The Librarian

Coloring in our finished Memorial invitation territory in Phoenix, Arizona, USA in preparation for tonight. Photo shared by @shegme

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Enjoying the Memorial in Kuchigoro village in Abuja, Nigeria in a temporary Kingdom Hall built by the brothers staying in the village within a very short time to enable people living in the village attend. We thank Jehovah for making it a success! Photo shared by @callmejusticee

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UNA CONGREGACIÓN DE ZAMBIA EN ÁFRICA, CON 150 PUBLICADORES, TUVO UNA ASISTENCIA DE 707 A LA CONMEMORACIÓN !!

The First Council of Nicaea (/naɪˈsiːə/; Greek: Νίκαια [ˈni:kaɪja]; Turkish: Iznik) was a council of Christian bishops convened in Nicaea in Bithynia by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD 325. This first ecumenical council was the first effort to attain consensus in the church through an assembly representing all of Christendom.[5]

Its main accomplishments were settlement of the Christological issue of the nature of the Son of God and his relationship to God the Father,[3] the construction of the first part of the Creed of Nicaea, establishing uniform observance of the date of Easter,[6] and promulgation of early canon law.[4][7]

See also: Trinity. Catholicism, Jesus Christ

Overview

The First Council of Nicaea was the first ecumenical council of the Church. Most significantly, it resulted in the first uniform Christian doctrine, called the Nicene Creed. With the creation of the creed, a precedent was established for subsequent local and regional councils of Bishops (Synods) to create statements of belief and canons of doctrinal orthodoxy—the intent being to define unity of beliefs for the whole of Christendom.

Derived from Greek (Ancient Greek: οἰκουμένη oikoumenē “the inhabited earth”), "ecumenical" means "worldwide" but generally is assumed to be limited to the known inhabited Earth,(Danker 2000, pp. 699-670) and at this time in history is synonymous with the Roman Empire; the earliest extant uses of the term for a council are Eusebius' Life of Constantine 3.6[8] around 338, which states "he convoked an Ecumenical Council" (Ancient Greek: σύνοδον οἰκουμενικὴν συνεκρότει)[9] and the Letter in 382 to Pope Damasus I and the Latin bishops from the First Council of Constantinople.[10]

One purpose of the council was to resolve disagreements arising from within the Church of Alexandria over the nature of the Son in his relationship to the Father: in particular, whether the Son had been 'begotten' by the Father from his own being, with no beginning, or rather, begotten in time, or created out of nothing, therefore having a beginning.[11][11] St. Alexander of Alexandria and Athanasius took the first position; the popular presbyter Arius, from whom the term Arianism comes, took the second. The council decided against the Arians overwhelmingly (of the estimated 250–318 attendees, all but two agreed to sign the creed and these two, along with Arius, were banished to Illyria).[12]

 

 

Another result of the council was an agreement on when to celebrate Easter, the most important feast of the ecclesiastical calendar, decreed in an epistle to the Church of Alexandria in which is simply stated:

• We also send you the good news of the settlement concerning the holy pasch, namely that in answer to your prayers this question also has been resolved. All the brethren in the East who have hitherto followed the Jewish practice will henceforth observe the custom of the Romans and of yourselves and of all of us who from ancient times have kept Easter together with you.[13]

Historically significant as the first effort to attain consensus in the church through an assembly representing all of Christendom,[5] the Council was the first occasion where the technical aspects of Christology were discussed.[5] Through it a precedent was set for subsequent general councils to adopt creeds and canons. This council is generally considered the beginning of the period of the First seven Ecumenical Councils in the History of Christianity.

 

Character and Purpose

The First Council of Nicaea was convened by Emperor Constantine the Great upon the recommendations of a synod led by Hosius of Córdoba in the Eastertide of 325. This synod had been charged with investigation of the trouble brought about by the Arian controversy in the Greek-speaking east.[14] To most bishops, the teachings of Arius were heretical and dangerous to the salvation of souls.[15] In the summer of 325, the bishops of all provinces were summoned to Nicaea, a place reasonably accessible to many delegates, particularly those of Asia Minor, Georgia, Armenia, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Greece, and Thrace.

 

This was the first general council in the history of the Church since the Apostolic Council of Jerusalem, the Apostolic council having established the conditions upon which Gentiles could join the Church.[16] In the Council of Nicaea, "The Church had taken her first great step to define revealed doctrine more precisely in response to a challenge from a heretical theology."[17]

Attendees

Constantine had invited all 1800 bishops of the Christian church (about 1000 in the east and 800 in the west), but a smaller and unknown number attended. Eusebius of Caesarea counted more than 250,[18] Athanasius of Alexandria counted 318,[9] and Eustathius of Antioch estimated "about 270"[19] (all three were present at the council). Later, Socrates Scholasticus recorded more than 300,[20] and Evagrius,[21] Hilary of Poitiers,[22] Jerome,[23] Dionysius Exiguus,[24] and Rufinus[25] recorded 318. This number 318 is preserved in the liturgies of the Eastern Orthodox Church[26] and the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria[citation needed].

 

Delegates came from every region of the Roman Empire except Britain. The participating bishops were given free travel to and from their episcopal sees to the council, as well as lodging. These bishops did not travel alone; each one had permission to bring with him two priests and three deacons, so the total number of attendees could have been above 1800. Eusebius speaks of an almost innumerable host of accompanying priests, deacons and acolytes.

 

A special prominence was also attached to this council because the persecution of Christians had just ended with the Edict of Milan, issued in February of AD 313 by Emperors Constantine and Licinius.

 

The Eastern bishops formed the great majority. Of these, the first rank was held by the three patriarchs: Alexander of Alexandria, Eustathius of Antioch, and Macarius of Jerusalem. Many of the assembled fathers—for instance, Paphnutius of Thebes, Potamon of Heraclea and Paul of Neocaesarea—had stood forth as confessors of the faith and came to the council with the marks of persecution on their faces. This position is supported by patristic scholar Timothy Barnes in his book Constantine and Eusebius.[27] Historically, the influence of these marred confessors has been seen as substantial, but recent scholarship has called this into question.[25]

 

Other remarkable attendees were Eusebius of Nicomedia; Eusebius of Caesarea, the purported first church historian; circumstances suggest that Nicholas of Myra attended (his life was the seed of the Santa Claus legends); Aristakes of Armenia (son of Saint Gregory the Illuminator); Leontius of Caesarea; Jacob of Nisibis, a former hermit; Hypatius of Gangra; Protogenes of Sardica; Melitius of Sebastopolis; Achilleus of Larissa (considered the Athanasius of Thessaly)[28] and Spyridion of Trimythous, who even while a bishop made his living as a shepherd[29] From foreign places came John, bishop of Persia and India, Theophilus, a Gothic bishop and Stratophilus, bishop of Pitiunt of Georgia.

 

The Latin-speaking provinces sent at least five representatives: Marcus of Calabria from Italia, Cecilian of Carthage from Africa, Hosius of Córdoba from Hispania, Nicasius of Die from Gaul,[28] and Domnus of Stridon from the province of the Danube.

 

Athanasius of Alexandria, a young deacon and companion of Bishop Alexander of Alexandria, was among the assistants. Athanasius eventually spent most of his life battling against Arianism. Alexander of Constantinople, then a presbyter, was also present as representative of his aged bishop.[28]

 

The supporters of Arius included Secundus of Ptolemais, Theonus of Marmarica, Zphyrius, and Dathes, all of whom hailed from the Libyan Pentapolis. Other supporters included Eusebius of Nicomedia, Paulinus of Tyrus, Actius of Lydda, Menophantus of Ephesus, and Theognus of Nicaea.[28][30]

 

"Resplendent in purple and gold, Constantine made a ceremonial entrance at the opening of the council, probably in early June, but respectfully seated the bishops ahead of himself."[16] As Eusebius described, Constantine "himself proceeded through the midst of the assembly, like some heavenly messenger of God, clothed in raiment which glittered as it were with rays of light, reflecting the glowing radiance of a purple robe, and adorned with the brilliant splendor of gold and precious stones".[31] The emperor was present as an overseer and presider, but did not cast any official vote. Constantine organized the Council along the lines of the Roman Senate. Hosius of Cordoba may have presided over its deliberations; he was probably one of the Papal legates.[16] Eusebius of Nicomedia probably gave the welcoming address.[16][32]

 

Agenda and Procedure

The agenda of the synod included:

 

• The Arian question regarding the relationship between God the Father and the Son (not only in his incarnate form as Jesus, but also in his nature before the creation of the world); i.e., are the Father and Son one in divine purpose only or also one in being?
• The date of celebration of Pascha/Easter
• The Meletian schism
• Various matters of church discipline, which resulted in twenty canons
• Church structures: focused on the ordering of the episcopacy
• Dignity of the clergy: issues of ordination at all levels and of suitability of behavior and background for clergy
• Reconciliation of the lapsed: establishing norms for public repentance and penance
• Readmission to the Church of heretics and schismatics: including issues of when reordination and/or rebaptism were to be required
• Liturgical practice: including the place of deacons, and the practice of standing at prayer during liturgy[33]
• The council was formally opened May 20, in the central structure of the imperial palace at Nicaea, with preliminary discussions of the Arian question. In these discussions, some dominant figures were Arius, with several adherents. "Some 22 of the bishops at the council, led by Eusebius of Nicomedia, came as supporters of Arius. But when some of the more shocking passages from his writings were read, they were almost universally seen as blasphemous."[16] Bishops Theognis of Nicaea and Maris of Chalcedon were among the initial supporters of Arius.

 

Eusebius of Caesarea called to mind the baptismal creed of his own diocese at Caesarea at Palestine, as a form of reconciliation. The majority of the bishops agreed. For some time, scholars thought that the original Nicene Creed was based on this statement of Eusebius. Today, most scholars think that the Creed is derived from the baptismal creed of Jerusalem, as Hans Lietzmann proposed.

 

The orthodox bishops won approval of every one of their proposals regarding the Creed. After being in session for an entire month, the council promulgated on June 19 the original Nicene Creed. This profession of faith was adopted by all the bishops "but two from Libya who had been closely associated with Arius from the beginning".[17] No explicit historical record of their dissent actually exists; the signatures of these bishops are simply absent from the Creed.

