1.
Constantine the Great
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Constantine the Great, also known as Constantine I or Saint Constantine, was a Roman Emperor from 306 to 337 AD. Constantine was the son of Flavius Valerius Constantius, a Roman Army officer and his father became Caesar, the deputy emperor in the west, in 293 AD. Constantine was sent east, where he rose through the ranks to become a military tribune under the emperors Diocletian, in 305, Constantius was raised to the rank of Augustus, senior western emperor, and Constantine was recalled west to campaign under his father in Britannia. As emperor, Constantine enacted many administrative, financial, social, the government was restructured and civil and military authority separated. A new gold coin, the solidus, was introduced to combat inflation and it would become the standard for Byzantine and European currencies for more than a thousand years. He called the First Council of Nicaea in 325, at which the Nicene Creed was adopted by Christians, in military matters, the Roman army was reorganised to consist of mobile field units and garrison soldiers capable of countering internal threats and barbarian invasions. The age of Constantine marked an epoch in the history of the Roman Empire. He built a new residence at Byzantium and renamed the city Constantinople after himself. It would later become the capital of the Empire for over one thousand years and his more immediate political legacy was that, in leaving the empire to his sons, he replaced Diocletians tetrarchy with the principle of dynastic succession. His reputation flourished during the lifetime of his children and centuries after his reign, the medieval church upheld him as a paragon of virtue while secular rulers invoked him as a prototype, a point of reference, and the symbol of imperial legitimacy and identity. Beginning with the Renaissance, there were more critical appraisals of his due to the rediscovery of anti-Constantinian sources. Critics portrayed him as a tyrant, trends in modern and recent scholarship attempted to balance the extremes of previous scholarship. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built on his orders at the site of Jesus tomb in Jerusalem. The Papal claim to power in the High Middle Ages was based on the supposed Donation of Constantine. He is venerated as a saint by Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Catholics, though Constantine has historically often been referred to as the First Christian Emperor, scholars debate his actual beliefs or even his actual comprehension of the Christian faith itself. Constantine was a ruler of major importance, and he has always been a controversial figure, the fluctuations in Constantines reputation reflect the nature of the ancient sources for his reign. These are abundant and detailed, but have strongly influenced by the official propaganda of the period. There are no surviving histories or biographies dealing with Constantines life, the nearest replacement is Eusebius of Caesareas Vita Constantini, a work that is a mixture of eulogy and hagiography
2.
Bishop
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A bishop is an ordained, consecrated, or appointed member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within these churches, bishops are seen as those who possess the full priesthood, Some Protestant churches including the Lutheran and Methodist churches have bishops serving similar functions as well, though not always understood to be within apostolic succession in the same way. Priests, deacons and lay ministers cooperate and assist their bishop in shepherding a flock, the earliest organization of the Church in Jerusalem was, according to most scholars, similar to that of Jewish synagogues, but it had a council or college of ordained presbyters. In, we see a system of government in Jerusalem chaired by James the Just. In, the Apostle Paul ordains presbyters in churches in Anatolia, in Timothy and Titus in the New Testament a more clearly defined episcopate can be seen. We are told that Paul had left Timothy in Ephesus and Titus in Crete to oversee the local church, Paul commands Titus to ordain presbyters/bishops and to exercise general oversight, telling him to rebuke with all authority. Early sources are unclear but various groups of Christian communities may have had the bishop surrounded by a group or college functioning as leaders of the local churches, eventually, as Christendom grew, bishops no longer directly served individual congregations. Instead, the Metropolitan bishop appointed priests to each congregation. Around the end of the 1st century, the organization became clearer in historical documents. While Ignatius of Antioch offers the earliest clear description of monarchial bishops he is an advocate of monepiscopal structure rather than describing an accepted reality. To the bishops and house churches to which he writes, he offers strategies on how to pressure house churches who dont recognize the bishop into compliance. Other contemporary Christian writers do not describe monarchial bishops, either continuing to equate them with the presbyters or speaking of episkopoi in a city, plainly therefore we ought to regard the bishop as the Lord Himself — Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians 6,1. Your godly bishop — Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians 2,1, therefore as the Lord did nothing without the Father, either by Himself or by the Apostles, so neither do ye anything without the bishop and the presbyters. — Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians 7,1. Be obedient to the bishop and to one another, as Jesus Christ was to the Father, and as the Apostles were to Christ and to the Father, — Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians 13,2. Apart from these there is not even the name of a church, — Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallesians 3,1. Follow your bishop, as Jesus Christ followed the Father, and the presbytery as the Apostles, and to the deacons pay respect, as to Gods commandment — Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnans 8,1. He that honoureth the bishop is honoured of God, he that doeth aught without the knowledge of the bishop rendereth service to the devil — Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyrnans 9,1
3.
