The event in 476 CE that also marked the end of the patristic period of the church.
What is the fall of the Roman Empire?
100
The practice of disciplining one's body or one's desires in order to direct one's energies toward a higher pursuit - it can be used to describe both athletic and spiritual pursuits.
What is asceticism?
100
The person who began the Reformation by posting his 95 theses in 1517 CE.
Who is Martin Luther?
100
The council at which the doctrine of papal infallibility was officially defined and promulgated.
What is Vatican I?
100
The theologian from whose work the notion of the "cosmic common good" was developed.
Who is Thomas Aquinas?
200
Constantine's proclamation that officially legalized Christianity in 313 CE.
What is the Edict of Milan?
200
A school of philosophical thought that enabled Augustine to explain the origin of evil without resorting to a dualistic world-view.
What is Neo-Platonism?
200
He is considered the father of Western monasticism who wrote a Rule that is still followed by monastics all over the world.
Who is Saint Benedict?
200
The two councils at which the main creed of the Christian tradition was developed. The creed is named after these councils.
What are Nicea and Constantinople?
200
The name of the Pope who declared Saint Francis the patron of "ecologicae cultorum," or "those who cultivate or promote ecology."
Who is John Paul II?
300
The movement that initiates what scholars refer to as modernity or the modern period.
What is the Reformation*?
*The Renaissance could also be included
300
A Greek term used at the Council of Ephesus (431 CE) to affirm that Mary is truly the mother of God.
What is theotokos?
300
One of the four women doctors of the church whose writing on prayer is considered a classic of Christian theology and spirituality, and who reformed the Carmelite order.
Who is Teresa of Avila?
300
The Greek term introduced at the council of Nicea in order to explain how Jesus is fully divine.
What is "homoousias"?
300
A concept referred to in Christian theology as sacraments, and in Islamic theology as 'ayat', which claims that the Creator can be known through that which is created.
What are "signs"?
400
The two centuries during which the prophet Muhammad lived and Islam spread throughout Asia Minor, Africa, and the Middle East.
What are the sixth and seventh centuries?
400
A firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good; that is to say, to the good of all and of each individual, because we are all really responsible for all.
What is solidarity?
400
The Pope who convened the Second Vatican Council, but who died before its completion.
Who is Pope John XXIII?
400
The only council that was not convened to address or clarify any new doctrinal questions or heresies. It is also the most recent ecumenical council.
What is Vatican II?
400
The Buddhist phrase that describes the interdependent nature of all existing phenomenon.
What is "dependent co-origination"?
500
Contact with Muslims in Spain and the re-discovery of Aristotelian philosophy in Western Europe initiated this period of church history. Thomas Aquinas's work is considered the pinnacle of this period.
What is high medieval scholasticism?
500
A heretical teaching that claimed that Jesus was not truly human, but only appeared to be human in order to impart secret knowledge to those who are saved.
What is Gnosticism?
500
A presbyter in the 4th century who taught that there was a time when the Word/Logos (the 2nd Person of the Trinity) did not exist.
Who is Arius?
500
The council that most fully explained how Jesus Christ is both fully human and fully divine, "in two natures which undergo no confusion, no change, no division, no separation."
What is Chalcedon?
500
The feminist theologian who draws the connection between male domination over women, racial inequality, and human domination over the environment.