Part I
The Collapse of the Roman Empire
- resulted in a crisis of the early church by surprise
- The Church had to dissociate herself from the fallen Empire
- Troughout the decline of the Roman Empire and the rise of monasticism, the Holy Spirit inspired and strengthened the Church for wave of evangelizing activity.
- Christianity had spread to virtually the entire European continent in the eleventh century
The Fall of Rome (476)
- In 410, Alaric, king of the Visigoths, sacked Rome
- In 476, Odoacer, cheiftain of the Heruli, led a revolt and overthrew the last western emperor
- In 489, Ostrogoths, united under Theodoric, invaded Italy
- In 493, Ostrogoths overthrew Odoacer
The concept of human rights was unfamiliar to many Romans as well as to the invading Barbarian tribes.
Barbarian's religious practices were both primitive and brutal.
The fall of Raman brought the lose of classical literature, Latin, and literacy.
In addition to the collapse of education, the vibrant economy of the empire had declined as well.
The Barbarian invasions helped the Church realize that she was not wedded to the Roman Empire and had to adapt to a significant cultural shift.
The Germanic Tribes
- began pressing on he Roman frontier in the early fourth century
- came from the area arounf the Vistula River in Poland down to the Black Sea
- culture was complicated and multi-faceted although they shared the same family of languages
- second largest Northern European group after the Celts
- In 378, the Visigoths defeated the Byzantine army at the Battle of Adrianopole
- In 406, many tribes had crossed the Rhine to settle in Gaul
- In 410, Roman fell and was pillaged for four days
-Two branches of Goths-Visigoths and Ostrogoths- were firstto invade the empire
- The Franks (meaning "fierce" or "bold") were a Germanic people who settled in Gaul in the late of third century
- The Alemanni ( meaning "All Men") were another Germanic people who settled in south of the Main River in central Germany around 260
- The Burgundians arrived on the Main River around 250
- The Lombards lived along the Elbe and began advancing toward the Danube in second century
- The Vandals were the most ruthless of the Germanic tribes
Ulphilas: Apostle of the Goths
- Ulphilas (ca. 311-388) was born in Cappadocia but was captured by the Goths
- translated the Bible into Goths, and was made a bishop around 341
- Goths, Burgundians, Lombards, and Vandals were converted to Arian Christianity by his missonary efforts
The Huns
- a powerful nomadic people of unknown ethnic origins
- swept west from northern China and had crossed into Volga valley by the end of fourth century
- In 432, they had established themselves in the Eastern Empire, forcing tribute from Emperor Theodosius II
- In 451, the Huns had invaded Gaul and threatened the heart of the Western Empire
- powerful and frightening people who devastated much of the Empire
Attila the Hun meets pope St. Leo the Great (452)
- Attila (d. 453), "the Scourge of God", succeeded to joint kingship over the Huns in 433
- In the 440s, Attila moved west, began engaging the Romans and invaded Gaul
- In 451, allied army of Romans and Visigoths defeated Attila and forcing him back across the Rhine
- In 452, his Huns ravaged northern Italian cities and towns
- As they drew closer to Rome, Pope St. Leo the Great went to meet him to dissuade Attila from attacking Rome
- In 455, Pope was able to repeat the same success when he convinced the leader of Vandals, Genseric, not to burn Rome, and spare the lives of the people
Historical Interpretation of the Germanic Invasions
- The Church recognized that Christianity was universal
- Christianity was meant to incorporated eveeryone
- Through monatism of the Church found access to Germans.
