Explain the new relationships between church and emperor in the East and West

in the fourth and fifth centuries

Intro :
In this earlier years Christianity was seen as a new religious movement in opposition to
the Roman religion. Christianity was not accepted by the Roman authorities. In fact,
Christians were seen as not law bitten citizen, threating the balance between the gods
and the humans, refusing to participate in pagan rituals. Before the fourth century,
although it was tolerated for most year, it has seen years of persecution which ended
with the arrival of emperor Constantine.

1)Legalization
The reign of emperor Constantin ended the persecution of the Christians. Constantin
who was sympathetic to the Christian due to the fact that he was rised monotheist was
the first emperor to convert to Christianty in 312.
Constantin made ithis personal mission to convert the Roman Empire.
In 313 with the edict of Milan him and Licinius in the East granted the freedom of religion
over the whole empire.
New rights for the church,(right of property, tribunal recongized )
Constantin was perceived as a representative of the Christian God
Bishops started to entre the emperors court, start to have a political influence.
New rights for the church, the state encourage the mission of the church
After conquering the East in 324 , Constantin was concern about Christianty in the East
Under Constantin the state and the church we close such that Constantin called the
Concil of Nicaea in 325 for the establishment of orthodoxy with the church.

Purges of pagans in administrative positions,

Prohidition of sacrifice and oracle

2)Religion of the empire

Paganism suffered from the growth of Christianity under Constantin and Theodosius I
although it was still legal until 391 when Theodosius I declared paganism illegal and
Christianity became legally inforced.
Christianity was the Empires official religion. Which led to violence towards other
religions, pagan temples were destroyed .
Furthermore , in 407 Non-Christian became outlaws.

In 428 , Theodosius II declared heresy a crime.

All pagan rites were prohibited,
Jews were treated more equitably, although they had many civil penalties.
it was the end of the freedom of religion which allowed the growth of Christianity in the
first place.

3)difference west and east

Christianity evolved differently in the West and in the East

Theory of 2 powers (West )

From the time of Constantine, throne and altar were integrated realities, yet
they
remained two distinct powers. It was held that the state ought to be
brought to serve the church, in that the state was not different from any
other finite reality, subordinated to transcendent goals
The powerful bishop of Milan, Ambrose, was adamant that
the emperor is in the church, not above it
The traditional notables, with their acquired
power, superior education, and religious conformism, woke up in the
fourth century to see their role challenged by the bishops, who,
respected by the imperial powers, not only represented the interests
of a newly formed urban grouping,24 the local Christian congregation,
but particularly took to heart the care of the poor for whom the
state did so little. Step by step the bishops became the major urban
patrons25 and outflanked the traditional leadership of the notables
In the West, nascent papal ideology was increasingly to curtail the religious
status of the emperor.
-

Empire collapse , rome abandone by empors is conquered by barabarines

Church and state are sperated
They should not interfer in one an others field
Western demoractic understanding of the relation of the church and state

Synphonia (East)
the tendency was that
the state should serve the church, the opposite tendency was
observed
in the prosperous East, where it was expected that the church be
answerable to and serve the state
God was seen as the Emperor of Heaven, and the emperor
as God on earth; at least he was Gods image and his rule reflected the

superior kingship of God. So the person of the emperor was quite at

the center of life both civic and religious, the very copy of the Father
and his viceroy, guiding his people to their ultimate end
There was one power, concentrated in the person of the monarch, who
had priestly character and cared for both the temporal and the spiritual
well-being of his subjects.
nothing was perceived as
abnormal in an emperor deposing a patriarch. The reverse would have
been inconceivable. Never did a patriarch of Constantinople
excommunicate
an emperor.
Eusebiuss lofty view of the imperial office became full reality in the
person of Justinian (527565): one empire, one church, both led by one
emperor.
-

Head of the church should collaborated with the Empror ,

The emperor should promote the mission of the church
Emperor barely under Jesus , son what also the son of god

Conclusion

Explain the notion of original sin in Augustine of Hippo and its relationship with
the human free will
Augustinus bishop of Hippos at first he was drawn to the astrology and occult theosophy
thought by Mani, Was a Manichee for 10 years gnoctis religion
Inspired by platonism
which he will later reject Manis teaching to convert to Christianism.
In his book of confession explain how he turn from his previous life, Augustine of Hippo
question himself on the origin of evil,
His reflection led him to believe that sin takes origin in the freedom of will of beings,
that it can not be by itself and only occurs by the corruption of the being.

Freedom of will:
First , Augustin reject astrology since it is not compatible with the notion of freedom of
will.
Child child and poor child
Convinced that he has a will that only belongs to him. And that evil can not be by itself

That it was a perversion of the freedom will.

Evil is cause by selfwill and desirs for self ownership. Misguided choices, wicked pride
How does will cause evil
Realize it is the cause of sin , since going against your own will cause suffering
And the thy judgement of our choices given they were bad will cause us suffering from
the consequence of us doing evil.

