CHRISTIANITY: STATE RELIGION, ECUMENICAL COUNCILS, & RISE OF MONASTICISM

CHRISTIANITY: STATE RELIGION,

ECUMENICAL COUNCILS, & RISE OF MONASTICISM

METILLO, Lorie Ann D., QUIBOD, Anfanna Krizza, SOLON, Anjelica, VILLARBA, Joanne M.

END OF PERSECUTION

Edict of Toleration (311 A.D.)

- Emperor Galerius’ dying wish

through an edict that “formally

ended the persecution, freed

imprisoned Christians and restored

Christianity.”

END OF PERSECUTION

Edict of Toleration (311 A.D.)

- granted an imperial assurance

of safety, respect, and

independence

in the conduct of the

Christian faith

END OF PERSECUTION

The Palinode of GaleriusConsidering our most gentle clemency and our immemorial

custom by which we are wont to grant indulgence to all

men, we have thought it right in their case to extend

the speediest indulgence to the effect that they be once

more be free to live (sint) as Christians and may reform

their churches (conventicula component) always provided

that they do nothing contrary to [public] order

(disciplinam). Further by another letter we shall inform

provincial governors (iudicibus) what conditions the

Christians must observe.

END OF PERSECUTION

But there were authorities who

still insisted that Christians must

pay homage to the Roman gods.

END OF PERSECUTION

According to historical records,

“the inscription from Arycandia in

Lycia preserves the petition of the

provincial councils of Lycia and Caria

demanding that ‘atheists’ (Christians)

should be made to sacrifice or be

expelled from their midst.”

END OF PERSECUTION

Sacrifice/Expulsion of Atheists(Christians)

- Council of Nicomedia- Council of Antioch- Council of Tyre

At Damascus, the military commander rounded up prostitutes and coerced them to confess having witnessed disgraceful scene in Christian churches. Without new edicts, prominent Christian leaders were seized, tried, and executed.

END OF PERSECUTION

The savage outbreak of killing between November 311 and January 312 deprived Christians in the East some of their

foremost leaders.

Maximinus Daia, even with the policy of toleration, slowly returned to oppressing Christians. He forbade Christians to assemble in their cemeteries and tried to expel them form larger towns.

END OF PERSECUTION

Maximinus Daia- reorganized pagan cults

- recreated an atmosphere for other officials “justifying” taking action against Christians

- banishment from towns became imposed (though not fully implemented)

END OF PERSECUTION

Maximinus Daia- Christian leaders were once

more arrested, imprisoned and condemned to death (by wild beasts and beheading)

CHRISTIANS RE-EXPERIENCED THE HORROR OF PERSECUTION AND AT THE SAME TIME, THE GIFT OF

MARTYRDOM.

END OF PERSECUTION

312 A.D. – (Oct.) defeat of Maxentius313 A.D. – Constantine, together with Licinus, (the emperors) gave the persecution its final and definitive halt through the

EDICT OF MILAN

EDICT OF MILAN

- “We should therefore give both the Christians and to all others the free facility to follow the religion which each may desire”

- “For the common good and public security”

- “For the grace and favor of whatever divinity is enthroned in heaven”

EDICT OF MILAN

- gave an

“unrestricted freedom… to the Christians along with

complete and free restoration of all church property still remaining

in the hands of the state or of individual.”

But,

what prompted Constantine to issue

such a decree, the Edict of Milan?

Was it religiously inspiredor politically motivated?

CONSTANTINE

A POLITICAL OPPORTUNISTOR RELIGIOUS HERO?

VARYING OPINIONS:- “shrewd political strategist” who used religion (Christianity) to expand the territory and power of the Roman Empire, multiply the number of his army and exploit Christian teachings to control and regulate the behaviors of his subject.

