Three periods of the history of the Church - Research Paper Example

Religion and Theology 20th Nov. Assignment for Research Paper A critical look at the development of the history and the traditions of the Catholic Church shows that Catholic tradition is mediated in history and instantiated in culture. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how Catholic tradition is mediated in history and instantiated in culture. To achieve this end, I have selected three important epochal periods of the church and in each of the three historical periods I have demonstrated the connection between Catholic tradition and the historical cultural context within which the tradition occurs. The three selected historical periods are the early church community (prior to the first council of Nicaea which took place in 325 AD), the church in the Renaissance period (1500-16880 AD), and lastly, the post Vatican II Council (1962 up to now). To begin with, let us look at the traditions and the way of life of the early church. The early church period that we are looking at is the period from 70 A.D, when the church was begun, up to 325 A.D when the first council of Nicaea was held. During this period of time, the tradition of the Catholic Church can be explained as follows (History of the Early Church, web.). In terms of their doctrine and their faith, the Christians of the early church believed that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, sent by God to the world for the redemption of humanity. The Christians of the early Church, also, believed in the afterlife, and for this reason their main priority in life was living in accordance with the teachings of their master, Jesus Christ, so as to enter the kingdom of God. The Christians of the early church, also, broke the bread, in remembrance of their master, as their master Jesus Christ had taught them. Breaking the break, therefore, was an integral part of the lives of the early Christians. Christians of the early church, also, set dates for the celebration of various Christian feasts and they also celebrated various Christian feasts like the Easter. During the early church period, the Catholic Church taught that the reading and the interpretation of the Scripture was a sole prerogative of the clergy. For that reason, the laity were discouraged from reading the Scriptures. Another important element of the tradition of the early Church Christians was detachment from the world. The Christians of the early Church regarded worldly pleasures and material possessions as an impediment to living their Christian calling. As the founder of Christianity, Jesus Christ had taught His disciples that those who would like to remain faithful to him had to forgo world treasures and to surrender all their royalty to him, and him alone (Matt.6:24). The Christians of the early Church, therefore, interpreted this teaching of Jesus Christ literally and they rejected all the pleasures and the riches of the world. The Christians of the early Church considered themselves as citizens of another world, i.e. heaven, and they, therefore, avoided worldly riches and pleasure that could hinder them from being faithful to their master Jesus Christ who is the king of heaven. The other defining characteristic of the Christians of the early Church was their perseverance in persecutions. The early Christians faced intense persecutions from the pagan Roman administration. For instance, Emperor Nero falsely blamed Christians for causing the fire that had burnt the city of Rome in 64 A.D, and for this reason he subjected Christians to severe persecutions. The fire had actually been caused by Emperor Nero himself. But despite these persecutions, the early Christians persevered and continued spreading the Gospel with more zeal. Before the death of Jesus Christ, Jesus had predicted horrible period of persecution for His followers. The early Christians, therefore, interpreted the sufferings that they were going through as a fulfilment of Jesus Christ’s prophecy that sufferings were bound to come upon His followers. The other defining characteristic of the tradition of the early Church was the strong sense of brotherhood. Christians of the early Church exhibited humanitarian virtues in a very powerful way. The Bible records that the early Christians sold their belongings and shared the proceeds amongst themselves according to one’s needs (Acts 2:45). The early Christians therefore were not egocentric; the early Christians were ready to share all their belongings amongst themselves and also with the poor people. In nutshell, the Christians of the early church adhered to the teachings of Jesus Christ with utmost faithfulness and strong courage to suffer for the sake of their faith. The following words from Justin the martyr summarize the attitude of the early Christians towards suffering, “since our thoughts are not fixed on the present, we are not concerned when men put us to death. Death is a debt that we must all pay anyway.” (History of the Early Church, web). The early Christians, therefore, viewed suffering as an integral part of their Christian calling. Having shown the tradition of the Christians of the early Church, let us now look at the historical and the cultural context of the period that the Christians of the early church lived. On history, the early church period was the period when St. Paul wrote the epistles encouraging his fellow believes to hold on to the faith with courage, without fear of persecutions. St. Paul wrote his epistles towards the end of the first century A.D. Many Christian fathers, including Tertullian, Ignatius of Antioch, and Polycarp, also, wrote widely encouraging their fellow believers no to slacken in their faith because of the persecutions. Tertullian, Ignatius of Antioch and Polycarp were all martyred by the cruel anti-Christian Roman administration. The book of revelation, also, was written during the early Christian period; the book of Revelation was written in around 95 A.D, and just like the epistles of St. Paul and the writings of the martyrs, the main aim of the