Imperial Church

Three: The Imperial Church (AD 313–476)

From the Edict of Constantine to the Fall of Rome.

Constantine

Constantine's Cross

He battled Maxentius for the throne at the Battle of Milvian Bridge (AD 312). Constantine was outnumbered by the army of Maxentius who also wanted the throne. The winner of this battle would be the next Emperor of Rome. Constantine claimed to have a vision of a cross, inscribed with the words, "In this sign conquer." The cross was the Greek letters chi (Χ) and rho (Ρ), which are the first two letters of the Greek word Christos (ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ), which is were we get our word "Christ." Constantine made this cross the symbol of his army, and had it placed on the shields of his men. Constantine won the battle and became the Emperor of Rome.

Constantine made a profession of faith and converted to Christianity

Many Christian historians have doubted the sincerity of his profession.

Edict of Toleration (Edict of Constantine) (AD 313)

An edict is an official decree or document. This edict granted freedom to all religions in the empire ending the Roman persecution of Christianity. It restored to Christians property that had been seized during Diocletian's reign.

Results of Toleration of the Church

The persecution of Christians ended

Christianity that flourished under persecution became worldly under government acceptance.

Churches seized during persecution were restored

New churches were built. The Roman basilica became the pattern for elegant church buildings. The basilica was a courtroom in the shape of a rectangle divided into isles by rows of pillars with a semi-circular platform at one end with seats for the officials. This is still the pattern today in the Roman Catholic Church. An example of this style of architecture is St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

The official sacrifices ceased

The Roman citizens were no longer required to make sacrifices to pagan gods.

Churches were supported by the state

The temples of the gods had been supported by the public treasury. This money was now given to the churches and the clergy.

Clergy received special privileges

The clergy became a wealthy class. Men desired these positions for the monetary gain and power associated with the position.

Some parts of pagan worship were adopted by the church

Over time, there were some practices from the pagan Roman culture that became a part of the church. Some of the Roman gods are similar to the saints that the Catholic church prays to. Some people see similarity between the images and statues of Mary holding baby Jesus the Roman statues depicting Fortuna and Jupiter. There are some Christians who do not like to celebrate Christmas because the holiday has its roots in the pagan Roman holiday of Saturnalia.

Some people will say that Constantine started the Roman Catholic Church, but it must be remembered that traditions and beliefs of what the Catholic Church is in our day evolved over many years from what the church was in Constantine's time.

Fall of the Western Roman Empire

Constantine chose the Greek city of Byzantium for the new Capital and renamed it Constantinople (AD 330)

This increased the influence of the Roman bishop. The capital was now far away from Rome and the Empire was already in collapse.

The division of the Empire soon followed the building of the new capital

One Emperor could no longer protect his vast domain. The Adriatic Sea formed a natural barrier between the two divisions of the Empire. In AD 395 The Empire was split into the Eastern and Western Empires.

The Western Empire with Rome as its Capital survived until AD 476

The Eastern Empire with Constantinople as its Capital survived until AD 1453

This would become the Holy Roman Empire of the Middle Ages (AD 500–1500).

Christian leaders of the period

Athanius (AD 296–373)

He was a defender of the faith in the Arian controversy. Arius the leader of this false teaching did not believe in the Biblical doctrine of the Trinity. He became bishop of Alexandria in AD 325. In AD 367 he wrote a letter recognizing the New Testament cannon that we use today. He was exiled five times for his doctrine.

John Chrysostom (AD 345–407)

He was referred to as "the golden mouth," because of his eloquence as a speaker. He was a bold preacher, a statesman, and an able expositor of the Bible. He became bishop of Constantinople in AD 398. He was banished for his stand for truth, and he died in exile.

Augustine (AD 354–430)

Augustine said, "Our hearts are restless until they find rest in you." He became bishop of Hippo in North Africa in AD 395. He was a Chief defender of the faith in the Pelagian Controversy. This false teaching was promoted by Pelegius who did not believe in original sin. Augustine developed a reputation as a preacher, teacher, and writer.

Ambrose

Ambrose was governor of Milan. When the bishop of Milan died in AD 374, a riot broke out over who should be the next bishop. Ambrose stepped in to try to calm things down, and people in the crowd cried out that he should be bishop, even though he hadn't yet been baptized. He protested, but eventual became bishop.

When the emperor Theodosius had a stadium of people killed, Ambrose excommunicated him. Theodosius did repentance by putting on sackcloth and kneeling before Ambrose seeking forgiveness. This was a beginning of the government being submissive to the church.

We see a progression of the church's relationship to the state:

1. Church < State
2. Church = State
3. Church > State

Jerome

Jerome (also known as Eusebius) translated the Bible into Latin in AD 405. This translation became known as the Vulgate from the Latin word vulgus, which means "common."

Patrick (AD 390)

Patrick was a missionary from England to Ireland. He brought Christianity to Ireland, and the church in Ireland developed outside the hierarchical system of Rome. Ireland did not become Catholic until the 1100s.

Key events of the period

The Donatist Controversy (AD 312)

During the persecution of Diocletian, some of the church leaders surrendered copies of the Scripture to the government authorities. These church leaders became known as traditors because they betrayed the church.

In AD 311 a man named Caecillian was elected bishop of Carthage. Caecillian had been consecrated by a bishop who was a traditor. A North-African man named Donatus separated from the church in AD 312 because he did not believe that Caecillian should be allowed to be a bishop, since he was consecrated by a traditor.

Later Donatists rebaptized Christians who had denied their faith because of persecution.

