Major Empires in the 4th Century
AD 400
Dominant Religion
Hindu/Buddhist, etcSecular/MixedEthnic Religions
Sassanids
Zapotec
Kushana
MayaE Chin
Huns
Teotihuaca
Moche
Vakataka
Axum/Ethiopia
Ruruan Mongols
Hun Confederation Devastates CentralEurope.
Rome E
Nazca
Gupta
WSogdiana
Tihuanaco
Catholic OtherOrthodox
Visigoths, etc. Conquer Western Roman Empire.
Roman Empire Divided
Empires that come to an end or undergo major change
Religions
Christian
The Politicization of the Church
• The 4th Century saw an astonishing change as the persecuting pagan Roman Empire was won over by Christianity. Though dramatic, this “victory” proved to be a major setback that still affects the Church today.
• From it emerged a Church-State alliance, or the “Constantinian captivity” of the Church.
• All five ministries of Ephesians 4:11 either became defunct or were neutralized where this happened. The Church had already lost its apostolic ministry. Now, it lost its prophetic and evangelistic ministries, and its pastoral and teaching ministries became tied to the State.
The Church in 300-400 AD
Politicized Christendom
Severe Christian declineChristian declineStagnating Christianity
Christian majority/stateActive Christian witness/renewal
The Church in 300-400 AD
Politicized Christendom
Severe Christian declineChristian declineStagnating Christianity
Severe persecutionPersecution
Christian majority/stateActive Christian witness/renewal
311: Emperor Constantine killed 10,000 N. African donatists
303-312 Tenth imperial persecution 750,000 martyred
327-402 Persians savagely persecute Eastern Christians
Persecution in the 4th Century
962,000
0.52%
14.3
World population in millions
Christians in millions
Christians as % of world pop.
Christian martyrs during century
Martyrs as % of all Christians
13.4%7.5%
186
25
Key statistics 300–400 400300
192
Persecution in the 4th Century
The Persecutors The Persecuted
Persians
Other
CatholicRomans
An estimated 962,000 martyrs
EasternCopts
Armenians
Latin
Donatist
ArianRomans
PaganRomans
Barbarians Various