WHAT IS ROMAN CATHOLIC CHRISTIANITY?

What is Roman Catholic Christianity?

“Celebrating our Diversity Now”

St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Cathedral of Montreal

(January 24th, 2018)

Good morning!  First of all, I would to offer my sincere thanks to the organizers of this conference as well as to the head of the community that gathers to worship in this cathedral for granting me the honour of addressing you this morning.

What I will attempt to do this morning is to briefly present Roman Catholic Christianity by offering three answers to my question:

·        Overview of the distinctiveness of the Roman Catholic tradition (= RC is under papal authority).

·        Discussion of Jesus of Nazareth in his historical context as well as the central claims that the New Testament makes about him (= RC is centred on the person of Jesus of Nazareth).

·        Survey of early Christian beliefs about Jesus that would eventually lead to the development of the doctrine of the Trinity (= RC has a Trinitarian understanding of God).

Roman Catholicism is Roman in the sense that it is the branch of Christianity (“the Church”) that considers the city of Rome to be its geographical centre.  It is Catholic in the sense that it understands itself to be the “universal” Church under the leadership of the Bishop of Rome (i.e. the Pope).

• ·        Pope Francis (baptized Jorge Bergoglio).
• ·        Elected Pope on March 13, 2013.
• ·        266^th “Successor of Peter”, “Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church”.
• ·        There are presently 1.2 billion Roman Catholics in the world.

Petrine factor.  First of all, let us look at the “petrine factor” within Roman Catholicism.  This factor allows us to grasp the Catholic understanding of “authority”.  According to the Catholic tradition, Jesus delegated his authority to his 12 “apostles” (i.e. representatives).  Among the apostles, Peter was chosen to be the “head” of the Church (primus inter pares).  This understanding of Peter’s unique role is based on the words of Jesus addressed to Peter in the Gospel according to St. Matthew:

“…you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church …I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven…” (Matthew 16.18-19)

So what links St. Peter to Rome?  Tradition teaches that St. Peter was martyred in Rome during the persecution of the Church carried out by the Emperor Nero (reign: 54-68 AD), probably around 65 AD.  As the Church expanded outwards from its point of origin in Jerusalem, authority over Christian believers in a given region was invested in “bishops”, whose “see” was usually a large metropolitan area, the most prominent of which were called “patriarchates” (Jerusalem, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Rome = the “Pentarchy”).  Due to its connection with Peter (one of the original apostles of Jesus) & Paul (the greatest Christian missionary of the first century; also martyred in Rome), the patriarchate of Rome took on special prominence and the Bishop of Rome acquired unique status.  Since Peter was held to have been the first Bishop of Rome and due to the fact that Jesus had endowed him with special authority, each of Peter’s successors in Rome came to be considered the supreme leader (“Pope”) of the (Western/Latin) Church.

Imperial Factor.  Besides the “petrine” factor, there is also the “imperial factor” that will help us understand the roots of the Roman Catholic tradition.  The city of Rome was, of course, the capital of the Roman Empire, the geographical and political context within which early Christianity spread.  Not possessing the status of religio licita, Christianity was sporadically persecuted during its first 3 centuries.  Finally, in the year 312, the Emperor Constantine “the Great” converted to Christianity following his experience of a vision and a subsequent military victory.  The following year, Constantine issued the “Edict of Milan”, which granted the right to Christians to freely practice their faith without fear of persecution.  Later, the emperor Theodosius I (347 – 395 AD) would issue the Edict of Thessalonica, making Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire.  Eventually, tensions would develop between the Church located in the Western half of the empire and the Church located in the East.  The Western Empire was predominantly Latin-speaking, while Greek was spoken in the East.  Interestingly enough, the first 7 ecumenical councils (4th – 8th Centuries AD) were all held in the general vicinity of Constantinople (& Ephesus in 431).

The tensions between the Western & Eastern Church were partly due to the political situation.  In 330 AD, Constantine consecrated the city of “Constantinople” as the new imperial capital (a “new Rome”).  Following the death of Theodosius in 395, the empire was divided in two: the Western Empire, ruled by a Caesar in Rome, and the Eastern Empire, ruled by a Caesar in Constantinople.  This state of affairs lasted until the fall of the Western Empire in the year 476 AD.  After the sack of the city of Rome, the bishops of Rome would step into the resulting power (and social) vacuum and play an invaluable role in the organization of society.  The Popes of the late 5^th century and early 6^th century would prove to be able diplomats, frequently negotiating with various barbarian warlords for the welfare of the city’s inhabitants.

