Readings:

Bible: Matthew 16: 13-20, John 20: 19-23
Online sources: (1) Gelasius I, On Spiritual and Temporal Power, (2) Gregory VII, Dictatus Papae,
(3) Boniface VIII, Unam Sanctam

Basic Questions:

1. What passage(s) in the readings did you find particularly interesting? Why? What passage(s) did you not understand?

2. What do the readings reveal about what it meant to be a Christian?

3. What do the readings reveal about the nature of Christianity at the time in which they were produced?

Specific Questions

4. How could the popes use the passage from Matthew? Can you find it in any of the other assigned readings? Does the passage from John disagree with the passage from Matthew?

5. What messages do the documents from Gelasius I, Gregory VII, and Boniface VIII convey about the papacy? These documents come from different times. Do they convey messages that are essentially similar or different?

6. How does the papacy fit into the history of Christianity?