1. Period 1 Early Christianity to Constantine – The First Three Centuries

2. Christianity Many forms of Christianity in Australia Catholic
Protestant
Orthodox

3. Christian life in the first 3 centuries the first communities

4. Who was Jesus?
Jesus was born into a Jewish family and raised in the Jewish religion.
In Jesus’ time, the Roman empire was at its height.
Jesus taught about a loving God, about the Kingdom of God, and about the desire for everyone to live in peace, love and harmony.
Jesus was crucified by the Roman government and resurrected.
Two key beliefs at the centre of the Christian faith: the resurrection of Jesus and the human and divine natures of Jesus.

5. The earliest followers of jesus
Christianity begun as a movement within Judaism.
The disciples saw themselves as Jews – going to the Temple, keeping the food and other laws outlined in the Torah, and continuing to pray as Jews.
The disciples taught only to the Jewish people until particular groups of disciples led by a deacon, Stephen, broke with this practice and began to preach to the Gentiles (non-Jewish people).

6. Saint Stephen
Stephen’s criticism of the Jewish leaders led to his death by stoning. He was the first of many Christian disciples to die as a martyr.
Stephen’s followers began to preach the Gospel wherever they travelled and to whoever would listen, no longer seeing the message of Jesus as belonging only to the Jews.

7. The spread of Christianity among the gentiles
Good network of roads and seaways throughout the Roman empire.
Greek language was used throughout the whole empire.
Stable form of government.
The witness of Christians who lived by the simple law of love.
Christians nursed the sick and cared for the poor. People of all classes were welcomed into the Church.

8. Questions *Why was Stephen stoned?
*What changes did Stephen’s martyrdom cause?
*Who are the Gentiles?
List what you think are the two most important reasons for the spread of Christianity amongst the Gentiles. Give reasons for your answers.

9. Were the teachings of Jesus just for the Jews, or were they also for the Gentiles?

10. Ad 49 - Council of Jerusalem
The first Council of the Church, the Council of Jerusalem in AD 49.
Paul’s view that Gentiles and Jews alike were saved by Christ was finally accepted.
Paul began a series of journeys to many places in the Roman Empire where he preached the Gospel and set up Christian communities.

11. Separation between Christians and jews
The prayers said in the Synagogue looked forward to the coming of the Messiah, but Christians firmly believed and proclaimed that the Messiah had already come in Jesus whom they called the Christ (a title which means Messiah).
This posed a problem between the Christians and Jews.

12. Questions Read through Acts 15: 1-21 and TKWL Section 6.3.
*What was the decision that was made at the Council of Jerusalem?
Did this decision satisfy Paul and meet the needs of the converts he was representing?
*How did this decision fit with the mission given by Jesus to the apostles – ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you’?
If the decision went the other way, that is, all converts had to become Jews and follow all the Jewish laws, what impact do you think this would have had on the mission given by Jesus to the Apostles?

13. persecutions
Christianity began to attract the dislike of the Jewish leaders and of the pagans (those who followed the religions of Rome). This is because Christians kept themselves apart from many public activities.
They would not buy meats that had been offered to idols, the Roman gods.
A Christian jeweler would refuse to decorate a pagan statue.
Christian patients would not attend the hospitals which were visited by pagan priests who prayed to the gods of Rome.
Christians would not attend gladiatorial combats.
Many Christians would not serve in the army.
It was difficult for the Romans to understand a strictly monotheistic religion, since Roman religions worshipped many gods. The fact that the rituals of Christianity tended to be secret also caused suspicion.

14. ‘The blood of the martyr is the seed of the church’
In AD 64, Roman Emperor Nero began to persecute Christians.
He killed Christians with terrible cruelty – he used some of them as human torches to light up a celebration in his garden.
The Apostles Peter and Paul both met their deaths at the hands of Nero.
Christianity became an illegal religion, and countless Christians suffered for their faith.
It was not until the fourth century when Constantine became the emperor that this persecution of Christians stopped.

15. Church and state
In 324, Constantine became sole emperor of the Roman Empire. He was committed to Christianity, even though he was only baptised just before his death.
Constantine’s commitment to Christ (in 312) is said to have resulted from a dream in which he saw in the sky the first two letters of the Greek word, Christos (XP). He had this sign painted on his soldiers’ shields, and under its banner he conquered his rivals to become Emperor of both Eastern and Western sides of the Empire.
Constantine immediately made Christianity equal to the Roman religions, and allowed Christians to worship publicly. Soon Christianity became the state religion of the empire and paganism was outlawed.

16. Questions
The early Christians kept themselves apart from many public activities. Name two and explain why you think they would not have participated in these activities.
*What is the story behind Constantine granting religious freedom, including to Christians?

17. Council of Nicea – Nicene Creed
In AD 325, Constantine called a Council of the Church at Nicea.
It was called to resolve the Arian controversy (Arianism)
Arius of Alexandria challenged the belief in the divinity of Jesus. He claimed that Jesus was not God, and therefore, was not equal to the Father.
This Council clarified the doctrine of the Trinity, which teaches that there are three Persons in the One God: God the Father, Jesus Christ who is God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
The Nicene Creed was created and Arius was condemned for his heretical position.

18. Questions
*What was Arianism?
*What did the Council of Nicea decide?

19. Activity – Please let me know when you are up to this stage.
** Create a visual representation of five important people within Early Christianity. You may choose to focus on:
Saint Stephen
Saint Paul
Saint Peter
Saint Augustine
Emperor Constantine
Research their lives – why are they important? How did they die? When did they live?

