Emmanuel Christian School

1. 300-500 AD

2. New Unit
 Take out journal; fill out following information.
 Title: 300-500 AD
 Memory Verse:
 John 1:1-3
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through
him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has
been made.

4. Scriptures – Context Matters
1. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. — Philippians 4:13
2. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you
and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” — Jeremiah
29:11 (NIV)
3. “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” — Matthew
18:20 (NIV)
4. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,
who have been called according to his purpose. — Romans 8:28 (NIV)

5. Bell
Work
 Context Matters
 John 8:59 - At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid
himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.
 What does this verse mean? Use a Bible to help answer the question.
 Write a 3-5 sentence summary in your Bible notebook (300-500)

6. The Rise and Impact of Constantine
300-500 AD
 284 – Diocletian ruled Rome
 Persecuted Christians
 Diocletian divided the Empire (East and West)
 312 – Emperor Constantine (East) and Emperor Maxentius (West) fought to control the
Empire.
 As Constantine approached Rome, something strange happened.
 The day before the battle with Maxentius, Constantine saw a cross.
 “By this sign, you will win.”
 Constantine dreamed that Jesus wanted him to place Christian symbols on all the shields.
(XP)

7. The Rise and Impact of Constantine
300-500 AD
 312 – Emperor Constantine (East) and Emperor Maxentius (West) fought to control the
Empire.
 Constantine won the battle, and he triumphantly marched in Rome beneath the symbol of the
cross.
 “For the first time in history, the cross was smeared with the blood of battle for human power.”
– Timothy Paul Jones
 Constantine issued the Edict of Milan [me-LAWN].
 “Our purpose is to allow Christians and all others to worship as they desire, so that whatever Divinity
lives in the heavens will be kind to us.”

8. Council of Nicaea
300-500 AD
 325
 Arius became a popular figure
 He denied that Jesus was God (Jehovah’s Witnesses)
 “There was a time when he was not”
 Christians responded with Gloria Patri: “Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the
Holy Ghost: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.”
 Constantine wanted unity; he invited every bishop to Nicaea (now Iznik, Turkey)
 While Arius was defending his position, St. Nicholas couldn’t take it; he slapped him.
 About 300 bishops and deacons were at the Council; only 2 sided with Arius

9. Da Vinci Code Conspiracy

10. Lies in the Da Vinci Code
 The Council of Nicaea invented the deity of Jesus
 Jesus was a pagan or a witch
 The Bible was invented by Constantine
 Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene
 Jesus and Mary had a child named Sarah

11. Athanasius – “Black Dwarf”

12. Debate
 Should Christians ever support violence? If so, when?

13.  Someone breaks into your home?
 Someone says something rude to you?
 Someone knows information that could save
lives (torture)?
 A conflicting nation?
 Death Penalty?
 Boxing? UfC?

14. Bell Work
• Revelation 19:13 says, “He is dressed in a robe
dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God”
• What does this verse mean?
• Remember - Context, Context, Context
Reminders
- Work Quietly
- Do not move seats
- No food in classroom;
only water.
- Cell phones up front
- No high-risk jokes

15. Major Events/People
 Emperor Constantine
 “Edict of Milan”
 Council of Nicaea
 Saint Nicholas
 Arius
 Athanasius
 Desert Monks
• Augustine
• Jerome and Paula
• Theodosius
• St. Patrick

16. Desert Monks
 Lived in extreme poverty
 Ate only enough to stay alive
 Alone for years; many endured horrible visions
 Haunted by extreme sexual urges
 Eventually, some monks saw the truth behind Genesis 2:18 (people were not meant to live
alone). They founded monasteries – communities for monks (convents for women).

17. Proverbs 27
 14 If anyone loudly blesses their neighbor early in the morning,
it will be taken as a curse.
 15 A quarrelsome wife is like the dripping
of a leaky roof in a rainstorm;
16 restraining her is like restraining the wind
or grasping oil with the hand.
 17 As iron sharpens iron,
so one person sharpens another.
 18 The one who guards a fig tree will eat its fruit,
and whoever protects their master will be honored.
 19 As water reflects the face,
so one’s life reflects the heart.

18. Bell Work
 Read and summarize 1st Timothy 4:1-5
 What do false teachers forbid?

19. Jerome
 Jerome
 Struggled with guilt
 Admired pagan authors
 Couldn’t get images of nude dancers out of his head
 Refused to wash his body
 Christ cleansed him once for all
 Learned Hebrew
 Worked on translating Bible into Latin; completed Latin
Vulgate in 405 AD
 Lived with a wealthy Roman widow named Marcella
 In Marcella's mansion, Paula also moved in. She would
become Jerome’s closest companion. All three vowed
to not bathe.
Amoo Hadji, the 80-year-old man
from Iran that hasn’t bathed in over
60 years

20. The Celibacy Debate - Priests
 During 400-500, priests were expected to refrain from marrying.
 Jovinian opposed the rule; he argued that faithful spouses and virgins would receive the same
eternal reward.
 He was excommunicated by the church. Roman Catholic priests still do not marry.
 1 Timothy 4:1-5
 Titus 1: 6 An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe[b] and are
not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. 7 Since an overseer manages God’s
household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness,
not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. 8 Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is
good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. 9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy
message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those
who oppose it.

22. Emperor Theodosius vs. Olympias
(361-408)
 Olympias married; two years later her husband died.
 At the age of 25, she was one of the wealthiest people in the empire.
 She used her money to purchase slaves and set them free.
 She was a deaconess
 Emperor Theodosius’ cousin was interested in Olympias; she denied him.
 Theodosius seized her property; Olympias praised God without fear.
 Theodosius gave it back to Olympias; she gave it all away.
 She eventually helped support John Chrysostom (golden mouth).
 They were both exiled in 403 AD; they died in exile.

23. Augustine (354-430)
 Augustine became a Christian because he heard the voice of God in the song of a child.
 Eventually, he became the bishop of Hippo.
 Had a huge debate over free will and election with Pelagius.

24. Augustine (354-430)
 Rome fell in 410 AD to the Goths.
 Augustine helped the church to interpret the collapse of
the Roman empire.
 Christians were blamed for the fall of the empire.
 Augustine wrote the City of God
 God does not promise to keep the a human city forever
 God does promise that his heavenly city will prevail
 “The earthly city will not be everlasting .. For when it is
condemned to the final punishment it will no longer be a
city … We have learned that there is a City of God: and we
have longed to become citizens of that City with a love
inspired by its founder.
 In 476, the western Empire was no more.