Early Medieval Church and State

Justinian

• Byzantine emperor who significantly revised Roman law.
• Favored Chalcedonian Christianity in legal revisions.
• Recaptured former Roman territories in the west, including Rome and Carthage.

John of Damascus

• Syrian monk who defended the use of icons.
• Emphasized the distinction between veneration (dulia) and adoration (latria).
• Argued that creating icons of Christ differed from making images of YHWH because Christ had a human form.

Pope Gelasius I

• Viewed the church and state as two powers ordained by God.
• Insisted on the church's superiority over the state in a letter to the Byzantine emperor.

Pope Gregory I ("The Great")

• Increased the political activism of the papacy.
• Defended the city of Rome.
• Influenced the development of the doctrine of purgatory, where some souls purify from sins before entering heaven.

Emperor Otto I ("The Great")

• First German king to take the title of Holy Roman Emperor.
• Shifted the balance of power in Western Europe to favor the state.
• Decreed that new popes must swear allegiance to the emperor.

Pope Gregory VII

• Enacted reforms to improve the quality and authority of church leaders.
• Combatted the practice of buying and selling church leadership positions.
• Established that popes would be elected by senior priests instead of the populace or emperors.

Emperor Henry IV

• Refused to acknowledge Gregory VII's authority to ban emperors from participating in investiture.
• Maintained that his imperial authority came directly from God, not the pope.
• Called for Gregory VII to step down.

Benedict of Nursia

• Founded monasteries in Italy.
• Established the Benedictine order, which became a dominant form of monasticism in Western Europe.
• Created "The Rule Of Benedict," guidelines for monastic life.
• Mandated communal ownership of all property within monasteries, mirroring the economic practices of the early Jerusalem church.

Pope Urban II

• Initiated the call for Western Christians to wage war against Muslims.
• His aims were to aid Constantinople and liberate Jerusalem.
• Hoped to reunify Western and Eastern Christianity under his leadership.
• Said it would be a disgrace to allow a race "so despised" to conquer God's chosen people
• Promised remission of sins for those who died on the journey

Pope Innocent III

• One of the most powerful popes in the medieval period.
• Exerted authority over European monarchs using the interdict (suspension of sacraments in a territory).

Mendicant Orders

• Catholic religious groups embracing poverty and chastity, similar to monks.
• They did not withdraw from society.
• Moved from place to place, preaching and caring for the needy.
• Relied on charity for survival.

The Franciscans

• A religious order founded by St. Francis.
• Emphasized the spiritual value of poverty.
• Believed in humanity's kinship with all creation.

The Dominicans

• Founded by Saint Dominic.
• Emphasized theological study.
• Served as faculty in the earliest European universities.

Anselm of Canterbury

• First significant Scholastic thinker.
• Described his theological agenda as "Faith Seeking Understanding".
• Believed one must believe in order to understand

Peter Abelard

• Objected to Anselm's Satisfaction Theory.
• Argued it suggested God unjustly required his own innocent Son's death for reconciliation with humanity.

Thomas Aquinas

• Italian theologian and Dominican friar.
• Saw Christianity as rooted in both reason and divine revelation.
• Created Summa Theologiae, a pinnacle of Scholasticism.

Pope Boniface VIII

• Insisted on the absolute authority of the popes in both religious and secular affairs.
• Decreed that rulers taxing the church and church officials paying taxes without papal permission would be excommunicated.
• Issued Unam Sanctam, a forceful statement of papal authority.

Marsilius of Padua

• Wrote Defender of the Peace (Defensor Pacis).
• Argued for the independence of states from the church and pope.
• Stated that citizens should make laws and elect rulers.
• Believed the pope's desire for power and wealth caused conflict in Europe.
• Claimed salvation rests on scripture and council decisions, not papal decrees.
• Stated that all bishops have equal God-given authority.

Catherine of Siena

• Dominican order member heavily involved in church politics.
• Convinced Pope Gregory XI to return the papal court from Avignon to Rome in 1377.

