A. Ambrose (340-397)
1. Ambrose was born in 340 in western Germany.
2. He was educated in Rome, then moved to Milan where he was governor of the province.
3. In 374, during a meeting in Milan to choose the next bishop, Ambrose walked in and was elected bishop - he was not even baptized at that time.
4. Ambrose was a strong supporter of the Nicene Creed.
5. He once would not allow Emperor Theodosius to take communion until the emperor had publicly repented of killing thousands of people in Thessalonica.
B. Jerome (340-420)
1. Jerome was born in Dalmatia in 340 and received his education in Rome.
2. In 386, he traveled to Bethlehem where he lived as a monk.
3. While there, he translated the Scriptures into the vulgar tongue (common language) of the Roman Empire.
4. This Latin translation is known as the Vulgate.
C. Augustine (354-430)
1. Augustine was born in North Africa in 354.
2. He lived a very immoral life and became a Manichean.
3. He moved to Milan to teach Rhetoric and Public Speaking.
4. While there, Augustine began to listen to the preaching of Ambrose.
5. One day, in 386, while listening to a child singing "Tolle, lege; tolle, lege," he got up and read from the Bible in Romans 13:13-14 and was converted.
6. He was baptized, along with his son, the next Easter.
7. Augustine founded the first monastery in North Africa.
8. He wrote many volumes, including tracts against the Donatists and Pelagians.
9. His most famous works are his Confessions and The City of God.
D. The Church of the 4th Century
1. All bishops were of the same rank, but gradually the bishop of Rome acquired power over the other bishops.
2. Bishops of churches in large cities came to be thought of as more important.
3. The most important of the large cities were Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, Constantinople, and Rome.
4. The bishops of these cities became known as patriarchs.
5. In Rome, the bishop came to be called pope, which is from the Latin word for father (papa).
LINKS
Augustine, Bishop of Hippo