28 Christianity in the East Roman Empire Flashcards
What was the theological formula that Patriarch Sergius of Constantinople believed would speak about Jesus Christ’s relationship to God and to humanity in a manner on which all in the East Roman empire could agree?
Monothelitism (“One Will”); Although Jesus had two natures, he acted in a singular manner.
Who opposed Monothelitism?
A Palestinian monk named Sophronius, Pope John IV and Pope Martin I
What was the theological controversy during the time of emperor Leo?
The iconoclast controversy; concerned the devotional use of images or icons
What were icons used for?
1) served as a reminder of spiritual truths and thus a means of spiritual insight and grace
2) used in personal devotion to help focus prayer or meditation
3) some treated the icons as if they were the persons they represented
Who later reversed the iconoclastic policy?
Empress Irene and her son Constantine VI
What were some arguments John of Damascus put forward in favour of icons?
1) Theological foundation for the practice of venerating icons can be found in the event of the incarnation. The incarnation proclaimed that material reality could be a vehicle for divine presence and reality.
2) a union of two natures (as Chalcedon had done) was also a union of two levels of reality, the material and the divine. Icons had the capacity to represent and make the divine present in the same way liturgy and eucharist did.
3) icons in some form were essential for leading people into the divine presence; provided visions of glorified humanity and thus were invitations to one’s own spiritual perfection
What was the group that rejected everything associated with the institutional or historical nature of the church regarding salvation: the sacraments, the hierarchy, icons, and even most of the Christian scriptures
Paulicians; they were like the Marcionites and the Gnostics, they believed that the material world was fundamentally evil and that Christ therefore had a nature that was entirely spiritual.
What did the monks and nuns in the Greek world emphasise more than their western counterparts?
1) the austere dimensions of spiritual life
2) emphasis upon the spiritual gifts or charismata
Who developed a fuller understanding of the spiritual process of deification (theosis) by which the Holy Spirit filled the contemplative believer with divine light?
Simeon, the New Theologian
Who did the emperor send to Moravia upon the request of the king of Slavs?
Cyril and Methodius
They created an alphabet for writing the Slavic language
Which patriarch opposed the filioque doctrine?
Photius
What were the 3 things that continued to cause tensions between Rome and Constantinople?
1) Differences concerning the form of bread that was to be used in the eucharist
2) the days on which fasting was to be observed
3) the proper theological understanding of the Trinity
