Leadership Training Center
5410 Rogers Road
San Antonio, Texas 78251
C01-2 Church History I
Lesson 3
INSTRUCTOR
Name: David Blanchard
Email: dblanchard238@gmail.com
Phone: 337.247.7077
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course traces doctrinal developments in church history, evaluating them from an Apostolic Pentecostal perspective. It introduces the leading historical figures and movements in Christendom and conveys a basic understanding of their beliefs.
(From the book History of Christian Doctrine Vol. 1 Chapter 6-7 By: David K Bernard)
The Ecumenical Catholic Age
We call the period from A.D. 325 to 787 “ecumenical” because it was characterized by seven major church councils that formulated doctrine. It is “catholic” because Christendom still perceived itself as a whole, without official divisions such as denominations. In this age, especially in the fourth and fifth centuries, most of the distinctive doctrines and practices of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy developed. We can particularly identify major developments in five crucial areas.
1. Theology. Important controversies raged over the doctrines of God, Christ, human nature, and salvation, resulting in official formulations that define “orthodoxy.” To this day, the three main branches of traditional Christendom—
o Roman Catholicism
o Eastern Orthodoxy
o Protestantism
—appeal to these creeds, especially those concerning God and Christ. The sacramental system of
Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy also began to take shape during this time. The canon of Scripture, while already recognized and used from the earliest times, was officially endorsed near the beginning of the age.
2. Ecclesiology. The church offices and hierarchical structure of Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy developed in this age. In the West, the bishop of Rome successfully asserted supremacy as the pope.
3. Monasticism. The first Christian hermits had appeared in the Old Catholic Age, but in this age monasteries, the monastic way of life, and orders of monks and nuns became an integral part of Christendom.
4. Blending of pagan and Christian Elements. With the wholesale “conversion” of pagans to Christianity under social, political, and legal pressure, as well as outright force, it was inevitable that pagan practices would infiltrate the church. Indeed, many superstitious, non-biblical elements became standard during this time, establishing the pattern for medieval Catholicism.
5. Distinction between East and West. The eastern and western wings of Christendom had different languages (Greek and Latin, respectively), liturgies, and theological approaches. To some extent these differences were significant even in the Old Catholic Age, but with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the establishment of the papacy, which the East never accepted, they became more pronounced. While the official split between Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy did not occur until 1054, their separate courses were set during this age.
Constantine and His Successors
The fourth century brought earthshaking changes to Christianity. The catalyst was Constantine I (the Great), the first Roman emperor to become a Christian.
The Edict of Milan
In January 313, Constantine and Licinius held a summit in the northern Italian city of Milan. They reached an agreement, called the Edict of Milan, that guaranteed full religious freedom to Christians, like that afforded to adherents of other religions.
In 324 Constantine defeated Licinius in battle, becoming sole emperor. Despite his solemn pledge not to do so, in 325 he had Licinius executed. In 326 he arranged the murder of two presumed rivals: Licinianus, his eleven year-old nephew and the son of Licinius, and Crispus, his own eldest son. There is considerable suspicion that he was also responsible for the death of his second wife, Fausta, in the same year.
In the meantime, Constantine realized that a great controversy over the deity of Jesus Christ threatened to divide his newly won empire. He paid the expenses of the delegates and opened a council as the honorary presiding officer.
The Council of Nicea
The Milestone of Church History for several reasons:
(1) It was the first, but not final, official step in the formulation of orthodox trinitarianism.
(2) It marked the beginning of the use of ecumenical councils to resolve doctrinal disputes.
(3) To a great extent it helped effect the merger of church and state.
