Establishment & Resistance: 300–400

Establishment & Resistance: 300–400

“Second only to the first century, the fourth century is arguably the most influential in the history of Christianity. This is when Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire, when the foundational creeds were formulated, the biblical canon finalised, major monastic movements established, and when the main strands of the Christian church shaped. The four doctors of the church were also active at this time.”[1]

I. The Era of Martyrs

A. “The Great Persecution” “The instigator of the Great Persecution, in 303 Diocletian would unleash the most organised and extensive campaign against Christians yet seen in Roman civilisation.”[2]

B. Emperor Diocletian

1. His Reign

a. He took power in 284

b. Empire Restructure

a. Divided the Empire into two administrative spheres (East and West, a decision that will affect the Church as well)

b. Appointed another emperor for the West

c. Augusti (plural of Augustus)–Caesars

d. Further divided the Empire into more provinces (dioceses)

e. “Diocletian, in short, began the creatin of that form of the Roman empire which was to survive, with its capital at Byzantium, until 1453.”[3]

2. His Ruthlessness

a. What led to the persecutions?

a. “…Christians in the army [were] insulting the gods by refusing to acknowledge them…”

b. Because Christians were present during the auguries, “the gods were not answering” Diocletian[4]

c. After consulting the oracle of Apollo at Miletus, he was told to destroy the Christians

b. His Comprehensive Destruction

a. “He ordered that all churches be torn down”

b. “…Bibles burnt…”

c. “…clergy tortured.”[5]

C. Martyrs

1. Alban—died in the priest’s place

2. Catherine of Alexandria (c. 285–c. 305)

II. The Donatist Movement

A. Development of Donatist Movement

1. North-West Africa (Carthage)

2. Began when Christians refused to acknowledge the appointment of Caecilian (Bishop of Carthage) in 311

a. One of the bishops involved with Caecilian’s appointment gave a Bible to be burned during Diocletian’s persecution

3. Donatus Magnus assumed the position of Bishop and created a schism

4. “The result was a split: two rival Churches came into being, each claiming to be the true Catholic Church in North-West Africa.”[6]

III. Emperor Constantine

A. Became Emperor in 306

B. Battles between co-emperors

C. Battle of Milvian Bridge 312

D. “By this sign, conqueror” (chi-rho)

E. Tall, strong, handsome

F. “He had a sharp insight into people’s characters and motives, an ability to strike swiftly and precisely in war and politics, and an overflowing energy which he devoted unselfishly to the affairs of the Empire.”[7]

G. Helena- procured religious relics, led excursions to Jerusalem, passionate Christian

IV. The Edict of Milan

A. Licinius- “co-emperor,” eventually executed by Constantine

B. “Edict of Milan” (313)

1. No Edict was actually issued

“…no edict was actually issued at the time of the agreement in Milan. A law was later decreed to make the Milan agreement officially legal, but this law was not an edict and was not issued in Milan!”[8]

2. Letters for Edict of Milan

The actual letters have never been retrieved. However, they are quoted at length in Lactantius's On the Deaths of the Persecutors (De mortibus persecutorum), which gives the Latin text of both Galerius's edict of toleration as posted at Nicomedia on 30 April 311 and of Licinius's letter of toleration and restitution addressed to the governor of Bithynia and posted at Nicomedia on 13 June 313.[12] The latter states:[13]

3. Religious Toleration

“When we, Constantine Augustus and Licinius Augustus, met so happily at Milan, and considered together all that concerned the interest and security of the State, we decided ... to grant to Christians and to everybody the free power to follow the religion of their choice, in order that all that is divine in the heavens may be favorable and propitious towards all who are placed under our authority.”[9]

4. It would become a “policy of freedom for all religions”[10]

C. Major Issues after “the conversion of Constantine”[11]

1. In 321, a law was passed making Sunday “an official day of rest”

2. Christian bishops were given part of the Empire’s legal structure and decided cases on a local level

3. Established a system of welfare—discouraging the killing of unwanted children

4. Moved the capital of the Empire to Byzantium, called it “Constantinople,” or “New Rome”

V. Council of Arles

A. Donatist Conflict with Bishop Caecilian

B. Church Property Confiscated during Diocletian was given to Caecilian, not the Donatists

C. The Donatists appealed to Constantine, claiming to be the true Catholic Church

D. Constantine, for the first time in Christian history, ruled in matters of the Church

E. Council of Arles (316) reached the decision to exile all Donatists and confiscate their churches

F. In 321, Constantine would rescind this verdict, but persecution of Donatists would continue for many years to come

VI. Arianism—Christ is Not God

A. Arius of Alexandria (c. 250–c. 336)

1. Arius had “propounded the view that the Logos is a creature called into being by God ‘out of nonexistence.’”[12]

2. Arius reasoned that if the Son is begotten, “there was a time when the Son was not the Son”

3. Controversy began because of his preaching[13]

4. “For Arius, Jesus is a demigod, neither fully God nor fully man….Arius blurred Christianity and paganism.”[14]

5. “The teaching had consequences for Christian doctrines of the Trinity, of creation, and of Jesus’s role in redemption, and it was condemned by the church in 320.”[15]

B. Arius’s teachings spread and create an enormous conflict in the churches

VII. Nicene Creed

A. Constantine again inserts himself into ecclesiastical affairs and calls for a Council in Nicaea (Asia Minor)

1. The Council of Nicaea was “the first universal council of the church”[16]

2. All the bishops of the Empire were summoned to address Arius’s teaching

3. About 300 bishops came, two primary groups were present—Arius and his followers (Eusebius of Nicomedia) and Alexander and Athanasius

B. Constantine oversaw the council

C. “Homoousias” (of one substance) vs. “Homoiousias” (of similar substance)

VIII. Desert Monks

A. Complex Theological Debates

B. Concern for Simpler, Faithful Life

C. Life of St. Anthony by Athanasius

D. Coenobitic—communal monks

1. Pachomius (292–346)-former Roman conscript turned hermit, established monastic community in village of Tabbenisi[17]

a. Followed strict schedule of prayer, work, and meditation

b. Communal living, common ownership

2. Shenoutte (334–450)

a. Participated in the Council of Ephesus (431) and the theological conflict with Nestorius

IX. Eastern Monks

X. Western Monks

XI. The Biblical Canon

XII. The Establishment of Christendom

XIII. Within Not Above

XIV. East and West

[1]Stephen Backhouse, Zondervan Essential Companion to Christian History (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2019), 32. [2]Backhouse, Christian History, 30. [3]Walker, et. al., A History of the Christian Church, 123. [4]Walker, A History, 123; “auguries” refers to the process by which priests would attempt to discern the will of the gods. [5]Backhouse, Christian History, 32. [6]Needham, 2000 Years of Christ’s Power, 181. [7]Needham, 2000 Years of Christ’s Power, 165. [8]Needham, 2000 Years of Christ’s Power, 167. [9]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edict_of_Milan#:~:text=The%20Edict%20of%20Milan%20gave,with%20the%20Edict%20of%20Thessalonica., accessed 20 September 2023. [10]Needham, 2000 Years of Christ’s Power, 167. [11]See Needham, 2000 Years of Christ’s Power, 179–183 for these notes. [12]Walker, et. al., A History of the Christian Church, 131–132. [13]William G. Rusch, The Trinitarian Controversy (Philadelphia, Fortress Press: 1980), 17. [14]Rusch, The Trinitarian Controversy, 17. [15]Backhouse, Zondervan Essential Companion, 35. [16]Walker, et. al., A History of the Christian Church, 134. [17]This material adapted from Walker, et. al., A History of the Christian Church, 155–158.