Module 3 - Church History

Origins of Christianity

• Christianity was founded in first century Palestine, which was part of the Roman Empire at the time

• The Jewish were waiting for a Messiah (‘Christ’ in Greek), sent by God, to free them from foreign domination. Jesus proclaimed the message of salvation and that he was also the divine Son of God the Father

• Those who followed the example of Jesus sought to live the way of life Jesus taught became known as Christians.

1. The early church up until the conversion of the Emperor Constantine

• The early followers of Jesus spread the message with others

• This included Jewish and non-Jewish people living in Palestine, as well as those living in different parts of the known world inside and outside the Roman Empire.

• During this period:

  • books of the New Testament were written

  • Christian beliefs, teachings, customs and practices were first developed

• Some of the struggles early Christians encountered can be identified through New Testament Letters found in the Bible.

  • For example, letters were sent by Paul to the Christian community in Corinth, an important Greek port city. Christians here were inclined to be overly influenced by the pagan behaviours of their society.

2. Constantine’s conversion & the split of the Church into eastern & western churches

• Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity in 313AD

• Christianity became official state religion of the Empire and was no longer illegal

  • fostered more officials and leaders to convert

• Greek was common in Eastern part of Roman Empire, Latin was more common in the Western part

• It was during this period that a number of church councils were called by the Emperor to deal with theological controversies about Jesus.

  • First there was an administrative split followed by a political separation.

    • In the west, where much turmoil existed and the government no longer worked, the Bishop of Rome (the pope) became a powerful political figure.

    • In the east, Emperors continued to rule.

  • Cultural gap because of communication difficulties, and differing perspectives

    • lead to disagreements

    • East-West Schism in 1054

3. The church in the west during the middle ages

• The west came under attack and with the successor to Constantine lived at Constantinople in modern Turkey, and was unable to help the Pope was left to defend Rome and out of necessity made alliances with the invaders.

• From the fifth century, Germanic tribes began to conquer areas of the Roman Empire.

  • Rome was saved by King Pepin of the Franks. This led Pepin to be given the title Patriarch of the Romans in 754AD.

• Society experienced much turmoil as government and civil institutions collapsed.

  • Church leaders were often the only one’s still able to exercise some form of government.

  • Over time, Church leaders began to take on a more direct role in government, with some Church leaders using and abusing their position.

• In response to these challenges renewal in the western Church came from the monasteries and new religious orders.

• While there were many challenges for those wishing to live as Christ taught, within society and within the Church, there were many examples of how Christian faith changed the lives of people for the good and made a contribution to society.

4. The Reformation

Factors:

• the emergence of nation states

• instability surrounding the papacy

• the role of the Pope as a temporal ruler

• poor spiritual leadership from successive Church leaders, including popes.

Leaders of the Reformation (the Reformers):

• Martin Luther

• Ulrich Zwingli

• John Calvin

The Reformation spread through northern Europe and to England resulting in division and conflict.

The Catholic Church reacted with its own process of renewal – the Counter Reformation.

The events of the Reformation and the Catholic Counter Reformation played a major role in shaping the attitudes and thoughts of the Church for nearly five hundred years.

The Council of Trent

• The effect of the Reformation led Pope Paul III to call the bishops of the Church to a Council.

• Held at Trent in Italy in 1545-1563.

• These sessions brought about radical reforms in the Church which addressed many of the abuses Luther, Zwingli and Calvin were concerned about.

• This Council also went on to make many other radical reforms as well.

• In turn, this led to a renewal of Catholic faith. It corrected many of the errors of the Reformers, and reaffirmed among other things the Church’s faith from earliest times in the sacraments.

5. Post-Reformation Christianity

• During the 18th century, ‘the Enlightenment’ took place

  • Scientific discoveries, European political changes, such as those associated with the French Revolution, and the ideas of philosophers led to people placing an emphasis on human reason.

