A
What used to be the term for a person who believed in gods and goddesses?
pagan
Who was killed for their faith by burning on a gridiron?
Saint Lawrence
What is a martyr?
A person who dies for her or his faith instead of denying it or giving it up.
What are a few reasons why Romans persecuted Christians?
Nero scapegoated them for the Great Fire.
Christians refused to worship the emperor as a God and this seemed disloyal and unpatriotic.
Early Christians wouldn't serve in the army to kill other men.
Romans were worried about their growth in numbers.
What's a person who believes there is no God or gods?
atheist
What's a relic?
A part (usually a bone) of a holy person's body or belongings kept for reverence
Who ordered the largest government-sponsored persecution of Christians in the ancient days?
Diocletian
What did Constantine do in this chapter? Sorry, it's a lot.
He escaped prison after being held hostage and rode hundreds of miles. He saw the Chi Rho (PX) in the sky and heard the words, "In this sign, conquer." He had his soldiers paint that on their shields. They won the Battle of Milvian Bridge, he conquered Rome, and then united the entire empire. He issued the Edict of Milan for religious toleration (especially for Christians). He moved the capital to Byzantium and named it Nova Roma. He later became the first Christian Roman Emperor.
What term means extremely strict and harsh living, sometimes for religious purposes?
ascetic
How did Tertullian lose his way?
Despite his amazing quote, speaking skills, arguments defending Christianity, and use of Greek philosophy, he lost his way. He abandoned Greek philosophy, became a Montanist, and then founded his own group that wasn't fully Christian.
What's Tertullian's famous quote/theme of this unit of study AND what does it mean?
"The blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christians" / "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church."
The more Christians were killed, the more the faith grew. People were amazed at and inspired by the martyrs' courage and realized their faith must be real.
How did Christians in the second and third centuries help improve schooling?
Christians used the logical teachings of Greek philosophy to instruct others about their faith and to prove parts of it. Bishops founded Christian schools in major cities (Carthage, Rome, and Alexandria) and they became mainstream (part of the intellectual life of the Roman empire). Saint Clement of Alexandria headed a school that flourished for hundreds of years. Tertullian and Origen were brilliant teachers and scholars before they became heretical.
What was the name of the largest government-sponsored persecution of Christians during the Roman Empire?
Great Persecution
Who taught and argued in his writing that Christians had the best morals and were loyal citizens to Rome? He also used Greek philosophy to show Jesus was divine and that the Trinity was the same substance. He might have been the first to defend the Trinity.
Athenagoras of Alexandria
Who was most responsible/to blame for the largest government-sponsored persecution of Christians in the ancient days?
Galerius
Who invented Logos teaching?
Saint Justin Martyr
Why is Greek philosophy important for Christianity?
Greek philosophy uses observation, hypotheses, experimentation, data, and evidence to prove something is true. This method can be used to prove many things about the Christian faith.
What's a heresy?
A false teaching that emphasizes part of what is true but ignores or denies the full tradition/truth.
What is the art of speaking and writing well and eloquently?
rhetoric
Who was an 86-year-old bishop who was put in flames, didn't cry out, and was stabbed to death so he'd die quicker? He also may have met one of the Twelve Apostles.
Saint Polycarp
What was Marcionism?
A heresy taught by Marcion that said the Old Testament God was false and that many Old Testament books weren't true books of the Bible.
Fully explain the Logos.
Logos means "Word" in Greek and became a teaching that Jesus is the Word and Truth of God in human form. It taught that Christianity and the natural world go together to reveal the truth, and showed how Greek philosophy could explain Christianity.
What was Gnosticism?
A heresy that taught a secret knowledge was needed to be saved and that the material world was an evil prison for the soul (kind of like the Matrix).
Why was Origen important?
How did Origen lose his way?
Origen endured his father's martyrdom and had to raise his family. He was a prodigy at age 18 and became a scholar/teacher in Alexandria and later headed that school. He had already mastered Plato. Christians and pagans read him because he was so brilliant. He wrote so much and so fast that he had to hire copyists. Some of the greatest Church Fathers studied his works.
Origen lost his way by saying that Christ's love was so great that everyone, including those in hell and Satan, would be saved before the Apocalypse (end of time).
What was Montanism?
A heresy taught by Montanus that rejected Greek philosophy to understand Christianity, said real Christians had to live extremely strict lives, and said Montanus was a prophet.