Ecclesiastical History
Mr. Christopher Smith, OP
What we’ll cover today
• Ask some important questions:
– Why should we study the history of the Church?
– What can we learn by studying the history of the Church?
• Cover a basic timeline of the Church
• Look at some of the various councils of the Church
that have helped bring us to where we are today
• Relate events in secular history to Church history
and discuss some interplay between the two
Starting point…
• In meditating on what the Church in history has
meant and what it means today, I arrived at one
thought, one mystery – The Incarnation.
• Who can tell me what the incarnation is?
The Incarnation
• Simply put – it is God becoming man.
– The Great “I AM” coming down and clothing himself in
human flesh
• Paul understood the significance of Christ’s
incarnation and its historical significance.
–“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent
his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to
ransom those under the law, so that we might receive
adoption. As proof that you are children, 4 God sent
the spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out, "Abba,
Father!" So you are no longer a slave but a child, and
if a child then also an heir, through God. (Gal 4:4-7)
The Incarnation as a mark of our Faith
• Belief in the incarnation is the distinctive sign of the
Christian Faith.
– “This is how you can know the Spirit of God: every spirit that
acknowledges Jesus Christ come in the flesh belongs to God” (
I John 4:2).
– Without first merging together the historical fact (Jesus of
Nazareth was in fact a real person in 1st century Palestine) with
our profession of faith (Jesus was the Son of God sent to
redeem the world), then everything done and said after that
denial is pointless!
– However, note that I didn’t say “meaningless”
The disciples drew that conclusion
• The reason you and I are here today worshipping the way
we do is as a result of the early believers drawing the
conclusion that the man they knew (Jesus) was the Son of
the God they worshipped (Yahweh)
• Had they not done that, then Jesus simply would have gone
down in “history” as another great man or teacher or at best
a prophet.
• That is why when meditating on what is basis of Church
history, I arrived at the central mystery of our faith – the
Incarnation
…the Word became flesh and made his dwelling
among us (Jn 1:8-9)
Open Forum
• Why should we study the history of the Church?
•What can we learn by studying the history of the
Church?
In the beginning…
• Consider the historical surroundings of Jesus and the
“Christians” of the first 50 years.
– Everything in life has been conditioned by Greek culture
• Buildings, government, popular religion (polytheism), etc.
• Even the way people thought and reasoned were conditioned by the Greeks
since they were considered to have all of the great philosophers like
Socrates, Aristotle, and Plato
• This Greek conditioning is what is know as “Hellenism”
– Began ~350 BC with Alexander the Great
– Romans take control of area ~25 years prior to Jesus being born
(27 BC)
• So, if you are disciple of Jesus, this is your situation…
Doesn’t look so good
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•
•
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You’re part of a people that militarily has no power
You have no land to call your own and no King
You don’t even speak your native language anymore
Your religion (Judaism) is the scorn of the Kingdom
– Even your scriptures are printed in Greek and not Hebrew
• Most of your leaders are controlled by the secular rulers
• All of you have to hold on to is a promise; a promise that
God will be faithful and will send someone to rescue his
chosen people
– But, then you sigh and wonder sarcastically in disbelief , “how
many centuries ago was that promise made?”
• From the beginning, Christians were conscious of
the their surroundings.
– First century Christians had to explain to fellow Jews
why they venerated a man executed by the Roman
government
– After a couple of decades when Christians stopped
following Jewish Laws, they had to answer why they had
abandoned their tradition
– As Paul traveled and brought the message to the Gentiles,
they brought him to Areopagus (outside Athens
(Greece!)), he had to preach Christ to them (Acts 17).
• Christianity initially started out as a movement within
Judaism, but as it grew, others (non-Jews) began to join as it
moved into Egypt, Syria, Asia Minor, Greece, and Roman
Africa.
• For non-Jewish people to join, it meant for them the same
thing it meant for Jews: an abandoning of a way of live
practiced for years, many generations back.
• Christians seemed to have no regard for history or tradition
since they abandoned all of it to worship a man who had
only recently lived and subsequently died.
Okay…Ready for the Highlights??
First Century
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
• 0 – Jesus is born!
– No, not really the year 0, probably more like 2 BC
• 26 – Pontius Pilate becomes governor of Judea
• 27 – Jesus is Baptized (Mt 3:13)
– This could have been as late as 29
• 28 – Herod Antipas beheads John the Baptist (Mk
6:17)
• 30 – Jesus is crucified and Church in Jerusalem is
born
First Century
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
• 34 – St. Stephen is martyred (Acts 7:54)
• 35 – Begin the Apostolic Age
– Within the lifetime of Jesus original apostles.