 

Arian Controversy

The Arian controversy arose in Alexandria when the newly reinstated presbyter Arius[34] began to spread doctrinal views that were contrary to those of his bishop, St. Alexander of Alexandria. The disputed issues centered on the natures and relationship of God (the Father) and the Son of God (Jesus). The disagreements sprang from different ideas about the God-head and what it meant for Jesus to be his son. Alexander maintained that the Son was divine in just the same sense that the Father is, co-eternal with the Father, else he could not be a true Son. Arius emphasized the supremacy and uniqueness of God the Father, meaning that the Father alone is almighty and infinite, and that therefore the Father's divinity must be greater than the Son's. Arius taught that the Son had a beginning, and that he possessed neither the eternity nor the true divinity of the Father, but was rather made "God" only by the Father's permission and power, and that the Son was rather the very first and the most perfect of God's creatures.[11][35]

 

The Arian discussions and debates at the council extended from about May 20, 325, through about June 19.[35] According to legendary accounts, debate became so heated that at one point, Arius was struck in the face by Nicholas of Myra, who would later be canonized.[36] This account is almost certainly apocryphal, as Arius himself would not have been present in the council chamber due to the fact that he was not a bishop.[37]

 

Much of the debate hinged on the difference between being "born" or "created" and being "begotten". Arians saw these as essentially the same; followers of Alexander did not. The exact meaning of many of the words used in the debates at Nicaea were still unclear to speakers of other languages. Greek words like "essence" (ousia), "substance" (hypostasis), "nature" (physis), "person" (prosopon) bore a variety of meanings drawn from pre-Christian philosophers, which could not but entail misunderstandings until they were cleared up. The word homoousia, in particular, was initially disliked by many bishops because of its associations with Gnostic heretics (who used it in their theology), and because their heresies had been condemned at the 264–268 Synods of Antioch.

 

Arguments for Arianism

According to surviving accounts, the presbyter Arius maintained that the Son of God was created as an act of the Father's will, and therefore that the Son was a Creature made from nothing, begotten directly of the Infinite Eternal God. Arius's argument was that the Son was God's very First Production, before all ages. The position being that the Son had a beginning, and that only the Father has no beginning. And Arius argued that everything else was created through the Son. Thus, said the Arians, only the Son was directly created and begotten of God; and therefore there was a time that He had no existence. Arius believed that the Son of God was capable of His own free will of right and wrong, and that "were He in the truest sense a son, He must have come after the Father, therefore the time obviously was when He was not, and hence He was a finite being",[38] and was under God the Father. Therefore Arius insisted that the Father's divinity was greater than the Son's. The Arians appealed to Scripture, quoting biblical statements such as [39] "the Father is greater than I", and also that the son is "firstborn of all creation".[40]

 

Arguments against Arianism

The opposing view stemmed from the idea that begetting the Son is itself in the nature of the Father, which is eternal. Thus, the Father was always a Father, and both Father and Son existed always together, eternally, co-equally and con-substantially.[41] The contra-Arian argument thus stated that the Logos was "eternally begotten", therefore with no beginning. Those in opposition to Arius believed that to follow the Arian view destroyed the unity of the Godhead, and made the Son unequal to the Father. They insisted that such a view was in contravention of such Scriptures as "I and the Father are one"[42] and "the Word was God",[42] as such verses were interpreted. They declared, as did Athanasius,[43] that the Son had no beginning, but had an "eternal derivation" from the Father, and therefore was co-eternal with him, and equal to God in all aspects.[44]

 

Result of the debate

The Council declared that the Son was true God, co-eternal with the Father and begotten from His same substance, arguing that such a doctrine best codified the Scriptural presentation of the Son as well as traditional Christian belief about him handed down from the Apostles. This belief was expressed by the bishops in the Creed of Nicaea, which would form the basis of what has since been known as the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed.[45]

 

Nicene Creed

One of the projects undertaken by the Council was the creation of a Creed, a declaration and summary of the Christian faith. Several creeds were already in existence; many creeds were acceptable to the members of the council, including Arius. From earliest times, various creeds served as a means of identification for Christians, as a means of inclusion and recognition, especially at baptism.

 

In Rome, for example, the Apostles' Creed was popular, especially for use in Lent and the Easter season. In the Council of Nicaea, one specific creed was used to define the Church's faith clearly, to include those who professed it, and to exclude those who did not.

 

Some distinctive elements in the Nicene Creed, perhaps from the hand of Hosius of Cordova, were added. Some elements were added specifically to counter the Arian point of view.[11][46]

 

Jesus Christ is described as "God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God", proclaiming his divinity.

Jesus Christ is said to be "begotten, not made", asserting that he was not a mere creature, brought into being out of nothing, but the true Son of God, brought into being 'from the substance of the Father'.

He is said to be "of one being with The Father". Eusebius of Caesarea ascribes the term homoousios, or consubstantial, i.e., "of the same substance" (of the Father), to Constantine who, on this particular point, may have chosen to exercise his authority. The significance of this clause, however, is extremely ambiguous, and the issues it raised would be seriously controverted in future.

At the end of the creed came a list of anathemas, designed to repudiate explicitly the Arians' stated claims.

 

The view that 'there was once that when he was not' was rejected to maintain the co-eternity of the Son with the Father.

The view that he was 'mutable or subject to change' was rejected to maintain that the Son just like the Father was beyond any form of weakness or corruptibility, and most importantly that he could not fall away from absolute moral perfection.

Thus, instead of a baptismal creed acceptable to both the Arians and their opponents the council promulgated one which was clearly opposed to Arianism and incompatible with the distinctive core of their beliefs. The text of this profession of faith is preserved in a letter of Eusebius to his congregation, in Athanasius, and elsewhere. Although the most vocal of anti-Arians, the Homoousians (from the Koine Greek word translated as "of same substance" which was condemned at the Council of Antioch in 264–268), were in the minority, the Creed was accepted by the council as an expression of the bishops' common faith and the ancient faith of the whole Church.

 

Bishop Hosius of Cordova, one of the firm Homoousians, may well have helped bring the council to consensus. At the time of the council, he was the confidant of the emperor in all Church matters. Hosius stands at the head of the lists of bishops, and Athanasius ascribes to him the actual formulation of the creed. Great leaders such as Eustathius of Antioch, Alexander of Alexandria, Athanasius, and Marcellus of Ancyra all adhered to the Homoousian position.

 

In spite of his sympathy for Arius, Eusebius of Caesarea adhered to the decisions of the council, accepting the entire creed. The initial number of bishops supporting Arius was small. After a month of discussion, on June 19, there were only two left: Theonas of Marmarica in Libya, and Secundus of Ptolemais. Maris of Chalcedon, who initially supported Arianism, agreed to the whole creed. Similarly, Eusebius of Nicomedia and Theognis of Nice also agreed, except for the certain statements.

 

The Emperor carried out his earlier statement: everybody who refused to endorse the Creed would be exiled. Arius, Theonas, and Secundus refused to adhere to the creed, and were thus exiled to Illyria, in addition to being excommunicated. The works of Arius were ordered to be confiscated and consigned to the flames while all persons found possessing them were to be executed.[47] Nevertheless, the controversy continued in various parts of the empire.[48]

 

The Creed was amended to a new version by the First Council of Constantinople in 381.

 

Separation of Easter computation from Jewish calendar

The feast of Easter is linked to the Jewish Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread, as Christians believe that the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus occurred at the time of those observances.

 

As early as Pope Sixtus I, some Christians had set Easter to a Sunday in the lunar month of Nisan. To determine which lunar month was to be designated as Nisan, Christians relied on the Jewish community. By the later 3rd century some Christians began to express dissatisfaction with what they took to be the disorderly state of the Jewish calendar. They argued that contemporary Jews were identifying the wrong lunar month as the month of Nisan, choosing a month whose 14th day fell before the spring equinox.[49]

 

Christians, these thinkers argued, should abandon the custom of relying on Jewish informants and instead do their own computations to determine which month should be styled Nisan, setting Easter within this independently computed, Christian Nisan, which would always locate the festival after the equinox. They justified this break with tradition by arguing that it was in fact the contemporary Jewish calendar that had broken with tradition by ignoring the equinox, and that in former times the 14th of Nisan had never preceded the equinox.[50] Others felt that the customary practice of reliance on the Jewish calendar should continue, even if the Jewish computations were in error from a Christian point of view.[51]

 

The controversy between those who argued for independent computations and those who argued for continued reliance on the Jewish calendar was formally resolved by the Council, which endorsed the independent procedure that had been in use for some time at Rome and Alexandria. Easter was henceforward to be a Sunday in a lunar month chosen according to Christian criteria—in effect, a Christian Nisan—not in the month of Nisan as defined by Jews.[52] Those who argued for continued reliance on the Jewish calendar (called "protopaschites" by later historians) were urged to come around to the majority position. That they did not all immediately do so is revealed by the existence of sermons,[53] canons,[54] and tracts[55] written against the protopaschite practice in the later 4th century.

 

These two rules, independence of the Jewish calendar and worldwide uniformity, were the only rules for Easter explicitly laid down by the Council. No details for the computation were specified; these were worked out in practice, a process that took centuries and generated a number of controversies. (See also Computus and Reform of the date of Easter.) In particular, the Council did not decree that Easter must fall on Sunday. This was already the practice almost everywhere.[56]

 

Nor did the Council decree that Easter must never coincide with Nisan 14 (the first Day of Unleavened Bread, now commonly called "Passover") in the Hebrew calendar. By endorsing the move to independent computations, the Council had separated the Easter computation from all dependence, positive or negative, on the Jewish calendar. The "Zonaras proviso", the claim that Easter must always follow Nisan 14 in the Hebrew calendar, was not formulated until after some centuries. By that time, the accumulation of errors in the Julian solar and lunar calendars had made it the de facto state of affairs that Julian Easter always followed Hebrew Nisan 14.[57]

 

Meletian schism

Main article: Meletius of Lycopolis

The suppression of the Meletian schism, an early breakaway sect, was another important matter that came before the Council of Nicaea. Meletius, it was decided, should remain in his own city of Lycopolis in Egypt, but without exercising authority or the power to ordain new clergy; he was forbidden to go into the environs of the town or to enter another diocese for the purpose of ordaining its subjects. Melitius retained his episcopal title, but the ecclesiastics ordained by him were to receive again the Laying on of hands, the ordinations performed by Meletius being therefore regarded as invalid. Clergy ordained by Meletius were ordered to yield precedence to those ordained by Alexander, and they were not to do anything without the consent of Bishop Alexander.[58]

 

In the event of the death of a non-Meletian bishop or ecclesiastic, the vacant see might be given to a Meletian, provided he was worthy and the popular election were ratified by Alexander. As to Meletius himself, episcopal rights and prerogatives were taken from him. These mild measures, however, were in vain; the Meletians joined the Arians and caused more dissension than ever, being among the worst enemies of Athanasius. The Meletians ultimately died out around the middle of the fifth century.

 

Promulgation of canon law

The council promulgated twenty new church laws, called canons, (though the exact number is subject to debate, that is, unchanging rules of discipline. The twenty as listed in the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers[59] are as follows:

1. prohibition of self-castration

2. establishment of a minimum term for catechumen (persons studying for baptism)

3. prohibition of the presence in the house of a cleric of a younger woman who might bring him under suspicion (the so called virgines subintroductae)

4. ordination of a bishop in the presence of at least three provincial bishops and confirmation by the Metropolitan bishop

5. provision for two provincial synods to be held annually

6. exceptional authority acknowledged for the patriarchs of Alexandria (pope), Antioch, and Rome (the Pope), for their respective regions

7. recognition of the honorary rights of the see of Jerusalem

8. provision for agreement with the Novatianists, an early sect

9–14. provision for mild procedure against the lapsed during the persecution under Licinius

15–16. prohibition of the removal of priests

17. prohibition of usury among the clergy

18. precedence of bishops and presbyters before deacons in receiving the Eucharist (Holy Communion)

19. declaration of the invalidity of baptism by Paulian heretics

20. prohibition of kneeling on Sundays and during the Pentecost (the fifty days commencing on Easter). Standing was the normative posture for prayer at this time, as it still is among the Eastern Christians. Kneeling was considered most appropriate to penitential prayer, as distinct from the festive nature of Eastertide and its remembrance every Sunday. The canon itself was designed only to ensure uniformity of practise at the designated times.

