Christian History Course: 2010

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Christian History Course

Master of Christian History ~ Lesson #19

(Holy Roman Empire)

by Bro. Jim DeManche

1. What factors contributed to the collapse of the Carolingian Empire?

the Vikings caused havoc in Western Europe from the late 8th century A.D. to the 10 th century. Any town or monastery along the coast or navigable river would get a visit from the Vikings. The Vikings, many of them, finally settled in England and after much fighting joined their kinsmen the Anglo-Saxons who had come earlier. As a result the Christian culture that had been established in Ireland and England during the Dark Ages was destroyed or at least set back. Other Vikings settled in Normandy from whence they came to conquer England under William of Normandy in 1066. Others journeyed across Eastern Europe and gave the foundations for Russia. Still others settled in Sicily and Southern Italy where occasionally they threatened the earthly power of the Roman pontiff. The Slavs and Magyars settled in South-Central Europe.

2. What is feudalism? How was the church influenced by feudalism? How did the church attempt to lessen the excesses of the feudal lords?

Feudalism heavily influenced the church. The church held an enormous amount of land in Western Europe by the late Middle Ages. The church got these lands from people who wanted to gain forgiveness of sins by doing some act of charity as penance. By being a great landowner, the church could not avoid being influenced by feudalism. These gifts were held in feudal tenure by abbots and bishops. As God's servants the clergy could not do military service for their feudal lord. They either had to give part of their lands to vassal knights who could do the military service for them or come up with other services. This made the church more secular, and it took attention away from spiritual things. The ecclesiastical vassal had the dilemma of divided loyalties.

3. What was involved in the investiture controversy? How did this plague church-state relations in the Middle Ages?

The row over whether the feudal lord or the Roman pontiff can invest an ecclesiastical feudal vassal with the symbols of his authority [investiture controversy] plagued the relationships between church and state in the 11 th and 12 th centuries. The ring, staff, and pallium were the symbols of spiritual authority whilst the sword and scepter were the symbols of feudal authority. Occasionally the feudal lord and the Roman pontiff at the same time claimed the right to give all these symbols. This row caused a loss in spiritual life on the part of church leaders. They neglected their spiritual responsibilities. They thought more about worldly affairs than church affairs. The Western church had to fight the influence of feudalism whilst the Eastern church failed to withstand imperial control.

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Christian History Course

Master of Christian History ~ Lesson #18

(The Carolingian Empire)

by Bro. Jim DeManche

1. Is Charlemagne essential for medieval history? Why or why not?

Yes. Clovis' sons were incompetent rulers. This made it necessary to place royal authority into the hands of a regent known as the "mayor of the palace". These mayors of the palace would exercise royal authority in governmental affairs while Clovis' incompetent successors enjoyed life in the palace. As mayors of the palace, these regents would form what would become the Carolingian dynasty. This dynasty would gain its greatest power during the reign of Charlemagne.

2. What helped the Roman pontiff to become even more powerful and influential in the Carolingian Era?

Pepin the Short ruled jointly with his brother Carloman from A.D. 741 to 747 when the latter went to a monastery. Pepin the Short was the first true Carolingian monarch because in A.D. 751 he took the title of king along with his authority as mayor of the palace. This came about from a request from Pope Zacharias [Zachary] for aid against the Lombards who were threatening papal authority in Italy.

3. How was Charlemagne's imperial reign a "renaissance"?

When Pope Leo III was attacked by a mob in Rome and nearly murdered, he fled Rome for the court of Charlemagne. Charlemagne went back to Rome with him. A council cleared the Roman pontiff of the charges against him. During a holy mass in the cathedral on Christmas Day in A.D. 800, while Charlemagne knelt before the altar, the pope placed the imperial crown upon his head and proclaimed him emperor of the Romans. This event united a universal church with a universal empire. Classical and Christian heritage were joined in a Christian empire.

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Saturday, November 13, 2010

Christian History Course

Universal Life Church

1. What was the nature of and what things contributed to a renewal in the Christian church just prior to the Great Schism of 1054?

