Orthodox

How did the Bishop of Rome gain new public significance in the fragmented West?

He provided religious leadership, civic stability, and a unifying authority for western Christians when the imperial government couldn’t anymore

What roles did monasteries play after the Western political fragmentation?

Centers of order and stability in times of disaster, provided pastoral care and promoted intellectual life

What major elements of Christian inheritance did East and West (catholic and orthodox) continue to share?

Scriptures, NT and OT, Sacraments, Nicaean Creed, Chalcedonian Creed

How did different political histories contribute to East-West differentiation?

Different languages in Roman Empires- Greek in East, Latin in West, as time went on, fragmentation in the church in the West played major role, - East stayed intact in Byzantine Empire (church didn’t have to play major role

What is Filioque?

Latin word meaning “and the Son”

Why did the Filioque become an issue of both theology and ecclesiology (study of Church)?

Created the final breaking point between Catholic and Orthodox- Catholic church added Filioque to Nicaean Creed without consulting Orthodox church

Also concerned the Holy Spirit’s relationship to the Father and Son within the Trinity

Western church- HS proceeds from Father and the Son

Eastern church- HS proceeds from the Father

What is the significance of 1054?

The official, formal date of the Great Schism (East-West Schism) between Eastern Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church

In 1054, representatives of Pop Leo IX and Patriarch Michael Cerularius of Constantinople exchanged excommunications.

Did Muslim political conquest immediately eliminate Christianity in conquered territories?

No, some forms of Christianity still existed.

What theological questions arose in Christian-Muslim encounter?

Scripture- Who God is? (Allah-1 God 1 being, God-3 beings), Who is Jesus? (Muslim-Prophet, Catholic-God and being)

What long-term demographic change occurred in some ancient Christian heartlands?

Christians started to move out, Arabic became religion and language of the culture

Culturally and population movement created a permanent change.

What progression summarizes Christianity’s encounter with Islamic expansion?

The encounter began with rapid 7th-century political conquests that established a legal framework of coexistence, leaving vast Christian majorities initially intact under Muslim rule. Over subsequent centuries, a combo of theological debate, cultural Arabization, and socio-economic pressures gradually drove a major demographic inversion, permanently transforming ancient Christian heartlands into dominant Muslim majorities.

What 3 civilizations emerged as successors to the Roman Empire in the Mediterranean world (1000-1500)?

1. Western Europe (Latin, Christian)

2. Byzantine/Eastern Empires Christianity

3. Islamic Empires

How did the Byzantine, Islamic, and Western European civilizations differ from one another?

Byzantine=centrally organized, imperial state led by absolute emperor, Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Greek, URBAN economic centers

Islamic empires= unified under a religion and political leader (Caliph), Islam, Arabic language, thriving trade networks

Western Europe= fragmented into decentralized local kingdoms and feudal territories, Roman Catholic, Latin, mostly rural, agrarian economies centered on local estates

How did Western Europe change during the years 1000-1500?

Small kingdoms united under 1 umbrella (Christianity) and used Latin as a common language

What 2 major elements helped unite Western Europe?

1. Common religion (Christianity)

2. Common language among the educated (Latin)

What major change occurred in the form or character of Christianity after the year 1000?

Center moved from East to West permanently, and Catholic form of Christianity became the defining form and character of Christianity until a long time

How did the Catholic Church function as a major integrating force in Western Europe?

Monasteries became centers for order, frequent general councils, codification of Salvation Process, Emergence of Universities

How did monasteries function as centers of order during chaotic times?

Places of protection, penitence, worship and collective prayer- provided pastoral care, education, preservation of classical culture, evangelization, promotion of civilization and intellectual life

What 5 mechanisms of Christianization are identified in the presentation?

1. Conversion of a ruler-ruler would convert all people

2. Miracles performed by monks + monasteries

3. Pope is involved to put pressure in some cases

4. Sometimes force was involved

5. Some accommodations to local religious ideals, practices- churches were built in previous spiritual sites, woods from trees previously used for worship, previous ideas and symbols were incorporated

Why were accommodations to local religious ideas and practices used?

Building bridges of understanding between old beliefs and new Christian faith

What major Catholic beliefs and practices were articulated/developed during this period?

1. Church is the institutional carrier of salvation

2. Belief in Purgatory

3. Praying the rosary

4. 7 sacraments

5. Priestly celibacy

6. Expansion in power and authority of Popes

7. Beginning of the Catholic University system

What does it mean to describe the church as the ‘institutional carrier of salvation’?

The church is the dispenser of salvation was developed

How was the process of salvation increasingly codified during the Middle Ages?

Sacraments, Purgatory, Indulgences, and religious motivations

What are the 7 sacraments?

Baptism, Confirmation, Matrimony, Holy Order, Anointing of the Sick, Communion, Penance

When were the 7 sacraments made of part of official Catholic teaching?

1439

What is purgatory?

A place where only believers who died with sins are sent to be painfully punished until the last drop of sin and sinfulness had been driven out of the heart

What are indulgences?

Special dispersions of grace and legal documents issued by the church, releasing individuals from some/all of the punishment they deserved in purgatory

How were indulgences used during the Crusades?

To build churches or recruit soldiers

What is plenary indulgence?

Granting full release from the punishment of purgatory and immediate entrance to Heaven if killed in battle fighting for Holy Land

How were indulgences also used for fundraising?

Church sold partial or unlimited indulgences to help support administrative offices of the Vatican, to construct large buildings

What is Scholasticism?

Systematic use of reason in the schools, critical investigation of the received tradition and its authority

What was the aim for Scholasticism?

Accepts structure and uses reason to understand it more.

What was the primary method of Scholasticism?

Reason

What is meant by ‘theonomous reason’?

Reason rooted in God as a gift for humanity

What was the investiture Controversy?

Who has the authority to invest religious power onto religious people?

Lay Investiture

Non-ordained layperson (the local prince or king) choosing bishops

Who was Johannes Gutenberg, and what did he invent”

A German inventor, crafts, invented a printer best known for introducing the movable-type printing press to Europe

How did the printing press affect Christianity?

Allowed the printing and distribution of the Bible throughout Europe - significant help for Protestant movement

How did developments in mass communication affect society?

Revolutionized the capacity of mass communication- travel wasn’t need and better education

How did innovations in travel affect society?

Made it possible to travel near and fear w ease and speed

How did discoveries in medicine change understandings of health and sickness?

The discovery of bacteria, viruses, and drugs to cure them

How did agricultural inventions change food production?

New pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers allowed farmers to grow crops in sizes and proportions never seen before.

What major modern European empires are identified?

Portugal, Spanish, French, British, and Dutch

What were the main religious orientations of the major modern European empires?

Portuguese: Catholics

Spanish: Catholic

French: Catholic

Dutch: Protestant

British: Protestant

How did rising nationalism affects papal political and religious authority?

The pope’s political strength and religious authority was undermined

How did Spain and Portugal exercise religious authority in their colonies?

They began to have almost total control over the Catholic Church in the new lands they were colonizing in the Americas

What 3 major new Christian movements are idenitified after 1500?

1. Protestant

2. Pentecostal/Charismatic

3. Evangelicalism

When did the Protestant movement begin?

1517

From which Christian tradition did Protestantism emerge?

Catholic

When did Pentecostal movement emerge?

1900

From which tradition did Pentecostal movement emerge?

Protestant

What conditions made the emergence of Protestantism possible by the end of 1500?

The new nationalism, regional differences of spirituality, fear of death, purgatory, and indulgences