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CHURCH HISTORY
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Before See also:writing his history Eusebius produced a world See also:chronicle which was based upon a similar work by See also:Julius See also:Africanus and is now extant only in part
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It was continued by See also:Jerome, and became the basis of the See also:model for many similar See also:works of the 5th and following centuries by Prosper, Idatius, See also:Marcellinus Comes, See also:Victor Tununensis and others
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See also:Local histories containing more or less ecclesiastical material were written in the 6th and following centuries by Jordanes (History of the Goths), See also:Gregory of See also:Tours (History of the See also:Franks), Isidore of See also:Seville (History of the Goths, See also:Vandals and Suevi), See also:Bede (Ecclesiastical History of See also:England), See also:Paulus Diaconus (History of the See also:Lombards), and others
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Of the many historians of the middle ages, besides the authors of See also:biographies, See also:chronicles, See also:cloister See also:annals, &c., may be mentioned Haymo, See also:Anastasius, See also:Adam of See also:Bremen, Ordericus Vitalis, See also:Honorius of See also:Autun, See also:Otto of See also:Freising, See also:Vincent of See also:Beauvais and See also:Antoninus of See also:Florence
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The See also:Protestant See also:reformation resulted in a new development of historical writing
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Polemic See also:interest led a number of Lutheran scholars of the 16th century to publish the See also:Magdeburg Centuries (1559 ff.), in which they undertook to show the See also:primitive See also:character of the Protestant faith in contrast with the alleged corruptions of See also:Roman Catholicism
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In this See also:design they were followed by many other writers
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The opposite thesis was maintained by See also:Baronius (Annales Ecclesiastici, 1588 ff.), whose work was continued by a number of Roman See also:Catholic scholars
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Other notable Roman Catholic historians of the 17th and 18th centuries were Natalis See also:
(1755; best See also:English trans. by See also:Murdock)
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He was followed by many disciples, among them Schroeckh (Christliche Kirchengeschichte, 1772 if. in 45 vols.)
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Other notable names of the 18th century are See also:Semler, Spittler, See also:Henke and See also:Planck
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The new historical spirit of the 19th century did much for church history
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Among the greatest works produced were those of J
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C
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L
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See also:Gieseler (Lehrbuch der Kirchengeschichte, 1824 if., best Eng. tr. revised and edited by H
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B
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See also:
A new era was opened by the publication in 1857 of the second edition of See also:Ritschl's Entstehung der altkatholischen Kirche, in which he See also:broke away from the See also:Tubingen school and introduced new points of view that have revolutionized the See also:interpretation of the early church
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Of See also:recent works the most important are the Kirchengeschichte of Carl See also: 1902 ff.); See also:Rainy's See also:Ancient Catholic Church (1902); Knopf's Nachapostolisches Zeitalter (1905); See also:Duchesne's Histoire ancienne de l'Eglise (vol. i., (A . C . McG.) 1906) . In the following account of the historical evolution of the History Church, the subject will be treated in three sections: of the (A) The ancient Church to the beginning of the pontifi-Christtan cate of Gregory the Great (A.D . 590); (B) The Church church. in the middle ages; (C) The modern Church . A . THE ANCIENT CHURCH 1 . Origin and Growth.—The crucifixion of Jesus See also:Christ resulted in the scattering of his followers, but within a See also:short time they became convinced that he had risen from the dead, and would soon return to set up the expected Messianic See also:kingdom, and so to accomplish the true work of the See also:Messiah (cf . Acts i . 6 ff.) . They were thus enabled to retain the belief in his Messiahship which his See also:death had threatened to destroy permanently . This belief laid upon them the responsibility of bringing as many of their countrymen as possible to recognize him as Messiah, and to prepare themselves by repentance and righteousness for the coming kingdom (cf . Acts ii . 21, 38, iii . 19 sq.) . It was with the sense of this responsibility that they gathered again in See also:Jerusalem, the See also:political and religious See also:metropolis of Judaism . In Jerusalem the new See also:movement had its centre, and the church established there is rightly known as the See also:mother church of Christendom . The See also:life of the early Jewish disciples, so far as we are able to See also:judge from our meagre sources, was very much the same as that of their See also:fellows . They continued faithful to the established See also:synagogue and See also:temple See also:worship (cf . Acts iii . I), and did not think of See also:founding a new See also:sect, or of separating from the See also:household of See also:Israel (cf . Acts x . 14, xv . 5, )(xi . 