The Doctrines and Politics of the Early Church

Answer

The Doctrines and Politics of the Early Church

The history of the church often revolves around the origin of Christianity. Primarily, there are arguments about the origin of the church with some stating that it came into existence in the first century based on the teachings and explanations of Jesus of Nazareth, while others insist that the church existed long before Jesus as captured in the Old Testament. Primarily, what is clear is that the church has continued to grow since its inception to the present. Along the way, different political perspectives and doctrines have helped influence it to attain the status of the modern church.

Primarily, the early church covers the period between the first century or apostolic age and the fourth century during the first council of Nicaea in 325. Significant believers in the church at the time comprised Jewish Christians, who were later joined by God-fearing gentiles (Hunt, 2016). The transition into the apostolic age led to the diversification of the church thereby incorporating the cultures of many groups hence leading to its widespread in Europe.

The growing influence of the church in the Roman Empire especially among the nobles was significantly affected by conflicts. Primarily, the conflicts surrounded the arguments between Arian and Trinitarian views on the person of the son and father. The two different sections held distinct views on the relationship between father and son. What was to be a religious argument became political and led to significant conflicts within the church in the fourth century. Political indifference also occurred regarding the Apollinarius of Laodicea, which was a significant controversy within the fourth century. Other controversial topics that became political based on the existing doctrine in the early church included the pneumatomachean, Antiochene schism, church repercussions, the Dinatist, and the Origenist. However, political stability and division in the church were achieved when church rule and leadership was assigned to the council of chalcedony, Benedict's rule, and the council of Nicea.

The main controversies in the early church revolved around differences in the doctrine regarding the nature of Trinity. In this regard, differences existed in the views of intratrinitarian relationship between the ‘son’ and ‘father’. Based on this, there were concerns over whether the son came from the being of the father or not. Moreover, the introduction of the Holy Ghost and Jesus Christ also led to controversies. For instance, there existed different views on whether the persona of Jesus Christ was out of two natures or was in two natures. Moreover, arguments also existed on whether Jesus of Nazareth had a human soul and mind or if they were heavenly.

Socially, the underlying doctrine of the church was embodied in the belief that everyone was equal before God. Therefore, most Christians argued that all humans were equal and that their time on earth was short. Consequently, the earlier tradition that it was an honour to engage in war and fight for your empire lost appeal to most people especially in the Roman Empire (Hunt, 2016). The church’s growing influence and practice enraged the political divide, which did not believe in equality but power, and as a result it was later banned in Ancient Rome, leading to the execution of many Christians on account of  their monotheistic beliefs. However, legalization of the church and by extent Christianity occurred in 313 A.D during the reign of Constantine.

In 325 A.D, Constantine ordered a gathering of the Nicaea council with the aim of finding a solution to the Arian controversy. Primarily, the doctrine sought to establish a relationship between the son of God and God Himself. Ideally, Arianism believed that Jesus was the son of God and formed a subsidiary entity to God who was the father. However, these teachings were against the Trinitarian doctrine. Therefore, the gathering established the Nicea Creed that offers universally accepted relationship between Son and father (Pelikan, 2018). The council also helped calculate the date for Easter and incorporate it into law.

The Nicea council also established the ruling authority within the church. During this time, Rome was under the emperor, and therefore, the church was expected to call gatherings under the authority of the emperor and use the power of the state to affect and implement the council’s orders (Kelly, 2017). However, political influences outside the church also affected the power of the council. For instance, in the eastern empire, the Arian emperors rose into power as well as other polytheistic powers that wanted to re-introduce the pagan religion using the emperor’s office.

The council of Chalcedon, especially in approving Pope Leo the Great, also influenced the early church. Moreover, it also issued a decree that required all factions to have a single definition of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, the council of Chalcedon also developed canons for disciplining and controlling church authority and administration (Pelikan, 2018). However, upon the decline of the council, schism ensued. Many church leaders like bishops differed with Pope Leo’s language. Moreover, some factions disagreed with the council’s likeness of Ephesus and in its place, advocated for Miaphysitism. Consequently, there was a division in the church with different people with similar beliefs forming their own groups. The largest of the new ‘small’ churches was the Church of Alexandria.

In conclusion, it is evident that the early church had specific doctrines that guided the believers. In this regard, the doctrines agreed on the teachings as they all adhered to the lessons provided by Jesus of Nazareth. However, they differed on the persona of Jesus Christ as well as the concept of the son and father. The differing views led to significant conflicts that necessitated the formation of councils to create a common ground for all individuals.