FINAL Flashcards
Creed
written statement of belief, from Latin credo
•creates understanding for toleration
•puts into form that others can read
•true religious toleration needs to come from the standpoint of religion being the most important and serious and demand the right to toleration and choice
Decius
Roman emperor
•Began the persecution of Christians
•Targeted clergy to break up the movement
Accused Christians of cannibalism and atheism
Council of Nicea
met to discuss the relationship of Christ to His Father
•called by Constantine
•come up with a statement, then go back on it and the creed is questionable
Council of Constantinople
fixed the creed that was created during council of Nicea
Responsible for creating the creed which we say in church today
Gnosticism
denial of Jesus’ humanity
•the denial of the goodness of creation
•“I believe in one God, Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth….”
Irenaeus of Lyons
early Christian bishop
•Responded to all heresies by saying
oFree will is fundamental
oWe aren’t created perfect so we grow into perfection according to God’s plan
Fought Gnosticism by saying “can there be something truly bad which God has created?”
Arianism
heresy which claims that Jesus was more than human but not fully divine
•Denies that Jesus has always been God
Goes against the end of the Nicene Creed which emphasizes Jesus, divinity
Homoousios
Catholic teaching which affirms Jesus is the Son of God
This word is Greek for “of one substance”
Athanasius of Alexandria
primary opponent of Arianism
•Argues that Jesus must be fully divine because:
oHe was made in image of God therefore of Christ because He is the pure image of God
All things are created through Him
Trinity
father, son, and holy spirit
•ONE God, ONE essence, ONE action
•THREE persons, THREE relations, THREE names
Hypostasis
way of being; mode of existence
Used to describe how the trinity has one essence, but three ways of existing
Chalcedonies Definition
council met to balance Alexandria and Antioch
defines that Christ is ‘acknowledged in two natures’, which ‘come together into one person and one hypostasis
Nestorianism
heresy which said Jesus was two persons
•Denied Mary as “The Mother of God”
Said she was Jesus’ mother not God’s mother because God can not have a mother
Apollinarianism
said Jesus did not have a human mind
•Said Jesus had a human body and could feel emotions but a divine mind
Heresy because Jesus was FULLY man
Cyril of Alexandria
key figure of Nestorianism
•Helped to compromise and maintain that we must hold Christ as two (human and God) but only one
•We acknowledge Christ’s suffering and body as his own but worship only one person