How many Churches?  Besides the political tensions between the Eastern & Western Emperors, there were mounting theological tensions between the Latin and Greek-speaking segments of the Church.  Finally, things came to a head with the “Great Schism” of 1054, which was made official by the mutual excommunication of the heads of the Eastern and Western Church.  The Eastern Church would become known as the “Orthodox” Church.  After 1054, the RC Church is that Latin-speaking Church in Western Europe, centred in Rome.  Turmoil would erupt again in the Western Church in 1517, as the “Protestant” Reformation got under way.  After the various 16th-century reformations, the RC Church is that (Western) Church under the leadership of the Bishop of Rome (i.e. the Pope).  Beginning in the 16th century, Catholicism and Protestantism would expand through the colonization/conversion, by European powers, of the inhabitants of the Americas, Africa and southern Asia; Christianity was also spread around the world through heroic missionary efforts, including massive Protestant efforts beginning in the 19^th century – efforts that did not “piggy-back” on colonialization.  Today, the Orthodox, Catholic and (many) Protestant Churches are truly global in scope.

As we know, Roman Catholicism is not the only Christian tradition.  So how many Churches are there?  (It’s a bit of a trick question).  The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed states “I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.”  Theologically speaking, there is one Church of Jesus Christ.  What we see around us are many Churches, all loyal to Jesus, yet not fully “in communion” with each other.  However, great efforts are being made to reconcile the different Churches to one another.  With this, we conclude our brief look at how Roman Catholicism came to be a distinct tradition within Christianity.

So, how did Christianity begin in the first place?  It all began with Jesus of Nazareth, a first-century (Palestinian) Jew.  At first glance, it may seem strange that Jesus became the center of a global religion.  He was not a political ruler, nor was he a leader within one of the branches of Judaism.  In fact, Jesus was an obscure figure from a rural hamlet of Galilee; however, he is now worshipped by 2.2 billion people worldwide.

Jesus.  Let’s look at the two central claims that the New Testament (Christian Scripture) makes about Jesus:

·        Jesus is the true “Son of David”, the King of Israel.

o   The title of “Anointed One” (Messiah/Christ) refers to the KING.

·        Jesus is the true “Lord” of the world.

o   The Scriptures of Israel (OT) prophesied that YHWH would rule the world through Israel’s king (cf. Pss. 2, 89; 2 Sam. 7.14, etc.).

The NT claims that Jesus is the fulfillment of the biblical hope for the Creator to establish his rule (kingdom) of justice and peace over the entire world.  The NT claims that the message about Jesus is “gospel”, i.e. “good news”.  St. Mark makes that very plain at the beginning of his account (“Gospel”) of Jesus’ life and death.  But why exactly is this message good news?  What do the NT authors believe happened in the events surrounding Jesus?  The only way we can hope to understand what the NT is saying about Jesus is to consider Jesus within the context of the people of Israel, their history and their relationship to God (YHWH).

Israel.  According to Israel’s Scriptures (OT), the Creator had promised to save his world through the descendants of Abraham; i.e. the nation of Israel.  At the beginnings of the people of God, the Creator was first known as the God “of Abraham (Isaac & Jacob)”.  The Creator then revealed himself to Moses as YHWH (“I AM”).  At the time of the Exodus from Egypt, YHWH renewed the covenant with the nation of Israel, the covenant that he had first established with Abraham.  Israel was to be YHWH’s instrument of salvation for the entire world.  However, according to the (Hebrew) Scriptures, Israel had been unfaithful to the covenant with YHWH and incurred the judgment of exile (to Babylon).  In order for the Creator’s plan of salvation to go forward, the covenant with Israel must be renewed; Israel needed to be restored as God’s people in order for the promised blessings of the covenant to extend to all nations.  The term that summed up this hope for the renewal & salvation of Israel as well as the entire world was the “kingdom of God”.  Jesus’ main activity was to proclaim the kingdom (often by parables) and to demonstrate the kingdom’s presence through his many healings and exorcisms.

Strange fulfillment.  The Gospels (and the rest of the NT) advance the claim that Jesus of Nazareth had fulfilled the hope of Israel for the establishing of the kingdom of God.  And yet, Jesus had not appeared to have accomplished any of those things that had been foretold by the Scriptures and that composed the expectations of God’s people at the time.  In fact, Jesus’ life, by all appearances, had ended in utter disaster.  After a brief period of public ministry, Jesus was condemned by the ruling council of Judaism (the Sanhedrin) as a false prophet and then publicly executed (crucified) by the Romans as an insurgent (revolutionary).  To make matters worse, this was not the first time in recent memory that a would-be Messiah had made grandiose claims of being YHWH’s chosen one who would liberate Israel, only to end up on a Roman cross.  This pattern of the rise of a would-be saviour followed by his downfall, death and the subsequent disbanding of his movement had happened often enough for a respected member of the Sanhedrin, Gamaliel, to be able to offer several historical examples to his colleagues while the apostles of Jesus were standing trial for blasphemy (cf. Ac. 5.36-37).  As the Emmaus road narrative from St. Luke’s Gospel demonstrates so well, the death of a would-be Messiah spelled the end of his movement and gave the lie to his pretensions to be God’s anointed deliverer (cf. Lk 24.19-21).  And yet, in the case of the movement begun by Jesus of Nazareth, things turned out differently.  Shortly after his cruel death on the cross, Jesus’ followers began to publicly proclaim him to be, in fact, the long-awaited Messiah (“King”) of Israel and indeed, the “Lord” of all the nations.  Never before had a messianic, kingdom-of-God movement continued to exist – and thrive! – after the death of the movement’s leader…  unless something had happened on the third day following the crucifixion of Jesus.  Indeed, it was the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth from the dead that explains the continuance, as a coherent community, of his disciples.  If the death of Jesus on the cross had been the end, we would not be discussing him today.  There would have never been a Christian Church, the New Testament documents would never have been written; if the cross had been the end, the memory of Jesus of Nazareth would have faded with the death of those who had followed him during his lifetime.  The resurrection of Jesus from the dead gave rise to everything that happened after the events of (what we now call) Good Friday.  Indeed, if Jesus had been raised from death by YHWH, then the kingdom had come, the promises had been fulfilled, albeit in a very surprising and counter-intuitive way.  It would be up to people like St. Paul to “intuit” the rich, transformative (biblical) meaning of the cross and resurrection of Jesus.

