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ChurchChurch HistoryHistory ChurchChurch HistoryHistory

IntroductionIntroduction toto ChurchChurch HistoryHistory st rd TheThe AncientAncient ChurchChurch AD 11st-3-3rd centuriescenturies th th TheThe RiseRise ofof ChristendomChristendom AD 44th-5-5th centuriescenturies th th TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges AD 66th-10-10th centuriescenturies The “Dark Ages” Overview Flagrant Abuses of Authority: Zeno, Theodoric, and Clovis Auctoritasuctoritas SacrataSacrata Pontificum:Pontificum: GelasiusGelasius TheThe RiseRise ofof thethe Monk:Monk: Benedict,Benedict, Brendan,Brendan, andand DennisDennis TheThe PoliticsPolitics ofof Death:Death: JustinianJustinian andand ColumbaColumba KingdomsKingdoms ofof God:God: TheThe PoliticsPolitics ofof God'sGod's KingdomsKingdoms TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges MonotheismMonotheism explodesexplodes acrossacross thethe mapmap 610610 MuhammadMuhammad beganbegan preachingpreaching IslamIslam AndAnd withinwithin aa century,century, IslamIslam hadhad spreadspread (often(often quitequite violently)violently) acrossacross thethe MiddleMiddle EastEast andand intointo EuropeEurope WithinWithin justjust aa fewfew decades,decades, threethree ofof thethe fivefive majormajor centerscenters forfor Christianity—Jerusalem,Christianity—Jerusalem, Antioch,Antioch, andand Alexandria—hadAlexandria—had fallenfallen underunder totalitariantotalitarian IslamicIslamic control,control, andand thethe ChristiansChristians therethere werewere beingbeing slaughteredslaughtered TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges MonotheismMonotheism explodesexplodes acrossacross thethe mapmap 610610 MuhammadMuhammad beganbegan preachingpreaching IslamIslam 634634 AlopenAlopen sharedshared thethe GospelGospel inin ChinaChina AA PersianPersian NestorianNestorian escapingescaping persecution,persecution, AlopenAlopen followedfollowed thethe SilkSilk RoadRoad andand foundfound thatthat EmperorEmperor TaizongTaizong ofof thethe TangTang DynastyDynasty waswas veryvery openopen toto allall religions—includingreligions—including ChristianityChristianity By 638, Taizong issued an official proclamation protecting Christianity, and he himself had the first church built in the capital city of Xian

X TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges MonotheismMonotheism explodesexplodes acrossacross thethe mapmap 610610 MuhammadMuhammad beganbegan preachingpreaching IslamIslam 634634 AlopenAlopen sharedshared thethe GospelGospel inin ChinaChina 664664 CouncilCouncil ofof WhitbyWhitby metmet inin BritainBritain NNOTE:: toto showshow thethe passagepassage ofof timetime (and(and becausebecause thethe oldold picturepicture isis startingstarting toto freakfreak DawnaDawna out),out), I'llI'll startstart depictingdepicting ChurchChurch CouncilsCouncils thisthis way—way— (This picture also has the merit of showing that the Councils are beginning to be less of a discussion among peers and more an expression of administrative oversight by the ruling elite) TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges MonotheismMonotheism explodesexplodes acrossacross thethe mapmap 610610 MuhammadMuhammad beganbegan preachingpreaching IslamIslam 634634 AlopenAlopen sharedshared thethe GospelGospel inin ChinaChina 664664 CouncilCouncil ofof WhitbyWhitby metmet inin BritainBritain IfIf you'llyou'll remember,remember, PopePope GregoryGregory (the(the Great)Great) sentsent aa missionarymissionary namednamed AugustineAugustine toto Britain,Britain, specificallyspecifically toto convertconvert thethe paganspagans (and(and CelticCeltic Christians)Christians) toto RomanRoman CatholicismCatholicism Various kings and queens in England had been converted to one or the other form of Christianity, and that had caused chafing TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges FunkyFunky littlelittle teachingteaching moment—moment— KingKing EdwinEdwin ofof NorthumbriaNorthumbria waswas convertedconverted toto ChristianityChristianity inin 627627 HeHe decideddecided thatthat he'dhe'd bebe openopen toto thethe ChristianChristian GodGod ifif HeHe broughtbrought aboutabout aa victoryvictory againstagainst Wessex...Wessex... whichwhich GodGod apparentlyapparently diddid BishopBishop PaulinusPaulinus ofof YorkYork explainedexplained