John Wycliffe

• English theologian and Oxford professor.
• Distinguished between the "visible church" and "invisible church".
• Began the first English Bible translation.
• Argued that the authority of scripture supersedes that of church leaders.
• Posthumously condemned as a heretic.

Martin Luther

• German friar/priest/professor, founding figure of the Reformation and Protestant theology.

Johann Tetzel

• Friar sent by Rome to sell indulgences in Germany in 1517.
• Promised immediate release of souls from purgatory upon payment.

Huldrych Zwingli

• Swiss priest who embraced Protestant ideas.
• Rejected religious practices not explicitly supported by scripture.
• Supported infant baptism.

Conrad Grebel

• Follower of Zwingli who objected to infant baptism and respect for secular government.
• Argued baptism should signify a conscious faith commitment.
• Public debate with Zwingli led to the city council ruling in favor of Zwingli.

Menno Simons

• Dutch priest who promoted Anabaptist teachings in the Netherlands.
• Followers became known as Mennonites.
• Introduced the practice of shunning.

Jakob Ammann

• Swiss Anabaptist in the late 1600s and early 1700s.
• Supported shunning.
• Emphasized religious practice of foot-washing.
• His followers became known as the Amish.

John Calvin

• French theologian who embraced Protestant teachings.
• Fled France due to violent repressions of the Reformation.
• Settled in Geneva, which became an important center of the Reformation under his leadership.

Jacob Arminius

• Dutch Reformed Protestant troubled by Calvin's doctrine of predestination.
• His view, known as Arminianism, stated predestination reflects God's foreknowledge of free choices to embrace or reject God.

King Henry VIII

• Married Catherine of Aragon, his brother's widow.
• Had a daughter, Mary, but no sons.
• Asked Pope Clement VII to annul his marriage, but was refused.
• Initiated the First Act of Supremacy, making himself the supreme head of the Church of England.
• Church retained an episcopal leadership structure.

Edward VI

• King Henry VIII's son.
• Became king at age 9.
• Steered the Church of England toward Protestantism.

Thomas Cranmer

• Archbishop of Canterbury.
• A leading figure in developing Anglican theology during Edward VI's reign.
• Influenced by Calvin and other early Protestant theologians.

Mary I

• Succeeded Edward, becoming queen.
• Restored relations with the Pope.
• Reintroduced Latin liturgy.
• Repealed laws supporting Protestantism.
• Executed many Protestants, earning the nickname "Bloody Mary".

Elizabeth I

• Succeeded Mary, promoting a compromise known as the "Elizabethan Settlement".
• Combined episcopal structure and formal elements reminiscent of Catholicism with Protestant doctrine.

James I

• Became king of England after Elizabeth's death.
• Supported the Elizabethan Settlement.
• Tried to suppress the growing influence of the Puritans.

John Smyth

• Baptist tradition traces its roots to a group of English separatists led by him.
• Influenced by Mennonites in the Netherlands, he began teaching believers baptism.

Thomas Helwys

• Leader of the Baptist movement following Smyth.
• Authored the earliest Baptist confession of faith after adopting Arminian theology.
• Established the first permanent Baptist congregation in England upon returning from the Netherlands to London.

George Fox

• Founder of the Quakers.
• An English separatist movement known as the Religious Society of Friends which became known as the Quakers.
• Key belief is the "inner light," the Holy Spirit present and active within every believer, guiding them and revealing divine truth.

Byzantine Empire

• Historians refer to the Eastern Roman Empire that endured after 476 CE.
• Germanic tribes conquered the Western Roman Empire, leaving Constantinople as the center of Roman power.

The Pentarchy

• Justinian designated the churches of five cities as superior to all others.
• The cities were Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem.
• Bishops of these cities were called patriarchs and outranked all other bishops.

Patriarchs

• Bishops of the five major cities.
• Outranked all other bishops.

Battle of Tours

• Halted the Muslim advance into Western Europe.
• Fought by the Franks.