• 37 – Caligula becomes emperor (very anti-Jewish)
• 40 – Disciples are first called Christians in Antioch
– (Acts 11:26)
• 41 – Herod Agrippa becomes last King of Judea
• 43 – Rome invades Britain (expansion of Roman
Empire)
First Century
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
• 44 – Apostle James is beheaded by Herod Agrippa
• 47 – Paul’s first missionary journey
• 48 – First council of the Church in Jerusalem
– Do non-Jewish converts to Christianity have to meet Jewish laws,
specifically, circumcision
– Acts 15
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•
•
•
•
49 – Jews are expelled from Rome
50 – Paul’s second missionary journey
51 – Paul writes I Thessalonians
53 – Paul’s third missionary journey
54 – Nero becomes emperor
First Century
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
• 57 – Paul in Greece (Acts 17)
• 58 – Paul arrested in Jerusalem (Acts 21:27)
• 60 – Paul appeals to Nero and is placed on house arrest
– Apostle Andrew, brother of Peter is killed
• 63 – Jewish renovation of Temple complete (started 80
years prior)
• 64 – Rome burns and Nero blames Christians
• 66 – Apostle Peter is crucified
– Linus becomes Bishop of Rome (2nd Pope)
– First Jewish War begins
100
First Century
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
• 67 – Apostle Paul is martyred (beheaded in Rome)
• 69 – Ignatius becomes Bishop of Antioch
– Modern day Syria
• 70 – Begin the “Sub-apostolic” period
– Time immediately after the death of all the apostles; now
the people they mentored are in charge of the church
• 75 – Christians begin to be expelled from Jewish
synagogues
– Synoptic Gospels are finished (MT, MK, LK)
First Century
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
• ~79 Anacletus becomes Bishop of Rome (3rd Pope)
– Eruption of Mount Vesuvius destroys Pompeii
– Colosseum is completed in Rome
• 85 – Roman conquest of Britain is complete (began
in 43)
• 90 – Gospel of John is complete
• 95 – Roman Emperor Domitian declares Christianity
to be an “atheistic” religion
– Eucharist is now being celebrated almost exclusively on
Sunday
First Century
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
• 96 – The Sanctus is written (Holy, Holy, Holy)
• 97 – Timothy, disciple of Paul is killed
• 100 – Justin Martyr is born
– One of the earliest and arguably best Christian apologists
in the history of the Church
– Before converting, he was extensively trained in Greek
logic and philosophy, making him an expert at
formulating an idea/argument; esp. in a manner that
learned men of the day could understand (basically, he
spoke their language)
Second Century
100
110
120
130
140
150
160
170
180
190 200
• 105 – The term “Catholic” is applied to the Church in St. Ignatius
Letter to the Smymaeans
• 110 – Old Roman Creed (precursor to Apostle’s Creed)
• 128 – Gloria in Excelsis Deo is now required at Mass
• 130 – Justin Martyr converts
• 132 – Second Jewish War
• 135 – Begin the Patristic Period (Ante-Nicene Fathers)
– Second fall of Jerusalem; begin Jewish Diaspora
• 147 – Public opinion about Christianity poor because they refuse to
participate in cult sacrifice
• 155 – Justin Martyr writes his First Apology, reconciling faith and
reason.