First Council of Nicaea
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The First Council of Nicaea was a council of Christian bishops convened in the Bithynian city of Nicaea by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in AD325. Constantine I organized the Council along the lines of the Roman Senate and presided over it and this ecumenical council was the first effort to attain consensus in the Church through an assembly representing all of Christendom. Hosius of Cordoba, who was one of the Papal legates. The First Council of Nicaea was the first ecumenical council of the Church, 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, through it a precedent was set for subsequent general councils to adopt creeds and canons. This council is considered the beginning of the period of the First seven Ecumenical Councils in the History of Christianity. 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 and this synod had been charged with investigation of the trouble brought about by the Arian controversy in the Greek-speaking east. To most bishops, the teachings of Arius were heretical and dangerous to the salvation of souls and this was the first general council in the history of the Church summoned by emperor Constantine I. 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. Constantine had invited all 1,800 bishops of the Christian church within the Roman Empire, Eusebius of Caesarea counted more than 250, Athanasius of Alexandria counted 318, and Eustathius of Antioch estimated about 270. Later, Socrates Scholasticus recorded more than 300, and Evagrius, Hilary of Poitiers, Jerome, Dionysius Exiguus and this number 318 is preserved in the liturgies of the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. Delegates came from every region of the Roman Empire, including 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 him two priests and three deacons, so the total number of attendees could have been above 1,800. Eusebius speaks of an almost innumerable host of accompanying priests, deacons, 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 and this position is supported by patristic scholar Timothy Barnes in his book Constantine and Eusebius. Historically, the influence of these marred confessors has been seen as substantial, 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. The supporters of Arius included Secundus of Ptolemais, Theonus of Marmarica, Zphyrius, other supporters included Eusebius of Nicomedia, Paulinus of Tyrus, Actius of Lydda, Menophantus of Ephesus, and Theognus of Nicaea
4.
History of Christianity
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The history of Christianity concerns the Christian religion, Christendom, and the Church with its various denominations, from the 1st century to the present. Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christianity spread to all of Europe in the Middle Ages, Christianity expanded throughout the world during Europes Age of Exploration from the Renaissance onwards, becoming the worlds largest religion. Today there are more than two billion Christians worldwide, during its early history, Christianity grew from a 1st-century Jewish following to a religion that existed across the entire Greco-Roman world and beyond. The Roman persecution of Christians ended in AD313 when Constantine the Great decreed tolerance for the religion and he then called the First Council of Nicaea in AD325, beginning of the period of the First seven Ecumenical Councils. The Apostolic Church was the community led by the apostles, and to some degree, in his Great Commission, the resurrected Jesus commanded that his teachings be spread to all the world. While the historical reliability of the Acts of the Apostles is disputed by critics, Acts gives a history of the Church from this commission in 1, 3–11 to the spread of the religion among the Gentiles and the eastern Mediterranean by Paul and others. The first Christians were essentially all ethnically Jewish or Jewish proselytes, in other words, Jesus preached to the Jewish people and called from them his first disciples, see for example Matthew 10. Circumcision in particular was considered repulsive by Greeks and Hellenists while circumcision advocates were labelled Judaisers, related issues are still debated today. The doctrines of the apostles brought the Early Church into conflict with some Jewish religious authorities and this eventually led to their expulsion from the synagogues, according to one theory of the Council of Jamnia. Acts records the martyrdom of the Christian leaders, Stephen and James of Zebedee, the name Christian was first applied to the disciples in Antioch, as recorded in Acts 11,26. Some contend that the term Christian was first coined as a term, meaning little Christs, and was meant as a mockery. The sources for the beliefs of the community include the Gospels. According to a recorded by Eusebius and Epiphanius, the Jerusalem church fled to Pella at the outbreak of the First Jewish–Roman War. The post-apostolic period concerns the time after the death of the apostles until persecutions ended with the legalisation of Christian worship under Emperors Constantine the Great, according to the New Testament, Christians were subject to various persecutions from the beginning. This involved even death for Christians such as Stephen and James, according to Church tradition, it was under Neros persecution that Peter and Paul were each martyred in Rome. Similarly, several of the New Testament writings mention persecutions and stress endurance through them, the last and most severe persecution organised by the imperial authorities was the Diocletianic Persecution,303 -311. In spite of these sometimes intense persecutions, the Christian religion continued its spread throughout the Mediterranean Basin, There is no agreement on how Christianity managed to spread so successfully prior to the Edict of Milan and the establishment of Christianity as the state religion of the Roman Empire. In The Rise of Christianity, Rodney Stark argues that Christianity triumphed over paganism chiefly because it improved the lives of its adherents in various ways
5.
