A Brief History of the Christian Church Jason Collins, MA
History Does Not Have To Be Boring History has fun stuff like empires, interesting people, cool events that build on one another We learn the how's and why s of our current age We can also learn theology through the past, for example early Christian history is tied to what happened in the Roman Empire "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. - George Santayana
To whom do these titles refer? English High priest Lord Bringer of peace Savior Son of God Divine one The Good News Latin Pontiff maximus Dominus Ara pacis Pater patriae Divi filius Augustus Evangelium
Not only Jesus Christ, but also: Augustus Caesar, first emperor of Rome. He was the ruler during Christ s birth. Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. (Lk 2:1 NAB)
Why Augustus Caesar? We often associate the previous titles with Jesus Christ In the early Church, Christians were making a direct comparison to the ruler of the known world, with the ruler of the entire universe In my opinion, God chose the perfect time for the birth of Jesus (well, duh, God is well, GOD!)
The Church has its start at Pentecost The apostles are filled with the Holy Spirit and begin to convert a lot of people. The community grows over time and the apostles go from as far as Spain to India. Over time, three distinct roles appear.
At first, the Church was considered to be a subset of Judaism, this afforded it early protection in the Roman Empire. Early Christians would go to synagogue on Saturdays to hear the Jewish Scriptures preached. Then on Sundays they would gather for the Eucharistic feast. This meal was an actual meal where people came to eat, especially the poor (1 Corinthians 11:17-22) at someone s house.
The community combined this separation of worship into one day, a part that read from the both the Jewish Scriptures and the emerging Christian scriptures and a remembrance meal. This meal was presided over someone who took bread, said a blessing, and broke it; then his assistants would distribute it to the community. As Catholics, this is still our basic worship to this day with the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
This recognition of Christians as a subset of Judaism ended in 70 AD. The temple was destroyed by the Romans in response to a Jewish uprising. The city was burned to the ground and thousands were killed. From this point on, followers of Jesus were not welcomed in synagogue.
There were some bouts of major persecution by Roman Emperors: Nero, Trajan, Septimius Severus, and Diocletian By and large, Christians were left alone and were an un-respected minority that served in the army, paid their taxes, run businesses and were good citizens of the Empire that killed the Lord.
1 st Cool History Fact!!
More Christians died in their sleep then from persecutions There is also no historical evidence that Christians were killed in the Coliseum But there were both imperial wide and local persecutions, thus Christians still remained underground and practiced house worship These persecutions led a cult of the martyrs
The blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church Tertullian Apologeticus Martyr comes from a Greek word meaning witness As Rome killed these Christians, people began to ask themselves why would someone subject themselves to this??
In the year 312, a miracle happened. A man named Constantine was preparing to fight a battle against great odds outside the city of Rome. While preparing for battle, he looked to the sky and saw a sign:
The symbol at the left is the chi-rho. forms the first two letters of Christ in Greek. He was also rumored to hear : In hoc signo vinces (By this sign, you will conqueror.) And he did, his armies were victories the next day
The next year, a proclamation was issued: the Edict of Milan. This edict allowed Christians to practice freely. Constantine was instrumental in two other acts that would forever change Christianity: he called the Council of Nicaea in 325 and founded a new capitol of the Roman Empire: Constantinople in 330.
2nd Cool History Fact!!
The Edict of Milan did not make Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. That comes later However, it did allow the Christians to begin to construct churches paid for by imperial funds. The first great Church in Rome is constructed, although it was built in a corner of the city by the walls.
Constantine had to call the Council of Nicaea because the Empire was about to break apart Not over invasions, insurrections, corruption, or the economy But over a priest named Arius
Arius was a priest in the Alexandria diocese Around 318, came into conflict with his bishop over the nature of Jesus Christ He taught there was a time when he was not in his many writings The Logos was the first and highest creature created by God Therefore, the Logos is not God
It was said that you couldn t buy bread without arguing over the nature of Jesus The Council of Nicaea settled some fundamental issues of Christianity: namely the relationship between God the Father and God the Son. It allowed Christians for the first time to be able to state their beliefs with a scholarly approach
I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made [both in heaven and on earth]; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down and was incarnate and was made man; he suffered, and the third day he rose again, ascended into heaven; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. And in the Holy Spirit. But those who say: 'There was a time when he was not;' and 'He was not before he was made;' and 'He was made out of nothing,' or 'He is of another substance' or 'essence,' or 'The Son of God is created,' or 'changeable,' or 'alterable' they are condemned by the holy catholic and apostolic Church.
