A People’s History of Christianity:

The Other Side of the Story

St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church

May 17, 2005

Chapter 6:Ethics – The Love of NeighborMedieval Christianity 500 - 1450

Saint Hildegard of Bingen, also known as Saint Hildegard and Sibyl of the Rhine, was a German writer, composer, philosopher, Christian mystic, Benedictine abbess, visionary, and polymath.

Hildegard was elected magistra by her fellow nuns in 1136; she founded the monasteries of Rupertsberg in 1150 and Eibingen in 1165. One of her works as a composer, the Ordo Virtutum, is an early example of liturgical drama and arguably the oldest surviving morality play.

Hildegard of Bingen1098 - 1107

She wrote theological, botanical, and medicinal texts, as well as letters, liturgical songs, and poems, while supervising miniature illuminations in the Rupertsberg manuscript of her first work, Scivias.

Although the history of her formal consideration is complicated, she has been recognized as a saint by branches of the Roman Catholic Church for centuries. On 7 October 2012, Pope Benedict XVI named her a Doctor of the Church.

Hildegard of Bingen1098 - 1107

Moses Maimonides (1138-1204)

• Known in Hebrew as Moshe ben Maimon or the Rambam (an acronym)• Regarded as the greatest Jewish philosopher of the Middle Ages• Influenced by:

– Aristotle’s works– Neoplatonism, such as the doctrine that we can only grasp what “the One” is not– Muslim commentaries on Aristotle

• Both widely admired and widely criticized:– Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274) agreed that we cannot know what God is, only what God is

not, but drew more moderate conclusions than Maimonides– Baruch Spinoza (d. 1677) joined Maimonides in rejecting the view of divine

providence as God’s actively taking care of individuals, rewarding them and punishing them, but criticized him for accepting the creation of the world and the possibility of miracles

– Isaac Newton (d. 1726) studied Maimonides extensively; agreed that God is absolutely one and transcendent, also that Scripture contains riddles accessible only to the intellectual elite

• Still influential as a proponent of negative theology and an intepreter of rabbinic Law

The Great Schism of 1054

How did we get here?

Christianity began as one church around 33 AD with the followers/apostles of Christ.

Today there are three main branches of Christianity:

Roman CatholicEastern OrthodoxProtestant

The Normans are a NuisanceAround 1020, the Normans (or Vikings)

invaded the Southern half of Italy.Pope Leo IX of Rome tried to defeat the

Normans but lost badly.The Normans captured the Pope and began

closing down churches in the Southern half of Italy, which was controlled by the Byzantine Empire.

Tension RisingDuring the beginning of the 11th century,

there were already tensions between the east and west.

After Diocletian divided the east and western Roman empire, they had grown apart because of distance.

When Christianity began, arguments began over which diocese should be considered the most powerful.

Starting a FightThe Norman invasion caused problems

between the east and west.The Byzantine churches spoke Greek and had

different customs than the Roman church. The Normans made the churches they

conquered use Latin rituals.To get even, the Emperor in the east made

the Latin churches over there use Eastern customs.

So What was the Big Deal?There was already tension between the

Byzantine and old Roman Empire.The Eastern priests could marry before they

became priests. Rome didn’t agree.The Roman church used unleavened bread in

their mass. The east thought this was too “Jewish”.

The Eastern church had Greek mass. The Roman Church used Latin.

More Issues than Time Magazine The priests of the two churches dressed

different. The Eastern church worshipped icons that

represented religious figures. The west saw this as idol worship.

The Two Major IssuesThe Eastern churches did not like how the

Pope of Rome claimed himself to be the head of the Christian church.

If anyone, the Eastern church believed the patriarch (bishop) of Constantinople should be the head.

In 1054, the final straw came when the Western Church added the filioque to their creed which included the “Holy Spirit” in the Christian Trinity.

Childish SolutionIn 1054, Pope Leo IX of Rome and the

Patriarch/Bishop of Constantinople decided to excommunicate each other.

Excommunication is the worst punishment a member of the Christian Church can receive.

They are not allowed to receive sacraments and have no hope of entering heaven, according to Christian beliefs.

Creation of a New ChurchThe result of the 1054 Schism is the division

between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Church.

The word Orthodox means dedication to the traditional faith.

The Eastern church believed that they followed traditional Christian beliefs and unlike the Roman church with they viewed as greedy and too close to Judaism.

Main beliefs of Eastern Orthodox ChurchEastern Orthodox Christians are not

considered Apostolic (key word “apostle) because they don’t follow the divinity of St. Peter.

They do not recognize the supremacy of the Pope.

The two churches have never gotten back together but did reconcile their differences in the 1900s.

Hagia Sophia “Holy Wisdom”

Next Week: May 24, 2015Chapter 7: Christianity as Living WordsChapter 8: Devotion: Speaking of FaithReformation Christianity 500 - 1450