EASTERN COUNCILS

a) The Heretics
b) The Church’s fathers
c) Main Eastern councils
d) Pale-Christian Art
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a) The Heretics

        The ex-members of the Church, the heretics, wanted to clarify the faith’s mysteries more than it was possible, and they believed in the wrong doctrines which were not in the Gospel. The main heretics were:

-Arius. Priest from Alexandria, he said that Jesus Christ was an extraordinary man, but that he wasn’t the true God as the Father;
-Nestorius. Patriarch from Constantinople, he said that the Virgin Mary was the mother of Jesus the Man but that she wasn't the mother of Jesus the God;
-Eutiques. Tr
ying to correct Nestorius, he said the opposite by saying that Jesus was God, and that he wasn’t a man.

b) The Church’s Fathers

        They were the wise men of the Church. They defended the Christian doctrine from heresies which had extended around many areas and became the main cause of confusion to many people. The following are the Church’s fathers and among them it’s necessary to identify:

-Tertullian. He was born in Carthage on the year 150. He studied in Rome. He defended Christianity before all the pagan’s calumnies, with an incredible strength and with an unheard of eloquence. Tertullian invented the theological studies and gave unsurpassable intuitions to the Church;

-Origins. He was born in Alexandria on the year 185. He founded the famous School of Catechism in his town when he was only 17. Origins went deeply into biblical studies and the Christian philosophy, inventing the allegoric method;

-Saint Ambrose. He was the Archbishop of Milan around the year 370. He was a wise man and never forgot to be charitable with his people. Saint Ambrose included the liturgy in the Church and solved thousands of questions everywhere;

-Saint Augustine. He was and he is the top figure of the Church. He was born in Carthage and became a disciple of Saint Ambrose. Agustin learned to resist the "fun" of being "crazy and young" (of passions and friends-girlfriends) and to replace it with the study of God’s life (when he was 19, he became a doctor in the University of Milan). He has been the biggest source of inspiration in the history of humanity. It’s worthwhile to remember his "De civitate Dei" play which is about the city of God and the city of men.

c) Main Eastern Councils

        The Councils were assemblies summoned by the pope and constituted by all bishops and doctors of the Church. The main reason to celebrate these assemblies was the purification of the Catholic doctrine. The first 7 Councils of the Church solved the heresies and founded the Catholic Catechism.

-Council of Nicaea-325. The council taught that Jesus Christ was the true God who was at the same level as that of God the Father. It solved the crisis created by Arius in the north of Africa and in Spain;

-Council of Constantinople-381. The council decreed that Jesus Christ was a true man, and not only a true God. It solved the crisis created by Eutiques amongst the philosophers;

-Council of Ephesus-431. The council established that Virgin Mary was really the Mother of God, the mother of Jesus Christ, and the mother of the neediest people. It solved the crisis created by Nestorius in all the Eastern Church;

-Council of Chalcedon-451. The council explained all the past doctrines and summed them up in the symbol of faith. Jesus Christ has:

-2 natures (1 human and 1 divine),
-1 person (divine),
-1 intelligence and 1 desire (human-divine).

d) Pale-Christian Art

        It was the first type of classical art. It joined the different models of Christian expressions, in order to publish the faith. The pale-Christian Art included three realities:

-catacombs. They served to bury subterranean the Christians who died in the Empire Pursuits. There were exceptional Catacombs like those of St. Calixtus and St. Agnes;

-basilicas. They replaced the old houses or tamed churches from the 1st century, and they gave greatness to the Christian cult and community meetings. There are exceptional Basilicas like those of St. Peter of Vatican, St. Paul Extramural, St. John of Lateran and St. Mary the Mayor;

-other types of temples. They were dedicated for the commemoration of martyrs (martyrya), and for the celebration of baptism (baptistery).

        The first Christian temple was built in Dura Europos-Iraq, on the 1st century.

 

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