21 sq.) . There is no See also:evidence that their religious or ethical ideals differed in any marked degree from those of the more serious-minded among their countrymen, for the emphasis which they laid upon the need of righteousness was not at all uncommon . In their belief, however, in the Messiahship of Jesus, and their consequent assurance of the speedy See also:establishment by him of the Messianic kingdom, they stood alone . The first need of the See also:hour, therefore, was to show that Jesus was the promised Messiah in spite of his crucifixion, a need that was met chiefly by testimony to the resurrection, which became the See also:burden of the See also:message of the early disciples to their See also:fellow-countrymen (cf . Acts ii . 24 if., iii . 15 if., v . 31) . It was this need which led also to the development of Messianic prophecy and the ultimate interpretation of the Jewish See also:Bible as a Christian book (see BIBLE) . The second need of the hour was to bring the nation to repentance and righteousness in See also:order that the kingdom might come (cf . Acts iii . 19) . The specific See also:gospel of Jesus, the gospel of divine father-See also:hood and human brotherhood, received no See also:attention in the earliest days, so far as our sources enable us to judge . Meanwhile the new movement spread quite naturally beyond the confines of See also:Palestine and found adherents among the See also:Jews of the See also:dispersion, and at an early See also:day among the Gentiles as well . Many of the latter had already come under the influence of Judaism, and were more or less completely in sympathy with Jewish religious principles . Among the Christians who did most to spread the gospel in the See also:Gentile world was the apostle See also:Paul, whose See also:conversion was the greatest event in the history of the early Church . In his hands Christianity became a new religion, fitted to meet the needs of all the world, and freed entirely of the local and See also:national meaning which had hitherto attached to it . According to the early disciples Jesus was the Jewish Messiah, and had significance only in relation to the expected Messianic kingdom . To establish that kingdom was his one great aim . For the Gentiles he had no message except as they might become members of the See also:family of Israel, assuming the responsibilities and enjoying the privileges of proselytes . But Paul saw in Jesus much more than the Jewish Messiah . He saw in Christ the divine Spirit, who had come down from See also:heaven to transform the lives of men, all of whom are sinners . Thus Jesus had the same significance for one See also:man as for another, and Christianity was meant as much for Gentiles as for Jews . The kingdom of which the early disciples were talking was interpreted by Paul as righteousness and See also:peace and joy in the See also:Holy See also:Ghost (Rom. xiv . 17), a new principle of living, not a Jewish See also:state . But Paul taught also, on the basis of a religious experience and of a distinct theory of redemption (see McGiffert's Apostolic Age, ch. iii.), that the Christian is freed from the See also:obligation to observe the Jewish See also:law . He thus did away with the fundamental distinction between Jews and Gentiles . The transformed spiritual life of the believer expresses itself not in the observance of the Jewish law, but in love, purity and peace . This precipitated a very serious conflict, of which we learn some-thing from the See also:Epistle to the See also:Galatians and the Book of Acts (xv. and xxii.) . Other fundamental principles of Paul's failed of comprehension and See also:acceptance, but the belief finally prevailed that the observance of Jewish law and See also:custom was unnecessary, and that in the Christian Church there is no distinction between the circumcised and the uncircumcised . Those Jewish Christians who refused to go with the See also:rest of the Church in this See also:matter lived their separate life, and were regarded as an heretical sect known as the See also:Ebionites . It was Christianity in its universal form which won its great victories, and finally became permanently established in the Roman world . The See also:appeal which it made to that world was many-sided . It was a time of moral reformation, when men were awaking to the need of better and purer living . To all who See also:felt this need Christianity offered high moral ideals, and a tremendous moral See also:enthusiasm, in its devotion to a beloved See also:leader, in its emphasis upon the ethical possibilities of the meanest, and in its faith in a future life of blessedness for the righteous . It was a time of great religious interest, when old cults were being revived and new ones were finding acceptance on all sides . Christianity, with its one God, and its promise of redemption and a blessed See also:immortality based upon divine See also:revelation, met as no other contemporary faith did the awakening religious needs . It was a time also of great social unrest . With its principle of Christian brotherhood, its emphasis upon the equality of all believers in the sight of God, and its See also:preaching of a new social order to be set up at the return of Christ, it appealed strongly to multitudes, particularly of the poorer classes . That it won a permanent success, and finally took See also:possession of the Roman world, was due to its See also:combination of appeals . No one thing about it commended it to all, and to no one thing alone did it owe its victory, but to the fact that it met a greater variety of needs and met them more satisfactorily than any other movement of the age . Contributing also to the growth of the Church was the zeal of its converts, the great See also:majority of whom regarded themselves as missionaries and did what they could to extend the new faith . Christianity was essentially a proselytizing religion, not content to appeal simply to one class or See also:race of See also:people, and to be one among many faiths, but