Church History

Overview

My analysis of Church History as a series of episodes.

   Church History — From before the time of Jesus to the present. 150+ hours of free MP3 files.

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Related article: One Apostolic Church

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Summary

Index: Young Church Struggles to Survive | Roman Persecution | Heresy | State Religion | Culture Becomes Christian | The Papacy | Monasticism | The Frankish Church | Investiture Controversy | College of Cardinals Elect Pope | Crusades | Inquisition | Doctrinal Development | Conciliar Movement | Nationalism | Humanism | Protestant Reformation | References

   Why I Became Catholic | The New Testament Church

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The Development of the Church

Protestants who are critical of Catholicism assume that at some point in church history before the Protestant Reformation, the Catholic Church became apostate. These critics identify various time periods in which this occurred:

1. First generation after the apostles
2. The state religion of Constantine
3. 1,000 A.D. when the church was at the height of its political power
4. Luther claims it was about 1,200 A.D.

These critics typically assume that the Protestant Reformation "fixed" all the problems by returning to the biblical model of the church. This ignores several facts:

1. The Protestant church is nothing like the biblical model
2. Protestant churches had the same tendencies as the Roman church they were seeking to reform, indicating that the "problems" were rooted in society at large and not in the Roman church.
3. Protestantism has continued to develop over the centuries so that modern Protestant doctrine and practice is very different than in the early days of the Reformation. (In discussions with Protestants who are critical of Catholicism, I find that they often quickly abandon any loyalty to Luther and Calvin).
4. The Roman church reformed itself anyway (perhaps quicker as a result of the Protestant Reformation).
5. No human institution such as the church can remain static throughout human history. Social forces will affect it. Certainly God planned for this when He created the church.

In this article I provide a sociological and historical perspective of the development of the church to demonstrate why she became the way she was at various stages of her history. Certainly the Roman Church has been in need of reform at various points in history, but she has also been progressing according to God's plan and purpose. She has been fulfilling her mission on this earth and continues to do so.

In studying church history I have observed a cycle of development which I use as the basis of this analysis. To avoid a Catholic bias in the events I have based the historical accounts on a secular textbook, "The Western Heritage."

I have divided this study into episodes. Each episode (or cycle of development) contains the following features:

• Initial Condition
• Problem, caused by:

  External social forces
  Internal social forces
  Physical situations

• Tension resulting from problem
• Solution, caused by:

  Church action
  Non-church action
  Physical results

• Resultant condition
• Unplanned side-effects

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Church History

I limit my discussion in this article to the time period before the 1600s and the Scientific Revolution. In addition, this history is from the perspective of the Roman Church — I do not address the Protestant Reformation except for the problems it caused for the Roman Church.

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Young Church Struggles to Survive

From the beginning the church was barraged by political and social forces from within and without that were seeking to destroy her.

Initial Condition

The church is created on Pentecost.

Problem

From the beginning people try to destroy her. First the Jews, later the Romans. There are heretics from within.

Tension

The church must defend herself. Her very survival is at stake.

Solution

Church leaders attack heretical doctrines and expel heretics. They must assume the authority to do this (We see this happening already in the New Testament). They define church doctrines and explain the relationship of the church to Israel. They define church practice and must assume the authority to do this.

Resultant condition

The church progresses through three stages:

1. A very informal organization
2. Run by bodies of presbyters
3. Strong church leadership by bishops who have authority over church members and are ordained to pass on this authority and tradition (the deposit of faith) to the next generation of leaders.

Unplanned side-effects

• Division of clergy and laity
• Division between the church and heretics
• Church tradition becomes authoritative
• Rules for ordination are necessary
• Potential for clerical abuses and corruption
• The church becomes entangled in the fabric of society

Protestants who are critical of Catholicism often portray this development of the church as if somehow the leaders had failed, and that they should not have assumed such a strong leadership role. But considering the aggressiveness of the attacks against the church, surely she would not have survived without an equally strong defense to preserve the purity of the teachings, practice and doctrine of Christ and the apostles. We should commend the early church leaders for their commitment to the deposit of faith that was passed on to them and for providing effective methods of preserving the church during her very fragile beginnings.

