I. The Conversion of Constantine
In 312, Constantine was preparing to fight a battle against Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge when he had a vision of a cross that had the writing, "In this sign you will conquer". After successfully defeating Maxentius, Constantine converted to Christianity. In 313, he isssued the Edict of Milan, allowing Christians to freely worship. The emperors following Constantine also were Christians except for Julian who only reigned for a short amount of time. Theodosius actually made Christianity the official religion of the empire during his reign. Because church leaders had more power, they used it to drive out pagan religions.
II. Organization and Religious Disputes
For each city, there was a bishop in charge of a bishopric or diocese. The dioceses were then grouped together and headed by an archbishop. Because the churches of Rome, Alexandria, Jerusalem, and Antioch were all founded by an original apostles, their bishops had special power.
One big problem in the early church was heresy. Many people started to deviate from orthodox doctrine and came up with their own opinions on certain topics. This caused a lot of controversy and religious disputes. One major heresy was Donatism, started by the priest Donatus, who lived in North Africa. He believed that the way that a Christian would receive grace from God was not valid if the priest who was responsible for administering it was immoral or if he had been persecuted and denied his faith as a result of the persecution. This eventually became so big of a problem that Constantine mad an attempt to stop it, but that only came about a century later. Another big heresy was Arianism. Arius, a priest in Alexandria, Egypt said that since Jesus was man, he couldn't have been God as well. Another man named Athanasius, the bishop of Alexandria disputed Arius' proposition saying that Jesus was fully both. In order to put Arianism to rest, Constantine held the Council of Nicaea in 325. Even though he denounced Arianism at the council, he did not get rid of it completely. Arianism kept on growing and even spread to some Germanic tribes who believed it. The early church had to deal with many heresies, causing the emperor to be more and more involved in the matters of the church.
One big problem in the early church was heresy. Many people started to deviate from orthodox doctrine and came up with their own opinions on certain topics. This caused a lot of controversy and religious disputes. One major heresy was Donatism, started by the priest Donatus, who lived in North Africa. He believed that the way that a Christian would receive grace from God was not valid if the priest who was responsible for administering it was immoral or if he had been persecuted and denied his faith as a result of the persecution. This eventually became so big of a problem that Constantine mad an attempt to stop it, but that only came about a century later. Another big heresy was Arianism. Arius, a priest in Alexandria, Egypt said that since Jesus was man, he couldn't have been God as well. Another man named Athanasius, the bishop of Alexandria disputed Arius' proposition saying that Jesus was fully both. In order to put Arianism to rest, Constantine held the Council of Nicaea in 325. Even though he denounced Arianism at the council, he did not get rid of it completely. Arianism kept on growing and even spread to some Germanic tribes who believed it. The early church had to deal with many heresies, causing the emperor to be more and more involved in the matters of the church.