On July 25, 325, in conclusion, the fathers of the council celebrated the Emperor's twentieth anniversary. In his farewell address, Constantine informed the audience how averse he was to dogmatic controversy; he wanted the Church to live in harmony and peace. In a circular letter, he announced the accomplished unity of practice by the whole Church in the date of the celebration of Christian Passover (Easter).

 

Effects of the council

The long-term effects of the Council of Nicaea were significant. For the first time, representatives of many of the bishops of the Church convened to agree on a doctrinal statement. Also for the first time, the Emperor played a role, by calling together the bishops under his authority, and using the power of the state to give the council's orders effect.

 

In the short-term, however, the council did not completely solve the problems it was convened to discuss and a period of conflict and upheaval continued for some time. Constantine himself was succeeded by two Arian Emperors in the Eastern Empire: his son, Constantius II and Valens. Valens could not resolve the outstanding ecclesiastical issues, and unsuccessfully confronted St. Basil over the Nicene Creed.[60]

 

Pagan powers within the Empire sought to maintain and at times re-establish paganism into the seat of the Emperor (see Arbogast and Julian the brother). Arians and Meletians soon regained nearly all of the rights they had lost, and consequently, Arianism continued to spread and to cause division in the Church during the remainder of the fourth century. Almost immediately, Eusebius of Nicomedia, an Arian bishop and cousin to Constantine I, used his influence at court to sway Constantine's favor from the orthodox Nicene bishops to the Arians.[61]

 

Eustathius of Antioch was deposed and exiled in 330. Athanasius, who had succeeded Alexander as Bishop of Alexandria, was deposed by the First Synod of Tyre in 335 and Marcellus of Ancyra followed him in 336. Arius himself returned to Constantinople to be readmitted into the Church, but died shortly before he could be received. Constantine died the next year, after finally receiving baptism from Arian Bishop Eusebius of Nicomedia, and "with his passing the first round in the battle after the Council of Nicaea was ended".[61]

 

Role of Constantine

Christianity was illegal in the empire until the emperors Constantine and Licinius agreed in 313 to what became known as the Edict of Milan. However, Nicene Christianity did not become the state religion of the Roman Empire until the Edict of Thessalonica in 380. In the mean time, paganism remained legal and present in public affairs. In 321 (four years before Nicaea), Constantine declared Sunday to be an Empire-wide day of rest in honor of the sun. At the time of the council, imperial coinage and other imperial motifs still depicted pagan cult symbology in combination with the Emperor's image.

 

Constantine's role regarding Nicaea was that of supreme civil leader and authority in the empire. As Emperor, the responsibility for maintaining civil order was his, and he sought that the Church be of one mind and at peace. When first informed of the unrest in Alexandria due to the Arian disputes, he was "greatly troubled" and, "rebuked" both Arius and Bishop Alexander for originating the disturbance and allowing it to become public.[62] Aware also of "the diversity of opinion" regarding the celebration of Easter and hoping to settle both issues, he sent the "honored" Bishop Hosius of Cordova (Hispania) to form a local church council and "reconcile those who were divided".[62] When that embassy failed, he turned to summoning a synod at Nicaea, inviting "the most eminent men of the churches in every country".[63]

 

Constantine assisted in assembling the council by arranging that travel expenses to and from the bishops' episcopal sees, as well as lodging at Nicaea, be covered out of public funds.[64] He also provided and furnished a "great hall ... in the palace" as a place for discussion so that the attendees "should be treated with becoming dignity".[64] In addressing the opening of the council, he "exhorted the Bishops to unanimity and concord" and called on them to follow the Holy Scriptures with: "Let, then, all contentious disputation be discarded; and let us seek in the divinely-inspired word the solution of the questions at issue."[64] Thereupon, the debate about Arius and church doctrine began. "The emperor gave patient attention to the speeches of both parties" and "deferred" to the decision of the bishops.[65] The bishops first pronounced Arius' teachings to be anathema, formulating the creed as a statement of correct doctrine. When Arius and two followers refused to agree, the bishops pronounced clerical judgement by excommunicating them from the Church. Respecting the clerical decision, and seeing the threat of continued unrest, Constantine also pronounced civil judgement, banishing them into exile.

 

Misconceptions

Biblical canon

Main article: Development of the Christian biblical canon

A number of erroneous views have been stated regarding the council's role in establishing the biblical canon. In fact, there is no record of any discussion of the biblical canon at the council at all.[66] The development of the biblical canon took centuries, and was nearly complete (with exceptions known as the Antilegomena, written texts whose authenticity or value is disputed) by the time the Muratorian fragment was written.[67]

 

In 331 Constantine commissioned fifty Bibles for the Church of Constantinople, but little else is known (in fact, it is not even certain whether his request was for fifty copies of the entire Old and New Testaments, only the New Testament, or merely the Gospels), and it is doubtful that this request provided motivation for canon lists as is sometimes speculated. In Jerome's Prologue to Judith[68] he claims that the Book of Judith was "found by the Nicene Council to have been counted among the number of the Sacred Scriptures".

 

Trinity

The council of Nicaea dealt primarily with the issue of the deity of Christ. Over a century earlier the use of the term "Trinity" (Τριάς in Greek; trinitas in Latin) could be found in the writings of Origen (185-254) and Tertullian (160-220), and a general notion of a "divine three", in some sense, was expressed in the second century writings of Polycarp, Ignatius, and Justin Martyr. In Nicaea, questions regarding the Holy Spirit were left largely unaddressed until after the relationship between the Father and the Son was settled around the year 362.[69] So the doctrine in a more full-fledged form was not formulated until the Council of Constantinople in 360 AD.[70]

 

Constantine

Main article: Constantine the Great

While Constantine had sought a unified church after the council, he did not force the Homoousian view of Christ's nature on the council (see The role of Constantine).

 

Constantine did not commission any Bibles at the council itself. He did commission fifty Bibles in 331 for use in the churches of Constantinople, itself still a new city. No historical evidence points to involvement on his part in selecting or omitting books for inclusion in commissioned Bibles.

 

Despite Constantine's sympathetic interest in the Church, he did not actually undergo the rite of baptism himself until some 11 or 12 years after the council.

 

For more details on this topic, see Constantine I's turn against Paganism.

 

Disputed matters

Role of the Bishop of Rome

See also: Primacy of the Roman pontiff and East-West Schism

Roman Catholics assert that the idea of Christ's deity was ultimately confirmed by the Bishop of Rome, and that it was this confirmation that gave the council its influence and authority. In support of this, they cite the position of early fathers and their expression of the need for all churches to agree with Rome (see Ireneaus, Adversus Haereses III:3:2).

 

However, Protestants, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox do not believe the Council viewed the Bishop of Rome as the jurisdictional head of Christendom, or someone having authority over other bishops attending the Council. In support of this, they cite Canon 6, where the Roman Bishop could be seen as simply one of several influential leaders, but not one who had jurisdiction over other bishops in other regions.[71]

 

According to Protestant theologian Philip Schaff, "The Nicene fathers passed this canon not as introducing anything new, but merely as confirming an existing relation on the basis of church tradition; and that, with special reference to Alexandria, on account of the troubles existing there. Rome was named only for illustration; and Antioch and all the other eparchies or provinces were secured their admitted rights. The bishoprics of Alexandria, Rome, and Antioch were placed substantially on equal footing."[72]

 

There is however, an alternate Roman Catholic interpretation of the above 6th canon proposed by Fr. James F. Loughlin. It involves five different arguments "drawn respectively from the grammatical structure of the sentence, from the logical sequence of ideas, from Catholic analogy, from comparison with the process of formation of the Byzantine Patriarchate, and from the authority of the ancients"[73] in favor of an alternative understanding of the canon. According to this interpretation, the canon shows the role the Bishop of Rome had when he, by his authority, confirmed the jurisdiction of the other patriarchs—an interpretation which is in line with the Roman Catholic understanding of the Pope.[73]

 

See also

Ancient church councils (pre-ecumenical) - church councils before the First Council of Nicaea

First seven Ecumenical Councils

 

References

1. Britannica 2014
2. SEC, pp. 112–114
3. SEC, p. 39
4. SEC, pp. 44–94
5. Kieckhefer 1989
6. On the Keeping of Easter
7. Leclercq 1911b
8. Vita Constantini, Book 3, Chapter 6
9. Ad Afros Epistola Synodica
10. SEC, pp. 292–294
11. Kelly 1978, Chapter 9
12. Schaff & Schaff 1910, Section 120
13. SEC, p. 114
14. Carroll 1987, p. 10
15. Ware 1991, p. 28
16. Carroll 1987, p. 11
17. Carroll 1987, p. 12
18. Vita Constantini
19. Theodoret, Book 1, Chapter 7
20. Theodoret, Book 1, Chapter 8
21. Theodoret, Book 3, Chapter 31
22. Contra Constantium Augustum Liber
23. Temporum Liber
24. Teres 1984, p. 177
25. Kelhoffer 2011
26. Pentecostarion
27. Barnes 1981, pp. 214–215
28. Atiya 1991
29. Vailhé 1912
30. Photius I, Book 1, Chapter 9
31. Vita Constantini, Book 3, Chapter 10
32. Original lists of attendees can be found in Patrum nicaenorum
33. Davis 1983, pp. 63–67
34. Anatolios 2011, p. 44
35. Davis 1983, pp. 52–54
36. OCA 2014
37. González 1984, p. 164
38. M'Clintock & Strong 1890, p. 45
39. John 14:28
40. Colossians 1:15
41. Davis 1983, p. 60
42. John 10:30
43. On the Incarnation, ch 2, section 9, "... yet He Himself, as the Word, being immortal and the Father's Son"
44. Athanasius (Patriarch of Alexandria) - Select treatises of St. Athanasius in controversy with the Arians, Volume 3 Translator and Editor John Henry Newman. Longmans, Green and co., 1920. page 51. Retrieved 24 May 2014.
45. González 1984, p. 165
46. Loyn 1991, p. 240
47. Schaff 1910, Section 120
48. Lutz von Padberg 1998, p. 26
49. Anatolius, Book 7, Chapter 33
50. Chronicon Paschale
51. Panarion, Book 3, Chapter 1, Section 10
52. On the Keeping of Easter
53. Chrysostom, p. 47
54. SEC, p. 594
55. Panarion, Book 3, Chapter 1
56. Sozomen, Book 7, Chapter 18
57. L'Huillier 1996, p. 25
58. Leclercq 1911a
59. Canons
60. AOC 1968
61. Davis 1983, p. 77
62. Sozomen, Book 1, Chapter 16
63. Sozomen, Book 1, Chapter 17
64. Theodoret, Book 1, Chapter 6
65. Sozomen, Book 1, Chapter 20
66. Ehrman 2004, pp. 15–16, 23, 93
67. McDonald & Sanders 2002, Apendex D2, Note 19
68. Preface to Tobit and Judith
69. Fairbairn 2009, pp. 46–47
70. Socrates, Book 2, Chapter 41
71. Canons, Canon 6
72. Schaff & Schaff 1910, pp. 275–276
73. Loughlin 1880

