Learning Essentials 2/11

what is the acts of the apostles?

a book of the new testament which tells of the life and faith of the early church

what is heresy?

a false teaching which rejects a truth that was revealed by God and taught by the church. for example, the arian heresy denied that jesus was both human and divine

what does the word gentile mean?

a gentile indicated all non-jewish people. since st. paul preached mainly to the non-jews of the early church, he was known as the "apostle to the gentiles"

what is a schism?

a separation or division within the church

What is an ecumenical council?

a worldwide meeting of all the bishops, convened by the pope, to deal with church teachings in a certain age. for example the second vatican council was called by pope john xxiii (23) to renew the life and mission of the church

what are the epistles?

letter(s) written to the early church and individual christians to encourage them in the practice of their faith. most of these letters were written by st. paul

what is pentecost?

the "birthday" of the church. it is the day on which the holy spirit came down on the apostles in the form of fire and wind, transforming them and empowering them to spread the good news

what teaching was a result of the council of jerusalem in 50 a.d.?

the council of jerusalem reconciled the practices of the jewish traditions and those of the gentiles.the council said that faith in jesus and baptism was all that was necessary to be a christian; it was not necessary to follow the jewish laws

who were the church fathers?

the fathers of the church were great teachers of the early church who wrote letters, homilies, and books explaining the catholic faith

what was the great schism?

the great schism resulted because of the differences between the church in the east and the church in the west (europe). in 1054, the east and west split, forming the eastern orthodox church and the roman catholic church

what was the role of the council of nicea (in 325 a.d.)?

to combat the arian heresy which denied that jesus was both human and divine

what is the second vatican council?

was called by pope john xxiii (23) to renew the life and mission of the church

who was a martyr?

was one who witnessed or confessed a belief in jesus by a willingness to die for the faith

who was a deacon?

were the faithful chosen by the apostles to minister to the needs of the community