Confirmation Class 2:2
Church History: Part I
Oct 9th
The Assignment:
Write a three-page paper, double spaced in “Times New Roman” print and with regular margins, summarizing
your thoughts on Church History. I have included my personal notes for the in-class discussion. Feel free to use
DO NOT COPY MY NOTES. I KNOW WHAT I WROTE. I
NEED TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!!
the notes as you wish:
I’ve also included a series of questions to help guide you when you read through the material and write your
paper. The paper must include two major points:
1. A summary of your thoughts on the topic of Church history. You do not need to include every last point.
Rather pick out something that interests you personally and summarize it.
2. How this affects your life, personally. How should this new knowledge affect the way you live your life, the
way you look at the world and other people, the way you pray and / or the way you interact with others.
You do not need to answer every question below. These are simply here to help guide you. You only need to
answer the questions above.
1) Why is it important to understand the Church’s history?
2) What were some of the struggles of the Church? How do they relate to your own life?
3) What key points in the early Church’s history is new information for you? What surprised you? Why?
4) Why was the Great Schism such a horrible thing?
5) What was happening when the Council of Nicaea was called? Why was it important?
6) Does it really matter that Jesus is fully human and fully divine? Why?
Here are some additional internet resources if you want to do further research.
The Catechism:
http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/
The Bible:
http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/
http://www.vatican.va/
Vatican Documents:
U.S. Bishops Documents: http://www.usccb.org/statements.shtml
Topic Overview:
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Who knows someone who goes to another Christian church here in Forsyth county?
How do we know ours is the right one? Does it matter?
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Who’s interpretation is right?
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o
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Matt 23:9 - Call no man father: Protestant = Literal Interpretation / Catholic = symbolic Interpretation
Jn 6:41-58 - Bread of Life: Protestant = symbolic Interpretation / Catholic = literal Interpretation
Matt 16:18 - Peter as rock: Protestant = symbolic Interpretation / Catholic = literal Interpretation
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Who decides for you, which statements by Jesus were literal and which were not?
o This is literally, the crux of every argument about Scripture.
o So, who helps you decide what he meant, literally and symbolically?
o If Jesus didn’t literally mean to eat his flesh and a literal church on Peter, then what are we doing here? If
the Eucharist is just bread then we are the worst idolaters in history!
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Everyone has an authority. Who is yours?
o For Catholics, it’s the Apostles and Church Fathers, writing / teaching just after Christ
o For Protestants, it’s Martin Luther and beyond
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But Matt 16:18 says the gates of hell will never prevail against it. If that’s true, if you’re saying there’s no literal
church then you’re saying the 1st 1,500 years of Christianity got it wrong! And that Martin Luther is the first person
to get it right!
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And so to know our Church’s history is to believe in your Church, it is to love our Church.
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If I were to tell you the story of the Hunger Games but start in the middle of the arena, it wouldn’t make
much sense, and even if you were able to figure out what was going on you wouldn’t care all that much for
Katniss or any of her friends; the same with our Church.
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Learning our Church’s history enables us to remain strong in the face of temptation. Knowing why we
teach what we teach, why we believe what we believe is fundamental to who we are and to understanding
the profound importance of what we believe.
The Early Church:
- When was the Catholic Church created? Who started it? Where did it come from?
o Three key moments:
 Matt: 16:13-20 - The foundation of the Church is laid
 The seed of the Church is planted:
 When Christ died on the cross and poured out his blood and opened the gates of
heaven.
 The Church comes to life:
 At Pentecost
 The Church was created, it came to life. It is a living, breathing Body… the Body of
Christ.
- So what happened?
o All but one of his disciples abandoned him as he died on the cross, and then they hid in fear that
they would be next.
o Can you imagine that? What kind of fear they must have felt?
o But at the coming of the Holy Spirit (Confirmation) they were transformed from scared,
uneducated fishermen and sinners into the fearless leaders of the Church!
o They no longer hid behind closed doors but burst out preaching the good news of Jesus Christ!
They preached to the very same people who had just weeks before killed their God! And from the
very first moment of their new life in Christ everyone around them became infected with this same
hope and love of God.
 Well, not everyone.
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The 1st Christians & Persecutions:
o Prior to the stoning of St. Stephen, the 1st Martyr, Christians considered themselves Jews. And they
worshipped in the temple and synagogues on the Sabbath with the Jews, and then would go to a
fellow believer’s house and have the Eucharistic meal.
 They would read the Word of God at the temple and then celebrate the Eucharist… and
now we have the Liturgy of the Word & the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
o But then Saul, later Paul, led the first real persecution of the Christians, hunting them down and
killing them. So the Church became an underground church.
o For the next 250 years the Church would exist and thrive despite being persecuted. What do I mean
by that?
 First, think about how long 250 years is. The US has only been around for 240 years.
 Throughout all that turmoil it was Peter and his direct successors that led the Church.
