In 311 Emperor Galerius brought an end to a seven-year period of intense persecution of Christians (known as "the Great Tribulation"), issuing his Edict of Toleration. This was followed, in 313, by Emperor Constantine's Edict of Milan, declaring freedom of religion and, among other things, granting the return of church property. Over the next few decades Christianity went from being a minority faith representing maybe 10% of the population, to the religion of 90%. Some speak of the church being changed from "corpus Christi" (the body of Christ) to "corpus Christianorum" (a body of Christians), i.e. from an organic community of believers to a state-sponsored institution. In 380 Emperor Theodosius declared mainstream Christianity the religion of the Empire, banning pagan religions and heretical Christian communities.
The challenge facing the church during the short fourth century (311-381) was to "win the peace". Having withstood the fires of persecution, could the church maintain its vigour under more favourable circumstances?
One dimension to this challenge was theological, namely the issue of whether Christ is God, and the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. These had been believed by Christians since the outset, as attested to in the writings of the first-century Apostolic Fathers, and in non-Christian documents such as the correspondence of Tacitus. And Christian thinkers such as Tertullian (2nd/3rd century) and Origen (3rd century) had gone some way towards conceptualising these truths. However, at Alexandria, a few years after the end of persecution, Arius publicly questioned this understanding, teaching that "there was a time when the Word was not". It was an Alexandrian deacon by the name of Athanasius who challenged the teaching of Arius. Athanasius realised that if the Son were not uncreated, i.e. is not himself "God of God", then he would be unable to save (to create and to save are actions only God can do). And if the Son is not himself uncreated God, he should not be worshipped - as Christians have done since the outset.
A council was called at Nicea in 325, the issue debated, and it was ruled that the Son was consubstantial (homoousios) with the Father. However, following the Council alternative understandings gained sway in the church, and were supported, in some cases, by Christian Emperors. Athanasius was exiled five times, but eventually the truth defended by him prevailed. The Arian controversy was followed by a similar controversy over the deity of the Holy Spirit. The next generation of Christian thinkers, who took up Athanasius' mantle, were the Cappadocian fathers, Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus and Gregory of Nyssa. They established the terminology for speaking about God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit: Son and Spirit are each persons who share the substance of the Father, the Son is eternally begotten, while the Spirit proceeds. A second ecumenical council, held at Constantinople in 381, established the orthodox view, declaring the Son to be "consubstantial" and the Spirit - Holy, Lord and Lifegiver - to be equal with the Father and the Son.
The fourth century, known as a Golden Age of Christianity, produced a crop of outstanding Christian thinkers and writers, including Ambrose of Milan, Hilary of Poitiers, Didymus the Blind at Alexandria, Cyril of Jerusalem, and many others. For example, Didymus the Blind headed up the catechetical school at Alexandria for 50 years, and, Cyril of Jerusalem was famous for his catechetical lectures, teaching sessions for would-be Christians at Jerusalem as they prepared for baptism.
Cyril of Jerusalem's lectures and other texts of the time also offer a window into the way in which the church changed having acquired a new status within the empire. For example, the place of the "altar" came to be separated from the body of the church, and there was a more pronounced difference between the people ("laity") and the leaders ("clergy") - the clergy began to wear different clothing. The church services came to include embellishments borrowed from the secular world - such as processions.
Another dimension to the fourth-century church was the emergence of the monastic movement, traditionally traced back to Anthony the Great (251-356), whose biography, written by Athanasius, popularised his ideas of withdrawal to the desert and the ascetic life. As the church grew numerically to include people with low levels of commitment, the monastic way offered a path for greater Christian commitment. Many of the leaders of the early church were unmarried monastics.
Beyond the borders of the Empire, the gospel spread to countries such as Ethiopia, and peoples such as the Goths.
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