believing in the falsity or insufficiency of all others and eager to convert the whole world . Moreover, the feeling of unity which See also:bound Christians everywhere together and made of them one compact whole, and which found expression before many generations had passed in a strong organization, did much for the spread of the Church . Identifying himself with the Christian circle from the 2nd century on, a man became a member of a society existing in all quarters of the empire, every part conscious of its oneness with the larger whole and all compactly organized to do the common work . The growth of the Church during the earlier centuries was chiefly in the middle and See also:lower classes, but it was not solely there . No large number of the See also:aristocracy were reached, but in learned and philosophical circles many were won, attracted both by Christianity's evident ethical See also:power and by its philosophical character (cf. the Apologists of the 2nd century) . That it could seem at once a See also:simple way of living for the common man and a profound philosophy of the universe for the speculative thinker meant much for its success.' But it did not win its victory without a struggle . Superstition, misunderstanding and hatred caused the Christians trouble for many generations, and governmental repression they had to suffer occasionally, as a result of popular disturbances . No systematic effort was made by the imperial authorities to put an end to the movement until the reign of See also:Decius (250-251), whose policy of suppression was followed by See also:Diocletian (303 ff.) and continued for some years after his See also:abdication . In spite of all opposition the Church steadily See also:grew, until in 311 the See also:emperor See also:Galerius upon his death-See also:bed granted See also:toleration (see Eusebius, H.E . X.4, and Lactantius, De mortibus persecutorum, 34), and in 313 the emperors See also:Constantine and See also:Licinius published the See also:edict of See also:Milan, proclaiming the principle of complete religious See also:liberty, and making Christianity a legal religion in the full sense (see Eusebius X . 5, and Lactantius 48 . Seeck, Zeitschrift See also:fur Kirchengeschichte, xii . ,381 sq., has attempted to show that the edict of Milan had no significance, but without success) . Constantine, recognizing the growing strength of the Church and wishing to enlist the loyal support of the Christians, treated them with increasing favour, and finally was baptized upon his death-bed (337) . Under his successors, except during the brief reign of See also:Julian (361-363), when the effort was made to reinstate paganism in its former See also:place of supremacy, the Church received growing support, until, under See also:Theodosius the Great (379-395), orthodox Christianity, which stood upon the See also:platform adopted at See also:Nicaea in 325, was finally established as the See also:sole See also:official religion of the state, and heathen worship was put under the See also:ban . The See also:union between Church and State thus constituted continued unbroken in the See also:East throughout the middle ages . The See also:division of the Empire resulted finally in the division of the Church, which was practically complete by the end of the 6th century, but was made official and final only in 10J4, and the Eastern and Western halves, the See also:Greek Catholic and the Roman Catholic Churches, went eachits separate way . (See Theodosian See also:Code, book 16, for the various imperial edicts See also:relating to the Church, and for fuller particulars touching the relation between Church and Empire see the articles See also:CON- STANTINE; See also:GRATIAN; THEODOSIUS; JUSTINIAN.) For a See also:long time after the establishment of Christianity as the state religion, paganism continued strong, especially in the See also:country districts, and in some parts of the world had more adherents than Christianity, but at length the latter became, at any See also:rate nominally, the faith of the whole Roman world . Mean-while already before the beginning of the 3rd century it went beyond the confines of the Empire in See also:Asia, and by the end of our See also:period was strong in See also:Armenia, See also:Persia, See also:Arabia and even farther east . It reached the barbarians on the See also:northern and western See also:borders at an early day, and the Goths were already Christians of the Arian type before the great migrations of the 4th century began . Other barbarians became Christian, some in their own homes beyond the confines of the Empire, some within the Empire itself, so that when the See also:hegemony of the West passed from the See also:Romans to the barbarians the Church lived on . Thenceforth for centuries it was not only the See also:chief religious, but also the chief civilizing, force at work in the occident . Losing with the See also:dissolution of the Western Empire its position as the state church, it became itself a new empire, the See also:heir of the See also:glory and dignity of Rome, and the greatest influence making for the peace and unity of the western world . 2 . The Christian Life.—The most notable thing about the life of ' Upon the spread of the Church during the early centuries see especially Harnack's See also:Mission and Ausbreitung des Christenthums in den ersten drei Jahrhunderten . An interesting parallel to the spread of Christianity in the Roman empire is afforded by the contem- orary Mithraism . See Cumont's See also:Les Mysteres de Mithra (moo), Eng. tr . The Mysteries of Mithra (1903).the early Christians was their vivid sense of being a people of God, called and set apart . The Christian Church in their thought was a divine, not a human, institution . It was founded and controlled by God, and even the world was created for its See also:sake (cf. the Shepherd of See also:Hermas, Vis. ii . 