While there might not be an Alexandria library to pour over for assessing the first few centuries of the Christian Church, and it might not seem like a lot of information, there are actual libraries there that don’t get all that much attention. It may be the obsession of the few theologians, and historians, it would appear to be the case that not much focus is given to the writings of Shepherd of Hermas, unless you’re an Ethiopian Christian, or the writings of Clement of Rome, Tertullian, Justin Martyr, Papias, Mathetes, or Polycarp, or Ignatius, unless your a more traditional Christian, and maybe you run in better read circles. They are not necessarily characters that you’ll hear about on any given Sunday at a more modern “non-Denomination”, or protestant Church.
This is rather unfortunate, as so many controversial discussions that arise go in directions that just don’t meet in any way the reflections of the record as we have it. Some assertions appear ex nihilo, so to speak, with origins that seem to be a complete and total mystery. With no surviving record in any form to articulate such a vision of the past as determined by many Christian detractors, in the modern times, there tends to be alternative forms of spirituality to substitute for the seemingly passe traditional formulation of Western culture and thought, favoring a sort of exotic Eastern view. One might be tempted to accept these ways with a sort of romanticism, especially given so many of these historical misgivings contribute greatly to a sentiment that views Christianity, and its scriptures as a sort of authoritarian tyrannical abuser, who’s only role has been to sabotage and subvert human development.
This scandal has a very specific fact pattern it follows in order to arrive at such a conclusion. It usually starts with the crusades, and then through to the middle ages of the Spanish Inquisition, and all of that has something to do with the Council of Nicea for some reason, even though that was an instance that predates the first crusade by 700 years. Such an oversimplification has tragically come at the cost of the truth of the facts as they are, and overlooks centuries of literature covering a litany of topics. Such a record of not only church councils, but also government and legal developments, in their constitution, is preserved to this day for reflection that build a very cohesive and extensive chronology, such as has filled libraries for centuries now. To condense these topics any further than they already have been is to commit the same sin as those who have already coined their pat answers to complex issues, not least of which being the medieval, or so called, “Dark Ages”.
Such a moniker given to explain away what is about a 900 year gap may be a clue as to why so much confusion and misunderstanding has given so much ammunition to the faulty reasoning that continues to circulate throughout the collective lexicon of modern America, and the rest of the free world. It must be understood that the life of the human being in the modern era does not arrive from straight out of the void. There are generations that have come before which have built the world, and its systems of language, government, commerce, etc., following a distinct thread of values and traditions being preserved and analyzed, generation to generation. So in order to understand the world the way that it is, consulting the record should be of paramount importance with regard to what we can assess. Not just for the sake of formulating an opinion on any given topic, but more expressly, for the sake of understanding why the world and human experience in the world, is the way that it is, or at least to offer some postulations that explain things for the way they are.
The first few centuries leading up to the council of Nicea begins an outline for what serves as a helpful break down of a timeline stretching back from our present time, (the year 2024 A.D. at the moment of authorship of this post) to the days of Christ, the Apostles, and what is the perceived golden era of the Roman Empire. It is important to recognize that in light of these breakdowns, the span of time covers centuries. A lot can happen in 100 years, let alone three, so cherry picking particular moments are only a means of gaining a microscopic view of what is, in actuality, a much larger tapestry of life. Like Ebeneezer Scrooge visiting the past guided by spiritual chaperones, we can see the words of these authors, but they can’t see who are reading them, so they have to be taken for what they are in their own time.
After Nicea, it won’t be for another 700 years until the first Crusade, just about twice the distance in time from Nicea to Pentecost, however just a couple hundred years from the Crusades to the Albigensian crusades and the Spanish Inquisition. That seems to be where most of the stones come from with regard to contentions with Christian spirituality, so it will be prescient to outline the big picture of how things developed in to that era, and where the seeds are planted to grow in to such a seemingly violent age, which were without a doubt, violent.
The seeds present in those first centuries are often expected to explain for this chaos, with a flippant disregard for the details. Upon closer inspection, much is desired first before that can be determined, being necessary to look at the record. Immediately we’re brought to the Roman Empire, and the writings of the Anti-Nicene Christian fathers. One can easily understand how the subject has become such a prolific occupation for the imaginations of many. The impact of the empire stretching across millennia leaves us with little room for debate in many areas, and yet of course plenty of room for debate in others.
While the winds of time continue to slowly whisk away whats left of the once dominant civilization, there remain the effects of their scrupulous governmental posture in the codes of their laws, beginning with the Twelve Tables. Extending through to the canons of the ecclesial authorities which had garnered the protection of the Imperial state following the Edict of Thessalonica, the Roman legal framework was one of progress and genius, showing the prowess of the administrative functions of Caesar. These later edicts leading up to and following the receding of the united Roman Empire, make of the bulk of the record with regard to Rome’s approach, at least, to religion.
