In or about 365, John Cassian was born in Scythia Minor. Cassian became an important figure in fifth century monasticism (Egan, 70). In 415, he would found a monastery, in southern Gaul. There Cassian would become the father of Massilians, which today is known as Semi-Pelagianism (Jurgens, 198). The aim of this essay is to focus on two areas in the life of John Cassian, first his influence in early monasticism. Second, it will focus on understanding Cassian’s theological position of Semi-Pelagianism.
Cassian was born into a wealthy Christian family, and was educated before he entered monastic life (Driver, 12). His theological quest began with a monastic community near Bethlehem; however, he and a companion named Germanus found that community
…show more content…
24382). However, Cassian did not call his view Semi-Pelagianism and he believed that Pelagian’s teachings contributed to Nestorianism (Jurgens, 198). That is the fifth-century heresy taught by Nestorius (circa 386-450) that Christ was two persons, a human and divine with no union between them (Enns, 19102). Therefore, the term Semi-Pelagianism should not be understood as a watered down form of Pelagianism.
The role of grace is distinctly different in Pelagianism and Semi-Pelagianism. In the former, humans have the ability to choose to serve God without first needing the grace of God (Enns, 10558). Whereas in the latter, the grace of God and the willingness of a human work together in cooperation (Walton, Chart 27).
John Cassian likely had more influence on bringing Eastern asceticism to Western monastic living than any other ancient Church father. His work had a lasting influence on monasteries throughout Europe and transcended the middle ages. Moreover, in Eastern Church Cassian’s position of grace and the human will has long been understood as sensible and since the twentieth-century, he has had more influence in the Western Church (Ramsey, 1293). Hence, Cassian’s work has had a lasting effect on the
The life of Jesus is one that is often discussed and debated among scholars and authors since the time Jesus walked this earth. Gerd Theissen’ s work, Shadow of the Galilean, takes the unique perspective of a grain merchant who has been enlisted by Pilate to find out information on various religious sects and report back to him. After Andreas, the grain merchant’s, first report he is given the task of finding out more about this Jesus who is gaining quite a following. Pilate and the Romans want to know if he is a threat to them. This book follows Andreas as he goes on a journey to find out more about Jesus from various sources for his report to the Romans.
Sidonius’s Letters are a series of letters written by Sidonius various times during the 5th century. He wrote to plenty of bishops and wrote about Christianity and political figures. Through his letters we can learn about how early Christianity was organized, the feeling of superiority in Christians, the qualities of Christians due to his discussion of Christian codes to follow, and we learn about Christian’s belief in miracles showing us how faithful Christians in 5th century Rome could be. Although there is a bias due to Sidonius being a bishop, we gain a different perspective of 5th century Rome.
Francis of Assisi is one of the most influential personalities in the entire world. In the book ‘Francis of Assisi: Performing the Gospel Life,’ Cunningham recounts the life of this humble monk who lived in the medieval times, and shaped the Christian life, which spread in Western culture throughout the rest of history. I believe Cunningham accurately accounts for the life of Francis of Assisi, and in doing so; he provides a trajectory of the Christian faith from its early and historical proponents through its fusion with western culture, and its subsequent spread throughout the world.
Eusebius’ account of Constantine’s conversion is comparable to Gregory of Tours’ accounts of Clovis’ and Gundobad’s conversions to Christianity, in the sense that they all initially called upon the “Christ-God” (albeit Gundobad perhaps indirectly) to come to their aid, which he did, during periods of military crisis. The si...
With this in mind, the objective of this essay is to focus on the main ideas of each theologian, and discuss how each theologian’s ideas are compensatory to the other. This is important because even though each theologian’s writings were inspired by the harsh realities of the societies, and also by the effect each writer experienced in their moment in history, their critiques specifically of Christian institutions remain a consistent amongst all three writings. Furthermore, not only are their critiques consistent, but their goals for providing new frameworks for the future of the Church and Christian discipleship are consistent as well.
Allegorizations of the Active and Contemplative Lives in Philo, Origen, Augustine, and Gregory. This paper examines the allegorical interpretations given to several Scriptural pairs as they relate to the idea of the active and contemplative lives of Philo, Origen, Augustine, and Gregory. As will be shown, Augustine combines elements found in the two previous writers to form his allegory of the two wives of Jacob as representative of the active and contemplative lives. In Philo, most of the essential elements of later Christian thought in the active and contemplative lives are already present.
