1. Post Classical Civilizations: The Age of Faith and Two Christian Thinkers

2. Reasons for the Church’s Power The Role of Faith ▫People were very religious ▫Believed the Church represented God and held the power to send people to Heaven or Hell. ▫Most felt united by their common faith

3. Reasons for the Church’s Power Power and Wealth ▫Many nobles left land to the Church when they died, hoping to gain entry into Heaven. ▫The Church became Europe’s largest landowner. ▫Church wealth also increased through tithes (giving 10% of your income to the Church).

4. Reasons for the Church’s Power Center of Learning ▫Church officials were usually the only people who could read and write. ▫Rulers often relied on Church officials, since they were the most educated people.

5. The Age of Faith The head of the Catholic Church is the Pope in Rome. The Pope governed the Church with the help of cardinals, bishops, and other church officials. Possessed monasteries, abbeys, and convents, where monks and nuns spent their lives devoted to prayer.

6. Two Christian Thinkers St. Augustine lived at the time of the fall of Rome and wrote The City of God, in which he asks God why He is letting barbarians destroy Rome. He concludes that no earthly city can last forever, only the “City of God” in Heaven is eternal. He said to put our faith in God, who will reward us in the afterlife.

8. Two Christian Thinkers St. Thomas Aquinas lived 800 years after St. Augustine. Summa Theologica provided a summary of Christian beliefs. Showed how the works of Aristotle were compatible with Christian teachings because God had given man the power of reason to help him explain and interpret the world. We should trust reason as well as faith.

10. Two Christian Thinkers Aquinas also believed in the existence of “natural law”—universal laws independent of any laws passed by government. We can use our understanding of natural law to evaluate the laws of the government—if a human law conflicts with a natural law, we do not have to obey it.

11. Two Christian Thinkers Aquinas believed that citizens have the right to remove rulers who continually make unjust laws. He thought that a ruler’s power came from God, but he felt this power came from God through the people.

12. Left Side Make a bubble map about the Age of Faith Should have at least one bubble per slide from notes