Communion With the Christ:: A Very, Very Brief History of the Church: Part 9

"Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering;" Hebrews: 10:23

Roman, as an Empire had gone though many changes. Many of the peoples under its rule were turning away from the ancient practices and traditions that many Romans believed had made Rome the power that it had become.

The Roman Empire was facing many challenges, confrontations with barbarians on the borders and even economic problems and internal political debate.

In 249 AD Gaius Messius Quintus Trainus Decius, sometime called Trajan Decius or Decius, became the Emperor, it was his objective to restore the Empire to its former glory and to reinvigorate the traditions which he believed would accomplish his purpose.

The challenges which Rome faced, Decius believed, were the direct result of the displeasure of the Roman gods. Decius wish to restore the traditions and thus gaining the favor of the gods and that they then would restore the former glory of the Empire.

Turning Hearts to the gods

Decius polices called for the worship of the gods of Rome, he wanted to restore the ancient practices to the Empire so that the gods would bless Rome. Decius believed that by truing the people’s hearts back to the gods he would be assuring the continuation of the Empire. Those who would not conform to this reordering of the Empire were often charged with treason against Rome.

In 250 AD Decius issued his edict to enforce his polices of returning the Empire back to it's former glory and a inauguration of what he hoped would be a Pax Romana and what he hoped would restore the favor of the Roman gods.

Predictably, Christians within the Empire resisted and insisted in the worship of Jesus. Decius did not want to create a new group of martyrs; he knew of the faith inspired bravery by which Christians fifty years earlier faced death which inspired many people to become Christians. The Emperor did not want to repeat the same "mistake" again, he did not want the blood of Christians to spring forth in an all new harvest of believers.

The Edict of Worship

Decius' purpose was, rather to induce Christians to renounce their faithfulness to Jesus and embrace the worship of the traditional gods instead of sending Christians to their deaths. Decius wanted Christians to submit to his edict which called for the gods of Rome to exulted.

The edict, which had been issued called for all peoples in the Empire to give a sacrifice to the gods of Rome and then to offer incense to a likeness of Emperor Decius himself.

When anyone complied with the mandatory act of worship of the gods and the Emperor, an imperial certificate was given to certify that they had obeyed the edict.

When Decius' edict was issued in 250 AD , many Christians found themselves unprepared for situation. Christian had been given a period of little or no persecution for a time and now they found themselves presented with an edict which called for compliance.

The Lapsed

Some Christians were able to obtain counterfeit certificates which passed for those issued by the Imperil government, and others managed to escape or elude the

authorities. Some who were unprepared gave in to the pressure and offered the mandated scarifies.

Other Christians resisted for a time but when arrested and brought before the Roman authorities gave into the pressure and complied. Those who conformed to the edicts' demands and gave in were called the Lapsed by Christians who stayed faithful.

However, there was a large number of Christians who steadfastly remained faithful and refused the edict, some even unto death. They would not deny their Lord Jesus Christ.

There was, during this period, actually only a few Christians killed. Decius wanted to avoid making new martyrs. Rome wanted these Christians to forsake their faith in Jesus and turn to the gods of Rome. Those Christians who renounced their faith in Jesus were of more use to Decius then those who shed their blood or gave their lives for Jesus.

Oregin, one of the leaders of the Church during this persecution was arrested and subjected to torture. This persecution was not as others in the past which occurred sporadically but this was coordinated and orchestrated by the government.

The Confessors

Those who held firm to their faith in Jesus and confessed him even under great stress became known in the Church of that time, as the Confessors. These confessors held firm under great and cruel torture, yet they did not suffer martyrdom but rather lived through the persecution.

The Confessors became an honored group who inspired the Church to hold fast to the faith those who did not were viewed Lapsed and apostates.

Comes to an End

This time of testing of the Church came to an end when Decius died. Then in 251 AD Gallus who was an associate of Decius came to the throne and began the persecution again until he was taken prisoner of the Persian Empire bringing about a period of relative peace in the Church for time.

With the end of the persecution, which in the scope of time was relatively short, yet severe, created a condition and situation within the Church which needed to be addressed.

