Week 1

Plato

Greek philosopher, most famous student of Socrates and one of the most influential thinkers in all of Western culture.

Lived from 428-347 BC

Sig:

-Source of ideas of Socrates because he failed to write down his findings

-Plato introduces Tri-partite soul in work called Republic

• Introduced dualism in Platonicr easoning (physical world is bad and eternal world is good) which can be seen in early christianity

• Know what goodness and purity (the forms) is to be able to understand if something is good and just

• Has many points of contact with later christians through biblical allusions (ex. Augustine)

Aristotle

Greek philosopher

Who: Student of Plato

Lived: 384-322 BC

Sig:

• Wrote founding works of Western logic and natural science

• Wrote Nichomechean ethics and Politics works

• Believed transcendent forms are too far away to reason (disagreed with Plato)

• Focused on internal character in relation to external and said that character is built through habit

• Preached doctrine of the mean and complete friendship

• Was Alexander the Great’s tutor

R- Pericles

Who: Athenian Statesman and politician

Lived: 495-429 BC

R- Philosophy

What: Love of wisdom and it is used to bring natural explanations to questions

When: 600-500 BC

Pairs with logos which means to appeal to reason.

M- Socrates

Who: Athenian Teacher

Lived: 470-399 BC

Sig:

• Taught Plato

• Didn’t record his ideas so Plato did this for him

• Father of Western Philosophy

• Socrates known for seeking real truth

• socrates did not leave Athens when he could’ve, he accepted his punishment even though the law was unjust, unlike Antigone

R- Polis

What: An independent city-state (Around 1,000 in Greece)

When: 750 BC

Hellenization

The process of cultures becoming more greek-like, Greek culture spread from Greece to Egypt, Jordan, Persia and Middle East. Rome though conquering Greece also adopted Greek culture.

When: Happened after 323 BC when Alexander the Great died

R- Tripartite soul

A philosophy from Plato’s Republic that explains that the structure of the human psyche is like a city-state to answer the question, “What is justice?” He explains that the human soul thrives when its three parts, rational principle, desire and passion work together harmoniously and rational principle rules over the others.

R- Roman Republic

27Where: Dominated Greece and Mediterranean World, spreaded to Europe and North Africa then it was harder to maintain this government

When: 509 BC-around 27 BC

What: Form of government marked by power sharing

Alexander the Great

Who: Macedonian ruler

When: 356-323 BC

Sig:

• Wanted to be accepted by the greeks and his tutor was Aristotle

• He conquered Greece and Great Persian empire in 10 yrs

• After his death, his successors divvied up the land and this brought on the Hellenistic World

M- Athenian Democracy

What: Citizens are ultimate source of political authority

When: 500 BC to Alexander (323 BC)

Sig:

• There were ekklesias which meant “assembly” where citizens would decide matters of importance since the government style was a demokratia

• The Athenian Democracy was powered by the people but the citizens who could actually be a part of the ekklesias was 40% of the polis population.

• This inspired debate, discussion and political participation in the polis

• The United States is also part democracy

• Propped up by slavery

• During age of enlightenment, monarchies became less popular and athenian democracy as well as roman republic were looked at as government models

Sophists

Who: Teachers in Athens who taught their students the art of eloquence. They did not agree with Socrates to search for truth and wisdom but only cared about using language to persuade others.

When: 400 BC

Doctrine of the Mean

What: Introduced by Aristotle

Meaning: Virtue falls between vice of excess and vice of deficiency

the key to be virtuous is to do the virtuous activity habitually and without effort

The mean also requires judgment, to do the right thing for the the right reason and emotions and in the right way

Homer

Who: Legendary Poet (wrote epic poetry, may not have existed)

Lived: 700 BC

Significance:

• Oral Stories by him: Iliad and Odyssey

• His works describe how Greeks felt about their Gods and why the world is the way it is

• His poetry was part of Greek aristocratic educational curriculum

Augustus Caesar (also known as Octavian)

Who: First Emperor of Roman Empire

Lived: 63 BC-14 AD

Significance:

• Victor of decades of civil war

• Emperor worship is introduced during his rule (Roman civil religion)

Maccabean Revolt

What: King Antiochus forced the Jews in Judea to give up their religion and worship Greek culture. Some Jews revolted and took back Jerusalem. This didn’t last long however.