(Take note of the teaching of the following verses)
Daniel 2:42-43
(42) And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
(43) And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
Revelation 17:3
(3) So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
This is the rise of the harlot described in Revelation 17, which will eventually become the mold for the Antichrist’s final empire. False Doctrine Church (harlot) being enforced on the people by the Government (ten horn beast). Therefore, what was being established is the force that will eventually take over the entire world, starting off as the Roman Empire going into the Holy Roman Empire, the residue of such still exists as the Roman Catholic/ Eastern Orthodox / Protestant and EVEN Islam which will convene finally into the Final Empire of the Antichrist. (However it plays out)
With regard to the last point, the Roman emperor powerfully influenced the decision of the council. Afterwards, he pronounced its decrees to be divinely inspired, promulgated them as laws of the empire, and made disobedience punishable by death. For the first time a political ruler convened an ecclesiastical council, became a decisive factor in determining doctrine, and instituted a church creed. For the first time Christendom adopted a creed other than Scripture and made subscription to it mandatory. And for the first time the state inflicted civil penalties on people who did not conform to church dogma.
When Constantine died in 337, his three sons divided the empire among them, but they soon began warring for supremacy. After Constantine II and Constans were slain, Constantius became emperor. He began persecuting pagans and prohibiting their sacrifices, but he was not successful in stamping out paganism. His successor, Julian the Apostate, tried to reinstitute paganism and suppress Christianity. Upon his death, there came a series of Christian emperors. In 381, Theodosius I (the Great) made Christianity the official state religion; he outlawed all pagan practices and was largely successful in suppressing them. Christianity—but not the apostolic doctrine— reigned supreme. Greek and Roman paganism was completely dead by about 500.
The Barbarians
By the fifth century, however, the Western Roman Empire was coming under great threat from invading barbarian tribes. In 410 Alaric and his army of Visigoths sacked Rome for the first time. Although they soon left, the city never recovered its power and prestige. In 451 Attila and his Huns invaded Italy, but he overextended himself. The emperor sent Pope Leo I with two other delegates to meet him at the gates of Rome, and they persuaded him to spare the city. The Vandals under Gaiseric sacked Rome in 455. The traditionally cited end of the Western Roman Empire came in 476, when a group of Germanic tribes led by the Herul chieftan Odovacar (Odoacer) conquered Rome. He deposed the last Western emperor, Romulus Augustulus, and became the first barbarian king of Italy.
Major Schools and Writers
1. The Antiochene School
Theodore of Mopsuestia (died 429), a bishop, was the outstanding theologian of this school. He emphasized the distinction between Christ’s deity and humanity, thus setting the stage for the great Christological controversy between Nestorius and Cyril of Alexandria.
Theodoret (390-457), bishop of Cyrus, held a moderate Christological view similar to that of Theodore of Mopsuestia. He was condemned by the Council of Ephesus but exonerated by the Council of Chalcedon on the condition that he denounce Nestorius. He was also a church historian.
Nestorius, patriarch of Constantinople (428-31), further advanced the Antiochene emphasis on Christ’s two natures. He was condemned by the Council of Ephesus and banished on the ground that his doctrine divided Christ into two persons.
2. The Alexandrian School
Athanasius (295?-373), bishop of Alexandria, was the leader of the victorious party at the Council of Nicea and the foremost champion of orthodox trinitarianism.
He received aid from three prominent theologians of Cappadocia:
Basil of Caesarea (329-79), a bishop;
Gregory of Nyssa (335-94), a bishop and the younger brother of Basil;
and Gregory of Nazianzus (330-90), their friend, who served a short time as bishop of Constantinople. Using Greek philosophical concepts, these “Cappadocian Fathers” refined trinitarianism and made it broadly acceptable. Basil founded a monastery in 358, laying the foundation for such communities in the future.
Cyril of Alexandria (375-444), bishop, emphasized
3. The Western School
Hilary (315-67), bishop of Poitiers, was a strong defender of trinitarianism.
Ambrose (340-97), bishop of Milan and another important advocate of trinitarianism, was the imperial president of upper Italy when he was elected bishop by popular demand. He did not want the position, and in fact he had not yet been baptized. Submitting to the will of the people, however, he was baptized and eight days later consecrated as bishop. In 390 he defied Emperor Theodosius by refusing to serve him communion after he brutally killed thousands in Thessalonica. This action established a precedent of religious leaders asserting moral authority over civil rulers.