Worship

• Acknowledging something as worthy of honor/reverence.
• Two forms: veneration (dulia) and adoration (latria).

Veneration (Dulia)

• Reverence directed towards the saints, especially Mary and the apostles.

Saints

• Exceptionally holy believers who have died.

Adoration (Latria)

• Highest form of worship, reserved only for God/Son/Spirit.

Icons

• Paintings of Christ and other Christian figures.
• Controversy over whether they were used in adoration of Christ and veneration of Mary/saints.
• Some considered it a form of idolatry.
• Opposition grew with the successes of Islam, which prohibits images of God.

Iconoclastic Controversy

• Byzantine Emperor Leo III forbade veneration of icons and ordered their destruction.
• Began a 60 year controversy between those opposing icons and those defending them.

2nd Council of Nicaea

• Seventh Ecumenical Council of the Church.
• Ruled in favor of the use of icons, ending the Iconoclastic Controversy.
• The final council viewed as authoritative by both Eastern and Western Christians.

Papal States

• Lands recaptured by the Franks in parts of Italy.
• Gave the popes complete governing authority over certain territories.

Charlemagne

• Pope Leo III crowned Frankish king Charlemagne as "Emperor of the Romans".
• This recreated a separate Western empire while increasing the power of the popes.

Holy Roman Empire

• Territory ruled by the German kings.
• Political dominance in Western Europe shifted from Frankish kings to Saxon kings of Germany.

Investiture Controversy

• Emperors invested new bishops and began controlling who was appointed.
• Decrees stated that the pope alone had the power to appoint and remove bishops and emperors.
• Emperor Henry IV refused to acknowledge the pope's authority.
• Henry insisted his imperial authority came directly from God, calling for Pope Gregory to step down.
• Henry was excommunicated but was later restored to the church.

Investiture

• The practice of presenting new bishops with the symbols/regalia of their office.

The concordat of worms

• Ended the Investiture Controversy.
• Allowed popes to invest bishops with religious authority symbols.
• Emperors invested them with secular authority symbols.
• In Germany, emperors could influence bishop appointments, while popes had full control in Italy.

Monks

• Christians in Egypt who abandoned society and moved into the deserts.
• Sought escape from persecution and spiritual compromise after the legalization of Christianity.
• Their way of life is known as monasticism.

Two forms of monasticism

1. Eremitic ("solitary")
2. Cenobitic ("communal")

Eremitic ("solitary") Monasticism

• Isolation or very limited association with others.

Cenobitic ("communal") Monasticism

• Monks live in community and pursue spiritual practices according to shared rules under the leadership of an abbot.

Asceticism

• Intensive self-discipline and self-denial aimed at spiritual improvement.
• Includes practices like poverty, silence, fasting, and self-inflicted pain.

Penance

• Acts designed to display remorse for one's sins.

Benedict of Nursia (Monasticism)

• Founded monasteries in Italy, became the Benedictine order, dominant in Western Europe.
• Wrote "The Rule of Benedict," guidelines for monastic life.
• Required communal ownership of all property within monasteries, imitating the early Jerusalem church practices.

The filiogue controversy

• Debate between Eastern and Western Christians.
• Concerned whether the Son played a role in the eternal origin of the Holy Spirit.

Great Schism

• The filiogue controversy created a rift that had been growing for centuries.
• Marked the formal separation of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy in 1054.
• Pope Leo IX sent messengers to Patriarch Michael I of Constantinople.
• Asserted his supreme authority calling for eastern churches to embrace the filiogue.

The Crusades

• Religiously motivated military campaigns authorized by the popes between the late 1000s and 1200s.
• Primary aim was to retake formerly Christian lands in the East.
• Targeted areas now ruled by Muslims, especially Jerusalem.

First Crusade

• Tens of thousands of European Christians joined.
• The Crusader army consisted of multiple bands of peasants, knights, and nobles marching at various times, with no single commander.
• Some peasant crusaders massacred Jews as they marched through Germany.