Second Century
100
110
120
130
140
150
160
170
180
190 200
• 165 – Justin Martyr dies. Shrines to Peter and Paul are
erected in Rome
• 177 – Christianity is introduced to Britain
• 180 – Church is established in North Africa (MAP)
• 194 – List of available New Testament Scriptures
• 195 – Three fold hierarchy of bishop, presbyter, and deacon
is wide-spread
• 200 – Process for selection of canonical NT scriptures is
almost complete
Third Century
200
210
220
230
240
250
260
270
280
290 300
• 210 – Festival to celebrate Christ’s resurrection is an all night event
(pre-cursor to Easter Vigil)
• 215 – Practice of Infant Baptism is common
– Grace is said before and after meals
– Clement of Alexandria says fish is a Christian Symbol
• 220 - Chinese Han Dynasty ends after ~400 years
• 235 – Roman Empire under barbarian attack; people turn on old gods
and convert to Christianity
• 245 – N. Africa church has 90 bishops
• 248 – Barbarians attack Rome
• 249 – Roman Emperor declares all citizens must sacrifice to Roman
gods; those who do not are martyred
Third Century
200
210
220
230
240
250
260
270
280
290 300
• 250 – Pope Fabian makes it mandatory for Christians to
receive Eucharist 3x per year (Christmas, Easter, Pentecost)
– First know hermit (Paul of Thebes)
– Infant baptism is now normative
• 253 – Church in Rome begins shift from Greek to Latin
• 257 – Valerianic Persecution – Christians are no longer
allowed to gather and all their property is confiscated
– Valerian dies in 259 and there is a huge growth in Church
• 268 – Collegial Authority – belief that when acting together
the bishops form a body greater than an individual
• 283 – Clerical celibacy – common and preferred but not
mandatory
Third Century
200
210
220
230
240
250
260
270
280
290 300
• 284 – Diocletian becomes Roman Emperor
– Diocletian reforms: to promote stability, he centers all state power
on the emperor as a semi-divine being
• 298 – Christians in Roman Army are forced to resign
• 300 – Christians confess their sins to a bishop instead of
public confession
– Rome has more than 40 churches in city limits
Fourth Century
300
310
320
330
340
350
360
370
380
390 400
•303 – Diocletian Persecution also known as Great
Persecution. Most extensive repression of Christianity
•306 – Christ’s nativity begins to be celebrated on winter
solstice
•313 – Edict of Milan (Constantine the Great) gives equal
toleration for all religions
•321 – Sunday becomes official “day of rest” for empire
•324 – Constantine reunites Roman Empire and becomes
Emperor
•325 – Council of Nicea
•Arianism – Denies the Father and Son are one
•Drafts the Nicene Creed
•Defines date for Easter
Fourth Century
300
310
320
330
340
350
360
370
380
390 400
•325 – Lent becomes a 40 day fast and preparation period
•326 – Constantine builds the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in
Jerusalem
•_Period of Post-Nicene Fathers begins
•350 – Cyril of Jerusalem describes the lavabo (priest washing
his fingers) as the symbol for purity of the soul
•Feast of the Purification of the BVM
•361 – Feast of the Epiphany
•Manifestation of Christ
•373 – Feast of All Saint’s Day
•Athanasius teaches BVM remained virgin after birth of XP
•375 – Assumption of BVM is taught
Fourth Century
300
310
320
330
340
350
360
370
380
390 400
•381 – Council of Constantinople – affirms the divinity of the
Holy Spirit along with Father and Son
•Formulated Creed we say in Mass today
•386 – Augustine of Hippo converts to Catholicism
•391 Ordained a priest
•395 becomes Bishop of Hippo
•390 – Canon of the Mass takes on the form used in the
modern church
•392 – Observance of Good Friday
•393 – Synod of Hippo
•Eucharistic fast, Maundy Thursday, list of books in NT
•395 – Roman Empire is divided permanently into E & W
Fifth Century
400
410
420
430
440
450
460
470
480
490 500
•410 – Bishops begin to fall into secular administrator roles
since division/collapse of Roman Empire
•420 – Augustine and Jerome recommend striking of breast
during confession of sin
•430 – Augustine of Hippo dies
•431 – 1st Council of Ephesus
•Declares Mary to be Theotokos – Mother of God
•St. Patrick begins mission to Ireland
•451 – Council of Chalcedon
•First systematic work on the doctrine of the Incarnation
•452 – Begin period of Early Medieval Church
•Pope Leo convinces Attila the Hun not to invade Rome
Fifth Century
400
410
420
430
440
450
460
470
480
490 500
•460 – Confirmation begins to be separate rite apart from
baptism
•476 – “Fall of Roman Empire” – imperial office is left vacant
•Beginning of Early Middle Ages or “Dark Ages”
•485 – Greek language becoming less common in west
•492 – Title “Vicar of Christ”
•Inherited title. The Pope has responsibility for the Church
Sixth Century
500
510
520
530
540
550
560
570
580
590 600
•514 – Lamb of God sung before communion
•525 – Dionysius Exiguus affixes Christ’s birth to Dec 25
•Begins using BC and AD (12 Days of Christmas)
