CH 510 – The History
of Christianity 1
UNIT TWO – The Imperial Church
Slides based in part on The Story of Christianity by Justo Gonzalez
The Dawn of the
Imperial Age of the
Church
Diocletian (244-311)
Diocletian reorganizes the
Empire
• East & West
• Two Co-Emperors – Title: “Augustus”
• Diocletian in the East
• Maximian in the West
• Two “Junior” Emperors – Title: “Caesar”
• Galerius (250-311) in the East – commander of the Army of the
Danube which was fighting the Persians at the time
• Constantius Chlorus in the West
• This organization worked well while Diocletian was alive
• Administratively easier
• Relative peace
• Secured line of succession (in theory preventing civil wars)
The Great Persecution
• At first, the peace of the church seemed assured
• Both Diocletian’s wife and daughter were Christians
• None, but Galerius, had given any indication of enmity towards
Christianity
• The Cause of Persecution: Military service of Christians
• No consensus among Christians about military service; many
Christians in the legions
• Some were condemned to death for refusing to serve, some
condemned for leaving service
• Christians deemed dangerous because there was no guarantee
(in the eyes of their commanders) as to whether they would obey
orders
• Galerius convinced Diocletian to expel Christians from the
legions, which he did so by decree
Outbreak of Persecution
• Diocletian’s edict did not order any further repercussions
against Christians other than expulsion from the legions
• However, some officers attempted to force Christians to deny
their faith
• Result: a number of executions, all of them in the army of the
Danube, under Galerius
• In 303, Galerius convinced Diocletian to issue an edict
expelling Christians from positions of public trust, and
destroying all Christian books and buildings
• Christians who refused to hand over their sacred writings
were tortured and condemned
The Situation worsens…
• Two fires that broke out in the Imperial palace are blamed on
Christians (some suggest that Galerius was responsible)
• Diocletian orders all Christians in the imperial court to offer
incense before the gods (his wife and daughter comply;
several others refuse and are executed)
• Diocletian becomes paranoid of conspiracies against him;
orders all Christian leaders arrested
• Must hand over sacred writings (“Traditors”)
• Must sacrifice to the gods
• Many succumbed to the threats, others fled, many were
martyred
Galerius forces Diocletian’s
abdication
• Diocletian becomes ill in 304; abdicates in 305
• Galerius then secures Maximian’s abdication by threatening to
invade the latter’s territories; Maximian complies
• Constantius Chlorus takes over as Augustus of the West;
Galerius in the East (senior emperor)
• Constantius’ son, Constantine, held as hostage in Galerius’ court
• Two Caesars: Severus (West) and Maximinus Daia (East)
• Severus appointed Augustus in the West after Constantius’ death
Instability
• Constantine escapes and joins his father, Constantius, in Britain
• When Constantius dies, the troops refuse to obey the designs of
Galerius and proclaim Constantine as their “Augustus”
• An infuriated Galerius offers Constantine the position of Caesar
instead; Constantine accepts the compromise
• Meanwhile, Maxentius (son of the dethroned Maximian), takes
Rome; Severus commits suicide
• Galerius invades the West, but his troops pass over to Maxentius;
forcing Galerius to go back East to appeal to the retired Diocletian to
resume power
• Licinius appointed by Galerius as the new Augustus in the West
(308)
• The Empire was in a stalemate, with competing Augusti
• Civil war was inevitable
Persecution subsides…
• Persecution continued under Galerius and Maximinus Daia
unabated; the other emperors did not enforce persecution
edicts
• Suddenly Galerius becomes ill, and convinced that this is God’s
judgment upon him, issues a decree changing the policy (April
30, 311)
• Galerius dies five days later
• Licinius, Maximinus Daia, Constantine, and Maxentius
(usurper)
• Constantine marches towards Rome, Maxentius’ capital (312)
Constantine
the Great
Constantine’s path to sole
emperorship
• The Battle of Milvian Bridge (October 28, 312)
• Defeat and death of Maxentius
• Constantine becomes master of the western empire
“In hoc signo vinces.”
• Lactantius recorded that Constantine received this sign in a
dream on the night before battle and was commanded to
place it on the shields and labarum of his soldiers
• Eusebius records that the vision of this symbol appeared in
the sky with the words: “In hoc signo vinces,” i.e. “In this sign
you shall conquer.”
(Chi-Rho)
The Edict of Milan (313)
• After the battle of Milvian Bridge, Constantine meets Licinius
at Milan to draw up an alliance
• Constantine rules the west, while the east continued to be
partitioned between Licinius and Maximinus Daia
• Part of the agreement was that the persecution of Christians
would stop
• Considered the end of official persecution, though Galerius’ edict
is probably a more important watershed
• Despite the Edict, Maximinus Daia continued his policy of
persecution
In the aftermath of Milan
• Constantine consolidates his power in the west, while Licinius
goes off to make war with Maximinus Daia in the east
• Maximinus defeated at Byzantium by Licinius (August 313)
• Empire divided between Constantine and Licinius
• Related by marriage, so hope that civil wars would cease
• Both secretly aspired to be sole rulers
• Civil war broke out in 314, and Constantine ceded all of
Licinius’ European territories
• The war ended with a truce that lasted until 322
• Licinius attitude towards Christians soured as he was
suspicious that they were praying for the triumph of his rival,
Constantine
Constantine defeats Licinius
• Constantine invades Licinius’ territories again in 322 under
false pretenses
• Licinius feared Constantine’s labarum so much that he ordered
his troops to avoid looking at the Christian emblem, and not to
direct a frontal attack against it; Constantine’s much smaller
army is victorious
• Licinius flees to Byzantium, and after a series of defeats,
surrenders; he is later murdered
• Constantine becomes the sole emperor of the Roman world
(324)
Byzantium
• “New Rome” “Constantinople”
• Constantine personally draws the line for the new walls of his
city
From Unconquered Sun to Jesus
Christ
Constantine’s Religiosity
Constantine’s religion
• Never placed himself under Christian tutelage or bishops
• High ranking Christians formed part of his entourage
• Continued to take part in pagan rites even after his conversion
• Bishops raised no voice of condemnation
• Considered himself “bishop of bishops” with the right to
determine his own religious practices and even to intervene in
the life of the church
• Did not receive baptism until his deathbed
Attitude of Christian leadership
• Constantine’s moral and religious deviations were seen as the
actions of one who, while inclined to become a Christian, had
not yet taken the decisive step (i.e. baptism)
• Afforded latitude in these matters due to the favor that he
poured out on the Church
• Church could support and advise Constantine, but not give
him spiritual direction
• The truth of the matter is that Constantine was probably a
true believer in the power of Christ; seeking the favor of the
God of the Christians, not the Christians themselves since he
had little to gain from allying himself with them
• “God-fearer” analogy works here
Impact of Constantine
• Cessation of persecution (immediate)
• Development of “official theology”
• Marriage of church and state? Great apostasy?