Fourth Crusade

• Called by Pope Innocent III to retake Jerusalem.
• Financed by merchants from Venice in exchange for a promised share of profits.
• Alexios, a disgraced member of the Byzantine imperial family, convinced the crusaders to help him seize the throne.
• He promised financial reward, military aid, and the submission of the Eastern churches to the pope's authority.

Sack of Constantinople

• After gaining the throne, Alexis could not keep his promises.
• Crusaders sacked Constantinople in 1204.
• Inhabitants were massacred and eastern orthodox churches were looted.
• Constantinople was ruled by Latin emperors and patriarchs until 1261.
• Ended any realistic hope of reconciliation between Catholic and Orthodox Christianity.
• Permanently weakened the Byzantine Empire.

Fourth Lateran Council

• Called by Pope Innocent III.
• More fully defined Catholic doctrine after the East-West split.
• Asserted that Roman Catholicism was the only legitimate form of Christianity.
• "There is one universal church of the faithful, outside of which there is absolutely no salvation."

Transubstantiation

• Belief that in the Eucharist, the bread and wine are transformed "by divine power" into the actual body and blood of Christ.

The perpetual virginity of mary

• Defended by the Fourth Lateran Council.
• Belief that Mary remained a virgin before, during, and after the birth of Jesus.

Scholasticism

• Catholic intellectual/theological movement.
• Sought rational justification for Christian beliefs, describing them systematically.
• Influenced by renewed interest in ancient Greek literature, especially Aristotle.

Atonement

• "At-one-ment"
• The process by which Christ's death repaired the relationship between God and humanity, which was damaged by sin.

Ransom Theory of Atonement

• Common view prior to Scholasticism.
• Problem: Adam and Eve's act of disobedience resulted in humanity being enslaved by Satan/Sin/Death.
• Solution: Christ's death ransoms/liberates humanity from captivity.

Anselm's Satisfaction Theory

• Rejected the Ransom Theory claims that Satan was humanity's master or that God bargained with Satan.
• Problem: Adam and Eve's disobedience dishonored God, creating a rift in the divine-human relationship.
• Solution: Christ's death pays off the debt of honor that humanity owes to God, appeasing God's wrath and restoring the relationship.

Moral Influence Theory

• Abelard objected to Anselm's Satisfaction Theory because it suggested that God unjustly required his own innocent son's death as the price of reconciliation with humanity
• Problem: Adam and Eve's act of disobedience was a voluntary turning away from God, resulting in humanity experiencing immorality and estrangement from God
• Solution: Christ became human in order to instruct humanity through his teaching and example.
• His willingness to die revealed the depth of God's love and inspires humanity to love and obey God more fully.

Summa Theologiae

• Written by Thomas Aquinas, a pinnacle of Scholasticism.
• A systematic presentation of Catholic doctrine.
• Contains the "Five Ways," five logical proofs for the existence of God.

Unam Sanctam

• Forceful statement of papal authority.
• Stated that the state must be submissive to the church, which is the more powerful of God's two swords.
• The state answers to the church, church leaders answer to the pope, and the pope only answers to God.

Avignon Papacy

• Clement V, a Frenchman, became pope and moved the papal residence from Rome to Avignon in France.
• The next six popes were also French.
• The papacy was increasingly influenced by French kings.
• Some Italians labeled this the Babylonian captivity of the church.

The black death

• Outbreak of bubonic plague throughout Eurasia.
• Caused the death of 30–50% of Europe's population.

Catherine of Siena

• Member of the Dominican order; heavily involved in church politics.
• Convinced Pope Gregory XI to return the papal court from Avignon to Rome in 1377.

The western schism

• A 39-year period when Western Europe was divided between two competing popes.
• Ended by the Council of Constance, which established Rome as the permanent home of the papacy.

Fall of Constantinople

• Byzantine Empire and church were weakened by the Crusaders and later by Mongol and Turkish invaders.
• Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Turks, ending the Byzantine Empire.
• The Church of Constantinople lost vitality.

