Foundations of Christianity

1. Foundations of Christianity History 476 Spring, 2011

2. Life of Jesus • The many faces of Jesus (web site)

3. Life of Jesus • Born about 4 A.D./C.E. • Grew up in Galilee, northern Israel • Became itinerant preacher, Rabbi • About three years of public career as preacher, teacher, prophet, and Messiah • Arrested, tried, crucified in Jerusalem, circa 33 A.D.

4. Life of Jesus • Died, was buried, and resurrected. The central—cardinal—principle of Christianity • Now, for the historical Jesus, sometimes congruent with the Jesus of the Christian faith, sometimes not. • Michael Grant, An Historian’s View of Jesus • Prophecies in Old Testament • John the Baptist. Message • simple: Repent, be baptized, • and make ready for the coming • of the Kingdom of God

5. Life of Jesus • Jesus early childhood—largely unknown • Prophet and Messiah • Mark, Chapter 1, Verse 1; also in Luke • Announcing the coming “Kingdom of God,” the central theme of Jesus’ ministry. Grant,”…this was Jesus’ master idea…the term appears repeatedly in the Gospels—no less than thirty-seven times in Matthew alone….and thirty-two times in Luke. The New Testament is virtually a commentary on

6. Life of Jesus • on this one single concept….this one phrase sums up his whole ministry and his whole life’s work…the present initiation of the Kingdom of God upon the earth was a carrying out of Old Testament prophecy.” • What did Jesus teach specifically? • Used parables to instruct. • Absolutely most impt. message. Love the Lord your God and then love one another.

7. Jesus’ Teachings • Go to Matthew 5, Sermon on the Mount • Jesus reiterated Mosaic law • But pushed further, into the heart of man • Called for a rebirth, a revolutionary change of heart

8. Who was Jesus Christ? 3. (63) Now, there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works-a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ; (64

9. Who Was Jesus Christ? • ) and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day. • The Antiquities of the Jews, Book 18, Chapter 3 • From The Works of Josephus, • translated by William Whiston • Hendrickson Publishers, 1987

10. L. Michael White: Professor of Classics and Director of the Religious Studies Program University of Texas at Austin One of our most important sources for all the history of this period is the Jewish historian, Josephus. Josephus himself grew up in and around Jerusalem; he claims to have been a part of the Pharisaic group. But he was also obviously from a fairly prominent family. He's very important because he lived through and was actually part of the first revolt against Rome.

11. After the revolt, he then went on to live in a lavish retirement at Rome itself. And there wrote the history of the Jewish War, and also another work, called "The Antiquities of the Jews," a long, extensive history of the Jewish people ... from Biblical days coming down to his own time. Josephus wrote mostly at the end of the first century ... around the year 100, just a few years before and after. And so he gives us a perspective on the whole century of development that had gone before, from the time of Herod the Great down to his own day, when these profound changes were taking place.

12. Roman Empire

13. And How Reliable Was He as An Historian? Josephus, as an historian, is something of a puzzle sometimes. On the one hand, he's an eyewitness to many of these events. And in many cases, he's the only source we have for some very important events and stories. On the other hand, Josephus embellishes, as do most ancient historians. They tell the story.

14. They create speeches for generals, even when they weren't there to hear them first hand. And so, sometimes we have to be careful with these ancient history writers like Josephus. ... Josephus is [also] interesting from another perspective because he clearly embellishes the stories from his own experience. Josephus himself had gone over to the Roman side at the end of the revolt. And so, when we tell some of these stories, it's clear that he's also defending his position ... defending his judgments and his change. Eric Meyers: Professor of Religion and Archaeology Duke University

15. Spread of Monasticism • Hermits • Monks • St. Benedict of Nursia (fifth century) • Establishment of orders and rules • Benedictines • Augustinians

16. The Christian Empire From the Edict of Milan (313) to the Fall of the Last Roman Emperor of the West (476) and the Beginnings of the Conversion of the Barbarians Emperor Constantine Council of Nicea, 325 Sack of Rome, 410 by Goths

17. Age of the Papacy and Converting Barbarians • But the Bishop of Rome claimed greater authority, and it was natural that the bishops of the larger cities, especially Rome, should be more prominent than those of the smaller cities and towns. Pope Gregory the Great, 540-604; Pope from 590-604 C E

18. Augustine, like so many, plagued by the riddle of life, and “no other single Christian thinker after Paul was to influence so profoundly the Christianity of Western European peoples.” (Latourette,p. 174) Augustine converted at Milan by Bishop Ambrose in 385. Baptized, along with hi with his son Adeodatus, on Easter, 387. Returning to Africa, his mother Monica died, and Adeodatus a few months later. Eventually persuaded to accept the bishopric of Hippo in North Afric in 391 and re remained at the that post until he died in 430. St. Augustine and Orthodoxy, I

19. St. Augustine and Orthodoxy, 2 • Augustine had a high conception of the Catholic Church. • God’s attitude toward man can oly be known through faith. • Faith is the guide to truth. • Faith is belief in what is taught by the Scriptures and the Church. • Augustine’s most impt. contributions were on the interrelated subjects of human nature, the character of sin, the redemption of man, the attittude of the Chruch towards the sinner and the penitent, the Church within history, and history itself.

