Free Republic

Rome. One of the most powerful empires the world has ever seen. As it weakened, an immense power vacuum opened up in the lands it once ruled with an iron fist. In this documentary, follow the decline of the Western Roman Empire and how the Germanic tribes of Europe rose up to inherit their power. But will anyone be able to withstand an even greater existential threat, Attila the Hun?The Battle For Europe After The Fall Of Ancient Rome | Storm Over EuropeMay 4, 2022 | Odyssey - Ancient History Documentaries

The 4th through 7th centuries are often considered periods of decay and decline for the Roman Empire. I view them, however, as times of crisis and regeneration, as the previously pagan Empire was transformed into an amazingly resilient Christian Empire which persisted for another millennium despite attacks on all sides and myriad convulsions from within. Who were the most effective rulers during this period? Opinions vary, but here are my choices. Portraits of all, taken from antiquity, may be found in the above image: Constantine the Great (AD 306-337). Constantine may be considered the founder of the Christian Roman...

November 13 is the feast day of Saints Arcadius, Paschasius, Probus and Eutychianus. These four Spanish Roman martyrs were put to death by the cruel Vandal king, Geiseric, after he had completed his conquest of Roman Africa. Their martyrdom took place about AD 437 and their crime was refusing to accept the Arian heresy which was favored by the Vandals. Writing in the mid-5th century, not many years after the events described, the chronicler Prosper of Aquitaine recorded the following about these martyrs: In Africa, Geiseric, King of the Vandals, wanted to use the Arian impiety to undo the Catholic...

The Roman Emperor Valens is an enigmatic and paradoxical historical figure. Placed on the throne of the Eastern Empire by his brother, Valentinian I in AD 364, Valens was a reasonably effective ruler for much of his reign, but lacked much of the political, military and religious acumen of his elder sibling. In his Ecclesiastical History, Hermias Sozomen compares the religious views of the two brothers as follows: Valens, when he was baptized, employed Eudoxius as his initiator, and was zealously attached to the doctrines of Arius, and would readily have compelled all mankind by force to yield to them....

Claudio Pierantoni on the parallels between the Arian crisis and the current controversy about Amoris Laetitia AEMAET, an international journal for philosophy and theology, has published a notable article by Claudio Pierantoni on parallels between the Arian crisis, and the current controversies over Amoris Laetitia. The parallels that he draws are chilling. Here is one example: In essence, in fact, the document, by its generic formulation, provides carte blanche to resolve the vast majority of real situations on the basis of a rather simple criterion and one in line with the predominant mentality of our civilisation… this brings rather vividly...

Featured Term (selected at random):ARIAN CHURCHES Religious bodies, forming Arianism, that trace their origin to bishops who did not accept the First Council of Nicaea (325). After Nicaea, Arianism entered on its ecclesiastical phase. different formulas of doctrine became current, generally ambiguous and susceptible of an orthodox interpretation, which the civil authorities frequently sanctioned and even imposed under heavy penalties of law. The Arians themselves broke into several factions. Strict Arians (Anomoeans) claimed that the Son is unlike (anomoios) the Father. Semi-Arians said that the Son is only similar (homoios) but not identical in essence with the Father. Both forms...

Arianism was the first of the great heresies. There had been from the foundation of the Church at Pentecost A.D. 291 to 33 a mass of heretical movements filling the first three centuries. They had turned, nearly all of them, upon the nature of Christ. The effect of our Lord's predication, and Personality, and miracles, but most of all His resurrection, had been to move every one who had any faith at all in the wonder presented, to a conception of divine power running through the whole affair. Now the central tradition of the Church here, as in every other...

www.catholicnewsagency.com ST. ATHANASIUS, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH SATURDAY, MAY 02, 2009 Athanasius was born in 295 in Alexandria, Egypt, and served there most of his whole life. He was ordained bishop of Alexandria in 328.Three years earlier, he attended the Council of Nicea, where he defended the faith and the divinity of Jesus against Arianism, which was rampant at the time. He taught that Jesus was truly God and fully man, defining the Holy Spirit also as God. The Council was crucial to determining the orthodox teachings of the Church on the nature of Christ.He also fought for the...

Arian Heresy Still Tempts, Says Cardinal Bertone Sees Example in "Da Vinci Code"ROME, OCT. 9, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the new Vatican secretary of state, says that the Church continues to be tempted by the Arian heresy, the idea that Christ is not God. In an interview with the Chilean newspaper El Mercurio, the Italian cardinal acknowledged that "one of the main problems of our time is the problem of Christology," according to which Christ is considered only as "a great man." "If Christ's divinity is doubted," the foundation of Christianity is doubted, he said. The Vatican official recalled...

The Real Saint Nicholas Jerry Falwell Thursday, Dec. 18, 2003 When Christmas displays are erected on public grounds across the nation, they typically must include a secular element in order to achieve legal requirements. In effect, a manger scene must include a depiction of Santa Claus or Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer before it passes constitutional muster. While I believe this is a nonsensical requirement, it is where the seemingly unending ACLU lawsuits against public religious displays have brought us in terms of social policy. However, Christians can utilize this regulation to bring about a positive result. I encourage parents...