  • Enlightenment thinkers argued that earlier traditions and authorities should be replaced by what the human reason could work out for itself. Leading to a rejection of many religious beliefs, authority and ideas of social responsibility

  • Over time, some came to see the limits of personal reason and personal opinions.

    • For example, human reason cannot explain many ordinary realities of life such as love and grief.

• This led to the breaking down of barriers caused by the Reformation. Ecumenical dialogue began.

• The wars of the Twentieth Century, particularly the two World Wars, made the Churches realise that they would need to engage with the world to influence it to bring about God’s law.

  • During this time atheism (belief that there is no God) and agnosticism (belief that God cannot be known) were gaining popularity. The reasons for this included:

    • the ideas of the Enlightenment

    • the work of Charles Darwin

    • the writing and ideas of people like Karl Marx

    • the sense of control caused by scientific and technological development

    • strong anti-clericalism in some countries

    • the destructive influences of the Great Depression and two World Wars.

• Some people in the Church were inspired to found new religious congregations to serve those in need.

  • Many of these congregations are found in Western Australia today, for example:

    • the Mercy Sisters founded by Catherine McAuley

    • St John of God Sisters founded by Mother Visitation Clancy respectively

    • the Marist Brothers founded by St Marcellin Champagnat

    • Christian Brothers founded by Blessed Edmund Rice

    • Blessed Mary MacKillop founded the Sisters of St Joseph to teach young Australians, especially those who lived in poverty. Her idea was for the sisters to move with the people when, for example, gold mining wound up in one place and opened in another.

    • Lay movements also began to care for the poor and needy, for example the St Vincent de Paul Society, founded by Frederick Ozanam.

• Pope Leo XIII (1878–1903) published an encyclical on the conditions of working people, called Rerum Novarum (‘Of New Things’).

  • workers have the rights to form trade unions, collective bargaining, a just wage and decent working conditions

  • the right to promote justice at all levels of society

• During the twentieth century, many Catholics and other Christians resisted governments, systems and ideas that were oppressing people, particularly Communism and Nazism.

  • As a result, many of these people were martyred for their beliefs and actions.

  • Shared sufferings in the struggle for justice and peace led to greater closeness between Catholics and other Christians.

  • Catholic saints included St Edith Stein and St Maximilian Kolbe.

  • Other Christian heroes include the Lutheran minister, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Baptist minister, Martin Luther King, Jr.

• After the death of Pope Pius, on 28 October 1958, the Cardinals elected a seventy-seven-year- old successor, Pope John XXIII, announced on 25 January, 1959.

  • Pope John XXIII was thought of as a ‘stop-gap’ Pope.

  • He opened the Second Vatican Council on 11 October 1962.

  • Approximately 2500 bishops from all around the world participated in the Council.

  • Its purpose was to renew the whole Church so that it could play the role Christ intended for his Church in the modern world.

  • Pope John XXIII died eight months after opening the Council.

  • However, he left a new way of thinking about the role of the Church in the modern world that affected the work of the Council. An open and engaging personality, Pope John XXIII broke through barriers with that hostile to the Church, such as the Communist Party in Italy and elsewhere.

  • While the Council of Trent was called to reform the Church from within, so that it would be the spiritual body Christ intended. The Second Vatican Council, was calling for reform of how the Church engaged with the whole of the modern world.

Revision Questions

1. Define terms such “religion”. 

   Religion is a system of beliefs and practices that guides people on how to live. Each religion offers insights and understandings about life and expresses it through religious beliefs, teachings and practices. The 5 major religions include: Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism.

2. Describe common characteristics of religions.

   There are four common characteristics of religions.

   The first characteristic is religious teachings. This includes all the teachings and beliefs of a religion. An example of religious teachings in Christianity is the teaching of the belief that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God, the fullness of God’s revelation.

   The second characteristic of religion is religious practices. Religious practices refers to the rituals, worship, events and celebrations in a religion. An example of religious practices in Christianity is participating in the Eucharist in the Mass.