Brown’s book is organized, like any scholarly biography, chronologically according to Augustine’s life. It is separated into five parts, each corresponding to significant portions of Augustine’s life: his pagan life, his conversion, his actions against the Donatists, his actions against Pelagians, and his final legacy and death. Each part opens with a chronological table of events both directly involving Augustine and the world he lived in.
European Christian Renaissance and Public Theology. " European Journal of Theology 20.2 (2011): 111-118. Academic Search Elite -. Web.
Roles of the Catholic Church in Western civilization has been scrambled with the times past and development of Western society. Regardless of the fact that the West is no longer entirely Catholic, the Catholic tradition is still strong in Western countries. The church has been a very important foundation of public facilities like schooling, Western art, culture and philosophy; and influential player in religion. In many ways it has wanted to have an impact on Western approaches to pros and cons in numerous areas. It has over many periods of time, spread the teachings of Jesus within the Western World and remains a foundation of continuousness connecting recent Western culture to old Western culture.-
McManners, John. "The Oxford History of Christianity." The Oxford History of Christianity. New York: New York Oxford Press, 2002. 28.
The independence granted Cluny in it’s foundation charter was esssential in the development of Cluny free from the interference of lay magnates and local bishops. It’s direct dependence on Rome was not initially of great importence; other foundations had beemn bequeathed to the apostles before. However, this was an important foundation upon which later abbots were to build. By seeking papal approval for Cluniac reforms the abbots forged a valuble direct link to the papacy, whilst gain officail public regognition and endorsement of the Cluniac regieme. In obtaining the right to accept monks from other orders in 931 Odo had confirmed the righht of the Cluniacs to reform others houses, while Cluny gained freedom from the local bishops under Abbot Odilo in 998. it was ‘the subsequent growth, under far straiter papal oversight, of Cluny’s exemption from episcopal control in spiritual matters, that did most to consolidate Cluny’s subject houses under it’s own central authority’ . This meant Cluny was immune to challenges to it’s authority from both without and within the church. Cluny became of particular note to sucessive Popes, with it’s reputation for reform, and the papacy continued to support the cluniacs, with Pope John XIX giving Cluny’s monks complete freedom from interference whereever they were in 1024.
Late in the fifth century the son of a well-off family in Italy left for isolation on his mission to truly seek god. This man was St. Benedict, who is credited with the first establishment of the concept of withdrawing from all temptation for Christian beliefs in the west. St. Benedict left his home and went to the top of a mountain, where he established a monastic community. In this community the individuals who resided there, constantly reiterated their faith. They sacrificed whatever they may have had to prove their true commitment to God. This became an early ideal of Christianity, that one must suffer loss and sacrifice to prove their loyalty to the faith. It was believed in this time period that if one is content with only what they truly need one is freer to think about other people and to think about God . These individuals were called Regular Clergies (monks) and were considered heroes of the faith.
As the developments in Eastern Christianity were happening independent of Western Christianity, the differences in approaches grew to a serious estrangement between the two (Ware 23-24). As Ware suggests, some of the more prominent differences between the eastern and western Christianity are in the approach of religious truth, the perception of sin and salvation, and the view of the Holy Spirit. For Orthodox Christians, truth must be experienced personally (Ware 132). There is thus less focus on the exact definition of religious truth and more on the practical and personal experience of truth in the life of the individual and the church. This emphasis on personal experience of truth flows into the actual definition of the word Orthodox, which essentially means the correct theological observance of religion (“orthodox”). In the Western churches sin and salvation are seen primarily in legal terms. God gave humans freedom, and if they misuse it and brake God's commandments, they deserve punishment. God's grace results in forgiveness of the transgression and freedom from bondage and punishment. The Eastern churches see the matter in a different way. For Orthodox theologians, humans were created in the image of God and made to participate fully in the divine life. The full communion with God that Adam and Eve enjoyed meant complete freedom and true humanity, because humans are most human when they are completely united with God.
The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved February 21, 2010 from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org
His book presents three main perspectives on Christology (biblical, historical, and contemporary). He attempts to combine classical views and contextual views of Christology.