 Only 1 of the 12 Apostles died of natural causes:
 Peter was crucified upside down in Rome,
 James the Greater was beheaded,
 Andrew was crucified,
 Thomas was stabbed with a spear,
 James the Lesser was thrown off the roof of the temple and then stoned and beaten
to death,
 Matthew was stabbed to death with swords,
 Bartholomew was skinned alive,
 Jude was shot full of arrows,
 Philip was crucified,
 Simon was axed to death,
 John was boiled alive but miraculously survived and then cast into exile,
 Judas hung himself on a tree.
 This violence and persecution didn’t end there. In 64 A.D. a fire broke out destroying much
of Rome and the emperor Nero falsely blamed the Christians and kicked off the first of
many fierce persecutions. Christians became hunted throughout the Roman Empire and
were imprisoned, tortured and murdered.
 Until Constantine came along in 313 AD.
 In 200 Tertullian said, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.”
o Because of the persecutions Christians literally became an underground Church:
 Masses were celebrated in the catacombs, over the tombs of the martyrs.

We developed a secret code: the fish…
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So, here’s a glaring question, if the Apostles were all killed, who took over?
o The Church Fathers. These were the men who were the disciples of the Apostles. When an apostle
died another Apostle would consecrate one of the priests / disciples to replace the Apostle. These
men became known as the bishops or Fathers of the Church.
o Many of these men left behind great writings that enlighten who we are and what we believe. They
are not part of the Bible but rather expound upon the writings of the Apostles.
 As Catholics, what we believe, we have always believed. How we worship, we have always
worshiped.
 St. Ignatius of Antioch wrote a letter while awaiting his death and in that letter we have the
first record of us calling ourselves the Catholic Church.
 St. Justin Martyr wrote about the Mass as he said,
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(From the First Apology of St. Justin Martyr, c. 155 AD)
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“ No one may share the Eucharist with us unless he believes that what we teach is true, unless he is washed in the
regenerating waters of baptism for the remission of his sins, and unless he lives in accordance with the principles
given us by Christ.
We do not consume the eucharistic bread and wine as if it were ordinary food and drink, for we have been taught
that as Jesus Christ our Savior became a man of flesh and blood by the power of the Word of God, so also the food
that our flesh and blood assimilates for its nourishment becomes the flesh and blood of the incarnate Jesus by the
power of his own words contained in the prayer of thanksgiving.
The apostles, in their recollections, which are called gospels, handed down to us what Jesus commanded them to do.
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They tell us that he took bread, gave thanks and said: Do this in memory of me. This is my body. In the same way he
took the cup, he gave thanks and said: This is my blood. The Lord gave this command to them alone. Ever since then
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we have constantly reminded one another of these things. The rich among us help the poor and we are always
united.
On Sunday we have a common assembly of all our members, whether they live in the city or the outlying districts. The
recollections of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read, as long as there is time. When the reader has
finished, the president of the assembly speaks to us; he urges everyone to imitate the examples of virtue we have
heard in the readings. Then we all stand up together and pray.
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On the conclusion of our prayer, bread and wine and water are brought forward. The president offers prayers and
gives thanks to the best of his ability, and the people give assent by saying, “Amen”. The eucharist is distributed,
everyone present communicates, and the deacons take it to those who are absent.
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The wealthy, if they wish, may make a contribution, and they themselves decide the amount.
We hold our common assembly on Sunday because it is the first day of the week, the day on which God put darkness
and chaos to flight and created the world, and because on that same day our savior Jesus Christ rose from the dead.
For he was crucified on Friday and on Sunday he appeared to his apostles and disciples and taught them the things
that we have passed on for your consideration.“
The Council of Nicaea
- Constantine and the Edict of Milan:
o In 312 various generals were fighting a war for control over the Roman Empire. One general,
Constantine found himself preparing to fight the deciding battle and had a vision of the Px (Chi Ro)
and heard the words, “In this sign you shall conquer.” So he placed the image on all the shields and
banners of his army and the next day found himself victorious and the new emperor of Rome.
o He soon discovered that the Px was a Christian symbol and soon converted to Christianity.
o In 313 he then issued the Edict of Milan which made Christianity legal.
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What is a Church Council?
o A gathering of all the bishops around the world to pray and formalize the Church’s understanding
of the faith.
o Throughout its history, the Church used the opportunities of the heresies to more clearly define its
positions.
 Sort of like when we go through a hard time and eventually that struggle teaches you
something about yourself.
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What was happening in the world in 325AD?
o The Council of Nicaea was convened in 325AD to address a number of issues that had developed.
o The 5 Primary Bishoprics:: Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Jerusalem & Antioch
o Outside threats such as Northern Tribesmen becoming organized and powerful, the Sassanid
Empire (Persian) had become more stable and powerful and threatened Rome’s eastern borders.
o Internal Imperial discord
 There were countless internal struggles and civil wars during the first few centuries of the
Roman Empire and the emperor Constantine knew that a unified Church would help unify
and strengthen the Empire.
o Arius: A priest from the diocese of Alexandria, Egypt: a well connected, charismatic preacher was
preaching that Jesus was not God, but was created by the Father.
