THE SIX (6) AGES OF THE CHURCH
ST ND RD
1 AGE 2 AGE
Known as: The Beginnings of the Jesus The Christian Empire (325-
Movement (30-325) 640) “Age of the Church
Fathers”
Background: -Apostolic Age: Peter & Paul -Conversion of Emperor
-Extend apostolate from the Constantine (312)
Jewish to the Gentiles -foundation of the new
capital of the Christian
Empire, Constantinople
Achievements: -Penetrated the dominant -Council of Nicea (325)
Roman-Helenistic culture -Dev’t of Papacy
-Dev’t of an alternative form of -Emperor Theodosius made
discipleship (renunciation & Christianity the official
contemplation) religion of the empire (380)
-beginning of Christendom
-Council of Constantinople,
doctrine of the Trinity (381)
-Dev’t of Monasticism
-Council of Ephesus (431)
-Council of Chalcedon (451)
-Christian Empire came to
its full dev’t under Emperor
Justinian (565). He created
a great age of Byzantine
culture w/ St. Sophia of
Constantinople
-The basilicas of Ravenna
are the remaining vestiges
of the culture
Prominent -Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp -Athanasius of Alexandria &
Figures: of Symrna, Justin Martyr -Great Cappadocians
(martyrs) (clarified the doctrine of the
-Irenaeus, Tertullian, Clement Trinity): Basil of Caesarea,
of Alexandria, Origen, Cyprian Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory
(teachers) of Nazianzus
-Anthony, Pacomius -John Chrysostom
(monastics) -Augustine of Hippo, Jerome
-Benedict of Nursia,
Scholastica
Heresy/ies: -Gnosticism -Arianism
Situations/ -Emperor Diocletian started -Leaders of Germanic Tribes
Realities/ general persecution of (barbarians) were converted
Problems: Christians (305) Arian missionaries
TH
3 AGE
The Conversion of the
Barbarians in the West (640-
960)
-The coalition of apostolic
forces, monasticism & the
papacy created a new
Christian culture after the fall
of the Roman Empire
-Benedictines extended their
mission in Europe. St.
Boniface (Apostle of Germany)
Benedict (Father of the West)
-Monasteries became the new
center of Christian culture:
cross (the Christian message),
book (the Western culture,
plow (promotion of civilization
and new settlements) to the
barbarian tribes
-Alliance of the Frankish
Monarchy, papacy and
Benedictines
-Pepin, then Charles became
the protector of the Pope’s rule
-Awakening of studies,
strengthening of monastic life,
renewal of liturgical and
theological activities
-Latin ecclesiastical culture
survived
-(all those mentioned above)
-St. Patrick of Ireland (Celtic
monasticism)
-feudal system, bishops
became feudal lords
-Roman families questioned
papacy. Contending families
murdered popes, emperor
intervened & added violence,
ended up with a 12-year old
boy pope
-Western Christianity
experienced its darkest age
TH
4 AGE
A United Christian Europe
(960-1517)
-The Church recovered from
its darkest age thru a monastic
reform-foundation of the
monastery of Cluny in France
(903)
-Cluny, founded by a duke,
had been given the right to
select its own abbot
-Bernard of Clarevaux followed
st
the 1 movement of monastic
reform (1090-1153)
-Popes & bishops became
independent of imperial control
-Golden Age of the Church
th
(13 century)
-Papacy reached the height of
its prestige & power in the
person of Innocent III (1198-
1216)
-Birth of Franciscans &
Dominicans
-Conciliarism (Council of
Constance 1414-18)
-Renaissance
-(all those mentioned above)
-Pope Gregory VII
(Hildebrand)
-St. Francis of Assisi
-St. Dominic of Guzman
-Crusades used to grab land
and power
-Inquisition and Reformation
(hunted, tortured & burned
heretics, Jews, & witches)
-Decline of papacy was clear
and rapid
-Great Western Schism (3
popes at a time-Rome,
Avignon & Pisa
TH
5 AGE
A Ghetto Church (1517-1830)
-Christians during the Middle
Ages hoped to a reformed
Church based on poverty,
fidelity to the Bible and the
imitation of Christ
-Protestantism vs. Counter-
Reformation
-Birth of the Society of Jesus
-Council of Trent (1545-63)
-Missionary journey in Asia
-Christianity reached the
Philippines
-Jansenism
-(all those mentioned above)
-St. Francis Xavier, Matteo
Rici, Roberto de Nobili
-Protestantism
-Condemnation of the work of
Copernicus and Galileo Galilei
“In a war of ideas, it is the
people who are the casualties.
People kill for money or for
power. But the most ruthless
murderers are those who kill
for their ideas.”
6 AGE
Our Age (1830-?)
-After the onslaught of the
French Revolution, the
Churches, monasteries &
schools were taken by the
state
th
-In the mid-19 century, the
Church, in France &
Germany regained some of
its glory
-Romanticism
st
-1 Vatican Council (1869-
70)
-Rerum Novarum (condition
of the workers)
-Theology of Liberation
-Liturgical movement
-Theological Renewal
-Dev’t of local hierarchies &
churches
-The Church remains open
to “the signs of the times” or
surprises of our God of
history
-John Henry Newman
-Pius popes
-Pope Leo XIII
-Pope John XXIII
-Pope Paul VI
-Cardinal Ratzinger
-Modernism
-A period of polarization
between the liberals & the
conservatives