First Pope

Question 1

Who was the first Pope?

Answer 1

St. Peter

Question 2

Who rounded up all of the Christians to be executed in ancient Rome?

Answer 2

Nero. He blamed them for the fire that he probably set.

Question 3

Why did Nero probably burn Rome?

Answer 3

He wanted to clear the way to make buildings and temples dedicated to himself.

Question 4

Who was rounded up and crucified with the Christians that nero ordered to be executed?

Answer 4

Peter

Question 5

How was Peter crucified?

Answer 5

Upside down… He didn’t feel worthy of being crucified the same way Christ was.

Question 6

Why did Christianity take off in Rome despite the fact that it was illegal and Christians were being persecuted?

Answer 6

75% - 80% of people in Rome were slaves or poor and treated like non-humans, so the idea that they were created in Christ’s image made them feel like a valuable person.

Question 7

Before the Bible was written, what book outlined the rules for Christians.

Answer 7

The Didache… Locked away in Greece and not discovered until the nineteenth century.

Question 8

Christian bishops continue to be persecuted and executed for how many years after Peter’s crucifixion?

Answer 8

Two hundred years… Until 312 CE.

Question 9

Who was persecuting and executing Christians?

Answer 9

Roman leaders

Question 10

What Roman emperor finally put a stop to the persecuting of Christians?

Answer 10

Constantine. Before becoming emperor he lead the Roman army and had a vision of the cross.

Question 11

What does Constantine do after seeing the cross in a vision and subsequently winning his battle?

Answer 11

He converts to Christianity

Question 12

What document does Constantine draw up that not only makes Christianity legal, but favored.

Answer 12

The edict of Milan

Question 13

How did Constantine get people to convert to Christianity?

Answer 13

He gives people tax breaks and makes churches tax exempt.

Question 14

How does legalizing Christianity make Constantine more powerful politically?

Answer 14

The bishops around the Roman empire are no longer underground so he is instantly networked with the bishop of Athens, the bishop of Egypt, the bishop of Rome, etc.

Question 15

True or false… Constantine is the reason that churches in the US are tax exempt.

Answer 15

True

Question 16

T or F during Constantine’s time there was no separation between church and state.

Answer 16

True. They worked together

Question 17

Who ordered spectacular buildings dedicated to Christ be built all over the Roman empire?

Answer 17

Constantine

Question 18

What is the most famous of the buildings Constantine had built?

Answer 18

The church of the holy sepulchre in Jerusalem

Question 19

What is said to be on the slab in the floor of the church of the holy sepulchre?

Answer 19

It is the place where Jesus was originally buried.

Question 20

What happens almost immediately after Christians are released from persecution?

Answer 20

They begin fighting with one another.

Question 21

What do the Christians fight over?

Answer 21

Doctrine.. Is Jesus Devine? Is he human? Is he both? Christians were willing to kill other Christians over those differences.

Question 22

What was the council that Constantine ordered to unify the church?

Answer 22

The council of Nicaea. 325 CE

Question 23

Who attended the council of Nicaea?

Answer 23

All of the bishops to talk to each other

Question 24

What did the bishops (today’s Cardinals) have to decide at the council of Nicaea?

Answer 24

What Christians should believe

Question 25

What did the bishops come up with that Christians still believe today?

Answer 25

The Nicene Creed

Question 26

Does the council of Nicaea decide that Jesus is fully human or fully divine?

Answer 26

Both

Question 27

What does Constantine tell the bishops who won't sign the Nicene Creed?

Answer 27

You're excommunicated. You're probably going to hell.

Question 28

What effect does the council of Nicaea have on the Roman empire?

Answer 28

It stabilizes Rome and stops the infighting.

Question 29

What does Constantine call the second hub of church power in the East?

Answer 29

Constantinople

Question 30

How do the Christians in Eastern Rome think of the Christians in Western Rome?

Answer 30

Barbarians

Question 31

What city is the first hub of church power in Western Rome?

Answer 31

The city of Rome

Question 32

What did the Christians in the East say the Catholics of the West baptized their children in?

Answer 32

Wolf saliva.

Question 33

How many years after the council of Nicaea does Constantine die?

Answer 33

Seven

Question 34

For one hundred years after Constantine's death, Rome is under constant attack from who?

Answer 34

Barbarians

Question 35

Why did the barbarians attack after Constantine's death?

Answer 35

Rome does not have a strong leader.

Question 36

T or F...In the 600s Rome is a great place to live.

Answer 36

False. The standard of living is very low. Rome was largely abandoned. However Constantinople is flourishing.

Question 37

In 799, which barbarians attacked Pope Leo III during an Easter procession?

Answer 37

The Lombards

Question 38

What do the Lombards do to Pope Leo III?

Answer 38

Cut out his tongue

Question 39

Pope Leo III realizes he needs to build an alliance for protection. Who does he reach out to?

Answer 39

King Charles the Great of France. The most powerful king in Western Rome.

Question 40

What was King Charles the Great of France better known as?

Answer 40

Charlemagne

Question 41

What does Pope Leo III do for Charlemagne to thank him for protection?

Answer 41

Crowns him holy Roman emperor.

Question 42

What does Pope Leo III crowning Charlemagne signal?

Answer 42

A pivot away from the eastern Roman Church.

Question 43

What were the two churches in Rome after the split?

Answer 43

Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches

Question 44

Who reunited Western Europe?

Answer 44

Pope Leo III and Charlemagne

Question 45

What did the word Catholic used to mean?

Answer 45

Universal

Question 46

What did the Catholic Church call itself after the split with Greek Orthodox Church

Answer 46

Roman Catholic

Question 47

Which religion is the wealthiest, most sophisticated of the medieval period?

Answer 47

Islam

Question 48

What does Emperor Alexios I of Constantinople request from Pope urban II in Rome?

Answer 48

Aid against the Muslims. He wants a few hundred knights.

Question 49

What does Emperor Alexios get from Pope urban II?

Answer 49

Way more people... The beginning of the crusades. Pope urban II wants to reunite all of Rome so he could rule all. He sent 40,000 people to fight.

Question 50

Why do the Christians attack the Jews of the reinland in the first crusades?

Answer 50

Jews killed Christ, so they decided to start the crusades domestically before attacking Muslims on foreign soil.

Question 51

Once the crusades make their way to Asia Minor, who are they fighting?

Answer 51

Muslims... Trying to recapture Jerusalem.

Question 52

In the first crusades the Christians were successful in retaking Jerusalem from the Muslims.

Answer 52

True

Question 53

What faiths coexist in Jerusalem?

Answer 53

Christianity, Judaism, and Islam

Question 54

Which Pope called for violence in the first crusades?

Answer 54

Pope urban II.

Question 55

Under Saladin, Islam recaptures Jerusalem.

Answer 55

True

Question 56

In order to make peace, Muslims to this day have the key to the church of the holy sepulchre to let Christians in and out

Answer 56

True

Question 57

What is a sepulchre?

Answer 57

A tomb.