• Intellectual, doctrinal development; heresy & orthodoxy
• Pagan reaction –culminating in reign of Julian the Apostate
• Development of liturgical cultus (worship)
• Building of churches (basilicas)
Official Theology
Eusebius of Caesarea (c. 263339)
• Born most likely in Palestine; spent most of his life in Caesarea
• Disciple of Pamphilus of Caesarea, a teacher in the Origenist
tradition
• Eusebius traveled far and wide on a quest to find original
Christian documents
• Affected by the persecution started by Diocletian
• Eventually collaborated with Pamphilus the five book Defense
of Origen; added a sixth book after the latter’s martyrdom
• Most important work: History of the Church
• Without his work, our knowledge of the early period of church
history would be reduced by half
• Deep admirer of Constantine
Eusebius
• Became bishop of Caesarea in 313
• Attended the Council of Nicaea (325)
• Sympathetic to Arius, but supported Nicaea
• Overall interest was the unity of the church
Reactions to
Imperial Favor
The new situation – imperial
favor
• Eusebius represents one extreme:
• Recent events are the fulfillment of God’s purposes
• Imperial favor meant that church offices became positions of
privilege, power and prestige
• Various motives of those who desired church offices
• Christians no longer lived in fear of persecution
• Some considered security and comfortable living to be the
greatest enemies of the faith
• How was one to be true to Christ in such circumstances?
The Reaction of
Monasticism
The Origins of Monasticism
• Even before the Peace of Constantine, there were some who
chose to live ascetical lives (e.g. self-denial, celibacy)
• Origen of Alexandria
• Platonic ideals reinforced by statements from the gospels and
Paul’s letters (e.g. eunuchs for the kingdom?)
• Appeal of asceticism among the Gnostics
• Roots of monasticism both inside and outside the church
• Asceticism popular in Greek Philosophy
• Platonism
• Stoicism
• Imperial favor for the Church meant a new appeal to these
approaches to spirituality
The Desert Fathers
Monasticism
• “Monk” comes from monachos (meaning “solitary”)
• “Anchorite” – meaning “withdrawn” or “fugitive”
• Two early biographers of desert fathers:
• Athansius’ Life of Anthony
• Jerome’s Life of Paul the Hermit
• Monasticism not the invention of an individual, but rather a
mass movement or “exodus” from the world into the
wilderness where individuals could live the “ideal” of selfsacrifice and prayer unhindered from the world
St. Anthony of the
Desert (c. 251-356)
St. Pachomius (c.
286-348)
Communal (Cenobitic)
Monasticism
• Increasingly, solitary monasticism would give way to
communal monasticism (by default)
• Cenobitic (meaning “communal”)
• Pachomius’ vision to “serve humankind” (rejected it at first)
•
•
•
•
Repeated attempts
Success based on the adoption of a rigorous rule
Rule of life: work and devotion
Monastic enclosures
Monastic Life (Pachomian)
• “Pray without ceasing”
• Defined daily roles and chores (bakery, cobblers, etc.)
• Psalmody, Scripture reading and meditation, prayer (corporate
and private)
• Regular meeting times (morning/evening)
• Hierarchy: abbots, archimandrites (vows of obedience to
superiors)
• Typically dependent on churches and regular clergy for
sacramental administrations (Eucharist)
• Attracted pagans as well as Christians
Proliferation of Monasticism
• Various Lives of notable monks (e.g. those written by
Athanasius, Jerome) popularized the monastic spirit
• Notable church fathers founded monasteries (e.g. Basil the
Great)
The Schismatic
Reaction
Donatism (4th century)
• The question of the “lapsed”
• The question arose after each violent persecution
• Novatian schism (3rd century)
• Cyprian of Carthage – Episcopal authority vs. Confessors
• The early 4th century persecutions had been particularly
violent in North African; many had yielded to pressure to
renounce the faith or hand over the scriptures
• Traditores:
• Some handed over fake scriptures
• Some handed over genuine Christian scriptures
Confessors
• Those who survived imprisonment and/or torture during
periods of persecution – Confessors
• Highly respected for the firmness of their faith
• The “intercession” of Confessors was sought in cases of those
who had lapsed
• In his day, Cyprian of Carthage battled with confessors who were
often too ready to readmit the lapsed back into the communion
of the church without regard to the authority of bishops
• The situation was different in the 4th century: Confessors took a
harder line against the lapsed than the bishops
• Bishops were accused of being “traditores” simply for being
lenient to the lapsed
Controversy over Caecilian
(311)
• Dispute over the see of the famous Cyprian of Carthage
• Caecilian was elected shortly after the end of the persecution
in the west; not popular with the rigorist party
• Caecilian was known for denouncing the fanatical craving for
martyrdom that was popular in North Africa during the last
persecution
• Consecrated in haste by Bishop Felix of Aptunga
• Denounced by Secundus, Primate of Numidia, who denounced
Felix as a “traditore”
• The rigorous party then elected Majorinus as a rival bishop
• Majorinus died shortly afterwards
• Donatus elected after the death of Majorinus; leader of the
rigorous movement for nearly 50 years
Donatist Schism
• The bishop of Rome and many other bishops quickly declared
in favor of Caecilian, asserting that Majorinus and Donatus
were usurpers
• Constantine took great interest in the controversy
• Imperial policy against the Donatists; suppression
Causes: theological, political &
economic
• Theological: Validity of Sacramental Administrations
• Were the sacraments of “heretical” bishops valid?
