This is a review of some of the historical foundations of the Christian faith:  the New Testament, the church in the early centuries and the Middle Ages, and the development of the Catholic Church.  Then we'll review key places in this unit. You'll need Map 1, the Christian faith in Europe and the Middle East, at the end of your syllabus.  If you don't have the syllabus map, please stop now, and come back when you have it, so that you can follow along as we travel from place to place in our review. 

 The term "faith" has two meanings.  (1) First, it refers to a strong conviction or belief which is not grounded in reason or proof. The great Danish theologian Søren Kierkegaard described such a committed belief as a "leap of faith."  A key word for "faith" in the Old Testament is אמונה(emunah) related to  אמן, "amen."  The New Testament equivalent is pistiV (pistis), which also means "faithfulness" or "trust in God."  (2) The second meaning of "faith" is that of a religious group such as Christianity, Judaism, or Islam, which embodies trust in God.  That's the primary meaning that I'll use when talking about "the Christian faith."  My own understanding of the Christian faith has been immeasurably enriched by the following persons:

• my wife Jeannette, who has stayed with me "for better or for worse" ever since our marriage in her Presbyterian church in New Orleans more than four decades ago and has been a faithful Methodist all those years;
• our son Chris and our daughter-in-law Christine, who are devoted Episcopalians;
• my good friend Joe Reiff, a Methodist colleague who practices what he preaches; 
• the members, pastors, and chaplains (past and present) of Emory United Methodist Church, especially Charles Neal, James Bennington, Neel Rich, Anita Coulthard, and Claire Rasor;
• David St. Clair, who shares from the pulpit so many insights which have helped me to hear God's eternal Word, and the members of Chilhowie United Methodist Church;
• Albert Outler's courses in church history at SMU; 
• Father John Hawkins, O.S.C.., who has served as the pastor of Catholic churches for many years; 
• my uncle, Rev. John T. Walters, a Louisiana Baptist evangelist, and my aunt, Cora Walters;
• the beautiful Lutheran worship services which I experienced during a year in Göttingen, Germany, and over the years at St. John Lutheran in Abingdon;  
• my parents, Rev. John F. Kellogg (a Louisiana Methodist pastor) and Mrs. Lucille Kellogg (who grew up Baptist), and my sisters, Jonelle Walker and Ileen Fontenot (Methodists), all four of whom have helped me from earliest childhood to see the church, even with all its faults, as a living example of the Body of Christ to which I could give my whole life in service; also my newest family member, my double brother Ray Fontenot, a Catholic who shows me what Christian love is all about.

    The main textbooks for this course are the Bible and Catherine L. Albanese, America:  Religions and Religion, 4th ed. (Belmont, CA:  Wadsworth, 2007)   .   I have also found these books especially helpful for my understanding of the Christian faith and of Christian denominations:  Julia Mitchell Corbett, Religion in America, 4th ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ:  Prentice Hall, 2000); Frank S. Mead, Samuel S. Hill, and Craig D. Atwood, Handbook of Denominations in the United States, 12th edition (Nashville:  Abingdon, 2005); and Milton V. Backman, Jr., Christian Churches of America, rev. ed. (New York:  Charles Scribner's Sons, 1983).  

   In all my review programs, key names are red, key concepts are blue, key places and groups are green, and key dates and festivals are pink.  You can study for a test most effectively by going through the program a couple of times before the test.  The material is not new; it is already in your textbook and class notes.  I hope this summary is helpful for you! 

HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS

    To understand the beginnings of the Christian faith, let's go back in time to a few centuries before the birth of Christ.  The Jewish people had been conquered again and again by much larger Middle Eastern empires.  But they had always been able to avoid being absorbed and assimilated into these larger cultures.  How?  They held onto the things that kept them a separate people -- especially the faith that God was guiding them, even in their darkest days.  In the 300's B.C., the Jews were absorbed into the Greek empire of Alexander the Great.  After Alexander's death, his kingdom was split into two Greek empires:  one based in Syria and one based in Egypt.  For the Jews, the real problem was how much they could avoid compromising with the all-encompassing Greek culture.  In fact, Greek culture dominated all other cultures -- in philosophy, religion, language, and politics -- even more thoroughly than the Canaanites had when the Hebrews came into Canaan from Egypt.  Do you know the term for such cultural assimilation?

    Yes, syncretism refers to the blending of cultures.  The Greek word syn (SUN, Sigma Upsilon Nu, as in the initials of the sorority) means "together."  Concrete is a blend of cement, sand, gravel, and water.  The suffix -ism makes it a process.  The particular dominance of Greek culture throughout the Middle East is usually known as Hellenization, since Hellas is the proper name for the nation which we call "Greece."

    Greek rule yielded to Roman rule as the Roman Empire swept over the whole Mediterranean.  During the last part of the first century B.C. and all of the first century A.D., the Jews were part of the Roman Empire.  The Roman province of Palestine was divided into three main areas:  Judea (ancient Judah) in the south, Galilee in the north, and Samaria in between. 

    But many Jews longed for a Golden Age like that of David and Solomon again.  They felt that God would send a leader to make Jerusalem the capital of the world.  The Hebrew word for such a political-religious leader was Messiah.  Literally, this word means "anointed," one who has been consecrated as king by having sacred oil poured on him in a formal ceremony.  That's the way the prophet Samuel had declared Saul, and later his successor David, to be Hebrew kings.  Luke and other New Testament writers translated this Hebrew word into Greek as Christ.  You can see something of the ancient meaning in the ceremony of "christening," sprinkling a baby with water and anointing his or her head with sacred oil, as practiced in some Christian churches today.  

    In New Testament times, there were four main religious groups.  Each had a different picture of what the Messiah would be.  The Sadducees probably envisioned him as one who would bring people back to the Torah as the foundation of their whole life.  The Pharisees expected the Messiah to give new interpretations of the Torah and of the ancient prophets.  The Essenes hoped for a person who would make a new covenant between God and their small, devoted group.  The Zealots sought a warrior-king who would drive out the Romans and free the Israelite people once again.

