Set 6: Church History
Monday, January 7, 2013, 9:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
NO OUTSIDE RESOURCES
The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church begins its definition of a council as: “A formal meeting of bishops and representatives of several churches convened for the purpose of regulating doctrine or discipline.” (ODCC, 3 ed., [1997], p. 422)
The authority and impact of three “councils,” thus broadly construed, form the basis of this question.
The Council of Nicaea (325)
The King in Parliament in relation to the Church of England in 1533
The General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of
America in 1789
Choose two of the three “councils.” In two essays of approximately 250 words each, set each one in its historical context, describing the circumstances for calling the “council,” the issue(s) that the “council” had to address, and the impact of the “council.”
In an essay of approximately 500 words, compare the sources, exercise and reception of the authority of the Council of Nicaea to the sources, exercise and reception of the authority of another “council” you have chosen.
Based on your discussion, evaluate in an essay of not more than 500 words how successful Church “councils” have been in regulating doctrine and discipline.
General Thoughts on Church History:
Truth be told this is the question that I am dreading because there is so much history in my head and in a testing situation if one concept moves into the wrong file suddenly everything is wrong. So for me here it is really important to remember that this is supposed to be super simple history. The GOEs want to make sure you know the BASICS. It happens that I can talk about Bishop Colenso’s books and the tracts in response to them in detail and how that contributed to the first Lambeth Conference... On the GOEs most of that information is too much detail and too esoteric. These questions are not being graded by church historians, remember that.
This Question:
This is a question where it is really important to read the whole question before starting. Talking about all three councils is not going to help you any more than talking about two... you have to talk about the Council of Nicaea, so don’t skip that one (if you have no idea what it was about and know the other two better I am slightly worried). Also you are writing three different essays BUT try to keep them in some form of alignment.
The first paragraph:
The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church begins its definition of a council as: “A formal meeting of bishops and representatives of several churches convened for the purpose of regulating doctrine or discipline.” (ODCC, 3 ed., [1997], p. 422)
This is, for the most part, fluff. Do not get to wrapped up in it.
The presentation:
The authority and impact of three “councils,” thus broadly construed, form the basis of this question.
The Council of Nicaea (325)
The King in Parliament in relation to the Church of England in 1533
The General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of
America in 1789
So you have read through question. You know you have to talk about Nicaea. Basically at this point it is a matter of do you remember what happened in 1533 or 1789 better. This is actually where I think the Board is being really cruel to the majority of learners. Most of us do not remember or relate to things by dates and there are other ways to open up a discussion on history. The deal being, however, that the GOE is never going to address a truly esoteric point in history so any point they bring up is going to be the major one not the minor one.
In this case we have the first council of Nicaea, the year when the King rescinded parliament’s ability to appeal to the Pope in matters religious, and the second General Convention of the ECUSA where the Constitution was ratified and the denomination as we know it really began.
The first question:
Choose two of the three “councils.” In two essays of approximately 250 words each, set each one in its historical context, describing the circumstances for calling the “council,” the issue(s) that the “council” had to address, and the impact of the “council.”
Remember that in reality here you are choosing the Council of Nicaea and one other “council”
This truly could not be an easier essay outline set up. Basically you have 60 words to give historical context, 60 words to describe the circumstances, 60 words to describe the issues, and 60 words to describe the impact of a major historical council in Church History. ALL YOU CAN DO HERE IS BE AS SIMPLE AS POSSIBLE. [To be clear the THREE SENTENCES in this paragraph, not included this side note, is 58 words... we are talking the basic of basic history.]
Second Question:
In an essay of approximately 500 words, compare the sources, exercise and reception of the authority of the Council of Nicaea to the sources, exercise and reception of the authority of another “council” you have chosen.
The big question in this one is what in the world does the Board of Examining chaplain mean when it says “sources, exercise and reception of the Authority of the Council”.
Once again we have a straightforward essay outline:
The Sources of the Authority for Council of Nicaea (80 words)
The Exercise of the Authority Council of Nicaea (80 words)
The Reception of the Authority Council of Nicaea (80 words)
The Sources of the Authority of the other council (80 words)
The Exercise of the Authority of the other council (80 words)
The Reception of the Authority of the other council (80 words)
The key being that the first Council of Nicaea is universally maintained as authoritative through what is considered orthodox Christianity (they kicked out the Arians) while the others are much more limited.
Third Question:
Based on your discussion, evaluate in an essay of not more than 500 words how successful Church “councils” have been in regulating doctrine and discipline.
The main thing here is to not consider this an opinion peace. This is still a history peace and here is how it works:
In 125 words note how the Council of Nicaea continues to regulate doctrine in Christianity.
In 125 words note how the other council continues to regulate doctrine in Anglicanism/ECUSA
In 125 words note how the Council of Nicaea continues to regulate discipline in Christianity.
In 125 words note how the other council continues to regulate discipline in Anglicanism/ECUSA
Just remember that this is about your ability to relate History and historical facts not your opinions about them. You can think the Council of Nicaea is the worst thing to happen to Christianity but this question is about the Historical implications of the Council not your opinion on the council. The word limits do not generally allow very much depth. That is fine put forward the BASIC facts as if the reader had no foreknowledge of what they were asking. And, as always, spelling and grammar count.
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