history of the catholic church a 2,000-year journey

History of the Catholic ChurchA 2,000-Year Journey

Part 2

The Church of the Fathers (330-650)

Church History

3

Constantine’s Rise to Power

Diocletian forced to resign -- disintegrating government and disgust over bloodbath he had unleashed

Constantine stepped in and wrested control of the Empire at the Battle of Milvian Bridge (312)

Constantine, not a Christian, was told in a vision to use a Christian symbol during the battle

His victory effectively gave him control of the Empire

Constantine at Milvian Bridge

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Constantine – Edict of Milan In 313 through the Edict of Milan,

Constantine legalized Christianity, granting religious freedom to everyone, with Christians getting special mention. He also ordered the return of all property confiscated from Christians.

Constantine reunited the Empire and wanted to maintain unity at all costs. He perceived the Church as a means to achieve that unity.

He became the first Christian Emperor. He radically changed both the Church of his time and the Church of the future.

Constantine

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Constantine’s Motives?

Historians disagree on this… Although Constantine certainly identified

with the Church, his motives are debated: Was he a true, believing Christian [it seems he wasn’t baptized until his death bed]? Or did he use the Church for his unification campaign? Or both?

He believed that God had given him the duty to direct the Church [a state–controlled religion].

He believed that the Roman state’s survival depended on the unity of the Church. Constantine

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Positive Effects of Constantine’s rule Christianity transformed from a persecuted minority religion to

an official religion of the Empire Bishops given honors and were allowed to function as judges More humane punishments Building of new churches with public money

Christians influence society in positive ways

New converts

Monasticism developed rapidly

Peace allowed a persecuted church to be secure

Pope Sylvester I and Constantine

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Crisis because of Constantine’s rule Being a Christian became easier;

less risk [whole households, tribes, etc. were baptized if leader was baptized]

Some people converted for upwardly mobile, political reasons

State influence over the Church increased

Some in Church began to identify less with powerless and poor

Pagan custom was prohibited and state persecuted pagans and those considered heretics

8

The Church Grows

By the middle of the fourth century, Christianity was a significant influence in the Roman Empire -- a social 'glue,' holding the Empire together.

But the Church struggled with internal divisions, and for Constantine, division in the Church threatened political instability.

Doctrine had developed and solidified during persecution; challenges to Christian beliefs continued

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Athanasius, Patriarch of Alexandria [c. 296-373]

Confessor and Doctor of the Church

Fathers of the Church and Bishops gradually filtered through the early Christian texts

Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, in his Easter letter (c.367) gave us the earliest extant list of the books of the New Testament which became the Canon of the New Testament

Church Councils confirmed the list

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Our Lady of Vladimir -Theotokos

A fifth-century heresy claimed Jesus was not one person, both divine & human. Instead, he was two persons "stuck together".

According to this heresy, Mary gave birth to the human person, and it was the human person who died on the cross; the divine person was above this.

The heresy – Nestorianism (after the heretic, Nestorius) – was condemned by the Council of Ephesus 431, which defined that Jesus is one person, with both a human and divine nature, and that Mary can be called "Mother of God“ or theotokos, which in Greek means the God-bearer.

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And with Growth, Came Problems Growth brought organizational complexity: local

synods, regional synods After he became the sole Emperor, in 324 AD,

Constantine turned his attention to divisions in the Church.

Greater challenges came from the heresies of Gnosticism and Arianism

The Council of Nicaea was called primarily to address Arianism

He was faced first with the Donatist Schism in Africa and learned quickly that the council of bishops was an efficient instrument of Church government

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Councils – Explaining Our Faith

Doctrine developed in the face of controversy and persecution

Challenges and splinter groups led to clarification and expression of church teachings

Councils were an effective way to clarify major theological disagreements that threatened Church unity

Followed Apostolic model, and must be convened or recognized by the Pope

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Arians. Opposed by Nicaea in 325. “There was a time when he was not.”

Apollinarians. Condemned 1st Constantinople, 381. Christ had a human body and a human sensitive soul, but no human rational mind, the Divine Logos taking its place.