 

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Ayers, Lewis (20 April 2006), Nicaea and Its Legacy, New York: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-875505-0, retrieved 2014-02-24

Barnes, Timothy David (1981), Constantine and Eusebius: ,, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, ISBN 978-0-674-16530-4, retrieved 2014-02-24

Carroll, Warren (1 March 1987), The Building of Christendom, Front Royal: Christendom College Press, ISBN 978-0-93-188824-3, retrieved 2014-02-24

Danker, Frederick William (2000), "οἰκουμένη", A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Third ed.), Chicago: University of Chicago Press, ISBN 978-0-226-03933-6, retrieved 2014-02-24

Davis, Leo Donald (1983), The First Seven Ecumenical Councils (325-787), Collegeville: Liturgical Press, ISBN 978-0-8146-5616-7, retrieved 2014-02-24

Ehrman, Bart (2004), Truth and Fiction in the Da Vinci Code, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-1-28084-545-1

Fairbairn, Donald (28 September 2009), Life in the Trinity, Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, ISBN 978-0-8308-3873-8, retrieved 2014-02-24

Gelzer, Heinrich; Hilgenfeld, Henricus; Cuntz, Otto, eds. (1995), Patrum nicaenorum nomina Latine, Graece, Coptice, Syriace, Arabice, Armeniace [The names of the Fathers at Nicaea in Latin, in Greek, Coptic, Syriac, Arabic, Armenian] (2nd ed.), Stuttgart: Teubner

González, Justo L (1984), The Story of Christianity 1, Peabody: Prince Press, ISBN 978-1-56563-522-7, retrieved 2014-02-24

Kelhoffer, James A (2011), "The Search for Confessors at the Council of Nicaea", Journal of Early Christian Studies 19 (4): 589–599, doi:10.1353/earl.2011.0053, ISSN 1086-3184

Kelly, J N D (29 March 1978), Early Christian Doctrine, San Francisco: HarperCollins, ISBN 978-0-06-064334-8, retrieved 2014-02-24

Kelly, J N D (1981), Early Christian Creeds, Harlow: Addison-Wesley Longman Limited, ISBN 978-0-582-49219-6, retrieved 2014-02-24

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L'Huillier, Peter (January 1996), The Church of the Ancient Councils: The Disciplinary Work of the First Four Ecumenical Councils, Crestwood: St Vladimir's Seminary Press, ISBN 978-0-88141-007-5, retrieved 2014-02-24

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Norris, Richard Alfred (trans) (1980), The Christological Controversy, Sources of Early Christian Thought, Minneapolis: Fortress Press, ISBN 978-0-8006-1411-9, retrieved 2014-02-24

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Lutz von Padberg (1998), Die Christianisierung Europas im Mittelalter [The Christianization of Europe in the Middle Ages], P. Reclam, ISBN 978-3-15-017015-1, retrieved 2014-02-24

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Teres, Gustav (October 1984), "Time Computations and Dionysius Exiguus", Journal for the History of Astronomy 15 (3): 177, retrieved 2014-02-24

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Ware, Timothy (1991), The Orthodox Church, Penguin Adult

Williams, Rowan (1987), Arius, London: Darton, Logman & Todd, ISBN 978-0-232-51692-0, retrieved 2014-02-24

 

External links

Updated English Translations of the Creed, Rulings (Canons), and Letters Connected to the Council.

The Road to Nicaea A descriptive overview of the events of the Council, by John Anthony McGuckin.

Catholicism (from Greek καθολικισμός, catholikismos, "according to the whole") is a broad term for describing specific traditions in the Christian churches in theology and doctrine, liturgy, ethics and spirituality. For many the term usually refers to Christians and churches, western and eastern, in full communion with the Holy See, usually known as the Catholic Church or the Roman Catholic Church.[1] However, many others use the term to refer to other churches with historical continuity from the first millennium.

In the sense of indicating historical continuity of faith and practice, the term "Catholicism" is at times employed to mark a contrast to Protestantism, which tends to look solely to the Bible as interpreted on the principles of the 16th-century Protestant Reformation as its ultimate standard.[2] It was thus used by the Oxford Movement.[3]

For some, however, such as the priest and theologian Richard McBrien, the term refers exclusively and specifically to that "Communion of Catholic Churches" in communion with the Bishop of Rome.[4] In its Letter on Some Aspects of the Church Understood as Communion, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith stressed that the idea of the universal church as a communion of churches must not be presented as meaning that "every particular Church is a subject complete in itself, and that the universal church is the result of a reciprocal recognition on the part of the particular Churches". It insisted that "the universal Church cannot be conceived as the sum of the particular Churches, or as a federation of particular Churches".[5]

According to McBrien, Catholicism is distinguished from other forms of Christianity in its particular understanding and commitment to tradition, the sacraments, the mediation between God, communion, and the See of Rome.[6] According to Orthodox leaders like Bishop Kallistos Ware, the Orthodox Church has these things as well, though the primacy of the See of Rome is only honorific, showing non-jurisdictional respect for the Bishop of Rome as the "first among equals" and "Patriarch of the West".[7] Catholicism, according to McBrien's paradigm, includes a monastic life, religious institutes, a religious appreciation of the arts, a communal understanding of sin and redemption, and missionary activity.[8]

Hitler, the Nazis and the Catholic Church
 

History of the term Catholic

Main article: History of the term "Catholic"
The earliest evidence of the use of the term Catholic Church is the Letter to the Smyrnaeans that Ignatius of Antioch wrote in about 107 to Christians in Smyrna. Exhorting Christians to remain closely united with their bishop, he wrote: "Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude [of the people] also be; even as, wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church."[9][10]

From the second half of the second century, the word began to be used to mean "orthodox" (non-heretical), "because Catholics claimed to teach the whole truth, and to represent the whole Church, while heresy arose out of the exaggeration of some one truth and was essentially partial and local".[11] In 380, Emperor Theodosius I limited use of the term "Catholic Christian" exclusively to those who followed the same faith as Pope Damasus I of Rome and Pope Peter of Alexandria.[12] Numerous other early writers including Cyril of Jerusalem (c. 315–386), Augustine of Hippo (354–430) further developed the use of the term "catholic" in relation to Christianity.
 

Divergent interpretations

Many individual Christians and Christian denominations consider themselves "catholic" on the basis, in particular, of apostolic succession. They all fall into five groups:

The Catholic Church, which considers full communion with the Bishop of Rome an essential element of Catholicism. Its constituent particular Churches (Western and Eastern) have distinct and separate jurisdictions, while still being "in union with Rome."[13]
Those, like the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox, that claim unbroken apostolic succession from the early Church and identify themselves as the Catholic Church. The Eastern Orthodox, but not the Oriental, see themselves (along with the See of Rome) as part of a patriarchal first-millennium structure that developed in the East into the theory of the five patriarchal sees, but not in the West, which preferred the theory of the three Petrine sees of Rome, Alexandria and Antioch.[14][15][16][17] The title, "Patriarch of the West", was rarely used by the popes until the 16th and 17th centuries, and was included in the Annuario Pontificio from 1863 to 2005, being dropped in the following year as never very clear, and having become over history "obsolete and practically unusable".[16][17]
Those, like the Old Catholic, Anglican, and some Lutheran and other denominations, that claim unbroken apostolic succession from the early Church, and see themselves as a constituent part of the Church.
Those who claim to be spiritual descendants of the Apostles but have no discernible institutional descent from the historic Church, and normally do not refer to themselves as catholic.
Those who have acknowledged a break in Apostolic Succession, but have restored it in order to be in full communion with bodies that have maintained the practice. Examples in this category include the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada vis-à-vis their Anglican and Old Catholic counterparts.
For some confessions listed under category 3, the self-affirmation refers to the belief in the ultimate unity of the universal Church under one God and one Saviour, rather than in one visibly unified institution (as with category 1, above). In this usage, "catholic" is sometimes written with a lower-case "c". The Western Apostles' Creed and the Nicene Creed, stating "I believe in ... one holy catholic ... church", are recited in worship services. Among some denominations in category 3, "Christian" is substituted for "catholic" in order to denote the doctrine that the Christian Church is, at least ideally, undivided.[18][19][not in citation given][20]
 

Catholic Church use

The Catholic Church considers Protestant and Anglican Christians who are not in communion with the See of Rome to be "non-Catholics". It does not consider their churches to be genuine churches and so uses the term "ecclesial communities" to refer to them. It considers a "valid episcopate" and Eucharist as necessary prerequisites for being a church. Because the Roman Catholic Church does not consider these church bodies to have valid episcopal orders capable of celebrating a valid Eucharist, it does not classify them as churches "in the proper sense".[21][22][23] Those churches not in communion with the Holy See which consider themselves to be "Catholic" define the word as meaning an adherence to the ancient Catholic beliefs and practices, absent any more recent addition of a requirement for union with the Holy See.
 

Latin and Eastern Catholic Churches

The Latin and Eastern Catholic Churches together form the "Catholic Church",[24] or "Roman Catholic Church",[25] the world's largest single religious body and the largest Christian church, comprising over half of all Christians (1.1 billion Christians of 2.1 billion) and nearly one-sixth of the world's population.[26][27][28][29] Richard McBrien would put the proportion even higher, extending it to those who are in communion with the Bishop of Rome only in "degrees".[30] It comprises 23 component "particular Churches" (also called "rites" in the Second Vatican Council's Decree on the Eastern Catholic Churches[31] and in the Code of Canon Law),[32] all of which acknowledge a primacy of jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome[33] and are in full communion with the Holy See and each other.