CONSTANTINE

Journey to Christianity- vision: in hoc (signo) vinces inscribed in a cross of light that ‘led’ to his victory against Emperor Maxentius (@ Milvian Bridge)

- had his soldiers mark their shields with the Chi-rho monogram

- Shown inclination to Christianity as his reign progressed

CONSTANTINE

- instructed the proconsul of

Africa, Anulinus, to see that the

Catholic Church in North Africa

received back in toto possessions

forfeited in the persecutions,

even if these were now in the

hands of private citizens

CONSTANTINE

- the clergy “in the Catholic Church over which Caecilian presides, were to be granted immunity from state burdens”

- did those as a reward to those who with “due holiness and constant observance of the law, bestow their services on the performance of divine worship”

CONSTANTINE

- personal devotion to the Christian religion became more pronounced

- famulum Dei – “our God” with the holy bishop of the Saviour Christ

- his obedience to the “will of God” was absolute

- he allowed himself scant respect of the past

CONSTANTINE

- increased Christian infrastructure and monetary favor:

o 313 - Fausta’s palace to the Lateran Churcho grant of the rest of the lands listed in

Liber Pontificalis to various churches in Rome (amounting to 26, 370 gold soldi/year or more than 400 lbs of goldo c. 322 – St. Peter’s monumental churcho granted immunity form the financial burdens of municipal administration and from all municipal levies… [and] assigning (to the) jurisdiction of the bishops the same validity as that of magistrate

CONSTANTINE

- increased Christian infrastructure and monetary favor:

o 321 & 325 – the manumission of slaves by clergy in a church was declared as binding as that performed before magistrates

- Clergy were being recognized as civic as well as religious leaders and accorded a corresponding status

CONSTANTINE

Climax of the emperor’s final legacies - MAY 11, 330 (2 mos before his 25th anniversary as Augustus)

dedicated the new capital[Constantinople, after his own name]

forbade the offering of sacrifices in pagan temples that had been restored or erected there

since the city had fallen to him in 324

NO IDOLATROUS WORSHIP/PAGAN FESTIVALS

CONSTANTINE

THE [CONSTANTINIAN] REVOLUTION HAD BEEN ACCOMPLISHED.

“RELIGIOUS FREEDOM”:WHAT ABOUT THE PAGANS?

NO MATTER HOW GREAT THE WORDS AND WORKS OF CONSTANTINE TOWARDS CHRISTIANITY, SOME HISTORIANS REMAINED DOUBTFUL REGARDING HIS SINCERE CONVERSION TO THE CHRISTIAN FAITH, WHICH ONLY TOOK PLACE ON HIS

DEATHBED.

DECLARATION OF CHRISTIANITY AS ROMAN STATE RELIGION

“It is Our will that all the peoples who are ruled by the administration of Our

Clemency shall practice that religion which the divine Peter the Apostle transmitted to

the Romans, as the region which he introduced makes clear even unto this day. It is evident that this is the religion

that is followed by the pontiff Damasus and by Peter, Bishop of Alexandria…

We command that those persons who follow this rule shall embrace the

name of Catholic Christians.The Emperor Theodosius, Edict of Thessalonica in 380 Theodosian

Code XVI

GREAT ECUMENICAL COUNCILS OF THE EARLY CHURCH

- “literally a council drawn from the whole world”

- “meeting of all the bishops of the inhabited world (Gk. oikumene)” in order “to deliberate on Church affairs, make decisions and lay regulations.”

- 4th cen. – focused on Christological heresies – a dispute pertaining to the person and identity of Jesus Christ


1. Claim of Arius (Arianism)- Arius – priest of Alexandria

- preached:

“Divine Word [Jesus Christ] is God’s foremost creature and

creator of all the others, but He is not of the substance of

God the Father and not eternal.”


2. Council of Nicea (325 A.D.)Arius disturbed the unity of the

Christians and managed to convince few believers. He was condemned by local ecclesiastical authorities,

like in Egypt, but was supported by prominent Church leaders like Eusebius of Caesarea “who was

banished after Nicea.”


2. Council of Nicea (325 A.D.)First Ecumenical Council of Nicea- attended by 230 bishops- condemned Arius as heretic- affirmed its faith in Jesus as equal to the Father in the famous Nicene Creed (325 A.D.)