Christendom
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The term cristendom existed in Old English, but it had the sense now taken by Christianity. The current sense of the word of lands where Christianity is the dominant religion emerges in Late Middle English, English Christianity equalling German Christentum, French christianisme. The reason is the fragmentation of Western Christianity at that time both in theological and in political respect. Christendom as a term is thus meaningful in the context of the Middle Ages, and arguably during the European wars of religion. The Christian world is known collectively as the Corpus Christianum. The Christian polity, embodying a less secular meaning, can be compatible with the idea of both a religious and a body, Corpus Christianum. The Corpus Christianum can be seen as a Christian equivalent of the Muslim Ummah, the word Christendom is also used with its other meaning to frame-true Christianity. In its most broad term, it refers to the worlds Christian majority countries, unlike the Muslim world, which has a geo-political and cultural definition that provides a primary identifier for a large swath of the world, Christendom is more complex. For example, the Americas and Europe are considered part of Christendom and it is also less geographically cohesive than the Muslim world, which stretches almost continuously from North Africa to South Asia. There is a common and nonliteral sense of the word that is much like the terms Western world, when Thomas F. Connolly said, There isnt enough power in all Christendom to make that airplane what we want. In the beginning of Christendom, early Christianity was a spread in the Greek/Roman world and beyond as a 1st-century Jewish sect. The post-apostolic period concerns the time roughly after the death of the apostles when bishops emerged as overseers of urban Christian populations, the earliest recorded use of the terms Christianity and Catholic, dates to this period, the 2nd century, attributed to Ignatius of Antioch c. Early Christendom would close at the end of persecution of Christians after the ascension of Constantine the Great and the Edict of Milan in AD313. Christendom has referred to the medieval and renaissance notion of the Christian world as a sociopolitical polity, in this period, members of the Christian clergy wield political authority. This model of relations was accepted by various Church leaders. The Church gradually became an institution of the Empire. Emperor Theodosius I made Nicene Christianity the state church of the Roman Empire with the Edict of Thessalonica of 380, the Byzantine Empire was the last bastion of Christendom. Christendom would take a turn with the rise of the Franks, on Christmas Day 800 AD, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne resulting in the creation of another Christian king beside the Christian emperor in the Byzantine state
6.