20. Another challenge: 428 ad
Patriarch of Constantinople, Nestorius, argued that Christ had two personalities because He was two persons – a human person and a divine person.
Today, we understand that Christ is both fully human and fully divine.
Pope St Celestine I and St Cyril of Alexandria taught that Jesus is one person with two natures, disagreeing with Nestorius.
Nestorianism went on to argue that Mary was the mother of Jesus, but she was not the mother of God.

21. The third ecumenical council: Ephesus (431ce)
The Third Ecumenical Council was held in 431, by Emperor Theodosius II, in Ephesus regarding the Nestorian heresy.
The Council reinforced the view that Christ is both fully human and fully divine.
Mary was the mother of the whole Christ, both the humane and divine.
However, the Persian Christians did not accept the teachings of the Council of Ephesus.

22. Questions *What did Nestorius argue?
*Who were the two main people that disagreed with Nestorius?
*What did the Council of Ephesus teach?
Which community did not accept the teachings of the Council of Ephesus in 431 and broke away from the Christian church?

23. More challenges: THE NATURE OF JESUS CHRIST, AGAIN!
Monophysitism (one nature)– denied the existence of the two natures of Christ.
Christ’s human nature (less perfect) dissolved itself in His divine nature (more perfect). This created one single nature.
Example: sugar in water.

24. The fourth ecumenical council: chalcedon AD 451
In 451 AD, the Council of Chalcedon was held by Emperor Marcian.
Six hundred and thirty Bishops were present.
The Council condemned Monophysitism.
It reiterated that Jesus is one Person, who has two natures – fully human and fully divine.
Many Christians in Syria and Egypt did not accept this teaching and became separated from the rest of the Church.
Today, these Christians make up the Jacobite Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church.

25. Questions What is Monophysitism?
*How many Bishops were present at the Council of Chalcedon?
*What did the Council of Chalcedon teach?
Which communities did not accept the teachings of the Council of Chalcedon in 451 and also broke away from the Christian church?

26. Period 2 The breakup between eastern and western Christianity

27. Going back a bit..
In the year AD 330, Constantine (Emperor of both Eastern and Western sides of the Empire) transferred his government from Rome to Byzantium in the East.
He renamed the city New Rome and rebuilt it. After his death, it was named Constantinople. Today, Constantinople is the modern city of Istanbul in Turkey.
A new and rich city emerged from Constantinople, and this came to be known as the Byzantine empire.
Western Christianity was based in Rome and Eastern Christianity in Constantinople. Two different forms of Christianity emerged from this situation.

28. Division and disunity
Main differences between the Eastern and Western Church
The Church in the West (governed by the Pope) and the Church in the East (governed by the Patriarch).
The language of the Western Church was Latin, while the language of the Eastern Church was Greek.
The Church of Rome thought that it should have authority in Christianity because St Peter had founded it. The Church of Constantinople claimed authority because it was the capital of the Roman Empire.

29. Eucharist
Eastern Christians emphasised the mystery of the Eucharist, concealing the altar behind curtains and later, the iconostasis.
In the West, this approach gradually gave way to an emphasis on letting the people see what was happening at the altar.

30. More differences.. How the Eucharist was received
The kind of bread used
Vestments of the Clergy

31. Holy images
In the eight century, disputes arose in the East about whether it was right to use images of Jesus, Mary and the saints.
Some emperors banned them entirely, permitting only the Cross.
Later, the use of images was restored in the East – these are called icons. In the West, statues, as well as pictures continued to be honored in churches and home.

32. Celibacy
The Eastern Churches continued to ordain some married deacons to the priesthood, but the Western Church increasingly insisted on the celibacy of all the clergy.

33. The argument over papal authority
In 1054, there was a parting between the Church in the West and the Church in the East.
The Eastern form of Christianity, generally known as the Orthodox East, became progressively separated from the Western form of Christianity, led by the Pope, to this day.
However, some Eastern Catholic Christians, such as the Maronite Catholics in Lebanon, never lost unity with Rome. Within the Catholic Church, the Eastern Catholic Churches still maintain their own liturgies and customs.

34. Movement to reconciliation
In 1965, Pope Paul VI met with the Eastern Patriarch Athenagoras, and together they issued a statement of regret for the misunderstanding of earlier centuries.
In 1995, the Patriarch, Bartholomeos I, Archbishop of Constantinople and Ecumenical Patriarch, paid an historic visit to Pope John Paul II in Rome.
In 1996, the Patriarch paid his first visit to Australia where he was warmly welcomed by members of his own Churches, as well as by the leaders of other Churches and the Australian government.
In 1995, Pope John Paul II wrote an important Encyclical devoted to Christian unity.

35. “The Church must breathe with her two lungs!”

36. Activity #1
1. **Using the informative in the previous slides, summarise the main differences between the Eastern and Western Churches by filling out the table.
Eastern
Western
Leader
Language
Centre of authority
Celebration of the Eucharist
Holy images/icons
Priestly celibacy

37. The Situation today
Eastern Churches within the Catholic Church in Communion with Rome in Australia
The Armenian Catholic Church
The Chaldean and Assyrian Catholic Church
The Coptic Catholic Church
The Melkite Greek Catholic Church
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
The Russian Catholic Church
The Maronite Catholic Church
The Syrian Catholic Church
Eastern Churches in Communion with Constantinople or another Patriarchate in Australia
The Greek Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church
The Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East
The Coptic Orthodox Church
The Armenian Apostolic Church
The Antiochian Orthodox Church
The Syrian Orthodox Church

38. Activities #2 & #3
Write an interview between an Eastern Catholic, a Roman Catholic and an Eastern Orthodox person discussing their Church and the differences between them. You may need to use the Internet to research about the Churches.
*You’re in charge of creating an Icon for the Melkite Greek Catholic Church of Australia.
Stuck for ideas?
Search Byzantine Icons on Google or choose your favourite Saint and find an Icon of them!