Lecture 6: Christianity II Flashcards
what were some of the reasons of the Eastern and Western Church split?
- differing views regarding their religious standpoints and theological views regarding how the Trinity was understood
the split of the Eastern and Western Churches was in what year?
1054 of the common era
what was the leading factor of the split of the Eastern and Western churches in 1054?
the Eastern Church of Constantinople thought the Western Church was claiming too much authority for itself
what are the three major branches of Christianity?
- Roman Catholicism (largest branch)
- Eastern Orthodoxy (more mystical)
- Protestantism (multiple dimensions)
what three theologians contributed to the early theological positions of Eastern Orthodoxy?
- Basil
- Gregory of Nyssa
- Gregory of Nanzianzus
what did Gregory of Nanzianzuz do?
formulated his own understanding of the nature of the Trintiy
what was the main language spoken in the Eastern Roman Empire vs the Western Roman empire in the time of Constantine?
- Eastern Orthodox Christianity the main language was Greek
- Western Church Christianity the main language was Latin
which Christianity became dominant in Russia, Turkey until the coming of Islam?
Eastern Orthodoxy
The Byzantine (Greek) Church (Eastern) became a self-governing religious community under?
the Ottoman Turks, tolerated under Islam with the patriarch as its civil ruler
which tradition is the most mystical denomination of the three major denominations of Christian Traditions?
Greek (Eastern) Orthodoxy
who distinguished between God’s essence and his energies?
Gregory Palamas
what did the Hesychasts develop?
they developed mantra-like prayers, the most famous being the Jesus prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner”
what is Byzantium?
the former Eastern Roman Empire that was seated in Turkey and eventually fell to Muslim invaders and gave rise to the series of crusades
why is Eastern Orthodoxy sometimes called Greek Orthodoxy?
Greek was the original language that was spoken in this branch of Christianity
what is Russian Orthodoxy?
the early center was Kiev, in Ukraine, whose non-Christian ruler Vladimir converted in order to marry the sister of the Byzantine emperor and demanded that his subjects converted
when did the centre for Russian Orthodoxy shift from Kiev in Ukraine to Moscow?
after 1237
how long was Moscow the centre for Russian Orthodoxy?
1237-1917
what happened from 1917-1989 in regards to Eastern Orthodoxy?
the Soviet regime was hostile to all religions. After 1989, the church became the favored state religion
the chanting harmonies in Greek Church services where influenced by?
Hebrew chants
the vigil of Easter in Greek Church is an example of?
how light is used to symbolize the Gospel going forth into the world
what is an iconoclast?
some kind of breaker with tradition
- “icon breakers”
what did iconodules want?
to maintain the use of icons and they argued that they were not worshiping images but they were simply a visual reminder of the stories surrounding Jesus and the other religious figures
- “icon worshippers”
the Second Council of Nicaea in 787 decided what in regards to the Orthodox Christianity Church?
that icons were permissible and could be venerated, as long as the faithful did not actually worship them
the decline of Medieval Christianity began when and continued until?
began about 600 and began until the mid-tenth century
what influenced the decline of Medieval Christianity?
- Church weakened by poor leadership, corruption, and decline of Roman Empire
- Rapid spread of Islam from 632 onwards until early 900s
when did the Western Church collapse?
in the 5th century of the common era in the 400s
when did Christianity make the greatest geographic advances in its history?
between 950 and 1050 CE when political power shifted from Muslin to Christian rulers exercising political control over discrete territories
when did Arab Muslims capture Jerusalem?
in 637
what did Pope Urban II declare in 1095?
declared it God’s will that Western Christians go to the aid of the Eastern Christians and liberate the holy places of Palestine
what is a heresy?
an improper teaching, a misunderstanding of Christian Doctrine
- those accused were presumed guilty unless they could prove their innocence
what did Pope Innocent IV rule in 1252?
that torture could be used and that heretics handed over to the secular authorities should be executed within five days
was witch craft considered a heresy?
yes
- thousands of women were killed for the accusation of practicing witch-craft
what becomes a consultative focal point for Western Christendom in 1150-1216 (under Pope Innocent III)?
Papacy
who proclaimed it “absolutely necessary for salvation that every human creature be subject to the Roma pontiff”?