The Christian Attitude Toward the Invasions
- Many thought the disintegration of the Roman Empire meant that the Second Coming of Christ was at hand
- Some Christians also understood the fall of the Roman Empire as the punishment for the sins of the Romans and of all humanity
- Monasticism offered a path of some Christians to make reparation for the sins of the world in general, and of the Roman world in particular
Part II
The Rise of Monasticism
The First Appearance of Monasticism
- Monasticism: a way of life characterized by prayer and self-denial lived in seclusion from the world and under a fixed rule with professed vows
- Monastic communities withdraw from the affairs of the world in order to seek God through asceticism and silence
- Two types of monastic life:
1. eremitical or hermit life (live an isolated ascetical life)
2. cenobitical or common life (live in community)
- Monasticism started with St. Paul of Thebes (d. ca. 340) and St. Anthony (251?-356)
- St. Paul of Thebes is held by tradition to the first hermit : he had fled a persecution under the Roman Emperor Decius(A.D. 249-51)
- St. Anthony indirectly influenced Western Monasticism through his impact on St. Athansius, who wrote a celebrated biogaphy of St. Anthony
- Two monastic orders: Carthusians and Carmelites
- St. Pachomius (ca. 290- 346) founded cenobitical monasticism in Egypt, his feast day is May 9
Monasticism and the Emergence of a New Christian Culture
- Monastery's triple purposes:
1. a source of great spiritual strength
2. served as seminary for priests and bishops
3. centers of evangelization of the barbarian tribes through various forms of education
-Monastery's three major effects on Europe:
1. recovery and evangelization of rural society
2. intellectual
3. one of civilization
St. Benedict: the "Patriarch of Western Monasticism"
- ca. 480 - ca. 547
- composed his Rule at Monte Cassino
- The Rule essentially divides the schedule of the monk into four parts:
1. chanting the Psalms and reciting prayers in community (4 hours)
2. private prayer and Scriptual reading (4 hours)
3. physical labor (6 hours)
4. meals and sleep (10 hours)
- The Rule divides day into two parts: prayer and work
- The Rule instructs, "let nothing be preferred" to the Divine Office
St. Scholastica
- ca. 480 - ca. 543
- St. Benedict's twin sister
- established and governed a convent at Plombariola
Pope St. Gregory the Great
- ca. 540-604
- becamepope in 590
- considered as the last of the traditional Latin Doctors
- his papacy illustrates the noblest ideals of Medieval Christianity
- his missionary success, along with his continual support of the poor through the administration of the Church's estates, won for St. Gregory the title " the Great."
- Feast day: September 3
Part III
The Rise of Islam
- joined Judaism and Christianity as the third great monotheistic religion
- linked to the Arab peoples and the peoples conquered by Islamic invaders in Asia, Africa, and Europe
- grew rapidly, and became a threat to the existence of Christianity
- relates to the history of the Church insofar as wars between Christians and Muslims
Arabia
- The Arabs were pagans who worshipped various local objects of nature
- The Kaaba is an axus mundi (turning point of the world), a connection between Heaven and earth; hence, it is the focal point of prayers in the individual Muslim's life
- The Arabs ere searching for a religion that would give them certainity about this life and next
Muhhamad (ca. 570-632) and the Koran
- born near Mecca around 570
- In 612, he announced that he had had a vision of the archangel Gabriel that called him to be the herald of Allah, the Jewish God
- wrote the words that Gabriel told him, resulting in the Koran
- Muslims believe that Koran (Arabic for "recitation) is not Muhammad's work but God's
- The Koran is written in the form of poetry and is meant to be read aloud, which aids the goal of memorization
- The Koran is considered as "God's Words," perfect and eternal
Islam's Biblical Reinterpretation
- Muhammad proclaimed his worship of the one true God a national religion
- Islam (Arabic for "submission") borrows from Judaism and Christianity but it contends that both Jews and Christians have misunderstood the intensions of God
- Jesus and Mary are both respected in Islam, but only as a prophet and his holy mother
- Islam holds that God's revelation culminated not in the birth, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ
- Muhammad was God's last prophet who brought to the world the perfect religion
"People of the Book"
- The Koran teaches that Jews and Christians are "People of the Book", that is, they share woth Muslims the great monotheistic tradition and a common religious history
- The Koran recognizes Jesus saying that Allah "strengthened him with the holy spirit", but Jesus to the Koran was only a prophet
Muhammad's preaching
- Muhammad preached monotheism, the immorality of the soul, the resurrection of the body, justice to the poor, and a sensual paradise in the next life
In Medina Islam Matures
- In Medina, Muhammad was hailed as a religious leader
- The year 624 was a key turning point in the development of Islam
