ÿþ<html> <head> <title> WHKMLA : Historical Dictionaries : Early Christianity </title> <!-- copyright Alexander Ganse, 2004 --> </head> <body bgcolor="lightblue" text="black" link="blue" vlink="red" alink="brown"> <style> <!-- A{ font-weight: bold; font-size: 10pt; font-face: arial; } --> </style> <DIV align ="center"> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD align = "center" valign = "center"> <A HREF = "../../index.html"> <img src = "../../whkmla2.jpg" border = "0"></a></TD></TR></TABLE> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD width = "150" height = "36" align = "center" valign = "center"> <font size = "2" face = "arial"><B> Timeline </b></font></TD> <TD width = "36" height = "36" align = "center" valign = "center"> <A HREF = "../../timelines/wh/tlechr.html"> <img src = "../../region/arrowleft.gif" width = "36" height = "36" border = "0"> </a></TD> <TD align = "center" valign = "center"> <A HREF = "../../timelines/whchapters.html"> <img src = "../banhistdic.jpg" border = "0"> </TD> <TD width = "36" height = "36" align = "center" valign = "center"> <A HREF = "../../biographies/wh/bioechr.html"> <img src = "../../region/arrowright.gif" width = "36" height = "36" border = "0"> </a></TD> <TD width = "100" height = "36" align = "center" valign = "center"> <font size = "2" face = "arial"><B> Biographies </b></font></TD></TR></TABLE> <font size = "3" face = "arial"><B><i>First posted on May 19th 2004 </i></b></font><BR><BR><BR><BR> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD align = "center" valign = "center" width = "900"> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "5"><B> Historical Dictionaries : Early Christianity </B></font> <BR> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "2"><i> http://www.zum.de/whkmla/histdic/wh/hdechr.html </i></font> </B></font></TD></TR></TABLE> <BR><BR> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD align = "left" valign = "center" width = "150"> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "2"> <A NAME = "alexandria">Alexandria</A> <BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "antioch">Antioch</A> <BR><BR> <A NAME = "apostasy">Apostasy</A> <BR> <A NAME = "arianism">Arianism</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "armenia">Armenia</A> <BR> <A NAME = "asceticism">Asceticism</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "axum">Axum</A> <BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "churchfathers">Church Fathers</A> <BR><BR> <A NAME = "copticchurch">Coptic Church</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "council">Council</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "donatism">Donatism</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "gnosticism">Gnosticism</A> <BR><BR> <A NAME = "heresy">Heresy</A> <BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "kartli">Kartli</A> <BR> <A NAME = "manichaeism">Manichaeism</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "martyrdom">Martyrdom</A> <BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "monasticism">Monasticism</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "monophysites">Monophysites</A> <BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "nestorianism">Nestorianism</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "nicenecreed">Nicene Creed</A> <BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "paganism">Paganism</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "papacy">Papacy</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "patriarch">Patriarch</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "persecutions">Persecutions</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "saints">Saints</A> <BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "septuaginta">Septuaginta</A> <BR><BR> <A NAME = "trinity">Trinity</A> <BR><BR><BR> <A NAME = "vulgata">Vulgata</A> <BR><BR> </font></TD> <TD align = "left" valign = "center" width = "500"> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "2"> founded by Alexander the Great; capital of Ptolemaic Egypt; home to a Jewish community <BR> and an important center of early christianity. Both Arius and Athanasius were from <BR> Alexandria. Seat of one of the five patriarchs; center of the Coptic Church. <BR> capital of later Seleucid Empire; large city, important center of early christianity. Seat of <BR> one of the five patriarchs. <BR> Reversion of a christian to pagan/previously held beliefs <BR> an interpretation of christianity, formulated by Arius, which rejects the idea of trinity based <BR> on the notion that God father, the creatorm is identical with God son, the created. At the <BR> time of his death, Constantine sympathized with Arianism and it dominated in the (East) <BR> Roman Empire until Theodosius (379-395) made Catholicism the official creed. In the <BR> meantime, the Eastern Germanics were converted to Arianism by Ulfila. The last people <BR> to hold on to Arianism were the Lombards (until 680). see article from <A HREF = "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01707c.htm">Catholic <BR> Encyclopedia</A> <BR> Kingdom in Eastern Anatolia/the Caucasus region. Converted to christianity in 301 A.D. <BR> (in christianity) a number of early christians retreated into the wilderness, often into the <BR> desert, in order to avoid distraction and get closer to God. Their contemporaries revered <BR> them and asked them for answers. Christian Monasticism grew out of asceticism. see <BR> article from <A HREF = "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01767c.htm">Catholic Encyclopedia</A> <BR> Kingdom in NW Ethiopia, in the region where Amharic is spoken; converted to <BR> Christianity in the 330es. The christian church of Axum (later of Ethiopia) regarded the <BR> Patriarch of Alexandria as the spiritual head of the church. <BR> A number of influential writers of and on early christianity, among them St. Augustine, <BR> St. Ambrose, St. Eusebius of Caesarea, Tertullian <BR> The Egyptian Orthodox church, headed by the Patriarch of Alexandria. About 8 % of the <BR> population of modern Egypt is christian (Coptic, the name derived from Greek for <BR> 'Egyptian'). The Ethiopian church, for most of its history, was a branch of the Coptic <BR> church. see article <A HREF = "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01300b.htm">Church of Alexandria</A> from Catholic Encyclopedia <BR> Ecumenical Councils or General Councils were assemblies of bishops and other dignitaries <BR> which made decisions binding for the entire christianity. The most important ecumenical <BR> councils were held at Nicaea 325, at Constantinople 381, at Ephesus in 431, at Chalcedon <BR> in 451. see article from <A HREF = "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04423f.htm">Catholic Encyclopedia</A> <BR> In 311, during the persecution of christians under Galienus, the bishops were confronted <BR> with a choice - deliver their holy scripts, or suffer torture and execution. Some did, and <BR> saved their lives, while the books were burnt, among them Mensurius, Bishop of Carthago. <BR> Then they were criticized by a group of christians who stated that the scripture was of <BR> higher value than the life of the individual; these Donatists separated from the Catholic <BR> church whose representatives bishops such as Mensurius were. The Donatists lived in <BR> separate communities which still thrived when St. Augustine wrote. In the 5th century <BR> (under Vandal rule) they declined. see article from <A HREF = "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05121a.htm">Catholic Encyclopedia</A> <BR> doctine of salvation by knowledge; has pagan origin; regarded pantheistic in essence. <BR> Secretive. see article from <A HREF = "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06592a.htm">Catholic Encyclopedia</A> <BR> an interpretation of christianity deemed as false by an ecumenical council. Major heresies <BR> of the early church include Arianism, Donatism, Monophytism, Nestorianism. Individual <BR> followers of a heresy are called heretics. see article from <A HREF = "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07256b.htm">Catholic Encyclopedia</A> <BR> Kingdom located in eastern-central Georgia; accepted christianity in the 330es. <BR> a synchretistic religion established by the Persian Mani, in the second half of the third <BR> century A.D., based on Zoroastrian dualism; contains some christian and Buddhist <BR> elements. Spread through the Roman Empire; St. Augustine criticized Manichaeism in <BR> his writing. The Manichaean community in North Africa is still mentioned in 11th century <BR> documents. see article from <A HREF = "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09591a.htm">Catholic Encyclopedia</A> <BR> death for one's belief. Early christianity, emphasizing afterlife, revered martyrs <BR> very much; it was believed that those who were killed because they professed their faith <BR> would enter heaven straight away. see article from <A HREF = "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09736b.htm">Catholic Encyclopedia</A> <BR> refers to the lifestyle of monks; literally to a lifestyle of seclusion. During the period of <BR> christianity as an underground church, a lifestyle of seclusion was attractive, political <BR> instability caused by barbaric raids, civil wars and excessive taxation only providing <BR> additional incentive. In the late third century, some among the many ascetics in Egypt got <BR> organized, and - perhaps cognizant of Buddhist monasticism - founded monasteries. <BR> In 529, St. Benedict of Nursia established the monastery at Monte Cassino, formulating <BR> the Benedictine rule. Monasteries established libraries and cultivated crafts and techniques; <BR> here, much of the knowledge of antiquity survived turbulent times. see the article from <BR> <A HREF = "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10459a.htm">Catholic Encyclopedia</A> <BR> an interpretation of christianity which rejects trinity, accepting only God father as God. <BR> Monophysitism had many adherents in Syria and Egypt. see article from <A HREF = http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10489b.htm">Catholic <BR> Encyclopedia</A> <BR> Nestorius, a monk/cleric from Antioch, 428-431 Patriarch of Constantinople, interpreted <BR> Christ as having a two-fold nature, Christ the man and Christ the reincarnation of God. <BR> This interpretation was condemned by the Council of Ephesus in 431. The Nestorian <BR> Church continued to have adherents in Syria. From there, Nestorian missionaries <BR> established communities in Persia, India, even in China. see article from <A HREF = "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10755a.htm">Catholic <BR> Encyclopedia</A> <BR> Creed approved by the Council of Nicaea 325 - the concept of trinity, the immaculate <BR> conception of Mary, the incarnation of the Holy Spirit