thethe GospelGospel toto Him,Him, andand hehe waswas baptisedbaptised onon EasterEaster Sunday—theSunday—the RomanRoman CatholicCatholic EasterEaster Sunday—alongSunday—along withwith hishis toptop menmen Bishop Paulinus had been sent to Britain by Pope Gregory in 601601 as part of his “Romanization” plan, and so Edwin encouraged Roman Catholic missionary efforts TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges FunkyFunky littlelittle teachingteaching moment—moment— KingKing EdwinEdwin ofof NorthumbriaNorthumbria waswas convertedconverted toto ChristianityChristianity inin 627627 WhenWhen EdwinEdwin died,died, hehe waswas succeededsucceeded byby hishis nephew,nephew, KingKing OswaldOswald OswaldOswald hadhad livedlived amongamong thethe DálDál RiataRiata (Columba's(Columba's kinsmen)kinsmen) inin ScotlandScotland asas aa youthyouth There, he'd been converted by Bishop Ségéne of Iona—another kinsman of Columba Thus, Oswald encouraged Celtic Christian missionary efforts... which really torqued off the Roman Catholic missionaries supported by Edwin (as well as the Bishop of York) TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges MonotheismMonotheism explodesexplodes acrossacross thethe mapmap 610610 MuhammadMuhammad beganbegan preachingpreaching IslamIslam 634634 AlopenAlopen sharedshared thethe GospelGospel inin ChinaChina 664664 CouncilCouncil ofof WhitbyWhitby metmet inin BritainBritain IfIf you'llyou'll remember,remember, PopePope GregoryGregory (the(the Great)Great) sentsent aa missionarymissionary namednamed AugustineAugustine toto Britain,Britain, specificallyspecifically toto convertconvert thethe paganspagans (and(and CelticCeltic Christians)Christians) toto RomanRoman CatholicismCatholicism So they called a Council in Whitby to establish, once and for all, which kind of Christianity was to be practiced in Northumbria in particular— and in Britain in general X Technically, they debated two things: 1) Tonsure The Roman Catholics and the Celtic Church cut their monks' hair in two different styles Again, that may not seem likelike aa bigbig dealdeal toto youyou butbut itit wasn't catholic (i.e.; uniform), and it wasn't Catholic (i.e.; likelike Rome would do it) TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges MonotheismMonotheism explodesexplodes acrossacross thethe mapmap 610610 MuhammadMuhammad beganbegan preachingpreaching IslamIslam 634634 AlopenAlopen sharedshared thethe GospelGospel inin ChinaChina 664664 CouncilCouncil ofof WhitbyWhitby metmet inin BritainBritain IfIf you'llyou'll remember,remember, PopePope GregoryGregory (the(the Great)Great) sentsent aa missionarymissionary namednamed AugustineAugustine toto Britain,Britain, specificallyspecifically toto convertconvert thethe paganspagans (and(and CelticCeltic Christians)Christians) toto RomanRoman CatholicismCatholicism So they called a Council in Whitby to establish, once and for all, which kind of Christianity was to be practiced in Northumbria in particular— and in Britain in general X Technically, they debated two things: 1) Tonsure 2) Easter The Celts cited John 19:14 and dated Easter on the Jewish 14th day of Nisan Rome held that Easter is on the first Sunday after the Spring equinox, based on a special ecclesiastical lunar calendar—but never to fall on Nisan 14 TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges MonotheismMonotheism explodesexplodes acrossacross thethe mapmap 610610 MuhammadMuhammad beganbegan preachingpreaching IslamIslam 634634 AlopenAlopen sharedshared thethe GospelGospel inin ChinaChina 664664 CouncilCouncil ofof WhitbyWhitby metmet inin BritainBritain CelticCeltic BishopBishop ColmánColmán ofof NorthumbriaNorthumbria arguedargued thatthat thethe CelticCeltic practicespractices forfor thesethese werewere Biblical,Biblical, andand thatthat SaintSaint ColumbaColumba himselfhimself hadhad practicedpracticed themthem thisthis way,way, followingfollowing thethe ApostleApostle JohnJohn Soon-to-be-the-newSoon-to-be-the-new BishopBishop ofof NorthumbriaNorthumbria RomanRoman CatholicCatholic clericcleric WilfriðWilfrið arguedargued 1)1) thethe CatholicCatholic wayway isis thethe wayway ofof RomeRome,, wherewhere PeterPeter X andand PaulPaul werewere martyredmartyred andand areare nownow enshrinedenshrined 2)2) everyoneeveryone elseelse (not(not includingincluding thethe