CH 500 Lecture 1 1

CH 500 Lecture 1Introduction and Background

Dr. Ann T. Orlando

11 January 2011

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Introduction to Class

Introductory remarks Importance of Church History for me Review Syllabus

Requirements Structure of course Course Web Site

Primary sources Where are they? How to read them

‘Running start’ from “In the beginning…” to c. 100 AD (CE)

Review Readings for next week

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Importance of Church History(or why I love Church History) Gives me the context for the theological answers

that have been developed and taught by the Church Often, can’t appreciate the answer without knowing the

question Example: Jesus Christ whom we confess as one person

with two natures Gives me an appreciation for importance of Catholic

Church in Western civilization Gives the examples of holy men and women for me

to follow

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Requirements

Class attendance and active participation. Each class will consist of two parts;

Reading of one page papers and discussion by class Lecture

Reading for each class will include approximately 100 pages. The 1 page paper every week; should focus on the primary source readings.

The paper should start with a one sentence thesis statement, followed by supporting arguments that answers the paper topic question.

Two Exams: Midterm will cover first half of semester (closed book) Final will cover second half of semester (closed book) Both midterm and final will include matching quotes to primary source authors;

identification of terms and people; geography identification; brief essays Grade:

1/3 papers and discussion (100 pts) 1/3 midterm (100 pts) 1/3 final (100 pts)

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Texts for Class

John Vidmar, The Catholic Church Through the Ages (New York: Paulist, 2005).

John McManners, Oxford Illustrated History of Christianity (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990).

Augustine, Confessions, Chadwick or Boulding translations preferred.

CCC Course Pack Internet sources

Be very careful here; please opnly use a web source if I suggest it.

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Structure for Course

Divide Church History into approximately 300 year intervals; devote two classes to each interval First class discuss political situation, church-state

issues Second class for each period focus on

theological, liturgical and spiritual developments Note that these are often not independent

categories, but one will often effect the other See syllabus for examples

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Structure for Each Class Period One page paper will be read by class-member;

followed by class discussion of readings Break I will lecture on what the readings cover for the

coming week I will review readings for coming week Primary and Secondary Readings are to be read for

the NEXT week See syllabus for example Each week will alternate secondary reading

between Vidmar and McManners

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Web Site for Class

web.mit.edu/aorlando/www/ChurchHistory/ Several files

PDF file of syllabus Web file (html) with links to web primary readings;

other background resources of interest; Basic map of key historical regions (large pdf file) Lecture slides; posted day after each lecture, in a

folder called Lectures; PDF

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Primary Sources

Different, multiple sources each week; should be focus of papers Reference ancient works using Book/Chapter/Paragraph numbering (e.g., Luke 1:1-4) Some are found in packet from BC, others are available on the web; URL provided in

syllabus and web site Read everything critically (includes secondary sources)

What is author’s perspective Dwyer: modern, late 20th C American Catholic McManners: modern, late 20th C English Protestant

What issues is author addressing; how important is the historical circumstance to those issues

Who is the audience What is genre of the work (homily, thesis, poem, letter, Biblical commentary)

Caution using Web Resources Anybody can put anything on the web and claim that it is ‘authoritative’ Many ancient works, especially early Church Fathers, are available, but in older

translations Maintenance of a web resource is still on an individual basis; no guarantee that

information will be well maintained

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Difficulty of Primary Source Readings I know that this is a lot of material I know that it is often very difficult to read Therefore

At the end of each class I will strongly suggest what should be read carefully, and what should be skimmed

I will try to point out key themes It will serve you well to bring the next weeks’

readings with you

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Background to the Beginning of Church History Broad Historical Periods Three Strands Leading into First Century

Story of people Israel (Old Testament) Secular history Philosophical history

New Testament As history of early Church Missionary Activities Early decisions by Apostles

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First Strand: “In the beginning… Adam, Eve, the Fall and God establishes a people with a special relationship to

Him: dateless, timeless; Genesis Moses c. 1250 BCE (BC) Exodus through Deuteronomy David c. 1000 BC Samuel, Kings, Chronicles Destruction of 1st Temple; 586 Babylonian Captivity by Nebuchadnezzar; Isaiah,

Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Return and rebuilding of Temple (Second Temple) 539 BC by Persian King

Cyrus; Ezra, Nehemiah Israel between two great Greek powers; 330 BC to 160 BC; Maccabees appeal

to Rome for help; Daniel writes about whore of Babylon, but really is referring to Seleucids

Palestine a client of Rome 160 BC to 4 BC (death of Herod the Great) Jesus Christ 1 to 33 AD Palestine revolts; destruction of Second Temple in 70 AD; occupied by Rome

until 650 AD and Arab conquests New Testament written between 50 and 90 AD

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Second Strand: Secular History Background Alexander the Great

Son of Philip of Macedonia; Student of Aristotle Conquers the ‘world’ by age of 33 Founds Alexandria, center of learning for next 600 years Dies in 323 BC; leaving his generals in charge of various parts of

his conquests Hellenistic (Greek) Empires 323 – 31 BC

Macedonians: Greece, Sicily, southern Italy Seleucids: Asia Minor, Syria and Mesopotamia Ptolemies: Egypt and Cyrene As a result of this extended period of Greek rule, the ‘lingua

franca’ of the Mediterranean was Greek from the 4th C BC until the 5th C AD in the West and the 15th C in the East