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Roman Persecution

Christians did nothing to deserve their persecution except follow the commands of Christ and be true to His gospel message. Yet they were persecuted for their faith in the early centuries of the church.

Initial Condition

The church has dogmatic religious views which are not subject to alteration or negotiation.

Problem

The Romans perceive a threat to the unity of the empire. They see Christians as atheists since they don't honor the Roman gods. They perceive too much power in one group. The weakening of the Roman empire at the time makes the problem worse.

Tension

The Roman emperors want to take action and sometimes they do, especially the later emperors. The mobs often do take action. Christians are persecuted, sometimes severely, and sometimes they are martyred. Strong Christians reject weaker Christians. It takes strong faith to be a Christian.

Solution

Galerius, Constantine, and Theodosius declare Christianity to be the state religion.

Resultant condition

Christians are finally free to worship as they wish. What a relief — their prayers are finally answered.

Unplanned side-effects

• The state now has control of the church.
• Many convert out of convenience.
• There is a decline in the spiritual values of the church.

Protestants who are critical of Catholicism typically object to the church becoming entangled with the state. For centuries the western church fights against this while the eastern church doesn't worry about it too much. After a long struggle the Roman Church finally becomes free from state control.

What could the church have done differently? They desperately needed the relief from the persecution. Which church leader made an error of judgment in letting the state control the church? No one did. This just happened through no fault of anyone. It was God's will for the church to become a strong political entity in the subsequent centuries.

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Heresy

Heresy has been a problem since the earliest days of the church. Even the apostles dealt with the issue in the New Testament. The typical perspective of Protestants who are critical of Catholicism is that the church had no right to fight heresy (although they won't admit to having this assumption).

Initial Condition

The church is created.

Problem

Heretics appear who:

• Develop false doctrine
• Create schismatic sects
• Try to convert people to adopt their views

Tension

• Schism in Christendom.
• Who to believe? How to know the truth?
• Many people leave the church.
• Makes Christianity look divided.
• People are confused.

Solution

• Church increases authority.
• Church defines doctrines and creates creeds.
• Church defines the canon.
• Church excommunicates heretics.

Resultant condition

Only rarely was the problem resolved.

Unplanned side-effects

• Wars, massacres, inquisitions, crusades.
• Lack of peace.
• Division in society.

Heresy has caused division in society. In mediaeval times the church was tightly coupled with the culture at large. In addition, the society of the day was rather brutal and warlike. It is natural that the fight against heresy would be taken seriously since it was a threat to the fabric of society itself. In addition, it is natural that the methods used to fight heresy were so barbaric by our modern standards. But we need to remember that heresy was a violation of secular laws and that secular rulers were enforcing these laws based on the practices of the day. Many times the church had to make statements against such barbaric methods. And sometimes the church itself, in moments of spiritual weakness, accepted the practices themselves.

We should note that even the Protestant Reformers used the same kinds of practices in their suppression of heresy. That was just the way things were back then. It doesn't prove anything about the Catholic Church or the Protestant Reformation.

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State Religion

The church became the state religion rather early. At the time this must have seemed like a good thing to the Christians of the day, but it brought its own problems which affected the church for many centuries.

Initial Condition

The church becomes the state religion. There is freedom of worship. The survival of the church is assured.

Problem

The secular rulers want control. They want to use the church for their own purposes. There are many Christians who were merely born into this state religion who have had no deep spiritual conversion.

Tension

• The Roman Empire becomes progressively weaker which threatens the well-being of the church.
• The Roman Empire splits into eastern and western parts which also splits the church into East and West (Rome).
• The conflict between papacy and state develops.

Solution

After many centuries of struggle, the Roman church wins the battle and becomes independent and free from state control.

Resultant condition

The Roman church is no longer controlled by the State.

Unplanned side-effects

As a result of the power struggle, the Roman Church had to gain political power. Side-effects of this:

• Materialism
• Secular popes
• Neglect spiritual mission of the church

Some Protestants who are critical of Catholicism seem to assume that the church should have refused to become a state religion. They seem to forget that even today the church exists in the context of secular political power which imposes rules and laws regarding church conduct. The Western church did fight against this usurpation of the church by the secular rulers but the struggle lasted for many centuries and required that the church become a political power in its own right. Of course, there were side-effects to this as I have indicated.

