THE GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL CHRISTIANITY ROBERT HASTINGS NICHOLS EX UBRIS OIimHiDfflCYfiQSS THE GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH By ROBERT HASTINGS NICHOLS Professor of Church History in Auburn Theological Seminary Volume I ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL CHRISTIANITY Philadelphia THE WESTMINSTER PRESS 1914 /24(? Copyright, 1914, by F. M. Braselmann PREFACE THE writing of this book was undertaken at the request of the Committee on Religious Education of the General Assembly of the Pres- byterian Church in the United States of America. That Committee desired a presentation of Church History suitable for the use of classes of young people of high-school age. The book is intended for such classes, and makes no pretensions to do anytiiing more than try to meet their needs. Robert Hastings Nichols. Auburn Theological Seminary, May 13, 1914. in SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHERS AND CLASS LEADERS The chapters in these volumes have been framed with the thought that each of them should be the material for one meeting of a class. Thus there would be two courses of nine meetings each, or one course of eighteen meetings. The individual teacher or leader must decide whether or not his class will need more than one meeting for any chapter. It will hardly be found advisable for a class of the age for which the book is primarily intended to take more than one chapter at a meeting. With more mature classes this might be done, though it is hoped that in every chapter there is enough for an hour's consideration by any class. Although Chapters XVII and XVIII are longer than the others, it will probably be found that students, coming to them after going through the earlier chapters, will be able to take each of them at one meeting. Unless the teacher is already somewhat familiar with church history, it is strongly advised that he read all that the class is to cover in the course be- fore he prepares himself for the first meeting. To do this will make it much easier to handle the chapters as they come. It is even more strongly advised that the teacher read as much as he can in standard books on church history and in the biographies of the great vi GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH men of the Church who are referred to in the chap- ters. Other things being equal, the teacher who reads most will give most to his class. It is hardly possible to teach church history interestingly and effectively on the basis of only such knowledge as can be obtained from the textbook used. Lists of books for teachers' reading have been provided, and it is hoped that the books named, or others, will be much read. Almost all of the classes which will use this book will be wholly voluntary. It is peculiarly difficult to get reading done by such classes. Yet it will not be of much interest or use to anyone to attend a meeting of a class studying church history, if he has not done the reading assigned for the meet- ing. The teacher should employ all possible means to get the class to do the reading beforehand. The Questions for Study appended to the chapters may be of use in this connection. The members of the class might be asked to write out the answers to some or all of the questions. It will conduce to faithfulness in reading, and will be otherwise help- ful, if the teacher devotes a few minutes at each meeting to going rapidly over what is to be studied for the next meeting. No one thing illuminates the study of history more than does the use of maps. The teacher ought in his preparation to consult often an historical atlas. If a set of historical maps is available for class use, it will be a great advantage. Failing this, the maps in the historical atlas ought to be shown to the class at certain points, which will SUGGESTIONS vii suggest themselves. If the use of an historical atlas cannot be had, it will be much better for both teacher and class to use a general atlas than not to use any maps at all. Much of the subject matter of these volumes will take the class, and perhaps the teacher also, into entirely strange regions of thought and ac- tion. The teacher will need to cultivate in him- self, and to urge the class to cultivate, the power of imagination, so that just as far as possible he and they can make themselves at home in strange surroundings, and see things as they looked to ^men of different worlds and different thoughts and beliefs. This is one of the places at which wide reading will help the teacher. For his work with the class, he ought to be on the lookout for things in contemporary and familiar life which will help the student to realize conditions in the past. Church history ought to be studied with open mind. Prejudices should all be put down. The mind should be held ready to receive new ideas, and to judge all things on their merits, not on the basis of what one has been accustomed to think. It ought to be studied, above all, with faith in God, who is guiding his Church to see more truth, and to do the work of building his everlasting kingdom. CONTENTS OF VOLUME I CHAPTER I The Preparation for Christianity PAGE I. The Contributions of the Peoples 1 A. The Eomans • ^ B. The Greeks ^ C. The Jews ^ II. The World at the Coming of Christianity, . . 9 A. Eeligious Conditions ^ B. Intellectual Conditions 12 C. Moral Conditions I-' Questions for Study 1^ Beading CHAPTER II The First Century I. Jesus and His Church ^^ A. Jesus and His Disciples 1^ B. Jesus Founding the Church 16 II. The Apostolic Church A. The Beginning B. Church Extension C. The Life of the Church 20 D. The Worship of the Church 22 E. The Belief of the Church 23 F. The Government of the Church 2d Questions for Study ^ Eeading ix : CONTENTS CHAPTER III The Ancient Church (A. D. 100-590) PAGE I. The World in Which the Church Lived 28 II. The Church 31 A. Church Extension 31 1. Before Constantine 32 2. After Constantine 36 Questions for Study 41 Eeading 42 CHAPTER IV The Ancient Church (continued) (A. D. 100-590) B. Life in the Church 44 C. The Belief of the Church 49 D. The Worship of the Church 55 E. The Organization of the Church 57 1. The Development of the Organization 57 2. Churches Separated from the Catholic Church 62 Questions for Study 63 Eeading 64 CHAPTER V The Church in the Early Middle Ages (A. D. 590-1073) I. The World in Which the Church Lived 65 II. The Church 69 A. Church Extension 69 B. The Organization of the Church 75 1. The Eise of the Papacy 75 2. The Separation of East and West 80 Questions for Study 82 Eeading 83 CONTENTS JO. CHAPTER YI PAGE The Church in the Early Middle Ages (continued) (A. D. 590-1073) C. Christianity at War with Paganism within the Church 84 1. Life in the Church 86 2. Worship and Popular Eeligion 89 D. Dawn after the Dark Ages 92 E. Life and Thought in the Eastern Part of the Church 96 Questions for Study 99 Beading 100 CHAPTER VII The Church at the Height of the Middle Ages (A. D. 1073-1294) I. The Western Church 101 A. The Medieval Papacy 101 1. Hildebrand 101 a. The Church to Be Freed from the World 101 b. The Church to be Supreme over the World 108 2. Innocent III 110 B. The Church Ruling the Western World 112 1. The Extent of the Church 113 2. The Church's War against Islam — The Cru- sades 113 Questions for Study 119 Reading 120 xii CONTENTS CIIAriEK VIII The Church at the Height of the ^IrooLE Ages (continued) (A. D. 1073-1294) PAGE I. The Western Chi"s.ch (continued'^ 122 B. The Church Kuliug the Western World (con- tinued^ 122 3. The Wealth of the Church 122 4. The Organization of the Church 123 5. The Discipline and Law of the Church. . . . 12S 6. The Worship of the Church 133 7. The Church 's Place in Religion 137 Questions for Study 139 Beading 139 CHAPTER IX The Church at the Hoght of the ^Middle Ages (continued) (A. D. 1073-1294) I. The Wetstern Chtikch (continued) 141 B. The Church Boling the Western World (con- tinued) 141 S. Christian Life under the Church's Rale. ... 141 9. The Seiriee of the Medieval Qrareh to the World 152 II. The Eastebx Chtsch 154 Questions for Study 157 P?r- ling 157 li.U^ r 159 CHAPTER I IHE PREPARATION FOR CHRISTIANITY One of the things that make the study of church history inspiring is that by it we are made to realize that God is actually at work for the sal- vation of mankind in the world where we live. Nowhere do we see this working of God more clearly than in the strange and wonderful way in which the world was made ready for the coming of Jesus. He came at "the fulness of the time/' when all things had been so molded by the hand of God as to cause his coming to have the great- est possible effect. We can best understand this preparation of the world for Christianity by look- ing first at the parts played in it, under God, by three great peoples, and then at the condition of the society in which Christianity first appeared and made its first conquests. I. THE CONTELBUTIONS OF THE PEOPLES A- THE ROMANS When Christianity came, and during all its The Roman early life, the Romans were rulers of the world. '^°' ^"^ This we may truly caU them, in spite of the fact that there was much outside of their possessions, for it was in what they ruled that the civilization of the world was then making its great advances. 1 2 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH The inhabitants of this Roman domain regarded it as the world, and ignored what lay beyond. Moreover, the Roman world included aU the lands with which Christianity had to do during the first three centuries of the Christian era. By A. D. 50 the Roman Empire included Europe south of the Rhine and the Danube, most of England, Egypt and the whole northern coast of Africa, and most of Asia from the Mediterranean to Mesopotamia. All this the Romans did not merely hold by force. They governed it intelligently and effectively. Wherever Roman rule spread it brought a higher civilization than had before existed. The empire's power was greatest and its administration most efficient in the lands about the Mediterranean, where Christianity was first planted. By this world rule the Romans were most use- ful instruments of God to prepare the way for ^*f-"*" Christianity. Their empire, including so much of mankind, was an object lesson giving men some idea of the oneness of humanity. For ages sep- arate governments had made groups of men feel themselves separate and different from all other men. But now all men were one in the sense that all separate governments had been broken down and one power ruled everywhere. Christianity is a universal religion, knowing no distinctions of race, appealing to men simply as men, making all one in Christ. For such a religion there was a most valuable preparation in the fact that when it came men were already one under Rome. one PREPARATION FOR CHRISTIANITY 3 Furthermore, the Roman rule brought world- Cau5ed wide peace, pax Romana, Wars between nations ^o'''<*-w'dc were for the most part impossible under the sway of the mighty empire. This peace among the peoples was very favorable to the spread from one land to another of the religion which claimed uni- versal dominion. Finally the Roman administration, strong and Opened the watchful and wise, made travel and communica- ^*"^'**^^j*^*^^ tion between different parts of the world safe and intercourse easy. The sea was cleared of the pirates who by their terrors had hindered navigation. On land the splendid Roman roads ran to all parts of the empire, doing for distant regions what railways do in our times; and these roads were so policed that the highway robber's life was unprofitable. Thus travel, for business and other purposes, was encouraged and greatly increased. It is probable that during the early years of Christianity people moved about from city to city and from country to country more largely than they did at any later time until after the Middle Ages. Those who know how much modem facilities of travel have fur- thered missionary work will at once see what this state of affairs meant to Christianity when it was being first planted. Such a missionary career as that of Paul would have been impossible without the freedom of travel due to the Roman rule. Christianity was greatly helped in its early years by this opening of doors throughout the civilized world, making it easy for the Christian mission- varies to move about, and encouraging that free in- 4 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH tercourse among countries by which new ideas are circulated. B. THE GREEKS The wide When Christianity came, the people living in the '" "creeks ^^ Tcgious about the Mediterranean had been much affected by the spirit of the Greek people. Colo- nies of Greeks, some of them hundreds of years old, were widely scattered along the coasts of this sea. With their trade the Greeks went everywhere. Thus their influence was extensive, and it was strongest in those cities and countries which were the most important centers of the life of mankind. So strong was it that we often call this ancient world "Greco-Roman,'' for as it was ruled polit- ically^ by Rome, the thinking of its people was largely molded by the Greeks. The Greek During Several centuries preceding the Chris- stimuiated "^^^^ ^ra the Greek people had the most vigorous thought among intellectual life in the world. Thought about the their people j. j.- i • i i i great questions over which men have always pon- dered, about the origin and the meaning of the world, about God and man, and right and wrong, flourished among them as nowhere else. The He- brews had indeed received a revelation of God and his will not possessed by the Greeks, but they were not given to discussing these great questions as were the Greeks. From the sixth to the third cen- tury before Christ a great movement of thought on matters of philosophy and theology took place among the Greeks, in the course of which some of the world's very greatest thinkers appeared, PREPARATION FOR CHRISTIANITY and much that is permanently valuable was given to the world. The result of this was a wonderful development of the mind of the Greek people. To a large extent they learned how to think about the questions which their philosophers debated. Their wits were sharpened and their curiosity was roused. Socrates, going about in the public places of Athens and asking men questions which made them stop and consider things which had never before oc- curred to them, is a type of this influence. So it came about that the typical Greek was a keen, inquisitive, disputatious man, eager to talk of the deepest things in heaven and earth. We can see now what would be the effect of the Hence the contact of the Greeks with other peoples. Their influence worked far and wide to rouse inquiry concerning the great questions of life, and to teach men how to think about them. This temper of in- tellectual curiosity and this readiness of thought were prevalent in the great centers of the Greco- Roman world, the places where Christianity was preached by its early missionaries. Thus the peo- ple of these places were more hospitable to a new religion and better prepared to receive it than they would have been if they had not come under the Greek influence. The Greeks made another important contribution to the preparation for Christianity by supply- ing the language in which it was first to speak to mankind. A sign of the extent and strength of the Greek influence is seen in the fact that the language most used in the countries around the Greek influence set other peoples to thinking The Greeks provided a universal language 6 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH Mediterranean was a Greek dialect, that known as the Koine, the ''common" dialect. This was the universal language of the Greco-Roman world, used for all purposes of popular intercourse. One who spoke it could make himself understood every- where, especially in those great centers where Christianity was first planted. The earliest Chris- tian missionaries, for example Paul, did most of their preaching in this language. In it the earliest Christian books, those that make up our New Tes- tament, were written. Thus the universal religion found ready for it a universal language in which it could at once speak to all men ; and this in- estimable help had been provided, under God, by the Greek people. C. THE JEWS The mission of The Hebrew, or Jewish, people had been divinely peopTe* appointed to be the stewards for the world of true religion. It was their mission to receive from God special revelation concerning himself and his will, to master this divine teaching as it was progres- sively given to them, and to preserve it in purity, so that in ''the fulness of the time" they might be a blessing to all peoples. We cannot fully see the grandeur of their national life unless we view their history as a part of God's preparation of the world for the coming of the religion by which he pur- posed to save the world. reugfoiTslife "^^^ Jcws, it has bccu truly said, supplied "the the first cradle of Christianity," the surroundings for its were trained birth and early growth. They provided the re- PREPARATION FOR CHRISTIANITY 7 ligious life in which were trained our Lord Jesus himself, and all the earliest Christians, including all the first apostles and missionaries. Nowhere else in the world at the coming of Christianity was there a religious life so pure and strong as that which existed among the best representatives of Jewish religion. Its central features were two, the highest conception of God known to men, that which is taught in the Old Testament; and the highest known ideal of moral life, an ideal spring- ing from this lofty conception of God. Speaking as men must, we cannot see how such a life and such teachings as those of Jesus could have come out of the religious life of any existing people other than the Jews. Nor can we see how men fit to receive at its beginning the religion which he brought and to spread it abroad could have been found among any other people. Men trained in that older religion which was so closely akin to Christianity were needed to understand and preach the new religion. The better one knows the life of the Greeks and the Romans, the more one feels the impossibility of gathering among them men who would have been to Christianity what the first disciples and Paul were. Secondly, the Jews prepared the way for Chris- The jews were tianity by being a race expecting what Christianity saviour offered, a divine Saviour. The hope of a Messiah was