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These many differences and threats meant Constantine needed a united Church to help keep his Empire
together. So he asked the Pope to call a Church council.
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What is Arianism?
o The Arian concept of Christ is that the Son of God did not always exist, but was created by—and is
therefore distinct from—God the Father. He said that Jesus was a demi-god and not fully divine.
o Arius was famous for saying, “There was a time when Jesus was not.”
o In Arius’ defense, he was trying to solve the problem of having 3 in 1. He wanted to protect the
dignity of the One God and thought that if Jesus were fully God, then we’d have two Gods.
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Why is Arianism a heresy?
o If Jesus was merely a created being then he couldn’t have risen from the grave.
o If he was created, then he isn’t eternal. If he isn’t eternal then he could never pay the eternal debt
owed to an eternal God.
o All of creation is fallen and cannot redeem itself. Hence, any mediator that was part of creation
would itself require a mediator between creator and creation. Ultimately, salvation could be won
only if God were the direct mediator of salvation, which is at the heart of the Christian Gospel, that
the Logos, the Word of God, became incarnate, became flesh, in Jesus, the son of Mary.
o So, Jesus, the Son of God must be fully divine (have the same divine nature as the Father) in order
to pay our debt and in order to rise from the dead; he must also be fully human to redeem
humanity.
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Other things the Council of Nicaea accomplished:
o Established the date for the celebration of Easter,
o Established the boundaries of diocese to coincide with the Roman Empire’s administrative
boundaries,
o Affirmed the canon of the New Testament (the list of books that were considered inspired by God)
 In other words, prior to the Council of Nicaea there was no official “Bible” as we know it
today. There were many different books and letters from the Apostles and their successors
floating around and being used at the time.
 The bishops got together and determined which books & letters would be part of the
“official” list and belonged in the Bible and which ones didn’t.
 So any church that claims they are a “Bible” church or that they don’t need Traditions like
we have as Catholics, are acting foolishly because there would be no Bible for them to use if
it wasn’t for our Traditions.
The Great Schism 1054 AD
- The Great Schism: 1054 AD
o During the previous few centuries differences in understanding and practices between the western
half of Christianity (mostly Europe) and the Eastern half (Greece, Africa, Turkey, and Persia) became
more pronounced and pride got in the way. This led to the Great Schism where the Eastern Church
and Western Church excommunicated each other.
 The difference between the Great Schism and the Protestant Reformation was that the
Eastern Churches still believed the same things as the Western Church, they mostly
questioned the Pope’s role as its head. The Protestants mostly didn’t believe or accept what
the Church taught, either about the Eucharist, or Baptism or Mary.
- Various issues that led to the Schism (where the two halves of the Church excommunicated each other):
o Papal Authority:
 Since the 2nd century (100AD) the bishop of Rome had been recognized as the successor of
Peter, whom Christ had appointed as head of the Church. (John 21:15-17, Matt 16:13-20,
Luke 22:31-32.
 Then in the 4th century, the bishop of Constantinople began claiming equal authority to
Rome.
o The two halves of the Church developed different disciplines such as:
 In the West, it was OK to eat meat that had been killed by strangulation, but not in the East,
 In the East, priests below the rank of bishop were allowed to marry, but not so in the West,
 The Western churches omitted the word, “Alleluia” during Lent and used unleavened bread
for the Eucharist, not so in the East,
o The Crowning of Charlemagne (800AD):
 When the Pope crowned Charlemagne as Holy Roman Emperor on Christmas day, 800AD, it
completely alienated the churches and Eastern Roman Empire. It meant that the “Roman
Empire” of the East, who’s capital was in Constantinople (modern day Turkey), no longer
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had the actual city of Rome in its Empire. And this turned a bitter rivalry between Rome and
Constantinople into outright hatred over who got to call themselves the “Roman Empire”.
o The addition of the term “Filioque” to the Nicene Creed:
 The term “filioque” means “and from the Son” and was inserted to help strengthen the
understanding that the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father & the Son, not just the
Father.
 The Eastern Church disagreed & said that both Son and Holy Spirit proceed from the Father
alone.
The above issues and other personal issues of the main players involved caused the representatives of the
Pope to issue an excommunication against the bishop of Constantinople. In response the bishop of
Constantinople issued an excommunication against the Pope. And since that time all attempts to heal the
divisions of East and West have been frustrated.
Recently popes, beginning with Pope St. John Paul II, did much in the way of reaching out to the churches
in the East in the hope of reunification, and it is the urgent prayer of the Church that we be reunited with
our fellow Christians in one Church.