Anglicanism
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Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising the Church of England and churches which are historically tied to it or hold similar beliefs, worship practices and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to the Magna Carta and before, adherents of Anglicanism are called Anglicans. As the name suggests, the churches of the Anglican Communion are linked by bonds of tradition, affection and they are in full communion with the See of Canterbury, and thus the Archbishop of Canterbury, in his person, is a unique focus of Anglican unity. He calls the once-a-decade Lambeth Conference, chairs the meeting of primates, Anglicans base their Christian faith on the Bible, traditions of the apostolic Church, apostolic succession, and writings of the Church Fathers. Anglicanism forms one of the branches of Western Christianity, having declared its independence from the Holy See at the time of the Elizabethan Religious Settlement. Many of the new Anglican formularies of the mid-16th century corresponded closely to those of contemporary Protestantism, the word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English Church. Adherents of Anglicanism are called Anglicans, as an adjective, Anglican is used to describe the people, institutions and churches, as well as the liturgical traditions and theological concepts developed by the Church of England. As a noun, an Anglican is a member of a church in the Anglican Communion, the word is also used by followers of separated groups which have left the communion or have been founded separately from it, although this is sometimes considered as a misuse. The word Anglicanism came into being in the 19th century, although the term Anglican is found referring to the Church of England as far back as the 16th century, its use did not become general until the latter half of the 19th century. Elsewhere, however, the term Anglican Church came to be preferred as it distinguished these churches from others that maintain an episcopal polity, as such, it is often referred to as being a via media between these traditions. Anglicans understand the Old and New Testaments as containing all necessary for salvation and as being the rule. Reason and Tradition are seen as means to interpret Scripture. Anglicans understand the Apostles Creed as the symbol and the Nicene Creed as the sufficient statement of the Christian faith. Anglicans celebrate the sacraments, with special emphasis being given to the Eucharist, also called Holy Communion. Unique to Anglicanism is the Book of Common Prayer, the collection of services that worshippers in most Anglican churches used for centuries and it was called common prayer originally because it was intended for use in all Church of England churches which had previously followed differing local liturgies. The term was kept when the church became international because all Anglicans used to share in its use around the world, in 1549, the first Book of Common Prayer was compiled by Thomas Cranmer, who was then Archbishop of Canterbury. The founding of Christianity in Britain is commonly attributed to Joseph of Arimathea, according to Anglican legend, Saint Alban, who was executed in 209 AD, is the first Christian martyr in the British Isles. A new culture emerged around the Irish Sea among the Celtic peoples with Celtic Christianity at its core, what resulted was a form of Christianity distinct from Rome in many traditions and practices
7.
Apostolic succession
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This series was seen originally as that of the bishops of a particular see founded by one or more of the apostles. Those who hold for the importance of apostolic succession via episcopal laying on of hands appeal to the New Testament and they appeal as well to other documents of the early Church, especially the Epistle of Clement. Each of these groups does not necessarily consider consecration of the groups as valid. However, some Protestants deny the need for this type of continuity, and these denominations, instead, hold that apostolic succession is understood as a continuity in doctrinal teaching from the time of the apostles to the present. The bishops were also successors of the apostles in that the functions they performed of preaching, governing and ordaining were the same as the Apostles had performed. It is also used to signify that grace is transmitted from the Apostles by each generation of bishops through the imposition of hands. Some Anglicans, in addition to other Protestants, held that apostolic succession may also be understood as a continuity in teaching from the time of the apostles to the present. To fulfil this mission, Christ. Promised the Holy Spirit to the apostles, enriched by Christ the Lord with a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit. This spiritual gift has been transmitted down to us by episcopal consecration, how the development of apostolic government is difficult to say accurately because of the absence of certain documents. Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop and he uses both bishop and presbyter to refer to these men. That this succession depended on the fact of ordination to a vacant see, on the contrary, other sources clearly state that Mark the Evangelist is the first bishop of Alexandria, then he ordained Annianus as his successor bishop as told by Eusebius. He warns that this is open to the objection that it makes grace a material commodity. He adds that the idea cannot be squeezed out of Irenaeus words, cyprian also laid great emphasis on the fact that any minister who broke with the Church lost ipso facto the gift of the Spirit which had validated his orders. This meant that the minister would had no power or authority to celebrate an efficacious sacrament and they hold that this lineage of ordination derives from the Twelve Apostles, thus making the Church the continuation of the early Apostolic Christian community. Cyprian also asserts that if any one is not with the bishop and we must necessarily consider none to be really ordained who have not thus been ordained. Raymond E. Brown says that in the stage there were plural bishops or overseers in an individual community. Brown asserts that the ministry was not ordained by the Church to act on its own authority, but as an important part to continue the ministry of Jesus Christ and helps to make the Church what it is
8.
