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Constantine: Religious Faith and Imperial Policy brings together
some of the English-speaking world's leading Constantinian scholars
for an interdisciplinary study of the life and legacy of the first
Christian emperor. For many, he remains a "sign of contradiction"
(Luke 2:34) whose life and legacy generate intense debate. He was
the first Christian emperor, protector of the Church, and
eventually remembered as "equal to the apostles" for bringing about
the Christianization of the Empire. Yet there is another side to
Constantine's legacy, one that was often neglected by his Christian
hagiographers. Some modern scholars have questioned the orthodoxy
of the so-called model Christian emperor, while others have doubted
the sincerity of his Christian commitment, viewing his embrace of
the faith as merely a means to a political end. Drawing together
papers presented at the 2013 symposium at Stockton University
commemorating the 1700th anniversary of the Edict of Milan, this
volume examines the very questions that have for so long occupied
historians, classicists, and theologians. The papers in this volume
prove once again that Constantine is not so much a figure from the
remote past, but an individual whose legacy continues to shape our
present.
The Catholic and Orthodox churches have been divided for nearly a
thousand years. The issues that divide them are weighty matters of
theology, from a dispute over the Nicene Creed to the question of
the authority of the Pope. But while these issues are cited as the
most important reasons for the split, they were not necessarily the
issues that caused it. In Beards, Azymes, and Purgatory A. Edward
Siecienski argues that other, seemingly minor issues also played a
significant role in the schism. Although rarely included in
modern-day ecumenical dialogues, for centuries these "other
issues"-the beardlessness of the Latin clergy, the Western use of
unleavened bread in the Eucharist, and the doctrine of
Purgatory-were among the most frequently cited reasons for the
dispute between East and West. Disagreements about bread, beards,
and the state of souls after death may not, at first, appear to be
church-dividing issues, but they are the nevertheless among the
reasons why the church today is divided. This was a schism over
azymes long before it was a schism over the primacy of the Bishop
of Rome, and the beardlessness of the Latin clergy was cited as a
reason for breaking communion with the Latin Church prior to all
the subsequent arguments about the wording of the Nicene Creed. To
understand the schism between East and West, Siecienski contends,
we must grasp not only the reasons it remains, but also the reasons
it began.
Constantine: Religious Faith and Imperial Policy brings together
some of the English-speaking world's leading Constantinian scholars
for an interdisciplinary study of the life and legacy of the first
Christian emperor. For many, he remains a "sign of contradiction"
(Luke 2:34) whose life and legacy generate intense debate. He was
the first Christian emperor, protector of the Church, and
eventually remembered as "equal to the apostles" for bringing about
the Christianization of the Empire. Yet there is another side to
Constantine's legacy, one that was often neglected by his Christian
hagiographers. Some modern scholars have questioned the orthodoxy
of the so-called model Christian emperor, while others have doubted
the sincerity of his Christian commitment, viewing his embrace of
the faith as merely a means to a political end. Drawing together
papers presented at the 2013 symposium at Stockton University
commemorating the 1700th anniversary of the Edict of Milan, this
volume examines the very questions that have for so long occupied
historians, classicists, and theologians. The papers in this volume
prove once again that Constantine is not so much a figure from the
remote past, but an individual whose legacy continues to shape our
present.
Early Christian legends of divine power, miraculous events, fear
and admiration can inform your own spiritual journey. The three
principal infancy gospels—the Infancy Gospel of James, the Gospel
of the Infancy and the Infancy Gospel of Thomas—are accounts of
the births and early lives of Mary the Virgin Mother, and Jesus.
Originating in the second through fifth centuries, these apocryphal
stories are fictions but nevertheless of great historical interest
in terms of the beliefs and storytelling of early Christians, for
they are the sources of well-known Christian legends as well as of
some of Christianity's beloved heroes and heroines. This
fascinating and accessible exploration of formative influential
narratives takes you deep into the early Christian religious
thinking that provides the basis for Mary’s biography, ideas
about her purity, as well as the prayers, feasts and iconic
representations that celebrate her life. These extraordinary
folktales also provide some shocking imagery of the young Jesus,
the incarnation of God—equally human and divine—as he learns to
control his supernatural powers and apply them for good. Now you
can experience the mystery and amusement of these charming
folktales without any previous knowledge of early Christian history
or thought. This SkyLight Illuminations edition offers insightful
yet unobtrusive commentary that explains references and
philosophical terms, shares inspiring interpretations and gives you
a deeper understanding of the sources of devotion Christians feel
for Mary and the holy infant Jesus.
