Berlin 2

The 95 Theses

The document authored by Martin Luther in 1517 challenging clerical abuses and the sale of indulgences, catalyzing the Protestant Reformation.

Luther's Core Theological Principles

Justification by faith alone (salvation cannot be earned through human merit) and the supreme authority of Scripture over Christian doctrine.

Council of Trent

The Catholic ecumenical council that served as the centerpiece of the Counter-Reformation, reaffirming traditional doctrine, restructuring ecclesiastical discipline, and addressing moral abuses.

Catholic view on Divine Revelation vs. Sola Scriptura

Revelation is transmitted through both Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, interpreted authentically by the living teaching office (Magisterium) rather than private individual judgment.

Catholic view of Justification (Faith and Works)

Salvation is initiated entirely by divine grace, but human beings must actively cooperate with that grace through charity and good works.

The Greatest Commandment

Jesus' summary of the moral law: to love the Lord God with all one's heart, soul, and mind, and to love one's neighbor as oneself.

Central Christian claims about Jesus Christ

He is the Son of God and Messiah whose crucifixion served as an atonement for human sin and whose bodily resurrection verified his divine authority.

Philosophy as a 'Preparatory Tutor'

The Patristic perspective (held by figures like Clement of Alexandria and Justin Martyr) that classical Greek philosophy prepared pagan cultures to receive Christ, much like the Mosaic Law did for the Jewish people.

Logos in early Christian theology

A classical Greek and Stoic philosophical concept signifying divine cosmic reason, adopted in the Gospel of John to identify Jesus as the incarnate Word of God.

Diocletian's Tetrarchy

An administrative system created in 293 AD to govern the Roman Empire by dividing authority among two senior emperors (Augusti) and two junior rulers (Caesars).

Council of Nicaea (325 AD)

The first ecumenical council convened under Emperor Constantine to resolve the Arian controversy and establish orthodox doctrine on the divinity of Christ.

Edict of Milan (313 AD)

The imperial agreement co-authored by Constantine and Licinius that permanently established religious toleration for Christianity throughout the Roman Empire.

Incarnational theology in Renaissance art

The theological principle holding that because God assumed human flesh in Jesus Christ, the natural world and human anatomy are sacred and worthy of realistic depiction.

Pope Gregory IX

The 13th-century pope who formally instituted the papal Medieval Inquisition to address heresies like Catharism.

Jurisdictional distinction of the Spanish Inquisition

Unlike the earlier medieval tribunal, it operated under the direct administrative authority of the Spanish monarchy rather than papal direction.

Secular vs. Ecclesiastical roles in Inquisitions

Ecclesiastical courts investigated beliefs and assigned penitential reconciliations; unrepentant heretics were surrendered to civil authorities to carry out capital penalties.

Primary factors causing the Great Schism of 1054

Disagreements over universal papal primacy, theological disputes regarding the Filioque clause, and centuries of cultural and liturgical divergence between East and West.

Filioque Controversy

A doctrinal rift sparked by the Western Church inserting the Latin phrase meaning 'and the Son' into the Nicene Creed, affirming that the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father and the Son.

Events of July 1054 in Constantinople

Cardinal Humbert placed a papal bull of excommunication against Patriarch Michael Cerularius on the altar of the Hagia Sophia, followed by reciprocal excommunications from the East.

Aggiornamento and Ressourcement

The dual guiding ideals of Vatican II: updating pastoral practices to engage the contemporary world while returning to biblical and early Patristic sources.

Lumen Gentium

The Vatican II Dogmatic Constitution that articulated the Church as the 'People of God,' elevated the active apostolate of the laity, and affirmed episcopal collegiality.

Criteria for a Doctor of the Church

Eminent theological learning, heroic personal sanctity verified through canonization, and a formal proclamation by a pope or ecumenical council.

First female Doctors of the Church

Saint Teresa of Ávila and Saint Catherine of Siena, both proclaimed in 1970.

Maryland Toleration Act (1649)

A historic colonial statute passed in Lord Baltimore's Maryland colony that legally protected religious freedom for Trinitarian Christians, providing sanctuary for Catholics.

Dorothy Day

American Catholic activist and journalist who co-founded the Catholic Worker Movement to serve the impoverished and advocate for social justice.

Primary aim of Scholasticism

To harmonize Christian theological revelation with philosophical logic—predominantly the works of Aristotle—demonstrating that faith and reason are complementary.

Disputatio

The medieval university academic debate method consisting of positing a thesis, examining objections, delivering a reasoned determination, and answering counter-arguments.

Ad Fontes

The Renaissance humanist principle meaning 'back to the sources,' prioritizing direct engagement with original biblical and classical texts.

Council of Clermont (1095)

The assembly where Pope Urban II called the First Crusade in response to appeals for military aid from Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos against Seljuk expansion.

Catholic definition of the Crusades

Armed defensive pilgrimages governed by solemn religious vows to protect Christian pilgrims and liberate holy places, rather than campaigns for forced conversions.