The Lapsed, those who followed the edict of Decius and offered the prescribed sacrifice to the Roman gods and burned incenses to the Emperor's likeness , now wanted readmission back into the fellowship of the Church.

This question demanded a resolution. There were many factors which had to be considered, not all who were Lapsed had weakened to the same degree. Some of the Lapsed had given into some demands of the edict while refusing other portions of it. Others weakened momentarily and regained their strength and suffered.

Also, questions arose concerning those Christians who had obtained forged certificates of compliance and who avoided all pressure from the state; should they be allowed to continue in fellowship?

These challenging questions and others caused the debate which seemed beyond the means of the Church leadership to resolve adequately. Some felt that the Lapsed should be refused readmission to the Church fellowship again. Others believed that readmission should be conditional. Some felt that forgiveness should be extended to the Lapsed and they be given admission to the Church.

Unable to find a course of action that answered the questions it was then suggested that the Confessors be brought into the discussion. It was believed and hoped that the strength manifested by the Confessors and the honored place which they held within the fellowship of the Church would qualify them to speak to this situation.

Many of the Confessors from Northern Africa began to restore many of the Lapsed into fellowship. This readmission of some of the Lapsed caused anger and resentment on the part of some Bishops citing that only the Church leadership held position and the authority to readmit those who had not held faithful.

Others within the Church believed that the Confessors and the Bishops needed to be more ridged toward the Lapsed.

Cyprian and Novation

The issue caused two Bishops to have central roles in the controversy, Cyprian and Novation.

Bishop Cyprian had been converted to Christianity at age forty. Cyprian was a trained orator and debater and had been ordained a Bishop in the city of Carthage shortly before the persecution began.

When the persecution arose Cyprian attempted to find a safe place from which to lead the Church under his care. Some believed that his actions were designed to save himself rather than to be able to lead the congregation in spite of the fact that he had offered his own life up for martyrdom.

Some in the Church were now asserting that the Confessors at Carthage had more authority to speak on behalf of the matter regarding the Lapsed, than Cyprian did.

Many of the Confessors had a very gracious policy toward the Lapsed, they believed that the Lapsed should be readmitted to fellowship with nothing more than a public declaration of repentance.

Some of the Elders in Carthage who wanted more control over the Bishops in the congregations sided with the Confessors which created division within the Church in Carthage.

Council of Carthage

The divide became so tense that Bishop Cyprian called a council to resolve the question and restore unity. The Bishops gathered together and discussed the Lapsed questions and the resulting schism.

The result of the council was, that those who were able to obtain certificates without having offered sacrifices to the Roman gods would be readmitted to the fellowship of the Church. Those who did offer sacrifices to the gods would only be readmitted upon their "death beds" or if another persecution came and they could then demonstrate their faithfulness by remaining faithful through any forthcoming persecution. Those however, who did not repent of sacrificing to the Roman gods would never be readmitted to the fellowship of the Church.

The council's resolution affirmed that it was the Bishops who held the authority with in the Church to make decisions not the Confessors regardless of their place of esteem which they held among the Church. The decision put an end to the controversy but the divide lingered for some time to come.

Novation

Bishop Novation held a more unbending view of the Lapsed which intensified the controversy. Novation had disagreed with Bishop Cornelius at Rome and with the leadership of the Church. Novation's view was that the Lapsed were being allowed back into the Church far too easy.

The disagreement between Bishop Novation and Bishop Cornelius created a rift similar to one from an earlier time in the Church when Hippolytus had a disagreement with Bishop Calixtus.

Hippolytus felt that those persons caught in fornication were being brought back into fellowship far too easily and that they should have been more earnestly proven to be faithful. This disagreement caused a divide in the Church, now once again a difference of opinion brought a clash and division within the Church.

The issue revolving around the Lapsed was one of the main causes of concern for the Western Church which had the effect of causality and produced a system of Church governance that centuries latter would be challenged and sparked the reformation.

To Be Continued......

Benediction: May we each and all ever thank our Lord for those, in all and any ages who hold fast in their faith in our Lord Jesus, today, tomorrow and forevermore. Amen.