Catholic ecumenical councils
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Catholic Ecumenical Councils include 21 councils over a period of 1700 years. The purpose of a council is to define doctrine, reaffirm truths of the Faith. Council decisions, to be valid, are approved by the popes, participation is limited to these persons, who cannot delegate their voting rights. Ecumenical councils are different from provincial councils, where bishops of a Church province or region meet, Episcopal conferences and plenary councils are other bodies, meetings of bishops of one country, nation, or region, such as the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. This article does not include councils of an order or regional councils. Ecumenical in the Catholic view does not mean that all bishops attended the councils, nor does ecumenical imply the participation of or acceptance by all Christian communities and Churches. Ecumenical refers to a solemn congregations of the Catholic bishops of the world at the invitation of the Pope to decide on matters of the Church with him, the ecumenical character of the councils of the first millennium was not determined by the intention of those who issued the invitations. The papal approval of the early councils did not have a formal character, the Catholic Church did not officially declare these Councils to be ecumenical. Different evaluations existed between and within Christian communities, not all of the twenty-one councils were always accepted as ecumenical within the Catholic Church. For example, the inclusion of the First Lateran Council and the Council of Basel were disputed, a 1539 book on ecumenical councils by Cardinal Dominicus Jacobazzi excluded them as did other scholars. The first few centuries did not know large-scale ecumenical meetings, they were only feasible after the Church had gained freedom from persecution through Emperor Constantine. These comprised the hierarchs of the undivided Church, and, excepting the Fourth Council of Constantinople are recognised as Ecumenical Councils also by the modern Eastern Orthodox Church, the First Council of Nicaea formulated the original Nicene Creed. Most importantly, the council defined the equality of God the Father and Christ and it taught that Jesus was of the same substance as God the Father and not just merely similar. By defining the nature of the divinity of Jesus, the council did not solely rely on the Bible, the First Council of Nicaea issued 20 canons and repudiated Arianism. The First Council of Constantinople defined in four canons the Nicene Creed, most importantly, it defined the divinity of the Holy Spirit, which is derived but not defined in the Bible. Thus the Council built on the Apostolic Tradition, the council met from May until July 381 during the pontificate of Pope Damasus I and issued four canons. The Council of Ephesus proclaimed the Virgin Mary as the Theotokos, the Council met in seven sessions during the pontificate of Pope Celestine I from June 22 until July 17,431. The Council of Chalcedon defined the two natures of Jesus Christ, “We teach unanimously that the one son, our lord Jesus Christ to be fully God and fully human
9.
Easter
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It is the culmination of the Passion of Jesus, preceded by Lent, a forty-day period of fasting, prayer, and penance. In Western Christianity, Eastertide, or the Easter Season, begins on Easter Sunday and lasts seven weeks, ending with the coming of the fiftieth day, Pentecost Sunday. In Eastern Christianity, the season of Pascha begins on Pascha and ends with the coming of the fortieth day, the Feast of the Ascension. The First Council of Nicaea established two rules, independence of the Jewish calendar and worldwide uniformity, which were the rules for Easter explicitly laid down by the council. No details for the computation were specified, these were worked out in practice and it has come to be the first Sunday after the ecclesiastical full moon that occurs on or soonest after 21 March, but calculations vary. Easter is linked to the Jewish Passover by much of its symbolism, in many languages, the words for Easter and Passover are identical or very similar. Easter customs vary across the Christian world, and include services, exclaiming the Paschal greeting, clipping the church. The Easter lily, a symbol of the resurrection, traditionally decorates the area of churches on this day. Additional customs that have associated with Easter and are observed by both Christians and some non-Christians include egg hunting, the Easter Bunny, and Easter parades. There are also various traditional Easter foods that vary regionally, however, it is possible that Bede was only speculating about the origin of the term since there is no firm evidence that such a goddess actually existed. In Greek and Latin, the Christian celebration was, and still is, called Πάσχα, Pascha, the word originally denoted the Jewish festival known in English as Passover, commemorating the Jewish Exodus from slavery in Egypt. In most of the non-English speaking world, the feast is known by names derived from Greek, Pascha is also a name by which Jesus himself is remembered in the Orthodox Church, especially in connection with his resurrection and with the season of its celebration. The New Testament states that the resurrection of Jesus, which Easter celebrates, is a foundation of the Christian faith, the resurrection established Jesus as the powerful Son of God and is cited as proof that God will judge the world in righteousness. For those who trust in Jesus death and resurrection, death is swallowed up in victory, any person who chooses to follow Jesus receives a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Through faith in the working of God those who follow Jesus are spiritually resurrected with him so that they may walk in a new way of life and receive eternal salvation. Easter is linked to the Passover and Exodus from Egypt recorded in the Old Testament through the Last Supper, sufferings and crucifixion of Jesus that preceded the resurrection. According to the New Testament, Jesus gave the Passover meal a new meaning, as in the room during the Last Supper he prepared himself. He identified the matzah and cup of wine as his soon to be sacrificed
10.
