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If They Hated the Master....
Make Rome Great Again
Foundational Debates
Can't We All Just Get Along
Pick Your Heresy
100
He was the first emperor to persecute Christians and blamed Christians for the Fire of Rome in 64AD
Who is Nero?
100
This Emperor sought to restore the glory of the Roman Empire through Christianity rather than the old Roman religion.
Who was Constantine?
100
This popular presbyter in the city of Alexandria provoked a revolt when he appealed to the people of the city to stand with him and chant jingles declaring, "there was a time when He was not."
Who was Arius?
100
This name was given to those Christians who were unable to withstand the pressures of persecution and succumbed to sacrificing to the pagan gods.
What is a lapsarian?
100
This heresy taught that Jesus Christ was "heterousia" with God the Father, and that He was the first created being with preeminence over all the rest of creation.
What is Arianism?
200
He was the first emperor to initiate an empire-wide persecution of Christians.
Who was Decius?
200
This Edict, which was neither an edict nor issued from the city by which it is known, was posted in 313 to proclaim to the governors of various Roman cities that freedom of religion was to be granted in both the western and eastern halves of the Empire to all religions.
What is the Edict of Milan?
200
Succeeding to the bishopric of Alexandria after the death of Bishop Alexander, this theologian became one of the great leaders of the 4th century church, almost single-handedly opposing Arianism, including in his book "On the Incarnation."
Who was Athenasius?
200
This Ecumenical Council sought to explain how God became human (the "hypostatic union") in a way that would be acceptable to the Monophysites, allowing them to sign on to the Chalcedonian Definition of Faith.
What was the 5th Ecumenical Council of Constantinople (553)?
200
Opposed strenuously by Gregory of Nazianzen, this heresy taught that Jesus Christ was fully divine, but not fully human, in that he had the divine Logos for His soul inside a human body.
What is Apollinarianism?
300
He launched the Great Persecution against Christians in 303.
Who was Diocletian?
300
Issued in 311 by Galerius, this Edict granted Christians the right to exist and to establish formal meeting houses, but required them to pray to their God for the Emperor and the Empire.
What is the Edict of Toleration?
300
The terms "homoousios" and "homoiousios" were the center of the debates at this Ecumenical Council called by Constantine in 325.
What is the Council of Nicea?
300
Three overlapping issues (what to do about the lapsarians, how to define the church, and who had the authority to make these determinations) were shared by these two controversies.
What were the Novatian and Donatist Controversies?
300
A debate was spawned over this heresy when its proponent declared that Mary should not be referred to as Theotokos (bearer of God), but as Christotokos (bearer of Christ), implying that one could say certain things about Christ that applied to only His humanity and not His divinity, thereby separating His two natures.
What is Nestorianism?
400
Describing the impact of persecution on Christianity, he said, "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church."
Who is Tertullian?
400
While fighting Licinius for control of the Eastern half of the Roman Empire, Constantine observed the strategic location of this city and determined to move the capital of the Empire here in 330, prompting him to rename the city Constantinople.
What is Byzantium?
400
This Creed includes four key assertions that inform our understanding of who Jesus Christ was, including that He was "true God from true God," "consubstantial with the Father," "begotten, not made," and that He became human in order to save humanity.
What is the Nicene Creed, 325?
400
The Church divided into three groups (Nestorians, Monophysites, and Chalcedonians) because of the inability to agree on this theological concept.
What is the "hypostatic union" of Christ?
400
This heresy taught that Christ had two natures that mixed into one after the union of the divine with the human and is also known by the name of Monophysitism.
What is Eutychianism?
500
A certificate given to those who sacrificed to pagan gods, proving their loyalty to the Roman Empire.
What is a libellum?
500
As a result of Constantine's acceptance of and involvement in Christianity, the church began to resemble the state in its worship services, its clerical aristocracy, and its ostentatious riches and pomp - a process known by this name.
What is the imperialization of the Church?
500
This Council wrestled with three incredibly important issues, including did Jesus have a human soul, was the Holy Spirit a power or a person, and how to articulate an understanding of the Triune God (that He is one "ousia," yet three "hypostases").
What is Council of Constantinople, 381?
500
This theological doctrine, declaring that Christ had only one active (dominant) will, was advanced as another attempt to help reconcile Monophysites to the Chalcedonian Definition of Faith, but was ultimately rejected because it denied the full humanity of Christ and seemed to make a sham of Christ's sacrificial obedience to the Father.
What is Monotheletism?
500
This Trinitarian heresy is sometimes inadvertently expressed when analogies (such as water, gas, and ice) are used to try to explain the truth of the Trinitarian Godhead.
What is Modalism?