JESUS

    Jesus smashed all these stereotypes; his own understanding of his Messiahship is expressed beautifully in the gospels.  Rather than describing Jesus as a hero, king, or priest, the gospels give us a picture of Jesus' humility.  If you've ever seen the movie "Parable," that is also the chief characteristic of the Jesus figure in the movie.  One word best describes Jesus as humbly seeking to help others:  Servant.  Jesus identified with the portrayal of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 52-53, and he fulfilled Second Isaiah's prophecy.  Jesus' disciples didn't fully understand this.  Often they tried to make him fit one of the stereotypes of Messianic expectation.  They even got into an argument over which of them would be the greatest Cabinet member in Jesus' kingdom.  But Jesus taught them what it meant to be a servant.

    Christians sometimes put a lot of stress on doctrines of Heaven and Hell.  But if you read through the gospels carefully, you'll find that Jesus rarely mentioned Heaven or Hell.  Instead, he emphasized the Kingdom of God (which Matthew translated for his Jewish-Christian readers as "Kingdom of Heaven").  Jesus didn't simply equate the Kingdom of God with the afterlife, or with some political entity.  Rather, it is a quality of life which begins here and now. 

    Just as each of the four Jewish groups was looking for certain Messianic characteristics, so each of the four gospels identifies an important understanding of Jesus' Messiahship.  Matthew shows Jesus as a new Moses, representing humanity in a new covenant with God.  Mark portrays Jesus as the Suffering Messiah, especially in his "Passion Narrative" -- the story of Holy Week.  John describes the mystery of Jesus as Son of God incarnate.  Luke emphasizes the universality of Jesus:  his love for all people -- rich and poor, men and women, Jews and Gentiles.  In this course we'll use Luke's two volumes, the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, as our two main sources for the biblical foundations of the Christian faith. 

     The Gospel of Luke portrays the radical character of Jesus' ministry.  Jesus simply refused to accept many of the barriers among human beings which had been solidly established through centuries of tradition.  He discussed religious questions with women (not just with men!), healed people on the Sabbath, and proclaimed the Good News to Gentiles as well as to Jews.  Instead of directing attention to himself, he would say again and again, "Shhh...don't go around talking about this."  His concern was for God's Kingdom, not for his own popularity.

    Jesus was too radical for some of the authorities.  They were afraid that he was attacking the very foundations on which their institutions were built.  Their concern reached a peak when Jesus came to the Jerusalem Temple, chased away a number of people, and proclaimed that anyone should be free to worship there -- not only Jewish men but also women and Gentiles!  This confrontation took place on the day after the day which we call Palm Sunday, when Jesus led a parade into the city.  

    We'll see later in our study of the Christian faith that Christians differ in their understanding of the last supper that Jesus had with his disciples.  The commemoration of that meal in worship services today is also called by different names, such as communion or the Lord's Supper (by many Protestants), Mass (by Catholics), and the Eucharist (by Episcopalians and Lutherans).  In spite of such differences, the celebration of the supper is a central act of worship in Christian churches throughout the world. 

    Jesus' last meal was during the time when all Jews were commemorating Passover, with its historic theme of liberation. When Jesus spoke of the bread as his body and the wine as his blood, he was preparing the disciples to recognize a new significance for this covenant meal.  Where in Jerusalem did Jesus and the twelve disciples eat their last supper together?  Yes, the upper room:  a large upstairs guest room.  If you come from a Methodist background, that name may remind you of a popular devotional booklet in English and Spanish:  The Upper Room or El Aposento Alto.

    After his last meal with his disciples, Jesus went out to the garden of Gethsemane, his favorite place on the Mount of Olives overlooking Jerusalem.  There one of his own disciples, Judas Iscariot, betrayed him to a group of officials who wanted him arrested.  Throughout the night, Jesus was interrogated on the charge of blasphemy, or public slander against God.  Punishment for such an offense was death by stoning.  However, testimony against Jesus was conflicting, and a number of illegal procedures in the hearing made it invalid as a trial.  The next morning Jesus was turned over to the Roman civil authorities.  Governor Pontius Pilate  was not interested in such religious issues as blasphemy.  He tried Jesus on the criminal charge of treason, and in spite of the lack of evidence, Pilate sentenced Jesus to death.  

    Pilate had Jesus executed by crucifixion:  death by hanging on a cross (Latin crux, crucis).  This was a typical Roman punishment for treason, intended as a deterrent because it was so horrible.  Over the years, Pilate had ordered other persons to be crucified for trying to overthrow the Roman government.  He manipulated the crowds to make them pronounce the death sentence, as if he would thereby not be held responsible.  But he was.  Today a cross with a figure of Jesus on it is called a crucifix.  The corresponding verb form is crucify. 

    Several years ago, when I was teaching an elementary Sunday School class, the children were talking about Good Friday.  "It's called Good Friday," they said, "because we get out of school that day!"  I tried to help the children understand how it could be called "good," when in many ways it should be called "Bad Friday." I tried to help them see how God could bring something really good -- salvation for all people -- out of something really bad -- the death of his Son Jesus.  But that is hard to put in words which children can understand.  

    The early Christians also had a hard time trying to understand the meaning of the Cross.  It seemed the failure of all that they had worked for, and the loss of the person to whom they had given their whole lives.  Not until much later would insightful Christians like Paul develop ways to interpret the Crucifixion.  These later theologians used one key Jewish concept to identify Christ's death as a means of reconciliation between God and humanity:  atonement.  The Jewish festival of Yom Kippur, or Day of Atonement, recognizes the need for human beings to seek forgiveness through the offering of a sacrifice to God.  The word could be understood as at-one-ment, breaking down the barrier of sin which separates us from God.  In Jewish understanding, atonement requires sacrifice.  Jesus' followers saw his death on the Cross as being the ultimate sacrifice.