4, and 2 See also:Clement 14) . This conception, which came over from Judaism, controlled all the life of the early Christians both individual and social . They regarded themselves as separate from the rest of the world and bound together by See also:peculiar ties . Their citizenship was in heaven, not on See also:earth (cf . Phil. iii . 20, and the epistle to See also:Diognetus, c . 5), and the principles and See also:laws by which they strove to govern themselves were from above . The See also:present world was but temporary, and their true life was in the future . Christ was soon to return, and the employments and labours and pleasures of this age were of small concern . Some went so far as to give up their accustomed vocations, and with such Paul had to expostulate in his epistles to the See also:Thessalonians . A more or less ascetic mode of life was also natural under the circumstances . Not necessarily that the present world was evil, but that it was temporary and of small See also:worth, and that a Christian's See also:heart should be set on higher things . The belief that the Church was a supernatural institution found expression in the Jewish notion of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit . It was believed among the Jews that the Messianic age would be the age of the Spirit in a marked degree, and this belief passed over into the Christian Church and controlled its thought and life for some generations . The Holy Spirit was supposed to be See also:manifest in various striking ways, in prophecy, speaking with See also:tongues and See also:miracle working . In this See also:idea Paul also shared, but he carried the matter farther than most of his contemporaries and saw in the Spirit the abiding power and ground of the Christian life . Not simply in extraordinary phenomena, but also in the everyday life of Christians, the Holy Spirit was present, and all the Christian See also:graces were the fruits (cf . Gal. v . 22) . A result of this belief was to give their lives a peculiarly enthusiastic or inspirational character . Theirs were not the everyday experiences of See also:ordinary men, but of men lifted out of themselves and transported into a higher See also:sphere . With the passing of time the early enthusiasm waned, the expectation of the immediate return of Christ was widely given up, the conviction of the Spirit's presence became less vivid, and the conflict with See also:heresy in the and century led to the substitution of official See also:control for the See also:original freedom (see below) . The See also:late 2nd century movement known as See also:Montanism was in essence a revolt against this growing secularization of the Church, but the movement failed, and the development against which it protested was only hastened . The Church as an institution now looked forward to a long life upon earth and adjusted itself to the new situation, taking on largely the forms and customs of the world in which it lived . This did not mean that the Church ceased to regard itself as a supernatural institution, but only that its supernatural character was shown in a different way . A Christian was still dependent upon divine aid for salvation, and his life was still supernatural at least in theory . Indeed, the early conviction of the essential difference between the life of this world and that of the next lived on, and, as the Church became increasingly a world-institution, found vent in See also:monasticism, which was simply the effort to put into more consistent practice the other-worldly life, and to make more thoroughgoing work of the saving of one's soul . Contributing to the same result was the emphasis upon the See also:necessity of See also:personal purity or holiness, which Paul's contrast between flesh and spirit had promoted, and which early took the supreme place given by Christ to love and service . The growing difficulty of realizing the ascetic ideal in the midst of the world, and within the world-church, inevitably drove multitudes of those who took their religion seriously to retire from society and to seek salvation and the higher life, either in solitude, or in See also:company with kindred See also:spirits . There were Christian monks as early as the 3rd century, and before the end of the 4th monasticism (q.v.) was an established institution both in East and West . The monks and nuns were looked upon as the most consistent Christians, and were honoured accordingly . Those who did not adopt the monastic life endeavoured on a lower See also:plane and in a less perfect way to realize the common ideal, and by means of See also:penance to atone for the deficiencies in their performance . The existence of monasticism made it possible at once to hold up a high moral standard before the world and to permit the ordinary Christian to be content with something lower . With the growth of clerical See also:sacerdotalism the higher standard was demanded also of the See also:clergy, and the principle came to be generally recognized that they should live the monastic life so far as was consistent with their active duties in the world . The chief manifestation of this was clerical See also:celibacy, which had become widespread already in the 4th century . Among the laity, on the other See also:hand, the ideal of holiness found realization in the observance of the ordinary principles of morality recognized by the world at large, in attendance upon the means of See also:grace provided by the Church, in See also:fasting at stated intervals, in eschewing various popular employments and amusements, and in almsgiving and See also:prayer . Christ's principle of love was widely interpreted to mean chiefly love for the Christian brotherhood, and within that circle the virtues of hospitality, charity and helpfulness were widely exercised; and if the salvation of his own soul was regarded as the most important affair of every man, the service of the brethren was recognized as an imperative Christian See also:duty . The fulfilling of that duty was one of the m |