•540 – Benedictines begin wearing the scapular, which
signifies the Yoke of Christ (cf. Mt. 11:30)
•550 – Bodily assumption of BVM is normative
•561 – Council of Braga condemns suicide and prevents
person committing such an act a Christian burial
•570 – Muhammad, founder of Islam is born in Mecca
•589 – Council of Toledo. (Filoque Clause)
•“Spirit proceeds from the Father and Son”
•Finalizes the Creed as seen in Modern Church
Sixth Century
500
510
520
530
540
550
560
570
580
590 600
•589 – Population of Rome cut in half due to flooding
•593 – Pope Gregory the Great teaches the offering of the
Eucharist for souls in purgatory will be to their benefit
•594 – Population in Europe cut in half by plague
Seventh Century
600
610
620
630
640
650
660
670
680
690 700
•614 – Persians destroy the Church of the Holy Sepulcher
•Rebuilt in 626
•627 – Doctrine of Immaculate Conception of BVM is taught
•630 – Muhammad conquers Mecca
•Dies in 632
•637 – Arab Muslims conquer Jerusalem
•651 – Canon of Koran is formalized
•Arab Muslims conquer Persian Empire
•655 – St. Martin I dies. Last martyred Pope
•672 – Development of Gregorian Chant
•675 – Intinctio Panis, dipping body into the blood is
forbidden at 3rd Council of Braga
Seventh Century
600
610
620
630
640
650
660
670
680
690 700
•691 – Dome of the Rock is completed in Jerusalem (PIC)
•698 – Carthage falls to Islamic armies. Christianity begins a
four century long suppression
Eighth Century
700
710
720
730
740
750
760
770
780
790 800
•705 – Feast of Annunciation of the BVM is universal
•731 – First known church organ is installed
•741 – All Saint’s Day is set as November 1st
•781 – Christianity reaches China
•787 – 2nd Council of Nicea
•Icons can be venerated but not worshipped
•Declares no church is to be consecrated w/o a relic
•800 – Pope Leo III crowns Charlemagne as the first Augustus
of the Holy Roman Empire
•Latin is the language of the Church and of all scholarship
•Exultet sung during the Easter Vigil takes its modern form
Ninth Century
800
810
820
830
840
850
860
870
880
890 900
•814 – Charlemagne, first emperor of the Holy Roman
Empire, dies
•830 – Christianity in Sweden
•843 – Treaty of Verdun: splits the Holy Roman Empire
among Charlemagne’s three grandsons
•846 – Arab Muslims sack Rome
•850 – Confirmation is taught to confer a distinct grace
separate from baptismal grace; specifically the grace is the
Holy Spirit to help one resist evil.
•Feast of the Transfiguration of Christ
•Custom of sprinkling the congregation w/ holy water
•Custom of incensing the altar, celebrant, and people
Ninth Century
800
810
820
830
840
850
860
870
880
890 900
•870 – Patriarch of Constantinople declares independence
from Rome due to a disagreement over the Filoque clause
(589).
•879 – Pope and Patriarch excommunicated one another.
Bartholomew Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and
Ecumenical Patriarch and Pope John Paul II, Bishop of Rome
(Vatican City, Nov 2004)
Tenth Century
900
910
920
930
940
950
960
970
980
990 1000
•950 – Miters are worn by Bishops
•962 – Pope John XII crowns Otto, King of Germany, as the
Holy Roman Emperor, thus reinaugurating the Holy Roman
Empire
•979 – Stained glass is becoming more common as process is
refined
•989 – Christianity being spread through Russia
•993 – Earliest “official” canonization. Pope John XV
declares Ulric, bishop of Augsburg a “Saint”
•998 – All Souls Day is established in France and is set for
November 2nd. A day to remember all the faithful departed.
The next 1000 years (in 8 slides)
• 1009 – Islamic Soldiers destroy Church of Holy
Sepulcher
• 1014 – Nicene Creed recited by all at Mass
• 1030 – First formulations of the Hail Mary Prayer
• 1050 – Church claims jurisdiction over marriage
• 1054 – East/West Schism (a.k.a. The Great Schism)
– Final break between Orthodox (Eastern) and Latin Rite
(Western) Churches; all this is still related to Filoque
clause and a few other theological differences
– In 1965 both churches lifted the anathemas and
excommunications placed against one another in 1054
• 1073 – Title “Pope” is reserved for Bishop of Rome
• 1074 – Clerical celibacy is mandated
• 1095 – First Crusade begins (Pope Urban II)
– 1099 Crusades capture Jerusalem (MAP)
• 1125 – Different colors for different liturgical
seasons
• 1140 – Crusaders rebuild Church of Holy Sepulchre
• 1175 – Use of Candles and elevation of Host
• 1189 – Richard the Lionheart, King of England
• 1202 – The rosary is devised
• 1215 – 4th Lateran Council
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–
–
–
Transubstantiation is declared dogma
Faithful must receive Eucharist once a year (Easter)
Modern system of private penance (reconciliation)
Seal of the confessional is binding
• 1217 – 5th crusade and the last w/ Papal Authority
• 1224 – Francis of Assisi manifests the stigmata
• 1226 – Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
• 1231 – Inquisition begins.
