Historical Roots of Christian Diversity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Historical Roots of Christian Diversity - Essay Example Orthodox and Roman Catholic Christians agree with the teachings of the first seven councils as genuine interpretations of the gospel, but only Roman Catholics acknowledge decrees formulated after the nineteenth century. Tradition is a particular interpretation of scripture as described within the Christian community and affirmed by the church. Given that tradition originally permitted new interpretations to meet questions not particularly addressed in the scripture, it was meant to be fluid rather than fixed. When a group shows a tendency to canonize tradition making it appear unbending, tension might result. This development of tradition was not meant to lead to religious rigidity, but was instead developed specifically to recognize the dynamic interaction between, the concrete fixed authority of scripture, and the fluid developing authority of everyday practice. Since it is dynamic, tradition adds a little new thing to Christianity as it enlarges upon scripture. People usually expa nd a tangible communication beyond tradition’s original scope, as it is a factor of exercising human ingenuity in the development of tradition (Weaver and Brakke 64). The power of Rome At a time when the Roman mystique was at its peak, Jesus was born into the Mediterranean world ruled by Rome. The world had never experienced an empire so vast that when people thought of Rome, they envisioned a set of related ideas. Caesar, who presided over Rome, was a central ruling authority who stood close to divinity and symbolized in his person the glory of Rome. The glory of Rome dimmed and then seemed to be restored to some level by Constantine. It was normal to wonder whether the old Rome might reclaim the world’s attention. If Rome can be seen more as an idea than a place, then perhaps it can be understood why it was extremely powerful and attractive. Rome became a goal, and an idea to nature policy. As a fact, it is not surprising that that attracted Constantine and Christian s in general. As the roman emperor, it was clear that Constantine had the best claim on the project. When he moved his capital from the city of Rome to a new site in the Eastern part of the Roman Empire, a political vacuum was left in the West which in turn invited rival claimants. Several groups were inspired to restore Roman glory in the West, and they included; old senatorial families, new barbarian families, and the bishops of Rome, who later are known as popes. The ancient forms of Christianity grew into separate churches generally because of extensively differing political experiences. The Orthodox Church was organized into two ways: at the local level and along the administrative lines of the Roman Empire. The patriarch of Constantinople understood that his position was tied to the emperor. Both the patriarch and the pope did consider themselves as Roman and as heirs of the greatest political empire in the world’s history. This led to a great schism between the two chu rches that lasted until the present day (Weaver and Brakke 78). The two Christian models The first Christian model is; Constantinople as the new Rome in the Greek Orthodox system. When the emperor reunited the fragments of the Roman Empire, he did so under the sign of the cross. Constantine’s bibliographer made a claim that Constantine was directly called by God to embrace Christianity.

Time Traveling, Art Historian Book Chapters Essay

Time Traveling, Art Historian Book Chapters - Essay Example As I step into the machine, I think of the periods of time and the great works that will be there when I arrive. I took the greatest care in detail, the clothing prepared, my language skills perfectly honed to a time and place, as well as history can inform me, although I am sure things will not be fully as I expect them to be once I arrive. I sit into the contraption, its cold steel lying under its camouflage, an exterior that seems to be a wooden platform with a structure around it, resembling something of a small shack to be set down in out of the way alleys, calculated to exist, or within outlying avenues that support the nature of such a building. The shack would fool anyone who looked at it, its nature defined by its purpose. I step into the machine, the slight hum filling my ears and buzzing my senses as it begins to move through time. I have set the dials under the panel so that I will appear where I desire, and then stand in the center, closing my eyes because the feeling of moving through time disturbs my sight, a detail that most others do not feel when they are given the privilege of using the machine. I cannot wait to see this place, the time and moment that I have decided to enter Rome, her majesty impressive in the present, which will most likely impress me more in its past. My eyes shut, I let the hum move over me until it stills, and I assume that I have entered the right space and time, the slight strange clunk as I appear affirming the very human need for noise, something to announce to the rider that he or she has arrived. The sound, very much like the clicks on a computer as one touches the button, the noise created just to appease the user. Chapter One The Sistine Chapel I cautiously open the door, seeing that I have arrived in the alley as I expected, stepping out of the machine, I see that it looks very naturally, like a makeshift shack that was erected to temporarily house someone of no means from bits and scraps. I can see that it is n ot, but most people who would not know that it was there, would not think anything, or at least much, about its presence. As I take a breath, it feels like for a moment it is knocked from me as quickly as I breath in, the scent of the city foreign, both lacking something and feeling something added, my hand automatically coming up to cover my mouth as I try to adjust to the odor. The lack of automobiles assaults my senses as I draw in a breath, feeling it catch from its foreign taste as it hits the back of my throat. It takes a few minutes for me to be able to breath more easily, which then leads me to feel the discomfort of my clothing, heavy and cumbersome now that I am out of the air conditioned lab and in the air of the year 1511. As I step into the streets of Rome, I realize that more than just time changes from period to period. The air, the feel of the sun as it beats down to a still protected earth, the ozone layer still intact and providing filtration, all make a difference in the taste of life during that time period. Italy has that natural glow of amber, as if the olives have broken open and become airborne, and this is heavier and more beautiful than I have ever experienced in modern day Rome. I ache to see the countryside and experience its beauty, pure and whole before technology stripped it of its beauty, but I have a task that I must accomplish. I must see the Sistine Chapel before it was the Sistine Chapel and still the reconstructed Capella Magna, letting my eyes rest upon the newly painted