cherished by all Jews as their dearest posses- sion. To be sure it was held by many of them in gross and worldly forms. But in all its forms there was the essential thing, the ardent expecta- 8 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH tion of one sent of God to redeem his people. Among other peoples there was nowhere an out- look on the future comparable to the Jewish Mes- sianic hope. Indeed in the Greco-Roman world there was a good deal of despair and weariness. Christianity found all of its first adherents among the Jews, and one thing that qualified them to re- ceive it was the Jewish hope of a divine Sav- iour. The Jews gave Thirdly, the Jews provided for Christianity an the Old inestimable help in their sacred books, our Old Testament Testament, treasured by them as the record of God's revelation of himself in their national life. By this means the new religion was supplied at the outset with a religious literature far surpass- ing anything of the kind in existence, which confirmed Christian teachings and foreshadowed Christ. Before Christianity had had time to produce Christian books, it found ready to its hand writings which were of the greatest help to it. Jesus had constantly used the Old Testament to sustain his own life and to support his teach- ings. In keeping with his example the Jewish Scriptures were regularly read in the meetings of the early Christians for worship. All Christians, Jewish and of other peoples, drew from them in- calculable inspiration and instruction. It should be noted, too, that the Old Testament was known to the numerous Gentiles who had been attracted to Jewish religion as the purest they could find, and that thus it proved a way by which many of these men came to Jesus. PREPARATION FOR CHRISTIANITY 9 Something must be said about the important The influence part played in the preparation for Christianity by thJiCHspws^ion the Jews of the Dispersion. This means the many Jews who, because of the scattering resulting from the captivities, were to be found in almost every town of the Greco-Roman world. Everywhere they kept their religion and maintained their syna- gogues. In many places they carried on active missionary work. By this they won from among the Gentiles numerous proselytes, and made the teachings of their religion known to many others who did not fully accept it. This Jewish mission was a most useful forerunner of the Christian mis- sion, for it spread extensively among the Gentiles certain elements of religion which are essential to Christianity as well as to Judaism. One of these was the belief that God is one. Another was a lofty moral law, which Judaism, like Christianity, taught was an integral part of religion. In this both of them differed from pagan religions, which had nothing to say about how men ought to live. A third was the expectation of a Saviour. Many Gentiles had been inspired with this hope by con- tact with Jews, and thus were prepared to accept Jesus as him who was to come. II. THE WORLD AT THE COMING OF CHRISTIANITY A. RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS The old religion of the gods and goddesses of The 1 1 .1 i • old classical Greece and Rome, known to us through the stories religion of classical mythology, had lost almost all of its decaying 10 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH life by the time of the birth of Christianity. The forms of its worship were somewhat kept up, but its power was gone. Educated men generally did not pretend to believe in it, nor had it much in- fluence over the common people. The emperor Augustus, who was reigning when Jesus was born, was greatly troubled by the decay of the old re- ligion, and made great efforts to revive it, but mostly in vain. Augustus also introduced the The Roman Roman statc religion. As it was later more fully developed, this Avas the worship of the statues of the reigning emperor and of past emperors, as symbols of the empire. But this worship was a political act, an expression of loyalty to the gov- ernment, rather than what we should think an act of religion. New religions Nevertheless the age was not, as it is sometimes thought, irreligious. For out of the East strange new religions rose and swept in successive waves over the civilized world, each winning converts. From Asia Minor came the worship of ''the great mother," Cybele. From Egypt came the cult of Serapis and Isis. From Persia came the most pop- ular and powerful of all these Oriental religions, that of Mithra, which had some striking super- ficial likenesses to Christianity, especially in recog- nizing the need of cleansing from sin and in hav- ing a teaching of a future life. Mithraism won an especially large following in the Roman army, and thus was carried far and wide. Besides these, forms of religion modeled after the old Greek mys- teries attracted many people. The mysteries were PREPARATION FOR CHRISTIANITY 11 elaborate ceremonies expressing in dramatic form the desire for purification from sin, the hope of immortality, and the joy of a fellowship resting on religion. The age in which Christianity won its first con- a world of quests was therefore a religious age, in the sense curtosTty"and that there was much interest in learning about * cC Xl I * are told also of seventy disciples whom he ap- pointed and instructed for a special ministry of preaching. Jesus' relations with his disciples, especially with the Twelve, form one of the most important and characteristic parts of his work. He gave to them teaching which he did not give generally. He trained them so that after he was gone they could give to men knowledge of him, and of the revelation of God and the salvation which he brought, and of the way of life to which he called everyone. Toward the end of his min- istry he confined himself more and more to this kind of work for his disciples. After his resurrec- 15 6 V/lMiaaA CIIa^wcIv^ ' ' 16 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH t tion his appearances were to them only. His last Ml SS I 6AAY| ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^g ^ command to carry their preach- C(iW\wsiS.^Uvs jjjg Q^ liis gospel among "all the nations," and a r promise to be with them in fullness of power ^ through all time while they were doing this world- wide work. B. JESUS POUNDING THE CHURCH Plainly Jesus designed that there should be a so- ciety of his followers to give to mankind his gospel and minister to mankind in his spirit, to labor as he did for the increase of the kingdom of God. He fashioned no organization or plan of govern- ment for this society. He appointed no officers to have authority in it over other members. He prescribed for it no creed. He imposed on it no code of rules. He commanded no forms or orders for worship, and gave to his followers only the simplest religious rites. These were baptism, the use of water to signify spiritual cleansing and con- secration to his discipleship, and the Lord's Sup- per, the use of portions of the two most common articles of food as a commemoration of himself, especially of his death for the redemption of men. Therefore what Jesus did would not be truly de- scribed by saying that he organized the Church. He did a greater thing than give organization ; he gave life. He founded the Church, or created it. Jesus formed the society of his followers by calling them together about himself. He communi- cated to it so far as he could while he was on earth his own life, his spirit and purpose. He promised THE FIRST CENTURY 17 to continue to the end of the world to impart his life to this society, his Church. His great gift to his Church, we may say, was himself. In him the Church was to find its principles, its aims, its power. He left it free to make for itself forms of organization and of worship, and statements of ..^-^ belief, and methods of work. His purpose evi- dently was that the life of his Church, that is, his life abiding in his followers, should express itself in any outward ways that might seem to them best for the great end in view. II. THE APOSTOLIC CHURCH (TO A. D. 100) A. THE BEGINNING In one sense, the Christian Church came into being when Jesus first made disciples. But it is commonly said that the history of the Church be- gins on the^^day of Pentecost following the resur- rection; for then began the active life of the Church. After our Lord's withdrawal of his bodily presence from his disciples, though they had laid upon them his command to preach his gospel to the world, they remained quiet. They were waiting, according to his word, for power from on high. Ten days later, at Pentecost, the The effect of Holy Spirit promised by Jesus came upon them. Pentecost on •^^^ _*^ „ ^ „ the disciples It came as a great endowment of energy lor serv- ice. At once they became outspoken witnesses for their Lord, full of gallant activity. The change '.showed itself in Peter's speech at Pentecost. What 18 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH we see in him that day expresses the spirit of all these first Christians from that day forward. That day, then, there came into being the Christian Church, as a company of disciples of Jesus bear- ing witness of him, proclaiming his gospel, build- ing the kingdom of God on earth. B. CHURCH EXTENSION The first The first preaching of the gospel, at Pentecost, to Jews ^y ^'^^ addressed to Jews only. For some time, per- haps two or three years, Christian missions were confined to the Jews, beginning in Jerusalem and thence extending into Palestine. The earliest Christians did not at once see the full breadth of Jesus' purpose of saving the world. Being them- selves Jews, and knowing that he was the Messiah expected of their people, they at first considered him the Saviour solely or chiefly of Jews, in spite of much in his life and words which should have taught them better. Through Pcrsccutiou was the way by which the infant Owrch'wL's led ^^^^^^^ Came to a truer understanding of the to widen its gospcl which Jcsus had given it to preach, and a mission broadcr vision of the work which Jesus purposed for it. The Jewish religious authorities, who had from the first hindered Christian preaching, were aroused by the bold defiance of Stephen's speech to make a systematic, savage campaign against Christianity. By this attack the Christian com- munity in Jerusalem, numbering now some thou- sands, was broken up. Its members sought safety here and there in Palestine. Though fleeing for THE FIRST CENTURY 19 their lives because of their faith, they carried the gospel wherever they went. Some of them went to the great city of Antioch in Syria. Here the followers of Jesus were first called [' Christians. ' ' ^ And here, living in the midst "oT" a Greek population, these exiles made Jesus known to Greeks as well as to Jews. Thus certain obscure and unknown believers took Christianity the first great step in causing Christianity to be '^^nivCTsaP a universal religion. A little later this church at reUgion Antioch sent out Barnabas and Paul, the first men to go under express appointment to preach Christ to the Gentiles. Paul it was who, under God, finished the work of tearing Christianity loose from Jewish fetters. He made it actually what it always had been in God's purpose, a religion for all men. Henceforth it was preached to all men on equal terms. Thus launched on its great missionary career. Growth of Christianity spread so that by A. D. 100 there were ^'^hefosT'" churches in many cities of Asia Minor, in a num- century ber of places in Palestine, Syria, Macedonia and Greece, in Rome and Puteoli in Italy, in Alexan- dria and probably in Spain. The greatest worker in bringing this about was, of course, Paul. The Missionaries „ , , . . . J, -, who caused names oi some other missionaries, tor example ^^^^^ growth Prisca and Aquila, are recorded in the New Testa- ment. The traditions about the preaching of the original apostles lead us to think that all of them 1 This name seems to have been applied to the disciples by other people, not chosen by themselves. It may have been a derisive nick- name. 20 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH were fearless witnesses, carrying the gospel far, though we know certainly about their work only in the cases of Peter and John. But much of the heroic service that spread Christianity so widely was given by nameless disciples. Many a Christian was a missionary, eager to give the joy which he had in Christ to the people he met in his daily work and in other associations. By their zeal in speaking of him, and yet more by lives faithful to him and showing his power to save, these unknown Christians were most effective missionaries of their religion. C. THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH A Christian church in these times was usually a small company of believers living in a large heathen town. Almost all of them were poor peo- ple, some of them slaves, although there were some Christians of higher social rank, especially in the Characteristics Roman church. Everywhere certain things dis- of the tinguished the Christians from their pagan neigh- (1) brotherly bors. They called each other brethren in Christ, ^^^ and really acted as brethren. The poor, the sick, the widows and orphans, were lovingly cared for. The collection and administration of charitable funds formed one of the most important parts of the life of these early churches. "Within the Church social distinctions were abolished. Master and slave stood on one level. Women held a much more honorable and influential position than (2) moral ^j^g^ ^-^ ^^ ^^le world outsidc. The Christians were earnestness j 'i. and purity marked also by a moral earnestness and a purity THE FIRST CENTURY 21 unknown elsewhere. Paul's Epistles to the Cor- inthians tell us of a people far from perfect, as would be expected of those lately converted from heathenism and living in the midst of its tempta- tions. Nevertheless, the lives of Christians gen- erally showed the power of the gospel to give men and women a new righteousness. Again, the ruling O) confident temper of the Christians was gladness and confi- ^^ "^** dence. They rejoiced in the love of God their Father, in the fellowship of the living Lord Jesus, in the forgiveness of sins, in the certainty of im- mortality; and so they stood out against the sad- ness that oppressed many around them. These characteristics of the primitive Christians were powerful to commend Christianity to others and thus further its spread. All these characteristics drew some of their Hope of the strength from the fact that these believers lived ^ ^ commg in constant expectation of the speedy return of their Lord in visible glorious presence, and his tri- umphant reign on the earth. The dominance of this hope in the apostolic Church should never be forgotten in thinking of this period. True, these earliest Christians were mistaken in some of their ideas on this subject, but their hope did much to purify and strengthen their lives. The Christians needed special help, for they PersecuHon were constantly exposed to suffering for their faith. Sometimes they were harassed by Jewish enemies of Christianity. Sometimes unorganized popular anger vented itself on them. The Chris- tians were hated by many because their lives were 22 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH standing condemnations of prevalent religious customs and moral conduct. From the time of the emperor Nero (A. D. 54-68) the Roman Govern- ment was hostile to Christianity, and tried to sup- press it, with vigor and cruelty which varied with different rulers. The reasons for this official per- secution we shall consider in our next chapter ; but it should be noted here that during most of the lat- ter half of the first century Christianity had the power that ruled the world for an enemy. Many Christians, famous leaders like Paul and also un- known heroes, won the martyr's crown. D. THE WORSHIP OF THE CHURCH The meeting Persccutiou and poverty made church buildings worship impossible in the first century, so that the Chris- tians met for worship in private houses. From Paul's Epistles, especially those to the Corinthians, we learn that there were two sorts of meetings for worship. One was of the nature of a prayer meet- ing. It was carried on by the people, who took part as the Spirit moved them. Prayers were of- fered, and testimony and instruction given. There was singing of the Psalms, and also of Christian hymns, which began to be written in the first cen- tury. The Old Testament Scriptures were read and expounded, and there was reading or recita- tion from memory of accounts of the deeds and words of Jesus. When apostles sent to churches letters, such as we have in the Epistles of the New Testament, these also were read. In this meeting the enthusiasm of primitive Christianity found THE FIRST CENTURY 23 free utterance. Sometimes there was such eager- ness to take part that disorder resulted. To this meeting non-Christians were admitted. Sometimes one of them would be moved to confess his sins and give his allegiance to Jesus. The other meeting was the love feast. This was The love feast a joyful and sacred common meal, the symbol of ^"^^su^'^'^^^ Christian brotherly love. Only Christians were al- lowed to be present. Everyone brought provisions for the meal, and these were to be shared by all alike. Paul rebukes the selfishness of those who ate what they themselves brought, refusing to share with those who could not bring things as good. During the meal prayers of thanksgiving were offered by the presiding brother. At its close the Lord's Supper was celebrated, some of the food of the meal being used for the sacra- ment. This meeting was held on the Lord's Day, the first day of the week, which the Christians kept as the weekly festival of their Lord's resurrection. Although there is a good deal of uncertainty about the matter, it is probable that at first the love feast was held in the evening, the ordinary even- ing meal taking this form among Christians. Later in the first century, it seems, the Lord's Supper was separated from the love feast and observed at a morning meeting. We know that in the second century the Lord's Supper, or Eucharist, was cele- brated on the morning of the Lord's Day. E. THE BELIEF OF THE CHURCH No creeds or other formal statements of its belief 24 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH were composed by the Churcli in the first cen- tury. The Apostles' Creed was not used before the second century. For knowledge of the belief of the early Christians we must go to the New Belief of the Testament. They believed in God the Father, in ns lans j^g^g ^^ g^^ ^£ q^^ ^^^ Saviour, in the Holy Spirit of whose presence they were conscious. They believed in the forgiveness of sins. They ac- cepted Jesus' teaching of love to all men as their moral ideal. They looked for his speedy return, for final judgment exercised by him, and for eter- nal life as the destiny of those who believed in him. Their doctrinal ideas, if such they may be called, were very simple. All their thoughts about religious truth were dominated by Jesus, in whom their religion was wholly wrapped up. Influences Two influences caused some of the first century *^"^(i? the**'^*' Christians to have mistaken religious ideas, and judaizers somcwhat threatened the purity of the gospel. The ''Judaizers" taught that Christians ought to per- form all the ceremonies required by the Jewish law. Against them Paul contended sharply; for he saw that if their teachings prevailed, Chris- tianity could not be the religion of people of all (2) GnosHdsm races. In the New Testament there are also warn- ings against the errors of what is called Gnosticism. This took its rise in the first century, and later became very powerful.