Jerome (340-420), a scholar and ascetic in Rome, is best known for his tranlation of the Bible into Latin, the Vulgate (405). It became the standard Western Bible for over a thousand years, and the Roman Catholic Church regards the translation itself as inspired and authoritative. Jerome was a strong advocate of monasticism.
Augustine (354-430), bishop of Hippo Regius in North Africa, is the single most significant theologian of ancient times. After living an immoral life as a young man, he embraced Manicheism (a popular dualistic religion), then Neo-Platonism (revived Greek philosophy), and finally Christianity, converting in 386 and being baptized by Ambrose in 387. He became a prolific writer and crafted an original systematic theology that owes much to the thought and method of Plato.
Leo I (the Great) (pope, 440-61) was the first bishop of Rome to claim full papal powers and to receive endorsement of his claims from the emperor. He was influential in resolving the controversy over the doctrine of Christ.
4. Other Writers
Eusebius of Caesarea (265-340), a bishop, is sometimes called the father of church history because he was the first writer to attempt a thorough history of Christianity, in his Ecclesiastical History. A close associate of Constantine, he wrote Life of Constantine, a onesided, flattering, and even fawning biography of the emperor.
“Dionysius the Areopagite” (c. 500) was the pseudonym of a Syrian monk who authored a number of mystical, neo-Platonic works. They were extremely influential because, until the fifteenth century, most people believed they were written by Paul’s convert in Athens of this name (Acts 17:34).
Boethius (480-525), a Roman, blended Christianity and philosophy, teaching salvation by Neo-Platonism. In the Middle Ages, his writings were a major source of classical philosophy and thus highly influential.
Benedict (480-549) founded a monastery at Monte Cassino and the Benedictine order of monks. His Rule, written in 540, sets forth principles and directives for monastic life, and it became the standard in the West on such matters.
Gregory I (the Great) (pope, 590-604) was the first bishop of Rome to exercise the full powers of the papacy. He endorsed and popularized many practices and beliefs of relatively recent development, setting the pattern in the West for the next five hundred years. He is a transitional figure, belonging more to the Early Middle Ages than to the ancient age.
Maximus the Confessor (580-662) was a monk who championed the doctrine of two wills in Christ, which ultimately prevailed at the Council of Constantinople in 680. He was exiled and persecuted for his teaching, reportedly by having his tongue and right hand cut off; hence the title of Confessor. He is sometimes called the father of Byzantine theology.
John of Damascus (675-754) represents the developed theology of the East, much as Augustine does in the West. The last of the ancient Greek theologians, he systematized and epitomized Eastern thought.
The Ecumenical Councils
(1) Nicea I, 325, was convened by Constantine I, near the imperial residence at Nicomedia. It affirmed that Christ is God and that the Father and the Son are of the same substance, condemning the Arian view that Christ is a lesser divine being. By implication it partially endorsed the trinitarian views of Athanasius, spokesman of the winning party, who taught that the Father and Son were distinct but equal persons in the Godhead.
(2) Constantinople I, 381, summoned by Theodosius I, condemned Apollinarianism, the view that Christ’s humanity was incomplete, and it affirmed the deity and distinct personality of the Holy Spirit. In doing so, it gave final approval to the Athanasian, Cappadocian doctrine of the trinity: the belief that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial persons in one Godhead.
(3) Ephesus, 431, called by Theodosius II and dominated by Cyril of Alexandria, condemned the views of Nestorius, concluding that his emphasis on the two natures of Christ wrongly divided Christ into two persons.
(4) Chalcedon, 451, was held near Constantinople. Summoned by the Eastern emperor Marcian at the prompting of Pope Leo I, this council formulated what became the orthodox expression of Christology: Christ has two natures, divine and human, but is only one person. It condemned both Nestorius and Eutyches.
