Events, Terms, Movements, Etc.

Question 1

Donatism

Answer 1

• Popular 4th-century schismatic church in North Africa
• Rejected the line of bishops descending from those who compromised during persecution
• Named after one of their rival 4th-century bishops, Donatus
• Partly ethnic (Numidian) and with a violent wing (cicumcelliones)
• Opposed by Augustine; suppressed by Roman state
• Persisted as a rival church in North Africa until destroyed by Arabs in the 6th-7th centuries

Question 2

Nestorianism

Answer 2

• A variant Christological belief
• Taught that there were not just two natures but two separate persons in Christ
• Associated with the 5th-century theologian Nestorius and Antioch (“Antiochene Christology”)
• Mary bore Christ (Christotokos) but not God (Theotokos)
• rejected by the Council of Ephesus in 431
• (Persian) Church of the East comes to be called “Nestorian,” though the appropriateness of this is contested

Question 3

Social Theories - Church History

Answer 3

Examples of the use of sociological and anthropological theory to help interpret early Christianity:

• Rodney Stark: social network theory and the arithmetic growth curve of early Christianity
• Anthony Wallace: revitaliation theory and the conversion of Constantine
• Donald McGavran: people movements, the homogeneous unit principle, and the conversion of barbarian groups
• Alan Tippett: multi-individual conversion and the conversion of barbarian groups

Question 4

Pelagianism

Answer 4

• the unorthodox belief that one can be saved by one’s own efforts, apart from Divine grace
• Associated with the ascetic monk Pelagius, of British origin, 4th-5th century
• A largely lay movement, aristocratic in tone, centered in Rome
• emphasized freedom to choose the good by virtue of one’s God-given nature
• Opposed by Augustine in writings on original sin, the will, and divine grace
• Formally rejected by Second Council of Orange in early 6th century

Question 5

Arianism

Answer 5

• Variant belief about the nature of the Son associated with Arius
• debated widely from 4th-6th centuries
• This is the unorthodox belief that the Son is a godlike, exalted created being, but does not share the eternal nature of God’s own being.
• “There was a time when he was not.”
• Rejected at Nicea (325) and later councils

Question 6

Edict of Milan

Answer 6

• circular letter of 313
• issued by Constantine and Licinius
• decreed freedom of worship for all, including Christians
• provided for the restitution of possessions lost by the Churches
• For the first time, provided legal, public status to the Church

Question 7

Pax Romana

Answer 7

• the “peace of Rome”
• a factor in the spread of Christianity

Question 8

Iconoclasm

Answer 8

• Iconoclasm: Greek for “image breaking”
• Iconoclastic Controversy: disagreement over the veneration of icons that troubled the Byzantine Church
• 8th and 9th centuries
• Iconoclasm rejected at 7th Ecumenical Council which met at Nicea in 787
• Linked the defence of icons to the two natures of Christ

Question 9

Monophysitism

Answer 9

• A variant Christological belief (with many versions)
• “only one nature” Christology; also called miaphysite (“one nature”)
• Associated with Alexandria (“Alexandrian Christology”)
• Rejected at Council of Chalcedon in the mid 5th century
• Characteristic of the dissident “Oriental Orthodox Churches” on the margins of the Roman Empire

Question 10

Montanism

Answer 10

• ascetical, apocalyptic movement in the last half of the 2nd century
• associated with the prophetic figure Montanus in Phrygia, Asia Minor
• expected imminent outpouring of the Spirit and descent of New Jerusalem in Pepuza Phrygia (pictured on card)
• included prominent women prophetesses
• offshoot in North Africa; Tertullian attracted or perhaps converted

Question 11

Council of Nicea

Answer 11

• First ecumenical church council
• Called by Emperor Constantine
• Dealt with heresy of Arianism
• Produced first declarative confession of faith
• Said that the Son was homoousios (of one nature) with the Father

Question 12

Battle of Milvian Bridge

Answer 12

• site of critical battle at bridge over Tiber in northern Rome
• in the year 312
• Constantine defeated his rival Maxentius
• decisive for history of Christianity in enabling Constantine (with Licinius) to become Emperor and issue edict of toleration
• depicted on the frieze of the Arch of Constantine in Rome

Question 13

Persecution

(and associated Emperors)

Answer 13

Nero and Domitian (1st century)

Marcus Aurelius (2nd century)

Septimus Severus (late 2nd - early 3rd century)

Decius and Valerian (mid-3rd century)

Diocletian (early 4th century), “The Great Persecution”

Question 14

Council of Chalcedon

Answer 14

• 4th Ecumenical Council
• Held at Chalcedon in 5th century
• Issued the “Chalcedonian Definition” on the doctrine of Christ
• Christ understood as one person in two natures, human and divine
• There were a number of dissenting non-Chalcedonian churches in the East