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Culture Becomes Christian

Mediaeval society was tightly integrated with the church.

Initial Condition

The non-Christian culture adopted Christian values.

Problem

• The pre-existing culture was not completely eradicated which resulted in superstition.
• The state became tangled up with the church in cultural areas.
• Christianity became tangled up with the other institutions of society causing conflicts between spiritual needs and secular values. Christianity became secularized.

Tension

Bishops became Lords who were appointed by secular rulers (the Investiture Controversy). They had to split their duties between secular and religious responsibilities.

Solution

• The development of monastic orders to provide for the spiritual needs.
• After many centuries, the Investiture Controversy was resolved in favor of the church's spiritual needs.

Resultant condition

• The church meets the spiritual needs of the people.
• Separation of church and state.

Unplanned side-effects

• Conflict between secular clergy (parish priests) and monasteries.
• Extreme asceticism of monks which require correction by the church.
• Lack of education of laity results in no change in superstitious beliefs.

Protestants who are critical of Catholicism typically complain that the Roman Church was totally secular but this is a gross overstatement. In addition, the monastic movement provided a spiritual vitality for the church and her members, but this fact is often overlooked.

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The Papacy

Protestants who are critical of Catholicism typically object to the institution of the papacy. Yet the papacy developed in response to real needs of the church.

Initial Condition

The church by its very nature exists in the context of the social and political realm.

Problem

• The church is constantly threatened by secular rulers and by heretics.
• The problem is how to determine true doctrine and to provide Christian unity.

Tension

• The spiritual well-being of Christians is undermined.
• Christian doctrines and traditions are threatened.
• The very survival of the church is under attack.
• There are heretics and sects.
• Schism is always a threat.

Solution

Popes demand absolute authority over the church and they succeed in this. The doctrine of papal infallibility is developed.

Resultant condition

• The popes win after centuries of struggle.
• The popes gain control of the church from secular rulers.

Unplanned side-effects

• The constant fighting between popes and secular rulers undermine the church's spiritual mission. Some popes even become totally secular.
• The seeds of the Protestant Reformation are planted.
• The papacy becomes a monarchy.

Protestants who are critical of Catholicism often don't object to having a strong pastor who leads a church with an iron hand, or to a strong leader of a denomination who sets the tone and doctrinal distinctives. Martin Luther acted like a pope in that he was the absolute authority of his new religious movement and expected everybody to accept his doctrines and beliefs. There is nothing inherently wrong with having the church structured as a well-defined hierarchy with a strong leader.

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Monasticism

Monasticism is a very important part of the Catholic Church. However, it is often overlooked by Protestants who are critical of Catholicism when assessing the spiritual vitality of the church. They prefer, instead, to focus on the political aspect of the church to the exclusion of all else.

Initial Condition

A desire to have a deeper spiritual experience; to become separate from the materialistic concerns of the world. At certain points in history there was an emphasized need to evangelize and reform the spiritual experience of the people.

Problem

In an institution such as the church the focus can become too much based on survival, politics, and material concerns. Deeply religious people sense there is more.

Tension

People boldly break away from the old traditions and try new things.

Solution

The church creates religious orders. It allows these expressions if they do not destroy unity. The pope must be the ultimate authority in these religious orders.

Resultant condition

Many religious orders provide spiritual nourishment for monks, nuns, and friars who then pass this spiritual refreshment along to the people. They provide works of charity and provide an example to the people.

Unplanned side-effects

Sometimes the asceticism is too extreme and the pope must correct them. Some try to follow their vision in a way that is schismatic; for example, those reformers up to and including the Protestant Reformation.

Even today, the monastic movement is a strong aspect of the Catholic Church.

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The Frankish Church

The interaction between Charlemagne the Great and the church is a good example of how the social and historical forces of history affected the culture of the church. Protestants who are critical of Catholicism typically object to the worldliness of the church during the Middle Ages but they fail to consider how it happened. Since God created the church in the context of a political world, surely He intended the church to interact with it and to have an aspect of political concern.