• Some of the Donatist bishops were questionable
• Political & Economic:
• Cosmopolitan vs. Rural
• Romanized (Latin) vs. Native (indigenous culture/language)
Donatism vs. The “World”
• Early Donatists not opposed to the empire as much as they
were to “worldliness”
• Thus the Donatist movement is seen as a reaction to the “new
situation” of Imperial favor upon recognized Christianity
• Nevertheless, they repeatedly sought for a repeal of
Constantine’s policy against them; and official recognition
• CIRCUMCELLIONS (c. 340):
• Considered “bandits” – resorted to violence
• Fanatics for martyrdom (i.e. terrorists)
• Romans had no other recourse than the violent suppression of
the Donatists
• Donatism persisted even after the invasion of the Vandals (5th
century)
Augustine of Hippo
(354-430)
The Arian Challenge
Testing Imperial intervention
• Constantine’s peace was destined to change the way the
Church would deal with doctrinal disagreements and
controversies
• Constantine had hoped that Christianity could unify the
empire (“cement of the Empire”); thus took a personal
interest in disputes which threatened the Church’s unity
• In time, imperial intervention in doctrinal matters would be
used to serve political ends and often prove to be the cause of
lasting divisions
The Arian Controversy
• Seedbed of the controversy: Alexandrian approach
• Accommodationist stance towards Philosophy
• Representative theologians: Justin, Clement, Origen
• God seen as “perfection” (i.e. immutable, impassible, and
fixed, unbegotten)
• Allegorical interpretation helped Hellenistic thinkers to make
sense of a Bible which presented an “earthy” God
• Logos theology: Logos = reason of God (personal, capable of
direct relations with the world and with humans)
Logos Theology
Immutable God
(Perfection)
Mediating Logos (Reason)
Mutable Created Order (Humanity)
(Imperfect)
Logos Theology: “Begottenness”
• The Arian controversy would hinge on the interpretation of
the Greek term gennetos (“begotten”)
• In Greek philosophy this term had a broader, hence vaguer sense
than the way it is used in the NT
• “came to be” or “derived from” or “generated”
• Alexandrian Christian thought had learned to express its
monotheistic stance by insisting that God is the sole
agennetos (“underived” or “unbegotten”)
• All else that exists was derived or generated (including the Son)
• However, the way that the Son was generated was unique over
against the way all other things were generated
Origen’s understanding
• All things were generated or “begotten” out of nonexistence
(creatio ex nihilo), except for the Son
• The Logos (Son) was generated or “born” from God, and thus
was truly the “only-begotten Son” of the Father
• The Logos is “eternally begotten” (begotten from eternity)
• Hence the Logos is in a secondary but real sense divine
• What Origenist tradition envisaged was a pluralism of divine
persons within a hierarchy of being:
God (eternal, unchanging first principle)
The Logos or Son (Image of God, begotten from God)
All Creatures (called out of non-existence)
Alexander vs. Arius
• Alexander: contended for the co-eternal Word
• Argued that Arius denied the divinity of Christ
• Church always worshiped Jesus; either worship had to cease or
the Church would be sanctioning creature worship
• Arius: “There was when he was not”
• The Word (Logos) is the “first” creation
• The Word pre-existed the Incarnation
• Argued that Alexander denied monotheism
• Alexander condemns Arius
• Arius appealed to his former students and bishops in the East
• Protests in Alexandria on behalf of Arius
The details of Arius’ position
• Affirmed the hierarchical idea that the Logos mediates
between God and the world
• But argued that between the ungenerated and the generated,
God and creature, there could be no ontological middle
ground
• The mediator must be God or creature, and since there cannot
be two Gods, it follow that the Son is a creature.
• Alexander, by stressing the deity of the Logos (and his exact
likeness to God) held one of two impossible assumptions,
either:
• There are two Gods
• Or, like the Monarchians believed, no real distinction between
Father and Son
Constantine intervenes…
• Recently defeated Licinius (324)
• Sends Bishop Hosius of Cordova (advisor in ecclesiastical
affairs) to Alexandria, who reports back that reconciliation was
not possible by normal entreaties
• Constantine calls for a great council of Christian bishops from
throughout the world
• Goal to settle the Arian dispute with a consensus statement
• Establish standards throughout the empire
Hosius’ detour through Antioch
• On his way back from Alexandria, Hosius stopped to preside
over an assembly of bishops in Antioch to install a new bishop
there (Eustathius)
• The assembly issued a confession of faith that rejected Arius’
teaching:
“The Logos is begotten not from nonexistence but from the
Father, not as made but as properly an offspring…he exists
everlastingly…and is immutable and unchangeable.”
Council of Nicaea
(325)
Council of Nicaea (or Nicea)
• Traditional number of bishops in attendance: 318 (according
to Athanasius)
• Constantine invited over 1800 bishops
• Eusebius counted 220; Eustathius counted 270
• Majority from the East, very few from the West
• The Council considered many matters of mutual concern and
interest throughout the church
• Standard procedures for readmitting the lapsed
• Elections and ordinations of bishops and priests
• Precedence of episcopal sees
The parties at Nicaea…
1. Arian Party led by Eusebius of Nicodemia (small group)
2. Anti-Arian Party led by Alexander of Alexandria (small group)
3. The Western Position: Saw the matter as a controversy
between Eastern followers of Origen; sufficient to declare
that in God were “three persons and one substance”
(Tertullian’s position)
4. Patripassianism (Sabellians or Monarchians): The Father
and the Son are the same person (the Father “suffered the
passion”)
5. Majority of bishops at the council held to the traditional
Eastern Subordinationist position; sought a compromise
position
The Eastern Subordination View
• Based on Logos Theology (Origen’s explanation)
• God (Father) is sole agennetos; all else is gennetos (begotten)
• Creatures are generated or begotten out of nonexistence, thus
are “begotten and made”
• The Son is “eternally begotten” from God (thus born of God),
hence is “begotten, not made.”