- Homoousios – the Son of God is of the same substance (ousia) with the Father or consubstantial with Him


2. Council of Nicea (325 A.D.)- affirms Jesus as fully divine, eternal, not made and truly human

- condemns (anathema) those who distort or intend to ruin his person and identity by their heretical beliefs and teachings


2. Council of Nicea (325 A.D.)- Athanasius

- bishop of Alexandria- responsible for the partial

defeat of Arianism- “the greatest of the 4th

century defenders of the First Council of Nicea and opponents of Arius.”


3. First Council of Constantinople (381 A.D.)Even with the fruits of the Council of Nicea, heresies still persisted

“If he [Jesus] was very God,how could he be true man?”

Apollinaris of Laodicea “denied the full humanity of Jesus saying that the rational soul in him had been replaced by the divine Logos therefore, making Jesus “incapable of sin because he did not have a human soul which was capable of sin and error.”


For Apollinaris the Word is the unique principle of the flesh of Jesus. If Christ also had a human soul, or mind, then the Word would have been in a man, as Paul of Samosata seemed to be saying, but the Word itself would not have been made flesh. “How can God become a human being without ceasing to be God except by taking the place of the mind in a human being?”


3. First Council of Constantinople (381 A.D.)

Emperor Theodosius I - declared Christianity as official religion of the Roman Empire - appointed Gregory of Nazianzus as new bishop of Constantinople - “convened a council in his capital” in order



Emperor Theodosius I - “to re-establish the Creed of Nicea, condemn Arianism and Apollinarianism and if possible, pave the way for a reconciliation with the West.”

Thus, the Council of Constantinople indeed re-affirmed Nicea and condemned Apollinarianism and Arianism:



“We condemn those who say that the Word of God dwelling in Human flesh took the place of the rational and

spiritual soul since the Son and the Word of God did not replace the

rational and spiritual soul in His body but rather assumed our soul (i.e. rational an spiritual one)

without sin and saved it.”


4. Council of Ephesus (431 A.D.)After the achievements of the

councils at Nicea and Constantinople,

a new question assailed the church authorities and divided its leaders.

Nestorius - patriarch of Constantinople


4. Council of Ephesus (431 A.D.)Nestorius

divided the two natures in Christ,one divine and the other humanand each has its own personal

manifestation

and conceded that Marywas Christbearer (Christotokos)

but not the “Mother of God” (Theotokos)

as it was “called by both Origen and Eusebius of Caesarea.”


4. Council of Ephesus (431 A.D.)Cyril - bishop of Alexandria - countered the claims of Nestorius - “intelligent theologian who is faithful to Nicea”


4. Council of Ephesus (431 A.D.)Cyril - “worked to emphasize the unity of divine and human in Christ” and - strongly argued that the title Theotokos for Mary is “permissible.”

The Council of Ephesuscondemned the views of Nestoriusand declared Mary as Theotokos.


5. Council of Chalcedon (451 A.D.)Eutyches – monk from Constantinople - dissatisfied with the previous declarations on the person of Christ - asserted that, although there were two natures before the union of the Incarnation, there resulted only one nature, the divine, after the union.


5. Council of Chalcedon (451 A.D.)Eutyches – monk from Constantinople - dissatisfied with the previous declarations on the person of Christ - asserted that, although there were two natures before the union of the Incarnation, there resulted only one nature, the divine, after the union.


5. Council of Chalcedon (451 A.D.)Eutyches - “Christ’s human nature was completely absorbed by the divine nature.”

Monophysitism (the heresy)doctrine of one nature of

Christ


5. Council of Chalcedon (451 A.D.)Flavian - bishop of Constantinople - condemned and excommunicated Eutyches since his heresy deliberately and clearly violated the teachings of the previous councils

RISE OF MONASTICISM

Monks – best keepers of the Church

when Christianity was bombarded with worldly

concerns and immersed with mundane desires, earthly allurements of power, prestige and privilege.

