Church Matters: Retrieving the Great Tradition

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Chur ch Mat ter s : Ret r i ev i ng the Great Trad i t i on

What You Should Know about Christian History: AD 247-420, continued

7. Gregory Nyssa (AD 330-394): One of the Great Cappadocians, Basil’s brother. 8. Jerome (AD 345-420): Monk and scholar, translated the Vulgate. Five Terms You Should Know 1. Eastern and Western Empires : Diocletian divided the empire into two halves in 292. Rome remained the capital of the Western Empire until AD 476. Constantine placed the capital of the Eastern Empire at Byzantium, later renamed “Constantinople.” 2. The Great Cappadocians : The Eastern theologians who helped Christians recognize Arianism as a false teaching. All of them were born in the imperial province of Cappadocia. 3. Donatism : The belief that – if an overseer had ever faltered under persecution – all ordinances and ceremonies that the overseer performed were invalid. Donatism (named after Donatus, an early leader) split North African churches from AD 311 until the fifth century. 4. Arianism : The belief that Jesus is not fully God; Jesus is, rather, God’s foremost creation. Arianisim (named after the movement’s leader) was denounced by the Council of Nicaea. 5. Vulgate : From the Latin vulgaris (“common”). Jerome’s translation of the Bible into ordinary Latin. The Vulgate was the official Bible of the Roman Catholic Church for 1,000 years.