3,880
edits
Church History: Difference between revisions
no edit summary
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
| Line 5: | Line 5: | ||
*[[Ethiopian Christianity]] | *[[Ethiopian Christianity]] | ||
*[[Non-Catholic Christians]] | *[[Non-Catholic Christians]] | ||
[[Martin]] of Tours (d. 397) became a missionary in Gaul. While little is recorded of his teachings, his piety was not disputed, and supernatural signs and wonders followed his ministry. Martin's nephew, Patrick (d. 493), also became a missionary, preaching in Ireland. Near the end of the 6th century, Columba (d. 597) became a missionary to Scotland, and was known as a prophet for the mighty works that followed his ministry. Each of these men developed their ministries independent of the Church in Rome, and independent of political support. It is known that both Martin and Columba did everything in the Name of Jesus Christ. | |||
In response to Martin, Patrick, and Columba's influence in Northern Europe, the Catholic Church started missionary activities in these areas, and began arranging the marriages of various English and French kings to Catholic women in order to curb the expansion of Irish Christianity, which was seen as a threat to Rome. | |||
The persecution of the Persian church from the rule of Shapur II (340 AD) to Hormizd III (c. 458 AD) as a result of the Roman Empire's favour for Christianity. | |||
The Bishop of Rome finally agreed that each church had the authority to rule themselves only after both Polycarp and Irenaeus traveled to Rome (at different times) and rebuked the bishop. In 325, at the Council of Nicea, a canon (unchanging law of discipline) was issued giving the patriarchs of Alexandria and Rome exceptional authority over other churches in their regions. It was also decided at this council that the Christian Passover must not be celebrated with the Jewish Passover, which was the custom of the disciples. | |||
The date of the passover marked the first victory of the Church of Rome over all the other churches. The Roman Emperor Constantine enforced this doctrine (Life of Constantine Vol. III Ch. XVIII by Eusebius) by the physical suppression of forms of worship he considered unorthodox. | |||
In 325 the Council of Nicea produced the Nicean Creed, which formalized the doctrine of the Trinity - another victory for the Church of Rome. | |||
Of the 250-318 Bishops that attended the Council of Nicea (along with 1,200 deacons and accompanying laity - per Athanasius and Eusebius of Caesarea), only two Arians refused to agree with the Nicene creed. This either indicates that they all were in unity, that the creed was sufficently vague to support each of their doctrines, or that the voting was rigged. Considering that 22 Arian supporters attended, the latter two are the most likely. The fact that further councils were called to refine this doctrine, each of which have significant dissidents leads to the conclusion that the creed was at least extremely vague. | |||
{|style="background-color:#F0DCC8; border:1px #E8B399 solid; text-align:center;" | |||
|In 451 AD, 630 Bishops declared at the council of Chalcedon that ''"What Leo believes we all believe, anathema to him who believes anything else. Peter has spoken through the mouth of Leo."'' | |||
|- | |||
|} | |||
==Christians Persecuting Christians== | |||
Athanasius (d.373) and Augustine (d. 430) both supported violence against heresies. In another example of early propoganda, the Arian enemies that Athanasius taught against were not a cohesive group as he put forth, but were actually small groups of supporters that held vastly different theological views. The "Arian party" identified by Athanasius may simply be a fabrication - one which resulted in much persecution. | |||
Regardless, Constantine's physical enforcement of orthodoxy, along with Rome, Alexandria, and other sects physically persecuting each other marked the start of a downward slide for the Christian Church. | |||
==Ecumenical Councils== | |||
#First Council of Nicaea (325): repudiated Arianism and Quartodecimanism (Easter on the 14th of Nissan), adopted the Nicene Creed (in support of the Trinity), exceptional authority acknowledged for the patriarchs of Alexandria and Rome, for their respective regions; | |||
#First Council of Constantinople (381): revised the Nicene Creed into present form, and prohibited any further alteration of the Creed without the assent of an Ecumenical Council. | |||
#Council of Ephesus (431): repudiated Nestorianism, proclaimed the Virgin Mary as the Theotokos (Greek Η Θεοτόκος, "God-bearer" or more commonly "Mother of God"). | |||
#Council of Chalcedon (451): repudiated the monophysite doctrine, established that Christ had two natures, human and divine; adopted the Chalcedonian Creed. | |||
#Second Council of Constantinople (553): reaffirmed doctrines explicated by previous Councils, condemned new Arian, Nestorian, and Monophysite writings. | |||
According to the New Catholic Encyclopedia (1908), a half-pagan and half-Christian ceremony was performed at the dedication of Constantinople in 330 AD when, in the market place, the Cross of Christ was placed over the head of the Sun-God's chariot, accompanied with hymns. It is about this time that the first celebration of Christmas is recorded. | |||
Constantine donated great amounts of money to the Church at Rome, and build the old St. Peter's Bascilica. Bishops taxes were reduced, and many pagan temples were converted into Christian Churches. While this sounds like a revival, Constantine did not care about salvation and was baptized only on his deathbed. Instead, Constantine thought to win the loyalty of his subjects by subtle manipulation: flattery, and religion. | |||
By 400, Anastasius became the first Bishop of Rome to use the title Pope. The doctrine of post-milleniumism began at this time, which resulted in a period of Dark Ages with Catholic Church at the head of Christendom. | |||
<div style="border-bottom:1px #B87333 solid; text-align:center; font-size:140%; padding:1px; margin:1px;">References</div> | |||
*Haas, Christopher, “The Arians of Alexandria”, Vigiliae Christianae Vol. 47, no. 3 (1993), 239 | |||
*Chadwick, Henry, “Faith and Order at the Council of Nicaea”, Harvard Theological Review LIII (Cambridge Mass: 1960),173 | |||