EasternEastern Church)Church) followsfollows Rome'sRome's practice,practice, soso thethe CeltsCelts areare notnot beingbeing “catholic”“catholic” 3)3) JohnJohn waswas tryingtrying toto reachreach Jews,Jews, butbut thethe medievalmedieval ChurchChurch isis tryingtrying toto excludeexclude Jews,Jews, soso John'sJohn's methodsmethods areare irrelevantirrelevant toto usus todaytoday TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges MonotheismMonotheism explodesexplodes acrossacross thethe mapmap 610610 MuhammadMuhammad beganbegan preachingpreaching IslamIslam 634634 AlopenAlopen sharedshared thethe GospelGospel inin ChinaChina 664664 CouncilCouncil ofof WhitbyWhitby metmet inin BritainBritain CelticCeltic BishopBishop ColmánColmán ofof NorthumbriaNorthumbria arguedargued thatthat thethe CelticCeltic practicespractices forfor thesethese werewere Biblical,Biblical, andand thatthat SaintSaint ColumbaColumba himselfhimself hadhad practicedpracticed themthem thisthis way,way, followingfollowing thethe ApostleApostle JohnJohn Soon-to-be-the-newSoon-to-be-the-new BishopBishop ofof NorthumbriaNorthumbria RomanRoman CatholicCatholic clericcleric WilfriðWilfrið arguedargued 4)4) ColumbaColumba waswas right-heartedright-hearted butbut ultimatelyultimately ignorant—hisignorant—his X exampleexample isis thereforetherefore notnot toto bebe followedfollowed 5)5) andand finally,finally, thethe trumptrump card—card— whateverwhatever elseelse mightmight bebe argued,argued, nono oneone hashas authorityauthority overover PeterPeter (and(and thethe PopePope isis Peter'sPeter's directdirect successor)successor) Thus, anyone who does not hold to Rome's position on things like Easter or tonsure is committing a mortal sin TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges FunkyFunky littlelittle teachingteaching moment—moment— ByBy thethe way,way, WilfriðWilfrið waswas soso pro-Romepro-Rome thatthat hehe endedended upup beingbeing againstagainst RomeRome HeHe eventuallyeventually hadhad becomebecome soso anti-Celtanti-Celt thatthat eveneven thethe RomanRoman CatholicCatholic bishopsbishops inin BritainBritain removedremoved himhim fromfrom hishis postpost Ultimately, when he continued to press the issue and demanded his bishopric back, the devoutly Roman Catholic Archbishop Berhtwald of Canterbury excommunicated him TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges FunkyFunky littlelittle teachingteaching moment—moment— ByBy thethe way,way, WilfriðWilfrið waswas soso pro-Romepro-Rome thatthat hehe endedended upup beingbeing againstagainst RomeRome HeHe eventuallyeventually hadhad becomebecome soso anti-Celtanti-Celt thatthat eveneven thethe RomanRoman CatholicCatholic bishopsbishops inin BritainBritain removedremoved himhim fromfrom hishis postpost WilfriðWilfrið travelledtravelled toto RomeRome inin 704704 toto appealappeal toto thethe newnew Pope,Pope, JohnJohn VIVI John was originally from Ephesus, and stocked his council with Eastern bishops So when Wilfrið made his impassioned appeal in Latin, he was mortified to hear the Pope lean over to talk with his advisors in Greek rather than Latin, laterlater referringreferring toto thethe PopePope asas aa “foreign“foreign barbarian”barbarian” sitting on Peter's throne in Rome NOTE: Peter himself spoke Greek, not Latin Nonetheless, the Pope reinstalled Wilfrið to his bishopric TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges MonotheismMonotheism explodesexplodes acrossacross thethe mapmap 610610 MuhammadMuhammad beganbegan preachingpreaching IslamIslam 634634 AlopenAlopen sharedshared thethe GospelGospel inin ChinaChina 664664 CouncilCouncil ofof WhitbyWhitby metmet inin BritainBritain As a result of the Council of Whitby, all of the bishops of Britain were forced to adhere to the Roman Catholic dating of Easter and the Roman Catholic tonsure In addition, all church services were now to be held in Latin instead of in the native tongues of the local peoples (as had been the case in the Celtic Church) X and the Celtic Church was officially repressed In fact, until recently, Scottish divinity schools, when teaching Church History, regularly skipped from 664 to 1560 (i.e.; the establishment of the Church of Scotland)... TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges MonotheismMonotheism explodesexplodes acrossacross thethe mapmap 610610 MuhammadMuhammad