When: 167-160 BC

Significance:

• Civil religion was forced but the revolt made the king very sad and regrets actions

Gnostics

When: 100 CE

Who: A people who interpreted Christianity through Plato

Significance:

• They were a religious movement that combined selected christian ideas with a basic Greek worldview

• Gnostics reinterpreted biblical accounts and this differentiated from Tertullian

Roman Empire

When: 27 BC-400 AD

What: Monarchy created after civil war

Significance:

• Caesar ruled during this time

• Civil religion started but with Caesar as the god

Tertullian

When:160-230 CE

Who: Lawyer, became Christian in 40s and lived in Carthage

Significance:

• Differs from Gnostics and Christian Apologists

• He believed that philosophy corrupts and that Christians should reject culture surrounding the church

Christian Apologists

When: 100 CE

Who: People whose goals were to explain Christianity to the culture with Greek language and categories

Significance:

• They dispelled rumors about Christianity that were lies

• Justin Martyr (100-165 CE) is a big leader in apologetics and he says All Truth is God’s Truth

Marcion

Who: Shipowner, starter of the Marcion Church. He says that people can't be Jewish and follow Jesus. Only accepts parts of bible not favoring Jews.

Lived: 100 CE

Justin Martyr

Lived: 100-165 CE

Who: Leader in apologetics, Platonic Philosopher who converts to Christianity at 30. He says All Truth is God’s Truth and he wants critical interaction with nonbelievers

Monotheism

When: 100 CE (Christianity)

What: The belief in one God

Civil Religion

What: A belief in certain cultures that religious practice directly relates to a people’s political success (Greeks and Roman Empire with Caesar)

Judaism

When: 586 BCE

What: A people called the Jews. They practiced prayed to Yahweh and he established a covenant with the Jews. They believe if they follow him, he will bless them and they worship at the only temple in Jerusalem, the capital city. They get taken over in the Maccabean Revolt, win Jerusalem back and then lose it again.

Anthony

Who: Founder of Christian Monasticism, born in Egypt

Lived: 251-356 AD

Significance:

• Anthony went out in to the desert and lived in isolation. He went there to focus on his faith without outside influence

• Anthony inspired many to take up monasticism and many did this after council of nicea

Constantine

Who: Emperor of Roman Empire

Lived: 312-337 AD

Significance:

• Favors Christianity and makes it legal to be Christian in Edict of Milan. Christianity starts to mix with the state

• He establishes the new capitol of Greece which is Constantinople

Perpetua

Who: Christian martyr from Carthage

Lived: 200 AD

Significance:

• Perpetua went against her paterfamilias to support her Christianity

• Perpetua was one of many martyrs who shed their blood for their faith at the hands of the Roman Empire, this all changed when Constantinople became Emperor

Augustine

who: Most influential figure in Early Church since Paul. From Thagaste

Lived: 354 AD

Significance:

• Served as a transition figure from Ancient to Medieval World

• Key figure in shaping church and doctrine and important thinker for Catholics and Protestants

• Wrote Confessions which was his biography. In this he discusses his life, how he found God, the Problem of original sin and he has debates on Christianity with people like Pelagius and Dentists

• He becomes bishop leader of Hippo

Donatism

Who: People who believed sacraments are valid based on moral purity of person administering them

Significance:

• Participate in debate with Augustine. Aug disagrees and argues that sacraments are channels of God’s grace

• This idea is problem after Council of Nicea because some Christians gave up their faith when faced with cruel Roman Empire

Pelagius

Who: A person who lived like St. Anthony and has a debate on human freedom and salvation with Augustine

Significance:

• Pelagius doesn’t believe in original sin, he believes we are born free and to get to heaven we need to choose God. Augustine disagrees and says we have choices but our choices bend us towards sin

• A council is called due to debate, church sides with Augustine and Pelagius is declared a heretic. Another example of the blend of church and state.