- In 624, Muhammad led his forces in a jihad (holy war) against Meccans , and he defeated them at Badr
- The Battle of Badr (624) has often been interpreted by Muslims as their Exodus sttory
- The Kaaba (Arabic for "square building") alone was spared destruction, though its meaning was transformed
- Under Islam, the Kaaba becae the focus of pilgrimage, which is required to Muslim to visit at least once in his lifetime
The Five Pillars of Islam
1. The Shahada : the creedal statement of Islam
2. Prayer
3. The Hajj : the pilgrimage to Mecca
4. Ramadan : the holy month (ninth month of the Islamic calendar)
5. Zakah : (alms) for purification
- Prayer is required five times daily in the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca, and includes a ritualistic format of prayers and prostration
- The Hajj is the pilgrimage to Mecca which is required to Muslim to visit at least once in adult life
- The Shahada contains the beliefs of Islam
- Ramadan is the holy month, celebrated during ninth lunar month
The Moral Code of Islam
- Five Pillars (requirements)
- dietary prohibitions including pork
- Idolatry is strictly forbidden
- Apostasy and adultery are also forbidden
Jihad
- a Muslim holy war waged in the name of religion against "infidels"
- those who due fighting ina jihad - according to Muslim belief - go straight to Heaven
- When Muhammad died in 632, he had already utilized jihad to defeat his foes in Mecca
- In 634, his successors began to wage jihad along the caravan trade routes
The Spread of Islam
- In 634, the Muslims remained unstoppable for the next one hundred years
- Muslims forces began by defeating the Persians and sacking Jerusalem in 638
- In 643, Muslims spread westwards sacking Christian Alexandria
- In 698, all of North Africa was unfer Muslim rule
- In 711, Spain fell to the Muslims as well, Muslims did remain for over 700 years
- In 717, the Muslim army laid siege to Christian Constantinople, but Emperor Leo III defeated them
- In 740, the Muslims would attempt to breach the city again, but would suffer a second defeat against Leo III
Jerusalem, The Holy City
- The capture of Jerusalem in 638 by the Muslim has had historical consequences
- The Muslim caliph Umar cleared the Temple Mount, the site of the two Jewish temples and built a temporary mosque
- In 684, the Dome of the Rock was erected, on the site of the former Temple as a Muslim shrine to commemorate "the Night Journey" of Muhammad
- The Dome of the Rock was intended to surpass the beauty and size of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, the church built on the site where Jesus was buried
Vocabulary
Allah:"God" in Arabic
Cenobitical life: monastic life or common life (monasticism lived in community)
Diocese: territorial division of the Church (adapted from the Roman Empire)
Ecumenical Patriarch: title adopted by the Patriarch of Constantinople
Hajj: a pilgrimage to Mecca expected for a Muslim to go at least once during their lifetime
Hejira: ("flight" in Arabic) the flight of Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina on Friday, July 16, 622 which marked year 1 in Islamic (A.H) calendar
Huns: a powerful nomadic people of unkown ethnic origin who invaded Europe in ca. 375
Islam: ("submissions" in Arabic) faith of the prophet Muhammad, it traces its roots back to Abraham, Hagar and Ishmael
Jihad: holy war by Muslims in the name of religion, Muslim men died in jihad are believed to go straight to Heaven
Jizya: tax placed on Jews and Christians under Muslim rule, allowed them to keep their religion laws and right to practic their own religion
Kaaba: ("square building" in Arabic) a large black stone is the main focus of pilgrimage to Mecca, housed inside a squre building that Muslims believe Abraham built, Muslims gather around the stone to re-enact Muhammad's flight to Medina fro Mecca
Koran: ("recitation" in Arabic) holy book of Muslim faith written by Muhammad, contains all the writings that Muhammad claimed he was told by the archangle Gabriel under God's direction
Laus Dei: ("praise of God" in Latin) in Benedictince life it referred to the four hours of the day spent in communal prayer, aka opus Dei (work of God)
Lectio Divina: reading and meditation on Scripture
Monasticism: way of life characterized by ascesticism and self-denial lived more or less in seclusion from the world and under fixed rule and vows, Monastic communities withdraw from the affairs of the world in order to seek God through asceticism and prayer
Nuncio: personal ambassador of Pope
Opus Dei: "work of God" in Latin
Ora et Labora: benedictine moto "pray and work"
Ramadan: holy month of Islam believed to be the time when Koran was given to Muhammad, celebrated in 9th lunar month of each year, a strict fast from sunrise to sundown
Scriptorium: large room in monastery for the copying and maintaining of texts
Servus Servorium Dei: ("servant of God" in Latin) titled to Pope St. Gregory the Great
Shahada: first pillar and creedal statement of Islam: "There is no God in Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet."
Vow: solemn promise made voluntarily by a person of reason, to practice a virute or perform a specific good deed in order to accomplish a future good which is better than its contrary