• Christ is divine in the sense of being from God, but
subordinate to God
• UNRESOLVED: What is the true nature of the Logos?
The tide turns against the
Arians…
• Eusebius of Nicodemia argued that Christ was but a mere
creature, provoking an angry reaction from most of the
attendees
• Shouts of “heresy” “blasphemy” “liar”
• Speech snatched from his hands; torn to shreds
• Resolve of Council to reject Arianism in clearest possible way
• At first sought to cite scripture passages against Arianism;
then turned its energies towards producing a creed
• Eusebius of Caesarea (not to be confused with Eusebius
Nicodemia) read aloud the creed from his own church, which
became the basis for the Council’s creed
• Constantine himself suggested the word homoousios be
included in the creed
Creed of Nicaea (325)
We believe in one God the Father all powerful, maker of all things both
seen and unseen. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the
only-begotten begotten from the Father, that is from the
substance [Gr. ousias] of the Father, God from God, light from light,
true God from true God, begotten [Gr. gennethenta] not made [Gr.
poethenta], CONSUBSTANTIAL [Gr. homoousion] with the Father,
through whom all things came to be, both those in heaven and those
in earth; for us humans and for our salvation he came down and
became incarnate, became human, suffered and rose up on the third
day, went up into the heavens, is coming to judge the living and the
dead. And in the holy Spirit.
And those who say "there once was when he was not", and "before he
was begotten he was not", and that he came to be from things that
were not, or from another hypostasis [Gr. hypostaseos] or substance
[Gr. ousias], affirming that the Son of God is subject to change or
alteration, these the catholic and apostolic church anathematizes.
Homoousios (“Of the same
substance”)
• Intended to protect the full divine status of the Son and his coeternality with the Father
• In time, would become a major stumbling block for bishops in
the East because they felt it implied Sabellianism
(Patripassianism), i.e., the idea that there was no real
distinction between the Father and the Son
• The term Homoiousios (of “like” substance) would be
suggested as a compromise
The Aftermath
• Constantine banished the few bishops who did not sign the
Nicene agreement (e.g. Eusebius of Nicodemia)
• Alexander dies in 328; Athanasius succeeds him
• Later, Eusebius convinced Constantine that he had been too
harsh on the Arians; even Arius was recalled from exile, but
died before restoration
• Eusebius and his followers convinced Constantine to banish
Athanasius and other notable Nicene bishops on a number of
false allegations, while being careful not to challenge
Constantine’s cherished Nicene formula
Other matters settled by Nicaea
• Established church structure above the local level, based on
the provincial divisions of the empire (dioceses)
• Limited the authority of local churches by calling for regular
provincial councils of bishops, assigning seniority to the bishop
of the provincial metropolis (who was given veto power over
the election and ordination of other bishops in his area)
• Established the rule that no one could be made a bishop
without the participation of at least three other bishops of a
province
• Recognized the “exceptional” jurisdiction of the churches of
Alexandria, Rome and Antioch
• Formulated the method for establishing the date of Easter
The Baptism of Constantine
• Constantine is baptized on his deathbed by Eusebius of
Nicodemia; dies on May 22, 337
• The enemies of Nicaea appeared to have been victorious
Constantine’s Sons
1. Constantine II – Ruler over Britain, Gaul, Spain (337-340)
• Fell in ambush at Aquileia in 340 (against Constans)
2. Constantius II – The East: Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt (337-353);
sole ruler of the empire (353-361)
3. Constans – Central part of the empire including North Africa
(337-340); Ruler of the West (340-350); murdered by
Maxentius in 350
The Pagan Reaction
Julian “The Apostate”
(332-363)
Caesar (355); Sole Emperor (361-363)
Julian the Apostate
• Son of Julius Constantius, Constantine’s half-brother
• At age of six, Julian had seen all save one of his brothers
(Gallus) slaughtered by Constantius II’s troops
• Both Julius and Gallus were raised as Christians; baptized,
catechized, made readers in the Churhc
• However, Julian came under the influence of Neoplatonist
teachers and in time became a convinced, though discreet,
pagan
• Julian would go on to study in Athens, where he sought after
truth and beauty in the literature and religion of the ancient
Greeks; he knew Basil of Caesarea
Julian the Apostate
• Gallus, his half-brother, was made Caesar in 351; eventually
arrested and beheaded
• Julius was made Caesar in 355; turned out to be an able and
imaginative military leader and administrator in Gaul
• His troops proclaimed him “Augustus”
• Julian was marching at the head of his troops against
Constantius II when the latter suddenly died (361)
• Julian then succeeded Constantius II as sole ruler
• Once in power, he pursued his ideal of reform and revival of
the pagan religion, to which he had a serious, not to say
romantic, commitment
Julian’s religious policy
• Constantine had not outlawed paganism, but he did order the
ransacking of the temples and the enriching of Christian
churches
• Julian ordered the return of property to the pagan temples
and organized the pagan priesthood into a hierarchy similar to
that of the church
• Divided the empire into regions, each with its own archpriest
and each province with its own high priest; Julian was the
“supreme priest” (Pontifex Maximus)
• Ordered and financed massive sacrifices
• The revival of paganism was ridiculed by much of the
populace, even as many of the people participated in it
Julian’s policies against the
Church
• Julian did not pursue a policy of persecution against the
church, believing that it would not help his cause
• Julian did however exclude Christians from teaching in
imperially supported schools; also excluded Christians from
occupying high imperial office
• Julian allowed various bishops – both homoousian and
homoiousian – to return from exile (Julian had to exile
Athanasius a fourth time when this policy proved
controversial)
• Julian’s strategy was to ridicule Christians, calling them
“Galileans” (wrote the treatise Against the Galileans)
• Julian attempted to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem as a
practical rebuttal against the Christian claim that its
destruction fulfilled prophecy
Julian’s death
• Died in 363 during a campaign against the Persians
“Thou hast conquered, Galilean!”