beganbegan preachingpreaching IslamIslam 634634 AlopenAlopen sharedshared thethe GospelGospel inin ChinaChina 664664 CouncilCouncil ofof WhitbyWhitby metmet inin BritainBritain 680680 SchismsSchisms eruptederupted inin ChristianityChristianity andand IslamIslam TheThe ThirdThird CouncilCouncil ofof ConstantinopleConstantinople condemnedcondemned monophysitismmonophysitism (again)(again) 649649 TheThe LateranLateran CouncilCouncil waswas convenedconvened byby PopePope MartinMartin II andand aa monkmonk namednamed MaximusMaximus toto condemncondemn thethe monophysitesmonophysites In fact, they felt so strongly about this that they supported a violent coup against the monophysite-neutral Emperor Constans II, inin thethe hopeshopes ofof gettinggetting aa moremore Roman- friendly emperor as his successor NOTE: the coup never happened TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges MonotheismMonotheism explodesexplodes acrossacross thethe mapmap 610610 MuhammadMuhammad beganbegan preachingpreaching IslamIslam 634634 AlopenAlopen sharedshared thethe GospelGospel inin ChinaChina 664664 CouncilCouncil ofof WhitbyWhitby metmet inin BritainBritain 680680 SchismsSchisms eruptederupted inin ChristianityChristianity andand IslamIslam TheThe ThirdThird CouncilCouncil ofof ConstantinopleConstantinople condemnedcondemned monophysitismmonophysitism (again)(again) 649649 TheThe LateranLateran CouncilCouncil waswas convenedconvened byby PopePope MartinMartin II andand aa monkmonk namednamed MaximusMaximus toto condemncondemn thethe monophysitesmonophysites 662662 AA councilcouncil inin ConstantinopleConstantinople officiallyofficially excommunicatedexcommunicated andand condemnedcondemned MartinMartin andand Maximus,Maximus, drivingdriving aa wedgewedge betweenbetween RomeRome andand ConstantinopleConstantinople But when Constans II's son, Constantine IV became emperor, he tried to rebuild a relationship with Rome So he pushed the new Pope, Agatho, to hold a new Council to condemn the monophysites (again) Ironically, this condemnation thus condemned the former Pope, Honorius I, and four previous Patriarchs of Constantinople TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges MonotheismMonotheism explodesexplodes acrossacross thethe mapmap 610610 MuhammadMuhammad beganbegan preachingpreaching IslamIslam 634634 AlopenAlopen sharedshared thethe GospelGospel inin ChinaChina 664664 CouncilCouncil ofof WhitbyWhitby metmet inin BritainBritain 680680 SchismsSchisms eruptederupted inin ChristianityChristianity andand IslamIslam TheThe ThirdThird CouncilCouncil ofof ConstantinopleConstantinople condemnedcondemned monophysitismmonophysitism (again)(again) TheThe MuslimsMuslims foughtfought thethe BattleBattle ofof KarbalaKarbala At its core, the battle was a political fight between Hussein ibn Ali (the(the grandson of Muhammad) and 'Yazīd ibn Mu‘āwiya (the caliph over the “kingdom” of Islam) to decide who should govern the Islamic world Battle lines were drawn between those who thought it should be a line of elected caliphs and those who thought it should be the family lineline ofof MuhammadMuhammad TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges MonotheismMonotheism explodesexplodes acrossacross thethe mapmap 610610 MuhammadMuhammad beganbegan preachingpreaching IslamIslam 634634 AlopenAlopen sharedshared thethe GospelGospel inin ChinaChina 664664 CouncilCouncil ofof WhitbyWhitby metmet inin BritainBritain 680680 SchismsSchisms eruptederupted inin ChristianityChristianity andand IslamIslam TheThe ThirdThird CouncilCouncil ofof ConstantinopleConstantinople condemnedcondemned monophysitismmonophysitism (again)(again) TheThe MuslimsMuslims foughtfought thethe BattleBattle ofof KarbalaKarbala Long story short, Hussein lost the battle and was beheaded by 'Yazīd, seen by the victors as the defender of the traditions of Islam According to their accounts, he gave Hussein a quick, clean death, publicly honoring him as a great man of god The victors came to refer to themselves as ʾAhlu-s-Sunnati wa-l-Jamāʿah (essentially, “the people of the traditions and united community of Islam”), or “Sunni” for short NOTE1: roughly 90% of all Muslims today are Sunnis, who follow the caliphate, or succession of leaders NOTE2: that last bit about the “united community” is the Muslim way of