Initial Condition

In the 700s, the Lombards of north Italy and Emperor Leo of the Byzantine Empire threatened the survival of the Western church and especially the papacy.

Problem

The church was forced to choose between extinction (the gospel message would be lost) and integrating with that society.

Tension

The Franks already had a church culture which was based partly on Arianism.

Solution

The Franks defended the church in 754 A.D.

Resultant condition

• The church adopted the religious culture of the Franks.
• Bishops were appointed by the king and were subject to the king. They acted as Lords.
• The Papal States were created in 755 A.D.
• Charlemagne used the church to promote social stability.

Unplanned side-effects

• The life of the average Christian became one of ritual and doctrine rather than having an emphasis on ethical and social behavior.
• The church was now indebted to political powers.

Protestants who are critical of Catholicism typically assume that a focus on ritual and doctrine is a bad thing and that Christians should focus instead on the ethical aspects of their behavior. But this is merely an assumption. A ritualistic and liturgical life can be very spiritual and can affect the person very deeply in their day to day life.

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Investiture Controversy

Lay Investiture refers to the practice of having secular rulers appoint high church officials including the pope. The first stage in regaining power for the church was for the pope to forbid secular rulers to appoint bishops.

Initial Condition

• Rulers appoint bishops and popes.
• The high clergy are royal bureaucrats.
• The pope reigns only by the power of the emperor and had to swear allegiance to the emperor.

Problem

Popes know they must regain full authority over the church. But how to do it? They must be the ones who appoint the bishops.

Tension

Changing the status quo in politics is sure to cause problems.

Solution

In 1075 A.D. Pope Gregory condemns the practice of Lay Investiture.

Resultant condition

• A jolt to secular rulers.
• This weakened the power of the emperor because he could no longer install bishops.
• The local princes become stronger because they could still influence bishops at a local level.
• This caused political turmoil.

Unplanned side-effects

Local princes in Germany became more powerful and independent which provided the seeds of the Protestant Reformation.

Protestants who are critical of Catholicism typically ignore the fact that the church finally regained control of the church. It took strong popes to counteract the ambitions of the secular rulers who wanted to control the church.

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College of Cardinals Elect Pope

The popes were appointed by the secular rulers and emperors. Obviously, this had side effects for the spiritual life of the church.

Initial Condition

Popes appointed by the emperor.

Problem

The popes know that this is wrong. The Church should not be under the control of secular government.

Tension

There are political struggles between the pope and the secular rulers.

Solution

In 1059 A.D. Pope Nicholas II decreed that the College of Cardinals (who are all bishops) will choose the pope.

Resultant condition

This practice is still used even today.

Unplanned side-effects

Secular rulers still influence the Cardinals, so eventually they were sequestered upon the pope's death to minimize political influence. The seeds of the Conciliar Movement (councils vs. popes) was planted.

Giving councils power to choose the pope resulted in some people thinking that councils were above the pope. In fact, in the Eastern Orthodox Church, councils still have ultimate authority over the church.

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Crusades

Protestants who are critical of Catholicism typically use the crusades as an example of how corrupt and abusive the church was.

Initial Condition

• A violent society with a class of warriors (knights) with nothing better to do than fight each other.
• Muslims control the Holy Land.
• The Byzantine Empire (Eastern Church) being wiped out by Muslims.
• Society with extreme religious zeal.

Problem

Eastern Emperor requests aid from the West.

Tension

Possible reconciliation between east and west.

Solution

Pope sends first crusades which succeed in taking back the Holy Land.

Resultant condition

• Holy Land controlled by Christians for about 100 years.
• A religious cause worth dying for; revival.

Unplanned side-effects

• Pogroms against the Jews.
• Sets the framework for future crusades by both church and secular rulers, some of which were not so noble.
• Couldn't hold on to Holy Land due to lack of resources.

The First Crusade set the pattern for future Crusades. Some of these were instituted by secular rulers and some were for the purpose of destroying dangerous heresies.

