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    Dawsons Ages of The Church

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    Michael Cornelius
    This document outlines historian Christopher Dawson's theory of the "Six Ages of the Church" from the Apostolic Age to the present. Each age is characterized by 3 defining features and faces a key challenge. The ages progress from periods of intense spiritual activity and achievement to retreat and crisis as challenges arise. However, the Church is always in a state of perpetual warfare and progression. The last age, the Modern Age, questions what history will say and what challenges and characteristics will define this current age.

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    Dawsons Ages of The Church

    Uploaded by

    Michael Cornelius
    629 views3 pages
    This document outlines historian Christopher Dawson's theory of the "Six Ages of the Church" from the Apostolic Age to the present. Each age is characterized by 3 defining features and faces a key challenge. The ages progress from periods of intense spiritual activity and achievement to retreat and crisis as challenges arise. However, the Church is always in a state of perpetual warfare and progression. The last age, the Modern Age, questions what history will say and what challenges and characteristics will define this current age.

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    A two page summary of Christopher Dawson's vision of the Ages of the Church.

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    Dawsons Ages of the Church

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    This document outlines historian Christopher Dawson's theory of the "Six Ages of the Church" from the Apostolic Age to the present. Each age is characterized by 3 defining features and faces a key challenge. The ages progress from periods of intense spiritual activity and achievement to retreat and crisis as challenges arise. However, the Church is always in a state of perpetual warfare and progression. The last age, the Modern Age, questions what history will say and what challenges and characteristics will define this current age.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    629 views3 pages

    Dawsons Ages of The Church

    Uploaded by

    Michael Cornelius
    This document outlines historian Christopher Dawson's theory of the "Six Ages of the Church" from the Apostolic Age to the present. Each age is characterized by 3 defining features and faces a key challenge. The ages progress from periods of intense spiritual activity and achievement to retreat and crisis as challenges arise. However, the Church is always in a state of perpetual warfare and progression. The last age, the Modern Age, questions what history will say and what challenges and characteristics will define this current age.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 3
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    The text outlines Dawson's six ages of the Church from the Apostolic age to the modern age and discusses some of the defining aspects and challenges of each period.

    The six ages are the Apostolic age, the Patristic age, the Carolingian age, the High Middle Ages, the Age of Baroque, and the Modern age.

    The Patristic age saw the triumph of Christianity and struggle to remain vibrant. The Carolingian age saw the conversion of tribes like the Franks. The High Middle Ages dealt with theological divisions. The Age of Baroque faced corruption and the Enlightenment challenged secularization.

    Dawsons Six Ages of the Church

    The old answers dont work!


    Equilibrium is achieved when crisis is
    resolving/resolved (barbarians are
    converted or schism ended)

    Challenges could be from outside


    (barbarians) or inside (schism)

    Start with
    intense spiritual
    activity as the
    Church faces a
    new challenge;

    Span a period of
    achievement in
    which a
    Christian
    culture arises in
    a kind of
    equilibrium;

    Enter a period
    of retreat and
    crisis as new
    challenges
    arise and old
    arrangements
    fail.

    CAUTION: THIS IS NOT SOCIOLOGICAL LAW! Because Church is in a perpetual warfare there will be stages of advancement and retreat.

    Apostolic age (1 300 A.D.)


    This age is unique for the very reason it is the beginning. Every one of the other ages has a Christian past
    to refer to; this is the birth of Christian history and because of this is acts as an archetype of Christian
    culture.

    AGE of Great Christian Apologists


    Defenders of the faith to the Greco-Roman world

    AGE of Martyrs/Confessors
    Christians were killed intermittently, persecutions common

    AGE of Apostles and Popes


    Formation of the Church begins in this age
    KEY CHALLENGE of the early church is the universal attempt of the empire to destroy Christianity in the
    great persecution of the Emperor Diocletian

    Patristic Age (300 650 AD)


    This age is marked by the triumph of Constantine in 312 AD and the beginnings of Christendom. It is
    characterized by the new struggle of Christianity to remain vibrant as a sanctioned or official religion of
    the Empire after existing as a persecuted, minority religion.

    Source: Jonathon Reyes. History of the Ancient and Medieval Worlds. Augustine Institute Lecture, September 9, 2007.

    Dawsons Six Ages of the Church


    AGE of Great Church Fathers
    Brilliant and holy synthesizers of Sacred Scripture, liturgy, Christian living, prayer, and theology

    AGE of Augustine
    Hes so great he gets his own age!

    AGE of the Birth of Monasticism


    Monastic life profoundly shapes Western culture in particular, gives new white martyrs
    KEY CHALLENGE for the Patristic church is heresies about the nature of Christ and the political takeover of
    the Roman Empire by the barbarians.

    Carolingian Age (650 900 AD)


    The Carolingian Age refers to the dynasty and empire begun by Charlemagne (from the family of the
    Carolingians). Charlemagne, also known as the new Constantine, was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in
    800 AD by the pope. This furthered the distance of East and West already present.

    AGE of the Conversion of Non-Christian Tribes


    Most notably the Franks, known as the eldest daughter of the Church

    AGE of Missionaries and Monasteries


    Pope Saint Gregory the Great will begin a new missionary outreach and monastic centers thrive
    KEY CHALLENGE for the age was the conversion of non-Christian tribes (not the reassembling of the Roman
    Empire!)

    High Middle Ages (900 1500 AD)


    This age is known for its evangelization of eastern Europe even as the schism with the East will take place
    in 1054. In this age the Church takes on the trappings of feudal society as she converts tribesand is
    often in need of conversion herself as Saint Dominic and Saint Francis knew all too well.

    AGE of Crusades
    Christians continue to deal with the challenge of Islam

    AGE of the Great University


    The age of Thomas Aquinas and the first universities

    AGE of the Mendicants


    Renewed life and vigor brought by Franciscans, Dominicans

    AGE of Saintly Kings and Heroic Monks


    Age of profound evangelization, holy governance and heroic sacrifice on the part of many monks

    Source: Jonathon Reyes. History of the Ancient and Medieval Worlds. Augustine Institute Lecture, September 9, 2007.

    Dawsons Six Ages of the Church


    KEY CHALLENGE for the age is theological division as Christendom splits during the Protestant
    Revolution.

    The Age of Baroque (1500 1800 AD)


    This age is defined by the corruption and disunity that prompted the Tridentine reforms. It is also known
    for the international missions that began as the world opened up, and the great work of Catholicizing
    the Italian Renaissance.

    AGE of International Missions


    From India, China, the Philipines, and Japan to North America, Latin America & South America

    AGE of Reforming Popes and Saintly Bishops


    From Pope St. Pius V to St. Charles Borromeo and others

    AGE of Founders and Reformers


    New orders from the Ursilines to the Oratorians infused zeal into the Church with their charisms
    KEY CHALLENGE for the age is the radical secularization of society posed by the Enlightenment.

    The Modern Age (1800 AD Present)


    What will history say about this age? What are the key challenges and defining characteristics?

    AGE of Marian
    Apparitions
    At no other time in history did Mary
    appear as frequently as in our own

    AGE of the New


    Evangelization
    Youth play a defining role in the new
    evangelization of
    post-Christian
    cultures in need of the Jesus Christ
    but convinced they have already
    heard the Good News
    Taken from A. Schreck, The Compact History of the Catholic Church, 1987.

    AGE of YOU!
    What role will you play in the great drama of Church History?

    Source: Jonathon Reyes. History of the Ancient and Medieval Worlds. Augustine Institute Lecture, September 9, 2007.

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