• 1272 – St. Thomas Aquinas begins work on ST
• 1274 – 2nd council of Lyons establishes doctrine of
Purgatory (as devised by Aquinas)
• 1291 – End of the Crusades
• 1347 – Beginning of “Black Death” kills nearly 1/3
of Europe
• 1431 – Joan of Arc burned at the stake
• 1453 – Constantinople falls to the Muslims
• 1517 – Luther writes his 95 theses, protests the sale
of indulgences
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–
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Beginning of Protestant Reformation!
1518 – refuses to recant
1520 – Luther excommunicated
1527 – Lutheran reform in Sweden
1528 – Protestant reform in Scotland
1545 – Council of Trent begins, Catholic response to the
reformation. Council has four sessions and ends 1563
• 1611 – KJV Bible
Finishing up…
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•
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1789 – French Revolution
1790 – John Carroll of Baltimore, first US Bishop
1791 – 1st Amendment (Separation of Church/State)
1815 – Napoleon defeated at Waterloo
1851 – Pope Pius IX promulgates the perpetual
adoration devotion
• 1869 – First Vatican Council (Papal Infallibility)
• 1914 – WWI begins
• 1922 – USSR formerly recognized
• 1929 – Italy and Vatican conclude Lateran Treaty
which established Vatican as own City-State
• 1939 – WWII begins
• 1950 – Pope Pius XII declares the doctrine of the
Assumption
• 1962 – Vatican II begins
• 1965 – Vatican II closes
• 1967 – Charismatic Renewal begins
• 1968 – Pope Paul VI published Humanae Vitae
prohibiting artificial birth control
• 1973 – US Supreme Court legalizes abortion
• 1984 – US seminarians is 12,000 (47,500 in 1964)
• 1994 – CCC published. First universal catechism in over
four centuries
• 1998 – President Bill Clinton, 2nd president to be impeached
• October 16, 2003 – JP II has 4th longest pontificate in
history (24 Years, 7 months, 20 days)
– Upon his death, he was up to 3rd at 26 years, 5 months, 17 days
only Pius IX (31 years 7 months) and St. Peter (37 Years) are
longer
• April 19, 2005 – Benedict XVI becomes 265th Pontiff
Domed Muslim shrine in Jerusalem that stands on the traditional site of the
Temple of Solomon (the first Jewish temple), the rock where, in the Biblical
story of Abraham, Abraham had offered the sacrifice of his son Isaac to God.
For Muslims, it is the third holiest site of pilgrimage (after Mecca and Medina),
since it was also here that the prophet Muhammad is believed to have ascended
into heaven to receive the commandments of God.
The 12 Days of Christmas
•
Aside from the fact that Epiphany—which comes twelve days after Christmas—used to mark
the end of the Christmas Season, the “Twelve Days of Christmas” are not really any part of
Catholic liturgy. The song of that name actually derives from a time in England from 1558 to
1829 when it was illegal to be a Catholic, and so the song contains a hidden catechism of
Catholic theology:
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•
•
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A Partridge in a Pear Tree: Jesus Christ
Two Turtle Doves: The Old and New Testaments
Three French Hens: The Theological Virtues (Faith, Hope, and Charity)
Four Calling Birds: The Four Gospels / The Four Evangelists
Five Golden Rings: The first Five Books of the Old Testament, the “Pentateuch”
Six Geese a-Laying: The Six Days of Creation
Seven Swans a-Swimming: The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit / The Seven Sacraments
Eight Maids a-Milking: The Eight Beatitudes
Nine Ladies Dancing: The Nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit
Ten Lords a-Leaping: The Ten Commandments
Eleven Pipers Piping: The Eleven Faithful Apostles
Twelve Drummers Drumming: The Twelve Points of Doctrine in the Apostle’s Creed
Divisions in Christendom (c.1347)
Crusades