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39 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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What was the Political crisis in the roman empire in the third century?
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The delicate civic life of the Greek poleis was brought down by problems of economy and defense and leadership which effectively turned the empire in a police state
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What religion was associated with the sun in the third century?
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Mithraism
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What type of worship is Mithraism associated with?
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Worship of the sun
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Who was Apollonius of Tyana?
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He is found in a writing by the third century philosopher Philostratus who wrote a life of Apollonius, describing him as a doer of miracles and healings at the time of Jesus.
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Who wrote a fiery attack of Apollonius of Tyana?
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Eusebius of Caesarea
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Which philosopher contemporary with Jesus did Eusebius write an attack on?
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Apollonius of Tyana
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What was the trending of stoicism in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD?
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Stoicism had intellectual dominance in the second century, so much that Marcus Aurelius became a great exponent. However in the third century there was a move towards more religious and magical forms of philosophizing and stoicism went into decline
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What was the general religious tendency from the second century to the third century AD in the roman empire?
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There was a movement towards more magical and miraculous types of religion. The cohesion of the empire was in question and people sought for answers outside of the traditional gods and philosophies
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What religion replaced stoicism's intellectual dominance in the second century AD?
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Neoplatonism
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What is neoplatonism?
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a development from Plato's thought which emphasized its religious character.
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Who was the greatest Neoplatonist teacher?
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Plotinus
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What are Plotinus' dates?
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205-270 AD
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How did Plotinus speak of a 'trinity'?
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He thought divine nature consisted of three things: an Ultimate One, Intelligence, and the Soul. The first represented absolute perfection, the second was an image of the first, but it was knowable by our inferior senses, and the third was a spirit which infused the world
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How did Plotinus' conception of salvation differ from PX?
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There was no Christ figure to be incarnate, rather it was the task of individual souls by ecstatic contemplation to restore harmony lost in the world.
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What new third century semitic religion challenged Christianity?
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Manichaeism
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What is the Parthian empire?
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An Iranian empire that lasted from the 3rd century BC to the 3rd century AD
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What are Mani's dates?
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216-276
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Where was Mani born?
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Seleucia - the capital of the Parthian empire.
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What religions what Mani aquainted with?
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He travelled to India so he knew Buddhism and Hinduism and he was also familiar with Gnostic and Catholic Christianity.
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What is one characteristic about the makeup of Manichaeism?
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It is a synthesis of all the religions that Mani was familiar with along with his own personal experiences.
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How was Manichaeism similar to Gnosticism?
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It saw suffering as an unending struggle between matched forces of good and evil. And Jesus occupied an important place in Mani's scheme of divinity as teacher and divine healer, though he is like the Gnostic Jesus in that he had no real human body.
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What religion spread with Eastern Christianity in the third and fourth centuries?
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Manichaeism
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Which Roman emperor loathed Manichaeans?
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Diocletian
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Before Diocletian started persecuting Christians, what other acts of persecution was he involved with?
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He was burning Manichaeans alive.
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What modern discovery brought new light to the study of Manichaeism?
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In the 1990s onwards at an Egyptian oasis containing the ancient town of Kellis, Papyri have been discovered there
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When do the first identifiably Christian gravestones for the Roman imperial family begin to appear?
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Just after the death of Commodus in 192
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What is significant about the Emperor Commodus' mistress?
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She was probably a Christian
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What was the Emperor Commodus' mistress' name?
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He name was Marcia
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When was the first recorded sculpture of Christ?
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early third century, commissioned by the emperor Severus Alexander to be placed alongside of other important men/deities in his private chapel
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Why were the 240s AD important for the city of Rome?
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Because it was the anniversary of 1000 years after its founding.
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What were the educated Romans' opinion of the empire as it reached the 1000 year mark?
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That it was in decline because of the lack of interest in and sacrifice to the gods.
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What was a new Roman policy that was instituted around 250 to 'encourage' interest in the gods again?
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Every man woman and child had to sacrifice to the gods
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Why did Christians begin to get persecuted around 250?
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Because it was near the 1000th year of the city of Rome and the emperors thought that Rome was in decline because there was not enough attention paid to the gods and thus the emperors forced sacrifices upon everyone and the Christians were known for refusing to sacrifice.
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When the persecutions during the 250s occurred towards PX for failure to sacrifice did most Christians refuse to sacrifice?
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No, the majority of them gave way as many felt reverence for the empire
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During the persecutions of the 250s how did the bishops act?
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Some of them suffered martyrdom bravely, but others fled from city to city.
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Who were 'confessors'?
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steadfast Christians who did not flee in the face of danger during persecutions (particularly during the 3rd century)
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Where does the term 'confessor' come from?
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it was a Roman technical legal term for someone who pleads guilty as accused in court.
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What was the significance of confessors during the time period after the persecutions in the 250s?
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they provided the church with an alternate sort of authority based on their sufferings, and they were involved with allowing 'lapsed' christians back into the fold (who had committed sacrifices). Though this was not always to the pleasure of the bishops who thought they should be the authority on this.
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How did Cyprian of Carthage understand the the forgiveness of 'lapsed' christians?
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He came to see authority for forgiveness as vested in the bishop and that the bishop was the focus of unity for the church. He came up with this thesis in the face of confessors who he opposed and the election of a rival bishop.
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