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Christianity

Formalization of the Faith

(Is it Christianity yet?)

By the end of the 5th century the basic framework of the faith was set, through both official creed and in church structure and practices.

Structure & Practice:

• Leadership was through Bishops as the seats of authority in major geographic areas throughout the Empire. Rome and Constantinople became two main seats of ecclesiastical power as they were also the two main seats of Roman political power.

• Worship was held on Sundays and Easter and Christmas were celebrated

• Sacraments of the Eucharist, Baptism and Confession were in practice

• Monastic communities began to develop, the first being the Benedictines which set the model of poverty, chastity and obedience coupled with prayer, work and service to those in need.

Development of Official Church Doctrine (Nicene creed):

• Church doctrine as we know it today was not present from the beginning. It developed over several centuries and nuances continued (and continues) after that.

• By the end of the 4th century, with Christianity now the official religion of the Empire, scripture was canonized and creeds were set in stone.

• As a result of the heretical beliefs and practices, councils of bishops from local churches in various geographic locales got together to agree on official doctrine.

• Creeds such as the Apostle’s and Nicene creeds were written reflecting the questions and issues raised by the heresies:

• The Nature of God: three in one - a mystery of faith

• God as creator ("maker of heaven and earth") is clearly stated in response to Gnostic notions that spirit has nothing to do with matter.

• God is declared a trinity - "three persons" of "one substance" (like H2O can appear in any of three different forms: water, vapor or ice).

Video: The Trinity (Christian Triune Godhead) explained Part 1

• The Nature of Christ (Christology): two in one - a mystery of faith

• The division and dispute regarding the degree of humanity in Christ:

• some views held that Christ took on all aspects of humanity - a rational and animal soul as well as flesh, some saw Christ as more divine than human

• Council at Chalcedon in 451 made final determination that Christ is both, equally and fully, human and divine - one person with two distinct natures. Nicene creed emphasizes both these natures and specifically acknowledges what various heresies deny: he is eternal, not a creation of God ("not made"), he did incarnate, he did die, he did resurrect and ascend to heaven, is there now, is our savior and will come again (second coming) as our judge

• Doctrine of Salvation (Soteriology): Are we saved by works or faith? By our morality or God’s grace? The question was tackled by Augustine in the 4th -5th cent.:

• The issue of freewill is involved. According to Augustine’s thinking, we have limited freewill. God’s grace can arrange circumstances that encourage us to freely choose God’s will for us.

• Ultimately, salvation comes by God’s grace through the sacrificial death of Jesus but we are free to accept that gift or not (although the Presbyterians later held that even that is not our choice)

• Sin: the original sin of humanity inherited from the first man, Adam, is transmitted by desire in the course of the act of intercourse (original sin is not the sex act itself but the lustful desire which accompanies it [in Buddhism, the cause of suffering is desire!]). Those conceived in desire inherit the sin of desire. The desire to know good from evil and to thus be more like God was the first sin committed by the first humans in the Garden of Eden.

• The Holy Spirit "proceeds from the father [and the son]"; the Eastern Church did not agree to this later addition: God the Father was seen as the sole source of everything.

• The church: the ecclesia (Greek for "assembly" similar to the meaning of "synagogue"), the people, the members of the church, were understood to be, collectively, the "Body of Christ" ("wherever two or more of you are gathered in my name..." [MT 18:20])

Despite official creed, some fringe groups continue to debate these issues:

• Unitarians trace a long history back to the 4th century claiming that there is no reference in scripture to the trinity. They were considered "heretics" in the early centuries and today might be questioned as legitimate Christians but for many other reasons than just the trinity issue. Like Gnostics, some would consider themselves Christian and some not, for various reasons.

• Other modern "heresies" include Mormons, Christian Science, Jehovah’s Witness and, in the 16th century, Protestants were excommunicated as heretics