One Faith Day Three
The Ecumenical Council
4th century-8th century
I: Of Heresies and Emperors
i: Introduction
We take a step back now on our journey through history. Last time we made it as far as the emperor Theodosius in the year 380. The Church at that time was finally being set up as the orthodoxy (the right thinking) that we know of today. But where we start today the Church was anything but set. Turmoil boiling over from the controversies left by the last three great teachers of the Church (Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian of Carthage, and the infamous Origen) mixed with the tumultuous times to explode in a conflict which origins were rooted in the very beginning of the Church and whose effects would time and again divide the Church and let loose a string of consequences and sects that we still experience to this day. Our journey takes us back to the beginning of the fourth century as one of the most renowned men of all time stepped onto the scene, the Roman Emperor Constantine.
ii: Roman Influence
At this time as the Church entered the fourth century, Roman persecution cut off abruptly. For the past half century the Church had endured the fiercest and most systematic persecution yet at the hands of the Roman emperors. Diocletian, emperor at the start of the fourth century, was no exception to this rule and instituted what was known as the Great Persecution, a persecution so great that for centuries after theologians would deal with its implications on the church. Yet within in just a few short years his ambitious political schemes lay in ruins and his successors were either dead or sworn to serve the conqueror, the first Christian Roman Emperor Constantine. Having defeated the complex political structure his father had followed Constantine had risen to power on the shoulders of his father’s troops led by a vision from God. With the Christian Chi Rho emblazoned over the shields of his legions he had rode out with inferior forces to crush the last vestiges of pagan Rome. Upon the defeat of his adversaries at the battle of Milvan Bridge Constantine forced his eastern ally to sign the famous Edict of Milan, for the first time guaranteeing for all Christians the legal liberty and freedom they had never known. Christians went from being a persecuted classless group of people to being the premier citizens of the Empire in just a few short years. Now the Church was second in power throughout the empire only to the imperial throne. Legal power was given to officials of the church to settle legal disputes. Money form the imperial treasury started to pay the salaries of officials in the Church. Great buildings were designed and built by order of Constantine for the Church’s use. The tables were suddenly and irrevocably reversed. But with this change of fortunes came an awful price. As the Church received legal liberties and support from the state, the state stepped in to claim its due. The state was now an authority in the Church. No more would this be evident then in 325 when, as a great heresy was on the verge of destroying the Church, the emperor Constantine invoked his authority and called the bishops together. Sitting in a throne high above the bishops Constantine, acting in his role as the vicar of Christ, took upon himself the title of Bishop of Bishops and told the Church what it was going to believe.
iii: Growing Heresies
Since the Church was organized and structured beliefs not taught by Jesus or the apostles had continually infiltrated the beliefs of Christians in the Church. Some were passing fancies that haven’t survived in any writings or correspondence. Others grew to be great heresies, some as large as or larger than the Church itself. In this time period numerous false teachings came about, particularly in theology regarding the Trinity and the personhood of Jesus Christ. The common erroneous teachings regarding the Trinity were Modalism, teaching that there was only one person in the Trinity who shows himself in three ways, Monarchism, teaching that there is one God who created the Son and the Spirit, and Tri-theism, teaching that there are three separate gods. The common erroneous teaching regarding Christ were Adoptionism, teaching that Christ was just a man adopted by God, and Creationism, teaching that Jesus is a divine being created before the world was created. Some heresies were more then just teachings, but were structured churches in themselves. One of these, Gnosticism, had been extant in some forms since the very beginning of the Church and was long its chief adversary. Luring in people with complex tales aimed to show just how elite they were this teaching had created a completely separate church and led many astray. Montanism, teaching people that the revelations of the past were faulty and leading people to follow the ever changing New Revelation, created a charismatic movement that nearly tore the Church apart. Marcion, whose anti-Hebrew theology denied the God of the Old Testament, created such a church that it rivaled the Apostolic Church itself. These heretics, from Montanus to Marcion, led many astray over the centuries. Some heretics were even long accepted by the Church, like the great teacher Origen or the conservative Tertullian. For the past three centuries the bishops would call together synods, or groups of local bishops, to settle these disputes in theology. Due to the persecutions and the great dangers involved with travelling in this time period, the synods were never well attended and news of their decisions were long in getting out to the other churches throughout the empire. Now that the Church was supported by the State, greater meetings could be devised. This would soon be needed as the greatest theological danger the Church would ever see was about to rear its head in the volatile yet fertile thinking grounds of Alexandria.
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