^ It was a strange mixture of Christian, Jewish and heathen ideas, enough like Christianity to confuse the minds of some Christians. 1 See p. 49. THE FIRST CENTURY 25 F. THE GOVERNMENT OF THE CHURCH All these earliest churches were independent and independence self-governing. The Christians held that they al^^ ""^ '*"''*'^' belonged to one universal Church, for all were one in Christ. But there was no general organi- zation having control over the scattered churches. The original apostles were regarded with great deference because of their relation to Jesus, and exercised a certain authority, as is shown by their decision concerning Gentile Christians and the Jevvdsh law, reported in Acts, ch. 15. Paul was revered for his great work, and therefore had a position of authority. But the authority of these men was not formal or official, such as comes from a definite organization. In this first century there was no organized government of the whole Church. Each congregation managed its own affairs in freedom. The New Testament tells of two kinds of office- church officers bearers belonging to the local churches. First, there were elders, or presbyters,^ to whom was given also the title "bishop," meaning one who has oversight. Secondly, there were deacons. The elders or bishops of a church had the oversight of it, in pastoral care, discipline and financial af- fairs. The deacons gave subordinate service of the same kinds. The highest work that fell to the -. elders was that of presiding at the Lord's Supper, ^ which was the central and most sacred feature of the life of the Church. These office-bearers were * Presbyter is the Greek word for elder. 26 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH chosen by the people. Their authority came to them from God, through the Christian people, in whom the Spirit of God lived. It is to be noted that in the first century there was no one officer doing for a church what a modern pastor does. The prophetic Besidc the ministry exercised by these local office- bearers, there was another sort of ministry, borne by the men called in the New Testament apostles and prophets and teachers. The name '' apostle j.^ was not confined to the original companions of Jesus, but was given to others who did the apos- tolic work of preaching the gospel in new fields. These apostles and prophets and teachers were men who had gifts of the Spirit to preach and teach. This, not any appointment or election, was their title to the ministry. Their ministry was to the whole Church, not to one local community of Christians, and they, especially the apostles and prophets, traveled about to do their work. In the first century the preaching and teaching of the word in the churches was done largely by these men who had gifts for such service, rather than by the local office-bearers. QUESTIONS FOR STUDY 1. Describe Jesus' relations with his disciples. 2. What was Jesus' purpose regarding the Church? 3. In what sense did Jesus found the Church? What did he not give to it, and what did he give? 4. When did the active life of the Church begin? 5. To whom was the gospel first preached? 6. How did the Church come to widen its preaching? THE FIRST CENTURY 27 7. What did Paul have to do with Christianity's be- coming the universal religion? 8. How far did Christianity spread in the first cen- tury? 9. Who were its missionaries? 10. What sort of people composed the earliest churches? What were the distinguishing marks of their life? 11. Whence did persecution come on the Christians of this period? 12. What two kinds of meetings for worship did they have? 13. What was their belief? 14. What influences caused mistaken religious ideas among them? 15. Was there any general church government in the first century? 16. What were the officers of the local churches? 17. What was the prophetic ministry? BEADING Ropes: *^The Apostolic Age," ehs. II-VIII. Bartlet: ''The Apostolic Age." ^, McGiffert : ' * The Apostolic Age, ' ' especially chs. I, II, IV, VI. Foakes- Jackson : "History of the Christian Church to A. D. 461," chs. II, III, VI, X. .,.- Xiindsay: ''The Church and the Ministry in the Early Centuries," Lectures II-IV. ,,.-^. C. Hall: "The Historical Setting of the Early Gos- pel," chs. V-VII. Gwatkin: "Early Church History," Vol. I, chs. IV-VI. ^^ Glover : ' ' The Conflict of Religions in the Early Roman Empire," chs. IV, V. Workman: "Persecution in the Early Church," ch, I. CHAPTEE in THE ANCIENT CHURCH (A. D. 100-590) I. THE WORLD IN WHICH THE CHUECH LIVED Extent of the During the period covered by this chapter and Emph-e "^^6 next, the Roman Empire reached its greatest extent, and then declined until, so far as Western Europe was concerned, it passed away. At its height it included considerable territory north of the Rhine and the Danube,^ and stretched east- ward to the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea. Causes of its The decline of the empire was brought about by (1) internal many causcs, internal and external. It fell partly by its own weight, having too great a territory and too varied a population to be held permanently under one central authority. Many of the em- perors were weak, or bad, or both. Government in the provinces became so corrupt and oppressive that some of them were brought to financial ruin and great misery. Slavery worked out, both in Italy and elsewhere, the disastrous results which it has always produced, weakening character in all ranks of society and wasting resources. The strength of the Romans and of some of the pro- vincial peoples was eaten out by moral decay, in- fecting not only the aristocracy, but all classes of 1 See i>. 2. 28 the attacks of the Germans THE ANCIENT CHURCH 29 the population-. This showed itself especially in dishonesty in private business and government, in sensuality and disregard of marriage, and in de- grading popular amusements. While the empire was thus breaking down in- (2) external; wardly, it received from without tremendous blows at the hands of the ''barbarians." These were chiefly the German tribes, whose homes, when we first hear of them, were about the lower courses of the great rivers falling into the Baltic and North seas. Thence they made, tribe by tribe, their great migrations. In these they were not making mere raids, but seeking new homes. Their movements, which lasted altogether not less than five centuries, changed the face of Europe, bringing to many regions entirely new populations. The Visigoths ended their long wanderings by conquering Spain, the Burgundians took possession of southeastern France, the Franks of northern France and west- ern Germany, the Angles and Saxons of England. As early as the second century the Germans pressed on the frontier of the empire hard enough to strain the Roman power to the utmost. From this time the emperors had to stand them off by receiving some tribes as allies, giving them lands and taking their fighting men into the Roman army. In A. D. 378 there was fought at Adrianople one of the decisive battles of the world, in which the Visigoths, a German tribe then dwelling near the lower Danube, defeated the Romans under Valens and killed this emperor. By this victory the frontier was broken beyond repair, so that 80 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH Visigoths and other barbarians poured in. After this, events moved rapidly to the sack of Rome by the Visigoths under Alaric in 410. Even after this the Roman imperial line continued, but the emperors were wretchedly incompetent. After the middle of this century, the real rulers were the German soldiers of the Roman army, who set up and pulled down as they would the occu- pants of the throne. Finally, in 476, they de- throned Romulus Augustulus, the last Roman emperor of the West. Division of the WTiile the empire was still strong the emperor empire into Dioclctiau (284-305) had seen that its territory East and West was too great to be ruled from one center. Ac- cordingly he had arranged a division of authority among four rulers, with two capitals, Rome and Nicomedia, in Asia Minor. A few years later the strong hands of Constantine the Great seized all the power. Already ruling in the West, he became sole emperor in 323. He removed the capital to his splendid new city Constantinople, but still called himself Roman emperor. After several rulers had succeeded him in this power, division of authority again prevailed until Theodosius, already ruling in the East, obtained sole rule and held it for three years (392-395). He was the last to reign over the whole Roman world. After him there were two lines of emperors, those of East and West, with capitals at Constantinople and Rome. Break-up of The powcr of the Western emperors dwindled, ^^^torwest'" ^^ ^^ have seen, and when the last of them was dethroned it was only the passing of a shadow. THE ANCIENT CHURCH 31 Before the end most of the Western provinces had been broken away from the empire by the barba- rians. For a long time their tribes incessantly fought one another. No strong government arose anywhere to rule as Rome once had, and in the fifth and sixth centuries western Europe was in anarchy and dreadfully afflicted by constant war- fare. In the East the emperors were far more worthy Eastern of the name than in the later Western Empire. ^"^p^'°'^ Many of them were strong men, effectively ruling their great territory in eastern Europe and west- ern Asia. One of them during this period was Justinian (527-565), among the very greatest of Roman rulers. It is important to note that, though for many years there were two emperors, the empire was not thought of as divided. Its government was di- vided, but men still regarded the Roman Empire as one, and both emperors as Roman emperors. After the end came in the West, the monarchs of Constantinople claimed to be sole rulers of the Roman world. II. THE CHUECH A. CHURCH EXTENSION We have now to see what progress Christianity made in these troubled times. Two divisions should be made of this subject, for about mid- way in our period, under Constantine, came a great change in the position of Christianity in the world, that is the end of Roman persecution. 32 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 1. Before Constcmtine Growth of In the two centuries between A. D. 100 and Con- Christianity in . •' j • j.i, t* i»T j the second and ^"^^^^^^^ ^ reign the religion 01 Jesus made won- third cenhiries derful strides. At the end of these centuries it was the prevailing religion in Asia Minor, then a very important part of the world, and in Armenia. In Macedonia and Greece, Italy from Rome south- wards, southern France, Spain, northern Africa, Egypt and Syria, it was very strong. In the farthest regions of the empire it had its out- posts. Its spread in Christianity had spread into all classes of so- ciety, as well as over a wide territory. No longer were its people found chiefly among the poorest and most unlearned. The churches contained not a few men and women of high rank and wealth. Christians were numerous in the imperial court, the government and the army. ]\Iany men of high culture had become followers of Jesus, and used their powers to further the growth of his religion. Christianity had its strongest hold, however, among the freedmen. These men, emancipated slaves, formed a distinct social class. Among them were almost all of the skilled workingmen of the time, and many merchants. The freedmen were industrious, intelligent and thrifty, and were gaining position and power. The spread of Chris- tianity was partly due to the fact that it was so strong in this rising class. gr^wTh*was ^* ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^' ^hat nien brought about this gained; great advaucc of Christianity? At the beginning of the period there were, as in the apostolic age, aries THE ANCIENT CHURCH 33 (2) apologists traveling missionaries, pioneers of Christianity; but by A. D. 200 few of them remained. The apologists, or literary defenders of Chris- tianity, gave valuable missionary service. One of these was Justin Martyr (about 100-165). He J"stin was a Greek, born in Palestine, and showed his Greek blood by spending his youth in going from one school of philosophy to another, in search of truth. Somewhere he met a venerable man, a Christian, who led him to see that the truth which he had found came to its climax in Christ. The rest of his life, until his martyrdom, Justin spent in traveling about as philosophical teachers did, teaching Christianity as the perfect philosophy. He also wrote many books intended to explain Christian truth to the inquiring heathen. An- other apologist was Tertullian (about 160-230), Tertuiiian a Carthaginian lawyer, converted to Christianity in middle life. He had remarkable gifts of keen thought and forcible language, terse, lively, and satirical. These, with his fiery zeal for Christ and his stern moral sense, made him one of the great- est men of the early Church. In many writings he refuted false charges against the Christians and Christianity, and powerfully set forth the truth. The men who did the work of teachers ^ in the (3) teachers churches were also very useful in spreading knowl- edge of Christianity. Here belongs Origen of origen Alexandria (185-253). He was born of Christian parents, and received the best education then to be had. In learning and power of thought he had 1 See p. 26. 34 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH (4) the Christians generally Persecution Its cause no superior in his day. He and Tertullian were the two greatest men in the Church of the second and third centuries. When only eighteen years old Origen became head of the catechetical school of the church of Alexandria. There he was a teacher of remarkable influence, doing much to make Christianity known to non-Christians as well as to Christians. He wrote an amazing number of books expounding Christian truth, including a number of commentaries on books of the Bible, which are still valued by Biblical students. In the persecution under the emperor Decius he suf- fered cruelties which hastened his death. But most of the work that so greatly forwarded the cause of the cross was done by the Christian people generally. By their lives, especially by their brotherly love to each other and also to non- Christians, and their fidelity and courage under persecution, and by constantly telling the gospel story, these nameless servants of Christ won most of those who were won to him in these times. We do not rightly appreciate the conquests made by the Church in these centuries unless we remem- ber that all this was achieved in a time of persecu- tion. The Roman Government was tolerant of all religions so long as those who held them honored the state religion by paying worship to the statues of the emperors.^ This true Christians could not and would not do. Their refusal made them seem unpatriotic, treasonable, and thus their religion be- came offensive to the government. From the time * The law released Jews from this worship. THE ANCIENT CHURCH 35 of Nero, to be a Christian was to be outside the law, for it was to share in something which was . held to mean disloyalty. Here we see another rea- i son why the people often hated the Christians. They were regarded by the people somewhat as are men w^ho will not honor the American flag. Sometimes government officers saved the Christians from mob fury. Three things were special reasons of the Roman spedai reasons Government's hostility toward Christianity. One «' persecution was its rapid grojvth, in spite of repression. Then *- the mosF*lmportant meetings of the Christians, those for the celebration of the Lord's Supper, were held behind closed doors. Therefore to some ^ emperors the Church looked like a widespread and growing secret society of disloyal principles. Fur- thermore, Christianity, as we have said, was par- ticularly strong in one social class, that of the ^ freedmen. This class was gaining power, and ^ hence was feared and hated by the aristocracy. But the aristocracy controlled the government. Thus the strength of Christianity among the freed- men made the government more opposed to it. For all these reasons, Christians were objects The govem- of pretty constant suspicion and frequent attacks, "e"*'* '»'="°" Their condition was not unlike that of revolution- ists in Russia. At any time they might be ar- rested by the police and accused before magis- trates, the charge usually being treason. They were then required to worship the imperial statues. Refusal meant cruel torture and often, for the obstinate, death. 