1. Church History
The Victorious Church
© John Stevenson, 2016

2. “Thou hast conquered, Oh Galilean!” ― Julian the Apostate

3. A Timeline of Church History
1000 1
500
1500
2000
The
Ancient
Church
The
Medieval
Church
The
Reformed
Church

4. Tertullian
We are but of yesterday, and we have filled every place among you - cities, islands, fortresses, towns, market-places, the very camp, tribes, companies, palace, senate, forum… (Apologeticus 37)

5. Church persecuted by Rome
The Ancient Church
Edict of Toleration
Church persecuted by Rome 1
100
200
500
300
400
Paul
Polycarp
Peter
Marcion
Diocletian
John
Tertullian
Constantine

6. Diocletian Political Instability Runaway Inflation
Pending civil collapse

7. Diocletian Division of Empire Persecution of Christianity
Retirement (305)

8. Edict of Toleration
Christians may again exist and rebuild the houses in which they used to meet, on condition that they do nothing contrary to public order. (Quoted from Eusebius, History of the Church 8:17:5).

9. Constantine
Battle for the Milvian Bridge (312)

10. Constantine Battle for the Milvian Bridge (312) “In this sign conquer”
Edict of Milan: Restated & expanded the Edict of Toleration (313)
Reunification of Roman Empire
Favored status (324)

11. Christianity as Favored Religion
Bishops given the right to judge civil cases
Sunday made into a public holiday
New Edict of Toleration: Christians not allowed to persecute pagans

12. What should be the attitude of Christians to the gaining of political power?

13. Purity within the church
Before Constantine
After Constantine
Purity within the church
Less purity within the church
Long periods of catechism training before receiving baptism
Requirements to become a Christian were minimized
Christians known for their strict lifestyle
Loosening of the standards
Martyr mentality among the pious
Monastic mentality began to emerge among the pious

14. Rome
Constantinople ! !

15. What about those who have been baptized or married by fallen bishops?
Donatist
Controversy
Donatus Magnus (Died 355)
What about those who have been baptized or married by fallen bishops?

16. Group Project
Work as a group to formulate a detailed description of what you believe about Jesus
As to His deity
As to His sonship from God
As He relates to the Holy Spirit
As to His humanity

17. Trinitarian Question Tertullian of Carthage (160-220 A.D.).
Coined the term “Trinity”
Spoke of how the son proceeded from God
“Thus, the Father makes him equal to himself; and the Son, by proceeding from him, was made first-begotten, since he was begotten before all things; and the only-begotten, because he alone was begotten of God, in a manner peculiar to himself” (Against Praxeas).

18. Trinitarian Question Tertullian of Carthage (160-220 A.D.).
Coined the term “Trinity”
Spoke of how the son proceeded from God
Argued against modalism
Origen of Alexandria ( A.D.).
Although the Son is begotten of the Father, it is an eternal begetting

19. Arius Priest in Alexandria, Egypt
Taught that Christ was a created being
Christ was the first created being who then created all the rest of creation
Claimed Tertullian for support, but denied that Jesus was God

20. Arius
“God was not always a father; indeed, there was a time when God was alone, and he was not yet a father. Afterwards, he became a father. The son was not always… before he was begotten, he was not; rather, he has a beginning.” – The Banquet

21. Arius Deposed by Alexander, bishop of Alexandria
Became friends with Eusebius of Nicomedia
Shared Christological views
Bishop of Nicomedia
Distant relative of Constantine

22. Athanasius Egyptian Christian family Childhood: Playing at baptism
Egyptian Christian family
Childhood: Playing at baptism
Ordained as a deacon in 319
Assistant to Bishop Alexander at Council of Nicea

23. Council of Nicaea   Constantinople Nicaea Met at Nicaea in 325
300 Bishops in attendance (5 from west)
Alexander & Athanasius versus Arius & Eusebius

24. The Nicene Creed We believe in one God the Father almighty
Maker of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Son of God,
begotten of the Father,
only‑begotten,
that is, of the substance of the Father
God of God, Light of Light,
true God of true God,
begotten not made,
of one substance with the Father…

25. Council of Nicaea Nicaean Creed Celebration of Easter Lapsed bishops
Celibacy of the clergy (argued but not mandated)
Prohibition of kneeling on Sundays

26. Athanasius Bishop of Alexandria in 328 Assassination attempts
Bishop of Alexandria in 328
Assassination attempts
Banished by Roman emperors on 5 different occasions
Athanasius contra mundum (Athanasius against the world)

27. Athanasius
“God became man so that man might become God; and He manifested Himself in the flesh so that we might grasp the idea of the unseen Father; and He endured the insolence of men so that we might receive the inheritance of immortality.”

