Founding of Christendom: A 100 Years of Turmoil -- Post 21

 

 

After the death of the Roman Emperor, Marcus Arealius,180 AD, his son, Cammodus, inherited the throne. Commodus was not a stable person.  One good thing he did was he temporarily  halted Christian persecution. While his father never ordered a direct persecution of Christians, he did allow it to happen– usually by local rulers. Commodus’ leniency  resulted in the release of Christians from the mines in Sardinia, among whom was a future pope.

Cassius Dio, a first-hand witness, describes Emperor Commodus as: "not naturally wicked but, on the contrary, as guileless as any man that ever lived. His great simplicity, however, together with his cowardice, made him the slave of his companions, and it was through them that he at first, out of ignorance, missed the better [virtuous] life and then was led on into lustful and cruel habits, which soon became second nature."

He was brought up in his father's Stoic Asceticism, which lacked a nurturing dimension, so Commodus rejected his father’s austere lifestyle. 

Commodus naivete soon gave way to cruelty. Being the emperor of Rome at the age of 18, and lacking his father’s natural abilities– love of virtue.  He set a path for indulgence. After several attempts on his life, as an absentee rule– while he indulged himself. He assumed full dictatorial control and the power led to madness. Going so far as to have an attendant thrown into an oven for not having his bath water at his preferred temperature. He also claimed he was Hercules son of Zues; renamed Rome after himself, and would fight in gladiator games– always “winning.”

Marcia, his concubine, had Christian sympathies and persuaded Emperor Commodus to adopt a policy in favor of Christians. Marcia was in contact with Victor I – Bishop of Rome. Pope Victor I gave her a list of Christians sentenced to mine works in Sardinia, she convinced Commodus to allow them to return to Rome. Despite the fact that Marcia was not Commodus' legal wife, he treated her like one, and was greatly influenced by her. Later Commodus’ plans for a purge included Marcia.  She, upon discovering  his plan, arranged to kill him. He was murdered in his bath before he could implement his purge. 

With the Christians who returned from the mines of Sardinia was a man named Callistus, who would be elected pope in 217 AD, which would lead to one of the strangest contestations for Pope– the throne of Peter. 

The Death of Emperor Commodus led to  about a 100 years  struggle  over who would be the next emperor, and none of them would die a peaceful death:

Emperor                           died                 means of death

Pertinax —--------------- 193 AD– murdered by the Praetorian Guard

Didius Julianus—------- 193 AD– killed by order of the Senate

Septimius Severus—-- 211 AD– died in campaign against barbarians 

Caracalla —------------- 217 AD– murdered by army officers

Macrimus —------------ 218 AD– killed in battle

Elagabalus—----------- 222 AD– murdered by Praetorian Guard

Alexander Severus — 235 AD– murdered by his army

Maximus Thrax —---- 238 AD– murdered by his army

Gordian —------------- 244 AD– murdered by Philip the Arab 

Philip the Arab—----- 249 AD–  killed in battle 

Decius —------------- 251 AD– killed in battle 

Gallus —-------------- 253 AD– murdered by his army

Valerian —------------ 259 AD– captured by the Persians died in captivity. 

Gallienus—---------- 268 AD– murdered by his army

Claudius Gothicus- 270 AD– died of plague 

Aurelian—----------- 275 AD– murdered by his army officers

Claudius Tacitus— 275 AD– murdered by his army

Probus —----------- 281 AD– murdered by his army

Carus—------------- 283 AD– killed by a bolt of lighting.

These were not just turbulent times for the empire, but also for the Church. A string of heresies came, many dealing with the mystery of the Trinity.

The first of these was begun by Theodotus of Byzantium, an early Christian writer from Asia Minor (present day Turkey). Theodotus was in Rome and was also one of those who denied Christ during persecution. But instead of seeking forgiveness, he said that he did not deny God, but only a man, Jesus, who was only a man, and not God incarnate. Theodotus claimed that Jesus was "adopted" by God upon baptism. He was not the Second Person of the Trinity, who became man, but a man who became the Christ.

This doctrine, sometimes called "Monarchianism" or "Adoptionism", was declared heretical by Pope Victor I,(189–198 AD).  Theodotus was excommunicated. However Theodotus found a sympathetic bishop, Natalis, in Rome and started a separate Church. Natalis soon repented with his followers and the heresy dimmed– it would re-emerge in many forms later– known usually as Arianism -- the denial of the Trinity.

Next came the heresy of “Modalism” which considered God to be one person while working through  different "modes" or "manifestations".

Noetus of Smyrna, Smyrna being the same hometown of St. Polycarp, proposed this novel teaching of Modalism.  Noetus founded his own church in Smyrna. He explained the divinity of Jesus Christ as a mode of the One true God, an expression of his Godhood, not a distinct person, of the God-Head, and the Holy Spirit was not to be known as a person either, but the action of God.

Praxeas, one of the followers of this new teaching in Smyrna, made his way to Rome and was immediately corrected by Pope Victor I for his heresy. Like bishop Natalis before him, Praxeas saw his error, and repented and the heresy soon faded in Rome.