by Jesus, the coming resurrection of <BR> the dead. see article from <A HREF = "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11049a.htm">Catholic Encyclopedia</A> <BR> in the time of the Roman Empire, expanding, but illegitimate christianity 'competed' with <BR> the polytheistic beliefs of Romans, Greeks and numerous other peoples. In the third <BR> century, christianity had gained such a large followership, that the adherents of the <BR> traditional Roman etc. gods got organized as pagans (expression derived from Latin <BR> 'pagus' (land, district), i.e. the men from the land, in contrast to the strangers - christianity <BR> interpreted as foreign). Even after christianity was elevated (a) state religion by <BR> Constantine in 325, paganism continued. In the Eastern Empire, paganism was terminated <BR> by Theodosius (379-395). In the west, the incursions of Germanic invaders (as Arian <BR> christians, they left Catholic churches untouched, but plundered pagan temples) dealt a <BR> heavy blow to paganism. see article of <A HREF = "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11388a.htm">Catholic Encyclopedia</A> <BR> in the 4th century, when the church ceased to be an underground organization, 5 patriarchs <BR> were regarded the leading representatives of the church, one of them (and not the first in <BR> reputation) the Bishop of Rome. As St. Peter was the first bishop of Rome, the descendants <BR> in the office held by the first of the apostles claimed to have authority over the entire <BR> church, an authority never recognized by the church of the Byzantine Empire. As the <BR> Roman Catholic population of most of the (former) Western Empire, in the 5th and 6th <BR> centuries, lived as conquered subjects under Arian Germanic kings, they came to look <BR> upon the Bishop of Rome as their spiritiual leader; when the Franks converted to <BR> Catholicism in 496, again the Bishop of Rome (or Pope, literally, father) was recognized. <BR> Thus the Papacy received partial (regional) recognition of her universal claim. <BR> in the 4th century, the five patriarchs were regarded the most authoritative representatives <BR> of christianity - except for ecumenical councils. Their seats are Constantinople, <BR> Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem and Rome. While the Catholic Church recognizes only the <BR> pope, the Patriarch of Constantinople continues to head the Greek Orthodox Church, one <BR> of the patriarchs of Alexandria the Coptic Church. Splits within the eastern church have <BR> lead to the multiplication of patriarchs. see article from <A HREF = "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11549a.htm">Catholic Encyclopedia</A> <BR> during the first three centuries of her existence, and into the fourth century, christianity was <BR> an underground religion, in defiance of the official religion and of the displayed morality of <BR> the state. Reprisals in form of persecutions were frequent. Persecutions could vary in <BR> severity; at times the authorities were content with burning christian books. They left a <BR> lasting mark on christian identity. see article from <A HREF = "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11703a.htm">Catholic Encyclopedia</A> <BR> persons who were believed, because of their deeds and their reverence to God, after their <BR> death, were believed to be, in heaven, in position to intercede on behalf of common souls, <BR> if appealed to. For a person to be recognized as a saint, the processes of beatification and <BR> canonization have to be completed, which involve a vita (hagiography, literally biography <BR> of a saint) and proof of two miracles performed by the saint-to-be. Christians undertook <BR> pilgrimages to sites where the relics (bones) of saints were held. see article from <BR> <A HREF = "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02364b.htm">Catholic Encyclopedia</A> <BR> Greek translation of the Old Testament; written in the 4th century. see article from <BR> <A HREF = "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13722a.htm">Catholic Encyclopedia</A> <BR> the concept of God being threefold, God father, God son and the Holy Spirit. Rejected by <BR> Monophysists; adopted by the Council of Nicaea 325. see article from <A HREF = "http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15047a.htm">Catholic <BR> Encyclopedia</A> <BR> Latin translation of the Bible, translated by St. Jerome 382-405; the authoritative version of <BR> the bible in Latin christianity until into the late 16th century; somewhat flawed. <BR> </font></TD> </TR></TABLE> <BR><BR> <TABLE border = "0" cellspace="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"> <TR> <TD align = "center" valign = "center" width = "700"> <font face = "Times Roman" size = "2"> </font></TD></TR></TABLE> <BR><BR> </DIV> </DIV> <DIV align="center"> <A href="mailto:aganse@hotmail.com"> <IMG src="../../email.gif" border="0"></a><BR> </DIV><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR> <!-- Start of CH Counter --> <script type="text/javascript"> //<!-- // chCounter v2.0.0 // settings: cstatus = "active"; visible = "0"; path_to_counterfile = "http://www.zum.de/whkmla/counter/counter.php"; urlhp = "http://www.zum.de"; //////////////// url = unescape(location.href); file = url.substring(url.lastIndexOf(urlhp) + urlhp.length, url.length); file = (file.charAt(0) != "/") ? 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