    Good Friday is at the heart of the Christian faith, as Jesus Christ, the Son of God, gave his life for all human beings.  But that wasn't the end of the story.  Easter Sunday brought about the fulfillment of the hope that life can overcome death.  Members of some other religions believe in reincarnation:  a person's being reborn into this world in a normal physical body or series of bodies.  But the Christian doctrine is quite different.  It suggests that the person raised from the dead will have a whole new life together with God, in a realm separate from this world.  Jesus' followers called that belief resurrection. 

    What really happened on Easter Sunday?  No one knows.  The accounts in the four gospels vary widely on who went to the tomb and what they experienced.  But whatever happened in bringing about Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead, the events of Easter Sunday transformed a lot of discouraged individuals into a joyful group, confident of the victory of life over death.  Their personal experiences of the risen Lord gave them assurance of their own eternal life, which until Easter was only a theory.  The Pharisees believed in the concept of resurrection, but they had no example.  The Greeks believed in the concept of immortality of the soul, but they also had no example. 

    Since we weren't present then, we often seek concrete proofs of the Resurrection.  That's why strange objects like the Shroud of Turin, which is supposed to have been Jesus' burial cloth, have been popular throughout Christian history -- especially in the Middle Ages.  But most so-called "proofs" aren't very convincing.  The gospels point to only one thing that can help us to grasp the meaning of Easter:  faith.

DISCIPLES AND AN EPISTOLARY APOSTLE  

    The gospels describe the amazement which came to Jesus' followers on Easter Sunday.  But where should they go from there?  What were the implications of the Resurrection?  Luke tells us in the sequel to his gospel, the Acts of the Apostles.  Fifty days after Passover they got the answer, in an experience that is often called "the birthday of the church."  While they were celebrating a Jewish agricultural festival which commemorated the covenant at Sinai, the Holy Spirit brought them together into a genuine community.  The festival was called Weeks or Pentecost.  The Jewish festival of Weeks was named for 7 weeks of 7 days each + one more day = the 50th day after Passover.  The Greek name, Pentecost, refers to that 50th day; it sounds like the Greek word for 5, which is contained in our word "Pentagon."  Keep this festival in mind when we study the Pentecostal experience in America!

    The development of the Christian faith owes a lot to the Jerusalem church which grew out of the Pentecost experience.  It also owes a lot to one person who wasn't even in Jerusalem on that Pentecost:  Paul!  In his Acts of the Apostles, Luke wove together the stories of Paul and the early church.  A key theme throughout Paul's writings was justification by grace through faith.  Paul argued forcefully that salvation does not depend on our doing good deeds; instead, it is a completely free gift from God.  Some people believed that Christians must be circumcised, as required by Jewish law.  Paul's answer was:  absolutely not!  This issue was symbolic of many other questions which Christians discussed, as they dealt with the Torah.

    Paul didn't shrink from debating with the leaders of the Jerusalem church, even though they were very influential.  The story of the debate is told in Acts 15.  Can you name those three leaders?  Hint:  one was nicknamed "Rocky," another was a brother of Jesus, and the third was called "the beloved disciple."   The three leaders were:

• Simon Peter (petros means "rock" in Greek)
• James, one of Jesus' four brothers
• John the son of Zebedee, one of the first disciples

    In a conference held in Jerusalem, Paul worked out an agreement with Peter, James, and John.  They resolved their differences, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit -- that same Spirit which had been given to the Christians at Pentecost.  But the early church had to work through many more such discussions.  Sometimes the debates became quite bitter, and often there was a lot of "politicking" and the use of power against opponents.  Christians weren't immune to the kinds of things that go on in political party conventions!  It took time to clarify structures of authority and central Christian traditions.

THE APOCALYPSE

    Meanwhile, Christians also had to face sporadic persecutions from mobs and governments.  During times of persecution, they had to decide how committed they were to the Christian faith.  One word came to refer especially to those who died because of their faithfulness to Christianity:  martyrs.  The Greek word martus means "witness."  When put on the witness stand, these men and women confessed that they were Christians, even though their confession might mean imprisonment or even death.  Their courage inspired others to become Christians. 

    The New Testament concludes with a book written especially for those who might be asked to testify:  the book of Revelation.  Its author was a man named John (this was a very common name, so don't confuse him with John the son of Zebedee or John the gospel writer).  Because of his own witness as a Christian, he was in prison on the Aegean island of Patmos.  There he wrote to Christians back home a series of visions which would be of great help, as they interpreted his coded messages and applied them to their own situations. 

    In the final chapters of his book, John gave a beautiful picture of an ideal community, led not only by the martyrs but by faithful people throughout human history.  We call that ideal community the New Jerusalem.  John wrote Revelation, the last book of the Bible, about 95 A.D.  Jerusalem lay in ruins, destroyed by the Roman army two decades earlier.  The ideal community would be a new Jerusalem, rising from the ashes.  John's beautiful picture would inspire Christians throughout the ages, up to today! 

THE CHURCH IN THE EARLY CENTURIES & THE MIDDLE AGES

    In the early centuries A.D., Christians continued to face ridicule, harassment, and even persecution at times.  Some compromised their faith just to be able to survive.  Others practiced their Christianity in secret.  The Christian faith did not become a fully legal religion until the 300's A.D., when Emperor Constantine gave it legitimate status.  Constantine developed Byzantium as the capital of the Roman Empire, which extended over most of southern Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.  Constantine's tradition was basically Greek.  He made Byzantium into a magnificent religious and political center, including beautiful Christian architecture.  Our word Byzantine comes from this period.  

    Constantine gave Byzantium a new name:  Constantinople, meaning "Constantine's polis," or "Constantine's city."  (In Turkish, that word has been compressed into Istanbul.)  Some people began calling Constantinople New Rome.  Why?  Because in many ways, Rome was no longer the capital of the Roman Empire!  Ironically, that would give the church a chance to flourish in the ancient city of  Rome itself, because of the vacuum in the city's political leadership.  So the Christian Church now had two major centers:

• Rome, which was the headquarters for the Catholic Church in the West, using Latin as its language; and
• Constantinople, which was the headquarters for the Orthodox Church in the East, using Greek as its language.