Athanasius
(c. 298-376)
Athanasius’ resume
• Place of birth unknown; probably of lower class
• First language was Coptic; not well-versed in Greco-Roman cultural
niceties
• Close contact with the desert fathers; would eventually write Life of
Saint Anthony
• Lived a life a strict rigor and “straight speech”; endeared himself to
the populace
• Two important works: Against the Gentiles and On the Incarnation
• “Destined” to become the champion of the Nicene faith against the
Arians
• Athanasius fled to the desert when Alexander was on his deathbed;
did not want to succeed him as bishop
• Became bishop of Alexandria in 328, just as Arianism was regrouping
and resurging
The trials of Athanasius
• Accused by his enemies of killing Arsenius, a rival bishop;
charges turned out to be false
• A more serious charge was made against him by Eusebius of
Nicodemia while in Constantinople – that he plotted to stop
grain shipments of wheat from Egypt to Rome
• Sent to Trier in exile as a result
• Released after Constantine’s death, only to be exiled again
(voluntarily) to Rome after riots broke out in Alexandria over
the succession claims of a rival bishop named Gregory
• While in Rome he gained the support of the Roman clergy for
the Nicene cause; they supported his claim to the bishopric of
Alexandria
• Constans (emperor in the West) requested that his brother
Constantius (emperor in the East) let Athanasius return
Athanasius’ trials continued…
• His return to Alexandria was very momentous; enjoyed ten
years of stability and strengthening ties with the orthodox
• Upon Constans’ death, Constantius was free to pursue his proArian policies; summoned Athanasius to court who refused to
go; Athanasius escaped the grasp of imperial troops
• Five years of hiding in the desert; many orthodox bishops
were forced to sign Arian confessions during this time
• “Blasphemy of Sirmium” – open rejection of the Nicene faith
• When Constantius died (361), Athanasius was again allowed to
return to Alexandria under Julian; only to be exiled again
within a year (for a fourth time) because he proved to be too
popular
Homoousios vs. Homoiousios
• In his later career, Athanasius began to realize that many who
opposed the Nicene faith feared that the assertion that the
Son was of the “same substance” (homoousios) as the Father
was a denial of their hypostatic distinctions; the term
preferred was “of similar substance” (homoiousios)
• Athanasius convened a council in 362 where he held out an
olive branch to the homoiousion party by admitting “three
hypostases” (thus also affirming the Holy Spirit), which was
not intended to mean “three gods”; thus homoousios
intended to convey the idea of “identity of nature”
• Under Athanasius leadership the synod decreed that it was
enough for all to repudiate Arianism, to confess the faith of
the holy fathers at Nicaea, and to anathematize those who say
the Holy Spirit is a creature.
The end of Athanasius’ life
• Fled to the desert again (voluntary exile) in 362 when Julian
pursued him
• Restored to Alexandria under the emperor Jovian (who was an
admirer of Athanasius)
• Upon the succession of Valens, Athanasius fled again into the
desert, only to return after he was sure that Valens was not
going to pursue a policy against him
• Died in 373
• Athanasius’ views would be vindicated at the Council of
Constantinople (381)
The Cappadocians
The “New Nicene” Party
• Led by Basil of Caesarea
• Composed of Eastern Origenists and former homoiousians
who had rallied to the support of the Nicene faith under the
influence of Athanasius
• Worked for reconciliation between various groups that stood
against Arianism but were themselves divided
• Defend a framework that affirmed the full divinity of the
Logos and the Spirit
Basil of Caesarea (c.
330-379)
Basil the Great
• Born of a prominent Cappadocian family; educated at
Constantinople and Athens
• In Athens he met and began a lifelong friendship with Gregory
of Nazianzus
• Profoundly influenced by the ascetic life of his older sister,
Macrina; Basil established a community of monks on a family
estate
• Once elected bishop of Constantinople, he worked to
reconcile West and East, “old” and “new” Nicenes
• Confronted two heresies: Pneumatomachi (“Spirit-fighters”)
aka the “Macedonians,” and the Anomoeans (who argued that
Father and Son were “unlike” in nature)
• Wrote the treatise, On the Holy Spirit
Gregory of
Nazianzus (c. 329-c. 389)
Gregory of Nazianzus
• Lifelong friend of Basil of Caesarea
• Attracted to the contemplative life
• Orator of great distinction; imaginative and discerning
theologian
• Excessively sensitive to criticism; tendency to retreat from
positions of public responsibility
• Became the Patriarch of Constantinople by public acclamation
• Presided over the Council of Constantinople, but resigned the
bishopric of Constantinople when challenged by his
opponents that he was already a bishop of another city
• His enduring legacy is a body of sermons, known for the
eloquence and thoughtfulness
Gregory of Nyssa (c.
335-394)
Gregory of Nyssa
• Brother of Basil of Caesarea and of Macrina
• Surpassed both Basil and Gregory of Nazianzus in theological
depth and penetration
• His extensive writings came mostly from the period following
the death of his brother, when he took up his pen to defend
and develop Basil’s teaching
• Took up the attack against Arianism, but also the problems of
theological anthropology and the spiritual life
• Wrote A Dialogue on the Soul and Resurrection, otherwise
known as The Life of Macrina, in honor of his renowned older
sister, Macrina
Macrina (c. 330-379)
The Key to Reconciliation
• The key to reconciling the “old” Nicene party and the Eastern
homoiousion position was in the fine distinction that the
Cappodocian fathers made between:
1 ousia
<=> 3 hupostases
(1 essence)
(3 hypostases)
• The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are three hypostasis of the one
Divine essence
Eastern view of the Trinity
Father
Fountainhead of
Deity
Son
Begotten of
the Father
Holy
Spirit
Proceeds from
the Father
Capadocian Explanation
• The Father, the Word, and the Spirit are three distinct
hupostases (concrete, subsistent realities); each of which
instantiates a single, identical ousia (being or nature)
• Thus they are reasonably called homoousios
• The unity of being implies the unity of activity or operation;
they are not distinct from each other because they engage in
different activities; all are involved in every divine activity, but
in distinct ways that are proper to each hypostasis.