Ordination
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Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies. The process and ceremonies of ordination vary by religion and denomination, one who is in preparation for, or who is undergoing the process of ordination is sometimes called an ordinand. The liturgy used at an ordination is sometimes referred to as an ordination, the tradition of the ordained monastic community began with the Buddha, who established orders of monks and later of nuns. The procedure of ordination in Buddhism is laid down in the Vinaya, permission was granted in 822 CE, seven days after Saicho died. The platform was finished in 827 CE at Enryaku-ji temple on Mount Hiei, pabbajja is an ordination procedure for novice Buddhist monks in the Theravada tradition. The legitimacy of fully ordained nuns has become a significant topic of discussion in recent years, however th 14th Dalai Lama has endeavored for many years to improve this situation. In Medieval Sōtō Zen, a tradition of ordination was developed to give the laity access to Zen funeral rites. Chinese Ch’an monastic codes, from which Japanese Sōtō practices were derived, contain only monastic funeral rites, to solve this problem, the Sōtō school developed the practice of ordaining laypeople after death, thus allowing monastic funeral rites to be used for them as well. The Buddhist ordination tradition of the New Kadampa Tradition-International Kadampa Buddhist Union is not the traditional Buddhist ordination and he is said to view them as a “practical condensation” of the 253 Vinaya vows of fully ordained monks. There are also no instructions and guidelines for the behaviour of monks. Because the behaviour of monks and nuns is not clearly defined “each Resident Teacher developed his or her own way of ‘disciplining’ monks, there are three degrees of ordination, deacon, presbyter, and bishop. Both bishops and presbyters are priests and have authority to celebrate the Eucharist, Ordination of a bishop is performed by several bishops, ordination of a priest or deacon is performed by a single bishop. The ordination of a new bishop is called a consecration. Many ancient sources specify that at least three bishops are necessary to consecrate another, e. g, only a person ordained to the priesthood may administer certain sacraments. The Catholic Church teaches that one bishop is sufficient to consecrate a new bishop validly, in most Christian denominations that retain the practice of ordination, only an already ordained bishop or the equivalent may ordain bishops, priests, and deacons. However, Canon Law requires that bishops always be consecrated with the mandate of the Roman Pontiff, moreover, at least three bishops are to perform the consecration, although the Apostolic See may dispense from this requirement in extraordinary circumstances. Those married deacons who become widowers have the possibility of seeking ordination to the priesthood in exceptional cases, the Roman Catholic Church has never recognized Anglican orders as valid. Anglicanism recognizes Roman Catholic and Orthodox ordinations, hence, clergy converting to Anglicanism are not re-ordained, some Eastern Orthodox churches recognize Roman Catholic ordinations while others re-ordain Roman Catholic clergy who convert
11.