[As a side note, Modalism seems to have been revived by some  Pentecostals,  called “Oneness Pentecostalism”. They also baptize solely in the name of Jesus, or Jesus Christ; as opposed to the baptismal formula given by Jesus at the end of St. Mathew’s Gospel  28:19 –”Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit'']

The next pope, Zephyrinus(199 - 217 AD), would have to deal with these same heresies–the re-emergence of Adoptionism heresy (aka. "Monarchianism") and Modalism. Pope Zephyrinus was hesitant to take action. This created a lot of turmoil in the Church, because Pope Victor I dealt with it so clearly. 

But another problem appeared– Montanism. Montanism was similar to modern day Pentecostalism in some ways. It was never universally condemned by a pope, and was in many places accepted and/or tolerated but in other places condemned as heresy, by some bishops. Montanism had no solid organization and beliefs could differ from region to region. At times it seemed too severe in judgements, lacking in the mercy of God– offering no forgiveness for grave sins, especially sexual sins or fleeing persecution.

A problem was the public confrontational style of Montanists preaching.  This drew the attention from the Empire. Many think  that  an edict that no one could convert to Christianity, without severe penalties was due to Montanists. (Romans made no distinction between heretics and orthodox Christians.) The great apologist Tertullian defended the movement, but Christians at this time liked to keep a low profile, because it could lead to persecutions, so many avoided Montanists.

Pope Zephyrinus put the Church into confusion by his inaction. Confusion about the nature of the Trinity, and the orthodoxy of Montanism, in addition to the Roman edict of no conversions, lead to a disorientation of believers. A 5 year persecution broke out in Alexandria Egypt, leading to many martyrs.

Pope Zephyrinus was succeeded by a trusted friend to the papacy – a former slave, and convict, Callistus, ( also known as Callixtus)  who was released from the mines of Sardinia, by the appeal of St. Pope Victor I.  

The inaction of Pope Zephyrinus, so incensed the Christian Theologian Hippolytus, that when Pope Callistus was elected pope, he rejected the successor of Pope Zephyrinus, and declared himself to be pope – thus becoming the first antipope. One major disagreement at this time, besides Trinitarian Heresies of the “Adoptionists'' and the “Modalists''; concerned the treatment of Catholics who committed serious sins, especially  sexual ones or who apostatized during  persecutions.

Two camps emerged within the Church: those advocating mercy, and those—called “rigorists”—who advocated harsh penalties, or even permanent exclusion from the Church. These rigorists were mainly made of “Montonists.” Hippolytus, the new anti-pope, belonged to the Montanists, a rigorist to his core, as was the great apologist Tertullian. They both thought that Pope Callistus' past sins disqualified him from the papal office. 

Callistus, in his past, when still a slave, was put in charge of alms from fellow Christians, for the care of widows and orphans; he claimed to have lost the money.  Many accused him of stealing it. Eventually Callistus was arrested and sent to the mines of Sardinia.

Pope Callistus who experienced slavery, repentance of a sinner, and lived as a convict, learned and appreciated the power of mercy in his life. Pope Zephyrinus personally forgave Callistus’ sins, and consecrated him as a deacon, putting him in charge of the burials at the catacombs. 

Pope Callistus stood defiant against  the intellectuals of the Church, Hippolytus and Tertullian. He had experienced the divine mercy of Jesus. He also remembered the Gospel teaching about forgiveness:

Mathew 18:21-22
“Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, ‘I tell you, not just seven times, but seventy-seven times!’ ”

 

Santa Maria in Trastevere

Pope Callistus continued to defy the educated class of the Church, as well as the Rome State, when he approved of women marrying men below their station. A woman in ancient Rome could marry up or equal in class but never down– marrying a slave.  This would cause ridicule for the Church and was against Roman Law, but Pope Callistus by his life of suffering had learned to hear the Holy Spirit. The sacraments of the Church were to be free of the state and subject only to God.

The first church ever built by a pope was from this devout pope dedicated to God’s mercy. It is the oldest church in Rome, The Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere.

 

Pope Callistus was eventually martyred. The circumstances are unclear; he seemed to have been attacked by a mob and thrown to his death from a great height.

Ironically, Antipope Hippolytus, who would defy the next two popes after Callistus, Popes Urban, and Pontian,  and was sentenced  to the mines of Sardinia for being a Christian. These are the same mines that Pope Callistus, the antipope's archenemy, had survived.

Pope Callistus was so committed to the mercy of God  and believed in Hippolytus' eventual conversion, that he never condemned him as antipope. Pope Callistus seemed to think that Hippolytus was sincere and loved God and God would find a way to correct him from his heresy. So God did.

He was exiled the Sardinia  mines with the reigning Pope Pontian. Before his death, this schismatic, heretic, antipope, reconsidered his position. He was so inspired by the holiness of his fellow convict Pope Pontian, that ironically sought the mercy of God from Pontian, and was received back into the Church. Both antipope and pope are honored as martyrs, making the first antipope a canonized saint of the Church, illustrating the unfathomable mercy of our Lord Jesus, which Hippolytus so vehemently fought against.