saying, “Catholic” TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges MonotheismMonotheism explodesexplodes acrossacross thethe mapmap 610610 MuhammadMuhammad beganbegan preachingpreaching IslamIslam 634634 AlopenAlopen sharedshared thethe GospelGospel inin ChinaChina 664664 CouncilCouncil ofof WhitbyWhitby metmet inin BritainBritain 680680 SchismsSchisms eruptederupted inin ChristianityChristianity andand IslamIslam TheThe ThirdThird CouncilCouncil ofof ConstantinopleConstantinople condemnedcondemned monophysitismmonophysitism (again)(again) TheThe MuslimsMuslims foughtfought thethe BattleBattle ofof KarbalaKarbala Long story short, Hussein lost the battle and was beheaded by 'Yazīd, seen by the victors as the defender of the traditions of Islam The loserslosers saw 'Yazīd as the chief opponent of the holy line of Muhammad itself According to their accounts, he beheaded Hussein slowly with a dull knife, then ran his daughters off barefoot and un-veiled The losers came to refer to themselves as Shīʻatul ʻAlī (“the followers of [the house of] Ali,” the father of Hussein), or “Shīʿah” or “Shīʿites” for short NOTE1: modern Shīʿites follow imamsimams (“leaders”) who rule through theocracy NOTE2: roughly 99.999% of all Muslim extremists today are Shīʿites TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges FunkyFunky littlelittle teachingteaching moment—moment— InIn additionaddition toto thethe SunnisSunnis andand thethe Shīʿites,Shīʿites, therethere isis aa thirdthird branchbranch ofof IslamIslam knownknown asas thethe ṢūfīsṢūfīs ThisThis namename couldcould comecome fromfrom thethe ArabicArabic word,word, ṣafāṣafā ,meaningmeaning “purity,”“purity,” oror fromfrom thethe GreekGreek word,word ,(,(صفا)) sofiasofia ((σοφίασοφία),), meaningmeaning “wisdom”“wisdom” Either way makes sense, because the Ṣūfīs focus on the gaining of wisdom through transcending the things of this world and purifying themselves through ecstatic rituals that “pull them out of themselves,” so to speak This plays out both in deep-thinking mystics who preach a very otherworldly philosophy and in what are commonly known as the “whirling dervishes,” whose wild, spinning dance literally makes them so dizzy that they can't think strait (i.e.; the dancing equivalent to peyote) TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges MonotheismMonotheism explodesexplodes acrossacross thethe mapmap 610610 MuhammadMuhammad beganbegan preachingpreaching IslamIslam 634634 AlopenAlopen sharedshared thethe GospelGospel inin ChinaChina 664664 CouncilCouncil ofof WhitbyWhitby metmet inin BritainBritain 680680 SchismsSchisms eruptederupted inin ChristianityChristianity andand IslamIslam 689689 TheThe DowagerDowager EmpressEmpress outlawedoutlawed JǐngJǐng JiàoJiào SinceSince Alopen'sAlopen's firstfirst ministryministry backback inin 634,634, thethe ChurchChurch inin ChinaChina hadhad continuedcontinued toto grow,grow, untiluntil itit hadhad becomebecome knownknown asas JǐngJǐng JiàoJiào—the—the “luminous“luminous religion”religion” Churches were being planted all over the place, and a strong Christian publishing industry was beginning TheThe EarlyEarly MiddleMiddle AgesAges MonotheismMonotheism explodesexplodes acrossacross thethe mapmap 610610 MuhammadMuhammad beganbegan preachingpreaching IslamIslam 634634 AlopenAlopen sharedshared thethe GospelGospel inin ChinaChina 664664 CouncilCouncil ofof WhitbyWhitby metmet inin BritainBritain 680680 SchismsSchisms eruptederupted inin ChristianityChristianity andand IslamIslam 689689 TheThe DowagerDowager EmpressEmpress outlawedoutlawed JǐngJǐng JiàoJiào ButBut WuWu Tse-tien—theTse-tien—the DowagerDowager Empress,Empress, whowho roserose toto powerpower atat thethe endend ofof thethe 77th century—wascentury—was aa staunchstaunch BuddhistBuddhist She saw the growth of Christianity--Jǐng Jiào—as a threat to Buddhism, and so she began systematically persecuting the Church and marginalizing them in Chinese society In a little over a century, the Church would be officially outlawed in China by Emperor Wuzong, who slaughtered thousands and destroyed all churches and monasteries And about century after that, a very lonely monk wrote to the Eastern Patriarch, “Christianity is extinct in China; the native Christians have perished in one way or another; the church has been destroyed and there is only one Christian left in the land...”land...”