Mondays are for Church History
1/8/24
Schaff, Philip. History of the Christian Church (The Complete Eight Volumes in One). Volume 3, Nicene and Post-Nicene Christianity A.D. 311-600, from Constantine the Great to Gregory the Great. Amazon Kindle Edition, 2014.
I last made a Monday post related to Schaff's History of the Christian Church on November 16, 2020. Since then, much of my reading and writing has been absorbed with a Ph.D. project regarding the Didache. At long last, it's time to resume use of Monday posts for more general Church history purposes. We'll pick up with Schaff, as he very likely represents the pinnacle of 19th century scholarship and evaluation of the history of Christianity.
The preface of this volume, by Dr. Schaff, indicates this edition is his last intended update to the work originally published in 1867, revised in 1884, and again in 1889 (Schaff 2014, 1767). The Kindle edition does provide real page numbers, though due to the format the page number cited may occasionally be off by a page at the beginning or end of a page.
This third volume of Schaff's work covers what he considers the "Third Period: From Constantine the Great to Gregory the Great, A.D. 311-590" (Schaff 2014, 1771. Schaff begins his survey with a lightly annotated bibliography, particularly identifying primary sources in separate generic categories. Schaff's annotations of more modern sources are especially intriguing as he often includes a brief note about an author's outlook and biases.
§1. Introduction and General View.
Schaff considers this period as "the third period of the history of the Church" (Schaff 2014, 1775). The classical world is still extant, but the empire is spreading. The relationship between Christianity and the temporal powers is going through a change which Schaff considers permanent. Under Constantine the official persecution of Christianity comes to an end (Schaff 2014, 1776). In essence, Schaff characterizes this as a capitulation of government to the church, rather than of the church to the government. The church enters a time of structural growth, as it openly can claim and use resources to build church buildings. Schaff acknowledges that some of the alliances which could now be created served to expose the church to danger as well.
Among other changes is a loss of the fervor which was so clearly present in the persecuted church (Schaff 2014, 1776). Oddly enough, as a reaction to the relative comfort of Chrsitians, monasticism grew, as people sought to show distinctions between the church and the world. The more radical members of the monastic movement tended to be revered and thus developed into "a third order, between the priesthood and the laity" (Schaff 2014, 1777).
The Nicene and post-Nicene age was characterized by extensive development of doctrine (Schaff 2014, 1777). Doctrines of the Trinity, the person of Christ, sin, grace, and many other concepts were articulated and clarified (Schaff 2014, 1778). Schaff does observe that the clarity of doctrine could be reinforced by civil penalties, a new feature in Christian practice. The church and state developed a tendency to be aligned with one another (Schaff 2014, 1779). This resulted in what Lutherans would characterize as a confusion between God's right hand and left hand kingdoms.
Along with the clarification of doctrine and the growth of Christian architecture, there was a growth of religious artwork, not without opposition (Schaff 2014, 1780). Some festivals and commemorations could become extravagant acts which Schaff compares to "the heathen hero-worship not yet uprooted from the general mind" (Schaff 2014, 1780).
We find also in this time period a move of Christianity into the Germanic peoples, who had long threatened Roman civilization (Schaff 2014, 1781).
1/8/24
Schaff, Philip. History of the Christian Church (The Complete Eight Volumes in One). Volume 3, Nicene and Post-Nicene Christianity A.D. 311-600, from Constantine the Great to Gregory the Great. Amazon Kindle Edition, 2014.
I last made a Monday post related to Schaff's History of the Christian Church on November 16, 2020. Since then, much of my reading and writing has been absorbed with a Ph.D. project regarding the Didache. At long last, it's time to resume use of Monday posts for more general Church history purposes. We'll pick up with Schaff, as he very likely represents the pinnacle of 19th century scholarship and evaluation of the history of Christianity.
The preface of this volume, by Dr. Schaff, indicates this edition is his last intended update to the work originally published in 1867, revised in 1884, and again in 1889 (Schaff 2014, 1767). The Kindle edition does provide real page numbers, though due to the format the page number cited may occasionally be off by a page at the beginning or end of a page.
This third volume of Schaff's work covers what he considers the "Third Period: From Constantine the Great to Gregory the Great, A.D. 311-590" (Schaff 2014, 1771. Schaff begins his survey with a lightly annotated bibliography, particularly identifying primary sources in separate generic categories. Schaff's annotations of more modern sources are especially intriguing as he often includes a brief note about an author's outlook and biases.
§1. Introduction and General View.
Schaff considers this period as "the third period of the history of the Church" (Schaff 2014, 1775). The classical world is still extant, but the empire is spreading. The relationship between Christianity and the temporal powers is going through a change which Schaff considers permanent. Under Constantine the official persecution of Christianity comes to an end (Schaff 2014, 1776). In essence, Schaff characterizes this as a capitulation of government to the church, rather than of the church to the government. The church enters a time of structural growth, as it openly can claim and use resources to build church buildings. Schaff acknowledges that some of the alliances which could now be created served to expose the church to danger as well.
Among other changes is a loss of the fervor which was so clearly present in the persecuted church (Schaff 2014, 1776). Oddly enough, as a reaction to the relative comfort of Chrsitians, monasticism grew, as people sought to show distinctions between the church and the world. The more radical members of the monastic movement tended to be revered and thus developed into "a third order, between the priesthood and the laity" (Schaff 2014, 1777).
The Nicene and post-Nicene age was characterized by extensive development of doctrine (Schaff 2014, 1777). Doctrines of the Trinity, the person of Christ, sin, grace, and many other concepts were articulated and clarified (Schaff 2014, 1778). Schaff does observe that the clarity of doctrine could be reinforced by civil penalties, a new feature in Christian practice. The church and state developed a tendency to be aligned with one another (Schaff 2014, 1779). This resulted in what Lutherans would characterize as a confusion between God's right hand and left hand kingdoms.
Along with the clarification of doctrine and the growth of Christian architecture, there was a growth of religious artwork, not without opposition (Schaff 2014, 1780). Some festivals and commemorations could become extravagant acts which Schaff compares to "the heathen hero-worship not yet uprooted from the general mind" (Schaff 2014, 1780).
We find also in this time period a move of Christianity into the Germanic peoples, who had long threatened Roman civilization (Schaff 2014, 1781).
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