    Among Catholic leaders, one of the most important was Augustine, who grew up in an area of North Africa settled by Romans.  He shares one basic similarity with John Wesley, the founder of Methodism:  both were strongly influenced in their religious understandings by their mothers.  For John, his mother Susanna was very important.  Augustine's mother was named Monica, and she must have been a cool person like Monica Hoel!  Monica was a deeply committed Christian who didn't give up on helping her son to find in Christianity the answers for which he was searching. 

    After many years, Augustine discovered in his mother's religion of Christianity the certainty for which he had been looking all his life.  He described his insights in two major books, Confessions and The City of God.  He wrote these and many other essays and letters as bishop of the small North African town of Hippo, where he spent the rest of his life after becoming a Christian.

    Another person important in early Christianity was Anthony, who developed the earliest communities of monks and nuns, in nearby Egypt.  We call such a community of Brothers and Sisters a monastery.  A monastic community contains persons who seek God alone (The Greek word monos means "alone"), in their own way, even while sharing many other aspects of life.  If the monastery is for nuns, we may also call it a convent.   Anthony's work was continued by another Egyptian, Pachomius.  He provided organization and a Rule, or guideline for life, which would enable persons within these communities to live and work together very successfully.  We could use him in some of our residence halls today!  When we come to the map portion of this program, we'll review four of the great monastic Orders that grew out of the work of Anthony and Pachomius:  Benedictines, Franciscans, Dominicans, and Jesuits. 

    Let's turn to the papacy [pronounced pape-uh-see], the Catholic Church's leadership by a papa, or father-figure.  In early Christianity, Peter and Paul were viewed as the most important of all the apostles.  Because of a key passage in Matthew's gospel, Simon Peter was considered by many to be the head of the church.  The Roman church, which Peter founded, was the central authority for religious questions.  Peter's successors, the Bishops of Rome, were considered by Western Christians to be superior to the bishops of all other Christian cities, East or West.  Eventually the title Pope would be applied to the Bishop of Rome, the head of the Catholic Church.

    There were a number of great popes in the Middle Ages, who led the church through some difficult times.  One was even given the nickname "the Great," because of his outstanding leadership in preventing Roman society from breaking down completely.  This pope had not only a deep spiritual life, but also the ability to run the civil government, end budget deficits, and negotiate with invaders to bring about peace.  His official papal title was Pope Gregory I, but we know him as Gregory the Great.  He became a role model for many later popes, who chose names such as Gregory II or Gregory III, and he has two namesakes at Emory & Henry:  Greg McConnell and Greg McMillan. 

    Many centuries after Gregory I, Pope Gregory XIII played a key role in the history of the church.  He recognized that the calendar which had been used for many years had an error in it.  This pope moved Western Christianity away from the Julian calendar, established by Julius Caesar, into a new one which we call the Gregorian calendar in his honor.  To bring the calculations back into harmony with the earth's annual trip around the sun, he just eliminated ten days in the year 1582:  the day after October 4 became October 15!  I enjoy being Emory & Henry's "calendrologist," as I develop our academic calendar each year for the Academic Council, but I don't have Pope Gregory's authority.  In fact, no one else in history except Joshua has ever been given the authority to eliminate days from the calendar!  (If you're not sure what I mean by that, look up Joshua 10:12-13 in your Bible.)  Today not only Catholic Christians, but most people in the world use the Gregorian calendar.  Eastern Orthodox Christians continue to use the Julian calendar for the religious year, so they celebrate Christmas and Easter on different days from Christians in the West.

    Not all the popes were as wise and far-sighted as Gregory I and Gregory XIII.  Some were greedy for money and power; they lost sight of the ideals of courage and devotion shown by Simon Peter.  One whole series of medieval popes preferred to live in luxury in Avignon, France, rather than living in Rome where they could give real guidance to the church.  It took a brave person from the small Italian town of Siena to challenge the popes to return to Rome and exercise their leadership abilities.  That person was Catherine of Siena, a young woman who gained respect from Christians in her home town and elsewhere.  Her strong letters to the Popes were effective!  She was eventually declared a saint and a Doctor of the Church -- one of the great theologians who lived out the highest ideals of the Christian faith.

     One final heroic figure in the history of the medieval church is Joan of Arc.  She represents the courage of a person who remained true to her convictions, even though it meant her death.  Like Catherine of Siena and Francis of Assisi, she was called "of" something.  But the last part of her name represented a family name rather than her home town.  You have to spell that part carefully:  an Arch is part of your foot or part of a McDonald's restaurant, and Joan never rode on an Ark -- that was Noah.  She was known by her parents as Jeanne d'Arc or Jeanette; we know her as Joan of Arc.  Her life story is deeply moving.  I'll include here a brief summary; we have some good biographies of Joan in the library.

    Joan lived in the 1400's, about a century after Catherine of Siena.  She grew up in the little town of Domrémy in France, during a bitter dispute for the French throne.  One side was supported by the English, who had controlled much of France ever since the close links between France and England had been established several centuries earlier.  The other side focused on Charles the Dauphin, who claimed to be the rightful king. 

    When Joan was about twelve years old, she began to hear some voices that would stay with her the rest of her life.  She identified these voices as coming from Christian saints of the past.  She heard them especially when church bells would ring in the town.  Little by little they began to tell her about a special purpose for her life:  God was calling her to lead the Dauphin to the Cathedral at Rheims, where he would be anointed with sacred oil and crowned King of France.

    Finally, when she was about sixteen years old, Joan set out on her life mission.  She made herself look like a soldier, with her black hair cut short, and she wore pants, a shirt, and long leather boots.  The Dauphin was a wimp -- cowardly and indecisive.   He was always consulting astrologers and fortune-tellers.  Joan came to him in his castle and said, "Gentle Dauphin, I am Joan the Maid.  God has sent me to help you and your kingdom.  You shall be anointed and crowned in the city of Rheims."  To prove her authority, she had to defend her views before a council of theologians.  She succeeded in passing all their tests. 

