Pavlac Ch 6: Christianity

Christianity

Monotheistic religion based on the teachings, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Yeshua of Nazareth / “Jesus Christ” (b. ca. 7-4 BC-d. ca. AD 30)

Jewish teacher regarded by Christians as the Messiah and Son of God.

Gospels

The four books of the New Testament describing Jesus’s life

Messiah

“Anointed one”; a promised savior or king

Orthodoxy

Correct or officially accepted Christian beliefs and teachings.

Heresy

Belief or teaching that contradicts accepted Christian doctrine.

Gnosticism

Religious movement teaching that salvation came through special spiritual knowledge

New Testament

Collection of Christian writings about Jesus

Apostolic succession

Belief that bishops inherit their authority through an unbroken line reaching back to the apostles.

Secular clergy

Christian clergy who live and work among ordinary people rather than in monasteries.

Bishops

Senior Christian leaders who supervised churches within particular regions.

Councils

Gatherings of Christian bishops to debate and establish doctrine and Church practice.

Baptism

Christian ritual of initiation into the faith

Eucharist

Christian ritual commemorating Jesus’s Last Supper through bread and wine.

Excommunication

Formal exclusion of a person from participation in the Christian Church.

Paul of Tarsus (d. ca. AD 65)

Early Christian missionary whose teachings helped spread Christianity throughout the Roman world.

Paganism

Roman-era term for religious practices outside Judaism and Christianity

Heathenism

A term for non-Christian religious beliefs and practices

Martyrs

Christians who were killed because they refused to renounce their faith.

Constantine

Roman emperor who supported Christianity and helped establish its favored status within the empire.

Constantinople

City founded by Constantine as the eastern capital of the Roman Empire.

Edict of Milan (313)

Decree that granted religious toleration to Christians throughout the Roman Empire.

Saints

Christians recognized as especially holy and worthy of veneration.

Council of Nicaea (325)

Council that rejected Arianism and affirmed the doctrine that Christ was fully divine.

Arianism

Christian belief that Jesus

Intellectualism

Emphasis on reason

Anti-intellectualism

Suspicion or rejection of intellectual reasoning and philosophical approaches to religious belief.

Augustine of Hippo (d. AD 430)

Major Christian theologian who shaped Western Christian thought on sin

Pacifism

Opposition to war and violence; some early Christians practiced nonviolence.

Huns

Nomadic peoples from Central Asia who migrated into Europe and contributed to pressure on the Roman Empire.

Germanic barbarian migrations

Movement of Germanic peoples into Roman territory that contributed to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire.

Vandalism

Destruction or damage of property; named after the Vandals

Germanic barbarian kingdoms

Kingdoms established by Germanic peoples in former Western Roman territories.

Byzantium or Byzantine Empire (527-1453)

Eastern Roman Empire centered on Constantinople that continued Roman traditions for centuries.

Cæsaro-papism

System in which the emperor exercises significant authority over religious as well as political affairs.

Emperor Justinian (r. 527-565)

Byzantine emperor who attempted to restore Roman territory and strengthened imperial law and Christianity.

Justinian Code

Systematic collection and organization of Roman laws ordered by Justinian.

Slavs

Indo-European peoples who migrated and settled across Eastern and Southeastern Europe during the early medieval period.

Islam

Monotheistic religion founded by Muhammad in the 7th century

Muslims

Followers of Islam.

Islamization

Process by which peoples or societies adopted Islam.

Arabization

Process by which peoples adopted the Arabic language and aspects of Arab culture.

Mysticism

Religious practice focused on direct