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23 - Institutions in the pre-Constantinian ecclēsia

from Part V - The Shaping of Christian Theology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2008

By
Stuart Hall
Edited by
Margaret M. Mitchell  and
Frances M. Young
Margaret M. Mitchell
Affiliation:
University of Chicago
Frances M. Young
Affiliation:
University of Birmingham
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Summary

By the time of Constantine the church was a sufficiently robust organization for the emperor to engage it as a partner in unifying the empire. Systems of authority, patterns of belief and control of funds and property had turned the early household communities into an interlinked, empire-wide organization that increasingly mirrored the structure of the empire itself. It is a telling fact that when Julian the Apostate tried to put the clock back in the 360s, he ‘determined to introduce into the pagan temples the order and discipline of Christianity’: various degrees of ministry were instituted, teachers and readers were appointed to give instruction in pagan doctrines, hours of prayer were established, and monasteries founded for those who wanted to live in philosophical retirement; pagan priests were told to provide hospitality for travellers, to distribute corn and wine to the poor and to live holy lives, avoiding taverns and the theatre, or be deprived of office. Julian saw the discipline and benevolence of the ‘atheists’ as attractions dangerous to traditional religion, whereas Constantine had recognised their usefulness.

The characteristics of the early house-based communities were described in part II, chapter 7, above. There, the discussion attempted to view the phenomenon of the early church in its social and historical setting, noting how it combined features of household, cult, club and philosophical school, without being altogether like any of them. Throughout this volume the diversity of Christian groups has been observed: there was a range of possible futures.

Keywords

baptismbiblical JudaismcultChristianityTertullianpagan worldIrenaeusecclesia
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The Cambridge History of Christianity , pp. 413 - 433
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

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