Christianity

Christianity was a blend of native and borrowed what?

Traditions

Ancient pagan rituals marked and celebrated what?

Seasonal Change, Seed-Time, Harvest

It was the interpretation of omens

Augury

The Romans welcomed and honored these along with greater and lesser Roman gods

The gods of non-Roman people

Roman religion promised neither _______ nor the reward of _______ _______

Retribution, nor the reward of eternal life

They celebrated seasonal change by way of symbolic performances of birth, death, and rebirth of gods

Near East Agricultural societies

Mystery cults are called that because of this

Their initiation rights were secret

Persia’s Zoroastrians believed in the rival forces of light and dark, symbolizing this

Good and Evil

The Zoroastrian god of light

Mithra

Mithraism required these

Strict initiation rights and periods of fasting

Who did Mithraism exclude?

Women

When did his followers celebrate Mithra’s birthday?

December 25, The Winter Solstice

He was emperor when Jesus was born

Octavian

The deliverer the Jews anticipated was known by this name

Messiah

The Essenes renounced _____ and practiced strict _____ ________

Worldly possessions, self-denial

These books of the New Testament describe the life and teachings of Jesus

The Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John)

The Gospels were written in these two languages

Greek and Aramaic

This “speech” by Jesus sets forth the injunctions of an uncompromising ethic

Sermon on the Mount

A story that illustrates a moral is called a _____

Parable

Jesus’ teachings gave new emphasis on what virtues?

Pacifism and anti-materialism

Jesus was convicted by the Romans of this

Being a threat to empirical stability

All four of the gospels claim Jesus did this three days after his death

Rose from the dead

What was Paul’s primary occupation?

Tent Maker

How many books of the New Testament did Paul write?

10-14

Paul believed Jesus was this

A living sacrifice who died to atone for the sins of mankind

This emperor moved the capital from Rome to the Eastern capital of Byzantium

Constantine

Byzantium was renamed to this and envisioned as “The New Rome”

Constantinople

Historical factors that contributed to the slow but growing receptivity of Christianity within the Roman Empire

Large gaps between the rich and the poor, prevailing sense of insecurity caused by Germanic tribe migration and frequent border assaults, increasing impersonalism and bureaucratic corruption

Why did Christianity initially fail to win official approval?

Christians refused to worship the emperor as divine; They renounced the existence of Roman gods; They refused to serve in the Roman Army

This document ended persecution of Christians in 313 AD

The Edict of Milan

By the end of this century, Christianity had become the official religion of the Roman Empire

4th Century AD

In an effort to resolve disagreements over leadership, doctrine, and liturgy, Constantine convened this type of council in 325 AD

Ecumenical at Nicaea

Consensus of the council formed this document which laid the basis for Christian doctrine

Nicene Creed

This church was the supreme religious authority in the Eastern part of the Roman Empire

Greek Orthodox Church

This became a way of life for those who sought an environment of study and prayer and an alternative to the decadence of urban life. Best described as self-denial

Communal Asceticism

In 529 AD his academy closed its doors in Athens

Plato

A western monastic community founded at Monte Cassino, Italy in 529 AD

The Benedictine Rule

This program, translates to “prayer and work”. It gave structure and meaning to the daily routine

Ora et labora

Motto of the Benedictines, it translates to “A sound mind and a sound body”

mens sana in corpore sano

Why women were prohibited from being ordained priests

Monastics and church fathers generally considered women as the daughters of Eve- inherently sinful and dangerous as objects of sexual temptation

She was the abbess of a monastery near Monte Cassino, a refuge for female intellectuals

Scholastica

The four most important figures in the formation of Christian Dogma

Jerome, Ambrose, Gregory, Augustine

He translated into Latin both the Hebrew bible and the Greek books of the New Testament

Jerome

Ambrose wrote some of the earliest of these for congregational use

Christian hymns

He was vital to early church government and elected to the papacy in 590 AD. Established the adminstrative machinery by which all future popes would govern the church

Gregory

The most proguound and influential of all the Latin church fathers

Augustine of Hippo

What were the subjects of Augustine’s tretises

The nature of the soul, free will, and the meaning of evil

What was the intent and purpose of City of God?

Distinguishes between the earthly city of humankind and the heavenly city that is the eternal dwelling place of the Christian soul. It defended Christianity against accusations that it was the cause of Rome’s downfall

The study and interpretation of Christian symbols

Iconography

Early Christian followers adopted this symbol

The fish

These two Greek letters symbolize Christ’s presence at the beginning and end of time

Alpha and Omega