book of Revelation was to give hope to the believers and to encourage them to bear the severe persecutions that they were undergoing with courage and hope. These historical happenings were of great significance to the believers because they emboldened the believers to remain firm in their faith and to overcome the temptation of giving up their Christian faith because of the terrible persecutions from the Roman administration. This point, therefore, shows the connection between the tradition of the early Church believers and the historical events of this period of time. Roman culture also had an influence on the early Christian traditions. For instance, the Roman Pagan gods were a stark opposite of the early Christian gods. This gave the early Christians an opportunity to preach against the pagan Roman Gods and to demonstrate, through, reason that, indeed, Jesus Christ is the son of the real God, the God who created heaven and earth. Again, the Roman culture of having different festivals to celebrate their gods gave an opportunity to the Christians of the early church to set dates of Christian celebrations, on the same dates when the Romans would be celebrating their gods, so as to counter the influence of the Roman pagan teachings in the Roman Empire. This fact, also, shows the connection between the traditions of the early Christians believers and the culture of the people of Roman. Having looked at how the historical/cultural context of the Roman Empire in the early church influenced and connects with the traditions of the early church Christians, let us now look at how the history and the culture of the Renaissance period influenced the traditions of the Renaissance Catholic Church. The Renaissance Period (15- 1688) The Renaissance period is the period from 1500 to 1688. Renaissance begun in Italy and its main characteristic was humanistic Philosophy and emphasis on the need for individual achievements and satisfaction. During the renaissance period, the following were the main traditions o the Catholic Church (The Catholic Church and Renaissance, web). At the beginning of the Renaissance period, one of the important traditions of the Catholic Church was the Papacy. The Pope the spiritual leader of the Catholic Church, but he was also a very powerful political figure in Western Europe. During this historical period, the Pope and the Bishops of the Catholic Church were very rich and they lived as kings. As a political figure, the pope could command army, forge political alliances, and even wage war in some instances. The Catholic Church in the Renaissance period, therefore, was very powerful. An important element of the Catholic doctrines at the beginning of the renaissance period was the teaching that faith and good works lead to salvation. For that reason, therefore, the Catholic Church encouraged its followers to do good works, especially to help those in need, and to have faith in God, so as to be salved. Another common element of the tradition of the Renaissance Catholic Church was the practice known as Simony. Simony was normally a form of corruption which involved the selling of church property by the clergy. Simony was very common in the renaissance period and it contributed a great deal in making the Bishops of the Catholic Church stinking rich. Another important feature of the tradition of renaissance was the fact that the clergy of the Catholic Church had abdicated their role of shepherding the people of God, and instead they had given themselves up to worldly pleasures like the pagans did. This fact had angered the believers a great deal, and as we shall see later in this paper, the ungodly lifestyles of the clergy led to the protestant reformation. Another important part of the tradition of the renaissance Catholic Church was the belief in after life and a belief in Purgatory. The Catholic Church also taught that those in Purgatory were in need of indulgences so that they could go to heaven. As a way of generating income, the clergy of the Catholic church used to sell indulgences for the remission of sins so that one would be forgiven their sins and go to heaven when they die. The majority of the people who bought indulgence during the renaissance period were the relatives of those who have recently died; the relatives of those who have died bought indulgences for their dead relatives so that God would forgive them and take them from purgatory to heaven. This was a blatant form of corruption in the Catholic Church by the clergy. The renaissance period was characterised by humanism and a call for people to pursue their personal interests, as opposed to pursuing communal interests at the expense of individual achievements. Renaissance was normally a period of enlightenment and during this historical period, the intellectuals of the time started questioning some tenets of the Catholic teachings that were not consistent with right reason. For that reason, renaissance movement made people to have critical attitude in life and to start question some hitherto unquestioned beliefs. As a result of this critical and sceptical attitude, the renaissance movement brought about unprecedented historical changes in the Catholic Church; renaissance movement’s advocacy for change led to complete overhaul of many aspects of the 17th century Europe. The following are the main historical and cultural changes that the renaissance movement brought to the Catholic Church. To begin with, due to the high levels of corruption in the Catholic Church, the renaissance movement made many people to advocate for an end to the many forms of corruption in the Catholic Church. Some of the Christians who advocated for an end to corruption in the Church include John Wycliffe and Jan Hus. Wycliffe and Hus, however, failed to reform the church in any substantial way. The real reform was brought about by Martin Luther in form of protestant reform (End of the Renaissance and the Reformation, web.). In the protestant reformation, Martin Luther criticised severely a raft of evils in the Catholic Church including simony and the selling of