Without extrapolating the whole of the historical record, we’re just going to grab a few snap shots across the span of 500 years in order to thread a cohesive picture that lends to the most fluid context to account for the spiritual journey of this prolific nation. From its inception, Roman religious culture was sincerely and highly devout to its understandings of the divine, as a matter of cohesion and unity across the spread of the vast European, Asian and African landscape. This made the eventual conversion of the Caesar all the more spectacular and peculiar.
Consequently, this leads us inevitably to Constantine. However, before he can be dealt with, keeping things focused for the development of this material, it is necessary to draw out Six specific points of interest with regard to Roman religion, beginning first with:
Roman Law Before Christianity
1. The Senate
2. Caesar
3. The Edict of Milan
Constantine and Christian Rome
4. The Edict of Thessalonica
5. Codex Theodosius
6. Corpus Juris Civilis
From each of these subjects, with some analysis, it may become more apparent just what was the disposition of the culture of the institutions of civil enforcement. On the other hand, there arises the spiritual traditions of the religious apparatus beginning with the occulted rites of the pagan diaspora, then on to the burgeoning of Christian success among the peasant class, following intense persecution from the Diocletian regime. The story of Christianity is one of intersection. Two incompatible ways, cutting in to each other, and bleeding out on to everything. Starting with the cross, the tool of Roman authority and power, and the scorn of the persecuted Judean and Galilean trades person, yearning to be unburdened by the tyranny of foreigners.
Yet, the cross would rise to cast its shadow all across Europe, and in to Northern Africa and the far flung reaches of the east, issuing forth from every point, the proclaimed Gospel of a Kingdom which had come to planet earth, which demanded absolute universal and united fealty to its own call and cause, with its own monarch, the Lord Jesus Christ. The resulting consternation in reaction to this Gospel, is where most favor to focus their attention. Such consternation is the constant refrain among detractors of the message and movement, and the first chorus of that bitter malady is found in the cross hairs of a Spiritual and Mystical Jewish Messianic movement, attempting to skirt the universalism of the worldly religion of Caesar, only to assert itself as the prevailing voice of reason in the theological landscape of the later Classical period.
Out of this array of spiritual fog would stem the infamous and ever dubious sect of the shape shifting Gnostics. Whether or not there were ever such a thing as a “Gnostic” or “Gnosticism” is not exactly entirely the concern of the earliest of Christian apologists, historians, theologians, Bishops and laymen. Rather it was the very specific and distinct set of nuances which drew out the thin line of thought which would lay the groundwork for what is now known today in the English language as the Holy Apostolic Orthodox Catholic Church. A body seemingly incontrovertible in many areas of faith, and law, yet mired with political posturing, aggressive dispute, intrigue, and all the rather typical drama of the courtly world, once Constantine and the Imperial State began to get involved.
What may be found under the layers of this epic saga of history, and the human condition, of might, and strength, and meekness and mild nature, is that the differences between legend and reality, in many times can be a very thin margin. The question of good and evil wrestles deeply and quickly within every heart and mind on planet earth, from beginning to end. Which is why the questions behind the development of Roman Christianity ignites such controversy and intrigue. No one wants to be found to be on the side of the tyrant, or the oppressor, or the despot. Everyone would like to imagine themselves as the protagonist and righteous vindicator of every story. Unless, that person was a psychopathic masochist. In whichever case, the victims of such people are helplessly at the mercy of such immovable political power. Not just political, though. The Caesars followed a line of tradition which welcomed titles of religious and priestly authority as the devotee of their own personality cults.
Modern sensibilities are simply incompatible with the morays of that day and age, and to impose upon them the same expectations is to totally and completely miss out on what was the history of the moment. What were the concerns of those people of the average citizen, and how they would have responded to the political developments of Rome and Constantinople, the preaching of Paul, or to the Diocletian persecutions, or of the spiritual significance of the Gnostic Baptismal rites, or what gift a fairy was going to bring them when they left a gift at the well. The only way we can catch even the foggiest glimpse is without the superficiality of individual perception, and to do the very best to allow the actual content of the material speak for itself. If it can do so, then it will. But only when given the chance to be heard could there ever be any benefit for whom it is told.
Much, if not all of the library of writings and materials from time of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ are quite accessible, including this article titled, History of the Orthodox and Proto-Orthodox Fathers, which will be a spring board to carry things on to the next stage of this discovery. These are a great resource to dig your teeth in to the details of those first three hundred years of the Gospel of Christ message coming on the scene. Through these early authors and saints, one begins to see a very illustrious and formidable bulwark is constructed to establish the basis for any such body of people.
History of the Orthodox and Proto-Orthodox Fathers.
One thing that might not be clear yet, but should be very clear, very soon, is that the Roman church might be the awesome and formidable monolith that it is today, but the truth is that was not always the case. At one time, there was a small group of ragtag pilgrims, preaching a message of love and forgiveness, freeing the slave, and caring for the poor, a task that is still taken very seriously by the righteous faithful to the present times. If that is true, then it’s more that likely that a lot of these scandalous issues that look like mountains, at the end of the day, aren’t anything more than a mole hill.