Whether one terms it a 'renewal' of 'institutional advance', the Catholic church in the West underwent considerable change and reform in the two centuries leading up to the Great Schism, change which underscored the growing gulf between it and the eastern church. The inbuilt tendency towards organization and hierarchy that always operated within the Roman church contrasted sharply with the failure of the eastern patriarchates to move forward. In the West, land grants such as the Donation of Constantine allowed the Papacy to assume the role of independent potentate and to treat equally with kings and emperors whilst documents such as the 'False Decretals' were deployed to 'spin' the claims of the Roman pontiff to spiritual authority within the church and over secular rulers. The Roman church was largely free of secular interference in its affairs and was therefore able to consolidate its control over the faithful without hindrance. The emerging Doctrine of the Mass (verging upon the theology of Transubstantiation formally adopted in 1545), assisted in this process by emphasising the influence of a sacred hierarchy culminating in the Papacy which alone could admit the believer to the redemptive power of God. Continuing success in the mission field, especially in Scandinavia in the ninth and tenth centuries, further underlined Roman prestige whilst the reforms in the monastic orders, in particular the Cluniac houses, helped the papacy by enhancing the knowledge of Latin, setting higher standards for the clergy and educating more learned and devout churchmen. Fortunately, too, the supply of corrupt popes was interrupted from time to time by outstanding incumbents of the papal throne such as Nicholas I and Leo IX who were able to restore the papacy to its proper role.

2. What issues made the Great Schism of 1054 almost inevitable? What event became the 'straw that broke the camel's back'?

The two churches had been growing apart, vexatiously, for centuries before the Great Schism and it is likely that the split would have occurred eventually over some issue or other, whether major or minor. The Eastern Church had had to contend with pressure from the Muslims, interference from the Byzantine emperors who would not accept the primacy of the patriarchs and meddling by the Roman pontiffs who demanded that the weakened patriarchates should recognise their authority. The Eastern church was also riven by internecine disputes over such diverse issues as clerical marriage, independence of bishops in their sees, beards and iconolatry which the emperors had prohibited but which the Roman church continued to promote and practice. The actual schism came about as the result of a dispute over the use in the West of unleavened bread which the eastern church had disallowed. A mission sent from the West to resolve the dispute led to such an escalation of tension as centuries-worth of grievances were raised, that the Pope and the Patriarch formally excommunicated each other (actions which were only rescinded in 1965). Any contacts between the two churches thereafter were generally hostile and unproductive and they grew steadily apart.

3. What were the consequences of the Great Schism of 1054 especially as it related to Eastern Christianity?

After 1054, the Orthodox church remained isolated from the West and did not share in the developments which occurred in Western Europe such as the growth of urban life and culture, the emergence of a middle-class closely associated with the business of the church, the foundation of numerous universities and the cultural efflorescence of the Renaissance in many areas of Europe. The East remained in a time warp with little updating of liturgy or theology and such missionary activity as took place could not rival the success of the western missions. Unsupported by the authority of the wider church and the Roman pontiffs, the eastern church was prey to imperial meddling and remained both superstitious in outlook and highly parochialised.

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Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Christian History Course

Master of Christian History ~ Lesson #17

(Ya' win some, ya' lose some)
by Bro. Jim DeManche
1. What were the new threats to Christianity at this time?

The Eastern church had to face the threat of Islam. Islam overran most of the Byzantine Eastern Empire and was finally turned back by Byzantine Emperor Leo III by A.D. 718. The Western church was also worried about Islam until it was stopped in its tracks at Tours in A.D. 732 with its subsequent gradual recession lasting until the joint Spanish Roman Catholic monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castille and León finally kicked the Muslims out of Spain in 1492. The Western church also had to face a renewed effort from Scandinavian Vikings after the 8 th century A.D. The Eastern church also was threatened later by Slavs, Magyars, and Mongols.
On top of all this, the Western church had to spread the Gospel among the Teutonic tribes that had settled within the territory of the old Roman Empire. The Western church also had to convert those tribes in Spain, North Africa, and Italy who had accepted the unorthodox Arian Christianity and also the remaining pagans.

