Glimpses of Church History

2.    Period 200 – 400 CE

 

Introduction

We listed the first 15 Popes in the period up to 200 CE. The last of these, Zephyrinus, was pope in the period 199-217 CE. The next 24 popes are listed in the Table below. The succession to the papal office was not always smooth. Rival claimants (anti-popes) popped up from time to time, as can be seen from the Table. Most of the first 30 popes have been piously regarded as martyrs. There is no evidence that they all died for Christ. The genuine martyrs may been Telesphorus (No 8), Callistus (16 - possibly victim of anti-Christian persecution), Pontian (18 - died in exile in Sardinia), Fabian (20 - executed under Roman Emperor Decius), Cornelius (21 - died in exile), Sixtus (24 - beheaded in 258) and Marcellinus (29 - a controversial case, possible victim of Emperor Diocletion’s persecution). [Ref 2]

 

Few popes were able to assert their authority until the fifth century. The Christians were disliked by the Jews and the Romans persecuted them periodically. The last systematic persecution was by Emperor Diocletian 284-305. But already doctrinal disputes and heresies were beginning to surface. For example, Cyprian of Carthage (c 200-250) - later made a saint - openly disagreed with Pope Stephen I on the issue of baptism. And there was a gap of four years between the death of Pope Marcellinus in 304 and the election of the next bishop of Rome (see Table).

 

Constantine brings peace to the Church

Diocletian decided he needed help in defending the far flung Empire. Barbarians from Central and Eastern Europe had been attacking the Roman Empire from 248 CE, starting with the Goths. He appointed a colleague, Maximian, as co-emperor in charge of Italy and Northern Africa while he himself took charge of the Eastern territories of Thrace, Asia and Egypt. In addition, he assigned the western and central regions to two generals, Constantius and Galerius, conferring on them the lesser title of Caesar. 

Following the joint abdication of Diocletian and Maximian in 305, there was discord and feuding for 18 years. The principal players over the period 305-324 were Constantine (son of Constantius), Maxentius (son of Maximian) and Licinius (a colleague of Galerius) (Ref 3). Maxentius proved to be a tyrannical ruler of Italy and Africa and he harboured ambitions over the remaining provinces. Eventually, Constantine engaged Maxentius in battle and defeated him at Milvian Bridge outside Rome on 28 October 312. Maxentius was drowned in the river Tiber by the weight of his own armour. The empire was divided between Constantine in the west and Licinius in the east. But soon the two turned against each other. Licinius was eventually defeated in battle in 321. Constantine became sole Emperor of the whole Roman Empire - an event of great significance for the development of early Christianity. 

Constantine’s mother Helena, a concubine, had become a Christian. The story goes that on the eve of the battle against Maxentius, while at worship before his sun god, Sol, Constantine heard a voice uttering the name Christos and the words: ‘In this sign, you will conquer.’ And sure enough he won. He was grateful and allowed Christianity full expression. He outlawed death by crucifixion. But he himself was not a Christian until he was dying. Though not a Christian, the bishops  remained under his jurisdiction while he called himself ‘Bishop of Bishops’, a title which popes later assumed.  In 313, Constantine and Licinius issued the famous Edict of Milan: “…We have given orders that everyone should be allowed to have his own beliefs and worship as he wishes,” - a document advocating religious tolerance that has been unmatched by the church authorities. However, he did not abandon his sun god and other deities. Neither did he give up the sacred pagan title Pontifex Maximus (Supreme Pontiff) which the Popes were later to assume. It was he, not the pope, who claimed to be head of the church. He assumed the right to convoke religious assemblies and synods and it was he who invented the idea of a general Christian Council. In 314, he called the Council of Arles. and in 321, the First General Council of the Church.  

                      Table: Popes 16 to 39 and their period of office  (Rival popes are indicated by *)

 

The Council of Nicaea 325 CE

Sylvester I who was Pope at the time had no part in calling this Council. The aim was to resolve the Arian heresy (that the Son was inferior to the Father) raging at the time. The Council was held in 325 in Bithynia at  a place called Nicaea (meaning victory). Some 300 bishops attended, all but six came from the East. The Pope did not even attend and sent two representatives instead. Most of the bishops were in favour of Arianism (named after Arius, a priest from Alexandria.) It was Constantine who settled the matter. Rising from his gold throne, he proposed that God’s Son was ‘of one substance with the Father’, words found even today in the Nicene Creed, the expanded version of the Apostles’ Creed. All dissident bishops meekly gave in except two and these Constantine sent packing [Ref 1].