These particular Churches or component parts are the Latin Rite or Western Church (which uses a number of different liturgical rites, of which the Roman Rite is the best known) and 22 Eastern Catholic Churches. Of the latter particular Churches, 14 use the Byzantine liturgical rite.[34] Within the Church as a whole, each "particular Church", whether Eastern or Western, is of equal dignity.[35] Finally, in its official documents, the Church, though made up of several particular Churches, "continues to refer to itself as the 'Catholic Church'"[36] or, less frequently but consistently, as the 'Roman Catholic Church', owing to its essential[25] link with the Bishop of Rome.[37]

McBrien, in his book Catholicism, disagrees with the Church's usage of referring to itself as "Roman Catholic", saying: "But is 'Catholic' synonymous with 'Roman Catholic'? And is it accurate to refer to the Roman Catholic Church as simply the 'Roman Church'? The answer to both questions is no. The adjective 'Roman' applies more properly to the diocese, or see, of Rome than to the worldwide Communion of Catholic Churches that is in union with the Bishop of Rome. Indeed, it strikes some Catholics as contradictory to call the Church 'Catholic' and 'Roman' at one and the same time. Eastern-rite Catholics, of whom there are more than twenty million, also find the adjective 'Roman' objectionable. In addition to the Latin, or Roman, tradition, there are seven non-Latin, non-Roman ecclesial traditions: Armenian, Byzantine, Coptic, Ethiopian, East Syrian (Chaldean), West Syrian, and Maronite. Each to the Churches with these non-Latin traditions is as Catholic as the Roman Catholic Church. Thus, not all Catholics are Roman Catholic." Thus "to be Catholic—whether Roman or non-Roman—in the ecclesiological sense is to be in full communion with the Bishop of Rome and as such to be an integral part of the Catholic Communion of Churches."[38]

In spite of McBrien's affirmation that, on an official level, what he calls the "Communion of Catholic Churches" always refers to itself as "The Catholic Church",[39] the term "Roman Catholic Church" is in fact, as seen above, used by Popes and departments of the Holy See. The Latin-Rite Archdiocese of Detroit lists eight Eastern (Catholic) Churches, each with its own bishop, as having one or more parishes in what is also the territory of the Latin archdiocese, yet each is designated as being in "full communion with the Roman Church."[40]
 

Other traditions

Within Western Christianity, the churches of the Anglican Communion, Continuing Anglicanism, the Old Catholics, the Liberal Catholic Church, the Apostolic Catholic Church (ACC), the Aglipayans (Philippine Independent Church), the African Orthodox Church, the Polish National Catholic Church of America, and many Independent Catholic churches, which emerged directly or indirectly from and have beliefs and practices largely similar to Latin Rite Catholicism, regard themselves as "Catholic" without full communion with the Bishop of Rome, whose claimed status and authority they generally reject. The Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, a division of the People's Republic of China's Religious Affairs Bureau exercising state supervision over mainland China's Catholics, holds a similar position, while attempting, as with Buddhism and Protestantism, to indoctrinate and mobilize for Communist Party objectives.[41]
 

Anglicanism

Main article: Anglicanism
Introductory works on Anglicanism, such as The Study of Anglicanism, typically refer to the character of the Anglican tradition as "Catholic and Reformed",[42] which is in keeping with the understanding of Anglicanism articulated in the Elizabethan Settlement of 1559 and in the works of the earliest standard Anglican divines such as Richard Hooker and Lancelot Andrewes. Yet different strains in Anglicanism, dating back to the English Reformation, have emphasized either the Reformed, Catholic, or "Reformed Catholic" nature of the tradition.

Anglican theology and ecclesiology has thus come to be typically expressed in three distinct, yet sometimes overlapping manifestations: Anglo-Catholicism (often called "high church"), Evangelicalism (often called "low church"), and Latitudinarianism ("broad church"), whose beliefs and practices fall somewhere between the two. Though all elements within the Anglican Communion recite the same creeds, Evangelical Anglicans generally regard the word catholic in the ideal sense given above. In contrast, Anglo-Catholics regard the communion as a component of the whole Catholic Church, in spiritual and historical union with the Roman Catholic, Old Catholic and several Eastern churches. Broad Church Anglicans tend to maintain a mediating view, or consider the matter one of adiaphora. These Anglicans, for example, have agreed in the Porvoo Agreement to interchangeable ministries and full eucharistic communion with Lutherans.[43][44]

The Catholic nature or strain of the Anglican tradition is expressed doctrinally, ecumenically (chiefly through organisations such as the Anglican—Roman Catholic International Commission), ecclesiologically (through its episcopal governance and maintenance of the historical episcopate), and in liturgy and piety. Anglicans (except neo-evangelicals) maintain belief in the Seven Sacraments. Many Anglo-Catholics practice Marian devotion, recite the rosary and the angelus, practice Eucharistic adoration, and seek the intercession of saints. In terms of liturgy, most Anglicans use candles on the altar and many churches use incense and sanctus bells in the Eucharist, which is often referred to by the Latin-derived word "Mass" used in the first prayer book and in the American Prayer Book of 1979. In numerous churches the Eucharist is celebrated facing the altar (often with a tabernacle) by a priest assisted by a deacon and subdeacon. Some Anglicans believe in the Real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. However different Eucharistic rites or orders contain different, if not necessarily contradictory, understandings of salvation. For this reason, no single strain or manifestation of Anglicanism can speak for the whole, even in ecumenical statements (as issued, for example, by the Anglican - Roman Catholic International Commission).[45][46][47]

The growth of Anglo-Catholicism is strongly associated with the Oxford Movement of the 19th century. Two of its leading lights, John Henry Newman and Henry Edward Manning, both priests, ended up joining the Roman Catholic Church, becoming cardinals. Others, like John Keble, Edward Bouverie Pusey, and Charles Gore became influential figures in Anglicanism. The previous Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, is a patron of the Anglican organisation, Affirming Catholicism, a more liberal movement within Catholic Anglicanism. Conservative Catholic groups also exist within the tradition, such as Forward in Faith. There are about 80 million Anglicans in the Anglican Communion, comprising 3.6% of global Christianity.[48]
 

Protestantism

Within Protestantism the word "catholic" is generally taken in the sense of "universal" and in this sense many leading Protestant denominations identify themselves as part of the catholic church. The puritan Westminster Confession of Faith adopted in 1646 (which remains the Confession of the Church of Scotland) states for example that:

"The catholic or universal Church, which is invisible, consists of the whole number of the elect, that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one, under Christ the Head thereof; and is the spouse, the body, the fulness of Him that fills all in all."[49]

The London Confession of the Baptists repeats this with the emendation "which (with respect to the internal work of the Spirit and truth of grace) may be called invisible".[50] The Church of Scotland's Articles Declaratory begin "The Church of Scotland is part of the Holy Catholic or Universal Church".

Certain Lutheran churches, including the Church of Sweden and several small American churches of recent origin — such as the Lutheran Orthodox Church and the Anglo-Lutheran Catholic Church- consider themselves to be Catholic.

There are more "High Church" groups among the traditional Protestant churches with a broader attachment to older ideas. For example, the 20th century "High Church Lutheranism" movement developed an Evangelical Catholicity, combining justification by faith with Roman doctrine on sacraments, in some cases also restoring lacking apostolic succession, especially in Germany.

In Reformed churches there is a Scoto-Catholic grouping within the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Such groups point to their churches' continuing adherence to the "Catholic" doctrine of the early Church Councils. The Articles Declaratory of the Constitution of the Church of Scotland of 1921 defines that church legally as "part of the Holy Catholic or Universal Church".[42]
 

Brief organizational history of the Church

Main article: History of the Catholic Church

According to the theory of Pentarchy, the early Catholic Church came to be organised under the three patriarchs of Rome, Alexandria and Antioch, to which later were added the patriarchs of Constantinople and Jerusalem. The Bishop of Rome was at that time recognized as first among them, as is stated, for instance, in canon 3 of the First Council of Constantinople (381)—many interpret "first" as meaning here first among equals—and doctrinal or procedural disputes were often referred to Rome, as when, on appeal by St Athanasius against the decision of the Council of Tyre (335), Pope Julius I, who spoke of such appeals as customary, annulled the action of that council and restored Athanasius and Marcellus of Ancyra to their sees.[51] The Bishop of Rome was also considered to have the right to convene ecumenical councils. When the Imperial capital moved to Constantinople, Rome's influence was sometimes challenged. Nonetheless, Rome claimed special authority because of its connection to Saint Peter[52][53] and Saint Paul, who, all agreed, were martyred and buried in Rome, and because the Bishop of Rome saw himself as the successor of Saint Peter.

The 431 Council of Ephesus, the third ecumenical council, was chiefly concerned with Nestorianism, which emphasised the distinction between the humanity and divinity of Jesus and taught that, in giving birth to Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary could not be spoken of as giving birth to God. This Council rejected Nestorianism and affirmed that, as humanity and divinity are inseparable in the one person of Jesus Christ, his mother, the Virgin Mary, is thus Theotokos, God-bearer, Mother of God. The first great rupture in the Church followed this Council. Those who refused to accept the Council's ruling were largely Persian and are represented today by the Assyrian Church of the East and related Churches, which, however, do not now hold a "Nestorian" theology. They are often called Ancient Oriental Churches.

The next major break was after the Council of Chalcedon (451). This Council repudiated Eutychian Monophysitism which stated that the divine nature completely subsumed the human nature in Christ. This Council declared that Christ, though one person, exhibited two natures "without confusion, without change, without division, without separation" and thus is both fully God and fully human. The Alexandrian Church rejected the terms adopted by this Council, and the Christian Churches that follow the tradition of non-acceptance of the Council—they are not Monophysite in doctrine—are referred to as Pre-Chalcedonian or Oriental Orthodox Churches.

The next great rift within Christianity was in the 11th century. Longstanding doctrinal disputes, as well as conflicts between methods of Church government, and the evolution of separate rites and practices, precipitated a split in 1054 that divided the Church, this time between a "West" and an "East". England, France, the Holy Roman Empire, Poland, Bohemia, Slovakia, Scandinavia, the Baltic states, and Western Europe in general were in the Western camp, and Greece, Romania, Russia and many other Slavic lands, Anatolia, and the Christians in Syria and Egypt who accepted the Council of Chalcedon made up the Eastern camp. This division between the Western Church and the Eastern Church is called the East–West Schism.

The fourth major division in the Church occurred in the 16th century with the Protestant Reformation, after which many parts of the Western Church either entirely rejected the teachings and structure of the Western Church at that time and became known as "Reformed" or "Protestant", or else repudiated papal authority and the teaching office in the Western Church for the authority of a civil ruler in religious matters (e.g., in Anglicanism and parts of the Lutheran Church).

A much less extensive rupture occurred when, after the Roman Catholic Church's First Vatican Council, in which it officially proclaimed the dogma of papal infallibility, small clusters of Catholics in the Netherlands and in German-speaking countries formed the Old-Catholic (Altkatholische) Church.
 

Distinctive beliefs and practices

Due to the divergent interpretations of the word "Catholicism", any listing of beliefs and practices that distinguish Catholicism from other forms of Christianity must be preceded by an indication of the sense employed. If Catholicism is understood as the Roman Catholic Church understands it, identification of beliefs is relatively easy, though preferred expressions of the beliefs vary, especially between the Latin Church, the Eastern Catholic Churches of Greek tradition, and the other Eastern Catholic Churches. Liturgical and canonical practices vary between all these particular Churches constituting the Roman and Eastern Catholic Churches (or, as Richard McBrien calls them, the "Communion of Catholic Churches").[54]

In the understanding of another Church that identifies Catholicism with itself, such as the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox Churches, clear identification of certain beliefs may sometimes be more difficult, because of the lack of a central authority like that of the Roman and Eastern Catholic Churches. On the other hand, practices are more uniform, as indicated, for instance, in the single liturgical rite employed, in various languages, within the Eastern Orthodox Church, in contrast to the variety of liturgical rites in the Roman Catholic Church. In all these cases the beliefs and practices of Catholicism would be identical with the beliefs and practices of the Church in question.