Nestorians. Condemned by Ephesus, 431. Mary shouldn’t be called “Mother of God,” since she’s mother only of the human side of Jesus.

The Great Heresies [313-476 A.D.]

Augustine refuting heretic

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Monophysites. Condemned by Chalcedon in 451. Jesus really has only one nature, a divine nature, which supplanted his human nature.

Donatist. Condemned local Council of Arles in 314. Repeated errors of Novatianism and Montanism regarding sinners; held that sacraments administered by clergy in state of mortal sin are invalid.

Pelagians. Condemned by Council of Ephesus in 431. British monk, Pelagius, denied existence of original sin; possible to achieve salvation solely through reason and free will, without necessity of grace or the Church.

The Great Heresies [313-476 A.D.]

Pelagius

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Council of Nicaea (325 A.D.) When the Arian crisis arose, a

great council was the first move to restore order

Nicaea was unique: a general, not a local, council

Nicaea was summoned to determine whether Arius contradicted Church teaching, and, if so, whether he and his party could be excluded from the communion of the faithful

Council of Nicaea

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Nicaea & Arianism

Arius, an Egyptian, declared that Jesus was a created being

This contradicted settled Church teaching that went back to the Apostles

The debate at Nicaea was a debate between Arius and his followers and historic Christianity -- about what it meant to say that Jesus was the Son of God.

The result did not change Church teaching or Christian belief – it only clarified it.

Arius

These Germanic (or Gothic) peoples weren’t attacking so much as being pushed into the empire in sheer panic.

The cause? The Huns!17

Barbarians and the Fall of Rome

Rome didn’t fall in one catastrophic event (410-476)

Last roman emperor (Romulus Augustulus) deposed in 476 by Odoacer

But this wasn’t the real cause of the fall – that came about when masses of barbarians overflowed the northern and eastern borders.

Visigoths sack Rome in 410 A.D.

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Huns Move West - Unstoppable

From north of China

After failing to defeat China, entire people marched 6,000 miles west

Every tribe in Eurasia fled in panic, forcing them further west into the Roman empire

Fierce tactics, mobility, Mongolian features – generally a scary bunch

Camped in Pannonia (Hungary) and seemed to settle down

Then Attila came to the throne – ambitious, genius, ruthless – planned a great Asiatic empire to replace the Roman Empire

Hun Officer & Soldier

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Attila: The Scourge of God

A man of contradictions - skilled at manipulating people

Used diplomacy effectively but didn’t hesitate to employ terror and atrocities: “I will show force so as not to use it.”

Called himself, “The most detestable man in the world” and was pleased when Pope St. Leo called him “The Scourge of God”

Began hostilities by wiping out the Danube merchant settlements, and 70 cities in the Balkans; struck city after city in Western Europe

Forced Romans and Visigoths to form an alliance (451) which held Attila at the Battle of Chalons – so he headed south…toward Rome!

Attila

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The Aftermath

Rome’s experience with Attila and his Huns led to two conclusions:

1. The pagan gods had been unable to save Rome, while the Christian Church had

2. Romans and barbarians could actually cooperate in meeting a common threat (Chalons)

Cooperation of Romans, barbarians and Church would form the foundation of a new future civilization – still a long way off

Battle of Chalons

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More to come…

Serious problem remained: Germanic tribes hostile to Rome

and Church – most had been evangelized by Arians

Tribes differed widely in character

Some settled down peacefully (Switzerland)

Some (Vandals) devastated the Empire; settled in N. Africa and terrorized Mediterranean for 100 years

One group – the Franks – would be the most influential for the future of civilization and Christianity

Vandal Gaiseric Sacks Rome (455)

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Vocation of the Franks

Franks had remained pagan

St. Clotilda (Burgundian princess) married Frankish chief, Clovis, in 493

Devoted couple although Clovis was pagan, children Catholic

In 496 Clovis converted before the Battle of Tolbiac in which he defeated the Alemanni

This began the alliance of the Kingdom of Franks with the Church – and formed the heart of Catholic civilization in the West

Clovis & St. Clotilda

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Changing the Face of Europe

Odoacer dethrones last emperor in West (476 A.D.)

