2. The Holy Bible: John 17:20-23
The Church Teaching: Second Vatican
Council
Decree on Ecumenism (Unitatis Redintegratio)
o Principal Concern – Restoration of Unity all
Christians.
o Christ founded one Church and one Church
only
o However: Many present as true inheritors of
Jesus Christ, but differ in mind and go their
different ways as if Christ himself were divided.
3. •
Division contradicts the will of Christ…
Scandalizes the world
Damages the Holy cause of preaching the
gospel to every creature
The Second Council gladly notes all this: “It has
already declared its teaching on the
Church, and now, moved by a desire to the
restoration of Unity among all the followers of
Christ, it wishes to set before all Catholics the
ways and means by which they too can
respond to this grace and to this divine call.”
4.
Second Vatican Council: Declaration on
the Relation of the Church to NonChristian Religions (Nostra Aetate)
o
o
o
o
CHURCH examines more closely her
relation to non-Christian religions.
TASK is to promote unity and love among
men and women, indeed among nations,
considers having in common and what
draws them to fellowship.
One in the community, origin and final goal
Gods providence and goodness extend to
all men and women, until God where the
nations will walk in His light.
5. Points to Consider:
Constantine
o
o
Time
Moved the capital of the Roman empire to
Constantinople in the first part of the fourth
century (300-400 CE)
Constantinople – old name “Byzantine,”
where there was a straight line form
Constantine to the emperors of the sixth
and later centuries.
6. o
o
o
o
In 337 CE, a Germanic tribe, the
Goths, attacked the eastern part of the
empire.
The following year, the Emperor Valens
battled the Goths at Adrianople (in Modern
Turkey) the fight went poorly as they lost
two-thirds of his army and his life.
The Goths advanced to he borders of
Constantinople and invading various of the
empire for many years.
Then, another happened the Germanic
tribe, the Visigoths, took Rome itself on
August 23, 410 C.E (under commander
Alaric) the tribe ran killing and plundering
through the streets of the city for three days
before moving on.
7. o
o
Germanic tribes is what the Romans called,
as other in Western Europe, it is “Barbarian”
it comes from the Greek word, which
means “foreigner”.
By 6th century, the Roman structure of
government was just a memory…
No civil service
No standing army
No legal code
No public court system
No method of taxation
8. o
o
Who then could administer any form of
justice or get public works?
The local bishop (Pope in Rome) too more
public responsibilities…involved so much in
politics.
Appointing Emperors or Kings
Taking part in negotiations between kingdom
( At this point, the Church became even more
institutionalized taking on public administration
over government of the fallen Roman empire.)
9. Looking back over 1500 years of
Church history…
Not
one perfect harmony…There were:
Political Conflicts
Religious Controversies
Invasions
Destructions
Hatreds
Condemnations tore the Church apart bit
by bit.
10. On between 9th & 13th Century
The
situation went bad, worse and awful.
-Let’s take a look…
They Spoke Different Languages:
Christians in the East spoke commonly in
Greek and West in Latin.
Invasions and communications became
difficult, and the gap became also wider.
It led to the differences in development of
ideas; and further misunderstanding.
11.
They Thought Differently about Political Issues:
Germanic invaders forced the Pope to assume
the political role.
They Thought Differently about Theological Issues:
Question: What did Christ do for humans? A
theological question to consider…
There were different answer in the East and the
West.
Eastern Theologians: “Christ is giving humans a
way to become divine once again.”
Western Theologians: “Christ saving humanity
from the consequences of their sins.”
- These main ideas led to different implications
whether or not priests should marry, and how
liturgy should be made.
12. Another
Understanding: Authority should
really rest in the Church.
Western – considered the Pope as the head
of the whole Church.
Eastern – considered the Pope simply as the
first among equals of the ancient
patriarchal sees (the patriarch).
- The east has always believe that the Church’s
highest authority lay in the works of the
councils, not in the decrees of Popes or
Patriarchs.
13. In
11th Century: the two sides were tried to
work thing out.
In 1054: the Pope sent representatives to
Constantinople in an attempt at
diplomacy. When it became clear that
this was not going to work, the Pope’s
representative walked in the Hagia
Sophia (the Church of the Holy Wisdom)
during worship service, laid a letter
excommunicating the Patriarch on the
altar, and walked out. For the part of the
Patriarch wasted no times in calling a
council and excommunicating the papal
representatives.
14. The
separation was more on
administration and not about doctrine.
In the middle ages: Christians were eager
to change the world up to the extent they
wanted to change other lands to be
rightfully ruled by Christians.
This attitude led to the event of the
Crusades…
The impetus behind the Crusades was the
desire to free from the hands of the
infidels (non-believers) the land in which
Jesus had lived and carried out his ministry
– Jerusalem or the Holy Land.
15.
Second half of 11th Century: European
Christians headed on pilgrimage to the Holy
land.
The area was controlled by the Saracen
group known as Seljuks and they were
unhappy at the arrival of European Christians.
They began to make life difficult.
In 1095; Pope Urban II become tired of
hearing about the difficulties of the Christians
having pilgrimage in Jerusalem; so he called
on the French people to liberate the land
from Seljuk control. Because of this, the first
Crusade was called forth, adopting the
slogan “Deus Volt” or “God wills it.” The first
crusade was a military success, the Crusaders
captured Jerusalem and other lands.
16. The following provides a snapshot of the Crusades
CRUSADE
WHEN (AD/CE) WHY CALLED
HOW IT WENT
First
1096 - 1099
Pilgrims
Problems
French knights set up
kingdoms in Jerusalem
and three other areas
Second
1146 - 1149
Loss of one of
the Crusader
Kingdoms to
Saracens
Called by Pope Eugenius
II and preached by
Bernard of Clairvaux;
ended in total defeat
Third
1187 - 1190
Saracen
leader
Saladin’s
conquest of
Jerusalem
Fell apart when the French
king took his knights and
went home; English king
Richard the Lionhearted
negotiated treaty that
permitted Christian
Pilgrims to visit the holy
places
17. CRUSADE WHEN (AD/CE) WHY CALLED
HOW IT WENT
Fourth
1201 - 1204
Failure to
recapture
Jerusalem during
3rd crusade
Crusaders turned aside to
Constantinople and ended
up conquering a Christian
city; complete break of
communion between East
and West
Fifth &
Sixth
1228 - 1204
Wanted to
capture Egypt,
which would
pave the way to
recapture
Jerusalem
After some initial success,
ended defeat, although an
unstable kingdom was
established in Jerusalem
Seventh
1248 - 1254
Loss of Jerusalem
in 1244 and vow
of Louis IX of
France to go
Crusade of
recovered from
an illness
Terrible loss of life and
money with little show of it in
1270, Louis returned, wanting
to finish what he had started,
but both he and a son died
on this Crusade
18. The
crusades also got people thinking
about what it means to fight a holy war
and when violence may be used in the
service of religious goals.
Sadly, most people decide in favor of
force. This led to Christians feeling justified
in using brutality to evangelize areas that
were not traditionally Christian.