Baptism
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Baptism is a Christian sacrament of admission and adoption, almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally. The canonical Gospels report that Jesus was baptized—a historical event to which a degree of certainty can be assigned. Baptism has been called a sacrament and an ordinance of Jesus Christ. In some denominations, baptism is also called christening, but for others the word christening is reserved for the baptism of infants, Baptism has also given its name to the Baptist churches and denominations. The usual form of baptism among the earliest Christians was for the candidate to be immersed, in v.16, Matthew will speak of Jesus coming up out of the water. The traditional depiction in Christian art of John the Baptist pouring water over Jesus head may therefore be based on later Christian practice, other common forms of baptism now in use include pouring water three times on the forehead, a method called affusion. Martyrdom was identified early in Church history as baptism by blood, later, the Catholic Church identified a baptism of desire, by which those preparing for baptism who die before actually receiving the sacrament are considered saved. Today, some Christians, particularly Christian Scientists, Quakers, The Salvation Army, and Unitarians, do not see baptism as necessary, among those that do, differences can be found in the manner and mode of baptizing and in the understanding of the significance of the rite. Most Christians baptize in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, much more than half of all Christians baptize infants, many others hold that only believers baptism is true baptism. Some insist on submersion or at least partial immersion of the person who is baptized, others consider that any form of washing by water, as long as the water flows on the head, is sufficient. The term baptism has also used to refer to any ceremony, trial, or experience by which a person is initiated, purified. The Greek verb baptō, dip, from which the verb baptizo is derived, is in turn hypothetically traced to a reconstructed Indo-European root *gʷabh-, the Greek words are used in a great variety of meanings. John the Baptist, who is considered a forerunner to Christianity, the apostle Paul distinguished between the baptism of John, and baptism in the name of Jesus, and it is questionable whether Christian baptism was in some way linked with that of John. Christians consider Jesus to have instituted the sacrament of baptism, though whether Jesus intended to institute a continuing, the earliest Christian baptisms were probably normally by immersion, complete or partial. Though other modes may have also been used, at the hour in which the cock crows, they shall first pray over the water. When they come to the water, the water shall be pure and flowing, that is, then they shall take off all their clothes. The children shall be baptized first, all of the children who can answer for themselves, let them answer. If there are any children who cannot answer for themselves, let their parents answer for them, after this, the men will be baptized
12.
Theodosius I
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Theodosius I, also known as Theodosius the Great, was Roman Emperor from AD379 to AD395. Theodosius was the last emperor to rule both the eastern and the western halves of the Roman Empire. On accepting his elevation, he campaigned against Goths and other barbarians who had invaded the empire. He failed to kill, expel, or entirely subjugate them and he fought two destructive civil wars, in which he defeated the usurpers Magnus Maximus and Eugenius at great cost to the power of the empire. He also issued decrees that effectively made Orthodox Nicene Christianity the official church of the Roman Empire. He neither prevented nor punished the destruction of prominent Hellenistic temples of antiquity, including the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He dissolved the order of the Vestal Virgins in Rome, in 393, he banned the pagan rituals of the Olympics in Ancient Greece. Theodosius was born in Cauca, Gallaecia, Hispania or Italica, Baetica, Hispania, to a military officer. Theodosius learned his lessons by campaigning with his fathers staff in Britannia where he went to help quell the Great Conspiracy in 368. In about 373, he became governor of Upper Moesia and oversaw hostilities against the Sarmatians and he was military commander of Moesia, a Roman province on the lower Danube, in 374. However, shortly thereafter, and at about the time as the sudden disgrace and execution of his father. The reason for his retirement, and the relationship between it and his fathers death is unclear and it is possible that he was dismissed from his command by the emperor Valentinian I after the loss of two of Theodosius legions to the Sarmatians in late 374. The death of Valentinian I in 375 created political pandemonium, fearing further persecution on account of his family ties, Theodosius abruptly retired to his family estates in the province of Gallaecia where he adopted the life of a provincial aristocrat. In 378, after the disastrous Battle of Adrianople where Valens was killed, as Valens had no successor, Gratians appointment of Theodosius amounted to a de facto invitation for Theodosius to become co-Augustus of the East Roman Empire. After Gratian was killed in a rebellion in 383, Theodosius appointed his own son, Arcadius. By his first wife, the probably Spanish Aelia Flaccilla Augusta, he had two sons, Arcadius and Honorius and a daughter, Aelia Pulcheria, Arcadius was his heir in the East, both Aelia Flaccilla and Pulcheria died in 385. His second wife was Galla, daughter of the emperor Valentinian I, Theodosius and Galla had a son Gratian, born in 388 and who died young, and a daughter Aelia Galla Placidia. Placidia was the child who survived to adulthood and later became an Empress
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