Early Church & Empire
This person's conversion marked a major turning point in the relationship between Christianity and the Roman Empire.
Who is Constantine?
This man taught that the Son was a created being and that "there was a time when he was not."
Who is Arius?
This title for Mary means "God-bearer" and became a major point of controversy in one of the debates.
What is Theotokos?
This Egyptian hermit is traditionally regarded as the father of Christian monasticism and pursued a solitary ascetic life in the desert.
Who is Antony?
This bishop required Emperor Theodosius to undergo public penance after the massacre at Thessalonica.
Who is Ambrose of Milan?
This term referred to Christians who had handed over Scriptures to authorities during persecution, becoming a central issue in the Donatist controversy.
What are traditores?
This term means that Christ is "of the same substance" with the Father.
What is homoousios?
This bishop was condemned at the Council of Ephesus in 431 largely because of his objection to calling Mary "Theotokos."
Who is Nestorius?
This Egyptian monk is associated with organizing communal, or cenobitic, monasticism rather than the solitary life of the desert hermits.
Who is Pachomius?
In this threefold distinction of Christian devotion, this term refers to the worship due to God alone.
What is latria?
This controversy asked whether sacraments administered by clergy who had handed over Scriptures during persecution were still valid.
What is the Donatist controversy?
This theologian argued that if Christ were not fully divine, humanity could not truly be saved or "deified" through him.
Who is Athanasius?
This Alexandrian theologian championed the unity of Christ's person and supported the title Theotokos at the Council of Ephesus.
Who is Cyril of Alexandria?
This monk's Rule became one of the most influential guides for communal monastic life in the Western church.
Who is Benedict of Nursia?
This term refers to the special veneration given specifically and uniquely to Mary, greater than that given to other saints.
What is hyperdulia?
This historical event marked the collapse of Roman imperial rule in the West and formed an important backdrop for the transformation of the Christian church in late antiquity.
What is the fall of the Western Roman Empire?
These three Fathers helped clarify Trinitarian language by distinguishing between ousia, meaning substance, and hypostasis, meaning person.
Who are Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Gregory of Nyssa?
This council, held in 451, defined Christ as one person in two natures—without confusion, without change, without division, and without separation.
What is the Council of Chalcedon?
After persecution ended and martyrdom was no longer the supreme expression of Christian devotion, some Christians pursued this kind of "white martyrdom" through asceticism.
What is monasticism?
This influential bishop, who lived from 354 to 430, shaped later Western teaching concerning grace, sin, and the church.
Who is Augustine?
This person taught that the divine Word replaced the human rational soul (or mind) in Christ.
Who is Apollinarius?
This Greek term means "person" or "subsistence" and became important in distinguishing the three persons of the Trinity while affirming one divine substance.
What is hypostasis?
The Alexandrian school emphasized the unity of Christ's person, while this school emphasized a clear distinction between Christ's divine and human natures, seeking to protect the integrity of each.
What is the Antiochene school?
This form of monasticism describes monks living together in an organized community under a common rule rather than pursuing solitary life in the desert.
What is cenobitic monasticism?
This term refers to the veneration given to saints, distinguishing it from worship due to God alone, and veneration specifically to Mary.
What is dulia?