• This explanation was the basis for the theological affirmation
of Nicaea at the Council of Constantinople (381), and the
condemnation of the Pneumatomachi (the Macedonian Party)
Theodosius (347395)
Emperor from 379-395
Theodosius the Great
• The defeat and death of Emperor Valens at Andrianople (378)
at the hands of the Visigoths led the surviving emperor,
Gratian to appoint a new Augustus for the East: Theodosius
• Theodosius was a Spaniard; as a westerner he supported the
Nicene cause
• In 380, Theodosius and Gratian issued a joint decree that “all
the peoples of the empire” should practice the religion of
Pope Damasus (Rome) and of Pope Peter (Alexandria), which
confessed “the single Deity of the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit”
• This marked the triumph of the Nicene faith and a new
moment in the history of relation between the churches and
the Roman state (i.e. official religion was now Christianity)
Council of
Constantinople
(381)
Results of Constantinople (381)
• Affirmed the Nicene symbol (Creed of 325)
• Considered a further expansion of the creed which inserted
words that affirmed the divinity of the Holy Spirit (the
“Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed”)
• Condemned the Macedonian party
• Settled an old division in the Church in Antioch
• Gave the Church of Constantinople “the primacy of honor”
after the Church of Rome (thereby displacing the Church of
Alexandria)
• Causing new friction between West and East,
• Giving impetus to the already lively theological competition
between Alexandria and Antioch in the East
Important figures of
the Imperial Church
Ambrose of Milan (c.
339-397)
Ambrose’s resume
• Aurelius Ambrosius: Born in Trier, son of a praetorian prefect
of Gaul
• Educated in the rhetorical schools of Rome for a career in the
imperial service; practiced law for a time
• Appointed civil governor of the province of Aemilia-Leguria,
with its capital at Milan
• Upon the death of the Arian bishop, Auxentius (374), a bitter
controversy broke out between Arian and Nicene Christians
over his successor
• Compelled to intervene personally in order to keep the peace,
he found himself being acclaimed loudly as the next bishop
• Tried to dissuade the people, even attempted to escape from
the city
Ambrose’s resume
• The emperor, however, was pleased with the choice, so
Ambrose agreed to become bishop of Milan
• At the time he was only a catechumen, so Ambrose had to be
baptized and then raised through the various levels of
ministerial orders to that of bishop – all done in eight days
• He immediately changed his life by giving up all property,
adopting the discipline of an ascetic and taking up the study of
theology
• Ambrose would prove to champion the Nicene faith, and
throughout his career would seek an alliance of the Roman
state with orthodox Christianity as against Arianism, paganism
and Judaism
The Emperors during
Ambrose’s Episcopate
• Gratian (r. 367-383) – Emperor in the West
• Valentinian II (r. 375-392)
• Junior Emperor under Gratian until the latter’s death
• Empress Justina (his mother) ruled during his minority
• Magnus Maximus (r. 383-388)
• Usurper, rebelled against Gratian
• Defeated by Theodosius
• Theodosius I (r. 379-395) – Emperor in the East, appointed by
Gratian
• Intervened on behalf of Valentinian II against Maximus
• Became sole ruler of Empire upon Valentinian’s murder (392)
Ambrose vs. Empress Justina
• Ambrose refused Justina’s wish to allow Arian worship to be
celebrated
• Refused to hand over a disputed church to imperial troops, or
even its sacred vessels
Theodosius
• Ardent adherent to the Nicene faith
• Issued a proclamation with Gratian that the entire empire
should follow the Christian faith (380)
• Consistent with Ambrose’s own goal to forge a close alliance
between the church and the Roman state
• However, for Ambrose, the emperor was the church’s sponsor
and faithful child, but emphatically not its ruler
Ambrose vs. Theodosius
• Ambrose stood against Theodosius in his attempt to punish
the Christians of Callinicum for the burning of a Jewish
synagogue
• Ambrose stood against Theodosius for the slaughter of seven
thousand citizens of Thessalonica in punishment for rioting
• Refused Theodosius entrance into the church and communion
until he repented
• Theodosius acquiesced and submitted to penance
• Decreed that all executions would be delayed for thirty days
John Chrysostom (c.
347-407)
Chrysostom’s resume
• Born of noble parents (father was “Master of the Soldiers”)
• Educated at Antioch under the pagan rhetor, Libanius; later in
theology under Diodore of Tarsus
• Baptized in 370, sought to live an ascetic life; affected his
health
• Forced to return to Antioch, he was ordained deacon (381)
and then priest (386); entered a career of regular preaching
which won him a reputation
• Forcibly taken to Constantinople in 397 to succeed Nectarius
as bishop
• Program of clerical reform in Constantinople was not popular;
later he attempted to reform the laity as well
Chrysostom’s resume
• As senior “patriarch” in the East, John also attempted to
extend the reforming influence beyond his immediate
ecclesiastical reach, and was highly resented as a result
• John found himself caught between the jurisdictional quarrels
of the eastern churches and an imperial court that did not
appreciate his single-minded devotion to holiness of life
• Feuded with Eutropius (the emperor’s steward) over the right
to grant asylum; ironically, eventually Eutropius himself would
seek asylum from John
Chrysostom’s deposition and fate
• John’s fate was sealed when he intervened in the controversy
then raging over the teachings of Origen; John provided
asylum to four advocates of Origen’s teaching
• The Empress Eudoxia plotted with Theophilus of Alexandria to
hold a synod, composed entirely of John’s enemies, that
proceeded to depose him; the imperial court then confirmed
the verdict
• John’s exile was met with violent reaction from the populace
• John was briefly restored after an earthquake which was
widely believed to be a judgment against the verdict
• However, adversity had not taught him discretion; he was then
exiled to Cucusus (Armenia)
• Died in 407 while traveling to a yet more distant exile
The Divine Liturgy of John Chrysostom
• Most “celebrated” (i.e. most used) Eucharistic liturgy in the
Eastern (Byzantine) tradition
• Probably first developed in Antioch, and brought to
Constantinople by John Chrysostom, where it is believed that
it was refined and beautified under John’s guidance
• John is credited for having written or reworked the Anaphora