 

The Church becomes secularised

Constantine and his children made generous donations of property to the Church, built new churches (as well as pagan temples) and furnished them lavishly. Below is an extract from a list of gifts made to a particular basilica:

¨    7 altars of finest silver each weighing 200 lb

¨    7 gold patens each weighing 30 lb

¨    16 silver patens each weighing 30 lb

¨    40 smaller chalices of finest gold each weighing 1 lb

¨    one chandelier of finest gold in front of the altar with 80 dolphins

¨    45 silver chandeliers in the centre of the basilica

¨    a hammered silver fastigium - with the Saviour seated in front, 5 ft and weighing 120 lb and 12 apostles, each 5 ft and weighing 90 lbs,

¨    etc,  etc  (See Ref 2 for details)

 

In 330 Constantine transferred the seat of Empire to Byzantium and renamed it Constantinople (today’s Istanbul). Because of his long absences, the Bishops of Rome had greater freedom of action and became more  immersed in civic affairs, including the administration of newly acquired property. Constantine died in 337; he had been baptised in the same year, not by the Pope as is piously believed but the Arian Bishop Eusebius.

 

Papal  Squabbles

Under the Edict of Milan and Constantine’s generosity, the Christian community found itself with much land and privileges. Mammon began rearing its head and religious leaders were tempted to compromise their faith. For example, Pope Liberius (352-66) was forced into exile by Emperor Constantinius because he (Liberius) was anti-Arian. Felix II became Pope in his place. Three years later, Liberius agreed to support the Arians and the Emperor re-instated him. Here was the first recorded case of a Pope who had succumbed to heresy. Bishop Hilary of Poitiers (c.315-367), champion of orthodoxy against Arianism, condemned the Pope with the words: “Anathema to thee, Liberius”.

 

Bitter rivalries opened up on the death of Liberius in 366. No clear election procedures were in force and two groups sponsored rival candidates, Damasus and Ursinus for Pope. After much street-fighting, Ursinus’ supporters sought refuge in the recently completed basilica of St Mary Major. Damasus’ followers climbed to the roof, made an opening and hurled stones and tiles on the occupants below. Meanwhile others attacked the main door and forced it open. A bloody fight broke out, lasting three days and ending in the slaughter of 137 men, all supporters of Ursinus. Damasus was declared Pope while Ursinus was sent into exile by the Emperor.

 

Damasus found himself under constant threats from Ursinus’ followers and used gladiators to guard him. In 382 Pope Damasus went on to claim spiritual primacy as a direct successor of Peter, the first Pope to do so. St Basil (330-379) described him as ‘impossibly arrogant’.

 

Church becomes hellenised

Constantine had changed Christian thinking, falsifying the gospel and injecting alien standards. The church had been converted to the Roman empire and clerical politics took precedence over Gospel matters. Christian doctrine, liturgy and outlook were gradually becoming infected by Greek thought and Roman law - a development of profound significance. Eminent Asian Jesuit theologian, Aloysius Pieris, explains:

“Greek culture was so pervasive …(and) Christianity allowed itself to be hellenised…After the persecutions, links with Judaism were severed and those with Greco-Roman culture were strengthened…The Church Fathers were interested in non-Christian philosophy as intellectual equipment to grasp revelation and formulate it in a manner intelligible to the ‘pagan’ culture in which they lived. Thus began the tradition in which Christian ‘religion’ learned to use philosophy…there developed a sort of academic tradition which revolved around the system of thought to the exclusion of the experiential dimension…” (Ref 4).

 

Among the Greek Church Fathers were:

·      St Irenaeus (c.130-200), a Greek theologian and later Bishop of Lyon. He attacked Gnosticism and helped define the Books of the Bible (Digest 4.2).

·      St Clement (c.150-215), head of a theology school at Alexandria and thoroughly Greek in his outlook. He injected ideas from Greek philosophy into the Christian faith.  

Others were Origen (c. 185-254) and Athanasius (c. 296-373), the latter a staunch opponent of Arianism, itself derived from the neo-Platonist belief in the Logos, a term which came to be used to designate Christ.. A prominent Latin Father, Tertullian (c. 160-240) of Carthage, introduced the Roman legal idiom into Christian theology. an elaborate doctrinal framework was replacing the simple direct teachings of Christ. A European Christianity was taking shape.

 

References

1.     Peter de Rosa, Vicars of Christ  (Corgi Books 1989)

2.     Raymond Davis, The Book of Pontiffs (Liverpool University Press 1989)

3.     Edward Gibbons, Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire (Bison Books 1979)

4.     Aloysius Pieris, Love Meets Wisdom (Orbis Books 1988)