2. What were the consequences of the spread of Islam to the Christian church and to Europe?

Islam greatly impacted the religion and culture of Western Europe. Islam was the conduit through Arabic Spain for the Greek philosophy of Aristotle. The medieval scholastics tried to join Greek thought with Christian theology by using Aristotle's deductive reasoning as known through Averroes' translation of Aristotle's writings.

Western and Eastern Christianity became weak through the losses of people and real estate to Islam. The losses were worse in the Eastern church than it was in the Western church. The North African church vanished. Egypt and the Holy Land were lost. The Eastern church barely managed to keep the Muslim hordes from overrunning Constantinople until 1453. The Western church fared better in northwestern Europe through its mission activity. The Eastern church also had to worry about the issue of whether pictorial images can be used in churches. This issue, called iconoclasm, surfaced in part because the Muslims were accusing Christians of idolatry because it seemed to them that the Christians were worshiping the images in their churches.

3. Is it true or not true that when an internal row foments between people of two different kinds of Christianity within a country (like what happened in Spain in the 8 th century A.D.), it makes it easier for outside invaders of another religion altogether to overrun the country? Why or why not?

It is true. Arian Visigoths in Spain was a problem for the Roman pontiff. Recared, who ruled Spain from A.D. 586 to 601, proclaimed in A.D. 589 at the Third Council of Toledo that he had rejected Arian Christianity and embraced orthodoxy. Many of his nobles and Arian bishops took the same action. This was not a complete capitulation. Soon rows began between the orthodox and the Arians in Spain. This made it much easier for the Muslims to overrun Spain in the 8 th century A.D.

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Christian History

Master of Christian History ~ Lesson #16
(Christianity enters the Middle Ages)
by Bro. Jim DeManche

1. What made medieval church history different from ancient church history?

Of course church historians do not always agree upon when these dividing lines ought to be placed. Some think medieval church history began at A.D. 313 when Christianity stopped suffering official Roman persecution. Others believe it began at the Nicene Council of A.D. 325. Still others think it should be at A.D. 378 when the Battle of Adrianople paved the way for the Visigoths to overrun the Roman Empire. Some are persuaded that the dividing line should be at A.D. 476 when the Roman Empire finally fell. Yet there is a plausible reason for the dividing line being placed at the accession of Pope Gregory I in A.D. 590 because the beginning of his papacy brought with it a new era of power for the Western church, a power that would help characterize the medieval church in Europe.

2. Did the pontificate of Pope Gregory I (the Great) truly usher the Christian church into the medieval period? Why or Why not?

Gregory was one of the noblest leaders of the Roman church. His rejection of wealth impressed the people of his day. He was humble and thought of himself as serving the servants of God. He was passionate about missions, and he was crucial to bringing Roman Christianity to England. Because of his legal education and common sense, he was one of the most able administrators the Roman church had in medieval times.

3. What were Pope Gregory I's contributions and how did they form the foundations for what the Christian church, particularly the Roman Catholic Church, would become in the medieval period?

Gregory believed that humanity was a sinner by nature and choice, but he softened Augustine's view of it by saying that human beings did not inherit guilt from Adam but only sin which all are subject. He believed in free will and only its goodness was lost. He believed in predestination but only for the elect. Grace is not irresistible because it is founded upon both God's foreknowledge and human merit. He held to the idea of purgatory as a holding place for souls to get purified before entering heaven. He believed in the verbal inspiration of Scripture, but he gave tradition an equal position with Scripture. He changed a little the Canon of the Mass which continued to show how the Eucharist was a sacrifice anew of Christ's body and blood each time it is observed. Gregory also stressed good works and the entreaty of the saints in order to gain their help. It can be assumed that the church's theology during the medieval period had the imprimatur of Pope Gregory I's thought.

Pope Gregory I's time as bishop of Rome could very well be a milestone in the transformation of the Christian church's history from ancient to medieval. Those men who came after Pope Gregory I used the foundations that he laid to further develop the sacramental hierarchy that would shape the church in the Middle Ages. Pope Gregory I arranged Christian doctrine in an orderly fashion, and he made the church a significant player in secular political disputes.