(central prayer) himself
• Theology is that of the Cappadocian Fathers in combatting
heresies and upholding Trinitarian belief
• It became the normative liturgy of the Eastern Church during
the reign of Justinian (6th century)
Jerome (c. 348-420)
Jerome’s resume
• Eusebius Hieronymus (a.k.a. Jerome)
• Born around 348 in Northern Italy
• Schooled at Rome in grammar, rhetoric and classics of Latin
literature; made friends with Rufinus
• Ardent admirer of classical learning, though felt that this love for
essentially pagan tradition was sinful
• A superb Latin stylist, careful linguist, and an eloquent and
unscrupulous polemicist
• Lived an ascetic life, initially in Dalmatia and Aquileia around a circle
of devout and literate Christian friends; left that company when his
character was under attack
• Left for Antioch in 372, where he undertook a serious study of Greek
and later Hebrew
• Not long after that he resolved to live a completely ascetic life in the
wilderness north of Antioch
Jerome’s resume
• He lived among numerous hermits who populated the hills
north of Antioch; found it impossible to get along with his
neighbors, and so returned to Antioch
• Under the influence of Gregory of Nazianzus he was
introduced to the writings of Origen, and began his long
career as a translator by beginning the project of putting
Origen’s homilies into Latin
• Returning to Rome in 382, he became secretary to Pope
Damasus, and began his most ambitious translation project of
all – a revision of the crude Old Latin version of the Bible
• He translated the OT from the Hebrew original, having
become persuaded that the Hebrew text and canon were
proper authorities for the church (rather than the LXX)
Paula and Eustochium
• While in Rome, Jerome became the teacher and spiritual
master of a group of ascetically minded, wealthy and
aristocratic women, including Albina (whose palace served as
their place of residence), Marcella, Marcellina (Ambrose’s
sister), and particularly the widow Paula and her daughter
Eustochium, who became accomplished students of Greek
and Hebrew
• Jerome’s enemies would use this association against him; the
practice of eastern asceticism was not without its critics in
Rome, especially Jerome’s view that the celibate state was
superior to that of marriage
• Jerome would defend his views in Against Helvidius and
Against Jovinian; He argued for the perpetual virginity of
Mary
Jerome’s downfall
• When Damasus died in 384, the new bishop (Siricius) had little
regard for Jerome’s scholarship
• Jerome fled the city when one of Paula’s daughters died (her
death was blamed on his ascetic teachings)
• Jerome, Paula and Eustochium would eventually found a
monastery in Palestine, based on a “moderate asceticism”
• Palestine afforded him the opportunity to study Hebrew in
more depth and to further his translation of the Bible into
Latin
• Jerome’s version would become the basis of the Vulgate, the
standard Bible of the Western Church
• Jerome wrote to Eustochium about his shock at the sack of
Rome on August 24, 410
Augustine of Hippo
(354-430)
Augustine’s resume
• Aurelius Augustinus
• Middle-class Latin speaking family
• Born in the Numidian city of Thegaste; predominant language
was Berber
• Father, Patricius was a pagan; mother, Monica, a devout albeit
superstitious Christian
• In his early years he was heavily influenced by Manichaeism
and, later, Neo-Platonism (Plotinus)
Augustine’s Confessiones
(Confessions)
• Written 397-398, while Augustine was in his early 40s, shortly
after being named Bishop of Hippo
• Written at the request of his friend, Paulinus of Nola, eleven
years after his baptism
• May have been written as a defense against the charge that
Augustine was still a Manichee
• An instant “best-seller”
The Confessions
• Widely considered the first autobiographical work in western
literary history, influencing many other such works for 1000
years.
• Consists of thirteen books; unbroken record of the
development of his thought from childhood through
conversion
• First 35 years of his life
• Not a complete autobiography (since he lives many more years)
• Augustine’s conversion story, from sinful youth to his
embracing of Christianity
Augustine’s Autobiography
• Educated in Thagaste; showed promise as a student
• His description of his early childhood was not positive; critical
of his teachers; critical of his selfish/sinful nature
• Augustine’s mother, Monica, was a devout Christian
• Augustine was raised a Christian; became a catechumen of the
church at an early age
• Once fell ill and was going to be baptized; he recovered, so
baptism no longer “necessary”
Augustine’s autobiography
• In Book 2 of the Confessions, he deals with the onset of
adolescence, and what he seems to consider the most lurid and
sinful period of his life.
• Augustine’s father, Patricius, manages to raise funds to send him to
Carthage for further education.
• Augustine praises his father for doing this, yet points out that it
wasn’t done with his son’s moral development in mind, but rather
for worldly success.
• He “ran wild,” he writes, “in the jungle of erotic adventures...and
became putrid in [God's] sight.”
• In addition to his first sexual escapades, Augustine is also quite
concerned with an incident in which he and some friends stole pears
from a neighborhood orchard.
• Augustine deeply regrets both of these sins, and offers a few brief
insights as to how and why he committed them.
The nature of sin
• Stealing pears as a youth for “mischief sake”
• Sin is a perversion of the goodness of God
• Each sinful desire represents a desire to be “like God”
Augustine in Carthage
• In Carthage, Augustine enters a place and a lifestyle in which
“all around me hissed a cauldron of illicit loves.”
• His range of “rotten...ulcerous” sins expands from teenage
pranks to include attending public spectacles and reading
tragedies.
• Low point in Augustine's relationship with God--turned almost
entirely toward transient diversions
• It is at this point, however, that Augustine first suspects that
seeking truth might be more important than worldly success.
• Shopping around for the right philosophy, he discovers
Manichaeism
• Manichaeism turns out to be the biggest mistake of his life,
and much of Book III is devoted to an initial attack on the
Manichee faith.
The influence of Cicero
• Cicero’s Hortensius
• Augustine read the book at age eighteen, in the course of his
studies to become a skilled and stylish orator.
• But the book, which also argues that the pursuit of truth
through philosophy is the route to a happy life, moved him
deeply.