If Catholicism is extended to cover all who consider themselves spiritual descendants of the Apostles, a search for beliefs and practices that distinguish it from other forms of Christianity would be meaningless.

If Catholicism is understood in the sense given to the word by those who use it to distinguish their position from a Calvinistic or Puritan form of Protestantism it is then meaningful to attempt to draw up a list of common characteristic beliefs and practices of Catholicism not commonly held by those merely claiming spiritual descent. Catholicism could include the Roman Catholic Church, the various Churches of Eastern Christianity, the Old Catholic Church, Anglicanism, and at least some of the "independent Catholic Churches" and, again in this interpretation, the beliefs and practices of Catholicism include:

Direct and continuous organizational descent from the original church founded by Jesus[Matthew 16:18], who, according to tradition, designated the Apostle Peter as its first leader.[55]
Belief that Jesus Christ is Divine, a doctrine officially clarified in the First Council of Nicaea and expressed in the Nicene Creed.
Transubstantiation, the belief that the elements in the Eucharist become really, truly, the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ at consecration, resulting in the Real Presence of Christ, and that, because Christ himself is present in the sacrament, he is to be honoured in it with the worship known as Eucharistic adoration.[56]
Possession of the "threefold ordained ministry" of Bishops, Priests and Deacons.
All ministers are ordained by, and subject to, Bishops, who pass down sacramental authority by the "laying-on of hands", having themselves been ordained in a direct line of succession from the Apostles (see Apostolic succession).
Belief that the Church is the vessel and deposit of the fullness of the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles from which the Scriptures were formed. This teaching is preserved in both written scripture and in unwritten tradition, neither being independent of the other.
A belief in the necessity and efficacy of sacraments.
The use of sacred images, candles, vestments and music, and often incense and water, in worship.
Veneration of Mary, the mother of Jesus as the Blessed Virgin Mary or Theotokos (i.e., "God-bearer" or "Mother of God"), and veneration of the saints.
A distinction between adoration (latria) for God, and veneration (dulia) for saints. The term hyperdulia is used for a special veneration accorded to the Virgin Mary among the saints.
The use of prayer for the dead.
The acceptance of canonizations.
Requests to the departed saints for intercessory prayers.
Sacraments or sacred mysteries[edit source | editbeta]

Churches in the Catholic tradition administer seven sacraments or "sacred mysteries": Baptism, Confirmation or Chrismation, Eucharist, Penance, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony. In some Catholic churches this number is regarded as a convention only.

In Catholicism, a sacrament is considered to be an efficacious visible sign of God's invisible grace. While the word mystery is used not only of these rites, but also with other meanings with reference to revelations of and about God and to God's mystical interaction with creation, the word sacrament (Latin: a solemn pledge), the usual term in the West, refers specifically to these rites.

Baptism - the first sacrament of Christian initiation, the basis for all the other sacraments. Churches in the Catholic tradition consider baptism conferred in most Christian denominations "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit" (cf. Matthew 28:19) to be valid, since the effect is produced through the sacrament, independently of the faith of the minister, though not of the minister's intention. This is not necessarily the case in other churches. As stated in the Nicene Creed, Baptism is "for the forgiveness of sins", not only personal sins, but also of original sin, which it remits even in infants who have committed no actual sins. Expressed positively, forgiveness of sins means bestowal of the sanctifying grace by which the baptized person shares the life of God. The initiate "puts on Christ" (Galatians 3:27), and is "buried with him in baptism ... also raised with him through faith in the working of God" (Colossians 2:12).
Confirmation or Chrismation - the second sacrament of Christian initiation, the means by which the gift of the Holy Spirit conferred in baptism is "strengthened and deepened" (see, for example, Catechism of the Catholic Church, §1303) by a sealing. In the Western tradition it is usually a separate rite from baptism, bestowed, following a period of education called catechesis, on those who have at least reached the age of discretion (about 7)[57] and sometimes postponed until an age when the person is considered capable of making a mature independent profession of faith. It is considered to be of a nature distinct from the anointing with chrism (also called myrrh) that is usually part of the rite of baptism and that is not seen as a separate sacrament. In the Eastern tradition it is usually conferred in conjunction with baptism, as its completion, but is sometimes administered separately to converts or those who return to Orthodoxy. Some theologies consider this to be the outward sign of the inner "Baptism of the Holy Spirit", the special gifts (or charismata) of which may remain latent or become manifest over time according to God's will. Its "originating" minister is a validly consecrated bishop; if a priest (a "presbyter") confers the sacrament (as is permitted in some Catholic churches) the link with the higher order is indicated by the use of chrism blessed by a bishop. (In an Eastern Orthodox Church, this is customarily, although not necessarily, done by the primate of the local autocephalous church.)
Eucharist - the sacrament (the third of Christian initiation) by which the faithful receive their ultimate "daily bread", or "bread for the journey", by partaking of and in the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ and being participants in Christ's one eternal sacrifice. The bread and wine used in the rite are, according to Catholic faith, in the mystical action of the Holy Spirit, transformed to be Christ's Body and Blood—his Real Presence. This transformation is interpreted by some as transubstantiation or metousiosis, by others as consubstantiation or sacramental union.
Penance (also called Confession and Reconciliation) - the first of the two sacraments of healing. It is also called the sacrament of conversion, of forgiveness, and of absolution. It is the sacrament of spiritual healing of a baptized person from the distancing from God involved in actual sins committed. It involves the penitent's contrition for sin (without which the rite does not have its effect), confession (which in highly exceptional circumstances can take the form of a corporate general confession) to a minister who has the faculty to exercise the power to absolve the penitent,[58] and absolution by the minister. In some traditions (such as the Roman Catholic), the rite involves a fourth element – satisfaction – which is defined as signs of repentance imposed by the minister. In early Christian centuries, the fourth element was quite onerous and generally preceded absolution, but now it usually involves a simple task (in some traditions called a "penance") for the penitent to perform, to make some reparation and as a medicinal means of strengthening against further sinning.
Anointing of the Sick (or Unction) - the second sacrament of healing. In it those who are suffering an illness are anointed by a priest with oil consecrated by a bishop specifically for that purpose. In past centuries, when such a restrictive interpretation was customary, the sacrament came to be known as "Extreme Unction", i.e. "Final Anointing", as it still is among traditionalist Catholics. It was then conferred only as one of the "Last Rites". The other "Last Rites" are Penance (if the dying person is physically unable to confess, at least absolution, conditional on the existence of contrition, is given), and the Eucharist, which, when administered to the dying, is known as "Viaticum", a word whose original meaning in Latin was "provision for a journey".
Holy Orders - the sacrament which integrates someone into the Holy Orders of bishops, priests (presbyters), and deacons, the threefold order of "administrators of the mysteries of God" (1 Corinthians 4:1), giving the person the mission to teach, sanctify, and govern. Only a bishop may administer this sacrament, as only a bishop holds the fullness of the Apostolic Ministry. Ordination as a bishop makes one a member of the body that has succeeded to that of the Apostles. Ordination as a priest configures a person to Christ the Head of the Church and the one essential Priest, empowering that person, as the bishops' assistant and vicar, to preside at the celebration of divine worship, and in particular to confect the sacrament of the Eucharist, acting "in persona Christi" (in the person of Christ). Ordination as a deacon configures the person to Christ the Servant of All, placing the deacon at the service of the Church, especially in the fields of the ministry of the Word, service in divine worship, pastoral guidance and charity. Deacons may later be further ordained to the priesthood, but only if they do not have a wife. In some traditions (such as those of the Roman Catholic Church), while married men may be ordained, ordained men may not marry. In others (such as the Anglican), clerical marriage is permitted, as is the ordination of women.[59] Moreover, some sectors of Anglicanism "in isolation of the whole" have approved the ordination of openly active homosexuals to the priesthood and episcopacy, in spite of the support that Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, voiced for the Anglican Church's teaching on homosexuality, which he said the Church "could not change simply because of a shift in society's attitude", noting also that those churches blessing same-sex unions and consecrating openingly gay bishops would not be able "to take part as a whole in ecumenical and interfaith dialogue." Thus in ecumenical matters, only if the Roman Catholic as well as Orthodox churches come to an understanding with first tier or primary bishops of the Anglican Communion can those churches (representing 95% of global Catholicism) implement an agreement with second tier or secondary Anglican bishops and their respective Anglican communities.[60][61][62][63]
Holy Matrimony (or Marriage) - is the sacrament of joining a man and a woman (according to the churches' doctrines) for mutual help and love (the unitive purpose), consecrating them for their particular mission of building up the Church and the world, and providing grace for accomplishing that mission. Western tradition sees the sacrament as conferred by the canonically expressed mutual consent of the partners in marriage; Eastern and some recent Western theologians not in communion with the see of Rome view the blessing by a priest as constituting the sacramental action.
 

See also

Four Marks of the Church
Religious order
Anglican Catholic Church
Anglican Church in North America
Arianism
Evangelical Catholic
Global Anglican Future Conference
Neo-Lutheranism
Porvoo Communion
Apostolic constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus
Traditionalist Catholic
Criticism of the Catholic Church
Anti-Catholicism
Trinity
 

References

 

