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For many people, church history is a sort of fuzzy subject.

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Jesus founded the church, there were crusades, people built huge cathedrals, Protestants

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broke away and started their own churches, and then the Mass was changed into English.

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More or less, right?

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Over the course of 2,000 years, there have been popes, councils, saints, and sinners

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that have greatly influenced the life of the Church.

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We've dealt with heresies and wars, growth and decline, innovations and adaptations.

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To have a grasp of it all is beyond even the most learned of scholars.

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But that doesn't mean that we can't understand the basics.

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Even if we can't name every pope or explain every event, every Catholic should have a

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general understanding of how the Church has progressed from period to period.

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So what are the major epics of the Church, and why is it important to study today?

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This is Catholicism in Focus.

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INTRO

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A few notes before we begin.

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First, 15 minutes is nowhere close to enough time to cover even the basics.

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There will be important things left out.

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I apologize.

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Second, history is not an exact science.

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In choosing what to include and exclude, weaving together events into coherent narratives,

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there is an implicit bias on the part of the historian.

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What I'm sharing is not the dogmatic telling of Church history, because such a task is

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impossible.

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Meaning, finally, I hope you will take this as your first resource, not your last.

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It's a basic introduction, not a definitive conclusion.

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Okay.

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Start the clock.

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We begin our study with the Early Church, a time often referred to as the Patristic

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period after the Fathers of the Church.

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It's a time of growth and fervent faith, but also of bloodshed and turmoil.

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While the Church eventually reached all corners of the earth, it began as a small sect within

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Judaism.

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The early Christians were Jewish in culture and did not see themselves as a part of a

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new religion.

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They continued temple worship and kept Jewish law.

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As people like St. Paul began evangelizing non-Jews, though, this raised a controversial

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question.

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How are converts to be received?

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Some argued that they must be circumcised and follow Jewish purity laws, while others

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claimed that Jesus abolished the need for such works.

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Thus, the first major decision in the Church.

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In the year 48, leaders met for a council in Jerusalem, where a compromise was struck.

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New converts need not be circumcised, but they were not to eat meat sacrificed to idols,

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could not consume blood, and must refrain from illicit sexual intercourse, arguably

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the most important core of the Jewish law.

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Some rigorous continued to protest these concessions, but there was no going back.

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Paul's missionary efforts, now made easier, flourished across the Mediterranean, transforming

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Christianity into a largely Gentile religion.

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There was a sense of urgency in the early years that Jesus would be returning immediately,

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and so missionary work took priority over forming the domestic Church.

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As the decades passed, however, it became clear that structures were necessary to organize

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the Church.

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This includes three developments.

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1.

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The clergy, the institution of bishops, presbyters, and deacons to serve as permanent leaders

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of worship and service.

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2.

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The New Testament, developing an authoritative list of apostolic writings for use in catechesis

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and worship.

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3.

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And finally, the Creed, the codification of core beliefs for teaching and correcting

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the faith.

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Unfortunately, the Church at this time was seen as a major threat to the Roman Empire,

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resulting in various forms of persecution.

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Figures like Justin Martyr and Irenaeus wrote defenses of the faith, converting some, but

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also fanning the flames at times.

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Christians made it clear that they were never going to worship the Roman gods.

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The worst of this was under the Emperor Diocletian, who tried to destroy all places of worship,

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forced Christians to turn over religious books, and denied their right to assembly.

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Because of this, Christians spent the first few centuries celebrating their two core

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rituals, baptism and Eucharist, at the direct hand of the bishop, largely within house churches,

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often in secret, and remained small relative to the wider world.

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This all changed quite rapidly in the 4th century with the rise of Constantine to power,

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ushering in our second period, one that I'll refer to as the institutionalization of the

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Church.

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In 313, after winning a battle that he attributed to the Christian god, Constantine issued the

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Edict of Milan, officially legalizing the Christian faith.

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A decade later, in 325, he made it the official religion of the Empire.

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This very well may be the most significant event in Church history, irreparably changing

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the place of the Church in the world.

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For starters, it immediately saw the influx of new converts.

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Some no longer afraid of persecution, others looking for political advancement, meaning

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that the way of worship had to change significantly.

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House churches were replaced first by large Roman halls, but these too served to be inadequate

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in size.

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Before long, the bishop was unable to serve all of his people at one time, and so presbyters

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were deputized to celebrate the sacraments in the bishop's name in satellite places

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of worship named parishes.

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Figures like John Chrysostom, Theodore of Mopsuesta, Ambrose of Milan, and Cyril of

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Jerusalem emerged as central catechetical leaders, forming programs and rituals to initiate

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converts on a large scale.