• For the first time, he “longed for the immortality of wisdom
with an incredible ardor in my heart.”
Manichaeism
• Founded by Mani, Persian, mid-Third Century
• Mani saw himself as the incarnation of the Holy Spirit
• Established a new religion that was a potent mix of Christianity,
Zoroastrianism, and Hinduism
• Mani killed by Persians in 276 AD
• Key belief: attempted to solve theodicy problem (how can
there be a good creator God, and suffering and evil) with two
gods
• Material world – evil; Creator god – evil
• Spiritual world – good; Spiritual god – good
• Fully initiated Manichees led austere lives
• Vegetarians
• Chaste
• Completely rejected material
• Many people become Manichaean ‘hearers’ or catechumens
• Reputation for being elite, intellectual
Three primary Manichaean Arguments
against the Catholic Faith
• The first, and most famous, concerns the nature and source of
evil.
• If God is supremely good, and if he is also all-powerful, eternal,
and the cause of all existence, how can evil exist?
• Manichees insisted that God is not all-powerful and that he is in
fact in constant struggle against his opposite, the dark, material
world that is by nature evil.
• The second, what is the nature of God? Is he corporeal?
Physical? –The OT seemed to portray him as such
• The third concerned what the Manichees portrayed as crudity
of the Old Testament, especially the Book of Genesis (e.g.
polygamy)
Augustine’s autobiography
• Upon Augustine’s return to Thagaste from his studies at
Carthage he begin to teach rhetoric, making friends and
chasing a career along the way
• Augustine takes a concubine during this period
• Has a son, named Adeodatus
• Loses a close friend at this time, which compels him to leave
Thagaste once and for all
• These events prompt him to discuss at this point the transient
nature of life, and the permanence of God.
Meeting with Faustus, the famous
“Manichee luminary”
• Meets him while a teacher in Carthage
• At first he is impressed with his modesty
• Simply refuses to talk about things he doesn’t have knowledge of
• However, Faustus’ rhetorical flashiness does not impress
Augustine, who claims that by this time he had learned to
value the content of speech over mere loquacity.
• The net result of the interview was disillusionment .
• Augustine departs from this meeting with more doubts than
ever about Manichee myths and pseudo-science (e.g.
Astrology).
Augustine’s move to Milan
• The young Augustine then moves from Carthage (where he
finds his students too rowdy for his liking) to Rome (where he
finds them too corrupt) and on to Milan, where he will remain
until his conversion.
• Manichaean beliefs begin to lose their luster for him during
this period; in time he will again consider himself an
unbaptized Christian (a “catechumen”).
• Augustine encounters a number of important figures,
including Ambrose (the Bishop of Milan)
• He also encounters the profound doubt of the skeptical school
and comes close to total skepticism in his own philosophy.
• Bishop Ambrose would be a major influence in
Augustine's conversion to the Catholic faith.
Allegorical Interpretation
• Augustine becomes increasingly open to Christian
philosophy and theology, primarily for the reason that he
hears the Old Testament “figuratively interpreted” for
the first time by Ambrose.
• This becomes the practical catalyst that allows Augustine
to begin to move toward total faith in the church.
• Genesis, with its apparently intractable issues of a God that “created”
and did things like a being who lived in time and in a body, suddenly
seemed much more reasonable when “expounded spiritually.”
• The apparently sinful actions of the prophets of the Old Testament
also took on new sense when read metaphorically.
Ambrose’s Interpretive Method
• “The Letter kills, the Spirit gives Life.”
• A big step comes when Augustine learned that most Catholics
do not take literally the passage in Genesis in which God
makes man “in his own image.”
• He begins to suspect that other “knotty” passages in scripture
may hide deeper meanings as well.
• Increasingly attracted to the refusal of the Catholic Church to
offer “proofs” of its doctrines
• An engaging form of modesty
• Faith, not reason, is the basis for true knowledge
• Helps to alleviate his skepticism to some degree
Neoplatonism
• Throughout The Confessions, Augustine uses Neoplatonic
terms and ideas
• In Book 7 he reaches a point in his autobiography where he
admits that Neoplatonism was the key to reconciling his long
pursuit of philosophy with his new and serious faith in the
Catholic church.
• The union of this philosophy and this theology guides his work
for the rest of his life
Neoplatonism
• Rejecting Manichaean dualism, he still needed answers to the
following issues:
• The nature of God
• The problem of evil
• God is pure Spirit – immaterial, transcends the physical,
incorruptible
• God is Being itself.
• The Soul is non-spatial just as God is non-spatial.
• Evil is the absence of good; not co-equal with good.
A “House Divided”
• His vision of “Lady Continence”
• His struggle with a division of wills
• "Tolle, lege; tolle, lege.” (“Pick up and read.”)
Romans 13:12-14
The night is far gone, the day is at hand.
Let us then cast off the works of darkness
and put on the armor of light;
let us conduct ourselves becomingly as in the day,
not in reveling and drunkenness,
not in debauchery and licentiousness,
not in quarreling and jealousy.
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and make no provision for the flesh,
to gratify its desires.
The Baptism of
Augustine and
Adeodatus (387)
• Ordained Priest (391)
• Bishop of Hippo Regius (395-430)
• Contemporary of Jerome, who stated that Augustine
“established anew the Christian faith.”
• Universally considered the most influential theologian of the
Western Church
Two controversies
• Donatism
• Developed Doctrine of the Church
• Sacraments as ex opere operato
• Pelagianism
• Developed Doctrine of Original Sin
• Doctrine of Grace
• Predestination
Augustine’s Works
• Augustine’s friend and biographer, Possidius, catalogued
Augustine's works after his death and observed that no one
would be able to read them all
• Among the vitally important works:
• Against the Academics
• On Free Will
• Confessions
• On the Trinity
• City of God
• On Christian Teaching
• Retractions concerning On Free Will
• Virtually innumerable letters, treatises, homilies, commentaries,
expositions, sermons on Psalms
End of an Era
• Fall of Rome (Alaric and the Goths) – 410
• Fall of Hippo (Vandals) – 430