Boniface VIII (1235-1303)
who attempts to assert papal authority over secular authority?
Innocent III
what was the Avignon Papacy?
when Clement V refused to move to Roman, electing Avignon instead
- period of critique of papal authority
what does excommunicate mean?
to throw someone out of society
- lose all of rights in broader society
what was the Conciliar Movement?
- Marsilius of Padua held that the pope could teach salvation and right behavior but had no right to command obedience
- council of Constance declared the council itself the supreme authority within the Church
- the Council of Basel introduced a model of the people’s rights to enforce standards of conduct on political and religious rulers
The Protestant Reformation rebelled against?
against papal authority and other practices of the early modern church
what does reason pertain to?
philosophy, the greek concept of logos
- Reason as what came to be known in the enlightenment period of the 18th century as mans highest faculty
how can reason be reconciled with revelation?
-
what is revelation?
revealed scriptures like the Torah, the New Testament, the Qaran
- how can we use ancient Greek philosophy such as the logic of Aristotle to construct arguments to prove the existence of God
the answer to the question “How do we know what we know” was answered by which two competing (or complementary) perspectives in the medieval period?
- scholasticism
- mysticism
what is scholasticism?
a fancy word for medieval philosophy or the philosophy that is taught in Europe in the middle ages
- philosophy of medieval periods
- trying to establish certainty on the basis of logical proofs
what were the four programs in the medieval times?
- Jurisprudence or law
- Medicine
- Philosophy
- Theology
what was developed in an effort to reconcile the philosophy of ancient Greece and Rome with Christian theology?
Scholasticism
who was the most important philosopher for the scholaristics?
Aristotle
Aristotle believes Forms should be?
Imminent (ready to happen; in this world) rather than transcendent (above and beyond this world) (which Plato believes)
what was early scholastic teaching based on?
the reading to scripture
faith is mutually confirming with?
reason
What did Anselm move away from?
scriptural authority (the bible), asserting that faith itself has a kind of rationality
what is a sound argument?
one where the premises are in fact true
- where the conclusion follows of necessity from the true premises
important things to note about Anselm’s argument?
- beginning with a concept of God and then trying to prove the existence of what that concept refers to
- God is that than which nothing greater can be conceived
- “God cannot be conceived not to exist – God is that, than which nothing greater can be conceived – That which can be conceived not to exist is not God”
- and it surely exists so truly, that it cannot be conceived not to exist. For, it is possible to conceive of a being which cannot be conceived not to exist
in a nutshell:
- that in which nothing greater can be conceived (his concept of God) has to exist not only in thought, but also in reality
- that then which nothing greater can be conceived, exists only in the mind or only in the understanding, then it is not that then which nothing greater can be conceived because reality is greater than thought
- so if we can entertain the idea, the concept of a being that is so great that nothing greater can be conceived, it has to exist not only in thought but also in reality
—–MAIN TAKEAWAY—-
- Anselm is trying to use reason to prove the existence of God
what’s one characteristic of ontological argument?
they are arguing from a concept, to asserting the actual reality of what that concept covers
what argument does Kant make in regards to an ontological argument?
you cannot make this inference from a concept of a thing to asserting the actual existence of that thing
what is Thomas Aquinas arguing when trying to prove the existence of God? how does it relate to Anselm’s argument?
- Anselm is beginning with a concept that God is that which nothing greater can be conceived and then tries to assert the actual reality of that thing
- Aquinas is OPPOSITE
- Aquinas begins from the material world and tries to arrive at a concept
- Anselm’s argument is more of a rationalist argument
- Aquinas’ argument is more empiricist. He is looking at the relation of cause and effect and he’s beginning with the effects and going back to try and establish the cause (such a material world cannot exist without a God)
what did Aquinas argue in his second proof of proving God’s existence?
he argued that the pattern of cause and effect necessarily implies the existence of a First Cause that itself is uncaused, and that the First Cause must be God
- there must be a first cause that caused everything else
- what Aristotle called the unmoved mover
who can be seen as the first rationalist?
Plato
who can be seen as the first empiricist?
Aristotle saying that our knowledge comes from experience
what are Aquinas’s Five Ways?