36 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH Periods of persecution 3\\ End of persecution Persecution varied greatly in different times and places, according to the disposition of reigning em- perors or of local officials. Early in the third cen- tury, after the sufferings under Septimius Severus, there were more than thirty years oT peacer" 'ThefiT came the most terrible persecution yet experienced, under Decius and his two successors. They used all their power in a systematic and ruthless attempt to stamp out Christianity all over the empire. Thou- sands of Christians were martyred, and thousands also fell away from the faith. But from this fire the Church came out purified and stronger than ever, and it made great advances in the long peace from 268 to 303. Then came, under Diocletian, the last persecution. This was savage but in most places short-lived, and did not seriously weaken the Church. In 311 an edict of toleration for Christianity, containing something like a confes- sion that the persecution had been a mistake and a failure, was issued by Galeriug, ruling in the East. In 313 another edict, by Constantine and Licinius, emperors in East and West, allowed en- tire religious liberty. Constantine and Christianity 2. After Constcmtme ^ Before Constantine the Church was in conflict with the world; after him it was on the throne of the world. WTiat his motives for his action toward * Constantine was not strictly the first to give toleration to Chris- tianity, for Galerius did this two years before him. But his name is usually associated with the great change in Christianity's position, ior reasons which will be clear as we go on. THE ANCIENT CHURCH 37 Christianity were is somewhat a mystery. No "'^ motives doubt he saw that it could not be conquered, but was surely going to be a greater power in the em- pire, and therefore wished to have the Christians on his side. At the time when, as he said, he saw the blazing cross in the sky with the words "Hoc vince, " ^ he was at war with rivals for the throne, and needed all the support he could get. No doubt, also, he had some real personal belief in Christianity, or at least sympathy with it. At all events, it was Constantine, emperor in the "'s actions West after 312 and sole emperor after 323, who did far more than anyone else to cause the vast and sudden change that came. First he gave gen- eral religious liberty, chiefly for the benefit of Christians. Then he showed great favor to Chris- tianity, making grants from his treasury for the building of churches and the support of the clergy, relieving them of taxation, and replacing the eagles on his standards with the labarum,- the sign of Christ. Finally he entered actively into the affairs of the Church, endeavoring to settle doctrinal disputes, and in general exercising au- thority among the Christians. All this time he was not openly a Christian, for he would not receive baptism till just before his death. But his interest and favor gave to Christianity great prestige. The new position of Christianity at once brought Effect en the rapid growth, some of which was for its good and cons"antine's some not. Freed from persecution, and also dis- favor 1 By this conquer. 4 38 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH Missions; (1) Martin of Tours (2) Ulfilas (3) Patrick ciplined and purified by its trials, the Church could and did push forward its work with great power, in both old and new fields. On the other hand, because the religion patronized by the em- peror became fashionable, thousands crowded into the churches who were not Christians at heart, and therefore did harm to the cause of Christ. Sweeping rapidly forward into new fields, Chris- tian missions made great gains. In central France in the fourth century, Martin, bishop of Tours, a man of great activity and powerful natural elo- quence, of constant charity and courageous zeal, carried on a wide and fruitful work through his own tireless labors and through disciples trained in monasteries which he established. At the same time Ulfilas had a long and heroic career as the apostle to the Goths about the lower Danube. He translated a large part of the Bible into their tongue, having previously devised an alphabet for it, and thus made it for the first time a written language. This was the first translation of the Bible into any of the Germanic family of lan- guages, to which English belongs. It was also the beginning of Germanic literature. Because of Ulfilas' work, the Goths, when they captured Rome in 410, were Christians. In the next century Christianity was carried to the westernmost limit of the known world, by Patrick. In the mist of legends which surrounds him, we can clearly see a man who had the true spirit of Christ and who laid enduring foundations of Christianity among a wild people. Patrick was THE ANCIENT CHURCH 39 born somewhere in Britain, of Christian parents. There was Christianity in Britain as early as the third century, probably planted by Christians in the Roman army. In his boyhood he was cap- tured by Irish pirates, and held a while in slavery among them. x\lone and in bondage, he became much more deeply Christian than he had been before. He escaped to France, lived for a time in a monastery, and then returned to Britain. But he was constantl}^ haunted by the thought of the need of the Irish for Christ: ''I fancied I heard the voice of the folk who were near the wood of Fochlad, nigh to the western sea." At length, after some years of study in France, he went to Ireland in 433. There for thirty years he was a missionary of singular fidelity, courage and success. From Ireland in the sixth century the famous (4) coiumba Columba led a company of monks to a little island scouuh monks off the west coast of Scotland, lona. From the monastery established there Columba and his fol- lowers went out to their missions. Their work spread widely in Scotland and in England, and struck deep into the continent, in France, southern Germany and Switzerland. No part of early Chris- tian history shines more brightly than the story of these Scottish monks. Nothing could daunt or discourage their zeal to preach Christ. Their Christian teaching had an apostolic simplicity not found elsewhere, and their lives a rare purity and Christlikeness. Along with all this true missionary work, we M 40 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH Conversion of fjj^^j jj^ -j^j^g f^f-j^j^ century One of the most striking Franks cases of the superficial Christianizing of a people. Clovis, king of the Franks, had a Christian wife who had long tried to make him a Christian. Hard pressed in battle, he vowed to become a Christian if Christ would help him to win. He won, declared himself a Christian, and compelled his people to accept Christianity. On Christmas Day, 496, he and three thousand of his warriors, says the chron- icler Gregory of Tours, were baptized. So the strongest of the Germanic tribes became nominally Christian. But the history of Clovis and of the Franks for years afterwards shows that this Chris- tianity was hardly skin-deep. Growth of the Another kind of church extension which was a imperial favor doubtful benefit was that which was accomplished through the power of the empire. The emperors after Constantine followed and bettered his ex- ample in regard to Christianity. They showed it favor, and also asserted their authority in church affairs, especially in the disputes about Christian belief which were so frequent in the fourth cen- tury. Thus Christianity was practically the estab- lished religion of the empire, though it was not such officially. This, of course, meant a constant rapid increase of professing Christians, many peo- ple taking up with the religion just because it was approved by the emperors, without any real in- terest in it. Imperial favor toward Christianity suffered a iOCV) short check under Julian (361-363), who made an earnest but vain attempt to revive paganism. The THE ANCIENT CHURCH 41 story is told that as he was dying, he realized that his opposition to Christianity had come to nothing, and said, "Thou hast conquered, Galilaean." A few years later (380), Theodosius, emperor in the East, a Christian, decreed that all subjects of the empire must accept the Christian faith as stated in the creed of Nicea, adopted by the Church in 325.^ Theodosius continued this policy when he became ruler of the whole Roman world, in 392. Thus Christianity became part of the law of the empire. All its inhabitants had to profess them- selves Christians, under penalty of outlawry for not so doing. This, of course, gave the death blow to paganism in the empire. Many temples and idols were destroyed, and by A. D. 400, pagan wor- ship was gone. It looks like a great triumph for Christianity that the religion which had been un- der persecution less than a century before should now be the only lawful religion in the empire. Really, it was not such a great triumph, for the new state of things meant that in the Church there w^ere many people who were not Christians at heart. This action of Theodosius was the begin- ning of the use of governmental power to compel people to profess Christianity, a thing which has done the religion of Jesus much harm. Christianity made compulsory QUESTIONS FOR STUDY 1. What were the internal causes of the decline of the Roman Empire? 2. What was the effect of the German migrations in western Europe? 1 See p. 50. 42 GROWTH OF TPIE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 3. What were the relations of the Germans to the Roman Empire? 4. How did the Eastern and Western Empires arise? 5. How far did Christianity spread in the second and third centuries? How much did it spread in various social classes? 6. How was this growth of Christianity brought about? 7. Who were Tertullian and Origen, and what did they do for Christianity? 8. Why did the Eoman Government persecute Chris- tians? 9. Describe the persecution. How was it ended? 10. What was Constantine's personal attitude toward Christianity? "What were his reasons for giving it lib- •erty? 11. What did Constantine do toward Christianity and the Church? What was the effect of his action upon the Church? 12. What advances did the Churcli make in A. D. 313- 590? 13. Describe the work of Ulfilas, Patrick, and Columba and his followers. 14. How were the Franks converted? 15. How did the emperors after Constantine treat Christianity? 16. What action did Theodosius take toward Chris- tianity? READING G. B. Adams: ''European History," pp. 101-151, on the Roman Empire. Foakes- Jackson : "History of the Christian Church to A. D. 461, ' ' chs. IV, V, XI, XII, XV, XVII, XX. Fisher: ''History of the Christian Church," Period II, eh. I; Period III, ch. I. Gwatkin: "Early Church History," Vol. I, chs. Ill, VII- XIII; Vol. II, chs. XVIII-XXIII, XXV, XXVI. THE ANCIENT CHURCH 43 ^ Farrar: "Lives of the Fathers," Vol. 1, on Justin, Ter- tullian, Origen, Martin of Tours. Workman: ''Persecution in the Early Church." MacLear: "Apostles of Mediaeval Europe," on Patrick and Columba. MacEwen: "A History of the Church in Scotland," Vol. I, on Columba, and his followers. CHAPTER IV THE ANCIENT CHURCH (Continued) (A. D. 100-590) B. LIFE IN THE CHURCH Eflfectof While the persecution lasted, it largely shaped ^thecharactr" ^^^ Church's inoral character. Only earnest and of the faithful people would profess Christianity when to do so brought on one the hostility of the gov- ernment. In this way the life of the Christians was kept on a high moral level. In the times of peace, however, many entered the Church, and among these some of light character, whose pres- ence lowered the average of Christian conduct. Then when persecution began again, its terrors caused these weaker ones to desert the cause of Christ. Thus the Church was purged of its un- reliable members, and made more worthy of its Lord and stronger for his work. Character of the In the sccoud and third centuries the general secondand" character of the Christians continued to be, as it third centuries was in the first, high enough to distinguish them from the world about them. Though there were serious blemishes, on the whole the Christians were acknowledged to be of superior morality. Brother- liness, purity, honesty, were characteristic of them. Their brotherliness especially impressed a world in which this was new. Cases of need were frequent among them. Many poor people were in their 44 THE ANCIENT CHURCH 45 number. Persecution made many widows and orphans, and to many men brought confiscation of goods. To meet these needs Christian love flowed forth freely. Nor was it confined to help- ing those who held the faith. Often in times of general distress, for example, in pestilence, the Christians cared for the needy without distinc- tion, when no one else would do so. Constantine's action put the Church in an en- The favor of the tirely different situation. Its new position of free- some moral dom and imperial favor, of the friendship of the decline world, was not altogether good for its life. So many people of all sorts crowded into the churches that it was found impossible to keep up the care- ful examination and training of candidates for membership which had previously been the rule. Many found places in the churches who were really pagans, and whose lives were a reproach. This v/as true both in the older seats of Christianity and on its mission fields. Thus there came a decline of the general level of character in the Church. To meet this situation, the Church made large Discipline used use of its discipline, that is its method of inquir- »« remedy this ing into and punishing offenses against morality. Instead of instructing people in Christian living before they came into membership, the Church schooled them after they were in. Punishments were imposed to repress immorality and train church members. For minor offenses these pun- ishments were penances, vsuch as public confessions, fastings and prayersj^ and for graver offenses ex- communication. "*^' 46 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH Monasticism j^ ^jjjg time, when there was much worldliness and evil in the Church, many Christians became eager for a higher goodness than they saw around them. Thus arose a form of life which was des- tined to be one of the greatest forces in the history Its motive; of Christianity, that is, monasticism. What made salvation^ men become monks was a desire for salvation. For two reasons the life of monks appeared a surer way of salvation than the life of other men. (1) by separa- Jt was a life Separated from the world, and '*'"worid therefore free from the hindrances to Christian liv- ing found in the world. In the early Christian centuries. Christians were living in a heathen so- ciety, which constantly put great temptations in their way. Even after society became nominally Christian, it long remained practically heathen, as we shall see. Besides, Europe w^as for centuries in a state of constant warfare, most unfavorable to Christian living. Thus those who earnestly de- sired to lead Christian lives came to think that they could do this far better by separating themselves from the general life of men. (2) by entire Sccoudly, the monastic life gave opportunity for seif-demai; ^j^g pursuit of holiuess by entire self-denial. In asceticism and poverty the idcas then held about self-denial a large place was taken by what is called asceticism. This is a way of action which appears in many religions. Its fundamental principle is that evil resides in matter. Matter, of course, includes the human body. Therefore, it was thought, holiness is at- tained by freeing the spirit as far as possible from the body ; and this freedom can be gained by deny- THE ANCIENT CHURCH 47 ing satisfaction to the desires of the body. An- other form of self-denial which was highly esteemed was complete poverty, the lack of all possessions. So men came to think that the most truly religious life was led by those who gave up all their goods, had poor lodgings, dressed uncomfortably, ate scanty food, slept little, scourged themselves sav- agely for penance, and were unmarried. Only thus, it was believed, could men and women reach the highest kind of goodness. In the second century there were in the East, i especially in Egypt, many hermit monks, living heYml'ts in desert places, in extreme self-denial, and re- garded by Christians in general as specially holy men. From the East the monastic ideal spread to the West in the fourth century. There it soon was very popular, and many men and women became monks and nuns. In the West, however, monastic life took a different form from that usual in the East. The typical monk of the East was a soli- Eastern and tary, living in extravagant hardships. Jerome tells ^«s*e"» i? 1 • • . ,T -, „ ^ monastidsm o± his sojourn m the desert of Chalcis, of his skin becoming "black as an Ethiopian's," his bones scarcely clinging together, his sleepless nights, his companionship with beasts and scorpions. But the typical monk of the West was a member of a com- \ , i munity. Men and women went apart from a so- C'CA0V)\tfS' ciety unfavorable to Christian living, but they did not live alone. They entered societies ruled by Christianity, where it would be easier to lead Christian lives. In the western part of the Church monasticism was social, a life of brother- 48 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH hoods and sisterhoods, in which all goods were held in common and almost all things were done in common. The Early in the sixth century the famous Benedic- ruie caused a ^^^^ monastic rule was drawn up by Benedict of reform in Nursia in Italy. It soon became practically the universal law of Western monasteries. Benedict saw that the life of monks needed direction and purifying, and sought to bring this about by his rule. This made the monk's vow a vow for life, so that he was dead to the world. It required him, on taking his vow, to surrender all his property. It prescribed the virtues which a monk must vow to have, abstinence, obedience to superiors, silence, humility. It laid down his duties in great detail, dividing his time between worship, manual labor in house and field, and study. The reform caused by the rule gave to monastic life fresh popularity, resulting in the foundation of many new monas- teries, which filled as fast as they were built. Services of the The rulc made the monasteries homes of industry and culture as well as of devotion and self-denial. Planted among barbarians, as many of them were, they were agencies of civilization. They gave ob- ject lessons in agriculture and handicrafts and building. They preserved and multiplied books ^ and encouraged study and writing. In their schools they provided most of the education that was to be had at the time. They were also the world ^ In this time copies of books could be made only by writing them out. By doing much of this the monks were great protectors of literature. THE ANCIENT CHURCH 49 chief charitable institutions of the time, caring for the sick and the poor.. Above all, they were powerful instruments of missionary work. From many of them streams of missionaries poured out, and for hundreds of years missions were carried on chiefly through monasteries. They did in their day very much what foreign mission stations do in ours. C. THE BELIEF OF THE CHURCH In this period the Church did much thinking Gnosticism led about the chief matters of its belief, and ex- ma'kh^g pressed its conclusions in the great creeds. This work began in the second century. Then Gnosti- cism ^ became widespread and powerful, particu- larly in the East. Its Christian elements gave it something of a Christian appearance, yet it was really far from Christianity. Thus it was espe- cially dangerous. In order to defend Christianity against Gnostic errors, and also to give instruc- tion to catechumens,^ short statements of what Christians believed were framed. Creeds much The Apostles' Creed like the Apostles' Creed appeared in several places during the second century. Evidently something substantially the same as this was generally accepted as the Church's creed in this time, though no such statement had yet been adopted by any body representing the whole Church. 