    Now Joan was given authority to direct the battles of the Dauphin's French soldiers against the English opposition.  The officers and soldiers were so impressed by her that they accepted her orders willingly -- very unusual for a woman at this time!  And the courage that she showed in battle, even when she was wounded, inspired them to fight.  Finally they broke through the French lines, and got Charles to Rheims.  There he was anointed and crowned Charles VII, King of France.

    Once Joan's mission had been accomplished, the English tried another tactic:  if they could discredit her as a heretic and a witch, then they hoped that Charles VII's crown would become null and void.  The English captured Joan and had her convicted of heresy for her claims of special revelations and for wearing men's clothes.  Joan was burned at the stake in the French city of Rouen, when she was only nineteen years old. 

    But Charles VII continued to win people over to his side, and not much afterward, the English were driven completely out of France. Years later, the verdict of heresy was overturned, and in 1920 Joan of Arc was declared a saint.  So you may call her Saint Joan, unless you're in "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure," and you want to call her Miss of Arc.

CATHOLICS

    A significant aspect of Rome's genius has always been its emphasis on law.  As Christianity became a major part of Western culture, it absorbed this Roman legal understanding.  In the Middle Ages, Western Christianity developed thorough legal systems of rewards and punishments.  Priests became the agents of divine law and interpreted for the people the punishments required for specific sins.

    The understanding of the Lord's Supper was also defined quite precisely by the Roman Catholic Church.  In the Mass, one particular point was identified as the time when the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ.  Even though the elements of bread and wine appear the same as before, their substance has been transformed.  A thorough doctrine was developed around this concept, applying legal and philosophical language to the sacrament.  The word transubstantiation stands for the doctrine that the bread and wine are fully changed into Christ's body and blood.  The term comes from the transformation of the substance (essential reality) of the bread and wine.  Often a bell is rung in the service to indicate this high moment.

    The Second Vatican Council, held in Rome, 1962-1965, opened up many new avenues of dialogue among Christians.  The modern ecumenical movement has caused Christians to look again at many things which divided them in the past.  While some divisive elements may never be overcome, others have been minimized in their effects.  Many Christians seek to work together, even while preserving historical denominational traditions.  The result is that the church is now moving closer toward the real meaning of the word catholic:  universal.  The Greek kath' holos refers to the whole church, the unity of the church as the Body of Christ.

    In December 2004, the E&H Concert Choir had a fantastic trip to Rome, the center of the Catholic Church.  The choir was the first in the history of the tour agency to be invited by audition to sing the mass both at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and at St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice.  The music director for the Vatican called the E&H Concert Choir "the finest collegiate choir that has ever performed at St. Peter's"!  Whatever your own denomination, I hope that someday you will go to Rome and worship in St. Peter's Basilica.  The Catholic Church is now under the leadership of Pope Benedict XVI.

    Catholics acknowledge seven sacraments, sacred rituals embodying spiritual realities.  Two of these are also accepted by Protestants:  baptism and the Eucharist (also called Mass or the Lord's Supper).  Here are the other five:

• Confirmation is a ceremony recognizing the spiritual "coming of age" of a young person.  It includes anointing with holy oil.
• Penance, often called the rite of reconciliation, includes confession of sins and an expression of regret for them.  The priest, in the name of God, forgives the penitent sinner.
• Ordination or holy orders is a ceremony in which a bishop ordains a man to the priesthood, conveying, through the laying of hands on his head and anointing with sacred oil, the authority to preach God's Word and administer the sacraments.
• God seals the covenant of marriage between two Catholics, so that the marriage bond is indissoluble.
• Anointing the sick with consecrated oil enables the church to represent Christ's healing touch for a person who is seriously ill.  This sacrament was formerly called extreme unction, because unction also means "anointing."  Catholics don't use the term Last Rites any more, because it implies that the rituals are only for the very last point in a person's life.

    Albanese on page 61 defines a sacrament as "a place where a divine world is experienced as breaking into the human one."   She sees sacramentalism at the heart of the Catholic faith.  As sacramentalism represents the consecration of space, the liturgical cycle represents for Catholics the consecration of time.  The liturgical cycle enables Catholics to participate throughout the year in sacred events, focusing on the life of Christ.  What is the most sacred day of the church year?  Did you think of Christmas?  Christ's Mass is very important for Catholics -- a midnight Mass to commemorate the birth of Jesus.  Earlier in this review program I described another day which is even more important for Catholics:  Good Friday.  The crucifix, ever-present in Catholic homes, churches, and other institutions, shows how significant Christ's death on the Cross is.  Another day, linked with Good Friday, is also central.  Every Catholic tries to attend Mass on Easter, to honor Christ's Resurrection on this most sacred day of the year.  A beautiful Easter candle is lit to represent the presence of Jesus Christ among the worshippers.  Baptismal water is blessed for the coming year.  The themes for Easter are joy and praise.  

    Other important seasons in the liturgical cycle include 

• the Advent season of preparation for Christ's birth;
• Epiphany, recalling the visit of the Magi to the baby Jesus; 
• Lent, a time of preparation for Holy Week, the last week in Jesus' life; and
• Pentecost, commemorating the gift of the Holy Spirit.

    Catholics also have a number of paraliturgical devotions:  special ways to honor Jesus, Mary, or the saints.  Those who go to Jerusalem may walk in the footsteps of Jesus, retracing the events of Holy Week leading up to Calvary.  Even if they don't go to Jerusalem, they may reenact the story in fourteen Stations of the Cross, symbolically portrayed on the walls of the church.  Many Catholics in their devotions use a rosary, a chain of beads, to recall the special events in the life of the Virgin Mary.  A rosary commonly consists of fifty small beads for the Hail Mary or prayers to the Virgin Mary; large beads for the Our Father (Lord's Prayer); and a crucifix for the Apostles' Creed.  The beads are an aid to memory, and one should reflect on the mysteries of the faith while praying.  Prayer beads have been around for many centuries and are used by Buddhists and Muslims too.

