CHAPTER 3

THEO 300:
ECCLESIOLOGY
1
 Christianity
as State Religion, the Ecumenical
Councils, and the Rise of Monasticism
 PERIOD OF Christianity
In this chapter, we shall highlight the declaration of Christianity as
the Roman State Religion, the Christological heresies, the
Ecumenical Councils and the emergence of Monasticism.

3
 End of persecution
The persecution of the Christians ended at the time of the
Emperor Galerius who gave the Edict of Toleration in 311 A.D.,
thereby granting an imperial assurance of safety, respect and
independence in the conduct of the Christian faith. 4
 CHRISTIANITY WON
It was Galerius’ dying wish through
an edict that “formally ended the
persecution, freed imprisoned
Christians and restored Christianity.

But there were authorities who

still insisted that Christians must
pay homage to the Roman gods.

roman OPPOSITIONS 5
 ANTI CHRISTIANS

Inscription from Arycandia in Lycia

preserves the petition of the provincial
councils of Lycia and Caria demanding the
‘atheists’ (Christians) should be made to
sacrifice or be expelled from their midst.
6
 ANTI CHRISTIANS

The same tone was adopted by the

councils of Nicomedia, Antioch, and Tyre.
At Damascus, the military commander
rounded up prostitutes and coerced them
to confess to having witnessed
disgraceful scene in Christian churches.
7
KILLING OF
CHristians
The savage outbreak
of killing between
November 311 to
January 312 deprived
the Christians in the
East of some of their
foremost leaders”.
8
The Power of PowerPoint | thepopp.com
9

PERSECUTION
RESUMED
◼ It seemed like persecution was not yet
fully subdued. Christians re-experienced
the horror of persecution and at the same
time, the gift of martyrdom.
 01 End OF persecution

Constantine: A Political Opportunist or

02 Religious Hero?
TABLE OF
CONTENTS 03 Great Ecumenical Councils of the Early
Church

04 Rise of Monasticism

05 CONCLUSION

10
 SECTION 1

End OF
persecution
 Edict of
toleration

But through an edict, Constantine

who with Licinus, gave the
persecution its final and definitive
halt in 313 A.D., right after defeating
Maxentius in October 312 12
 ◼ “…it is our pleasure that all
restrictions which were
previously put forward in
official pronouncements
Edict of concerning the sect of the
Christians should be
toleration removed and that each
one of them … may
The edict of milan endeavor to practice its
precepts without any fear
or danger…”
13
Edict of toleration
The edict of milan
“ We, Constantine and Licinus the
Emperors… are of the opinion that
among the various things which
could profit men… was to be found
the cultivation of religion; we
should therefore give both the
Christians and to all others the free
facility to follow the religion…”
14
 After a thousand lives
had been slaughtered
for the conviction which
they paid by their blood,
the Christians felt that
their prayers were finally
ALLELUIA! answered and their faith
triumphed against the
evil of persecution.
15
WHAT is the
MOTIVATION?
But we may ask this question:
What prompted Constantine to
issue such a degree? Was it
religiously or politically motivated?
16
SECTION 2

CONSTANTINE:
A political
opportunist or
religious hero?
Constantine: opportunist or hero?

◼ Constantine was
criticized by some as a
shrewd political
strategist who used
Christianity for his self-
serving intentions.
9

Constantine: opportunist or hero?

◼ Accordingly, he used
such religion to expand
the territory and power of
the Roman Empire,
multiplied the number of
his army and exploited
the Christian teachings to
control and regulate the
behaviors of his subjects.
 let us cite the
historical events
01 02 03

TIME OF WAR & THE VISION EDICT of MILAN Devotion and conversion
Constantine’s victory Decree of He speaks of the
over the Emperor
Maxentius at the unrestricted “Christian God” as our
Milvian Bridge on freedom to the God (famulum Dei). His
October 312, Christians obedience to “the will of
God” was absolute.

20
Time of war & The
VISION

◼ Constantine started his

journey to Christianity when
he received the vision “with
a cross of light inscribed “in
hoc (signo) vinces, as
described by Eusebius.”
21
Time of war & The VISION
The victorious emperor
had his soldiers marked
the Chi-rho monogram on
the shields before the
historic war.
22
Time of war & The VISION

Constantine’s victory
over the Emperor
Maxentius at the
Milvian Bridge on
October 312.

23
Edict of milan

24
 Edict of milan
The decree also
granted full
independence of
pagan religions to
practice their
worship.

25
Edict of milan

But as Constantine
progressed in his reign
as the head of the
Roman Empire, his
strong inclination
towards Christianity
was gradually revealed.