Russian Orthodoxy

• Christianity spread to Russia from the Byzantine Empire in the mid-800s.
• Russia was under Mongol rule from the 1200s to the late 1400s.
• The Russian Church helped preserve Russian culture.
• Following the fall of Constantinople and liberation from the Mongols in 1480, Russia became the new center of Eastern Orthodoxy.
• Moscow became known as "the Third Rome".

The protestant reformation

• Period of religious upheaval in Western Europe.
• Resulted in the formation of new Christian movements rejecting elements of Catholic teaching.
• Crises in the Catholic Church led to reduced confidence in church leadership.
• Increasing push for decentralization of government in Western Europe.
• Influence of Renaissance ideals of intellectual freedom and expression.
• Renewal of interest in ancient Greek literature.
• Gutenberg's invention of the printing press played a significant role.

Imputed Righteousness

• Luther believed in this.
• Humans are incapable of actually being righteous.
• God attributes Christ's righteousness to believers, covering their sinfulness, making salvation possible.

Infused Righteousness

• The Catholic view in Luther's time.
• God's righteousness is not merely imputed to humanity but increasingly infused into them.
• They receive the sacraments and live out God's commands.

Indulgence

• Cancellation of punishment still owed for sin after guilt has been addressed through confession.
• Originally offered to those who performed good works for the church.
• Offered for a person's own punishment and for the punishments of loved ones in purgatory.
• The Catholic Church later began offering indulgences for financial contributions.

Luther's View on Indulgences

• Saw it as an attempt to earn divine favor/salvation by deeds.

Luther's 95 Theses

• Critiqued the system of indulgences.
• Argued believers should lead lives of authentic repentance.
• Stated only God, not popes, can remove guilt or penalties associated with sin.
• The pope should not offer indulgences as a fundraising tactic.
• Believers should use their money to help the needy rather than buying indulgences.

The edict of worms

• Charles V summoned Luther.
• Luther was asked to renounce his teachings before the imperial assembly.
• Luther refused because his teachings aligned with the Bible.
• Banned Luther's writings, declaring him a heretic and enemy of the state.

The five solas

• The central theological claims of Luther and the early Protestants.
• Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide, Sola Gratia, Solus Christus, and Soli Deo Gloria.

Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone)

• Belief that the Bible is the sole source of religious truth.

Sola Gratia (Grace alone)

• Justification/salvation is made accessible purely on the basis of God's grace.
• Not on the basis of any human merit/virtue.

Sola Fide (Faith Alone)

• Justification/salvation is accessed by faith in Christ alone.
• Without any additional requirement of "good works"/right behavior.

Solus Christus (christ alone)

• Christ is the only necessary intermediary between God and humanity.
• Luther promoted the concept of priesthood for all believers.
• All Christians have equal access to God through Christ.

Soli Deo Gloria (Glory to God alone)

• Only the Trinity deserves any form of worship.
• Believers should not venerate Mary/saints/angels.

The Marburg colloquy

• Luther, Zwingli, and other Protestant leaders met in Marburg, Germany.
• Attempted to settle theological differences and achieve unity against the Catholic Church.

Sacramental Union

• The body and blood of Christ are truly, materially present "in, with, and under" the bread and wine.
• coexist with bread and wine, but do not replace them.

Memorialism

• Christ is not physically present in the Eucharist.
• Christ is present in the minds and hearts of believers as they remember his sacrifice.

Radical Reformation

• Advocated a return to New Testament Christianity.
• Emphasized Sola Scriptura, rejection of infant baptism, and separation of church and state.
• Some movements emphasized the direct influence of the Holy Spirit, belief in the imminent end of the world, and rejection of the Nicene understanding of the Trinity.

Anabaptists

• Protestants who insisted that only adult baptism conformed to Scripture.
• The name means "those who baptize again".