1 See p. 24. 2 Catechumens were people seeking admission to the Church, who were kept a while under instruction. 50 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH Thought and In the contest with Gnosticism the Church was The nature"* ^o^scd to deeper thought about its belief, especially of Christ about the nature of Christ. Many Christians tried to find an explanation of his being. Discussion about him grew more and more active, particularly in the East, where the Greek influence made men keenly interested in such questions. Early in the fourth century thought on this subject issued in the great Arian contro^'ex^- Arius, a presbyter of Alexandria, taught that Christ was neither God nor man, but a created being intermediate between divinity and humanity, a kind of demigod. Arian- ism spread rapidly in the East, and the dispute over it rent the Church in twain, and even caused serious disturbances of public order. Nicene council To bring about pcacc, Constantine called the ^ an ere ^^^^ general council ^ of the church at Nicea in Asia Minor, in 325. Here Athanasius, a deacon of Alexandria, was the great opponent of Arius and his party, and carried the council with him. By its decision the Church affirmed the divinity of Christ, declaring that he was ''of the same sub- stance" with the Father. While there was keen theological dispute in the council, what really caused the decision was not argument. It was Athanasius' appeal to a religious conviction in the hearts of its members, the conviction which can be expressed thus: "Jesus whom I know as my Redeemer cannot be less than God." The * A general council consisted of all the bishops of the Church. Such a council is called also "ecumenical." At Nicea over three hundred bishops were present. On the office of bishop in this period, Bee Section E in this chapter. THE ANCIENT CHURCH 51 councirs decision forms the greater part of the Nicene Creed, the teaching of which has been accepted ever since throughout the Christian Church. The question of the divinity of Christ having been settled, discussion moved to the subject of the relation of the divine and human natures in him. Differences of opinion were bitter, and some divi- sions in the church resulted.^ The fourth general council, at Chalcedon in 451, made the final ut- terance of the Church on this subject, declaring that in Christ the two natures, divine and human, existed in full integrity. Great truths that are vital to Christian faith, those of the incarnation and the trinity, were seen and expressed by the Church in this ''age of the councils." These expressions have ever since re- ceived the assent of Christendon. With this gain there came a loss. All this discussion of state- ments of doctrine inclined men to think that the most important thing in Christianity was to hold correct definitions of Christian truth. The test of a man's Christianity was not so much his loyalty to Christ in spirit and conduct as his agreement with what the Church had declared to be right doctrine, that is, his orthodoxy. One who was not orthodox was cast out as a heretic, however faith- ful to Christ his life.^ Two great men who deeply affected the thought Creed of Chalcedon Emphasis on orthodoxy 1 See p. 62. 2 For example take the case of Nestorius, a man of blameless character, condemned in 431 solely for theological opinions. 52 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH Jerome Jerome's translation of the Bible and all the life of the Church may be noticed here. These are Jerome and Augustine. Jerome was born about 340, in Pannonia, the country about modern Vienna. His father was well to do, and gave his son an excellent educa- tion. He became a Christian when about twenty- five years old, while he was a student at Rome. For several years he lived in Aquileia with a com- pany of friends, devoted to the study of the Scrip- tures and to practices of self-denial. Leaving them because of the remarkable faculty for quarreling which he displayed all his life, he passed several years as a monk in the desert near Antioch. Here he endured great hardships,^ but still continued his studies. These he also kept up during a resi- dence at Rome which followed. By reason of his earnest Christianity and his intellectual power, and also of his wit, of which his letters are full, he exerted great influence in the Roman aristocracy, particularly on some noblewomen. In 385 the en- thusiasm for monastic life which he had long felt drove him to take up his abode in a monk's cell in Bethlehem. Here he lived until his death in 420, constantly studying and writing. Chief among his works was his translation of the Bible. The Old Testament was rendered for the first time into Latin, out of the Hebrew, and the existing Latin translation of the New Testament was carefully revised. Thus Jerome gave to the world one of the most largely used of all versions of the Scriptures. Later iSee p. 47. THE ANCIENT CHURCH 53 called the Vulgate, it was the Bible of the Middle Ages. It is still regarded by the Roman Cath- olic Church as the authoritative text of the Bible. In addition to this work he wrote commentaries on books of the Bible, theological treatises, books in praise of monasticism, and countless let- ters. Augustine's early life is described in the won- Augustine's derf ul book called his Confessions. He was born in 354 in northern Africa, near Carthage. His mother was an earnest Christian, but he did not follow her example in his youth. At thirty he was a brilliant teacher of rhetoric and oratory in Carth- age, possessed of remarkable power of thought and enjoying a high reputation. Though he had thought much about religious matters, he was practically without religion, and he was living im- morally, indulging his strong passions. At this time he went to Rome to teach, and His conversion thence to Milan. Here the preaching of Ambrose, the great bishop of the city, affected him deeply. He began to study Christianity, and thus became almost persuaded. But he was not yet ready to give up the satisfaction of his base desires. One day a Christian friend told him about Antony, the famous Egyptian monk, and how two of his friends had been converted by reading of Antony's career. Strangely moved, Augustine rushed into the garden of his house, and there he heard a child in a neighboring house calling out, ''Tolle, lege; tolle, lege" (take, read). He took up a volume of Paul's Epistles, and as he opened it his 5 influence 54 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH eyes fell upon Rom. 13 : 13, 14. This caused him to decide for Christ, and in the year 387 he was received into the Church. Shortly afterwards his mother died, having seen the fruit of a life of prayer for her son. His conversion gave to Chris- tianity its greatest man between Paul and Luther, one whose influence is still working in both the Protestant and the Roman Catholic parts of Chris- tendom. His work and Eight years after his conversion Augustine be- came bishop of Hippo, one of the most important towns of Africa. Here he spent thirty-five years in great devotion to the people under his charge and in the writing of many books on various as- pects of Christian truth. He had great difficulties with the Donatists, a very large body of Christians who were separated from the Catholic Church ^ and had a church of their own. The separation had occurred many years before, because the Donatists thought that the Church was too leni- ent toward those who had betrayed the faith in time of persecution, insomuch that it had ceased to be the true Church. By argument and by the influence which his character gave him, Augustine won back some of them. Unfortunately the un- reasonableness and violence of some others led him to sanction the use of the emperor's power to com- pel them to return to the Church. His relations with the Donatists caused him to think much about t:ie nature of the Christian Church, and so he came to work out his famous doctrine of the iSee p. 58. THE ANCIENT CHURCH 55 Church.^ This doctrine lay at the foundation of the great structure of the Roman Church of the Middle Ages. Upon it the Roman Catholic Church still builds. Augustine's influence soon spread far beyond his African bishopric, all over the western part of the Church. It was shown in his great doctrinal controversy with Pelagius, in which, after long and widespread discussion, his views prevailed. Here Augustine maintained man's absolute need of divine grace for righteous character. This em- phasis on the grace of God caused Luther and Cal- vin to esteem him very highly. Protestant the- ology has followed their example in being in- fluenced by and honoring Augustine. D. THE WORSHIP OF THE CHURCH At the end of this period. Christian worship Worship more jorate a formal was very different from what it was at the begin ^ ^ ora e an ning. During this time it steadily grew more elaborate and more formal. Liturgies, with fixed orders of service and forms of prayer, were com- posed and largely used. The musical element of worship was much developed. Choirs were intro- duced, and antiphonal singing. From the second century the writing and use of hymns greatly in- creased. This tendency in worship naturally grew stronger after Christianity received its freedom. Then church buildings became much more numer- ous, larger, and more decorative. In the service 1 See p. 60. 56 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH there Avas increased use cf whatever gave dignity and impressiveness. Augustine tells how pro- foundly he was affected by the service in Ambrose's magnificent church in ]\Iilan, by the solemn music, the stately ceremonial, the crowds of reverent worshipers, and the preaching of the great bishop. Paganism in Another tendency marks the worship of the ^rJhip" Church in this time, that is, the entrance of pagan elements. This came about because the Church lived in the midst of paganism, until about A. D. 400,^ and because after Constantine many entered Saint worship {^ who wcrc really pagans under the surface. Saint worship is the chief example of this tendency. It was natural that veneration should be paid to martyrs and notable monastics and other men and women famed for holiness. Among people who had been accustomed to the worship of gods of towns or sacred places, and who were not thor- oughly Christianized, this veneration quickly passed over into a worship. The saints came to be regarded as something like lesser deities, Avhose intercession availed with God. Places con- ?. . nected with their lives were considered especially \\U^ \^^i^^ sacred. Pilgrimages to such places naturally -^ Ir^ . followed. To venerate relics, or material objects I\e\ V CS connected with the saints, parts of their bodies or property, and to believe that in them was a power to work miracles, came easily to those in whom paffan superstition still remained. The causes of Mariolatry ^ ^ '■ . ■, -, j • xi saint worship were particularly present m the case 1 See p. 41. THE ANCIENT CHURCH 57 of the Virgin Mary, whose worship began late in this period. Both these tendencies affected greatly the cen- change in the tral act of worship, the Lord's Supper, or Euchar- ^"^'^ ^"^^^ ist, as it was called from the second century. This became a stately and gorgeous ceremony, w^th fixed rituals and much care for details. And un- der the influence of pagan worship, of which sac- N\^S^ rifice was the chief element, the sacrament came to be regarded as a sacrifice, offered by the priest for the benefit of the people, efficacious for their salvation.^ Although this way of celebrating the Lord's Preaching Supper tended to make preaching of less impor- tance, the age had great preachers. Among them were Ambrose of Milan, a man brave enough to forbid the emperor Theodosius to enter his church until he had repented of his brutal massacre of the Thessalonians, and John of Constantinople, whose eloquence caused him to be known by the nickname Chrysostom, ''golden-mouthed." E. THE ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH 1. The Development of the Orgomization In the first century, as we saw, the churches were independent communities governed by groups of elders or bishops and of deacons. But very soon a change began by which each church came to have one office-bearer over it. This was per- 1 From the fifth century the sacrament was often called the Mass in the West. This name is associated with the idea of sacrifice. 58 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH f ectly natural, for one man can manage affairs and ''^V^**^*"^ give leadership better than several. Thus grad- ually one of the men called elders or bishops rose above the rest, and was called the bishop of the church, the others being called only elders or presbyters. This bishop was like a modern pas- tor. So arose the threefold ministry, of bishop, presbyters and deacons. Rise of the There came also a change in the relations of the Catholic Church in xxi, j a. xi?i churches, in the second century a sort oi loose federation of churches grew up, having as com- mon bonds one form of belief, expressed in con- fessions much like the Apostles' Creed, and one form of local church government, that just men- tioned. These churches called themselves the Catholic Church, catholic meaning universal. There were some churches which differed from the great number in belief or government. These were regarded as heretical, outside the Catholic Church. Thus the Church, instead of being a simple brotherhood in Christ, as in the apostolic age, became a federation defined by a rule of faith and of government. After the creeds were adopted by the councils, the lines against heretics were drawn even more tightly, for now there were pre- cise statements of faith which could be made tests of membership in the Catholic Church. Qergyand Changes took place also in the position of the ministry. The distinction between clergy and lay- men, unknown in the apostolic age, was gradually marked. The bishops, presbyters and deacons were separated in rank from the members of the THE ANCIENT CHURCH 59 Priests Celibacy churches. As the sacrificial idea of the Lord's Supper grew up, the clergy were more and more frequently called priests. The office of the bishop was magnified. He was thought to have author- ity directly from God enabling him to teach Christian truth rightly. Sometimes he was re- garded as empowered to give God's forgiveness. The growth of the idea that asceticism was the road to holiness caused the belief that the clergy ought to be unmarried. This was made law in the Church in the West in the fourth century. We have seen in the local churches a process of centralization, by which one office-bearer instead of several came to be over a church. Other steps in centralization followed. As the number of Christians grew, the bishop of a town would have The diocesan several churches in the town and the surrounding '^ °^ region under him, instead of one. Each of these would be cared for by a presbyter, the bishop hav- ing oversight of the whole district or "diocese." Then the bishops of larger towns naturally rose to greater importance than those of smaller places. They were called metropolitans, and each of them Metropolitans had oversight of several bishops and their dioceses. By a further step in centralization, five bishops rose still higher, to the rank of patriarchs. These were the bishops of Rome, Constantinople, Alexan- dria, Jerusalem and Antioch. Thus out of the independent churches of the apostolic age grew the Catholic Church, having its complete graded organization, its clergy possessing CathoUc church spiritual authority over the people, and its definite Patriarchs Complete development of the 60 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH Augustine's creed, and calling those who would not accept its °of'the ^^^^ heretics. Then in the fifth century Augus- church tine taught his doctrine of the nature of the Cath- olic Church, which was soon generally accepted. He believed that the first bishops of the Church were appointed by the apostles. The apostles received from Jesus the gifts of the Holy Spirit for the care of the Church, and bequeathed them to their successors, the first bishops. The bishops who held their offices in regular suc- cession from the first bishops possessed these gifts of the Spirit. Hence they, and only they, pre- served the pure, original faith and could give the true Christian teaching which brought salvation. And they alone were keepers of the true sacra- ments through which the saving grace of God came to men. What made the true Church, Augustine taught, was the possession of bishops standing in this apostolic succession. Only in the Catholic Church, the Church of these bishops in the apos- tolic succession, was there salvation.