    We have studied the beautiful story of the Virgin of Guadalupe, who appeared to Juan Diego in Mexico in the 1500's, and we have talked about her resemblance to the woman clothed with the sun in Revelation 12.  Above is the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe, which is revered in her basilica in Mexico City by many pilgrims each year..  

    Catholic devotions are also directed to the saints.  Let's see how well you can identify some of them; try not to peek at the answers.  Who was the mother of the Virgin Mary:  Saint Elizabeth, Saint Anne, or Saint Teresa?

    If you said Saint Elizabeth, I'm sorry, but that's wrong.  Luke identifies Elizabeth with a Greek term that indicates that she was probably Mary's cousin, not her mother.

    If you said Saint Teresa, I would have to ask which one you mean:  Teresa of Avila, a great medieval Spanish mystic;  Teresa of Emory, whose careful, challenging work with students in the Mass Communications program may qualify her for sainthood someday; or Mother Teresa of India, who spent her life caring for the poor and will probably be declared a saint.  None of these Teresas was the mother of the Virgin Mary.

    If you said Saint Anne, you're right!  Although neither parent is named in the Bible, early Christian tradition gives the names of Mary's parents as Joachim and Anna or Anne.  Her name graces the Catholic Church and school in Bristol, and she is a matron saint of miners.

    Let's try another one:  who is the patron of hopeless cases:  Saint Judd or Saint Jude?

    If you said Saint Judd,  then like me, you must enjoy listening to all those beautiful, mournful songs about hopeless cases that Naomi and Wynnona sing.  But neither mother nor daughter is a saint.

    If you said Saint Jude, you know that telethons, bike races, and other fund-raising events support St. Jude's Children's Hospital, which seeks to help children with serious illnesses.  Saint Jude is a worthy patron.  His followers, however, are not permitted to begin their devotions to him, "Hey, Jude!"

    One more:  who is the saint for sore throats:  Saint Blaise, Saint Mary, or Saint Phyllis?

    If you said Saint Mary, you may have been taking The Da Vinci Code too seriously, and you thought that Mary Magdalene and Jesus were really married and had children, whom Mary had to care for whenever they had colds or sore throats.  Dan Brown's novel is intriguing fiction, but don't take it seriously as if it were history.  There is no historical evidence at all that Mary Magdalene and Jesus were married!  

    If you said Saint Phyllis, you must have been thinking of nurse Phyllis Blevins in the Health Center.  She may take a throat culture to see if you have strep.  Phyllis is concerned about wellness as well as sickness; that's why her place is called the Health Center rather than the Infirmary.  But she's not yet a saint.

    If you said Saint Blaise, you know that Pascal would have difficulty explaining his theorem or triangle without help from his namesake!  Instead of being "a sight for sore eyes," Blaise is "a saint for sore throats"!

    Enough about saints; let's turn to Catholic morality.  Moral decisions are based especially on ethical principles developed by Saint Thomas Aquinas.  One key theme is the principle implicit in the growth and development of any living creature -- plant, animal, or human.  We call this principle natural law.  An act is moral (right) if it is in harmony with the law of nature. 

    How can we identify natural law?  It is written not on paper but in our hearts.  For example, nature has given us sexuality for the propagation of the human race.  Catholic moral theology says that any time that we indulge in sex, it should be for the purpose of producing children, or we should at least be open to that possibility.  If we use artificial means (such as condoms or birth control pills) to prevent reproduction, that is immoral, according to official Catholic teaching.  Many Catholics today, especially in America, take a different approach to ethical questions and use other standards than natural law. 

    In addition to natural law, Catholics recognize revealed law, such as the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount.  Offenses against the law are known as sins.  Catholics identify two levels of sin:

• a venial sin is a small sin which will not condemn a person to eternal punishment if unforgiven.  The name comes from the Latin venia, meaning "grace."
• a mortal sin is a deadly sin; the name is from the Latin mors, meaning "death."  If a person dies without confessing it and asking for absolution, the person will be condemned to eternal punishment.  Penance can bring forgiveness to the person who is truly sorry, no matter how awful the mortal sin may be.

    I've shared with you the ways in which Catholicism was brought to America by Spanish, French, and English Catholics; Albanese also describes the important roles of Italian, Polish, and Latino Catholics.  Those who came to America in the 1800's from Ireland and elsewhere in Europe found hostility and prejudice against them in some areas.  Nativism is the term used for suspicion and dislike of foreigners, especially of Catholics.  Nativist hate-literature portrayed Catholics as trying to give the Pope control over America in an international conspiracy.  Ancestors of the Nativists were of course immigrants from Europe in earlier generations!  If any people could truly claim to be "natives," they would be the American Indians -- and even they may have come across the land bridge from Asia. 

    The worst nineteenth-century Nativist group was the Know-Nothing movement, which had political clout for a time.  But you probably know better the Nativist group which is hostile not only to Catholics but also to African Americans, Jews, and "foreigners":  the Ku Klux Klan.  Not many years ago, the KKK held several marches in towns of southwestern Virginia, trying with little or no success to recruit members.  Here as elsewhere, Christians' response to the KKK was to bring people of different races and churches closer together. 

    Catholics in America today are seeking new ways to express their unique heritage, while being open to new directions for the future.  Their rich tradition and beautiful liturgy have much to offer the Christian faith.  A computer can't give you that feeling of profound reverence which you can experience in a Catholic Mass.  But I hope that after the first course unit and this review program, you now have a better understanding of this historic denomination, which will help you when you worship in one of its churches.