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Of course, the legalization of the religion presented an uncomfortable problem of what

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to do with those who renounced the faith out of fear of persecution just a decade earlier.

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Could they be readmitted?

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Did they need to be rebaptized?

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Were the sacraments of traitors even valid?

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In short, thanks to St. Augustine, yes, no, and yes.

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This controversy, known as Donatism, was only one of many that the Church faced as the religion

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grew, requiring the declaration of creeds and pronouncements of dogmas.

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Ecumenical councils in Nicaea, Constantinople, Ephesus, and Chalcedon were held to define

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the nature of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, the relationship with the Father, and general

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order of the Church, ultimately defining and combating heresies like Docetism, Montanism,

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Adoptionism, Sabellianism, Arianism, Pelagianism, and Gnosticism.

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The institutionalization of the Church in this time made it easy for the religion to

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increase its footprint across the ancient world, allowing for five major hubs of authority

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to develop—Rome, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Constantinople.

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For a few centuries, the leaders of each represented diversity in ritual and spirituality, but

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maintained communion with one another.

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Unfortunately, as the political world in the region began to change, so too did the

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relationship between these five metropolitans, ushering in a third period of Church history,

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that of a kingdom in isolation.

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Over the course of the 5th and 6th centuries, the secular power of the Roman Empire weakened,

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fell, and moved to Constantinople in the east, leaving a political vacuum in the west.

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The Church, now prominent and established on the world stage, filled that role.

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Popes like Leo the Great and Gregory the Great began to assert the papacy into worldly matters.

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Leo famously had a standoff with Attila the Hun, saving the city of Rome from attack,

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and Gregory, a master administrator and fundraiser, almost single-handedly cared for the poor

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and maintained the public works of Rome in the absence of a working government.

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It didn't take long for popes to be seen as holding an office akin to emperors and

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kings, wielding temporal authority over its land.

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They negotiated with foreign rulers, commanded armies, and influenced governments.

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The Church in the east did not experience the same development.

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As society crumbled in the west, it thrived in the east, allowing for trade and communication

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between the remaining four metropolitans to continue, fostering communal authority rather

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than an absolute monarchy.

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It is here that we see the seeds of division begin to grow.

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While many will look to 1054 as the moment of schism between the two churches, tensions

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had existed for centuries prior.

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As the two became more and more isolated from one another, diverging language, theology,

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liturgy, culture, and governance began to develop.

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But little communication that remained was fraught with confusion, at times falling

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apart over mere mistranslations.

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The Church in the west, seeing itself as the first among these great cities, tried to assert

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itself into the spiritual matters of the east, claiming authority over all of Christendom.

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By the year 800, it began to assert temporal authority as well, when Pope Leo III crowned

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Charlemagne as the emperor of the newly formed Holy Roman Empire.

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Isolated from one another, it eventually reached a point that the only communication between

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the two seemed to be miscommunications and excommunications.

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Unsurprisingly, as the Church grew in worldly power, so too did the clericalism and abuse

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within it.

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Greater emphasis was placed on clerical state, making clearer distinctions between clergy

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and lay in the liturgy.

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Monasteries grew as powerful empires within the empire, amassing wealth and land.

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And given how much power bishops and priests held in the world, controversies arose as

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to how bishops were chosen and where priests were assigned.

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Unlike today, there were no seminaries at this time, and the Church didn't always

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have control over who was elected the bishop.

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Symony flourished in this time, allowing local secular leaders to appoint worldly and untrained

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men to church positions, treating holy orders as mere political positions.

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Add this to the fact that culture itself had declined since the fall of Rome, limiting

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trade, travel, education, communication, and cultural advancement, and what you get is

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the beginning of the so-called Dark Ages.

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Like any period of history, though, this would not last.

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By the middle of the 11th century, the Church and world entered a new period, one of rebirth.

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In 1059, Pope Nicholas II set about reforming how the Church was governed, decreeing that

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only cardinals elected the pope, excluding emperors and nobles.

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The Church was to be led by the Church alone, not secular authorities.

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In 1075, Pope Gregory VII made yet another important leap, issuing the decree Dictatus

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Pape, regaining spiritual authority over all bishops.

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They were not temporal princes, but spiritual shepherds, and as such were to be appointed

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by and serve the pope, not the local monarch.

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By the beginning of the 12th century, it was finally the assertion and common practice

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of the Church that the clergy, not secular rulers, appointed and invested bishops with

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spiritual authority.