(5) Constantinople II, 553, convened by Justinian, condemned the view that Christ had only one nature (monophysitism).
(6) Constantinople III, 680, under Constantine Progonatus, condemned the doctrine that Christ had only one will (monotheletism).
(7) Nicea II, 787, under Empress Irene, endorsed the worship of images. Technically, it said the worship given to images is honor but not devotion. In the next few chapters, we will turn to a more detailed investigation of the development of Christian doctrine. To do so, we will examine individual topics, in some cases stretching back to the Old Catholic Age and even before to trace various ideas, controversies, and decisions on the major subjects.
The Canon
First and most pressing, some people, particularly those in heretical movements, began to challenge generally accepted views of what constituted Scripture. Some heretical groups, particularly the Gnostics, began to propose books of their own to include in Scripture. Other groups, particularly the Marcionites, began to reject portions of Scripture that had already been accepted historically. Spurious books, which falsely claimed apostolic authorship, also began to circulate.
Second, the church began to recognize its need to ensure the use of appropriate literature for doctrinal instruction, for combating false doctrines, and for evangelism.
Third, in times of persecution, pagan authorities strove to confiscate and destroy Scripture. Books were precious because they had to be copied by hand, and a local congregation often had only one copy of the Bible. Christians went to great lengths, even risking their lives, to protect copies of Scripture on behalf of the church. Those who handed over portions of Scripture to the authorities, even under duress, were considered traitors. Thus early Christians needed to know beyond doubt which books were worth preserving at all costs.
The Old Testament
Paul referred to the OT canon as the “oracles of God” Romans 3:1-3, also referring to the general consensus of the circumcision (Jews) as accepting this concept.
19 of 24 books of the OT are quoted in the New Testament. Of the remaining 5, Ezra-Nehemiah are possibly quoted or alluded to, and Lamentations was sometimes appended to Jeremiah, which is quoted. Only Esther and Song of Solomon definitely have no mention, and this means only that the New Testament authors had no occasion to use them for the specific purposes of their writings.
Melito, bishop of Sardis about A.D. 170, produced the earliest Christian list of the Old Testament that we have, and it includes every book but Esther. Another list from about the same time or a little later (MS 54, published by Bryennios) lists all the books including Esther. The next list was drawn up by Origen, in the early third century, and his was identical to the Hebrew Bible except for an addition to Esther.
The Apocrypha
At the Council of Trent in 1546, the Roman Catholic Church officially accepted eleven additional books a number of Jewish writings from 200 B.C. to 30 B.C. (1 being from 100AD) as Scripture. The Protestants reject them as canonical.
Some writers in early Christendom, notably Tertullian and Augustine, gave full or partial endorsement to at least some of the Apocrypha. Under the influence of Augustine, regional councils in North Africa in the late fourth and early fifth centuries endorsed the Apocrypha. Other writers, such as Origen and Athanasius, did not regard them as Scripture. Some did not deem them canonical but used them for study and preaching. Jerome, translator of the Vulgate (Latin Bible), insisted strongly that they were not the Word of God.
There are many reasons why the church as a whole did not accept these writings.
(1) The Jews never accepted them.
(2) They were written after Malachi, the last of the inspired prophets of the Old Testament.
(3) The authors were unknown men who did not claim inspiration, and some of the books falsely claim authorship by biblical men who lived long before they were composed.
(4) Neither Jesus nor the New Testament writers ever quoted them or referred to them as Scripture.
(5) They contain doctrinal errors, such as prayer for the dead, salvation by works, almsgiving as atonement for sins, and the preexistence of souls.
(6) They contain inferior moral teaching, such as extolling the drinking of wine, commendation of suicide in some instances, and justification of seduction and deceit for a worthy cause.
(7) They contain historical, chronological, and geographical errors.
(8) They contain many fanciful passages
To summarize, the books that received universal or near-universal acceptance as part of the Old Testament are the same books that the Jews historically recognized and the same books that Protestants recognize today.
