A time of Emperors and Councils

AD 300 – 1000

What was happening during this period?

This was a time of unrest in the Church. There were several heresies gaining popularity and against Church teachings and doing damage to the believers. They needed to be corrected. Some are listed below.

The Church called for councils to respond to heresies and to define the teachings. This is a time when saints made a big impact on the course of history and the Church. They wrote, influenced or helped to define the truth. They helped steer the Church and world in the right direction.

Heresy is the holding and spreading of beliefs that go against accepted church teaching.

Time	Heresy	False teaching	Church action	Saints
320 – 600	Arianism	Denied the divinity of Christ – Jesus	Council of Nicaea	Saint Athanasius
Fifth Century	Pelagianism	Denied the necessity of Grace and denied original sin	Council of Carthage	St Augustine Pope St Gregory the Great
431	Nestorius	Christ is two-persons Mary is not the mother of God		St Cyril
seventh century	Monothelitism	Christ has only one nature		Pope Leo 1 the Great
Eighth and ninth centuries	Iconaclasism	Destruction of sacred images	The Second Council of Nicaea AD787	St John Damascene
1054	Byzantines Great Schism

Click on each of these saints to find out more about each one.