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As easy it is to blame the Church for what some of its bishops and priests did in the

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early Middle Ages, the reality is that many of them weren't, in fact, actually chosen

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by or working for the Church directly.

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They were controlled by secular authorities.

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And what a difference it makes when the bishop isn't under the thumb of a king that might

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be motivated by entirely worldly things.

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In the succeeding centuries, the Church blossomed on many fronts.

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Universities were founded in Paris, Bologna, Salerno, Oxford, Cambridge, Salamanca, Padua,

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and Naples, drastically improving the theological and pastoral quality of the clergy, but also

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developing the riches of the Church's thought.

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Coinciding with the rediscovery of Aristotle, men like Anselm, Peter Lombard, Thomas Aquinas,

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and Bonaventure helped the Church, for the first time, develop a systematic approach

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to things like the Trinity, creation, incarnation, and most important of all, the sacraments.

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It was also a time of immense spiritual reform, led primarily by the mendicant orders, Franciscans

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and Dominicans.

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Moving out of the monastery, these popular creatures lived simply, in stark contrast

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to the clergy of the day, setting up missions all around Europe, caring for the poor, and

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revitalizing the faith, both popularly and doctrinally.

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While historically complicated, to say the least, the Crusades represent a major step

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in the Church's rebirth as well, rousing a sense of mission outside of oneself, collaborating

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with Christians in the East, and recapturing what was lost.

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And of course, how can we forget the Renaissance itself?

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The building of cathedrals, production of major paintings, advances in music, growth

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of cities, and early development of the sciences.

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All of this was commissioned by the Church out of a sense of wonder for God and the world.

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For many, this was one of the most hopeful periods in Church history.

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Unfortunately, not everything was reformed in this period.

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The papacy was divided at times, warring over lands and authority.

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The secular clergy remained largely uneducated.

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The Black Death wiped out many of those willing to care for the poor, and those becoming unhappy

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with abuses of the Church were growing in number.

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By the 15th and 16th centuries, we see a Church, on the one hand, intellectually and culturally

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seeking higher than it ever had before, while on the other hand, fraught with scandal and

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poor catechesis at the lowest levels.

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Indulgences were sold, heresies preached, abuses plagued the liturgy, and revelry and

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superstition pervaded the culture.

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Thus, in 1517, the Church was made to reckon for its continued issues and for the next

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500 years found itself in a period defined by siege from the outside world.

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Martin Luther, an Augustinian friar, ushered in the Reformation with his 95 Theses, a list

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of accusations against the Church.

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Distracted by the reforms taking place among the Franciscans and unable to immediately

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satisfy Luther's complaints, a movement soon developed and divisions increased.

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Other reformers like John Calvin and Ulrich Zwingli appeared with their own complaints,

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and soon enough, the Church was left scrambling to keep everything together.

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One of the issues that allowed these reforms to flourish was the fact that the Catholic

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Church had never officially codified its doctrines or practices.

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Prior to this, the Church was led largely by convention, that we'd always done something

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a certain way, or ad hoc decrees, specific responses to specific problems.

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By now it was clear that a complete declaration of faith was necessary.

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And so, in 1569, the Church met for the Council of Trent to unify and codify every aspect

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of the Church.

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Definitions were given to theological concepts, rules were set for common practices, and reforms

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implemented.

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It was here that a new liturgy was defined, replacing all other liturgies less than 200

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years old, to bring absolute uniformity to the Church throughout the world.

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Unfortunately, the damage had already been done, and what the Church experienced for

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the next few centuries was a hostile outside world.

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It was a time of great war and constant strife, first against Protestants, but eventually

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against a world growing ever more secular that sought to remove religion from the public

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sphere.

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The Scientific Revolution, liberal philosophy, unrestricted capitalism, and democracy sought

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to upend the world previously defined by the Church's authority.

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More than in any other time since the early days of persecution, the outside world was

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treated as dangerous and disordered, the Church the only refuge of truth and goodness, a perfect

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society lacking nothing the world could provide.

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A quintessential document that captures the vibe of this period is the Syllabus of Errors,

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a literal list of everything wrong with the world.

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Somewhat paradoxically, it was also the period of greatest missionary fervor in the Church's

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history.

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Motivated by a worldview that saw everything and everyone outside of the Church as damned,

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missionary orders like the Franciscans, Dominicans, and the newly formed Jesuits traveled to Asia,

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Africa, and the Americas, desperate to save as many people as possible.

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For some today, this represents the height of Catholicism.

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Meticulously ordered liturgies, clear and certain doctrinal statements, urgency and

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mission, and large beautiful fortresses to keep unwanted dangers out.