UNIT 1 MAP REVIEW: 
 THE CHRISTIAN FAITH IN EUROPE AND THE MIDDLE EAST

    Now please turn to Map 1 in the back of your syllabus.  I'll be your tour guide, as we take a journey to some key places for the Christian faith.  We'll begin in Jerusalem, which is a holy city for Jews, Muslims, and Christians.  The main significance of Jerusalem for the Christian faith is that there Jesus died on the Cross and was raised from the dead.  Since that is so central for Christian belief, we might say that Jerusalem is the center of the world!  I've rented a Gershom RV here for our travels, and I've equipped it to be amphibious, so we can cross oceans when necessary.  Do you know why it's called Gershom?  Yes -- Gershom, the name of Moses' son, is Hebrew for "nomad," "wanderer," or "Winnebago."

    We want to see Calvary, the hill in Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified.  But we can't be sure where Calvary was located, so we visit the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  A sepulchre is a tomb, and this church is built over the traditional site where Jesus was buried. 

    A few years after he was raised from the dead, Jesus appeared in a vision to a devout Pharisee named Paul on the road between Jerusalem and Damascus, a couple of hundred miles away in Syria.  Paul was traveling in a caravan with arrest warrants for some of Jesus' followers in Damascus, because he believed that their movement was heretical and dangerous.  But his religious experience was so overwhelming that he became one of Jesus' followers!  As Gershom takes us along the road, we can't help wondering where the risen Jesus appeared to Paul.

    After we've looked around Damascus and seen the wall over which Paul was lowered in a basket to escape an assassination attempt, we head northwest to the area of his mission work.  Do you remember the name of Paul's home town?  We're coming to it next:  Tarsus.  There he grew up as a Pharisee and as a faithful member of the synagogue.  He also learned how to debate understandings of Jewish law.  Paul would have enjoyed meetings of the Calliopean or Hermesian societies or the Philosophy 232 course on argumentation and debate!

    One of the important debates which Paul won was in a great council held in Jerusalem over the issue of how much of the Jewish law should be applied to Gentile Christians.  From Tarsus we are going north to Nicea, where another great council was held three centuries after Paul's time.  Do you remember who convened that council, in the 300's A.D.?  Yes, Emperor Constantine.  So you probably also remember that the main result of the Council of Nicea was to affirm that Jesus Christ is not just a human being and not an angelic being who is only spiritual, but that he is fully human and fully divine.  That understanding was developed, as we saw, in a statement of faith known as the Nicene Creed.  So Nicea is a really significant place!

    So far, we've been in a part of the world which is known as the Middle East or southwest Asia.  But now Gershom, our camper-RV, takes us across into Europe, to the city named in honor of Constantine:  Constantinople.  The modern nation of Turkey includes not only Tarsus and Nicea, but also Constantinople, which is known today in a shortened form of the city name in Turkish -- Istanbul.  Although most Turks and most people in Istanbul are Muslims today, there are still significant numbers of Christians in this ancient center of the Christian heritage.

    From Constantinople we can go to another leading Orthodox Christian city:  Athens.  You read in Acts the story of how Paul came to Athens and made a great speech at Mars Hill, a rocky outcropping down the hill from the Acropolis with its great temples such as the Parthenon.  He appealed to the Greeks to recognize an invisible and universal deity who is much greater than the pantheon of gods and goddesses worshipped in the Athenian temples.

    Greek culture also extended across the Aegean Sea to what we would call western Turkey today.  In Paul's time, that area was known as Asia, a province of the Roman Empire.  Some very important Christian churches were there, established by Paul and other missionaries.  Paul wrote a number of letters to the leaders of his churches, giving guidance to Jesus' followers on matters of faith and ethics. Do you remember who else wrote letters to the churches in Asia?  Yes, John gave guidance in his Revelation to Christians in seven churches there.

    When John wrote to the Asian Christians, he was in prison on the island of Patmos.  Our amphibious vehicle, Gershom, takes us there.  It's a good bit larger than the island in the middle of Hungry Mother Lake, and it held prisoners like John who refused to acknowledge the Roman Emperor Domitian as divine.  John's faith sustained him and gave him courage during persecution, and his letters and visions to his fellow Christians back home in Asia helped them to keep up their spirits too.

    From Patmos, we travel to another small island:  Malta.  If Italy is a boot, and Sicily is the football that Italy is kicking, then Malta is a piece of turf that fell off the boot.  A few decades before the time of John, Paul was imprisoned by officials of the Roman Empire.  He was put on a ship with other prisoners to be tried by Emperor Nero himself.  But during a fierce storm, the ship was wrecked on Malta.  The book of Acts tells this exciting sea story.

    Paul and his fellow prisoners were eventually taken to Rome, so we'll follow in his path.  He spent two years under house arrest, meeting with Christians in the church established by Simon Peter.  Rome, which is called the "Eternal City," houses the Vatican, in which St. Peter's Basilica is the heart of the Catholic Church.  We can go down below ground and see the spot revered as housing the bones of St. Peter. 

    Over the centuries Rome has had some great Popes, including Pope Gregory I "the Great," who sent missionaries to England, and Pope John XXIII, who convened the Second Vatican Council in the 1960's.  In our time, Pope John Paul II was beloved by Christians all over the world; he and Mother Teresa have been put on the "fast track" toward being declared saints by the Catholic Church.  And now we can see what kind of legacy will be established by Pope Benedict XVI in the twenty-first century. 

    Speaking of Benedict, we should visit Monte Cassino, and see Benedict's key monastery, the mother-house of all Western monasticism.  A number of other monasteries were established, following Benedict's Rule and the way of life exemplified at Monte Cassino.  A chain of such monasteries is called an Order.  After Benedict's death and the declaration of his sainthood, the Benedictine Order came to be called the Order of Saint Benedict.  A Brother or Sister who is a member of the Order will put the initials O.S.B. after his or her name.  Benedict's monasteries have been very effective in training people for leadership in the church.  Although Benedict himself was not a Pope, twenty-six Popes so far have come from the Benedictine Order.  The current Pope has honored the founder of the Order by his choice of his papal name.