West deteriorates into multitude of barbarian kingdoms

The Church was the only organized institution

Even where barbarians did not destroy the Empire’s infrastructure, they had no clue how to maintain it

Cities eventually disappeared Although pagan barbarians

adopted Christianity, their ignorance and low morals actually lowered society’s standards

Conversion of Frankish king, Clovis, leads to conversion of barbarians – common religion brought some unity

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Christianity Suffers & Regroups

Not all converts were ideal Christians

Pope St. Leo I horrified to see visitors to St. Peter’s performing ritual signs to Mithra

Clerical abuses rose – celibacy became rare in many areas

Even monasteries, which tried to preserve the Rule of St. Benedict suffered due to the general ignorance and moral decay of recruits

“Lay investiture” became common – local landowners appointing abbots, etc.

Ireland bright spot – St. Columbanus created centers of holiness in Gaul and Italy; Irish monks kept the faith alive in a sea of barbarism

St. Columbanus

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The “Dark” Ages

For Catholics, the early Middle Ages are not dark ages so much as ages of dawn

Conversion of the West to Christianity Foundation of Christian civilization Creation of Christian art and literature Catholic liturgy Age of Monks – from Desert Fathers to the great

monastic reforms of Cluny (West) and Mt. Athos (East)

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Christianity & the Late Empire

Historical revisionists claim Christianity rejected classical civilization – even sought to destroy it – and thus inaugurated the Dark Ages

Truth: Christianity not at all the cause of the decline of late Roman culture

Last flowering of classical literary culture – largely the work of Church Fathers

No pagan writers of the period could rival such greats as John Chrysostom, Gregory Nazianzen, Augustine, Jerome, Ambrose

The Church’s monasteries alone saved classical civilization from the total eclipse it would otherwise have suffered

27

Causes of Decline

In the West the collapse of the Empire was due to centuries of internal wasting and decay, and to external pressures against which the Empire had no long-term defense Pressures exerted by moral and

consequent political decay, plague, warfare, and demographic decline

The Church’s monasteries alone saved classical civilization from the total eclipse it would otherwise have suffered

In the East, Christian civilization united the intellectual cultures of Greek, Egyptian and Syrian worlds and preserved Hellenic wisdom in academies and libraries throughout Greece, Syria and Asia Minor

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The Dark Ages: Italy

Theodoric effective ruler; used educated Romans (Cassiodorus & St. Boethius)

Kept up the infrastructure An Arian, but initially cordial

with the papacy Angry with Eastern Emperors

for opposing Arianism – sent Pope John I as emissary

Bad tempered – killed St. Boethius and Pope John

Theodoric (d. 526)

The Ostrogoths and Theodoric

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Wrote the “Consolation of Philosophy” when in prison

Translated Aristotle into Latin

Formulated the doctrine of one person, two natures

The last Roman and the last lay writer for centuries to come

Boethius

St. Boethius (d. 524)

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In 533 Emperor Justinian defeated the Ostrogoths

After Justinian’s death the Lombards established a powerful kingdom in Northern Italy

They soon conquered almost the entire peninsula – except for Rome, Naples, Venice & Ravenna

Their rise to power was accomplished in part through savage atrocities

They ruled Italy for almost 200 yearsLombards

The Lombards

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Church must assume much of the role of the state

Gregory the Great [d. 604] increases power of papacy to fill vacuum of civil leadership

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St. Columba & St. Theodore – Converting England In 563 and a small band of monks founded a

monastery on the island of Iona off Scotland Converted the savage Picts on the mainland Columba’s disciple, St. Aidan, established

monasteries in Northumbria Followed by Sts. Finnian and Colman, by 664

the area was largely converted. In 669 St. Theodore, a Greek monk, was

appointed as Archbishop of Canterbury Founded the renowned School of Canterbury

and the great monastic schools under his influence played an important role in the later revival of Christian learning under Charlemagne and Alcuin

St. Columba

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Irish Monks Lead the Conversion of Europe In 590 St. Columban and 12 companions went

to Burgundy where they founded 3 monasteries For 20 years they led the people to Christ

through preaching and lives of self-denial Columban, expelled by the local royalty, went to

Italy, leaving a trail of monasteries behind him – all followed the Columban Rule

St. Killian (d. 689) and over 600 monks carried the faith to Bavaria; there Killian was martyred.