Corruption of the being

Another cause of sin is the corruption of the human soul. Here Augustine take the idea of
the weakness of the soul presented in Plotinus to explain the origin of evil.
Starts by explaining that God not physical substance, perfect, is incorruptible
substance , god has no needs , no inclination. His will is good, and so he is good.
Platonic God
He concludes that evil was not created by god. And so evil is nothing it has no
substance
It occurs only throw the corruption of the being
The Christ can save us from evil mediator between matrial and god
Resolution to human sin

In using the theories of Peter Brown of the saints or ascetics as revered patrons
for their followers as discussed by Gerard Vallee, please explain the life of Mary of
Egypt as a powerful symbol of Christian asceticism.

Mary of Egypt was a prostitute from Alexandria with insatiable desire who after realizing
that her sinful way of life will have consequences goes to the desert to seek repentance.
in hope for Gods forgives

Powerful motivation story

The story of mary of egpyt is an inspiring story for one who wants to entre the ascetics
life. Not only does it show the courage and determination of this woman to quit her old
life it testifies of her struggle through her decision to leave that sinful life.
Conversion : turning mind ones mind within, excession self control
Your become an other person

Baptizme : make up for her previous life , pleasing to god

Encontre with the divine , something fearfull because of her sinfull ness
Continuing struggle with her passion : 17 wondered in the desert with her desirs as with
wild beast. By praying and invoquing the virgin mary her desir went away.
Amazing conversion.
Important of virgin mary and virginity

Testimony of the ascetics way of living.

Sunday : divine liturgy , participating in sacrament , shared food, reunion in chapel pray
and reflexion , kiss each other , embraced the father superior. Then
they made obeisance and asked for his blessing, so that they would have it
with them as an experienced fellow combatant in their forthcoming spiritual
struggle.
They bare involved in official pray of the church and part take in he sacrament even if
they were in the desert
Mary did not participate in the sacrament: holy communion final action
Made the desert they city : monks go there separated way

Studying of scriptures
Mind to mind transmission of the scriptures: mary was illiterate
Mary seems to have Gift of clairvoyant, levitation given by God after practicing for long
time
Suppression of inequality male vs female in favor of high spirituality. realise that Mary is
a deeper practitioner

Explain the Gnosticism contained in the Gospel of Judas placing it in the

context of when it was produced.
Gnosticism esoteric religious movement in the 2 nd century ,
The gospel of Judas has been kept hidden for many years after it was discover.
Scholars only had access to in the year 2000, which is when it was first
translated. However, the first translation was contested by other scholars since
the first translation did not coincide with the traditional image of Judas. The
gospel of Judas was not written by Judas but written in a Gnostic circle therefore
it contains various gnostic elements

Jesus of Gnostics :
The Jesus of the Gnostic is very different from the Christian Jesus.
For Gnostics, Jesus was in fact a god, divine redeemer , inferior to the Supreme
God, not his son , not human(not flesh and blood, did not suffer)
who was sent in the material world to bring the secret knowledge to the chosen
ones.
As it is told in the Gospel of Judas, Jesus was not successful in delivery this
secret knowledge to the 12 apostles, who did not understand it.
Judas and Jesus are perceived differently in the gospel of Judas than in the
traditional Christian view.
Jesus is not perceived as a leader, or a teacher but as a simple messenger, The
Gospel of Judas mentions that Jesus laugh at the misunderstanding of the
apostle of his message. He laughs at they action they do that will not grant them
access to the divine world. Which is not an attitude what would be expected from
the traditional Jesus
As for Judas, he appears to be a better person than the image given by the
traditional Christian Church. Although, scholars still disagree on the translation.
The Gospel of Judas could give the impression that Judas was in fact helping
Jesus leave his material form at Jesus demand. Which contradicts the traditional
perception of Judas as the traitor.

Secret knowledge:
The concept of secret knowledge is fundamental in Gnosticism. According to
Gnostic only the ones that are in the know will be able to access the divine world.
And the only way for the divine spark to leave its human material form is by
knowledge. It has to know from where it has come in order to go back.
The secret knowledge for Gnostics is the only way to salvation.
Gnostics admit that Christian can experience some type of salvation by their
belief in the Christ.
But insist that the true salvation and the access to the afterlife is only accessible
for Gnositics ,
The ones in the know.

The concept of this secret knowledge is present in the Gospel of Judas through
the character of Jesus who tries to transmit this knowledge to the apostles.

Gnostic Gods and cosmology:

The Gospel of Judas refers to the different Gnostics gods.
Gnostics have a hierarchy of gods, the Supreme or good God is at the highest
level and has nothing to do with the material world.This good God created other
divine offspring , who reproduced in pair.
For the gnostic, the god of the old testament is an inferior god , creator of the
world , close to the material world.
There is also mention of the gnostic cosmology in the gospel of Judas. Gnostics
believe that one of the divine offspring , Sophia , was separated for the group
and produced another being on its own. This led to the creation of the evil world,
the material world in opposition to the good world, the sprit world. And since then
divine offspring are trapped in material forms in humans.
Conclusion