The founding of Constantinople made concrete a reality in the Roman Empire; that there are two halves one East and one West
Language: West used Latin Barbarians: Invaded and Repeatedly Attacked Cities not as well established East used Greek Barbarians repelled due to stronger military Ancient cities that were wealthier
3rd Cool History Fact!!
The Roman Empire did not collapse in 476 The rulers and people of the Eastern Empire saw themselves as Roman until the fall of Constantinople in 1453. In fact, the inhabitants of Greece continued to call themselves Rhomaioi until the 19 th Century
Just like the two halves of the empire, western and eastern Christianity also began to drift apart Language was a major issue, as was the role of the leader of each half. The Pope was also a civic leader that was also concerned with the welfare of the city of Rome and surrounding areas. The Patriarch of Constantinople, under the protection of a strong empire, could be more concerned with spiritual matters
Dark Red- expansion under Mohammed (622-32) Lt Red- Rashidun Caliphate (632-61) Orange- Umayyad Caliphate (661-750)
There is also one more event that leads us to the Great Schism- the introduction of filioque into the Nicene Creed by Western Christians. The original Nicaea Creed does not have and of the Son with reference to the Holy Spirit.
The other major area of disagreement is the role of the Pope. Eastern (that is Orthodox Christians) accept that the See of Rome is the first among equals, aka the Petrine Primacy. They disagree on the manner in which the pope exercises some of his authority, aka the Petrine Function. With all this back and forth, it is of no surprise of what is bound to happen.
The year 1054 is the year when the separation formally occurred Papal representatives and the Ecumenical Patriarch excommunicated each other To this day, there exists a Western (Roman Catholic) and an Eastern Christianity (Orthodox) Fundamentally, not much separates the two traditions
The Byzantine Emperor Alexois I(1081-1118) saw the schism as an additional threat that his Empire might not be able to recover from He thus contacted the pope and offered to reunite the Churches of East and West if Pope Urban II (1088-1099) would help to bring some European knights that he could command to repeal the Islamic invaders
4th Cool History Fact!!
Most of the Crusaders were not blood thirsty savages bent on killing and rampages Most were moved to restore Christian rule to the Holy Lands that had been taken over by the Seljuqs Turks, non Arab Muslims Previous Arabic Islamic rulers of Jerusalem welcomed and protected Christian pilgrims However, the Seljuqs attacked and killed not only Christian pilgrims but Jewish and Christian inhabitants of Palestine
The First Crusade (1096-1099)achieved its military objective; the capture (or liberation) of Jerusalem and surrounding territories However, the crusaders broke their oath to the Byzantine Empire and refused to return the lands to Constantinople They in fact founded various crusader states based in the larger cities they had conquered, while most of the crusading army returned to Europe
The following crusades were not able to match the success of the first The crusader states lost territory, cities, and men from this point on, including Jerusalem in 1187 The third crusade, the one with King Richard of Robin Hood fame (1189-1192) had some success but was stopped due to the death of the German king and never reached Jerusalem The fourth crusade was launched 1202 and had its goal of Egypt
However, due to scheming of the leader of Venice, the crusaders instead of heading towards Egypt went to Constantinople In one of the most sad events in all of Christian history; they sieged and conquered the city They pillaged the city for five days and set up a Latin Empire of Constantinople When the pope who called the crusade, Innocent III (1198-1216), heard of the siege he excommunicated all involved and wondered if our Eastern brothers can ever forgive us
After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, Eastern Christians fleeing the Turks immigrate to Europe, specifically Italy, and brought back their knowledge of Ancient Greek and Latin texts, language, and culture These Eastern Christians help to start the Renaissance (rebirth) of culture in western Europe There are various Italian rulers (the pope included) who try to out do each other concerning sculptures, paintings, buildings, etc
In the lead up to the Protestant Reformation, some of the popes were not good priests. There was extreme disparity amongst the education of the clergy, some were very learned while most were not (a consequence of the Black Death and its repercussions on society). We also have the practice of selling indulgences
Martin Luther was a monk who read much of St. Augustine of Hippo s works. He was also a theological professor. His 95 Theses were meant to start a theological discussion. Also very distraught over his own sinful nature.