The earliest canonical list we have is the Muratorian Fragment (c. 170). It refers to at least twenty-two of the New Testament books and probably twenty-three. It does not list Hebrews, James, I Peter, and II Peter, but this could be due to a break in the manuscript. Looking to the earliest translations of Scripture, the Old Latin Version, translated about 200, included every book but the four just named.
In the early third century Origen referred to all twenty-seven books, identifying a few as disputed. In the early fourth century Eusebius listed all twenty-seven books with similar comments. Athanasius in 367 is the first known writer to list our New Testament canon exactly and without any qualification. Regional councils at Hippo (393) and Carthage (397 and 419) in North Africa, under the influence of Augustine, confirmed the same list. It is important to note that these councils simply ratified what grass-roots believers as a whole had practiced for centuries:
“The decisions of church councils in the fourth and fifth centuries did not determine the canon, nor did they even first discover or recognize it. In no sense was the authority of the canonical books contingent upon the later church councils. All those councils did was to give later, broader, and final recognition to what was already a fact, namely, that God had inspired them and that the people of God had accepted them in the first century.”
Twenty of our New Testament books were never seriously questioned or disputed. They are the four Gospels, Acts, the thirteen Pauline Epistles, I Peter, and I John. We have clear evidence from the earliest post-apostolic times that those who knew the apostles personally and heard their teaching accepted these books. These twenty books comprise seven-eighths of the New Testament text and teach in full all the New Testament doctrines.
Gradually that opposition was overcome on the basis of Alexandrian tradition, which said Paul was the author. Modern scholars generally say that Paul was not the author because the style of Hebrews is significantly different from that of the thirteen epistles bearing Paul’s name. They acknowledge, however, that its themes are so similar to those of Paul’s writings that the author must have been a colleague or co-worker of Paul.
Some people questioned the authenticity of II Peter because of differences in style from I Peter. Probably the simplest way to explain the discrepancy is to note that a scribe named Silvanus recorded the first epistle (I Peter 5:12). It is likely that Peter dictated I Peter, that Silvanus smoothed out the grammar and offered elegant phraseology, and that Peter approved the final result. By contrast, Peter evidently wrote II Peter in his own hand without assistance.
Many books written in early post-apostolic times were rejected by virtually everyone as not being inspired of God. These included numerous supposed gospels as well as some acts, epistles, and apocalypses. The early church rejected them as canonical because they did not have apostolic approval. Most were obvious forgeries, and they typically contained fanciful stories and heretical doctrines.
They have almost no theological or historical value, but they do reveal various ideas and popular thinking of the time. A few books were accepted by some, receiving temporary and local recognition. Examples are the epistles of Clement of Rome, Polycarp, and Ignatius. Other books were anonymous or pseudonymous. Even when people accepted these books as inspired, they typically gave them only semi-canonical, secondary status, placing them in an appendix to the Scriptures or at the end of a list.
Usually their limited acceptance came only because of a mistaken belief that they had apostolic authority.
Ultimately they were rejected as canonical for several reasons. Some obviously had only temporary or local application. Some were forgeries, such as the Epistle to the Laodiceans. In some cases, such as the Shepherd of Hermas, the Epistle of Pseudo-Barnabas, and the Didache, people realized that the authors were not apostles or their associates as some had supposed. It also became clear that just because a book was written near the end of the apostolic age, or shortly after the apostolic age, or by someone who had known the apostles, did not mean it carried apostolic authority.
No major canon or council in the history of Christianity ever endorsed these other books. Occasionally someone today will claim to publish the so-called lost books of the New Testament, but these books were never accepted by any significant group for a significant period of time. The books of our New Testament are the ones that believers historically accepted from the earliest times and that the various branches of Christianity have consistently ratified throughout history.
Notes taken from Chapter 6-7 of A History of Christian Doctrine Volume 1 by David K Bernard