   The third characteristic of religion is religious organisation. This refers to the leadership and rules within a religion. In Christianity, the Pope and the bishops act as leaders to apply the teachings and rules of the Church to modern times.

   The final characteristic of religion is religious customs. This refers to the dress and tradition of a religion. An example of religious customs in Christianity is the tradition of praying before a meal or the rosary.

3. Describe different roles religion plays in society.

   Religion provides a religious role in society by supporting people in their religious way of life. For example, in Catholicism, the Catholic Church promotes, supports and develops people’s ability to listen and respond to human heart questions which guide people in their religious journey.

   Religion plays a social role in society by providing a service or support to groups within a society. This may come in the form of hospitals, schools and other welfare services. An example of one of the many services that the Christian Catholic Church established is Sacred Heart College, which was a school established by the RNDM sisters to deliver education and guide young people on the start of their religious journey in life.

   Additionally, religion plays a political role in society by promoting, explaining and supporting the beliefs and values of a religion within a society. For example, many Christian leaders may participate in Parliament to reinforce religious ideas.

   Finally, religion provides a cultural role in society by allowing people to express how they find the meaning and purpose of life through cultural. This can come in the forms of art, literature and music. An example of this is Christian music that is a method of worship and prayer.

4. For one major world religion you have studied, name who founded this religion, where it was founded and approximately when it was founded. 

   Christianity was founded by the followers of Jesus Christ after His crucifixion and resurrection in 1st century Palestine. More specifically, St Peter was the first Pope of the Roman Catholic Church.

5. Describe an important person, event during one of the stages.           

   An important person in the stage of the early Church of Christianity up until the conversion of Emperor Constantine was St Paul. He was originally a Pharisee and persecuted Christians, but after a divine encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, he saw the flaws in his ways and converted to Christianity when he met Ananias in Damascus. He then spread Christianity all around the world and wrote many Epistles to the Early Churches he established.

6. Identify divisions or denominations within a world religion. 

   The major denominations in Christianity are Roman Catholic, both Oriental and Eastern Orthodox, and Protestantism such as the Lutheran Church and the Anglican Church.

7. Identify an event in the development of a religion in which new divisions or denominations of that religion were formed and one of the new divisions or denominations which were formed as part of that event. 

   The East-West schism of 1054 was an event that established new denominations of Christianity. This was because of many cultural and political differences which differed their religious views. The Eastern churches became the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Western Church became the Roman Catholic Church.

   Another event in stage of the Reformation was the Reformation itself, where Protestantism was established by people who questioned the Pope’s authority and leadership as he had become more political. Some of these people included Martin Luther who started Lutherism, Ulrich Zwingli and John Calvin.

8. Referring to divisions or denominations of a major world religion. Describe ways in which those divisions or denominations are similar and ways in which those divisions or denominations are different. 

   Two denominations of Christianity are Catholicism and Anglicanism. Both divisions have similarities, such as they believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the Messiah, and they both celebrate Eucharist and Baptism.

   However, they differ in views and practices of leaders, rituals and a major religious figure.

   Both denominations differ in the organisation of their leadership. The Catholic Church has a centralised authority structure, where the Pope has authority of all areas. On the other hand, the Anglican Church has dispersed authority structure, where each province or country governs itself. The Anglican Pope has a focus more on unity, rather than authority. Additionally, Catholics believe that their priests must be celibate men, whilst Anglicans allow their priests to have families and some Churches allow women to become priests.

   They also differ in their practices, specifically their celebration of the sacraments. The Catholic Church celebrates seven sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Reconciliation, Eucharist, Marriage, Anointing of the Sick and Holy orders. However, the Anglican Church only celebrates Baptism and Eucharist.

   Finally, they have different views on intercessions to St Mary. Catholics pray to Mary for her intercessions on their behalf whilst Anglicans believe this is wrong, and that you should only pray to God. Catholics also believe St Mary remained a virgin after Jesus’ birth whilst Anglicans believe she had many other children with St Joseph.