Church Matters: Retrieving the Great Tradition

Session 1: The Apostolic Age, the Ancient Church, the Apologists, and the Great Tradition 25

5. Notables:

a. Ambrose: provincial governor in Italy, appointed bishop of Milan in 374; greatest Western Church leader of the 4th century; his most important contri bution dealt with his argument for the independence of the church above the emperor : “The church belongs to God, therefore it ought not be assigned to Caesar. The temple of God cannot be Caesar’s by right” (Sermon against Auxentius, 35) b. John Chrysostom: b. in Antioch in middle of the 4th century, the term “golden mouthed” was given to him in the 6th century. Preached regularly, normally work ing his way through a book of the Bible, but also preached on many different subjects . His best known treatise is The Priesthood, a remarkable text on providing pastoral care. Practical and devotional. c. Jerome: b. in 340s in modern Bosnia, dedicated himself to asceticism and scholarship, translated the Bible into Latin, The Vulgate , which was incredible because he translated it from the Hebrew Scriptures, not the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the OT). (1) Superintended and had great impact on the Council of Chalcedon which resolved Eutyches’s doctrine of confusing the two natures of Christ (his own Tome which he wrote effectively refutes Eutyches’ views) (2) Famous for his teaching on the Roman papacy: the Pope is the “unworthy heir” of Peter, taking the place of the deceased and inheriting all the authority given to Peter by Jesus Christ (cf. Matt. 16.17-19 [ESV] - And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has d. Leo, bishop of Rome from 440 to 461 (‘Leo the Great’)