Christianity

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Christianity

• A religion of state

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• The earliest Christians were all Jews, but by
  accepting non-Jews into the church, Christianity
  became a universalizing religion
• It ultimately aimed at converting everyone
• There were no real competitors
• By the early second century Christian communities
  were widespread in the Mediterranean and
  Mesopotamia

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• There were no fixed texts at this time
• Many Christian communities had different ideas
  about the universal truths and the relationship
  of eternal heaven to the material world
• This led to some very strange beliefs

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Gnosticism

• Some sects adopted ideas based on Plato, where
  the eternal truths were far removed from the
  material world
• To understand this required special knowledge
  (gnosis)
• A broad spectrum of beliefs is placed under the
  term Gnosticism
• The basic ideas a pre-cosmic catastrophe had
  resulted in the eternal realm of light and truth
  being polluted by the dark corruption of matter
• Certain people (the elect) had sparks of pure
  light trapped in their material bodies, and
  gnosis would awaken these souls and prepare them
  for the journey to heaven

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• Many Gnostic sects were not very Christian, but
  others were
• One important influence was the gnostic attitude
  towards the human body it was made of matter
  and irrelevant to salvation
• Some Gnostic sects practiced celibacy to overcome
  the evils of matter

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The debate over the nature of Jesus

• Even more orthodox Christians had different
  beliefs
• The debate over the humanity of Jesus
• Antioch adhered to the human aspect of Jesus
• This debate was to have far reaching consequences

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An imperial religion

• By the third century emperors had begun to
  influence the Church
• Philip may have been a Christian
• But after him, the emperors Trajan Decius and
  Valerian persecuted Christians

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• Gallienus stopped persecuting Christians
• Aurelian was the first emperor to intervene in a
  Church dispute

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• Diocletian began a new round of persecutions
• He effectively outlawed Christianity

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• Constantines conversion to Christianity had
  consequences for every one of the empires
  inhabitants
• Although Christians were in the minority, there
  were advantages to be gained from conversion
• There was no separation of church and state
• Emperors now represented the Christian world

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• Julian turned against Christianity and adopted
  Greek intellectual paganism, but his reign was
  brief

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• Theodosius I outlawed paganism
• Even so, it was impossible to eradicate paganism

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• The Christian emperors saw it as their duty to
  protect all Christians, even those beyond the
  reach of Roman armies e.g. encouraging an
  Axumite invasion of south Arabia to protect
  Christians there
• It was also their duty to support missionaries
• Even Christians whose beliefs were considered
  heretical might be politically useful
• The Sasanians sometimes saw Christians in their
  empire as agents of the Romans and persecuted
  them they tried to impose their Zoroastrian
  religion in Armenia
• But they also supported Christian sects that the
  orthodox emperors considered heretical

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The search for unity

• Christian texts were open to a variety of
  interpretations
• There was no single authority who could rule on
  the correct interpretation, and instead the
  search for the truth proceeded through a series
  of church councils
• In a Christian empire, it was necessary for the
  inhabitants to worship correctly
• The supremacy of the Pope was accepted, but his
  religious views were not the other patriarchates
  (Constantinople, Antioch, Alexandria, and later
  Jerusalem) struggled for second place in the
  hierarchy
• There were traditions in the different
  patriarchates for certain doctrines

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Diphysis and monophysis

• The council of Nicaea (AD 325)
• Father and Son were the same, but the wording was
  a compromise so that it could be interpreted in
  different ways
• Christ could be regarded as having two natures,
  human and divine (diphysis), or one nature,
  divine, monophysis
• The Popes, and normally the emperors, supported
  the diphysite position so normally did the
  patriarchs of Antioch and Constantinople
• But there were lots of monophysites in the Near
  East, and the patriarchs of Antioch had to deal
  with them. This weakened the authority of the
  Antiochene patriarchs
• In the fifth century an ambitious bishop of
  Jerusalem, Juvenal, wanted to become a patriarch
  as well. He had to undermine the authority of
  Antioch, so he supported monophysites
• Juvenal was supported by the monophysite
  patriarchs of Alexandria

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• In 449 the Alexandrian patriarch held a council,
  supported by the emperor, without the Pope. He
  managed to have many diphysite bishops removed,
  and Juvenal became a patriarch
• The Pope was furious, the emperor died, and in
  451 a new council at Chalcedon convened. The
  patriarch of Alexandria was deposed juvenal
  declared for diphysitism and kept his
  patriarchate
• At the council of Chalcedon a new doctrinal
  statement emerged that Christ was truly God and
  truly Man and made known to us in two natures
• The monophysites refused to accept Chalcedonian
  doctrine
• There were riots, and Juvenal of Jerusalem was
  attacked by his own people and driven out of the
  city
• Some monophysites appointed their own bishops in
  defiance
• The Chalcedonian patriarchs of Antioch had many
  problems one was killed and another could not
  enter the city for a year

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• The emperor Anastasius (491-518) was a supporter
  of monophysitism
• He appointed Severus as patriarch of Antioch
• He imposed his monophysite views on everyone
• In desperation some communities put themselves
  under the control of the Pope
• When Anastasius died, Severus was deposed. He
  fled to Alexandria and continued to act as
  patriarch to the monophysites
• A new Chalcedonian patriarch of Antioch began
  persecuting monophysites
• Although the emperors sought to find a
  compromise, it proved impossible
• The monophysites began organizing their own
  church without imperial agreement much of it was
  done in secret
• The monophysite church extended outside the Roman
  empire, into Persian territory

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• The monophysites stayed loyal to the Roman
  empire, but inevitably the debate took on
  political dimensions
• The Ghassanids who protected the desert borders
  of the empire were monophysites
• The Persians, when they invaded in the early 7th
  century, appointed monophysite bishops
• Heraclius tried to find compromise, but
  eventually turned to persecution

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Monks and ascetics

• Monasteries were potentially alternative sources
  of power to the hierarchy of the church
• Ascetics, holy men who renounced the world,
  sometimes became very powerful figures
• The established church could not control these
  people easily
• Their power was seen as coming directly from God

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Simeon the Stylite
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• Simeon was a 5th century monk who found the
  monastic life too distracting, so he began living
  on a hill nearby
• He attracted many followers, so to get away from
  them he had a column built and stood on top of it
  in prayer, never coming down
• His final column was 20 m high
• He became famous throughout the empire, and
  thousands of pilgrims came to see him, so they
  had to build a hotel
• Emperors, bishops, rich and poor sought his
  advice
• He lived on columns for nearly 50 years and was
  over 70 years old when he died his column became
  a place of pilgrimage

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• Monks were also influential figures in local
  communities
• In villages the monasteries were important
  elements of the local community and economy
• Bishops had to deal with the views of monks, who
  would often use violence over matters of
  religious belief
• Monks often destroyed pagan temples
• The monastic and ascetic life was impractical for
  many people, but they could observe some ascetic
  habits abstaining from sex living according to
  strict rules

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Basilicas
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• In the early empire there was no effort to
  regulate religious beliefs, except where they
  offered resistance
• Most cults were ancestral or connected with
  particular places
• Romes adoption of Christianity was a radical
  departure
• The empire tried to make one religion identified
  with itself, but there were forces which the
  emperors had little or no control over
• The Christian tradition also offered poor people
  a route to fame. They demonstrated that you did
  not need an expensive Greek education to win
  respect
• Christianity helped provide another identity for
  people