Constantine V

images because, to him, they were like books for illiterate; they had a pedagogical purpose. The Pope did not address the veneration of images because there was a laissez-faire approach to making and venerating icons in the West. This controversy reached its height under the reign of Leo’s son Constantine V who had a brilliant intellect and was a critic of icons. He wanted a sophisticated iconoclast theology developed rather than the vague policies of his father. Constantine circulated his ideas to the bishops and then called the Ecumenical Council of Hiera in 754(none of the patriarchs attended it, and the Pope refused to recognize it) to condemn John of Damascus and to outline his defence against icons. He based his arguments on Christological grounds that images make a combination of a Nestorian and a Miaphysite. Icons are doubly blasphemous because their depiction of Jesus suggests the Miaphysite union of nature (claim the human form includes the divine nature) or you claim that it only depicts his humanity which is a Nestorian separation of the two natures. For these reasons, icons of Christ are impermissible because they suggest a heretical Christology according to Constantine. The council offered two alternatives to the veneration of icons: the cross and the Eucharist. The cross presents an acceptable distance between the image and the reality. The Eucharist is permissible because it is the only representative form that Jesus has actually chosen for his incarnation…

During the Byzantium Empire in the 700’s, the Iconoclasm Controversy and the Decree’s that followed were crucial points in the history of Christianity. The Catholic Church was largely affected by the Iconoclastic movement during that time and the continued growth and popularity of religion was tested. Both the Decree of the Iconoclast Council of Constantinople and the Decree of Second Nicea shaped the Byzantine Empire during the time of Constantine V and Leo III’s rule. During the time when…

Roman rule The Persian rule of Palestine was replaced by Greek rule when Alexander the Great conquered Macedonia in 333 BC. Alexander’s heirs, the Ptolemies and Seleucids, continued to rule the country. The Seleucids tried to impose their culture and Hellenic (Greek) religion on the population. In the second century BC, the Jews rebelled under the Maccabees and began an independent state (141-63 BC) until Pompey conquered them Rome and made it a province, ruled by Jewish kings. During the time…

The Roman Catholic Church from would not be powerful without wealth and political and structural strengths and weaknesses playing roles in its spread throughout Europe. Diocletian was against any and all unorthodox religious movements including the growing religion of Christianity. To rid the Roman Empire of Christians, he took church property and destroyed churches, took Christians out of office, and enslaved lower-class Christians. They survived throughout the rest of Diocletian’s reign until…

In today’s world we have the Bible to help inspire the awe that Jesus brought to Earth. However, at the time Jesus didn’t have these tools, he used the miracles of saving and curing, as well as teachings like The Good Samaritan to inspire people to follow him. When it was time for Jesus to be crucified, his 12 apostles continued to spread the words he left behind. This has come to be known as apostolic succession. This really helped to have more people invest in the Christian lifestyle of that…

belonging and equality, even it only through religion. Roman aristocratic women’s only role at the time was to bear and nourish children. Their role in the household made them the most influential character in the life of their children. This means that eventually, one boys grew up they will become Christians within the aristocratic society and will have influence within their class. One of these influential mothers was the mother of Constantine the Great. The Roman soldier Constantine became…

Constantine and his Role in the Rise of Christianity Constantine reflected on previous emperors seeing that worshiping multiple Gods was just an artful deception. He wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps as a Christian, so he prayed to God to reveal to him who he truly was. He saw a chi-rho of light in the heavens bearing the inscription, “By this symbol you will conquer.” While he was sleeping the night before the Battle of Milvian, the Christ of God appeared to him with the same sign;…

Christianity, starts out with only the population of Jews, expand into Romans, Muslims, and other culture groups in the past twenty centuries. With Paul spreading Jesus’s words to the gentiles, the Roman has killed thousands of Christian because they see Christians as rebels and want the Roman Empire to fall, which leads to the great persecution in 303. After Constantine take over, he later legalizes Christianity as Romans accept Christianity, which resulted in the Edict of Milan in 313 (Cohen…

brief review of the literature and research leading up to the topic at hand many scholars take different views. Some just examine before the Christian Church and what the economy and lifestyle was like for a prostitute. Others look at the influence of the Christian Church on philosophical mindset change. Each is a critical note to understanding how prostitution changed with the installation of the Christian Church. In ancient Rome, the society started as practicing paganism. In fact, many of…

The reason why Christians persecuted in the early centuries after Christ was because the beliefs values and practices were against and was at odds with the Roman culture; it created tension which eventually led to persecution. The Christians did not give ritual sacrifices like the Romans did. The Romans understood that their gods but the God that the Christians believed and worshipped. The Romans believe the gods would protect their Empire from destruction if they honored and sacrificed the…