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There is no doubt that it was a time in history with the clearest boundaries both in mission

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and identity.

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Of course, even the best of times has its issues, and this time period is no exception.

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At times, uniformity led to rigidity, even idolatry to human laws.

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Certainty inhibited exploration and adaptation.

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Society fostered impatience and overlooked true conversion.

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And keeping everything out meant missing out on some truly good things about the world.

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By the end of the 19th century, the Church had begun to look deeply at itself and question

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its identity and mission in the world.

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So begins the modern period.

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For many, it's a period of updating, of adapting to the changes of the world.

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For others, it's a period of openness and dialogue, not only with outsiders, but with

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our own history.

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Still more call it a time of reform, while others see nothing but the undoing of all

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that is good and holy.

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It's really hard to agree on anything these days, isn't it?

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The fact that it's less than a hundred years old and we're still living in it, I think

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the jury is still out on how this time will be remembered in history, but it's clear

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that it is a time of immense change, both inside and outside of the Church.

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The world of the mid-20th century looked nothing like the world of the Middle Ages.

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Early efforts at humanism brought a semblance of peace between Protestants and Catholics.

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Technology revolutionized travel, communication, and daily life.

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The Church was no longer under attack from foreign nations or cultural revolutions, and

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the world was looking, with hope, towards a more unified existence.

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From the Church's perspective, research and scholarship had grown leaps and bounds.

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In just the late 19th and early 20th centuries alone, significant early manuscripts had been

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rediscovered.

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The historical study of scripture had begun to flourish, and translations of the patristic

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writers were becoming widespread.

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As a result, the fields of liturgy, scripture, patristics, and ecumenism all experienced

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renewed fervor from academics and the faithful alike.

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The tradition, it seemed, was far more expansive and complicated than our simple formulas and

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uniform liturgies had led us to believe.

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An update was needed.

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Enter the Second Vatican Council.

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From 1962 to 1965, the Church issued constitutions calling for the complete reform of the liturgy,

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redefining the nature of the Church, explaining the role and process of studying sacred scripture,

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and updating the mission of the Church to the world.

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No longer a fortress defending itself against the world, the Church was to be a sacrament

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of salvation to it.

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More than anything else, it seems, this was to be accomplished by the laity.

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In almost every document, explicit focus is given, for the first time, to including, preparing,

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and commissioning the non-ordained to the life of the Church.

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Things like the universal call to holiness, the use of the vernacular in lay ministers

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and liturgy, room for cultural adaptations to liturgy and law, the importance of scripture,

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and responsibilities exclusive to lay people underpinned the spirit of the Council.

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And boy did it create a major shift in culture.

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On the one hand, the Church in Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America flourished like never

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before.

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Local communities, now with more freedom to develop individually, have exploded with creativity.

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What was lost in uniformity was more than made up for in depth and enculturation.

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On the other hand, disunity and abuse have flourished as well.

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Without the strict guidelines of before, some have gone far beyond the intentions of the

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Council, undermining tradition and teaching error.

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A race to the extremes has left the Church struggling to maintain unity since the Council,

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leaving some to feel as if we're on the brink of another schism.

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Now, this, one could argue, is more reflective of the state of dialogue in the world today

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than anything the Church has done, but the problem does still exist.

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While some would like to think that the Second Vatican Council appeared overnight and artificially

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forced reforms on the Church, the reality is that the Council, while sweeping in its

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changes, was the result of many decades of reform that was already taking place in universities

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and in local church communities.

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Like it or not, Vatican II itself was grounded in tradition, backed by decades of earlier

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reforms, and absolutely what the Church needed.

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What will its legacy ultimately be?

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Time will have to tell.

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But if there is one thing we can be sure of from our study of history, it is that it won't

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end here.

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Further reforms will be necessary in the future.

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As much as the Church is founded by Christ on the unchanging truth of His resurrection,

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it is an institution that is constantly changing how it expresses that truth.

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Over two thousand years, our liturgy, prayer, law, formulations of doctrine, structures

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of governance, and relationship with the outside world have remained in process.

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This is not to say that it changes fundamentally or completely, but that it is never stagnant.

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As a Church guided by the Holy Spirit, we are a living institution.

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Our mission never changes, but the world around us and the people that inhabit it always do.

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The reason we study history is not so that we can conform to how things were done in

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the past, as if there is a singular way to be Church in any context.

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It is to remember that each generation has had to determine how to live and share the

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tradition in its own present time.

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What was effective at expressing the truth and fostering holiness in one period may not

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be the same for us.

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We learn from the past, but we never forget that the Holy Spirit is with us in the present.