^ Still another step was taken in the centraliza- tion of the government of the Church. Among the five patriarchs, the two most prominent were those of Rome and Constantinople, the two prin- Rise of the cipal citics of the world. Several causes worked to raise the Roman bishop to the highest place. By far the greatest was the fact that he was bishop of the ancient capital of the world. For centuries authority over the world had gone forth from power of the Roman bishop I ^ Augustine was not the first to teach these ideas ; but he worked out the subject more fully than anyone before. THE ANCIENT CHURCH 61 Rome. Inevitably its bishop had a power in the Church that no other bishop could have. An- other cause was the custom which grew up of mak- ing the Roman bishop a court of appeal in church disputes. This custom was made more influential by the fact that the emperors encouraged it. Then from the fifth century the so-called Petrine claim was generally accepted. This is the claim that Christ made Peter first among the apostles, and that Peter was the first bishop of Rome and be- queathed his primacy to his successors there, so that they had a divine right to first place among the bishops. The general acceptance of this made conditions just the same as though it were true. Besides all this, the Roman bishops pursued a con- sistent policy of holding all authority that they had gained, claiming still more, and taking ad- vantage of every opportunity to use their power. A striking example of this was the great Leo I (440-461), sometimes called the "first pope."' He asserted his universal authority in the strongest terms and claimed the right to give commands to bishops everywhere. Though his claims were utterly denied by the bishop of Constantinople, and met some resistance in the West, his ag- gressiveness greatly increased the power of his office. ^The word "pope" is derived from the late Latin word papa, meaning "father." This was frequently used in the western part of the Church in the fourth and fifth centuries, as the title of any bishop. However, it gradually came to be reserved for the bishop of Rome. "L Church 62 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 2. Churches Separated from the Catholic Church Certain churches separate from the Catholic Church were formed in this period, as results of theological disputes, combined with political and racial causes. In the fifth century Nestorius, patriarch of Constantinople, was condemned by Nestorian the Church ^ and banished by the emperor for heretical opinions about the person of Christ. His ideas were shared by many Christians in the Syrian city Edessa. The ' ' Nestorians " were undoubted believers in Christ. They differed from the Cath- olic Church only by explaining Christ's divinity in a way which was not considered orthodox. Being banished from Edessa for their heresy by the em- peror, they went to Persia. There they greatly strengthened the existing Christianity. Very soon an independent church was organized, headed by an archbishop, who in 498 took the title Patriarch of the East. The Nestorians were full of mission- ary zeal. Wherever they went, at their work, on trading journeys, in search of homes, they car- ried the gospel. Thus their church grew rapidly in Asia. In the disputes about the nature of Christ there arose another party holding unorthodox opinions on this subject. This was called the Monophysite party, because its members taught that in Christ there was one nature, instead of two, divine and human, as the creed of Chalcedon said. Out of this party, which was very strong, arose two sep- ^ At the third general council, at Ephesus in 431. THE ANCIENT CHURCH 63 arate churclies. The Jacobite Church was formed jacobue in the sixth century, in Asia Minor, Syria and ^""'^^ Mesopotamia. In the two last-named regions it still supports a feeble life. The Coptic Church, comprising almost all the native Christians of Egypt, was cut off as heretical by the Catholic coptk church Church in the sixth century, and has remained separate. QUESTIONS FOR STUDY 1. What was the effect of the persecution on the char- acter of the Christians? 2. What was the general character of the Christians in the second and third centuries'? 3. How was the moral life of the Church affected by the action of Constantino and his successors? 4. Why did men become monks? 5. What were the provisions of the Benedictine rule? 6. What services to the world did the monks render? 7. When did the Apostles' Creed come into use, and why? 8. What was the teaching of Arius about Christ? 9. What was the decision of the Council of Nicea on this subject? Who was the dominant man in the council? 10. What doctrinal decision was made at the Council of Chalcedon? 11. Describe the life and work of Jerome. 12. How did Augustine become a Christian? Describe his work and influence, 13. What changes took place in the worship of the Church in this period? What was the cause of saint worship? 14. Describe the growth of the ofl&ee of bishop. 15. Describe the formation of the Catholic Church. Why were some Christians called heretics? 16. Describe the complete organization of the Catholic Church? 64 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 17. What was Augustine's theory of the Church? 18. Why did the power of the bishop of Rome increase? 19. What was the origin of the Nestorian Church? READING Foakes- Jackson : ''History of the Christian Church to A. D. 461/' chs. VII-IX, XIII, XIV, XVI, XVIII, on mat- ters of doctrine; chs. X, XIX, on the development of the organization and the rise of the Roman church. Sohm: "Outlines of Church History," Sections 10-14, "^ on organization and the Roman church. Fisher: ''History of the Christian Church," Periods II and III. Schaff: "History of the Christian Church," Vols. II and III (see Tables of Contents). Workman: "Christian Thought to the Reformation," chs. III-V, on matters of doctrine. Lindsay: "The Church and the Ministry in the Early Centuries," lectures V-VII, on the changes in organization and worship. Farrar: "Lives of the Fathers," Vol. II, on Jerome, /'"' Augustine, Ambrose and Chrysostom. ^ Adeney: "The Greek and Eastern Churches," on the ^' Nestorians, etc. Workman: "The Evolution of the Monastic Ideal," chs. IIII. CHAPTER V THE CHURCH IN THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES (A. D. 590-1073) I. THE WORLD IN WHICH THE CHURCH LIVED Warfare, confusion and barbarian darkness pre- Wars and vailed in western Europe during most of the "*1^es^tern '" period on which we now enter. The Lombards, Europe one of the least civilized of the German tribes, seized a kingdom in northern and central Italy. Scandinavian pirates, the Normans and the Danes, harried the coast of the Atlantic and the Mediter- ranean. The Normans took lands in France and southern Italy, and in 1066 conquered England. The Pranks greatly increased their domains in northern France and western Germany. Out of the East came a great, new, conquering Conquests of people, the Arabs, inspired by their new religion, *he Moslems Mohammedanism, to invincible fighting. In the beginning Mohammed was no doubt a sincere re- ligious leader. The religion which he taught, hav- ing for its central feature the W'Orship of one God, was much higher than the polytheism which had existed in Arabia before it. But he became a self- seeker, and adopted war as the means of spread- ing his religion. Before he died (632) he had con- quered Arabia, and his religion had spread with his conquests. The Arabs, made warlike and un- 65 66 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH conquerable by his teachings, won a vast empire in western Asia. By desperate fighting the East- ern emperors held them at bay before Constan- tinople. But the Arabs swept resistlessly over Egypt, northern Africa and Spain. Their onrush in the West was not stopped until they met one of the strong Germanic peoples. In 732 near Tours, in central France, the Pranks, under Charles ^lar- tel, defeated the warriors of Islam, who then re- tired into Spain. By noticing on a map how short is the distance between Tours and Asia op- posite Constantinople, as compared with the dis- tance already traveled by the Arabs, one may get an idea of how near they came to conquering the world, and how great was the danger to Christian- ity. Though at last stopped, they long held Spain and the rest of their conquests, and so had the Mediterranean at their mercy. Meanwhile there was no power in western Europe to uphold order and peace and civiliza- tion. Since the Western empire had passed away in the fifth century, no government had arisen to take its place. The kingdoms set up by the Ger- man tribes in the lands they had seized had not grown up to be anything like permanent civi- lized states. Their rulers were mostly lawless and violent, unable to maintain just and orderly gov- ernment. Charlemagne's But after ycars of anarchy there came at last empire ^^^ ^^ ^j^^ world's chicf buildcrs of civilization. This was Karl, king of the Franks, better known as Charlemagne, whose splendid reign lasted from Anarchy in western Europe CHURCH IN EARLY MIDDLE AGES 67 768 to 814. By wars of conquest he made him- self ruler of a domain stretching from the Elbe River in Germany to the Ebro in northern Spain, having for its western limit the Atlantic waters, extending eastward beyond Vienna, and including much of northern Italy. Over this great territory Charlemagne's rule was wise, vigorous and effect- ive. He caused the first light to shine in the in- r I tellectual darkness which had overspread Europe j9^y,^^;j'^^^^ with the barbarian migrations, by encouraging learned men with his patronage and by promoting the establishment of schools in connection with cathedrals and monasteries. He was a Christian, and used his power in the interest of Christianity. However, some of his efforts in this direction, espe- cially his forcing the Saxons by ruthless wars to profess themselves Christians, did more harm than good. Being the ruler of western Europe, and so chariemagne strongly Christian, Charlemagne could not but "^^"p^g^ come into relations with the head of western Chris- tianity, the Pope. The way to such relations had been paved for him by his father Pepin, who at the Pope's appeal had driven off enemies threaten- ing Rome. Like his father, Charlemagne gave help to the Popes. In reward Pope Leo III on Christmas Day, 800, at Rome, crowned him em- peror. This was regarded as a revival of the an- cient Roman Empire, and Charlemagne as a suc- cessor of the Roman emperors. For Roman rule had made so deep an impression on the mind of Europe that Tixm could think of no other empire than the 68 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH Roman. In token of his connection with Rome, Charlemagne took the city as one of his capitals. But he and most of his subjects were Germans, so that, while called Roman, his was really a Ger- man Empire. Charlemagne's domain was divided by his grand- sons into three kingdoms. Thus the empire passed away for a time. In the tenth century, however, a great German king. Otto I, built up by conquest a realm including the present German Empire, Switzerland, and northern and middle Italy. As Holy Roman ^hc climax of his triumphs, he was crowned em- Empire 1 1 -r. peror by the Pope at Rome m 962. Thus Charle- magne's power was in great part revived. The em- pire created by Otto was called the Holy Roman Empire.^ It was tJie chief political power of the Middle Ages, and indeed it lasted until 1806, though it was not strong during much of its life after the thirteenth century. Like Charlemagne's empire, it was called Roman because it was re- garded as continuing the ancient Roman power, but was really German. It was called ' ' Holy ' ' be- cause the men of the time considered the empire to have a religious character. Their thought was that the kingdom of God has two representatives in this world, the empire to rule in temporal matters, and the church, headed by the Pope, to rule in spirit- ual matters. According to the theory, both empire and church included all men — though as a matter ^ The term "Holy" was not officially used until the twelfth cen- tury, though, in the time of Otto, men thought about the empire in the way which this word signifies. Empire CHURCH IN EARLY MIDDLE AGES 69 of fact the empire never comprised all of western Europe. Thus human society, it was thought, had these two divinely appointed methods of govern- ment. It is plain now that this idea of a division of authoritj^ between two equal rulers could not be realized, and that either church or empire must be supreme. In the next period we shall see how this worked out. During all this time of change in the West, the Eastern Eastern Empire held its throne at Constantinople. Its emperors claimed to be successors to the Roman rulers, denying that the German monarchs had any right to this majesty. Their empire was greatly reduced by the Arabian conquests, most of its Asiatic and all of its African territory being lost; but for centuries they kept the tide of Mo- hammedan power from overwhelming Europe. To this Eastern Empire Christianity is in debt for many years of defense of its territory in eastern Europe against Islam. II. THE CHUKCH A. CHURCH EXTENSION In this period we shall see in the life of the Church much to sadden us ; but that the spirit of Christ was there is shown by the splendid work of its missionaries. When England was conquered by the heathen Angles and Saxons,^ they drove into the western- most parts of the island many of the original in- ^See p. 29. 6 70 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH Missions in England : (1) Roman (2) Scottish habitants, the Britons, and with them British Christianity. This had been planted in the third century, and had grown strong. But the con- querors were themselves conquered by Christian- ity, which came to them from two sources. From E/Ome, Pope Gregory I sent about forty monks, headed by Augustine, prior of a Roman monastery, as missionaries to England. In 597 they landed at the mouth of the Thames. In that year Ethel- bert, king of Kent, was baptized, and soon his kingdom became largely a Christian land. Augus- tine was appointed first archbishop for England, having his seat at Canterbury. Other Roman mis- sionaries followed his band. Another important Christian center was established at York, in the north of England. But the larger part in Christianizing the Eng- lish was played by Scottish monks, who came from lona and Ireland early in the seventh century.^ In 635 they established a monastery, really a mis- sion station, at Lindisfarne, an island on the York- shire coast. Hence the monks went out widely over England. "They were loved and reverenced by the people. When one of them was traveling about he was everywhere received with gladness, those who met him on the road would eagerly ask his blessing, and at every place which he visited, people came in crowds ... to hear him, for they knew that he came for no other reason than out of care for their souls, that he might preach, bap- ^ See p. 39. These monks are properly called Scottish, since at this early time the people of Ireland were called Scots. CHURCH IN EARLY MIDDLE AGES 71 tize and visit the sick. " ^ It was these Scottish monks who really won the English people for Christ. Thus there were in England two forms of Chris- tianity, the Roman and the Scottish. They dif- fered in some small matters of religious custom. Their chief difference was, however, that the Roman missionaries and their converts acknowl- edged the Pope's rule, while the Scottish monks, whose Christianity did not owe its origin to Rome, would not do this. After some contro- versy it was decided at a synod in 664, chiefly through the influence of King Oswiu, that the English church should obey Roman authority. The church was completely organized by Theodore of Tarsus, archbishop of Canterbury, late in the same century. By that time Christianity was the religion of most of England. The English gave to other peoples some noble missionaries. Greatest of these, and of all mis- sionaries in this age, was Boniface (680-755). He was born in Devonshire, of wealthy parents, and became a monk, famous for learning, eloquence and goodness. "When no longer young he felt the call, to carry the gospel to the Germans. Despite the entreaties of friends who foresaw for him a great career at home, he went thither, having ob- tained from the Pope appointment as missionary in Thuringia. He labored tremendously, preach- ing, baptizing, founding schools and monasteries, Roman Christianity prevails Boniface in Germany 1 Stephens and Hunt: "History of the English Church," Vol. I, p. 113. 