The concern with sinful nature really impacted his theology He became convinced that no matter what we do on Earth, it is only through our faith in Jesus Christ that we can be saved He also undertook translating the Bible into German so that everyone could read it
5th Cool History Fact!!
Luther did not intent to start a new church when he posted his 95 Theses he wanted to start a theological discussions He pointed out, correctly, some areas of church practice that had become distorted by this time
King Henry VIII was, at first, a strong defender of the Catholic faith in England However, he wanted a divorce from his first wife, who happened to be a member of the Spanish Royal family, because she had not given birth to a male child to survive infancy The church would not approve an annulment
Henry asked and Parliament approved that he becomes the leader of the Church of England At first, the structure and theology of the English Church varied little from Catholicism, the Pope was just replaced by the monarch The book of Common Prayer was written to bring the service into English, as well as English translations of the Bible began to appear
This became what we know as the Anglican Church or the Episcopal Church in the States The Anglican Church tries to be a middle road between Protestantism and Catholicism, retaining the three-fold ordination of the Catholic Church, but also having some elements of Protestantism
The Catholic Church, in response to the Reformation, called a council together to answer some of the questions raised The Council of Trent (1545-1563) reaffirmed and more explicitly restated the basics of Catholic doctrine The Council also adopted from a new religious order the idea to better train the local clergy, and the modern seminary system was formed
By the end of the council, there was clearly a Protestant part of Europe and a Catholic part Both sides were firmly entrenched and clung to their own beliefs and as time went on became more and more entrenched In addition, the rhetoric on both sides of the debate was not conducive to any talks of reconciliation.
In 1869, the First Vatican Council was called It is most remembered for Papal infallibility: when the Pope speaks ex cathedra on matters of faith or morals, the statement is declared infallible This has only happened twice: the Immaculate Conception in 1854 and the Assumption of Mary in 1950 Virtual Tour of St. Mary Major
In 1958, a new Pope was elected: John XXIII To the surprise of many, he called for an Ecumenical Council, Vatican II, to open the doors of the Church He wanted to the Church to interact with the modern world
The Council was to bring about a renewal in the church; she looked back to the past to try to interact with the future This renewal of the Church included a new way of interacting with Protestants and the Orthodox (who in fact were in attendance as observers with no voting rights)
The way in which the Church saw itself was also re-discovered from the early Church The liturgy was changed and the vernacular (local language) was allowed The role of deacon has been restored to its ancient understanding and is now no longer exclusively seen as a stepping stone to the priesthood
In 1999, the Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation came to an agreement on the Justification and Salvation. There has also been 12 sessions of a Catholic- Orthodox International Commission dealing with issues of the Great Schism; the last two have dealt with the role and function of the Pope.
The rediscovery of the ancient Church s way in forming new members, now known as RCIA, was also begun The Pontiff is increasingly seen as an international leader, and as such has spoken out against some of the ills of the modern age Famously, JP II spoke out against communism and helped to bring down the Iron Curtain Pope Francis has issued Laudato Si that contains themes on the environment
There is also an increasing role of the laity in the Church; from lectors, to positions of responsibility in parishes, dioceses, universities, and the Vatican The ramifications of the council still reverb to today: from traditional Catholics (who claim the council went too far) to liberal Catholics (who claim the council did not go far enough)
This universal Church spans the globe and counts 1.2 billion people as followers There is nowhere greater that this universality is expressed than in Rome itself Visiting the great churches you see Americans, Latinos, Asians, Africans, Arabs and of course Europeans Just be careful during Communion
Conclusion The Church has survived persecutions, schism, crusades, plagues, bad popes, the loss of territorial holdings, the 60 s and she is still here. Guided by the Holy Spirit through these dark times before and ahead, she is still here as the beacon of light to world.
Conclusion We believe in a God that has revealed God s self to all, and came and left the world as a simple man God became incarnate during the age of Roman peace, but that peace on Earth is only a shadow of the peace that is in heaven when we are united with God
Conclusion Jason Collins, MA
To whom do these titles refer? English High priest Lord Bringer of peace Savior Son of God Divine one The Good News Latin Pontiff maximus Dominus Ara pacis Pater patriae Divi filius Augustus Evangelium