26
Edict of milan
Constantine instructed the
proconsul of Africa,
Anulinus, to see that the
Catholic Church in North
Africa received back in
toto the possessions
forfeited in the
persecutions, even if these
were now in the hands of
private citizens.

27
Edict of milan
At the same time, he wrote
to Anulinus, the proconsul,
instructing him that the
clergy “in the Catholic
Church over which
Caecilian presides, were to
be granted immunity
from state burdens .”

28
devotion and
conversion
Constantine’s
personal devotion to
the Christian religion
became more
pronounced.
29
devotion and
conversion
An increase of Christian
infrastructure and monetary
favor was also noticeable.
There was “the gift of his
wife Fausta’s palace on the
Lateran to the Church in 313;
30
devotion and
conversion
Followed by the grant of
lands to various
churches in Rome, in c.
322 by the building of
monumental church in
honor of St. Peter. 31
 devotion and
conversion
Great privilege was given to
the clergy of the Christian
Churches in the form of
immunity granted from
the financial burdens of
municipal administration.
32
 devotion and
conversion
Bishops were assigned
jurisdiction the same validity as
that of magistrate. Clergy were
being recognized as civic as well
as religious leaders and accorded
a corresponding status.”
33
 devotion and
conversion
◼ On 11 May 330, two months before
his 25th anniversary as Augustus,
he dedicated the new capital
C o n s t a n t i n o p l e . He forbade the
offering of sacrifices in the pagan
temples that had been erected there.
There was to be no idolatrous
worship and no pagan festival.
34
 devotion and
conversion
◼ While the Christians, who only
consisted one-fifth (1/5) of the
empire’s population at that time,
were enjoying f u l l i m p e r i a l
v i n d i c a t i o n in the practice of
their worship.
35
IS IT
SINCERE?
No matter how great the words
and works of Constantine towards
Christianity, some historians
r e m a i n e d d o u b t f u l regarding
his sincere conversion to Christian
faith, which only took place on his
deathbed.
36
SECTION 3

Great
ecumenical
councils
 Great
ecumenical
councils

◼ While Constantine bestowed the

Church with so much temporal
privilege, peace and power, it was
not immune from internal threats to
her unity. 38
Great
ecumenical
councils

◼ The Church encountered

differences of interpretations
pertaining to its dogma and
doctrines.
39
 Great
ecumenical
councils
By definition, an ecumenical
council is “literally a council
drawn from the whole wide
world or a “meeting of all the
bishops of the inhabited world
(in Greek, o i k u m e n e )”
40
Great
ecumenical
councils
In order “to deliberate ecumenical
councils of the 4th century were
primarily focused on
Christological heresies - a
dispute pertaining to the person
and identity of Jesus Christ. 41
 3.1
Claim of arius
42
Claim of arius
arianism
Arius, a priest at Alexandria, preached
that the Jesus Christ is God’s foremost
creature and creator of all the others, but
He is not of the substance of God the
Father and not eternal. 43
Claim of arius
arianism
◼ The Son is a creature,
created in time by the Father
and then used by the Father
in the creation of the world.
44
Claim of arius
arianism
◼ Thus Christ was neither God nor
a human being. Rather, he was
less than God but more than
human. He was a kind of
composite intermediary being. 45
 3.2
Council of nicea
46
 Council of nicea
◼ Arius disturbed the unity of the
Christians and s o w e d t h e s e e d o f
c o n f u s i o n . He managed to convince a
few believers and went around
continuously teaching his belief on
Jesus being subordinate to the Father. 47
 Council of nicea
The First Ecumenical Council of
Nicea, which was attended “by 230
bishops” condemned Arius as a
heretic and affirmed its faith in
Jesus as equal to the Father in the
famous Nicene Creed of 325 A.D.
48
Council of nicea
Through the council, “the bishops
added the adjectives h o m o o u s i o s
in speaking of the Son of God; that
is to say that the Son is of the same
substance (ousia) with the Father or
consubstantial with him.
49
 Council of nicea

The Council affirms Jesus as

fully divine, eternal, not
made and truly human.
50
 Council of nicea
◼ Athanasius the bishop of
Alexandria, was responsible
for the partial defeat of
Arianism . He was
considered as “the greatest
of the 4th century defenders
of 1st Council of Nicea.

51
 3.3
st
1 Council of
Constantinople 52
 st
1 Council of
Constantinople
(381 A.D.)

◼ Even with the fruits of the

Council of Nicea, heresies still
persisted. Another controversy
came up because of this
question: If he Jesus Christ was
“ v e r y G o d , ” how could he be
“true man?” 53
 st
1 Council of
Constantinople
(381 A.D.)