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Inquisition

The Inquisitions are often targeted by Protestants who are critical of Catholicism as proof that the Roman Church was not the true church that Jesus established.

Initial Condition

• State religion.
• Can't separate church from societal values.

Problem

• Heresy, often with strong evangelistic desire.
• Infidels (Jews, others) claim to be Christian but secretly practicing their religion.

Tension

How to keep society intact and the church pure.

Solution

Inquisition: Find offenders, interrogate them, allow them to recant, expel those who won't recant, execute those who refuse to leave.

Resultant condition

For the most part the Inquisitions accomplished their goals.

Unplanned side-effects

• Society was brutal so the church was sometimes brutal.
• Created division in society.
• A culture of fear.
• Some rulers were brutal. Even the church was sometimes brutal.
• Some Inquisitions (the Spanish Inquisition) were totally under control of the secular rulers.
• Gave church a bad name because the Inquisitions are not studied accurately and in proper historical context.

We need to consider that in the historical context of the time, Inquisitions were a good solution to the heresy that threatened to destroy the fabric of society. The tragic part is that the church sometimes allowed the brutal nature of society to influence her actions.

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Doctrinal Development

Protestants who are critical of Catholicism typically object to the development of doctrine by the Catholic Church on several fronts:

• That she invented doctrines very late. This is not correct. She officially formulated doctrines that had been part of church belief for centuries.
• That doctrines handed down by the Apostles were changed over the centuries. It is more correct to say that doctrines were developed according to their logical conclusions. The Trinity is an example of this kind of doctrine.

Initial Condition

A certain set of beliefs and doctrines are accepted by the church.

Problem

Heretics come up with new views and aggressively promote them.

Tension

The Church senses that these views are wrong and observes their schismatic nature.

Solution

• Church councils and discussion.
• Define doctrines in greater detail.
• Define doctrines that were previously believed but never officially decreed as church belief.

Resultant condition

With each new cycle, the set of "official" church doctrine grows and particular doctrines become clearer.

Unplanned side-effects

• Only those issues that became a problem are addressed. Thus some important Catholic doctrines are not addressed until fairly late.
• Confusion between doctrine and practice. For example, Martin Luther objected to the practice at the time which was not in line with the doctrines, but he ended up attacking the doctrines. This was unnecessary because he could have reformed the church without doing this.

The church has been reacting to events as she develops doctrine. She waits until there is a pressing need to define doctrines that have been in place for centuries. In addition, it sometimes took centuries to work out the correct formulation of doctrines. In the meantime, theologians were busy discussing and writing about these doctrines. Protestants who are critical of Catholicism typically don't distinguish between the discussion phase and the official church declarations of doctrinal truth. As a consequence the church is accused of changing doctrines, but this is not the case.

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Conciliar Movement

Today the Eastern Orthodox Church is run by councils but the Catholic Church has the pope as the highest authority. But the papacy of the Roman Church had to fight to gain its power over the councils. The movement by councils to be more powerful than the popes is called the Conciliar Movement.

Initial Condition

• College of Cardinals choose pope.
• Bishops selected by pope or other high church officials.
• Papal authority is theoretically above that of secular rulers, at least concerning church affairs.

Problem

Some believe that the church councils are more authoritative than the pope. The popes disagree.

Tension

A contentious political struggle.

Solution

Pope declares that the pope is more authoritative, that councils must be called with the pope's approval, and the pope can veto their conclusions. The pope and the council work together. The Pope must get support of the council in order for his decrees to be binding on the church.

Resultant condition

The modern Catholic Church still accepts these views.

Unplanned side-effects

• The Great Schism when there were three popes. The struggle made the church look foolish.
• During the time when those favoring councils were aggressively opposing the papacy, local rulers gained influence over the church, which weakened the church and secular control of the church increased.
• A new idea emerged, that a leader of an institution is to provide for the well-being of its members, not just the leader.

The popes have had to fight for their authority, first with the secular rulers, then with the church councils. In the end the pope succeeded.

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Nationalism

The church had been trying to compete with the secular states by becoming as strong as these states. But during the era of Nationalism, the church loses this struggle and must confine her activities to spiritual and moral concerns. This process takes some time to finally become the norm.