Schleitheim Confession

• Produced by the Swiss Brethren.
• Set out the core distinctive elements of Anabaptist belief/practice.

Anabaptist beliefs/practices

• Believers Baptism
• The Ban
• Separation from society
• Pacifism
• No swearing of oaths
• Memorialist view of Eucharist

Believer's Baptism

• No baptism of infants, only of adults who make a profession of faith.

The Ban

• Believers who fall into sin and refuse to cease/repent are excommunicated from the church.

Presbyterians

• System of church structure with no hierarchy of bishops.
• Each local church is led by a council of elders.
• Representatives from local councils meet in regional and national assemblies to decide issues of broad importance.

Presbyers

• Council of elders leading church

Institutes of the Christian Religion

• Calvin published this work, the most systematic account of Protestant theology.
• Christians in the Reformed tradition began to be referred to as "Calvinists".

Spiritual presence

• Christ is not physically present in the bread and wine.
• When believers receive the Eucharist, the Holy Spirit unites them with Christ in a unique way.

Penal Substitution Theory

• Pioneered by Calvin, an atonement theory similar to Satisfaction Theory.
• Eventually became the dominant Protestant view.
• Problem: Due to Adam and Eve's disobedience, all humanity must be punished
• By means of Christ's suffering and death, he accepted the punishment, meriting forgiveness and salvation for all humanity.

Predestination

• Belief that God's divine will determines the eternal fate of each individual.

Providence

• The belief that God ultimately determines/directs/causes everything that happens.

Foreknowledge

• Refers to God having perfect knowledge of what will happen before it happens.

Arminianism

• Arminius's view that predestination reflects God's foreknowledge of the free choices that people will make either to embrace or reject God.

Five Articles of Remonstrance

• Challenged Calvinist teachings on predestination.
• God has predestined for salvation those whom he foreknows will come to believe.
• Christ died in order to give the possibility of salvation to everyone.
• Humans cannot live truly righteous lives apart from God's Grace.
• God's grace helps believers to embrace faith righteously but humans can also purposefully resist it.

Eternal Security

• The belief (rejected by Arminians but accepted by Calvinists) that Christians cannot lose their faith/justification once they have attained it.

The canons of dort

• The Dutch reformed church rejected the five articles of remonstrance.
• Defined official Calvinist positions on predestination and eternal security.

First Act of Supremacy

• Parliament passed this act, declaring that the king was the supreme head.

Episcopal

• Overseen by bishops or overseers

Ten Articles of Religion

• Document produced by English bishops to summarize the beliefs of the newly-independent Church of England.
• Slight shift toward Protestantism, but remained closer to Catholicism in many ways.
• Affirmed the authority of scripture and creeds.
• Supported infant baptism, forbidding rebaptism.
• Affirmed Christ is physically present in the Eucharist.
• Supported the use of icons and prayers to Mary/the saints.
• Supported the sacraments of penance and the doctrine of purgatory.
• Insisted both faith and good works are essential for salvation.

Book of Common Prayer

• The first English book of liturgy.
• Cranmer oversaw its production.

Thirty-Nine Articles

• Based on articles prepared by Cranmer during Edward's reign.
• Scripture contains everything necessary for salvation.
• Justification by faith alone.
• Rejected the sacrament of penance and the doctrine of purgatory.
• Rejected use of icons and prayers to Mary/the saints.
• Rejeted transubstantiation, affirmed calvin's eucharist view

The puritans

• Many English Protestants fled to Europe during Mary's reign embracing calvinist theology, and many of these people felt that the Elizabethan settlement did not go far enough toward protestantism and wanted to purify it from any remaining traces of Catholicism.

King james version

• James I oversaw production of English Bible translation known as the Authorized Version completed in 1611.
• Remained the dominant English Bible translation among Protestants for nearly 400 years.

Separatists

• Christians who broke away from the church of England entirely in order to form new independent movements

Baptist

• Tradition traces its roots to a group of English separatists led by John Smyth.
• Believed in believers baptism