Gonzalez Flashcards
What was the first and most important task of early Christianity?
Define its own nature vis-a-vis the Jewish tradition, especially by serving missions to the Gentiles.
Challenges to the early faith were known as what?
Heresies.
González speaks of “three main branches of Christianity.” What are they?
Eastern, Roman Catholic, Protestant
The most immediate cultural and religious context of the earliest Christian church was what?
Judaism
When Constantine converted to Christianity – and thereby the faith was no longer
persecuted, but was hailed as the official religion of the Roman Empire – how did the
Christians feel about their new position in society?
Some were so grateful for the new situation that it was difficult for them to take a critical stance before government and society. Others went to remote places to live a monastic life. Others broke off, insisting they were the true church.
Who was responsible for the hellenization of Palestine?
Alexander the Great
What provoked the production of some of the earliest theological works in Christianity?
Heresies, rumors about acts of immorality, illogical doctrine.
What is the meaning of the term “diaspora,” and to which religious group is it most often
used?
Dispersion and the Jews; the mixing of the Jews with various cultures.
Throughout the first three centuries of Christianity, “the central act of Christian worship” –
the most important liturgical thing a Christian could do – was what?
Communion
What does González say was “profoundly influential in the development of Christian
ethics”?
Stoic moral doctrine.
The first “great teachers” of Christianity were called the what?
Apologists
What was the name of the “Edict” which officially ended the formerly legal persecution of
Christians?
Edict of Milan
Who does González say provoked the “worst persecution” of Christians?
Diocletian
Finally freed from persecution, the Church began to produce some great what?
Teachers
Christianity was originally made up of people predominately from the which class of society?
The lower echelons
What are the names of the men González refers to as the “apologists”?
Justin Martyr, Tatian, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Cyprian
Who were the “Barbarians,” and what side of the Church (East or West) were they most
influential on?
Germanic tribes influenced the Latin-speaking Western Church
Around the time of Constantine Christianity began (for the first time) to appeal to those of
which social-economic class?
The aristocracy
During the Early Middle Ages the focus in the sacrament of communion (or the Lord’s
Supper) changed from what to what?
From a celebration to a funereal service
Why did the main social-economic class of Christianity change during Constantine’s reign?
Because the Church began to enjoy a higher prestige and power
The consequence of the theological controversies of the Early Middle Ages was the
development of a number of what, which still exist today?
Dissident or independent churches
González indicates in his book that one of the main purpose of his book is to give readers
a particular view of Church History. What is that view? And why does González see it as
important?
Birds-eye view, a guide or compass so that people would look further into the history
In an attempt to resurrect the ancient Western Roman Empire, in AD 800 the Pope crowned
what man emperor?
Charlemagne
What was the greatest achievement of Byzantine Christianity?
Conversion of Russia
What is the scholarly title for the translation of the Bible used by Jesus and His
contemporaries?
The Septuagint
What is the “definitive” date of the “rupture” of relationships between the East and the
West?
1054
Who or what were the “diaspora” Jews?
Those who spread beyond the borders of Palestine
What event in Christian History is referred to as the “Great Western Schism”?
When the church had two popes, and even three, claiming the throne of St. Peter
Apart from the books of the New Testament, the most ancient Christian books that have
survived are usually grouped under the title of what?
Apostolic Fathers
The word “cenobitic” comes from a Greek root, and means literally what?
Life in common
González gives a date that he says “is usually given as the beginning of the Reformation.”
What is that date?
1517, Luther posted his famous 95 theses
The word “monk” means literally what?
Solitary
What was the most important (or most dangerous) heresy of the early Christian church?
Gnostism
Who, according to González, engaged in the persecution of Christians?
Nero, Domitian, Emperor Septimius Severus, Decius, Valerian, Diocletian, everyone until Constantine and Licinius
The Mennonites were a reformation of what group?
Anabaptists
The strong religious convictions of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth centuries led to what?
Bloody wars that decimated the population.
González informs us of a number of things about the First Council of Nicea (AD 325),
including where it fits in with the other ecumenical councils of the Church, what it was
called to condemn, and what it produced. Know the various things González teaches us
about this council.
It was called to condemn Arianism, that Jesus could not be God since God cannot share his substance with anything.
They decided that God the Father and God the Son were of one substance and that Jesus was Begotten.
González refers to Gnosticism as “the most important” heresy to influence the early
Christian Church. What were Gnosticism’s “common elements” or teachings?
Matter is evil. Salvation is getting away from it. Special knowledge would help the believer escape from the material world. They denied the creation, incarnation, and final resurrection.
Eusebius referred to the “new attitude” of the government to Christianity as “a miracle,” and,
because of this, called Constantine the “new” what?
David.
What century does González refer to as “the great century of modernity,” and why?
19th century, this is when Christianity became truly universal.
What period in Church History does González refer to as the “formative period”?
The ancient Church until the Edict of Milan
What does González say the major difference was between the “path” of Protestantism and
Catholicism during the Nineteenth century?
Protestantism allowed itself to be swayed by the innovations of the modern world.
Who does González say reformed the Western Church?
Monastics who held the papacy
The Church produced its Christian canon in response to what?
Heresies or doctrines which threatened the Christian message
Many Christians took up monasticism as a new form of asceticism because what was no
longer possible?
Heroic expression of the faith, of martyrs
Who does González call “the greatest of the Christian apologists of the second century”?
Justin Martyr
At the “high point of modernity” it was believed that “every human problem would
eventually be solved by means of” what?
Reason and technology
During which era (e.g., The Ancient Church, the Christian Empire, the Early Middle Ages,
the High Point of the Middle Ages, the Late Middle Ages, etc.) did the Papacy reach its
height of prestige and power?
The High Point of the Middle Ages
During which era (e.g., The Ancient Church, the Christian Empire, the Early Middle Ages,
the High Point of the Middle Ages, the Late Middle Ages, etc.) did the Papacy rapidly
decline?
Late Middle Ages
In large measure, persecutions of Christians were based on a number of rumors and opinions
circulating among the populace. According to González, what were those rumors and
opinions?
Immorality, doctrine made no sense and was typical of people with no logical thought
During the period of Christian persecution, González says that the “central act of worship”
was what?
Communion
According to González, in the early Church, baptism traditionally took place on what
Sunday?
Easter Sunday
What “militant group” defended “its cause by means of arms”?
Donatists, or Circumcellions
When Augustine died in AD 430, what group were besieging the city of Hippo?
The Vandals
The first and second ecumenical councils of Christianity (Nicaea and Constantinople) were
called primarily to deal with or combat what heresy?
Arianism