indulgences. Martin Luther also criticised the politicisation of religion where pope had become more of a political figure, rather, than a spiritual leader. Again, Martin Luther severely criticised the clergy for their lavish and ungodly lifestyles. On doctrine, Luther differed with the Catholic teaching on the view that both faith and good works are essential for salvation. Luther taught that it is faith alone that is essential for salvation (sola fide). Ultimately, Luther disagreed with the Catholic Church completely and he formed his own church, the Lutheran Church. This marked the onset of protestant reformations. This reformation had huge following and for that reason, the Catholic Church had to reform itself and to end many rampant forms of corruption among its clergy if it had to survive. The Catholic Church, therefore, underwent many forms of changes and reforms. This point shows that the history and the traditions of the Catholic Church are indeed connected, when the historical and the cultural context changed in the renaissance period, some traditions of the Catholic Church, also, had to change. With the change of culture, whereby the people became enlightened and became critical, the people started reading scriptures by themselves, contrary to the position of the church. This made the people to know the truth and to criticize the evils in the church more severely. For that reason, the Church had to reform if it had to retain credibility. This fact shows that traditions of the church are, indeed, instantiated in the culture of the place and the historical period where it is practiced. Post Vatican II Period (1962 up to date) The Vatican II Council brought unprecedented changes and reforms in the Catholic Church. The following are some of the main changes that Vatican II brought to the Catholic Church (Vatican II Council Changed the Catholic Church and the World, web). Firstly, Vatican II Council advocated for the celebration of Mass in different languages. Prior to Vatican II Council, Latin was the only language in which mass was celebrated, irrespective of whether the Christians understood the language or not. After the Vatican II Council, however, mass is celebrated in different languages all over the world. Another important change that Vatican II Council brought to the Church is that the priests were allowed to face the congregation as they presided over the mass. Prior to this Council, Catholic priests used to face the alter as they celebrated the mass. Allowing the priests to face the congregation as they celebrated mass enabled the congregation to take a more active role in the celebration of mass. In the modern world, therefore, the believers take active roles in the celebration of mass. Vatican two Council also gave the laity more active roles in the church. Before the Vatican II Council, the roles of the laity in the Church were mainly peripheral. Vatican 11 council, however, recognized the laity as an important and an integral part of the body of Christ, the Church. For that reason, Vatican II Council called on the laity to actively utilize the gift of the Holy Spirit that they are endowed with, for the good of the Church. In the modern Church, therefore, we have very many lay people playing important roles in the church, including preaching and teaching theology in Seminaries and Catholic Universities. Again, Vatican II Council affirmed the importance of women in the Church and gave women more roles to play in the Church. Although Vatican II Council did not allow women into the clergy, the Council gave women more power and allowed them to utilize the Holy Spirit gifts endowed to them for the Good of the Church. For that reason, we find many women in the modern world playing active roles in the Church including education, catechism, and even preaching the Gospel. On interreligious dialogue, the Vatican II Council called for the respect of all religions and advocated for respectful dialogue with the other religions. Vatican II Council also taught that, contrary to the position that the Church had held prior to the meeting on salvation of the non-Catholic believers, all people who will live faithfully according to the teachings of their religions will be saved through the Catholic Church. Prior to Vatican II Council, the Catholic Church had taught that it is the Catholic believers only who will be saved. In the modern world, therefore, we find the Catholic Church engaged in respectful ecumenical dialogue with the other religions; also, we find many instances of the Catholic Church cooperating with the believers of other Churches in various forums and projects. After looking at the main traditions of the Catholic Church after the Vatican II Council, let us now look at the historical and the cultural context of post-Vatican II period or the modern period. One of the important elements of the post-Vatican II historical period is the advocacy for human rights. In the modern world and in all nations, human right organisations are calling upon the governments and individual people to respect the inalienable rights of other people. Connected with the call for respect of human rights is the call for equality and justice among all people; modernism teaches that people should not be discriminated against on any basis, race, colour, gender, or any other considerations. This fact shows that the teachings of Vatican II Council were very much influenced by modernism. In conclusion, a critical look at the traditions and the historical and cultural realities of the three periods of the history of the Church that we have looked at shows that, there is indeed a close relation between the traditions of the church and the historical/cultural context within which the particular tradition occurs. This fact demonstrates that the Catholic tradition is mediated in history and instantiated in culture. Works Cited End of the Renaissance and the Reformation. Web. History of the Early Church. Web. The Catholic Church and the Renaissance. Web. Vatican II Council Changed the Catholic Church and the World. Web. Read More