These monks prepared the way for St. Boniface to evangelize the German people in the next century

St. Willibrord (d. 739), a York Benedictine, carried the faith to the Frisians. Founded monasteries throughout Northern Europe

St. Columban

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The Dark Ages: England

Represents the highest point in intellectual culture in the West from the fall of Rome to the 9th century

Entered the monastery (Jarrow) at age of seven and never left

Thrived on learning and teaching and became one of the greatest transmitters of secular and sacred learning to later ages – science, nature, geography, grammar, Scripture, writings of the Fathers (Greek and Latin)

Most famous for his History of the Church of the English People (55 B.C. – 731 A.D.) – Father of English History

Died as he finished translating Gospel of John into Anglo Saxon

St. Bede

St. Bede the Venerable (672-735)

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Even before the 4th century a new kind of Christian witness emerged from North African deserts

Began during the persecutions and was already established when Constantine became emperor.

Movement of men and women to pursue holiness, to follow Jesus (spirituality) by retreating from everyday world to find truth and meaning in the desert silence

Monastic Movement

Anthony of Egypt was one of the earliest of the hermits and among the first who attracted a large following. Athanasius’ book on Anthony contributed to the growth of monasticism

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Eastern Monasticism Eremitic monasticism (isolated

“monks” or hermits living “alone” in the desert

Life of hermits developed into ascetic competition

Anthony: 1st Eastern monk Basil, bishop of Caesarea,

condemned the eccentricities of the hermits and encouraged them to live in community and pursue intellectual endeavors and care for the poor

Western Monasticism Cenobitic: “brothers” or “sisters” living in

communal “monasteries” Jerome: intellectual effort to understand

Scripture; Vulgate translation Augustine: wanted his clergy to adopt the

hallmarks of monastic life, particularly celibacy

John Cassian: formed a bridge between the monks of the east and the West. Prime focus is discretion.

Benedict: Rule of Benedict has been the inspiration of all western monasteries, particularly in the Middle Ages. The rule provides a basis for monastic life while being flexible. Benedictine monasteries contributed to the birth of Europe.

Monastic Movement

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The Desert Fathers

Why did they do it? The example of Jesus

Striving for holiness in an unholy world – constant bombardment by moral depravity

To come into union with God through undistracted prayer and labor

A mass movement of disheartened urban Christians

To fight Satan

A new kind of Martyr

St. Anthony of Egypt

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Western Monasticism

St. Jerome

St. Jerome – great Scripture scholar; translated Scripture into Latin (Vulgate); had major impact on monastic intellectual life

St. Augustine – after his conversion wanted his clergy to adopt the hallmarks of monastic life, particularly celibacy

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Western Monasticism

John Cassian – formed a bridge between the monks of the east and the West. Discretion became the prime focus of monastic life.

St. Benedict

Benedict – Rule of St. Benedict inspired virtually all western monasteries; continues today; provided a flexible basis for monastic life; Benedictine monasteries contributed to the birth of Europe.

St. John Cassian

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St. Benedict

To thee are my words now addressed, whosoever thou mayest be that renouncing thine own will to fight for the true King, Christ, dost take up the strong and glorious weapons of obedience.