The Council of Nicea (AD 325–460)

In the New Testament, especially the Gospel of John, we see that Jesus is equal with the Father, but there are not exact details given about the relationship between them. The question was, how could a person worship both Jesus and the Father and still be a monotheist (a person who believes in and worships only one god)?

Arius, who was an elder in Alexandria, began preaching in AD 318 that Jesus was not God at all, but that He was a celestial servant of God. This was his answer to the question about monotheism. Alexander, Arius' bishop, countered that if God cannot change, and if He has always been a Father, then that means He must have always had a Son.

This religious debate got the attention of Constantine, because riots had started because of it. In AD 325 Constantine called a council in Nicea to solve the debate started by Arius. More than 300 bishops attended.

The bishops created a statement of faith, which, after some additions made during another council in Constantinople in 381, became known as the Nicene Creed. All but two bishops signed the statement of faith, and they were exiled along with Arius. Following is the complete text of the creed:

I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead
and his kingdom will have no end.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

(https://www.britannica.com/topic/Nicene-Creed accessed on 2018/08/23)

The creed says that Jesus is "light from light." How could you separate light from the sun? In the same way, how could you separate God (the Father) from God (the Son)?

The council did not "create" the idea of the Trinity, since the Trinity was a part of church worship since the beginning (for example, it was used in the baptism rite). In Nicea they formed the vocabulary to describe what they already believed about God.

The First Council at Ephesus (AD 431)

The Council of Nicea resolved that Jesus was both God and man, but there were still questions about the nature of Jesus. How much of Him was God and how much was man? Did He have two minds? Could Jesus have sinned because of the human side? Two church leaders gave answers to these types of questions. They were Nestorius and Cyril.

Nestorius

Nestorius was the bishop of Constantinople. He was a heresy hunter who tried to stop doctrines like Arianism from spreading.

Nestorius received the attention of other church leaders when he refused to use the word Theotokos, which means "Mother of God." He believed if the Son of God always existed, then He could not be born. He preferred the word Christotokos, which means "Mother of Christ." Nestorius also disliked Theotokos because of the emphasis that Apollinarianism placed on this word. Apollinarianism taught that Jesus had no human soul, but was divine God wrapped in human flesh.

He believed that Christ possessed two natures, but was still one person. He emphasized a distinction between these two natures, especially in the suffering of Christ. He said that it was only the human nature that suffered when Christ suffered, and not the divine nature.

Cyril

Cyril was the bishop of Alexandria. While Nestorius emphasized more of the human nature of Christ, Cyril emphasized more of His divine nature. He believed that Nestorius' emphasis of the two natures of Christ was harming the idea of the unity of Christ. If only the human nature of Christ suffered, then Christ was not an effective high priest, since it was only through divine suffering that Christ could atone for the sins of humanity.

The decision of the council

Because Nestorius did not want to use the name Mother of God for Mary, he was falsely accused by Cyril that he did not believe that Jesus was God. After some heated letters between them, a council of bishops was called to settle the debate.

The council was largely motivated by political factors. The Second Ecumenical Council of 381 declared that the bishop of Constantinople would be second only to the Roman bishop (the pope). This angered some of the other bishops, including Cyril, because it limited their power as bishops. So even though there were some legitimate questions about the doctrines of Nestorius, the council was also called because of jealousy of his position.

The council decided against Nestorius and he was exiled as a heretic. Even though he was exiled, people continued to believe his doctrine and Nestorianism still exists today as a branch of Christianity.

While their were some differences of doctrine between Cyril and Nestorius, much of their disagreement lay in how they emphasized certain parts of the doctrine of Christ and also from how they defined and used different words and phrases. They both were concerned with defending the faith against heresy. While it is impossible to know, we can't but wonder what agreement they might have come to if they had talked together about their ideas.

Though Nestorius was always considered a heretic, the Council of Chalcedon made decisions about the doctrine of Christ that closer to the ideas of Nestorius. Nestorius was also correct about how the name Mother of God would exalt Mary to a position that was more than she deserved. Over many years, we see the tradition of the Roman Catholic Church move Mary into the place where she is almost considered divine.

The Council of Constantinople (AD 381)

Some people did not believe that the Holy Spirit was God, because He did not speak for Himself. They said that He was not a person, but a spiritual force. This council was called to prove the divinity of the Spirit.

The Council of Chalcedon (AD 451)

This council was the final ecumenical council dealing with the dual-nature of Jesus. Its purpose was to finish the debate on the Trinity. In it, it was declared that Christ is "acknowledged in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation... the characteristic property of each nature being preserved, and coming together to form one person." Following is the full text of the definition made at Chalcedon:

Therefore, following the holy fathers, we all with one accord teach men to acknowledge one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood, truly God and truly man, consisting also of a reasonable soul and body; of one substance with the Father as regards his Godhead, and at the same time of one substance with us as regards his manhood; like us in all respects, apart from sin; as regards his Godhead, begotten of the Father before the ages, but yet as regards his manhood begotten, for us men and for our salvation, of Mary the Virgin, the God-bearer; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, recognized in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation; the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the characteristics of each nature being preserved and coming together to form one person and subsistence, not as parted or separated into two persons, but one and the same Son and Only-begotten God the Word, Lord Jesus Christ; even as the prophets from earliest times spoke of him, and our Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us, and the creed of the fathers has handed down to us.

(https://www.monergism.com/definition-council-chalcedon-451-ad accessed on 2018/09/03)

Since Nicea, the church emphasized that Jesus shared nature with the Father, but now they added to this how Jesus also shared nature with man.

It was the first council in which the pope played a major role, and the last that both East and West would regard as official.