church

The first Ecumenical Council of Nicea was convened in 325 to combat the pernicious Arian heresy. The heresiarch Arius believed that Jesus was the first-born of all creatures, exalted to divinity, rather than truly God, as had been the orthodox belief. What began as a theological dispute soon grew to include political issues not connected […]

Another great change that was called for during the Second Vatican council was the call for greater participation of the laity in all aspects of living the faith. In my admittedly limited knowledge of history, clericalism was something that slowly build up over time and reached a high point after the Council of Trent. When […]

Turning our attention now to modern concerns, we turn to the way history also helps us deal with changes that occurred in recent times. It was precisely the way that the church deals with modern society that led to the calling of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960’s. One of the fruits of the […]

A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing, or so the saying goes. It also applies to a little knowledge of history, in that a superficial understanding can imperil someone’s previous understanding. Over the course of studying medieval church history, one cannot help but hear time after time about the short-comings of the institutional church. […]

The study of church history has deep implications in the way I experience life as a catholic. One such important implication is the awareness of the fact that our understanding of the tenets of faith develops over time. It comes as a surprise to the uninitiated in church history that even certain things held in […]