72 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH building up a church organization in the great region of southern Germany which he won for Christianity. Like most medieval missionaries, he made violent attacks on heathen worship, seeking thus to prove that the heathen gods were nothing. He cut down the oak sacred to Odin at Geismar in the presence of a terror-stricken crowd of bar- barians, who had allowed him to attempt this in expectation of seeing him struck dead for sacri- lege. He showed one of the marks of a great mis- sionary in winning many to join in his work, mostly English, both men and women. In addi- tion to his great charge as archbishop of Mainz, head of the German church. Pope Zacharias gave him the task of reforming and reorganizing the corrupt church of France, where he wrought a regeneration. Boniface crowned his work by lay- ing down his high offices in his seventy- fourth year, and going as a humble preacher to the Fris- ians, a wild people living about the mouths of the Rhine. Two years later a band of them murdered him. He had made southern Germany perma- nently a Christian land, and hardly any man has won richer conquests for Christ. Ansgarin While the Northmen were ravaging the coasts aSTsweden ^^ Europe, the Church was answering by sending the gospel to the homes of these terrors of the world. "The apostle of the north'' was Ansgar (801-865), a Frenchman of noble family, a monk of Corbey. He had long desired to preach Christ to heathen men. WTien the opportunity came through the request of the Danish king, constrained CHURCH IN EARLY MIDDLE AGES 73 by Charlemagne, for a missionary, he hastened to Denmark. After five years there he crossed to Sweden with a few companions, and in that country made a good beginning. While he was away on a visit to Rome his missionaries were driven out and his work ruined. But with in- trepid faith he rallied his forces and began again. For twenty-five more years he labored, and at last he saw Christianity triumphant in Sweden. During this period Moravia and Bohemia were ^ '\ y won for Christ by two remarkable men, Greeks of / Thessalonica, Cyril and Methodius. The people Vs^-fkc)*^^^ of these countries were the first of the Slavic peo- ples to become Christian. In several countries of Europe Christianity was forced on the people by their rulers, sometimes with cruelty and bloodshed. This took place in Norway and in Poland, though in the former there vras also work by English mis- sionaries. To a large extent Christianity was forced on the Coming of Russians. King Vladimir, late in the tenth cen- to Russia tury, adopted Christianity, for reasons of which different accounts are given. Then he compelled his people to do the same. Christianity was not new to all of them, for during most of the century missionaries from the Eastern Empire had been working in some parts of the country. But Vlad- imir required all his subjects to profess Christian- ity whether they knew anything about it or not. He and his successors, to be sure, encouraged mis- sionary work, which was actively carried on, and medieval missions 74 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH promoted the organization of the Church through- out their realm. But many of the people, espe- cially in the country districts, remained practically heathen. "Virtually the same heathenism has clung to the peasants in combination with their ignorant notions of Christianity right down to the present day. ' ' ^ The Russian church was from the first in close relations with the patri- arch of Constantinople, and acknowledged his au- thority. Method of One difference between these medieval missions and those we know should be noticed, for it meant much to the life of the Church for centuries. In modern Protestant missions the method almost in- variably is to work for individual conversions, and to admit people to the Church only when they give evidence of being soundly converted. But the method of medieval missions generally was to receive people into the Church as rapidly as they would accept baptism, without inquiring par- ticularly into the spiritual condition of each one. For example, Boniface is said to have baptized a hundred thousand converts in one year. Thus great masses of people were brought into the Church and under its teaching and discipline. The idea was that actual Christianization should be ac- complished by a slow process of education and care within the Church. This method made possible a rapid extension of the Church, but it also brought into the Church thousands who had little idea of what it is to be a Christian. ^Adeney: "The Greek and Eastern Churches," p. 369. CHURCH IN EARLY MIDDLE AGES 75 B. THE ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH Two matters are of prime importance under this head in this period; the further rise of the Roman church and bishop, and the separation of the Cath- olic Church into the eastern and western branches. 1. The Rise of the Papacy At the beffinnine: of the period stands one of the Gregory i ^ his character greatest men of the line of the Popes, Gregory I, called the Great. The fact that his election to the papacy gives the date (590) of the begin- ning of one of the three chief periods into which church history is usually divided witnesses to his importance. Gregory was of unblemished char- acter, honored for his goodness and the severe self- denial of his life. He had great energy and cour- age, extraordinary administrative ability, states- manlike wisdom, warm sympathy for human need, and a noble vision and ambition for Chris- tianity. He was a voluminous writer on matters of Christian truth, and his books, though not origi- nal or scholarly, had much influence in his time. He took great interest in the ritual and music of the Church. By the use of his remarkable gifts, Gregory made His work for the most of the Roman bishop's place as patriarch ^^^ ^^^^^ of the West. He constantly asserted and enforced his authority over this great and growing part of the Church. He made the great metropolitan bish- ops acknowledge the superiority of Rome. He caused worship to be according to the Roman 76 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH ritual. He sent out missionaries, such as Augus- tine to England, who always spread obedience to Rome as well as Christianity. It would be un- just to say that his chief object was to increase the power of his office. He labored incessantly to purify and strengthen the Church, to care for its poor, to give Christianity to the heathen. But he sincerely believed that ''the apostolic see is the head of all the churches," and therefore in everything he so acted as to raise higher the Roman bishop. Though he refused to be called ''universal bishop," he won acknowledgment of his authority beyond the western patriarchate, and went far toward universal dominion. Thus Greg- ory did more than any other one man, except Hil- debrand, to make the papacy what it became in the Middle Ages. Factors in the Jjq^ ^^ jiow look at Several things which in this papacy period combined to add to the power of the bishop of Rome. In western Europe no strong civil gov- ernment existed between A. D. 400 and the time theoIi^ysfrTng^^ Charlemagne (768-814), or again after Char- ruier in lemagnc, until Otto I came. In all this time there was no ruler who could give peace and justice and order. But at Rome, the ancient seat of world power, was the bishop, holding a time-honored holy office believed to have been first held by an apostle, claiming wide dominion in the Church, reaching out all over the West with his sovereignty. And many of the Roman bishops were strong men, able to rule. In all western Europe for many years the Pope was the only representative of perma- western Europe CHURCH IN EARLY MIDDLE AGES 77 nent government. In this situation the power of the papacy inevitably grew throughout the West, and to a lesser degree in other parts of the Church. Furthermore, some of the Popes were represent- (2) The Popes atives before men not merely of authority, but Hg^hteousness also of righteousness; and this in a time when many rulers knew no law but their own desires. During the papacy of Nicholas I (858-867), Loth- aire, king of Lorraine, put away his wife and took another woman, and got approval of his course from the subservient archbishops of his realm. Such a situation was, of course, a grave menace to general morals. But the Pope, after a long strug- gle, compelled the king to take back his wife and dismiss her rival. No other power in the world could have brought this about. But the authority of the head of the church, resting on the fear of excommunication, which was believed to mean eternal death, sufficed to win the victory. Thus the Pope stood before the world for something greater than a king's power, that is, tlie moral law\ Such affairs, of course, made the papacy stronger; but they show that in those times its strength could be a force for good. Still another thing that strengthened the papacy o) Rise of the w^as the position of the Popes as civil rulers in J^^^l^l^^ Rome. This is called the ' ' temporal power. ' ' Dur- papacy ing most of the fifth, sixth and seventh centuries there w^as no civil government w^orth mentioning in Rome. Often conditions of public distress from pestilence or famine, or of danger from enemies, or of anarchic disorder, made it the bishop's duty 78 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH to assume the government and rule the city. Such was the case with Gregory I. The people of Rome compelled him to accept election to the bishopric because the ruinous state of the city demanded a strong, wise, righteous ruler, and they knew that such he would be. Thus the bishop grew to be the regular civil as well as spiritual ruler of the city. During this period Rome came to be practically independent, with the Popes as its sovereigns. Be- sides the city, the Popes governed extensive lands in Italy given to them by Pepin, king of the Franks, Charlemagne's father.^ They thus held a con- siderable territory, having revenues and an army like other civil rulers. This temporal sovereignty gave the Popes a security of power which could not have been gained otherwise. (4) False Another factor of strength was the famous for- Decretals ° gery called the False Decretals. This, the most influential fraud known to history, was a collection of decisions of church councils and decrees and let- ters of Popes. Some were genuine ; but many of the writings attributed to Popes were forged.^ They purported to be the work of bishops of Rome from the earliest Christian times down to the eighth cen- tury. They represented all these bishops, even the earliest, as exercising authority over the whole Church, and as being acknowledged to have such ^ These lands did not belong to Pepin, for he had no authority in Italy; nevertheless he gave them away. The Popes kept them, and they formed a large part of the Papal States, over which the Popes were sovereigns until 1870. - The false character of these documents is now universally ac- knowledged by Roman Catholic scholars, along with others. CHURCH IN EARLY MIDDLE AGES 79 authority. These false documents were probably composed in France about the middle of the ninth century. They seem to have been written largely with the purpose of defending the bishops against tile interference of metropolitans or archbishops ^ and of civil rulers. This they did by representing the Popes as asserting the rights of the bishops. In doing this they also magnified the power of the papacy. Thus support out of history for the papal claims was manufactured. Nicholas I ^ was the first Pope to use the Decre- tals to strengthen the papal office. He employed them to overcome archbishops who claimed to be independent of Roman rule. The false documents are so clearly false that nowadays it would be im- possible to accomplish anything by means of them. But in the rude times when they appeared there were no scholars to see and expose the fraud. Fol- lowing Nicholas' use of them, they were taken into the law of the Roman Church, and became a power to increase the papal authority. Missions also played a part in building up the (S) Missions Roman power. When the Popes appointed mis- sionaries they always charged them to bring the lands which they won into obedience to Rome. Thus every gain for Christianity meant gain for the papal power. "We have already seen how the church in England came under tJie authority of the Popes, because of the presence of Roman mis- 1 Metropolitans were often called archbishops, from about this time. 2 See p. 77. 80 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH sionaries.^ Boniface did much to extend the papal sway, in the part of Germany which he won from heathenism, and also in Bavaria and France. (6) Advance Strange to say, the advance of Islam was an- of Islam /= . . ^ _, , other force which raised Rome s power m the Church. When western Asia and northern Africa came under the Arab rule, the Church was terribly weakened in the East. Three of the five pa- triarchates, Alexandria, Jerusalem and Antioch, fell into the possession of a religion fiercely intol- erant of Christianity. Meanwhile in the West the Church was growing fast through its missions. Thus that part of the Church which acknowledged the Pope's sovereignty gained in importance, while the Eastern portion, in which it was denied, became smaller and weaker. 2. The Separation of East and West The events which occasioned the final division of the Catholic Church into the Eastern and Western churches were so trifling as not to be worth men- tioning. For the real causes of the division we Causes of the must look deeper. One was a difference of race. separaion j^ ^-^^ Wcst the dominant race was the Latin, which had been strengthened by mixture with the Germans. In the East it was the Greek, which had received much infusion of Oriental blood. Here was a difference which easily became the parent of misunderstanding and lack of sympathy, strengthening all other forces of separation. An- other cause of the division of the Church was the iSee p. 71. CHURCH IN EARLY MIDDLE AGES 81 division of the rule of the empire between East and West. The gulf between the two parts of the empire was widened when the line of Western emperors ended and only the Eastern emperors re- mained, having no real power in the West. The Eastern emperors ruled the church, along with all else in their domain. But the church in the West, headed by the Roman bishop, would not endure their control, and finally broke with the Eastern emperors when the Pope crowned Charlemagne Roman emperor. A third cause of division was the ever-growing claims of the Roman bishop, which were never acknowledged by the rival pa- triarch of Constantinople. The first breach came in 867, when, because of The separation a quarrel between the Pope and the patriarch of Constantinople, an Eastern council declared the Pope deposed from his bishopric. This was un- done by another council two years later. But the feud of East and West went on, with much bitter discussion of small differences of doctrine and usage, until 1054. Then, after another quarrel be- tween Pope and patriarch, the Pope pronounced anathema on the patriarch and his supporters. This was the final rupture. From this time the Greek and Roman churches stood apart, each claiming to be the true Catholic Church and re- fusing any recognition to the other. The Greek, or Eastern, Church comprised Greece, most of the Balkan peninsula, and Russia, with most of the Christians in Asia Minor, Syria and Palestine. The rest of Europe obeyed the Pope. 82 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH Hereafter our attention will be given chiefly to tlie Roman or Western Church, because that played a much more influential part in the history of the world than did the Greek or Eastern, and because with it the religious life of America to- day has much more connection than it has with the latter church. But we should not let ourselves think that this was the whole Christian Church. Besides it there were, as well as the Eascern Church, the Nestorian and other separate churches in Asia and Egypt.^ QUESTIONS FOR STUDY 1. What was the general condition of western Europe in the first part of this period? 2. How far did the Arab conquests extend? 3. Describe the empire and government of Charlemagne. What were his relations with the Pope? 4. When was Charlemagne's empire revived? What was the medieval idea of the relation between the empire and the church? 5. Describe the Christianization of the English. 6. Describe Boniface's work. What part of Europe did he add to the church? 7. Describe Ansgar's work. 8. Describe the Christianization of Russia. 9. How did medieval missions differ from modem Prot- estant missions? 10. What did Gregory I do for the papacy? 11. Explain these causes of the growth of the power of the Pope: a. The political situation in western Europe. b. The moral attitude of some Popes. c. The gaining of temporal power by the Popes. *See pp. 62, 63. CHURCH IN EARLY MIDDLE AGES 83 d. The False Decretals. e. Missions. f. The advance of Islam. 12. What were the causes of the separation of the East- ern and Western churches'? 13. Describe the final rupture between them. What were the territories of the two churches? EEADING Bryce: ''The Holy Roman Empire," chs. IV-IX, on the general history of the period. Adams: ''European History," pp. 152-198, on the same. Workman : ' ' The Church of the West in the Middle Ages, ' ' Vol. I, chs. I, II, on the relations of empire and church and the rise of the papacy; ch. Ill, on missions. Stubbs: "How Europe Was Won for Christianity," on missions. MacLear: "Apostles of Mediaeval Europe," on the same. Milman: "Latin Christianity," Bk. Ill, ch. VII, on Greg- ory I; Bk. IV, chs. III-V, Bk. V, chs. VIII-X, on missions. riick : ' ' The Rise of the Mediaeval Church, ' ' on the growth of the papacy. Adeney: "The Greek and Eastern Oh.urches," on the Christianization of Russia and the separation of East and West. Fisher: "History of the Christian Church," Period IV; Period V, chs. I, II. Moeller: "History of the Christian Church in the Middle Ages" (see contents). Causes of paganism in the Church CHAPTER VI THE CHURCH IN THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES (Continued) (A. D. 590-1073) C. CHRISTIANITY AT WAR WITH PAGANISM WITHIN THE CHURCH It must now be clear that the Church during the period before us contained many people who were only slightly Christianized, more pagan than Chris- tian. Let us briefly review the causes of this state of things. One was the action of the Roman em- perors in legalizing and favoring Christianity. Crowds adopted the religion made fashionable by imperial patronage. Another cause came when the emperor Theodosius decreed that his subjects must profess Christianity in the orthodox form. Thus was inaugurated the emperors' policy of using their power to crush idolatry and constrain people to belong to the Church. The methods of the missionaries, again, resulted in the presence in the Church of thousands of Germans and other peoples who had never been converted.^ And when peoples were forced by tiieir own rulers ^ or by conquerors ^ to accept Christianity, this re- sult came in even greater measure. * See p. 74. 2 See pp. 40, 73. •See p. 67. 