Orthodox Christian Theology » Church History
78 FOLLOWERS
Posts about Church History written by Craig Truglia. I am just a run of the mill Bible reading, church attending layman. My wife and I are converts to Eastern Orthodoxy and have attended parishes in Ballston Lake, Herkimer. and Syracuse, NY.
Orthodox Christian Theology » Church History
3M ago
There exists a letter of John VIII to Constantinople IV (879-880) which explicitly rejects the Filioque. Written presumably after the council as it is added afterwards to the council’s Acts in Mansi, John VIII asserts: we again declare to you that not only do we thus recite it [the Creed without the Filioque], but even ..read more
Orthodox Christian Theology » Church History
3M ago
In polemical debates over whether the first-millenium Church ever had a consensus view of Papal Infallibility, usually the letter of Saint Pope Agatho as read out during the Council of Constantinople III is cited as proof that the Church, East and West, accepted the doctrine. There are over-arching reasons that inveigh against this including the ..read more
Orthodox Christian Theology » Church History
3M ago
In the Sacred Texts group, anti-Chalcedonian David Kasabov published a post in which he assumed St. Leo the Great was a Nestorian [1]. First, David cites the Latin original of St. Leo the Great’s tomos: “Salva igitur proprietate utriusque naturae et substantiae, et in unam coeunte personam, suscepta est a majestate humilitas, a virtute infirmitas ..read more
Orthodox Christian Theology » Church History
4M ago
My book The Rise and Fall of the Papacy deals with the Synod of Douzy and the deposition of Arnulf of Reims. In both cases it cites these councils as consistent with consensus-based ecclesiology based upon the evaluation of secondary sources. Thanks to Evangelos Nikitopoulos of Scriptorium Press, excerpts of these documents have been translated ..read more
Orthodox Christian Theology » Church History
5M ago
Recently, due to the pioneer work of Anthony Pavoni and Evangelos Nikitopoulos, the scales have decisively shifted in favor of the authenticity of the Dionysian corpus. In this article I greatly condense the evidence they have put forward (with a couple additional items to consider added in) demonstrating that imputing pseudonymity to these books and ..read more
Orthodox Christian Theology » Church History
5M ago
Perhaps no single institution commands the devotion of more believers than the Papacy. Many believe the Pope of Rome possesses an infallible authority instituted by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. But, is this indeed the case? Engaging for scholars and laymen alike, The Rise and Fall of the Papacy is a groundbreaking analysis of the ..read more
Orthodox Christian Theology » Church History
11M ago
Many Christians are under the impression that before the incarnation of Christ that Judaism was a “religion of the book,” referring to the Bible. Without a doubt, the Jewish Scriptures were important, but they were also lost multiple times according to the Scriptures themselves and mainstream tradition. This reveals that in many respects Judaism operated ..read more
Orthodox Christian Theology » Church History
1y ago
The Council of Chalcedon is important in the history of Christianity, because it helped harmonize Saint Cyril of Alexandria’s Christology with the historical Christology of the West. These Christologies were identical during their day. The actual decree of Chalcedon that delineates the council’s Christology specifically quotes and parallels Cyril’s Christology and at one point, even ..read more
Orthodox Christian Theology » Church History
1y ago
Saint Cyril of Alexandria’s Christology is not terribly complicated. He taught that the person of God the Word assumed human essence, so that after this assumption (the incarnation) He had both a divine and human essence. Sometimes essence is called “substance” as it is in the Latin tradition and other times it is called “nature ..read more
Orthodox Christian Theology » Church History
1y ago
There is a common artistic motif in Roman catacomb art which, if correctly understood, is a demonstration that Christians used religious art for “cultic purposes”–scholarly jargon for veneration. In order to understand the evidence, one simple principle needs to be understood. In short, due to art not coming with directions, unless the art conveys something ..read more