Theotokos

St. Cyril of Alexandria lived a very fascinating life, living from 375 to 444 AD. St. Cyril of Alexandria was a Christian theologian and bishop in the 5th century. Cyril was ordained by his uncle and received a theological and classical education in Alexandria. He went with his uncle to Constantinople in 403 and attended the Synod of the Oak that had John Crysostom leading the program. Cyril was was greatly known for his campaign against Nestorius, bishop of Constantinople, whose views on…

The development of Christology in the patristic period of Christianity was formed out of two main arguments, the logos’ relation with God and the logos’ relation with the human Jesus. It was of agreement that Jesus the Christ was on earth and that he was the logos, i.e. “Word of God” or “Son of God”. Two orators in particular drew the proverbial line in the sand between homoousios and homoiousios, of the same and of similar substance as the Father. This division was later coined the Arian…

Analysis of the Renaissance and the Middle Ages Stefan Rayburn Western Governor’s University Analysis of the Renaissance and the Middle Ages The humanities have shaped the culture of the world to what it is today. Cave paintings would tell a story of a conquest or an adventure otherwise untold. World wonders would be marveled and envied over for countless years to come. However, without the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the humanities would not be as robust and advanced as…

1 Nestorius placed a special emphasis on the humanity of Jesus. He began preaching against the title Theotokos or Mother of God, beginning to be used of the Virgin Mary. He distinguished between the logos (“divine nature”) and Christ (the Son, the Lord) as a union of divine nature and human nature. He refused to attribute the human acts and the sufferings of Jesus to the divine nature, arguing that God could not suffer on the cross, as God is omnipotent. Therefore the Virgin Mary, could not be…

The Incarnation is the powerful mystery that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, became flesh to fulfill our salvation and to save us from both sin and death. The Incarnation is the greatest sign of Christian faith to be true. In the Gospel of Luke, we are told that through the power of the Holy Spirit, the Incarnation came to be accurate. An angel named Gabriel appears to Mary and tells her that you will have a child named Jesus. Knowing that Jesus means “God saves”, she is confused because she has…

achieve original holiness with special grace from God are she remains sin free. - God prepares the way for Mary. It all began at the Annunciation, when Mary truly committed herself into being a part of God’s plan of salvation. She truly became Theotokos, “God-bearer”. She became the fiat at the Annunciation and truly gives her consent to the Incarnation of Christ and was ready to take the world as her Divine Son would bring. However, Mary is truly shown to be a part of God’s ultimate plan…

Then, there is the sola scriptura non-application to this problem. This would consist of one going to the Bible as all sufficient. In this case, there is no way to determine when a woman is exercising “authority over a man.” The second issue is defining when and where “in the churches” occurs. The words used in this text can be defined and redefined, but the end result is that the Word is not sufficient to answer these questions that are in addition to the scripture. There is a different…

The move into the Christian-Roman period, or the early Medieval/Dark Ages marked an important point in Catholic Christianity’s history, and allowed controversies over the teaching and practice of religious doctrines throughout Christianity to present themselves. Leaders within the churches convened in order to form unanimous and unwavering principles as answers to the essential questions of teaching orthodox faith. These debates would be called Ecumenical Councils, settling disputes regarding…

Mary’s Earthly Apparitions Besides the four Marian Dogmas of the Catholic Church, Mary has inspired the lives of millions of people across the world. Mary is the Church’s leading intercessor for prayer, and she considered to be the patroness of humanity. Something truly miraculous that Catholic’s believe in regarding Mary is Marian apparitions. A Marian apparition is a supernatural appearance of the Blessed Mother Mary here on earth. The three most famous accounts of Marian apparitions occurred…

The Trinitarian Controversy The Trinitarian controversy lasted from 318 to 382. There was tension between how we understand God which exists today. This controversy existed at an early stage; a period which is known Arianism. Arius was a Christian in Alexandria, Egypt. Arius wrote a letter to his Eusebius addressing this tension and his stance. He was opposed to the views of Eusebius regarding the trinity and the nature of Christ. Arius believed that God is with out a beginning and that the son…