28. Sons of Constantine
Constantine II
Constans
Constantius

29. Church persecuted by Rome
The Ancient Church
Edict of Toleration
Fall of Rome
Church persecuted by Rome
Four Church Councils 1
100
200
500
300
400
Paul
Polycarp
Athanasius
Peter
Marcion
Arius
John
Constantine

30. Church Councils of the 4th and 5th Centuries
Council of Nicaea
325
Jesus is of the same substance as the Father
Council of Constantinople
381
Holy Spirit is co-eternal with the Father and Son, but the three are distinct
Homoousia
Same Substance
Homoinousia
Similar substance

31. Council of Constantinople
381
Three Cappadocian Fathers
Basil the Great: Bishop of Caesarea
Gregory of Nyssa (Basil’s younger brother): Scholar
Gregory of Nazianzus (Eventual patriarch of Constantinople): Orator
One substance (ousia) in three persons (hypostaseis)
Arianism condemned

32. Church Councils of the 4th and 5th Centuries
Council of Nicaea
325
Jesus is of the same substance as the Father
Council of Constantinople
381
Holy Spirit is co-eternal with the Father and Son, but the three are distinct
Council of Ephesus
431
Jesus is one person, fully divine and fully human

33. Bishop of Constantinople
Cyril of
Nestorius
Alexandria
Bishop of Constantinople
Bishop of Alexandria
Mary as Christotokos (“Christ-bearer”)
Mary as Theototokos (“God-bearer”)
Council of Ephesus
431

34. Council of Ephesus 431 Called by Emperor Theodosius II
Began before the eastern bishops had arrived
Nestorius was deposed and declared a “new Judas”
Eastern bishops convened their own council under John of Antioch

35. Council of Ephesus 431 Eastern bishops deposed Cyril
Council deposed John of Antioch
Emperor upheld the decision of both councils

36. Church Councils of the 4th and 5th Centuries
Council of Nicaea
325
Jesus is of the same substance as the Father
Council of Constantinople
381
Holy Spirit is co-eternal with the Father and Son, but the three are distinct
Council of Ephesus
431
Jesus is one person, fully divine and fully human
Council of Chalcedon
451
The human and divine natures of Jesus are unmixed

37. Christ only seemed to be human
Christological Heresies
Docetic
Christ only seemed to be human
Ebionite
Christ only seemed to be divine
Arian
Christ was created by God and then created all else
Apollinarian
Christ had no human spirit; Logos came and replaced it
Monoarchian
Jesus became the Christ as His baptism

38. Human nature of Christ absorbed by the Logos
Christological Heresies
Sabellianism
One God reveals Himself in three ways
Nestorian
Logos indwelt the person of Jesus making Christ a God-bearer
Eutyches
Human nature of Christ absorbed by the Logos
Monophysite
Christ had only one nature
Monothelite
Christ had no human will; only one divine will
Adapted from Robert Walton

39. Chalcedonian
Nestorian
Monophysite

40. Julian the Apostate Emperor from 361-363
Nephew to Constantine the Great
Renounced Christianity and sought to restore paganism
Tried to rebuild Jewish temple in Jerusalem
Sought to invade Persia

41. Theodosius Emperor from 379-395 Ended state support for paganism
Put an end to the Olympic Games
Excommunicated by Ambrose after riot in Thessalonica

42. Theodosius
Emperor from
Eugenius
Battle of the Frigidus
394

43. Church persecuted by Rome
The Ancient Church
Edict of Toleration
Fall of Rome
Church persecuted by Rome
Theodosius 1
100
200
500
300
400
Paul
Polycarp
Origen
Athanasius
Peter
Marcion
Arius
John
Constantine

44. Church persecuted by Rome
The Ancient Church
Edict of Toleration
Fall of Rome
Church persecuted by Rome
Four Church Councils 1
100
200
500
300
400
Paul
Polycarp
Origen
Athanasius
Peter
Marcion
Arius
Augustine
John
Constantine
Pelagius

45. Early Christian Art

46. Catacomb Burial Lid depicting the Magi

47. Moses striking the Rock

48. Catacomb depiction of the Fiery Furnace

50. Early Christian
Architecture

51. Growth of Church Architecture
Stoa as a meeting place

52. Growth of Church Architecture
Stoa as a meeting place
The house church

53. Growth of Church Architecture
Stoa as a meeting place
The house church
Church versus temple

54. Church & Temple in Sardis

55. Synagogue in Sardis

56. Synagogue in Sardis

57. Synagogue in Sardis

58. Growth of Church Architecture
Stoa as a meeting place
The house church
Church versus temple
Octagonal church

59. Growth of Church Architecture
Stoa as a meeting place
The house church
Church versus temple
Octagonal church
Basillica
Basillica at Philippi

60. Growth of Church Architecture
Stoa as a meeting place
The house church
Church versus temple
Octagonal church
Basillica
Cruciform

62. Church of St John, Ephesus

63. Old St Peter’s Basillica

64. Church of the Holy Sepulchre

65. Church of the Holy Sepulchre

66. Church of the Holy Sepulchre

67. Church of the Holy Sepulchre

68. Church of the Nativity