Paterfamilias

What: Oldest man is the head of the family

Edict of Milan

When: 313 AD

What: Law by Constantinople that says Christianity is legal (but not official religion).This begins the mix of church and state.

Council of Nicea

When: 325 AD

What: Government calls Council to decide what Christian values are. This is called due to the debate between Athanasius and Arius. This is significant because this is how th eNicene Creed was created and it became hard to tell the difference between a Roman and a Christian.

Confessions

What: Autobiography written by Augustine. It outlines his life and how he came to faith.

Problem of Evil

What: Augustine discusses this in Confessions. It is his big question. If God created everything and he is all good, why is there evil? This is the roadblock in his faith.

Great Persecution

When: 300 AD

What: Diocletian is Roman Administrator. Galarius tries to convince Diocletian to persecute them. This time is full of Persecution of Christians.

Arianism

What: Arians start up the Arian Controversy. This is a dispute over the nature of Christ. Arians believe God the Father is eternal but Jesus and the World are created. They believe there was a time before Jesus. Ultimately called heretics and kicked out of the Church after Council of Nicea deems them wrong.

Monasticism

What: Living totally and wholly for Christ. Usually called monks and nuns, they have no comfort and endure a living death for Christ. St. Anthony does this .

Original Sin

What: Augustine discusses this in Confessions. It is the idea that we are all born sinful and need God’s forgiveness. Augustine writes how he was sinful and greedy as an infant in need of God’s provision.

Manichaeism

What: Blend of Christianity, Persian, religion and mythology, astrology and Greek philosophy. They believe there are two gods locked in an eternal battle. There is a good God and a bad God and creation is the result of the battle and humanity mirrors the battle.

City of God

What: Manuscript written by Augustine on the citizenship of those who belong to the City of God.

When: 426 BC

Significance:

• Written to bring comfort to Christians so they knew the fall of the Roman Empire is not the fall of the City of God.

• This was written during the Fall of the Roman Empire

Benedict of Nursia

Who: Father of Western Monasticism

When: 480-547 AD

Where: South of Rome

Significance:

• Founded new intentional communities

• His monastic rule and techniques like the blend of prayer, work and hospitality offered many benefits in the uncertainty of the Middle Ages

• His sister was St. Scholastica

• He composed the Rules which was a guide of how to run a monastery

Charlemagne

Who: Most famous political ruler and military leader of the Middle Ages

Where: Rome

When: 748-814 AD

Significance:

• Was kind of the Franks but he expanded their territory to recapture most of the Roman Empire

• Pope crowns him the Emperor of the Romans

• Christendom is established so blurred lines between church and state- Char appointing bishops and Pope making political decisions

• Char’s 3 sons divide up the territory and it returns to its state of tribes competing

Mohammad

Who: Arab merchant, he is Allah’s messenger in the Islamic Religion

Where: Mecca

When: 570-632 AD

Significance:

• Mohammad is given direct messages from Allah- this becomes the Qur’an

• Muhammad believes there is corruption in christianity and judaism and he believes he is the corrector by supplying the world with the correct message

Christendom

What: Means “Christ’s Kingdom”

Context: State works with church resulting in blurred lines

Example: When Charlemagne is made Emperor of Roman Empire, him and Pope work together. Synthesized Greek and Roman culture with latin-speaking Christianity.

Holy Roman Empire

When: 900-1806 AD

What: Realm in Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Netherlands and Northern Italy. Started after Charlemagne’s death. Collection of small city-states and kingdoms. Emperor is elected by religious and political leaders.

Qur’an

What: Means “recitation”. Made up of the messages Allah relayed to Mohammad.

Islam

When: 600 AD

What: Means “submission to God”. Monotheistic faith who believes that Allah is God and Mohammad is his messenger. This faith has 5 pillars as its rules. Qur’an is the main book. It quickly spread through trade, migration and conquest to Asia, Africa, and Southern Europe.

Feudalism and Manorialism

What (F): A system in which estates are exchanged for military services.

What (M): A system in which collective farms are run under the authority of Lords.