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Christian History

Master of Christian History ~ Lesson #15

(Origins of Roman Catholicism)

by Bro. Jim DeManche

1. What were the factors that caused the Roman bishop to become so powerful?

The bishop in the early church was thought of as one of many bishops who were equal in every respect to one another. Between A.D. 313 and 450 however, the Roman bishop became known as first among equals. Yet when Pope Leo I ascended the Roman cathedra in A.D. 440, the Roman bishop started asserting supremacy over all other bishops. Concentrating power is a logical result from the need for efficiency and order. The bishop was also the person who vouchsafed orthodox doctrine. The men who occupied the Roman cathedra did not fail in using the opportunities that came their way to increase their power.

2. In what ways did church liturgy become so complex?

The flood of barbarians and the increase in episcopal power brought changes to the church's worship. Since the barbarians were used to worshiping images, many church leaders thought that it would be necessary to materialize the liturgy to make God seemingly more visible to these worshipers. Venerating angels, saints, relics, pictures, and statues was the logical result of this approach. Being connected with the monarchical state resulted in a liturgical transformation from a simple and democratic worship to a more aristocratic, colorful liturgy with a profound division between clergy and laity.

3. How did all these things serve to become the foundation for medieval Roman Catholicism?

Aid from the state and religious freedom under Constantine resulted in a major church building program. The Christians borrowed the architectural style of the Roman basilica that had formerly been used by the Romans for business and pleasure. The basilica was a long rectangular cross-shaped building with two aisles, a western portico for the unbaptized, and an eastern chancel where the choir, the priests, and the bishop [if a cathedral church] presided over the services. The chancel was normally separated from the nave by an ironwork screen.

The earliest singing in the church had been conducted by a leader to whom the people gave response in song. Antiphonal singing, where two separate choirs sing alternately, was formed in Antioch. Ambrose instituted antiphonal singing in Milan, and its spread throughout the Western church.

This was a time of great preachers. Ambrose in the West and John Chrysostom in the East were the major preachers. Before this time preachers wore no special vestments. Special vestments for the priests came about as people started throwing out Roman dress, and the clergy kept Roman dress for their church services.

It was in this time that a special priestly hierarchy came into being all under the very powerful Roman pontiff. There was also an enlargement of the number of sacraments that in turn became the major means of grace. The liturgy also became much more complicated. These several things assisted in the laying of the foundations for what would become medieval Roman Catholicism.

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Saturday, August 28, 2010

Christian History

Master of Christian History ~ Lesson #20

(The Great Schism of 1054)

by Bro. Jim DeManche

1. What was the nature of and what things contributed to a renewal in the Western church in the period immediately prior to the Great Schism of 1054?

Western Christianity was under the influence of the Holy Roman Empire in the latter half of the time period between A.D. 800 and 1054, yet it experienced an internal renewal which offered the fortitude to deal with imperial meddling. Eastern Christianity at this time was more acknowledging of its differences with Western Christianity, and it ended with a great schism wherein the Western and Eastern churches went off on their separate ways.

2. What things made the Great Schism of 1054 almost inevitable? What event became the "straw that broke the camel's back"?

1054 saw the straw that finally broke the camel's back. It was a minor issue. Michael Cerularius, patriarch of Constantinople from 1043 to 1059, condemned the Western church for using unleavened bread in the Eucharist. The Western church had been doing it increasingly since the 9 th century A.D. Pope Leo IX sent Cardinal Humbert and two other legates to the East to settle the row. The differences widened as discussions continued increasingly entering into more and more issues. On 16 July 1054 the Roman legates placed a writ excommunicating the patriarch on the high altar of the Hagia Sophia church. The patriarch was furious. The patriarch in turn proclaimed the Roman pontiff and his legates to be anathema.

3. What were the consequences of the Great Schism of 1054, especially as it related to Eastern Christianity?

The surprise of the spread of Islam in the 7th century A.D. and the loss of people and real estate to the Muslims along with two centuries of chaos caused by iconoclasm left Eastern Christianity in a state of shrinkage. There was little change in liturgy, polity, or theology until modern times. It did not have the influence on the world as the Western church has had. Yet in the ancient period of Christian history the Eastern church had been on the forefront in forming Christian theology.

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