Church history chapter 2

early Christians referred to the faith as

“The Way”

Early Christians were called

Followers of the Way

Jesus is the

Way, the truth and the life

Emperor Nero

First to persecute Christians

Cruel, psychologically sick tyrant whose rule began smoothly but soon took a turn for the worse

Began brutal persecution of Christians declared Christianity unlawful and sought to exterminate them entirely

Domitian

became emperor in AD 81 

Favor of the army

Sought to prevent Christianity from spreading to the upper classes, murdered his own Christian cousin 

Five good emperors

Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius 

Trajan’s rescript 

Offered a definite policy for handling Christianity:

Gave Christian’s a choice between death or apostasy (giving up faith) 

**St. Ignatius, bishop of Antioch 

Third bishop of a., listened at the feet of St. John

Affirmed the importance of the episcopacy and the primacy of the papacy 

First person to use the term “Catholic church”

Hadrian’s rescript 

Succeeded Trajan

Said Christians could only be prosecuted for violating the law and not simply for believing in Christianity 

St. Polycarp

One of the most important apostolic fathers 

Studied under John the apostles 

Defended orthodox Catholic belief and friend of st. Ignatius 

Bishop of Smyrna 

Refused to renounce faith, was killed 

Marcus Aurelius 

last of good emperors 

Adopted son of emperor Hadrian

Ardent stoic

Adhered to Trajan’s rescript outlawing Christianity, permitting the murder of Christians as it served the interest of the empire

St. Justin martyr

Became an apologist for Christianity, writing a first apology addressed to emperor antoninus pius

St. Irenaeus bishop of lyon 

Fought heresies such as Gnosticism, emphasized the importance of episcopacy, scripture. And tradition of the church 

The edict of Decius 

Decius initiated the first empire wide persecution of christians in an effort to unite the empire

Anyone suspected of being Christian has to appear before their local magistrate to prove he or she had given up the faith, Christians who refused were exiled or killed 

Christians became apostates, church leaders faced difficult decisions about allowing these lapsi to re enter the church 

Origen

Considered to have initiated the concept of the homily

Became head of the first catechetical school in Alexandria, considered the first Catholic university

St. Lawrence 

Last deacon

Emperor asks him to get him the treasure of the church assuming it was money and goods, instead the emperor is brought people. Emperor kills him for this. 

Persecutions under Diocletian 

Ten years of severe persecution followed, including the destroying of churches, imprisonment, torture, and martyrdom for many christians

Four edicts 

Diocletian put these out which led to worst persecution’s

Demanded:

Burning of churches

Burning of scripture

Imprisonment of clergy

Clergy and all christians must sacrifice to the Roman gods (meant to embarrass) 

Edict of Milan (ad 313)

Constantine issues this

Legitimized Christianity for the first time since ad 64

Constantine saw Christianity as a means to unite the empire

Helena (Constantine’s mother) is a saint

Heresy

Form of unbelief that derives from Catholic deposit of faith (sacred scripture, sacred traditions, and magisterium) but denies or alters some part of the truth

Gnosticism 

Comes from the Greek word for knowledge 

Roots that pre date Christianity and that co opted and perverted Christian teachings and symbols

Comprises broad set of beliefs included need for secret knowledge and the idea that the material world was create by an evil lesser god called demiurge and not by the true god or divine being 

Gnosticism rejects 

Christ’s dual nature 

To these heretics, a material human nature must be evil as it was created by the evil god so Christ must not be human 

Marcionism (founded by marcion)

Claimed that there were two gods: the evil, Old Testament god of law and the god of love heralded by Jesus

(Derived ideas from Gnosticism like the evil god demiurge)

Sought to free the New Testament from Jewish influence, rejecting many sections of scripture and recognizing ONLY St. Paul’s authority and an edited version of Luke’s gospel

Manichaeism 

Most complex, still rooted in Gnosticism 

Thought that satan stole light particles and placed them in the brains of humans, who could liberate these light particles to their original divine source via the secret knowledge 

Montanism

One of the first apocalyptic movements 

Rejected the authority of the church 

Docetism

Rooted in gnostic belief

Claimed that Jesus was not truly human and did not actually suffer crucifixion and death 

Claimed that someone else miraculously switched places with Christ and suffered in his place 

Ecumenical councils 

Brought together from all over the world bishops under the leadership of the pope to discuss central church issues

First one was held in Nicaea in 325 most recent was the second Vatican council in 1962-65

St. Ambrose

Defended the church’s independence from the state

St. Jerome 

Known for his vulgate translation of the Bible into Latin, a translation that is still the normative text in the church today 

St. John chrysostom 

Wrote on the priesthood, a treatise on the importance and duties of a priest 

Any baptized person who deliberately disavowed church dogma became known as a 

heretic 

Arianism 

Claimed that Jesus was not god and was not equal to the father, but was an exceptional creature raised to “son of god” for his fidelity and holiness 

Denied DIVINITY

Reduction of Christ to a mere creature, albeit above every other creature, posed a serious threat to Christianity 

Apollinarianism

Taught that Christ had a human body but not a human mind and will; thus he did not live a completely human life

Second ecumenical council in 381 condemned this hersey

Nestorianism 

Said Christ was the unity of two separate persons, a divine person and a human person 

In reality Christ is one person with two natures so this denies his DUAL NATURE 

St. Cyril comes up with the term

“hypostatic union” Which means one person two natures 

Monophysitism 

Mono = one

Rejects the hypostatic union and claims that Christ only had one nature, divine, into which his human nature was incorporated 

Denied duel nature 

Monothelitism

Teaches that Christ has only one will but two natures (meaning he only has his divine will and no human will)

Donatism 

Began as a schism in the church and claimed sacraments were invalid if celebrated by priests or bishops who had formerly betrayed their faith, inviting that the church must remain free from sin and from people who had sinned 

St. Augustine fought 

Donatism, developed the position that Christ is the true minister of each sacrament, regardless of the worthiness of the priest 

Pelagianism

Denied original sin or the need for grace as the means of redemption