84 CHURCH IN EARLY MIDDLE AGES 85 Thus within the Church there was a great mass of paganism, of pagan ideas about religion and morals, and pagan ways of action, carried over by these people who were Christians only in name and form. Christianity's struggle with paganism struggle of therefore had to be waged within the Church, as agiin™ well as in the world without. Its great task in paganism in the Middle Ages was the conquest of the bar- barians of northern and western Europe, who were to become the dominant peoples of the world. This was largely done after they entered the Church. This struggle within the Western Church was so hard that Christianity was for a time almost over- come in its own home. The task of Christianity was made harder by two things wherein the times about which we are speaking differed from ours. We live in a world where Christianity has been at work like the leaven for centuries, so that it has affected all men, even those who are not personally Christians. There- fore we have governments which are in good meas- ure forces for the righteousness which Christian- ity teaches and seeks to establish. We have also a public opinion which in what it praises and in what it condemns agrees with Christianity to a considerable extent. But in the times of which No help toward Chrisban we are speaking neither of these things existed m morality from western Europe. Its peoples were just emerging ^"^^^""^^^^^^ from barbarism and paganism. Government, ex- opinion cept in a few cases like those of Charlemagne and Otto I, consisted of the rule of men who were themselves ungoverned and violent, and often no- Decline of morals in the 86 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH toriously wicked. Furthermore, since Christianity had had so short a time to work, there was noth- ing like a Christian public opinion. *'The tradi- tions of society at large were undiluted heathen- ism." 1. Life in the Church What a battle Christianity had for existence church appears in the depths to which character and con- duct sank within the church. Even among the the clergy clcrgy moral conditions were incredibly bad. Look, for example, at Principal Workman's picture of the church in France in the eighth century, be- fore Boniface disciplined it into some decency. *'The majority of its priests were runaway slaves or criminals, who had assumed the tonsure ^ with- out any ordination. Its bishoprics were regarded as private estates, and were openly sold to the highest bidder. . . . The archbishop of Rouen could not read; his brother of Treves had never been ordained. . . . Drunkenness and adultery were among the lesser vices of a clergy that had become rotten to the core. " ^ It is not too much to say that throughout Europe scandalous and shameful priests outnumbered those of worthy life. Not only ignorance and neglect of duty were frequent, but also luxurious living, gross immoral- ity, robbery and simony, that is, the buying of clerical offices. The higher clergy were no better. * The shaving of a circle at the crown of the head, which was the sign of priesthood. - "The Church of the West in the Middle Ages," Vol. I, pp. 75, 76. CHURCH IN EARLY MIDDLE AGES 87 perhaps worse, than the lower. Simony was the regular and recognized way of obtaining a bish- opric, and for some bishoprics there was a fixed price. Nor was the papacy exempt. Its state during Degradation most of a hundred and fifty years beginning about <*^ **^^ P^p^"^y 890 was vile to the last degree. The office that had been raised so high by Gregory I and Nicholas suf- fered every imaginable disgrace. Political rivals and their followers fought for it. Some of its oc- cupants were notoriously guilty of all sorts of crimes. For years a family of infamous women controlled the papacy, giving it as they willed. Then the emperor Otto I, in order to rescue it from its degradation, made it subject to himself. For forty years the emperors set up and pulled down Popes, choosing, it is true, some better men than had lately borne the title. Afterwards the office fell into the hands of a noble Italian family, the Counts of Tusculum. Their possession ended with Benedict IX, whose debaucheries and rob- beries and murders finally roused the Roman populace to revolt and drive him out.^ That the papacy recovered from all this shame and gained far greater power than ever before, shows how strong a hold the office had on the mind of the people of Europe. Even those who were supposed to have gone Monastic apart from the world to find Christian surround- corruption 1 These facts regarding the papacy are related by Roman Catholic as well as Protestant historians. See, for example, Alzog: "Uni- versal Church History," Vol. II, pp. 292-298. 88 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH Moral condition of the people ings and lead consecrated lives, that is, the monastics, were infected by the prevailing degra- dation. In fact some of the worst reports of immorality concern them. Within most monas- teries conditions were not much, if at all, better than in the ^vorld without. WTien religious leaders, even those in the high- est places, were of such character, it is needless to say much about the morals of the people of the church. By the end of the tenth century, in a large part of western Europe practically every person was in the church and was a Christian so far as name and religious ceremonies go. But Christian moral teaching had not yet had much effect on the conduct of men. While there were in- dividuals in whose lives true Christian goodness shone, society as a whole showed little of the trans- forming work of Christianity. Dean Church, ex- plaining why so many men and women in this time took up monastic life, says, ' ' Let a man throw him- self into the society of his day then, and he found himself in an atmosphere to which real religion, the religion of self -conquest and love, was simply a thing alien or unmeaning, which no one imagined himself called to think on; or else amid eager and overmastering activities, fiercely scorning and remorselessly trampling down all restraints of even common morality. ' ' ^ The wickedness and misery of the mass of men in these ages were appalling. This state of things was due simply to pagan- ism, present within the church and unconquered 1 Church: "St. Anselm," p. 4. CHURCH IN EARLY MIDDLE AGES 89 by Christianity. This corrupt society was really a heathen society, though nominally Christian. In order to get some idea of what it was to live in the world of that time, we must keep in mind the fact that, besides being ruled largely by heathen morality, the world was swept by almost incessant fighting. Wars, great and small, among the kings and nobles, and fresh barbarian attacks filled western Europe with savagery and destruction.^ Moreover, it was a world of gross ignorance. The ancient Greco-Roman culture had been well-nigh drowned by the flood of barbarian invasion. Knowl- edge, even of the most rudimentary kind, was the possession of only a few. Charlemagne's revival of learning ^ was the only bright spot in a state of things which makes these times deserve the name of the "Dark Ages." In such a world Christianity had the task of getting its moral teachings obeyed. 2. Worship and Popular Religion In an earlier chapter we saw Christian worship somewhat corrupted by paganism. In this period, since there was a larger pagan element in the church, its worship showed this influence in greater degree. And not only worship, but also a whole system of religious acts and customs, wit- nessed to the presence of pagan religion. What Dean ]\Iilman called a "Christian mythology" grew up and formed the Christianity of many ^ See beginning of Ch. V. 2 See p. 67. Paganism in worship and popular religion 90 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH Mariolatry and saint worship people — probably it would be safe to say of the mass of the people. The one God revealed through Christ was not the only object of worship. A number of other beings received it, and in the minds of many people these others took a larger place than God. They seemed nearer and fuller of human sym- pathy. Chief among these was the Virgin Mary, whose worship was greatly developed. A series of festivals connected with her was added to the church year. Prayers were constantly offered to her for her intercession with God. The saints, of whom there were now many, martyrs and mo- nastics and other holy men and women, were in- voked for their protection and their availing pray- ers. Places, churches, individuals and societies had their saintly protectors, or patron saints. The saints had their special days for w^orship, and so the church calendar grew up. Canonization, that is, elevation to sainthood, was now given by regular procedure, through the decisions of the Popes. The custom of going on pilgrimage to the shrines of the saints, and to other places esteemed holy, grew greatly. Such journeys were thought to give the pilgrims merit in the sight of God. The most meritorious pilgrimage, of course, was that to the Holy Land. This, it was believed, earned forgiveness for all sins. BeUefinreUcs Relics played a very large part in popular re- ligion. Things said to be the bones of the apostles and the chains with which Peter was bound, for example, were treasured by their happy posses- Pilgrimages CHURCH IN EARLY MIDDLE AGES 91 sors, and were believed to have the power of work- ing miracles. Gregory I, who was a leader intel- lectually as well as in other respects, sought relics with devout enthusiasm and in perfect faith told stories of their wondrous powers. In worship the central feature was the mass, as the sacrament of the Lord's Supper was now usually called.^ This was regarded as a sacrifice constantly offered to God for the sins of the world. More and more it was believed that the bread and wine of the sacrament were the veritable flesh and blood of Jesus, though the belief was not yet a declared doctrine of the church. In the popular religion there was a large ele- ment of fear, as was the case in the pagan religions which Christianity had displaced. The world was thought to be full of evil spirits, devils, who sought to injure men's bodies and souls. Against their malice the powers of angels and saints and the magic charms of holy relics must be appealed to. An awful sanctity was attributed to church buildings, to the elements of the mass, to relics, to the persons of the clergy. Stories were told and believed of how irreverent acts in churches and disrespect to priests had been followed by calamity or instant death. The power of Chris- tianity over many people was largely a power of fear. At first sight it seems unaccountable that Chris- tianity should take such a form as this, so far re- moved from the simplicity and spirituality and The mass central in worship A religion of fear ^ See note, p. 57. 92 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH joyful trust of the religion of Jesus. But we can understand how it happened when we think that many of the people among whom this kind of Christianity grew up still had pagan ideas con- cerning religion. D. DAWN APTER THE DARK AGES Again and again in the history of the Church Christianity has seemed almost overwhelmed by human imperfection in its own home; and then the life of Christ, the Head of the Church, ever present in his people, has shown its power and Revival of brought in better things. So it was at this time. rehgious life j^ ^^iq eleventh century there began an awakening of life in the Western Church. A revival of re- ligion came in a form suited to those times. New life in From the year 1000 we begin to see a change for Europe after ^^ ._ . . ^ Z. _, A. D. 1000 the better m all the life of Europe. In that year, many had thought, the end of the world would come, because it vs^ould close the millennium which began with the birth of Jesus. People all over Europe had looked forward to it with dread. The years just before it and the year itself were times of general gloom and terror. After the year of doom passed, a breath of neAV life seemed to stir the world. Signs of progress began to appear. Of course there was real reason for this, apart from the superstitious idea about the year 1000. After centuries of war and disorder, Europe was settling down into peace. The Germans had long since ended their wanderings and found homes, and were gradually becoming civilized. The Normans CHURCH IN EARLY MIDDLE AGES 93 and the Danes, the last of the barbarians to attack southern Europe, had stopped their piratical rav- ages. The Arabs had ceased from war and were confined to a part of Spain. Europe, as it were, had rest, and could think. Christianity, which had been living and working in spite of the hindrances we have seen, had better opportunity to show its power, and did show it. Perhaps what shocks us most in the conditions at which we have been looking is the corruption in the monasteries, supposed to be the homes of special consecration. "We should say that a real revival ought to show itself there, if anywhere. And there the awakening began. For the begin- nings of this movement we have to look back into Monastic the tenth century. In that time there was founded, ^^ ^^JJ[™ in southeastern France, tlie monastery of Cluny. Here the Benedictine rule was observed in its early severity, and the monks really lived as men who had taken such vows ought to live. From Cluny there spread over France and into Germany the awakening, the conscience of existing evils and the purpose to amend life, until many monasteries were purged of their unrighteousness. New mon- asteries also were founded, embodying the spirit of the Cluniae reform. There was formed what was called the Cluniae congregation, a group of mon- asteries in France under the control of the abbot of Cluny, all of them living according to its good example. Early in the eleventh century there grew up a The reformiini reforming party, determined to raise tlie church f^^''>' 94 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH out of its evil case. It was composed mostly of men who had been trained in the zealous and strict life of Cluny or in monasteries under its influence. The general idea of their policy of reform was to set the church free from entanglement with Hs program; worldly powcrs and interests. One item in their simony program was the abolition of simony, the pur- chase of offices in the church. This evil was the result of the great wealth of tiie church. Bish- oprics and monasteries had attached to them large and rich lands, over which the bishops and abbots ruled just as great nobles did over their lands. Like the nobles these church officers had to own alle- giance to the kings of the countries, because of their control of land in the kings' domains. Thus the civil rulers got into their hands the power of appointing bishops and abbots; and, being often irreligious men, tliey would sell these appointments for money. This practice was, of course, ruinous to the spiritual life of the church. Men who would buy religious offices could not be the men who ought to have the offices. (2) Enforce- Another part of the program of reform was an *"ceubacy"^^ attack ou the general violation of clerical celibacy. Though this had long been the law of the church, it w^as commonly disobeyed, and many bishops and priests were married. To clerical marriage the reformers were opposed because it seemed to them that married men must be more interested in amassing property for their children than in the welfare of the church. If tliis and simony were abolished, they believed, the church would be in CHURCH IN EARLY MIDDLE AGES 95 great measure freed from the control of worldly interests. A third part of the program was a strict cleansing of the lives of the clergy. Them- selves men of severe lives, these reformers hated and despised the prevalent immorality, and swore destruction to it. As a means of realizing these aims, the reforming party meant to increase the power of the Pope and secure its use for their ob- jects. The reformers got their first chance to work out their aims in 1049, when one of them be- came Pope Leo IX. He was made Pope by the great emperor, Henry III, who, when the disgrace- ful Benedict IX sold his office, interfered in order to save the papacy from further degradation. Leo and several successors strove to carry out the plan of the reforming party, and made things somewhat better. These Popes were dominated by the man who became leader of the reformers, and who was to be the greatest of all Popes — Hildebrand. Hildebrand was an Italian of humble birth, who though not a monk had imbibed the spirit of the monks of Cluny. Remaining in a minor church office, he was the power behind the throne in the papacy from the time of Leo IX to his own elec- tion, in 1073. He really chose Popes and molded their policy, working out steadily a great plan for the regeneration of the church, which lay clear be- fore his far-seeing mind. It was in line with the plan of his party, but was greater with the great- ness of his own intellect and character. Thus Hil- debrand waited, shaping things so that when he (3) Moral discipline of the clergy Reforming Popes Hildebrand 96 GROWTH OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH himself became Pope he would have the fullest opportunity to accomplish his purposes. In 1073, while a requiem for Pope Alexander II was being sung in St. Peter's, the people suddenly- shouted : ' ' Hildebrand ! The blessed Peter chooses Hildebrand!" At once the cardinals chose him, and he became Pope Gregory VII. What his great plans were and how he wrought them out we shall see in our next chapter. E. LIFE AND THOUGHT IN" THE EASTERN PART OJ' THE CHURCH The final separation of the Eastern and Western churches occurred only a score of years before the close of this period. But for two centuries before that, as we have seen,^ the two parts of the Church were estranged. And still further back, in the sixth century, the Eastern part of the Church be- gan to lead a life largely separate from that of the Western. Theological The Greek fondness for theological discussion disputes and g]^Q^,g(j itself in the continuance of disputes about resulting _ ^ divisions the pcrsou of Christ, long after the question had been settled, as was supposed, by the council of Chalcedon. Of the Monophysites and the separate churches which they formed we have already spoken.^ After them, in the seventh century, came the Monothelites, holding that there were two natures in Christ, but only one will govern- ing his life. Against them the orthodox contended ^ See p. 81. 2 See pp. 62, 63. CHURCH IN EARLY MIDDLE AGES 97 fiercely. At the sixth general council, at Con- stantinople in 680, the Monothelite teachings were condemned. Though the Western part of the Church took little interest in these disputes, Pope Honorius I was drawn into the controversy of the Monothelites, and approved their views. Hence the council of Constantinople actually pronounced an anathema upon the Pope for heresy. While Christianity in the East was miserably Effect of the divided by empty wranglings over fine points of conquest doctrine, there fell upon it the terrible attack of the Moslems. In the seventh and eighth centuries the Arab warriors of Islam conquered Syria, Pales- tine, part of Asia Minor, Mesopotamia and Egypt. Thus the Eastern Empire suffered irreparable loss. Nor was the Church ever afterwards as strong in the East as it had been. To be sure, the remainder of Asia Minor, the Balkan peninsula and Greece were long held by the empire, so that there the Church was defended against the tide of Islam. Moreover, the Arab rulers were comparatively tolerant toward Christians. The Christians were compelled to pay tribute, exposed to dishonor in various ways, and forbidden to build new churches; but they were allowed to keep up their worship. Nevertheless, the Church was sorely weakened where it had to live under the Moslem power. After the Moslem conquest. Eastern Christianity Decline afier began to sink into the stagnation and monotony * ** co"