Prologue of the Rule of St. Benedict

St. Benedict

Montecassino Abbey

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Impact of Monasticism

Rise of Monasticism in the West starting with the founding of Montecassino by St. Benedict

Western monasticism became the major carrier of Western civilization during the early Middle Ages

Monasteries provided islands of learning and culture and Faith

Benedictines ran nearly 2,000 hospitals throughout Europe

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The Age of the Church Fathers Patristic Period (AD 95 – 636)

They were the most influential theologians & writers in the early Church

Generally during the period from the 2nd through the 7th centuries

These early thinkers and preachers more clearly defined Church teaching through the interpretation of Scripture and Tradition

Early Church Fathers

Who were the “Church Fathers”?

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The Age of the Church Fathers Patristic Period (AD 95 – 636)Great Eastern Church Fathers

St. Athanasius (297-373) Council of Nicaea (425) Bishop of Alexandria -- Exiled and

deposed five times for fighting against Arianism

Friend of St. Antony of the Desert – wrote his biography – boon to the growth of monasticism

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St. Gregory of Nazianzus (329-390) Bishop of Caesarea Father & Doctor of the Church Strong defender of the Faith against Arianism Close friend of St. Basil Called to restore the faith as Bishop of

Constantinople

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St. Basil the Great (329-379) Father & Doctor of the Church Founder of monasticism in Asia Minor Archbishop of Caesarea Close friend of Gregory of Nazianzus Took on the job as defender of the faith when

Athanasius died Remarkable pastor and preacher – one of the

great teachers of the CHurch

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St. John Chrysostom (d. 407) Father & Doctor of the Church Most famous as a preacher From Syria, but called to be bishop of

Constantinople Challenged the wealthy and immoral and

was constantly persecuted for his orthodoxy

Eventually exiled by the Empress and died in exile

Great Western Church Fathers

St. Ambrose (340-397) Father & Doctor of the Church Bishop of Milan Staunch defender of the Church’s

independence from secular rule Converted Augustine Learned, classically educated Contemplative, spiritual

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St. Augustine (354-430) Converted to Christianity in his 30s Made Bishop of Hippo at 41 A prophetic voice in his time Writings are still with us: Confessions,

City of God, many books of scriptural exegesis

Fought against the heresies of his day

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St. Jerome (345-420) Father & Doctor of the Church The Church’s first great scriptural

scholar Translated the Bible from its original

languages (Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic) in Latin – the Vulgate

Studied in Rome, Trier A mystic, lived in a cave near

Bethlehem49



St. Gregory the Great (540-604) Wealthy, aristocratic family; prefect

of Rome at 30 - resigned Founded 6 monasteries in Sicily Benedictine monk – became one of

Pope’s 7 deacons – Abbot At 50 elected Pope Firm, direct, liturgical reformer,

missions Father of the medieval papacy that

held Europe together50


51


Augustine’s mother Monica is described beautifully in his biographical work Confessions

Constantine’s mother, Helena, suffered much from the actions (including murder) of her son. She identified many of the holy sites in the Holy Land, saving them from destruction

Benedict’s twin sister Scholastica also had an impact on the monastic movement especially among women

St. Scholastica

Influential women in the early Church

St. Helena

St. Monica with St. Augustine

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Theological Influence of Augustine Augustine, born 354, convert from

paganism; Bishop of Hippo, North Africa, 395-430 – for 35 years!

vs. Donatists, on the validity of sacraments administered by sinful ministers, esp. those who had lapsed under persecution

vs. Pelagians, on the priority of God’s grace over free will; on human nature created good, but corrupted by sin; original sin

St. Augustine

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Church Life in the Patristic Period Sacramental Life became more

structured: Baptism (esp. infants), Eucharist (Latin Mass), Penance (more frequent, but private)

Devotions to Mary and the saints became more popular: not “praying to” them, but asking for their intercession (“pray for us”)

The Bible was “canonized” (list of OT & NT books settled); and translated into Latin (esp. the “Vulgate Bible” by St. Jerome, 374-419)

The Church continued to grow; the deposit of faith was more clearly defined in its theology; liturgy

54


Islamic threat grows – Northern Africa falls along with much of East. Invasions stopped in Spain.

history of the catholic church a 2,000-year journey

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