To many in the West, Orthodoxy remains shrouded in mystery, an
exotic and foreign religion that survived in the East following the
Great Schism of 1054 that split the Christian world into two
camps-Catholic and Orthodox. However, as the second largest
Christian denomination, Orthodox Christianity is anything but
foreign to the nearly 300 million worshippers who practice it. For
them, Orthodoxy is a living, breathing reality; a way of being
Christian ultimately rooted in the person of Jesus and the
experience of the early Church. Whether they are Greek, Russian, or
American, Orthodox Christians are united by a common tradition and
faith that binds them together despite differences in culture.
True, the road has not always been smooth-Orthodox history is
littered with tales of schisms and divisions, of persecutions and
martyrdom, from the Sack of Constantinople, capital of the
Byzantine Empire and seat of the Ecumenical Patriarch, to the
experience of the Russian Orthodox Church under the Soviet Union.
Still, today Orthodoxy remains a vibrant part of the religious
landscape, not only in those lands where it has made its historic
home (Greece, Russia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe), but
also increasingly in the West. Orthodox Christianity: A Very Short
Introduction explores the enduring role of this religion, and the
history, beliefs, and practices that have shaped it.
Among the issues that have divided Eastern and Western Christians
throughout the centuries, few have had as long and interesting a
history as the question of the filioque. Christians everywhere
confess their faith in the ancient words of the Nicene Creed. But
rather than serve as a source of unity, the Creed has been one of
the chief sources of division, as East and West profess their faith
in the Trinitarian God using different language. In the Orthodox
East, the faithful profess their belief in "the Holy Spirit, who
proceeds from the Father." In the West, however, they say they
believe in the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father "and the
Son"-in Latin "filioque." For over a millennium Christendom's
greatest minds have addressed and debated the question (sometimes
in rather polemical terms) in the belief that the theological
issues at stake were central to an orthodox understanding of the
trinitarian God. To most modern people, this may seem like a
trivial matter, and indeed most ordinary Christians would be hard
pressed to explain the doctrine behind this phrase. In the history
of Christianity, however, these words have played an immense role,
and the story behind them deserves to be told. For to tell the
story of the filioque is to tell of the rise and fall of empires,
of crusades launched and repelled, of holy men willing to die for
the faith, and of worldly men willing to use it for their own
political ends. It is, perhaps, one of the most interesting stories
in all of Christendom, filled with characters and events that would
make even the best dramatists envious.
The Filioque: History of a Doctrinal Controversy is the first
complete English language history of the filioque written in over a
century. Beginning with the biblical texts and ending with recent
agreements on the place and meaning of the filioque, this book
traces the history of the doctrine and the controversy that has
surrounded it. From the Greek and Latin fathers, the ninth-century
debates, the Councils of Lyons and Ferrara-Florence, to the
twentieth- and twenty-first century-theologians and dialogues that
have come closer than ever to solving this thorny problem, Edward
Siecienski explores the strange and fascinating history behind one
of the greatest ecumenical rifts in Christendom.
The Papacy and the Orthodox examines the centuries-long debate over
the primacy and authority of the Bishop of Rome, especially in
relation to the Christian East, and offers a comprehensive history
of the debate and its underlying theological issues. Edward
Siecienski begins by looking at the sources of the debate,
analyzing the history and texts that have long divided the Catholic
and Orthodox world, and ends by examining the Second Vatican
Council and recent attempts at dialogue on the issue of the
primacy. Starting with the historical Apostle Peter and the role he
played in the early church, the book turns to the evidence long
used in arguments for and against the Roman primacy. Siecienski
details the 2000-year history of the papacy's reception-and
rejection-among the Orthodox, beginning with the question that
continues to bedevil ecumenists: what was the role of the Bishop of
Rome during the time of the undivided church? Although Eastern
attitudes towards the papacy often differed depending on time and
place, by the time the First Vatican Council (1870) defined the
pope's infallibility and universal jurisdiction-doctrines the
Orthodox vehemently rejectedit was clear that the papacy, long seen
by Catholics as the ministry of unity, had become the chief
obstacle to it. Siecienski masterfully brings together all of the
biblical, patristic, and historical material necessary to
understand this longstanding debate. This book is an invaluable
resource as both Catholics and Orthodox continue to reexamine the
sources and history of the debate.
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