20. St. Augustine and Orthodoxy, 3 • “Augustine believed profoundly in the Catholic Church as a visible institution distributed throughout the world, continuous from the church of the apostles through its bishops,whom he esteemed the successors of the apostles. • To be sure, Augustine held that bishops, including the bishop of Rome, might err, but the Catholic Church, he maintained, was the Body of Christ, tangible, and outside it there was no salvation” (p. 175) • His most widely read work was City of God, provoked by the sack of Rome and his Goths in 410. Pagans accused Christians for the sack and the book was in many ways a refutation of that charge.

21. Clio, the old Muse of History City of God also an interpretation of history, which posited it had a beginning, middle, and end, rather than occurring in endless repeating cycles. As the City of Man, Rome, collapsed, Augustine believed it would be replaced by something better, the City of God. One was an earthly city, and the other heavenly. The earthly was formed by love of self and pride. The City of God was dominated by the love of God. St. Augustine and Orthodoxy, 4

22. St. Patrick and the Irish St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, is one of Christianity's most widely known figures. But for all his celebrity, his life remains somewhat of a mystery. Many of the stories traditionally associated with St. Patrick, including the famous account of his banishing all the snakes from Ireland, are false, the products of hundreds of years of exaggerated storytelling.

23. St. Patrick and the Irish, II Taken Prisoner By Irish Raiders It is known that St. Patrick was born in Britain to wealthy parents near the end of the fourth century. He is believed to have died on March 17, around 460 A.D. Although his father was a Christian deacon, it has been suggested that he probably took on the role because of tax incentives and there is no evidence that Patrick came from a particularly religious family. At the age of sixteen, Patrick was taken prisoner by a group of Irish raiders who were attacking his family's estate. They transported him to Ireland where he spent six years in captivity. (There is some dispute over where this captivity took place. Although many believe he was taken to live in Mount Slemish in County Antrim, it is more likely that he was held in County Mayo near Killala.) During this time, he worked as a shepherd, outdoors and away from people. Lonely and afraid, he turned to his religion for solace, becoming a devout Christian. (It is also believed that Patrick first began to dream of converting the Irish people to Christianity during his captivity.)

24. St. Patrick and the Irish, III Guided By Visions After more than six years as a prisoner, Patrick escaped. According to his writing, a voice-which he believed to be God's-spoke to him in a dream, telling him it was time to leave Ireland. To do so, Patrick walked nearly 200 miles from County Mayo, where it is believed he was held, to the Irish coast. After escaping to Britain, Patrick reported that he experienced a second revelation-an angel in a dream tells him to return to Ireland as a missionary. Soon after, Patrick began religious training, a course of study that lasted more than fifteen years. After his ordination as a priest, he was sent to Ireland with a dual mission-to minister to Christians already living in Ireland and to begin to convert the Irish. (Interestingly, this mission contradicts the widely held notion that Patrick introduced Christianity to Ireland.)

25. St. Patrick and the Irish, IV • Bonfires and Crosses • Familiar with the Irish language and culture, Patrick chose to incorporate traditional ritual into his lessons of Christianity instead of attempting to eradicate native Irish beliefs. For instance, he used bonfires to celebrate Easter since the Irish were used to honoring their gods with fire. He also superimposed a sun, a powerful Irish symbol, onto the Christian cross to create what is now called a Celtic cross, so that veneration of the symbol would seem more natural to the Irish. (Although there were a small number of Christians on the island when Patrick arrived, most Irish practiced a nature-based pagan religion. The Irish culture centered around a rich tradition of oral legend and myth. When this is considered, it is no surprise that the story of Patrick's life became exaggerated over the centuries-spinning exciting tales to remember history has always been a part of the Irish way of life.)

26. Early Middle Ages, about 476 to Schism Between East and West, (1054) • Period of chaos in western Europe after end of formal Roman Empire • Invasion of the barbarians, Germanic peoples, Vandals and Visigoths (Spain), Franks into Gaul, Angles and Saxons into Great Britain, Picts, Scots and their gradual conversion. • Church preserved learning and knowledge in disintegrating culture of Rome.

27. Rise of Islam and Challenge to Christianity • Mohammed the Prophet, early 600s. • God’s word revealed to him and preserved in Koran. • Islam spread rapidly across the old ancient world, even to Spain and almost to France before stopped.

28. Mohammed preaching, with historically inaccurate landscape and clothing (a common problem in medieval and Renaissance paintings, which usually showed fashions contemporary with the time the painting was made, rather than costumes of the era depicted). Illustration ca. 1400-1425, taken from Boccaccio's De Casibus Virorum Illustrium (early 15th-century French translation by Laurent de Premierfait); drawn by the "Master of Rohan." The manuscript is currently in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. The same illustration in the context of its manuscript page can be seen here. According to the iconography of the time, the dove on Mohammed's shoulder indicates that he is a false prophet trying to convince his listeners that he is associated with the Holy Spirit (of which the dove is a symbol). Image of Mohammed

29. Reformist movement within monastic tradition, Cluny founded 909. Goal: rid the Church of abuses (,for instance, simony, the buying and selling of clerical offices, etc.) insistence on clerical celibacy, poverty and obedience. Rising conflict between Papacy and Emperor of Holy Roman Empire. The High Point of the Middle Ages