1. McBrien, Catholicism, 19-20.
2. The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford University Press 2005 ISBN 978-0-19-280290-3), article "Catholic", p. 308
3. Connor, Charles Patrick (2001). Classic Catholic Converts. Ignatius Press. ISBN 978-0-89870-787-8.
4. Richard McBrien, The Church: The Evolution of Catholicism (New York: HarperOne, 2008), 6, 281-82, and 356.
5. Letter on Some Aspects of the Church Understood as Communion
6. McBrien, Richard P. (1994). Catholicism. HarperCollins. pp. 3–19. ISBN 978-0-06-065405-4.
7. Timothy Ware, The Orthodox Church (Oxford: Penguin Books, 1993), 214–217.
8. In his book, Catholicism, he notes (on page 19) that his book was "written in the midst of yet another major crisis in the history of the Roman Catholic Church...." Never once does he indicate in his book that Catholicism refers to churches not in communion with the See of Rome. McBrien, 19–20.
9. "Chapter VIII.—Let nothing be done without the bishop". Christian Classics Ethereal Library. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
10. Angle, Paul T. (2007). The Mysterious Origins of Christianity. Wheatmark, Inc. ISBN 978-1-58736-821-9.
11. J.H. Srawley's commentary on the Letter to the Smyrnaeans
12. Theodosian Code XVI.1.2
13. Richard McBrien, Catholicism (Minneapolis: Winston Press, 1981), 680.
14. Milton V. Anastos (2001). "Aspects of the Mind of Byzantium (Political Theory, Theology, and Ecclesiastical Relations with the See of Rome)". Myriobiblos.gr. Ashgate Publications, Variorum Collected Studies Series. ISBN 0-86078-840-7). Retrieved 2011-06-30.
15. "L'idea di pentarchia nella cristianità". Homolaicus.com. Retrieved 2011-06-30.
16. "Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, press release on the suppression of the title "Patriarch of the West" in the 2006 Annuario Pontificio". Vatican.va. Retrieved 2011-06-30.
17. Catholic Online (2006-03-22). "Vatican explains why pope no longer "patriarch of the West"". Catholic.org. Retrieved 2011-06-30.
18. "Apostles' Creed". The Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
19. "Nicene Creed". Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
20. "Texts of the Three Chief Symbols are taken from the Book of Concord, Tappert edition". The International Lutheran Fellowship. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
21. Fowler, Jeaneane D. (1997). World Religions. Sussex Academic Press. p. 82. ISBN 978-1-898723-48-6.
22. "The ecclesial communities which have not preserved the valid Episcopate and the genuine and integral substance of the Eucharistic mystery are not Churches in the proper sense; however, those who are baptized in these communities are, by Baptism, incorporated in Christ and thus are in a certain communion, albeit imperfect, with the Church" (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration Dominus Iesus, 17).
23. "(The expression sister Churches) has been applied improperly by some to the relationship between the Catholic Church on the one hand, and the Anglican Communion and non-catholic ecclesial communities on the other. ... it must also be borne in mind that the expression sister Churches in the proper sense, as attested by the common Tradition of East and West, may only be used for those ecclesial communities that have preserved a valid episcopate and Eucharist" (Note on the expression "sister Churches" issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on 30 June 2000).
24. Jump up ^ McBrien, The Church, 356. McBrien also says they form the "Communion of Catholic Churches", a name not used by the Church itself, which has pointed out the ambiguity of this term in a 1992 letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith "on some aspects of the Church understood as communion", 8.
25. "The Catholic Church is also called the Roman Church to emphasize that the centre of unity, which is an essential for the Universal Church, is in the Roman See" (Thomas J. O'Brien, An Advanced Catechism of Catholic Faith and Practice, Kessinger Publishers, 2005, ISBN 1-4179-8447-3, page 70)
26. "Number of Catholics and Priests Rises". Zenit News Agency. 12 February 2007. Retrieved 21 February 2008.
27. "CIA World Factbook". United States Government Central Intelligence Agency. 2008. Retrieved 22 December 2008.
28. Mapping the Global Muslim Population: A Report on the Size and Distribution of the World's Muslim Population: Main Page, Pew Research Center. There are 1.5 billion Muslims, nearly a billion of whom are Sunnite (nearly 90% of Muslim population), thus the latter forming the second largest single religious body.
29. Todd Johnson, David Barrett, and Peter Crossing, "Christianity 2010: A View from the New Atlas of Global Christianity", International Bulletin of Missionary Research, Vol., 34, No.1, January 2010, pps.29-36
30. Richard McBrien, The Church: The Evolution of Catholicism, 6. ISBN 978-0-06-124521-3 McBrien says this: Vatican II "council implicitly set aside the category of membership and replaced it with degrees." "...it is not a matter of either/or—either one is in communion with the Bishop of Rome, or one is not. As in a family, there are degrees of relationships: parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews, nieces, in-laws. In many cultures, the notion of family is broader than blood and legal relationships."
31. Orientalium Ecclesiarum, 2
32. Code of Canon Law, canon 1015 §2
33. "Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, canon 43". Intratext.com. 2007-05-04. Retrieved 2011-06-30.
34. Annuario Pontificio, 2012 edition, pages 1140–1141 (ISBN 978-88-209-8722-0).
35. Orientalium Ecclesiarum, 3
36. Thomas P. Rausch, S.J., Catholicism in the Third Millennium (Collegeville: The Liturgical Press), xii.
37. For example, in his encyclical Humani Generis, 27-28 Pope Pius XII decried the error of those who denied that they were bound by "the doctrine, explained in Our Encyclical Letter of a few years ago, and based on the Sources of Revelation, which teaches that the Mystical Body of Christ and the Roman Catholic Church are one and the same thing"; and in his Divini Illius Magistri Pope Pius XI wrote: "In the City of God, the Holy Roman Catholic Church, a good citizen and an upright man are absolutely one and the same thing." On other occasions too, both when signing agreements with other Churches (e.g. that with Patriarch Mar Ignatius Yacoub III of the Syrian Orthodox Church) and in giving talks to various groups (e.g. Benedict XVI in Warsaw, the Popes refer to the Church that they head as the Roman Catholic Church.
38. Richard McBrien, The Church, 6.
39. McBrien, The Church, 351-371
40. "Archdiocese of Detroit listing of Eastern Churches". Aodonline.org. Retrieved 2012-08-17.
41. Simon Scott Plummer, "China's Growing Faiths" in The Tablet, March 2007. Based on a review of Religious Experience in Contemporary China by Kinzhong Yao and Paul Badham (University of Wales Press).
42. Fahlbusch, Erwin; Geoffrey William Bromiley (2005). The Encyclopedia of Christianity. David B. Barrett. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. pp. 269, 494. ISBN 978-0-8028-2416-5.
43. "Anglican-Lutheran agreement signed", The Christian Century, 13 November 1996, 1005.
44. "Two Churches Now Share a Cleric", New York Times, 20 October 1996, 24.
45. Rowan A. Greer, "Anglicanism as an ongoing argument", The Witness, May 1998, 23.
46. Matt Cresswell, "Anglican conservatives say 'second reformation' is already under way", The Tablet, 28 June 2008, 32.
47. Philip Jenkins, "Defender of the Faith", The Atlantic Monthly, November 2003, 46-9.
48. David Barrett, "Christian World Communities: Five Overviews of Global Christianity, AD 1800-2025", in International Bulletin of Missionary Research, January 2009, Vol. 33, No 1, pp. 31.
49. The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), Article XXV
50. The London Confession (1689), Chapter 26
51. Catholic Encyclopedia, Pope St. Julius I
52. Radeck, Francisco; Dominic Radecki (2004). Tumultuous Times. St. Joseph's Media. p. 79. ISBN 978-0-9715061-0-7.
53. "The Hierarchical Constitution of the Church - 880-881". The Vatican. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
54. Mc Brien, The Church, 6.
55. "And I tell you, you are Peter [Πετρός, meaning 'rock'], and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it." (Mt 16:18)
56. "Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1418". Vatican.va. Retrieved 2011-06-30.
57. "Code of Canon Law, canon 891". Intratext.com. 2007-05-04. Retrieved 2011-06-30.
58. "Chapter II : The Minister of the Sacrament of Penance". IntraText. Retrieved 21 November 2008.
59. In regard to the ordination of women to the episcopacy, one cannot underestimate the chasm that is currently developing between the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental and Roman Catholic Chuches, on the one hand, and the Lutheran, Anglican and Independent Catholic Churches, on the other hand. Cardinal Walter Kasper, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, for example, noted this when he addressed some Anglican bishops in 2006. Quoting St Cyprian of Carthage (d. 258), he said the episcopate is one, which means that "each part of it is held by each one for the whole"; that bishops were instruments of unity not only within the contemporary Church, but also across time, within the universal Church. This being the case, he continued, "the decision for the ordination of women to the Episcopal office ... must not in any way involve a conflict between the majority and the minority." Such a decision should be made "with the consensus of the ancient Churches of the East and West." To do otherwise "would spell the end" to any kind of unity. James Roberts, "Women bishops 'would spell the end of unity hopes'" in The Tablet, 10 June 2006, 34.
60. "Rowan Williams predicts schism over homosexuality" (The Tablet 1 August 2009, 33).
61. The Russian Orthodox Church, which because of the episcopal ordination of Gene Robinson severed its dialogue with the United States Episcopal Church, while declaring itself open to "contacts and cooperation with those American Episcopalians who remain faithful to the gospel's moral teaching", stated that it was willing to restore relations with those Episcopal dioceses that refused to recognize the election of Katharine Jefferts Schori as their Church's presiding bishop (Letter of Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad).
62. Stan Chu Ilo, "An African view on ordaining Gene Robinson", The National Catholic Reporter, 12 December 2003, 26.
63. Matthew Moore, "Archbishop of Canterbury foresees a 'two-tier' church to avoid gay schism", The Telegraph.co.uk, 27 July 2009.

 

Further reading

Without Roots: The West, Relativism, Christianity, Islam by Pope Benedict XVI, formerly Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (Basic Books, 0465006345, 2006).
Catechism of the Catholic Church English translation (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2000). ISBN 1-57455-110-8
H. W. Crocker III, Triumph—The Power and the Glory of the Catholic Church: A 2,000-Year History (Prima Publishing, 2001). ISBN 0-7615-2924-1
Leo J. Trese, The Faith Explained Third Edition (Fides/Claretian, 2001). ISBN 1-889334-29-4
Eamon Duffy, Saints and Sinners: A History of the Popes (Yale Nota Bene, 2002). ISBN 0-300-09165-6
K. O. Johnson, Why Do Catholics Do That? (Ballantine, 1994). ISBN 0-345-39726-6
Ludwig von Pastor, History of the Popes from the Close of the Middle Ages; Drawn from the Secret Archives of the Vatican and other original sources, 40 vols. St. Louis, B.Herder 1898
Basic Catechism Seventh Revised Edition (Pauline Books & Media, 1999). ISBN 0-8198-0623-4
Peter Lynch, The Church's Story: A History of Pastoral Care and Vision (Pauline Books & Media, 2005). ISBN 0-8198-1575-6
Robert B. Ekelund Jr. and Robert D. Tollison, Economic Origins of Roman Christianity (University Of Chicago Press, 2011)
Robert Kugelmann, Psychology and Catholicism: Contested Boundaries (Cambridge University Press, 2011)

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April 20, 1939 Archbishop Orsenigo celebrated Hitler's Birthday party. The celebrations were initiated by Pope Pacelli (Pio XII) and became a tradition. Every April 20th, Cardinal Bertram of Berlin went to offer "the warmest congratulations to the Fuhrer in the name of the bishops and the German Diocese", and added that "fervent prayers that the Catholics in Germany are sending to heaven upon their altars"

El 20 de abril de 1939, el arzobispo Orsenigo celebró el cumpleaños de Hitler. Las celebraciones, iniciadas por Pacelli (Pío XII) se convirtió en una tradición. Cada 20 de abril, el cardenal Bertram de Berlín fue para enviar "más calurosas felicitaciones al Fuhrer en nombre de los obispos y las diócesis en Alemania", y añadió con "fervientes oraciones que los católicos de Alemania están enviando al cielo en sus altares." 

 El Führer en el Franken

Hitler rarely missed an opportunity to visit war monuments, even when a photographer wasn't present.