RISE OF MONASTICISM

Monks – lived in ascetic way of lifetotal renunciation of

• the world• temporal ambitions• the desire for marriage• the right to private ownership

life of self-purification through a life of consistent prayer and self-discipline allfor the sake of religious and holiness

RISE OF MONASTICISM

1. Eremitical monks- Gk. eremos – solitary- St. Anthony (Father of

Monasticism) chose to live in a life of

solitary existence in the desert of Egypt, of celibacy and of self-mortification

was followed by at least 5,000 monks

RISE OF MONASTICISM

2. Cenobitical monks- Gk. Koinobion – convent- lived with their fellow monks

in a community under the guidance and leadership of an abbot

- sets a common time of prayer, work, and various communal activities(though personal prayer and work

can be pursued)

RISE OF MONASTICISM

2. Cenobitical monks- vows of poverty and celibacy- pledge of obedience to the

abbot for an orderly communal life and a gesture of trust in the wisdom and guidance of their head

RISE OF MONASTICISM

3. Stylites monks- Gk. stulos – pillar- made their sincere act of

penance by living at the top of a pillar

- St. Simeon Stylites (most famous)

lived at the top of a 60-foot for 43 years

the entire day was spent in prayer and intercession

RISE OF MONASTICISM

*St. Benedict of Nursia, Italy (480-550)

- Father of Western Monasticism- lived like a hermit

characterized by:1.Self-denial2.Self-mortification3.Prayer and holiness

- his life

RISE OF MONASTICISM

*St. Benedict of Nursia, Italy (480-550)

- his life of example in selflessness and holiness attracted followers and made him abbot of a monastery

True to their rule and way of life, the Benedictine motto speaks the ideal of every monk in ora et labora (prayer and work)

CONCLUSION

THE CHURCH CONTINUES TO UNDERSTAND HER FAITH IN JESUS.

THE ECUMENICAL COUNCILS ENLIGTHENED THE ISSUES SURROUNDING THE FAITH.

OUR GENERATION IS SO BLESSED TO ENJOY THE FRUIT OF THE LABOR FROM THOSE COUNCILS.

CONCLUSION

THE KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM HANDED DOWN TO US WAS INTENDED THAT A GREATER

UNDERSTANDING OF JESUS LEADS US TO A GREATER LOVE FOR OUR LORD.

ON CHRISTIANITY AS THE STATE RELIGION OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE:THIS BLESSED THE CHURCH WITH CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL PRIVILEGES AND BENEFITS,

PAVING THE WAY FOR DEVELOPMENTS IN VARIOUS CHRISTIAN SERVICES AND WAY OF

LIFE.

CONCLUSION

ON CHRISTIANITY AS THE STATE RELIGION OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE:THIS BLESSED THE CHURCH WITH CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL PRIVILEGES AND BENEFITS,

PAVING THE WAY FOR DEVELOPMENTS IN VARIOUS CHRISTIAN SERVICES AND WAY OF

LIFE.BUT THIS MADE TEMTPATION TO STATUS QUO

AND CONVENIENCE ADAMANT.MEMBERSHIP IN THE CHURCH WAS REQUIRED AND THE QUALITY OF CHRISTIAN COMMITMENT

SEEMED TO BE AT STAKE.

CONCLUSION

ON MONASTICISM:MONKS WERE CONVINCED THAT THE CALLING OF A CHRISTIAN IS TO SEEK POVERTY, PURITY,

AND HOLINESS.THEIR CHOICE TO ABSOLUTELY ABANDON THE WORLD, INCLUDING THEIR EARTHLY AMBITIONS AND TO WHOLEHEARTEDLY OFFER THEMSELVES

TO GOD ENABLES US TO ADMIRE THEIR DEDICATION AND INSPIRES US IN OUR OWN

STRUGGLE FOR CONTENMENT WITH OUR WORLDLY DESIRES.

CONCLUSION

THROUGH THIS CHAPTERWE ARE REMINDED TO CONSCIOUSLY AND CONTINUALLY DECIDE FOR OUR

FAITH, WITH OR WITHOUT THE HABIT

Spiritual

CHRISTIANITY: STATE RELIGION, ECUMENICAL COUNCILS, & RISE OF MONASTICISM