CHRISTIANITY

• In most respects, the Late Roman Empire was a time of decline– Sole exception was in the area of religion

• Period of immense vitality• Included resurgence of paganism• But it was also the time when Christianity

emerged in triumph–Transformed the way people

comprehended God, their fellow human beings, and the entire universe

ORIGINS

• Began with the teachings of Jesus

• In 300 years following his death, Christianity gradually spread through the Roman Empire– Churches organized in

Greek-speaking communities outside of Palestine in the Middle East shortly after death of Jesus

EARLY ORGANIZATION• By 200 AD, Christians had

become numerous enough to become a politically important group– Began to attract

members of the upper classes

– Every city had a small Christian community

• Presided over by a bishop

– Elected by the community

• Helped by priests and deacons

SPECIAL COMMUNITY

• Disputes over doctrine were settled by councils of local bishops

• Christians had strong sense of themselves as a special community– A “New Israel”– Gave alms to Church to help other

Christians – Retained Jewish sense of

exclusiveness of their religion• To be a Christian meant giving

up all other forms of worship– Including worship of the

emperor

PAGANS VS CHRISTIANITY

• Christianity encountered great deal of hostility from pagan intellectuals– Miracle stories didn’t bother them– Nature of Jesus bothered them

• Condemned and executed criminal and a traitor• Pseudo-teacher who presented teachings with simple, unsubstantiated

assertions instead of using reasoned and logical arguments• Christianity seemed to be another irrational cult

– Gave rise to ugly rumors that Christians were cannibals, that their services were orgies, that they engaged in promiscuous sex

PERSECUTION• As a general rule, Rome tolerated all

religions– But Christians refused to worship

the emperor and appeared to threaten unity of empire

– Also met in secret– Also opposed to violence and

sometimes refused to serve in army• From reign of Nero onwards, Christians

subject to frequent persecutions– Never successful because they were

never sustained long enough– Created martyrs which provided

heroic examples which inspired survivors

GOOD LUCK• Last great persecution of Christians

was launched by Diocletian in 303 AD– Then Constantine legalized

Christianity, ending persecution of the religion

• Why he did is not clear– Christians were not popular– Only formed minority of

population» 25% in East and 10% in

West– Did not figure in the army at all

• No important practical reason for his action

MOTIVATED BY A DREAM

• Christian god appeared to him in dream the eve of an important battle and promised him victory if he legalized Christianity– Had soldiers paint white crosses on their shields and

won the battle the next day– Became convinced that Christian God was real and

powerful and that his followers should not be persecuted

CONSTANTINE AND CHRISTIANITY

• Constantine was an ignorant, brutal, and violent man– Doubtful that he ever

understood Christian doctrine or ethics

• But he was nonetheless baptized a Christian right before he died– Every emperor after him (except

one) was also a Christian– As a result of this official

support, Christianity quickly became the dominant religion of the Empire

• All pagan religions outlawed by 395 AD

PERKS

• As official religion, Church received special privileges from government– Clergy were tax exempt– Bishops could act as judges in

civil cases that involved a Christian

– Church buildings were proclaimed sanctuaries

• Church also developed sophisticated administrative organization– Modeled after Diocletian’s

administrative system

FORMAL ORGANIZATION• Cities and rural land around

them organized into bishoprics• Bishoprics grouped together

into dioceses– Administered by archbishop

• Strict chain-of-command established

• Originally, there was no central figure of authority– Although special prestige was

associated with bishops of Rome, Jerusalem, Alexandria, Antioch, and Constantinople

archbishop

bishop

priest

deacon

POPE• Bishop of Rome (pope) claimed superiority

because church in Rome had been founded by Peter and because it was the former capital of the empire– In 344, pope declared that any bishop

who had been deposed could appeal to Rome

• Confirmed by council of bishops• But council also argued that bishop

of Constantinople was second highest because of the political importance of his city

– Pope was worried because bishop of Constantinople might later use this argument to claim he was equal to or even superior to pope

POPE WINS• Series of pope successfully stressed

their leadership on the basis that they were direct successors of St. Peter– Used Matthew 16: 18-19– Argued Jesus had given Peter

leadership of the Church and that the popes, as the heirs of Peter, inherited that leadership

• By 500 AD, all Christians in the West and many in the East acknowledged pope as head of the Church– But there was still a lot of

disagreement over what being the head of the Church actually meant

Pope Boniface V

EAST VS WEST I• Eastern Christians tended to

infuse Christian doctrine with heavy doses of classical philosophy

• Western Christians preferred to stick with traditional doctrines– Even when they could not be

defended by philosophical logic– Looked to many in East that the

pope was trying to impose simple solutions to complicated theological problems

• That he was robbing Christianity of all intellectual content

EAST VS WEST II

• Eastern Christians allowed emperor in Constantinople to make decisions regarding doctrine– Pope often argued that this secular

interference in religion was wrong and endangered purity of the faith

• Major division began to develop– Western Christians looking to pope

as their natural champion and leader

– Eastern Christians looking to bishop of Constantinople and emperor as their natural leaders

– Two different worlds were being created

ORIGINS OF MONASTICISM

• First forms of monastic life appeared in the Middle East and North Africa shortly after Christianity became official religion of Roman Empire– Christians began to leave their

neighbors, friends , and family and go to isolated places to become hermits

• Devoted their waking hours to prayer and meditation

• Many fasted and beat themselves

• St. Simon the Stylite sat on top of a pillar for 15 years without even coming down

MONASTERY MONASTICISM

• Hermit monasticism not suited to conditions in Western Europe– This hostile environment caused 2 important developments

• Monks tried to convert pagan rural people as part of their religious duties

• They also began to band together in groups for protection– Even began to build fortresses (monasteries) to protect

themselves from the outside world– Monastery form of monasticism became dominant in the West

ST. BENEDICT

• St. Benedict of Nursia established monastery of Monte Cassino in mountain range between Rome and Naples– 520 AD– Wrote “Rule” to

guide the monks who lived there

BENDICTINE RULE• Benedict’s Rule encouraged

moderation and stability– Monks prohibited from engaging

in long, harmful fasts and self-inflicted tortures

• Expected instead to live a hard and highly disciplined life in accordance with ideals of poverty, chastity, and obedience

– Each monk required to give up his own individual needs and desires and live a strictly routine and monotonous life under the close supervision of a superior

• Called an abbot

SELF-SUFFICIENCY

• Abbot ran the monastery– Elected by other monks

but, once elected, he had full authority over them

• Each Benedictine monastery was also endowed with enough land to support the monks– Thus evolved into a self-

sufficient and virtually independent community that could sustain itself no matter how much the surrounding society might disintegrate

PRAYER AND TOGETHERNESS• Each monk was require to divide his

day into periods of work and periods of prayer– Monks met together 7 times within

each 24-hour period for a service of psalm readings and prayers

• Benedict regarded this as the essence of the monastery

• Benedict also stressed “togetherness”– Monks slept in a common dorm,

ate in a common room (refectory), worked together, studied together, and worshipped together

– No monk could leave without the abbot’s permission

FEMALE MONASTICISM• Female religious communities were

smaller and less wealthy than male ones– But many were founded during 4th and

5th centuries• Generally by aristocratic women

• Convent life appealed to many women for several reasons– Offered an escape for women trapped

in an unsatisfactory or violent marriage

– Provided protection for widows against forced remarriage

– Established an atmosphere were women could develop their own intellectual capacities and control their own lives