Israel between two major competing Empires: Seleucid and Ptolemy

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Map of Conquests of Alexander Greathttp://library.thinkquest.org/10805/alexmap.html

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Rome

Traditional founding date of 753 BC Started as a Republic ruled by Senate Punic Wars, conquers and destroys Carthage 202

BC Maccabees ask Rome for help against Seleucids

160 BC Julius Caesar conquers Gaul 80 BC Augustus defeats Anthony and Cleopatra (last

Ptolemy ruler of Egypt) at Actium in 31 BC; Roman Empire established

Roman Empire existed in some form between 31 BC and 1453 AD

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Roman Society

Roman religion was a public, civic obligation; NOT a way to have a personal relationship with Divine ‘mystery religions’ became very popular in 1st through 3rd Century Roman Society

(Cults of Mithra; Isis and Osiris; Dionysius) Anyone who did not offer sacrifice for the good of the state was considered an atheist

Roman Emperor increasingly was a general who was ‘adopted’ by current Emperor (Augustus).

Cult of Roman Emperor as god in his lifetime was started by Nero Roman household was composed of patron (father) and clients (wife, children,

slaves, business associates dependent upon him) Father had complete control of clients Adoption was very common Owning property was far more prestigious than commerce

Excellent road and mail system throughout the Empire Note that the most Latin (least Greek) part of the Empire was North Africa

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Third Strand: Philosophical Background Athenian Philosophy Before Alexander

Socrates and Plato: Platonism (and indirectly skepticism); Academy

Aristotle: Plato’s student, founder of Lyceum and Aristotelianism

Hellenistic Philosophy (see Acts 17:18) Epicurus, fought in Alexander’s army; opposed to Plato,

founder of Epicureanism; the Garden Zeno: opposed to Epicurus, founder of Stoicism; the Stoa

Neo-Platonism centered in Alexandria 250 AD Note that ancient philosophy was considered a way of life; not an

academic discipline Catholic Christianity has always used contemporary philosophical

methods as the language of theology and as an aid to interpret the Bible; philosophy as the handmaid of theology. Example: Virtue

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Platonism and Aristotelianism Platonism

Happiness is found in choosing the good and the beautiful Uncertain whether virtue is learned or gift of gods The physical world is only a shadow of the real world Socrates always searching for knowledge (but does he ever find it?) God is not material

Aristotelianism Happiness is an activity of the soul in accordance with virtue Virtue is the mean between two vices as a prudent man would define it Knowledge leads to virtue; exceptional people can make themselves virtuous Keen interest in the physical world; especially systems of classification ‘Metaphysics’ is Aristotle’s treatment of ethics; it occurs in his works ‘after

physics’ God as prime mover and as the end (telos)

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Stoicism

Happiness is following the will of God God everywhere, god as logos (rational necessity); god as a type

of gas that permeates everything His providence rules everything (see Acts 17:28) Ethics based on following God’s plan for you; no free will;

emphasis on virtues; judgment by God after death Natural law as part of Providence’s eternal law Passions are to be subordinated to intellect Allegorical interpretation of Greek myths Dominant philosophy of Roman Empire Seneca, Epictitus, Marcus Aurelius

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Epicureans

God or gods are uninterested in created world Free will; not bound by ties of family or duty No life after death Ethics based on pleasure Science and technology very important; based on random motion

of atoms Justice based upon contractual agreements Opposed to allegory and prophecy as a way of knowing Favored philosophy of intellectual Romans who wanted to

withdraw from society Women encouraged to join as full members of schools Lucretius, Philodemus Roundly condemned by all other philosophies; rabbinic word for

atheist is derived from Epicurus

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History of Church in New Testament Paul’s Letters are the oldest Christian documents we have.

However, Paul was not writing a general history, he was responding to specific problems in specific communities (except for Romans)

[Paul and Peter martyred in 64 AD by Nero] Gospel of Luke and Acts of Apostles

written in an ancient historical style; Luke gives an ‘ordered account’ of Jesus and the early Church

Council of Jerusalem in which Paul’s position that Gentiles do not need to convert to Judaism is affirmed (Acts 15)

Story of how the Church was spread by Paul’s missionary activity Revelation (most scholars believe) is based on persecution of

Christians in Asia Minor during Domitian’s reign; Rome as whore of Babylon

Note: John’s Gospel is most philosophical; Jesus as Logos

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Review Readings for Next Week Vidmar, pp 1-24 CCC 759-760 (God’s Plan); and 95 (Theology) Dei Verbum (all)

Read carefully Ch II; III; V; Role of apostles and bishops TRUTH

Fides et Ratio (Introduction, Ch I, Ch IV) What is relationship of faith and reason What is role of philosophy and history in study of theology TRUTH

Biblical Readings Consider historical context of events Luke 1:1-4, TRUTH

Josephus Brief account of Roman destruction of Temple Josephus is very often cited as an important 1st C source NB Josephus was also a traitor from Jews to Romans; living under protection of Titus How does this color what he is writing?