- Argument from motion - first mover
- Efficient cause
- Possibility and necessity
- Gradation to be found in things
5, Governance of the world - intelligent being by whom all natural things are directed to their end; and this being we call God
who was the greatest of the Aristotelian scholastics?
Thomas Aquinas
how does Thomas Aquinas answer “What is the basis of knowledge”?
the matter of observation, experience and trying to explain and observing this world and then tracing it back to its origins
what is Mysticism in Christianity?
a specific tradition that emphasizes the certainty of profound personal experience
- a specific tradition that emphasizes the certainty of profound personal experience
- emphasis on the experimental dimension
another word for the mystical experience?
- liminal experience (in-betweenness)
- Victor Turner
what does Meister Eckhart’s mysticism seek to do?
dissolve distinctions between self and God
what is the Monastic Orders in Christianity made of?
Monks
what is the Mendicant Orders groups?
- the Carmelites or hermits of Mount Carmel
what are the groups of the Monastic Orders?
- Cluniacs
- the Cistercians
- the Carthusians
(Monks)
who were the Cluniacs?
- Monastery of Cluny founded by William the Pious, Duke of Aquitaine in 910
- for two and a half centuries, the Cluniac order established a network of more than 300 satellite houses across Europe
who were the Cistercians?
- a Monastic Order
- founded by Robert Molesmes in an attempt to lead a less lavish life than Cluniacs, but within a century they also became wealthy
- Trappists, or strict Cistercians, were founded in 1600
who were the Carthusians?
- a monastic order
- demanded a vow of silence and great austerity
- took vows of silence and poverty
what is an important distinction between the monastic orders and the medicant orders?
- the medicant orders were not tied to a specific monastery and typically travelled around
- Monks were typically associated with a particular monastery and were sedentary
why was celibacy being celebrated not only in the priesthood but also in monastery in the Middle Ages particularly in the West?
it was seen as a way of curtailing the notion of a hereditary priesthood
- rejecting nepotism and hereditary privilages
the most significant period for the development of women’s leadership in the Church came during?
the Middle Ages
what is Vita Canonica?
refers to women living in community, regulated by rules set down by local bishops
what is a monk?
a member of a religious community of men typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience
what is a nun?
a member of a religious community of women typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience
what happens if you pray to a Saint?
by praying to a saint or making a pilgrimage to his/her shrine, one might win release from punishment in the next existence and from guilt in this one
what did liturgic reform do?
greatly reduced the participation of ordinary people
- Portions of liturgy previously in vernacular were now spoken in Latin reserved for clergy
who are “lay people”?
People who have not been ordained. People who are not bishops or priests or popes of cardinals
what is the Renaissance?
the rebirth of classical Greek and Roman ideas
who laid much of the ground work for later reform-minded theologians?
Erasmus (1466-1536)
what does the Protestant Reformation lead to?
the third branch of Christianity
which branch of Christianity is the most democratic?
the Protestantism
who are the key players of the Protestant Reformation?
- Martin Luther (1483-1546)
- Jean Calvin (1509-1564)
- Ulrich Zwingli (4184-1531)
what are the denominations of the Western Church that all separated from Roman Catholicism?
- Lutherans
- Reformed Churches
- Anabaptists (believe in adult baptism rather than infant baptism)
- Unitarians
who was Martin Luther?
a German Augustinian M=monk, understood to be the father of the Protestant Reformation
- challenged the hierachy of the church, the hierarchy of the Pope and Cardinals, bishops and priest
- he said we dont need an intercessor, a sinner doesn’t need to confess their sins and ask for forgiveness
- he says that we can have an immediate relationship with God through Jesus
Martin Luther struggled with theological issues of salvation, arguing?
that salvation was a matter of faith, a gift of God’s grace
what is an indulgence?
basically certificates that one could purchase from a priest so that your deceased ancestors would spend less time in purgatory
what is purgatory?
this way station on the way to heaven
- those that were saved and were destined to go to heaven had to be purged of their sins
when did Martin Luther post a list of “95 Theses” against indulgences on the door of the church at Wittenberg?
In October 1517
what prompted Martin Luthers excommunication?
his protest against indulgences
- he was no longer allowed to be with the church so he had no choice but to start a new church for his followers