Adolf Hitler (centro) en el monumento a los muertos en la guerra en el Franken Alemania. Según Ray Cowdery, Hitler raramente se perdió la oportunidad de visitar monumentos de guerra, incluso cuando un fotógrafo no estaba presente 

Hitler greeting Muller the "Bishop of the Reich" and SChachleitner Abad

Saluda a Muller el "Obispo del Reich" y Schachleitner Abad

Hitler greets a catholic cardinal

Hitler saluda a un cardenal católico 

Hitler exiting a Catholic church. He was never excommunicated

Hitler saliendo de la iglesia , jamas fue excomulgado

Nuremberg, fundacion del partido nazi Tenga en cuenta la "Iglesia de la Virgen" en el fondo como si representara la fundación del partido. Foto tomada en Nuremberg, Alemania (circa 1928).

The Goering Wedding / La body Georing
Sólo los cristianos realizar bodas cristianas, y los nazis no fueron una excepción.
Hermann Goering se casó con Emmy Sonnemann, una famosa estrella de la ópera.
Adolf Hitler se encuentra en la primera fila como "padrino" durante la ceremonia en la Catedral por Reichbishop Müller. 

Cardinal Secretary of State, Eugenio Pacelli (later Pope Pius XII) signs the Concordat between Nazi Germany and the Vatican in a solemn ceremony on July 20, 1933. Nazi Vice Chancellor Franz Von Papen is sitting on the left, Pacelli in the middle and Buttmann Rudolf to the right.

The Concordat effectively legitimized Hitler and his government before all Catholics, christianity and the world.
Cardenal Secretario de Estado, Eugenio Pacelli (que más tarde convertiría en el Papa Pío XII) firma el Concordato entre la Alemania Nazi y el Vaticano en una ceremonia solemne en Roma el 20 de julio de 1933. Nazi Vice-Canciller Franz von Papen está sentado a la izquierda, Pacelli en el medio, y el Buttmann Rudolf está sentado a la derecha.
El Concordato efectivamente legitimada Hitler y el gobierno nazi a los ojos del catolicismo, el cristianismo y el mundo. 

Nazi Flag on the Catholic Cathedral in Cologne - 1937

Una bandera nazi frente a la catedral de Colonia de 1937

Recent photo of the tourist destination Cologne Cathedral 

Capellán con una unidad de ametralladora La mayoría de las guerras justificadas por razones religiosas. Por supuesto, si un soldado se sentia inquieto por el sacrificio que otros hacian, siempre podían recurrir a un capellán que le explicaria pacientemente que el asesinato está permitido por Dios y sobre la moralidad de la guerra justa. A continuación, podría dar algunos ejemplos bíblicos de como Dios ordenó los asesinatos. Y entonces él podría decirles que Jesús los perdona y enviarlos al cielo si se llegase a morir. 

Catholic Bishops in a Heil Hitler salute

Obispos Católicos dan el saludo nazi en honor a Hitler.Nota Joseph Goebbels (extrema derecha) y Wilhelm Frick (segundo desde la derecha)

Franciscan monks with German soldiers

Franciscanos con soldados alemanes

 

El cardenal Bertram en el cortejo fúnebre para el obispo Bares, Berlín, 07 de marzo 1935 Como presidente de la Conferencia Episcopal alemana, el cardenal Bertram Breslauer juega un papel crucial en la formación de la actitud de los obispos alemanes en relación con el Estado Nacional Socialista. 

Roman Catholic Priests and the Nazi salute "Heil Hitler"

Sacerdotes haciendo el saludo a Hitler en una reunión de jóvenes católicos en el estadio de Berlín-Neukölln, en agosto de 1933.
 

Obispo del Reich Ludwig Muller, Berlín, 1934

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We had 115 total for the Memorial, with 82 deaf and 33 hearing in Bangkok sign language congregation.

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http://spirituallysmart.com/nazi.html

Please check out above link for so much documentation showing that Nazism was a product of Roman Catholicism (satanism).
Cardinal Pacelli here showing some of his true satanist colors. in 1933 he signed the concordat between the Holy See and the Third Reich. Many historians said that this concordat stopped many from believing Germany were committing the crimes they committed.

 

2016 Memorial at the East Spanish Congregation in Orlando, Florida, USA. Photo shared by @yeseli_95

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Nathan Homer Knorr (April 23, 1905 - June 8, 1977) was the third president of the incorporated Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society,[1] becoming so on January 13, 1942, replacing Joseph Franklin Rutherford, who had served in the position since 1916.

Life

Nathan Knorr was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He began to show interest in the International Bible Students at age 16. He left the Reformed Church in 1922 and was baptized on July 4, 1923 as a Bible Student following a baptism talk by Frederick W. Franz, with whom Knorr became close friends. Knorr became a volunteer at the Watch Tower headquarters in Brooklyn on September 6, 1923, and became its factory manager in September 1932. On January 11, 1934, at age 28, Knorr was elected director of the Peoples Pulpit Association (now Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc.), and was made its vice president the following year. In January 1942, Knorr became president of International Bible Students Association and the corporations now known as Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, and Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York.[2] Knorr was married to Audrey Mock in 1953.

He died from a cerebral tumor June 8, 1977 while receiving hospice care at an extension of world headquarters, quieter Watchtower Farms in Wallkill, New York.[3]

 

Contribution to Jehovah's Witnesses

Knorr contributed significantly to Jehovah's Witnesses, with an intense educational focus. Within a month of his taking office, arrangements were made for an Advanced Course in Theocratic Ministry, a school that featured Bible research and public speaking. On September 24, 1942, Knorr suggested that the Society establish another school to train missionaries for service in foreign countries. The suggestion was unanimously approved by the board of directors. The first class of the Gilead School - the name given to this missionary school - commenced February 1, 1943.
Knorr arranged for the creation of new branch offices in many countries. In 1942, when he became president, there were 25 branch offices worldwide. By 1946, despite the events of World War II, the number of branch offices increased to 57. Over the next 30 years, the number of branch offices increased to 97.
The doctrine of not accepting blood transfusions was also introduced during Knorr's leadership.

Organizational adjustments

From October 1, 1972, adjustments began in the oversight of the congregations of Jehovah's Witnesses. The writing of Aid to Bible Understanding led to a new understanding of the Bible's mention of elders and "older men" and seems to have been the catalyst for the religion to adjust its organizational structure.(Franz 21-22) A revision to the Watchtower Society's organizational manual in 1972 explains, "it is noteworthy that the Bible does not say that there was only one 'older man', one overseer, in each congregation. Rather, it indicates that there were a number of such."[4] There would no longer be one congregation servant, or overseer, but a body of elders and ministerial servants. One elder would be designated chairman, but all the elders would have equal authority and share the responsibility for making decisions.

Later, the chairmanship of the Governing Body would also be affected, rotating in alphabetical order. In December 1975, leadership of Jehovah's Witnesses passed from the president of the Watch Tower Society to the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses. Beginning January 1, 1976 the Governing Body formed several committees to oversee publishing, writing, teaching, service and personnel. Knorr worked with the new arrangement until illness shortly before his death forced his move from the world headquartersin Brooklyn, New York. Following Knorr's death in June 1977, Frederick W. Franz succeeded him as corporation president.

Publications

Some of the publications used by Jehovah's Witnesses which were released during Knorr's stewardship were:

• Equipped For Every Good Work
• Let God Be True
• Make Sure Of All Things
• From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained
• Awake! magazine, which replaced Consolation
• All Scripture Is Inspired Of God And Beneficial
• New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures.

Sources

• Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom (Watchtower), pages (96, 98, 101, 592)
• Organization for Kingdom-Preaching and Disciple-Making, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania

References

1. William Henry Conley served as president for almost four years before the Society's legal incorporation in 1884. See Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania #Presidents
2. Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom//. p. 91.
3. "Watching the World", Awake!, August 22, 1977, page 29, "On June 8, 1977
4. Organized to do Jehovah's Will, Watchtower Bible and Tracy Society, page 53

See also

• Organizational structure of Jehovah's Witnesses
• List of Watch Tower Society publications
• Talks by Nathan Knorr
• Life - a 1967 talk by Nathan Knorr
• All posts in the wiki tagged with Nathan Knorr

Talks
Gathering Men of All Nations - 1953 
After Armageddon - God's New World - 1953
Closing Remarks at the 1953 New World Assembly 

 

Preceded by Joseph F. Rutherford...........

President of Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania.............  January 13, 1942-June 8, 1977

Succeeded by Frederick W. Franz

Our Open Air Memorial in Awoshie, Accra, Ghana. Photo shared by @aniakometoo

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We had 115 total with 82 deaf and 33 hearing in the Bangkok, Thailand sign language congregation. Photo shared by @marayatja

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Handing out the song sheets for the Memorial in Coral Springs, Florida, USA. Photo shared by @jean7351

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Shared by @orehov_pavel
Hi, dear brothers! This is the Memorial in Ukraine. My friend from Ukrainian congregation and me from Russian, we are good friends despite on international controversies. It’s happiness to be in Jehovah’s wonderful organization!
Thank you

#jw #love_jehovah_from_your_heart #jworg #jwonly #jwbrasil #jwbrazil #jehovahswitnesses #jehovah #jworganization #jwhappy #jwworldwide #jwslovakia #jwhappypeople #jwukraine #jwrussia #jwaustralia #jwmalaysia #jwtaiwan #jwhonduras #jwhongkong #jwchile #jwindonesia #jwitaly #jwphilippines#memorial2016 #jwjapan#jwmemorial#jwmemorial2016

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We are having a major blizzard in Colorado, USA. The Memorial meeting at the halls were cancelled. The direction was to have the Memorial in our homes and if possible invite others if they can get through the snow. We could also watch and listen to the Australian branch Memorial over the computer if need be. It felt like being at the Passover in an upper room. What wonderful Heavenly Father and organization we belong to! Photo shared by @mtsurran

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Memorial night with the Metro kids & their Uncle Kenney in Oklahoma City. @ohpatty1976 thank you

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My gran daughter gave her “Grammy” and her daddy invitations for the memorial. She was so excited that both came tonight. Out of the mouths of babes. @fishlady18 thank you

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Memorial Portugal @christian.jw.chi thank you

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Memorial in Piñas-Ecuador
@motitadepolvo thank you

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Hi we had 825 in assistance this beautiful afternoon, definitely enjoyed it, brotherly love from Glendale Arizona @dpl97 thank you

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After memorial of Jesus death 2016 with all bros and sisters.. warm greetings from 182 attendees Jakarta Pesanggrahan Congregation Indonesia ??? @taniaerica_ thank you

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SW Congregation, Visalia CA attendance247! #2016memorial #41memorialstogether @mama_jacobs58 thank you

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A picture after the memorial at McDonald’s had some visitors from Australia come so we sang a few maori songs for them. Not matter where were from we all united by Jehovah @2maoriboyz thank you

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Photo shared by @wepamaz Getting our beautiful Kingdom Hall ready for the memorial on Wednesday. Preparando nuestro hermoso salón del reino para el conmemoración el miércoles. Thank you for sharing @jws_worldwide_brotherhood #jws_worldwide_brotherhood

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