Byzantine Religion

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Both Byzantine clergy (church

officials such as bishops, priests,

and deacons) and laity (church

members) were intensely

interested in religious matters.

Lively discussions

dwelt on such topics as the exact relationship of Jesus the Son to God the Father.

These discussions often became political issues, sometimes

erupting into fights and riots.

Take that, you monophysite!

During the A.D. 700s a

dispute broke out over the use of icons (religious images) in worship.

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Iconoclasts (“image breakers”) - people

who opposed the use of icons in

worship - argued that the Ten

Commandments prohibited such

practices.[Image ssource:

http://www.kidsnewspress.com/ten.jpg]

[Image source http://www.siue.edu/COSTUMES/PLATE9DX.HTML]

Many theologians

disagreed, and encouraged

the continued practice of

icon worship among their parishoners.

Emperor Leo III

declared that icon worship was not

legal.

In A. D. 726 he ordered

all icons removed from the churches.

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Many Byzantines,

encouraged by their church

leaders, resisted the

order.[Image source:

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The Roman pope strained

relations between the Eastern and

Western Churches when

he weighed-in on the side of those advocating the

use of icons.[Image source: http://www.breviary.net/images/dominic4.JPG]

Leo III, feeling his authority was being challenged, asserted his

power and suppressed the demonstrations in favour of icons.

In A. D. 787 a church council meeting at Nicaea approved the use of icons.

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The Empress Irene – the first woman to hold

the throne in her own right –

allowed the use of icons, provided they were not

given the honour due to God.

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Ad Sanctos burial

(“burial with the Saints”)

was also debated.

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Europe/Catacombs,%20Paris.jpg]

There was a belief that if you were buried near a Saint, then you

would get to heaven first.

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http://www.byui.edu/Ricks/employee/DAVISR/HumPix/arch,%20Roman,%20catacombs%202.JPG]

Hey! Where did everybody go?! They

left me behind!

This createda market

demand for Saints’ relics and bones.

Churches often placed a

Saint’s bonein the altar.

Justinian I believed that the Church should serve

the State (Erastianism). He was also

a Monophysite.

Justinian also passed several laws against pagans, Samaritans, Jews, and Manichaeans

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Manicheans believed that

man has a good nature and an evil nature, and that he can

choose one or the other.[Image source:

http://anakinskywalker1.homestead.com/files/thefateofanakinskywalker.jpg]

?Evil Good

Byzantine emperors

were active in sending

missionaries throughout the world.

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Saint Cyril

Sometimes foreign rulers wouldask the

Byzantines to send a

missionary.[Image source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/upload/0/0e/Michael_iii.jpg]

Ratislav of Moravia asked

Emperor Michael III of

Constantinople to send some

missionaries to his country.

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http://home.nextra.sk/averill/ratislav.jpg]

Why did the Byzantine emperors and not the Church send out missionaries?

1. Control contact with foreigners.

2. Control the content of the message.

3. Select the missionaries.

4. Expression of imperial power over the Church.

As time has passed, we see that the Byzantine Empire was:

1. A major world culture.2. The medieval continuation of

the Greek and Roman states.3. Culturally diverse.4. Religiously active.5. Strategically important.

The pope in Rome and the patriarch of Constantinople disagreed on their roles within the Christian Church.

No, I am the true head of the Church!

I am the true head of the

church!

In addition to disagreement over doctrine, they challenged each other for

control over the churches in the Balkans.

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Relations between Eastern and Western churches worsened following the invasion of

Italy by the Lombards in the A.D. 700s.

[Image source: http://www.boglewood.com/timeline/alboin.jpg]

When the Byzantine emperor refused to give military aid to Rome, the pope turned to the Franks, a Germanic

Catholic people in Western Europe.

[Image source: http://www.navigatorminiatures.com/images/FC_cav3.jpg]

Relations further

deteriorated when the pope

crowned Charlemagne emperor – a title only the

Byzantine ruler could grant.

[Image source: http://www.tlfq.ulaval.ca/axl/francophonie/images/charlemagne.jpg]

By A.D. 1054 doctrinal, political, and geographical differences led to a great

schism (separation) between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.

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Pope Leo IX

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images/018LeoIX.jpg]

Patriarch Michael I

Kerularios