Initial Condition

People begin to develop nationalistic feelings and place their primary loyalty on a nation.

Problem

Where does the church fit in? Should people be more loyal to the church than to the nation? The church simply can no longer compete politically with the power of the new nations. The era of a secular church is coming to an end.

Tension

Some popes (the Borgia family in Italy) try to make the church strong politically but become very materialistic in the process.

Solution

• Ultimately the church has to give up her secular control and limit her influence to spiritual and moral concerns.
• Germany resists Nationalism and the princes adopt the Protestant Reformation to enhance their power.

Resultant condition

The church loses power to Nationalism.

Unplanned side-effects

Political power is not easy to give up for the church.

• In Spain the state controls the church.
• In Italy the Borgia family of popes tries to compete with the state.

Protestants who are critical of Catholicism typically object to the church ever being involved in politics, but in the pre-nationalistic days it made sense for the church to have a political influence. But once Nationalism became the norm, the church could no longer have any hope of competing in the political arena. This corresponds to the modern world in which the church must limit her activities to spiritual and moral concerns. But in the church of previous eras, it was possible for the church to have substantial political power and this was, in fact, forced on the church. We need to judge the church's activities in different time periods from the perspective of those time periods. Protestants who are critical of Catholicism, however, typically judge all the church's activities from the perspective of the modern world, but they should limit their judgments from the modern perspective to the modern church.

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Humanism

When the ideas of Humanism begin to become prominent, the church had difficulty dealing with the effects. She tended to hang on her old ideas rather than risk becoming secular in her world view. In fact, the ideas of Humanism are a result of people exploring what man can learn and rejecting revelation from God via the Bible and the church.

Initial Condition

• Reforms are needed in the church.
• Nationalism, urban growth, urban economy, commerce, capitalism.
• Secular ideas gain in prominence.
• Italian Renaissance.

Problem

• Secular ideas over the gospel.
• The church needs to adapt to new ideas, to weed out the bad, to keep the good.

Tension

Inertia and power struggles to maintain the status quo.

Solution

The church takes a stand against the secular ideas of humanism. The books of Erasmus are banned. In Spain, religious orthodoxy is enforced.

Resultant condition

The church maintains her commitment to the gospel.

Unplanned side-effects

• The Protestant Reformers (Luther, Calvin) were trained by Humanists.
• The church didn't really adapt to these ideas until after the Scientific Revolution, which was too slow. This gave the church a bad reputation.

The modern world with its secular values has lost out to the ideas which began with Humanism. Some Protestants who are critical of Catholicism love to blame the church for being so slow to adapt to the new secular ideas, but based on the effects, it would seem that the church was justified in her suspicions.

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Protestant Reformation

This discussion is from the point of view of the Roman Church.

Initial Condition

• The church seems very worldly to some (but this ignores the monastic movement).
• Germany is politically fragmented into hundreds of states, each ruled by a prince. The centralized Roman Church diminishes their power.
• There have been precursors to the reformation who have planted the seeds of schism with the Roman Church (Marsilius, Wycliffe, Huss).
• The church is certainly materialistic.

Problem

The Protestant Reformers split the church and were anti-Catholic.

Tension

As a result there was war for 150-plus years. There were social divisions. The German princes became more powerful until Bismark finally united them.

Solution

Counter reformation of the Roman Church. The Council of Trent defined doctrines and reformed the church.

Resultant condition

The church is reformed.

Unplanned side-effects

There were no doctrinal concessions made to the Protestant Reformers during the Council of Trent.

The Protestant Reformation occurred in Germany where the princes were looking for a way to abandon the centralized Roman Church which kept them from being as powerful as they wished. The Protestant Reformation provided them with a way to become more powerful and they wholeheartedly embraced it. The Protestant Reformation would not have been successful without this political situation to help it.

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References

Kagan, Donald; Ozment, Steven; Turner, Frank M. (2001). The Western Heritage (7th ed.). Prentice-Hall: Upper Saddle River, NJ

A textbook on Western Civilization.

Article originally written November 12, 2002.

Statement of Faith | About the author

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