    Another monastic center, to the north of Rome, is the little mountain town of Assisi.  This is where Francis of Assisi lived a life of poverty and dedication which was remarkable.  Like Benedict, he developed monastic communities where people could live together while seeking God and serving other people.  The Franciscan Order, which has monasteries around the world, is known by Francis' designation as the Order of Friars Minor (Ordo Fratrum Minorum), meaning "Order of Little Brothers," a name chosen by Francis of Assisi to emphasize humble service.  Franciscan Brothers (friars, like Friar Tuck in the Robin Hood stories) put the initials O.F.M. after their names.  Our RV can't go through the narrow, winding streets, but we can climb up to the top of a mountain and look out over the hills around us, remembering Francis' beautiful poetry about nature and the legends about his experiences with birds and a wolf.  Assisi reminds us of the mountain towns in southwest Virginia!

     Another Italian city which we must visit is Siena.  A young woman who grew up here, Catherine of Siena, exerted tremendous influence through her life and work.  She showed God's love through counseling, helping people deal with the Black Death, and her own spiritual devotions.  Perhaps Catherine is best known for pressuring the papacy to return to Rome from the French-Italian border city where they had been living for decades:  Avignon.  When we travel to that city, we see why the Popes were there.  In the Middle Ages, it was a magnificent city of wealth and luxury.  But is that what the Church should be known for?  Not according to Catherine of Siena, Francis of Assisi, and others who challenged the papal successors to the fisherman, St. Peter.  Rather than pomp and circumstance, Christianity should be devoted to the kind of humble service which Jesus lived and taught.

    As we keep going west into Spain, we find ourselves in Loyola, in the foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains.  In the 1500's a former Spanish soldier named Ignatius of Loyola established a spiritual "army" which he called the Society of Jesus.  Ignatius gave the marching orders to his group, helping them to devote their lives fully to Jesus Christ.  These Jesuits, highly organized and thoroughly trained in philosophy and religion, have established great Christian educational institutions all over the world.  They have also served as missionaries in remote regions, identifying with the people and cultures to which they have been sent. 

    The other great monastic group produced by Spain is the Order of Preachers, founded by Dominic.  Like the Jesuits, Dominican friars have also established many schools and been very active in missionary work.  Also like the Jesuits, Dominicans have emphasized teaching; their motto is veritas, "truth."  Like the Franciscans, Dominic and his Order live simple lifestyles, literally practicing their vow of poverty in service to the poor throughout the world.     

    Since we're this far south, let's cross over into North Africa and visit the little Algerian town of Tagaste, where Augustine grew up.  We can imagine what life was like for Augustine and his mother Monica, who was so close to him.  As a college student, he was looking for true meaning in life, but he didn't find it until many years later -- while he was living in Italy.  When everything finally fell into place for him, he was baptized as a Christian.  Eventually he returned to North Africa and became Bishop of Hippo, not too far from his home town.  There Augustine produced many great books, including a couple that had a great impact on the Christian faith:  his Confessions and the City of God.

    I weakened my hip when I was a hippie in the 1960's, and unfortunately I've reinjured my hip in Hippo, so I need a plaster cast for it.  Where can I find plaster of Paris?  In Paris, of course!  :)  So we make our way to the city where Thomas Aquinas, a great Dominican philosopher-theologian, spent much of his life.  You learned in Western Tradition how Aquinas helped us not to depend solely on Plato for the philosophical foundations of the Christian faith, but to build on the insights of Aristotle.  Thomas Aquinas taught his students at the University of Paris several philosophical proofs for the existence of God, and from Western you must remember at least one of them.  Hint:  they have nothing to do with the Eiffel Tower! 

    North of Paris we visit the city of Rheims.  We visit the cathedral which was the goal of Joan of Arc, so that she could have the Dauphin anointed and crowned as the rightful King of France.  In the Rheims Cathedral, the Dauphin became King Charles VII, with Joan at his side.  While we admire the cathedral's architecture, we know that Joan's courage was much greater than any cathedral.  She trusted in God's calling, even though it cost Joan her life. 

    It’s good that Gershom is amphibious, because we’ll have to go across open waters to reach the last points on our journey.  First we cross the English Channel and come to the city of Canterbury.  The beautiful cathedral there reminds us of a pun made by Gregory the Great, before he became Pope.  He saw some good-looking slaves in the marketplace in Rome and was told that they were barbarian Angles.  He said, "non anglii sed angeli" ("They're not Angles but angels!").  After he became Pope, Gregory sent missionaries to Angle-land = England, to convert them to Christianity.  Both Methodists and Episcopalians can trace their heritage back to this key mission, which led to the establishment of the Church of England.

    Finally we travel westward, across the Irish Sea.  Since my Kellogg ancestors came from Ireland, I have to take you to see the land which became Christian especially through the work of a Britisher named Patrick.  He was captured by raiders and taken to Ireland as a slave while he was in his teens.  But after he escaped and returned home, Patrick was called by God to return to Ireland as a missionary, and he served as a bishop there all the rest of his life.  I didn't put any one Irish city on the map, because Patrick traveled all over the island.  In a way, he was a circuit rider like John Emory, for whom our college is named.  So Ireland is an appropriate end for our journey.  And maybe we can even see Dr. Scott Boltwood, who is on sabbatical in Ireland this spring. 

Any comments or suggestions on this unit review are welcome!  If you would like, you can send me e-mail:   fkellogg@ehc.edu

To look at one of my other syllabi, go to my Home Page.  If the review of the New Testament has been too brief, you'll find more thorough reviews there, with links under Religion 132.  If the review of the history of the early church and medieval church has been too brief, you'll find more thorough reviews there, with links under Religion 311.

To review a different unit in the Christian Faith course, go directly to one of the following:

    Unit 2:  Churches of the Protestant Reformation

    Unit 3:  Churches with Distinctive Emphases

    Unit 4:  What Christians Have in Common

If you prefer, you may return to the Emory & Henry College Home Page.

Last updated:  February 19, 2008