Towards the Trinity.  So, the “end” turned out to be a new “beginning”.  Firm in their conviction that Jesus of Nazareth had been raised from death by the God of Israel and was now “enthroned at YHWH’s right hand” in an embodied state of immortality, the early Christians began to boldly proclaim far and wide that Jesus was the Lord of the world and that all people owed him their allegiance.  Christianity was, from its very beginnings, a missionary religion.  By the end of the first century AD, the young Church had “parted ways” with Judaism and had become a distinct “religion”.  As Christianity expanded throughout the Empire, the vast majority of converts had a pagan background and Jewish Christianity was reduced to small communities in and around Palestine.  Christianity had rapidly become separate – theologically, geographically and ethnically – from Judaism, its “mother”.

Jesus & YHWH.  In light of the resurrection and in light of what Jesus was remembered to have said and done during his life, the early Christians began to speak of Jesus in “divine” terms.  For example, in the “prologue” of the Gospel of St. John (1.1-18), Jesus is equated with the 5 ways that YHWH interacted with his creation in the Scriptures (OT).

• ·        The “Word” with which God spoke all things into existence (cf. Gn. 1.3, etc.).
• ·        The wisdom through which God created the world (cf. Proverbs 8.22-31; Wisdom 9.1-2, 4, 9).
• ·        The “glory” of God (cf. Numbers 12.5) that hovered over and filled
• ·        The tabernacle/Temple (cf. Ex. 40.34; 1 Kings 8.10-11).
• ·        The Torah (Law, instruction) of Moses (cf. Ex. 20.1-17, etc.).

This way, John has equated Jesus with YHWH, the God of Israel, who was understood by his people as being the Creator of all things.  John identifies Jesus of Nazareth with the Creating and Redeeming God of the Old Testament!  John does not, like the Church would do later on, use philosophical categories to speak of Jesus’ “divinity”; rather, he describes Jesus in the ways that the Old Testament describes God (i.e. using biblical categories).

Three things we know about what the early Christians believed about “God”.

1.     The early Christians were Jewish, they were accustomed to hearing the Jewish Scriptures (OT) read aloud in the synagogues, and they practiced Judaism (observance of Sabbath and kosher laws, prayers, pilgrimages to the Jerusalem Temple, etc.).  Therefore, the early Christians were monotheists; i.e. they believed in one God:

v Shema Y’Israel: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” Dt. 6.4.

2.     The early Christians worshipped, praised, and prayed to Jesus in the same way they had been used to worshipping, praising and praying to YHWH.  They somehow “included” Jesus within YHWH’s divinity (divine “status”, identity).

v Roman jurisprudence concerning the early Christians: “… [The Christians] declared that the sum of their guilt …only amounted to this, that on a stated day they had been accustomed to meet before daybreak and to recite a hymn among themselves to Christ, as though he were a god…”

·        --Letter of Pliny the Younger, governor of the province of Bithynia, to the emperor Trajan (early 2^nd century AD)

3.     The first Christians had a powerful experience of YHWH’s Spirit and quickly began to speak, not only of “God”, but of “God/the Father and the Son/Lord/Christ and the Spirit”.  Suddenly, “God” had a tripartite nature (i.e. God was somehow “3”).

The rise of Christian “orthodoxy”.  During the 4^th and 5^th centuries AD, the full-orbed doctrine of the Trinity was worked out.  At the first ecumenical council, held at Nicaea in the year 325, Jesus was declared to be divine in the same way as the Father (“consubstantial”).  In 381, at Constantinople, the Holy Spirit was declared to be fully divine.  In 451, at Chalcedon, Jesus was declared to have two natures, divine and human, and yet remains one person.  And so, due to their experience of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, the Christians of the early centuries of the Church came to formulate their understanding of “God” as being three divine “persons” sharing one divine “substance”.  They retained the monotheism they had inherited from Judaism, yet redefined it in terms of Jesus and the Spirit.  One God, three persons.

WHAT IS ROMAN CATHOLIC CHRISTIANITY?