Western Civilization I / Unit 9 WC1 0837 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Classifying a Christian Church: Catholic, Orthodox, Monophysite, Arian
The idea
The exam describes a Christian community and asks which church it belonged to. The method is two questions: who is its head, and what does it say about Christ. Catholic: the pope; Christ fully God and fully man. Orthodox: the emperor and patriarch; the same doctrine, Greek liturgy. Monophysite: its own bishops in Syria and Egypt; Christ of one divine nature. Arian: Germanic kings' bishops; Christ created and lesser.
In practice
Four cases. A Syrian Christian woman under Arab rule whose kin fight for the caliph and who is unwelcome in Constantinople: Monophysite, the anchor's example. A Visigothic court in Spain before seven eleven: Arian. A church in Kiev after Vladimir using Slavonic liturgy: Orthodox. A Frankish court after Clovis: Catholic, the Latin Church. A fifth: a bishop in Italy who excommunicates the emperor over icons is the pope, Catholic, and the emperor he defies is Orthodox.
Where people slip
Before ten fifty-four the Latin and Greek churches were one in doctrine and divided in politics, so a question dated before the Schism should be answered with Latin or Greek, not Catholic or Orthodox. The anchor's rule is one name per period.
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