◼ Apollinaris of Laodicea “d e n i e d
t h e f u l l h u m a n i t y of Jesus
saying that the rational soul in
him had been replaced by the
divine Logos.”
54
 st
1 Council of
Constantinople
(381 A.D.)

◼ Therefore, making Jesus

“incapable of sin because he did
not have a human soul which
was capable of sin and error.”

55
 st
1 Council of
Constantinople
▪Richard McBrien further explains:
“How can God become a human
being without ceasing to be God
except by taking the place of the
mind in a human being?”
Apollinaris asked.
56
 st
1 Council of
Constantinople
▪The Emperor Theodosius I,
who declared Christianity as
the official religion of the
Roman Empire, appointed a
new bishop of Constantinople,
Gregory of Nazianzus.
57
 st
1 Council of
Constantinople
▪The Council of Constantinople
indeed re-affirmed Nicea and
condemned Apollinarianism and
Arianism.”

58
 3.4
Council of
Ephesus 59
Council of
Ephesus
(431 A.D.)
After the achievements of the
councils at Nicea and
Constantinople, a new question
assailed the church authorities
and divided its leaders. 60
Council of
ephesus
▪Nestorius, patriarch of
Constantinople, “divided the two
natures in Christ, one divine and
the other human and each has its
own personal manifestation.
61
 Council of
ephesus
▪Nestorius conceded that she
[Mary] was Christ-bearer
(Christotokos) but not the
“Mother of God” (Theotokos)
as it was “called by both Origen
and Eusebius of Caesarea. 62
Council of
ephesus
On the other hand, Cyril,
bishop of Alexandria,
attacked the claims of
Nestorius. An intelligent
theologian who is faithful
to Nicea. 63
 Council of
ephesus
▪Cyril worked to emphasized
the unity of divine and
human in Christ” and
strongly argued that the title
Theotokos for Mary is
“permissible.”
64
Council of
ephesus

▪The Council of Ephesus

condemned the views of
Nestorius and declared
Mary as Theotokos.
65
 3.5
Council of
Chalcedon 66
The Power of PowerPoint | thepopp.com 67
Council of
ephesus
▪Dissatisfied with the previous
declarations on the person of
Christ, Eutyches, a monk from
Constantiople, “asserted that,
although there were 2 natures
before the union of the Incarnation,
there resulted only 1 nature, the
divine, after the union. 68
Council of
ephesus
▪In other words, “Christ’s human
nature was completely absorbed
by the divine nature.” Such new
heresy was termed as
“m o n o p h y s i t i s m , the doctrine
of one nature in Christ.”
69
Council of
ephesus
▪Since heresy deliberately and
clearly violated the teachings of
the previous councils, “Flavian, the
bishop of Constantinople had
Eutyches condemned and
excommunicated.”
70
 Rise of Monasticism

Monks They were the best keepers of the

Church at a time when Christianity was
bombarded with worldly concerns and
immersed with mundane desires, earthly
allurements of power, prestige and
privilege.

71
 Categories given by
Richard Cronin
3 Variety of Early a) Eremitical Monks
Monastic Life:
b) Cenobitical Monks

c) Stylites Monks
72
 Eremitical
Monks

The word eremitical is from

the Greek word eremos
which means solitary.

The Power of PowerPoint | thepopp.com 73

 Eremitical
Monks
It was thought that “St.
Anthony (251-356), the Father
of Monasticism chose to live in
a life of solitary existence in
the desert of Egypt, of celibacy
and of self-mortification. 74
Eremitical
Monks

He was later, was

followed by at least five
thousand monks.
The Power of PowerPoint | thepopp.com 75
 Cenobitical
Monks
From the Greek word
koinobion meaning
(convent)

76
 Cenobitical
Monks
In contrast to the solitary life of
the eremitical monastics, the
cenobitical monks lived with
their fellow monks in a
community under the guidance
and leadership of an abbot. 77
 Cenobitical
Monks
While personal prayer and work
can be pursued, this group set
a common time of prayer, work
and various communal
activities.
78
 Cenobitical
Monks
They still practice the vows
of poverty and celibacy with
the addition of the pledge of
obedience to their superior
or abbot for an orderly
communal life.
79
 Stylites
Monks
Strange but true, the
stylites (from the Greek
word, stulos, meaning
pillar) made their sincere
act of penance by living
at the top of a pillar. The Power of PowerPoint | thepopp.com 80
 Stylites
Monks
Among the Stylites, according to Richard
Cronin, “St. Simeon Stylites was the
most famous. He lived at the top of a
sixty foot pillar for forty-three years. The
whole day was spent in prayer and
intercession.” The Power of PowerPoint | thepopp.com 81
 CHAPTER 3

THEO 300:
ECCLESIOLOGY
82