Chapter 3: Class Notes Flashcards
Where in the Bible is Christianity referred to as “the Way”?
Acts 9:2 and 19:9
If it is true that Nero set the fire in Rome on July 19, what was his ultimate motviation? How did the Christians prove to be expedient tools?
His ultimate motivation was that he needed to seize private property to build a new palace;
Christians proved to be expedient tools because Nero used them as a scapegoat and blamed them for the fire
What were some of the accusations against Christians during the first persecution?
That they were atheists and agitators for not believing or sacrificing to Roman gods;
That they sacrificed babies, drinking blood, casting evil spells, and causing natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes
Summarize Trajan’s Rescript. How does it differ from the previous law of Nero?
The Trajan Rescript reaffirmed it as a crime but changed the conditions of prosecutions;
It differs from the previous law of Nero because he decreed that if any Christian renounced their faith and offered sacrifices to the Roman gods, they would be spared
What does Ignatius have to say about the importance of episcopacy?
He singled out the episcopacy in the Church as a means of unity with Christ;
Episcopacy offers a form of guidance to the peope because it is the bishops who perform the Sacraments
How did Hadrian’s Rescript (123/124 AD) improve the situation for Christians?
He ordered that Christians could only be prosecuted for actual violations of the common law, not just for professing Christian belief
How did the Roman emperor Septimus Severus threaten both Judaism and Christianity?
He issued decrees that forbade both baptism and circumcision
What does the word “ad metalla” mean?
“To the metal mines”
Who are probably the two most famous women victims of Septimus Severus’s persecution?
St. Perpetua, a member of a noble family in Carthage;
St. Felicity, her servant
St. Irenaeus was an important leader in which region of the empire?
Gaul
How did the Emperor Decius’s systematic persecution of Christianity involve the bueaucracy of the state?
Christian had to appear before local magistrates to offer sacrifice or to obtain official certificates claiming they had done so
What was the name and significance of the institution that Origen led in Alexandria?
The Catechetical School and it mixes philosophical and scientific ideas with Christian doctrine
Emperor Valerian was no friend to Christians. What was his fate at the hands of the Persians?
Humiliated and tortured for 5 years, he eventually died and the Persians stuffed his body and hung it inside a temple
What was Emperor Diocletian’s background and how did his Tetrarchy only lead to a weakened Roman State?
He initially rose through the ranks of the Roman army to serve with the emperor’s guards;
The Tetrarchy failed as the four positions of power competed for supremacy;
When Numerian was murdered the army made Diolcetian their emperor. When Diocletian stepped down, he left the Tetrarchy, separating into four categories and sections, only leading to chaos.
Summarize Diocletian’s four edicts.
The four edicts were that those who opposed the destruction of the church’s physical and intellectual property would be executed or enslaved, the imprisonment of the clergy, clergy should offer pagan sacrifices, and every Christian was required to make sacrifices as well
