Relations Between East and West: Rome vs. Constantinople

Question 1

True or False: By the end of the second century, the Church was developing an institutional form, but it did not yet have a clearly defined system of doctrine and belief.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

How did the Church’s normative theological position eventually develop?

Answer 2

Through:

• the establishment of scriptural canon
• the compilation of rules of faith
• the use of council to settle disputes

Question 3

Why did the early Church only recognize as “scripture” writings that were associated with an Apostle.

Answer 3

To guarantee the integrity and legitimacy of the early Church as the successors to the Church of the Apostles, the early Church only recognized as “scripture” the writings that we associated with an Apostle.

Question 4

Which writings must be “orthodox” in doctrine?

Answer 4

early scripture

Question 5

How many books were eventually canonized as the official canon of the new Testament?

Answer 5

27

Question 6

How many agnostic gospels are not included in the New testament?

Answer 6

12

Question 7

What is CANON?

Answer 7

guideline…measuring stick of the content and teaching which are coherent with the teachings of the apostleistic fathers.

Question 8

What are “rules of faith”

Answer 8

Early Christian leaders collected the main teaching of the bishops and compiled them as rules of faith. The practice was grounded on the idea that the “monarchical bishops” are the guarantor of an oral tradition that could be relied upon.

Question 9

Who took on roles as leaders of the early Christian communities after the Apostolic period?

Answer 9

Bishops

Question 10

What are synods?

Answer 10

councils bishops gather in to discuss problems and find out solution

Question 11

When did synods begin?

Answer 11

2nd century CE

Question 12

Which five churches acquired autonomous statues governed by the heads (patriarchs)?

Answer 12

• Rome
• Constantinople
• Alexandria
• Antioch
• Jerusalem

Question 13

What was the purpose of Ecumenical Councils?

Answer 13

To solve Christological disputes

Question 14

What are 3 important Ecumenical Councils?

Answer 14

• Council of Nicaea 324, 382
• Council of Ephesus 431
• Council of Chalcedon 451

Question 15

What happened at the 2 councils of Nicaea?

Answer 15

Condemned Arianism and produced the Nicene Creed to define the Christian faith .

Question 16

What did the Council of Ephesus condemn?

Answer 16

Nestorianism and affirmed the Blessed Virgin Mary to be Theotokos (“Mother of God”), and not Christokokos (“Mother of Christ”).

Question 17

What happened at the Council of Chalcedon?

Answer 17

Affirmed that Christ had two natures, fully God and fully man, at the same time. The western and the Eastern Orthodox churches belong to the Chalcedonies churches

Question 18

Monophysitism, that was condemned in the Council of Chalcedon, survived in which churches?

Answer 18

Oriental Orthodox churches.

Question 19

What two churches belong to the Chalcedonies churches?

Answer 19

Both the Roman (Western) and Greek Orthodox (Eastern) churches.

Question 20

What do both the Western and Eastern churches accept?

Answer 20

The Nicene Creed, which affirms the humanity and divinity of Jesus in one person, as the second person of the trinity.

Question 21

What caused conflict between he East and West?

Answer 21

The Roman churches, without consulting the Eastern church, added “and from the Son” to the Nicene Creed. The additional words created controversy, leading to a schism between Rome and Constantinople. Greek and Latin Christianity grew further apart.

Question 22

What is the main reason for the split between the East and West?

Answer 22

The addition of the words “and from the Son” to the Nicene Cred.

Question 23

What is the notion of Filioque (6th Century)?

Answer 23

The controversies sparked by the additional three Latin words “and the Son” to the creed which has never been accepted by the Eastern churches.

Question 24

___Church: The Holy Spirit “proceed” from God the Father alone.
___Church: The Holy Spirit “proceed” from God the Father “and the Son.”

Answer 24

• Greek

- Latin

Question 25

What was the Chrustian church governed by?

Answer 25

the heads of the five major episcopal see: Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and jerusalem.

Question 26

When did bishops, or popes, of Rome, steadily begin to increase?

Answer 26

since the 4th Century

Question 27

Whose authority did the Rise of Islam undermined in the eyes of Rome and Constantinople?

Answer 27

Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem

Question 28

In which century, did Rome stake its claim to be the centre of authority? Why was this problematic?

Answer 28

• 6th century

- The Greek churches view the Rome as just one among give equally important patriarchates.

Question 29

What was the problem with the Roman notion of ‘papal authority’?

Answer 29

undermined the Greek understanding of authority.

Question 30

What did the special authority given to Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem by the Umayyad dynasty afford them?

Answer 30

This stability afforded them an intellectual atmosphere which allowed them to produce intellectual work.

Question 31

What led to Eastern-rite Catholic churches?

Answer 31

Rome’s effort to recruit adherents among Eastern Orthodox Christians led to the formation of new churches.

Question 32

What was different about Eastern-rite Catholic churches?

Answer 32

These new churches, even though they were aligned with Rome rather than Constantinople, retained elements of Eastern traditions; from the use of local languages (rather than Latin), to immersion Baptism.

Question 33

What is significant about the Maronite Church of Lebanon?

Answer 33

Has always been part of the Roman Catholic Church, rather than the Orthodox world.

Question 34

Why was the Eastern Mediterranean more conducive to intellectual atmosphere than its Western counterpart in the seventh ad eighth centuries?

Answer 34

Was comparatively stable and prosperous region. West was still struggling after Barbarian invasions.

Question 35

True or False: Even after Constantinople was under the Ottomans, the orthodox church remained a self-governing religious community with the patriarch as their civil ruler.

Answer 35

True

Question 36

Who became the representative of the Christians to the Muslim Caliph?

Answer 36

John of Damascus

Question 37

Who headed a monastery in Constantinople and wrote on the profundities of the spiritual life/

Answer 37

Simeon

Question 38

Who distinguished God’s essence and energies.?

Answer 38

Gregory of Palamas

Question 39

Who were the Hesychasts?

Answer 39

They developed a mantra-like formula known as the Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

Question 40

When did the Orthodox missionary make significant headway among Slavic people such as Bulgarian, Serbian, Ukrainian, and Russian?

Answer 40

ninth century

Question 41

What is significant about two missionaries, Cyril and Methodius?

Answer 41

they preached in vernacular language and translated eh Bible and liturgy into Slavonic language, a liturgical language used by the Orthodox Church in Bulgaria, Poland, Serbian, Ukrainian, and Russian.

Question 42

True or FAsle: Croats, Slovenes, Czechs, and Slovaks were not other parts of Eastern Europe converted by Roman Catholic Missionaries.

Answer 42

False, they were.

Question 43

What became t battleground for conversion and conflict between East and West?

Answer 43

Eastern Europe

Question 44

What is significant about the fact that Cyril and Methodius used vernacular language?

Answer 44

Used vernacular language as opposed to Greek or Latin which made conversion easier.

Question 45

Who introduces Christianity to the indigenous people in Siberia?

Answer 45

the Russian Orthodox missionaries

Question 46

What became the centre of Russian Orthodoxy. When was it replaced?

Answer 46

In the early period, Kiev became the centre of Russian Orthodoxy, but after the Mongol invasion in 1237, Moscow replaced Kiev.

Question 47

True or False: Christianity survived the Communist repression from 1917 to 1988.

Answer 47

True

Question 48

What happened with the Russian Orthodox Church after 1989?

Answer 48

Slowly reasserted its traditional role as the church favoured by the state.