Introductory Matters:

· Continued division between Constantinople and Rome

· Theological differences between East and West continue

· Rome falls to the Barbarians

· Theological Issues: Discussions of the Trinity, the nature of the Incarnation, heresies

I. Eastern and Western Churches

A. Division between the Eastern and Western Empires grew

1. They had different capitals, different ruling families, and different languages

2. The East enjoyed relative peace and prosperity

3. The West was attacked by Germanic tribes and would soon fall

4. The capital of the West moved from Rome to Ravenna (c. 404)

II. The Falling Fortunes of Rome

A. The Pope was “the most significant official” left in Rome[1]

B. Important Popes in the 5th Century

1. Key Issues Leading Up to the 5th Century Papal Advancement

a. Pope Damasus (366–384) “began the practice of describing the Roman church simply as ‘the see’”[2]

2. Innocent I (?–417)

a. “He referred to the Roman bishop as ‘head and apex of the episcopate.”[3]

b. Claimed universal jurisdiction over churches

3. Celestine I (?–c. 432)—engaged in missionary efforts

4. Leo the Great (?–461)

a. Received authority over all western churches by Emperor Valentinian

b. Claimed Peter’s primacy over other apostles, and popes “inherited his role as supreme ruler and teacher, so that Peter could be said to speak in and through them.”[4]

C. Attacks on Rome

1. 401- Alaric of the Visigoths invades Italy

2. 410- Alaric sacks Rome

3. 455- Vandals sack Rome

4. Augustine’s City of God

III. The Rise of Constantinople

A. Constantinople enjoyed greater peace and prosperity more than Rome

B. Attacked by the Huns, Emperor Theodosius II (408–450) procured safety through gold

C. Cyril of Alexandria (?–444)

1. “the most important patriarch at this time”[5]

2. “Cyril was the deepest-thinking and most influential of all the Alexandrians, and theologians today continue to study his writing with great interest.”[6]

IV. Mary, Bearer of God

A. Theotokos—Θεοτόκος

B. Alexandrian School of thought

C. Emphasized divine nature of Christ

D. “For Cyril, the touchstone of orthodoxy, in Christological as in other matters, was the inspired ‘symbol of the 318 holy Fathers’—the creed of the Council of Nicaea.”[7]

V. Mary, Bearer of Man

A. Christokos—Χριστοκος (Anthropotokos)

B. Nestorius, Bishop of Antioch

C. Antiochene School of thought

D. Emphasized humanity of Christ

E. Nestorianism—“there were two separate Persons in the Incarnate Christ, the one Divine and the other human

VI. Council of Ephesus – 431

A. The conflict reached its zenith when Emperor Theodosius II called a Council

B. “In a single day’s session, this body, affirming the sole authority of the creed of Nicaea and standing on Cyril’s interpretation of it, condemned and disposed Nestorius.”[8]

C. See Backhouse’s insert on Nestorianism

VII. Too Human or Too Divine

A. Eutyches (c. 378–454)

B. Leader of a monastery in Constantinople

C. Taught “the union between Christ’s human and divine natures was such a close fusion of the two, that the human nature had been swallowed up and lost in the divine…”[9]

D. This reflects the difficulty of expressing biblical doctrine in clear ways

VIII. Council of Chalcedon 451

A. Overseen by Emperor Marcian (emperor from 450–457)

B. Formally rejected Nestorianism and Eutychianism

C. Formalized the one person, two natures beliefs found in Nicene Creed

D. Chalcedonian Definition, Chalcedonian Creed

IX. Fall of the West

A. 476- Odoacer conquered the West and ruled over Italy

B. “The last emperor, called Romulus Augustulus, was set aside by the German general Odovakar, an even which is normally spoken of as ‘the end’ of the Roman Empire in the West.”[10]

C. The German tribes would exchange rule over the west between themselves for the next several years

X. The First Schism (Theological—Political)

A. Theological Schism

1. Monophysites (Monophytisim)

a. Meaning

b. “Regional, independent, and often isolated…”[12]

c. Pope Felix III (?–492) excommunicated Acacius “and broke off relations with the East”[13]

d. Pope Felix III’s decision brought “The Acadcian Schism” lasting thirty-five years (484–519) and “was the first serious breach of unity between East and West”[14]

B. Political Schism

1. Basiliscus (475, Monophysite) took power from Zeno

2. Zeno returned to power to a divided empire

a. Seeking to reconcile the broken (theologically) empire, Zeno issued Henoticon with Bishop Acacius (patriarch of Constantinople)

b. Henoticon reiterated the authority of Nicene Creed and the Councils of Constantinople and Ephesus, but left out the Chalcedonian Definition to appease the Monophysites

C. Pope Gelasius I (?–496)

1. First pope to use the title “Vicar of Christ”[15]

2. Defended papal primacy using the “two-swords” or “two powers” theory, the spiritual and the temporal