5th-century Christianity

Advent is a season observed in most Christian denominations as a time of waiting and preparation for both the celebration of Jesus's birth at Christmas and Jesus's return at the Second Coming. It begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, often referred to as Advent Sunday. Advent is the beginning of the liturgical year in Western Christianity. The name comes from Latin ('coming; arrival'), translating the Greek from the New Testament, originally referring to the Second Coming.

thumb|alt=Painting of Augustine of Hippo arguing with a man before an audience|Charles-André van Loo's 18th-century Augustine arguing with Donatists Donatism was a schism from the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Carthage from the fourth to the sixth centuries. Donatists argued that Christian clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effective and their prayers and sacraments to be valid. Donatism had its roots in the long-established Christian community of the Roman province Africa Proconsularis (present-day Tunisia, the northeast of Algeria, and the western coast of Libya) and M

book by Augustine of Hippo

thumb|right|260px|Version of the Virgin of Smolensk|Theotokos of Smolensk by [[Dionisius (c. 1500)]] thumb|260px|12th-century plaque found in Torcello Cathedral; a full-length figure like the original in Constantinople

The Henotikon (; henōtikón "act of union") was a Christological document issued by Byzantine emperor Zeno in 482, in an unsuccessful attempt to reconcile the differences between the supporters of the Council of Chalcedon and the council's opponents (Non-Chalcedonian Christians). It was followed by the Acacian schism.

Priscillianism was a Christian sect developed in the Roman province of Hispania in the 4th century by Priscillian. It is derived from the Gnostic doctrines taught by Marcus, an Egyptian from Memphis. Priscillianism was later considered a heresy by both the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church.

period of Catholic history

schism between the Christian churches of Sassanid Persia affiliated with Nestorius and churches that rejected him, arising out of a Christological dispute, caused by the Council of Ephesus (431)