09. Chapter 8: The Church Survives and Grows Again, 376-754

CHAPTER 8 The Church Survives and Grows Again, 376-754

1. A Summary of the Growth of the Ancient Church The road of the Church’s history is a long road. It is almost two thousand years long. By now we have traveled quite a distance. We have walked some five hundred years down that road. We started in Jerusalem. The day of Pentecost now lies far behind us. There have been three big turns in that road, The first turn came when the Church, Christ’s army, driven out of its original camp in Jerusalem, marched forth into Judea and Samaria and as far as Antioch in Syria. The second turn came when that army under the leadership of Paul invaded the great gentile world of the Roman Empire. The third turn came when that army, after a bloody war of three hun­dred years, in 313 gained the vic­tory over heathenism in the Edict of Milan.

We have followed the victorious march of Christ’s army from Jeru­salem to Spain in the western part of the Roman Empire, that is, fromthe eastern to the western end of the Mediterranean. We have been in many lands: Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor, Persia, Macedonia, Greece, Italy, Gaul, Egypt, and North Africa. We have been in many cities: Jerusalem, Samaria, Caesarea, Antioch, Smyrna, Ni­caea, Chalcedon, Constantinople, Rome, Milan, Bethlehem, Lyons, Alexandria, Carthage, Tagaste, and Hippo. We have crossed moun­tains, plains, and seas. We have been in the studies of learned scholars, in caves in the desert, in the cells of monks, in dungeons, in amphitheaters with wild beasts, in the catacombs, in gardens, in churches, in imperial palaces, in the houses of bishops. We have witnessed a great variety of scenes. We have become acquainted with many people. (See map p. 52.) 2. Rome Is the Center of a Great Empire The Roman Empire and the Christian Church came into exist­ence at about the same time. Both the Empire and the Church have now existed for about five hundred years. But now the Empire in the West is about to fall, while the Christian Church continues. But the fall of the Empire in the West will have a profound effect upon the whole history of the Church from this time on. It will mark an­other important turn in the road of the Church’s history. Before we go down that new turn in the road, let us take a look at the Roman Empire as it existed at this time. The city of Rome had extended its power over Italy, Sicily, North Africa, and Spain. Then its legions turned east and conquered many of the territories of Greece, Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt. Later Rome conquered Gaul (now France), what is now Belgium and the Netherlands, and Britain. Thus the Roman Empire was bounded by the Sahara Desert on the south, by the Atlantic Ocean on the west; by the Rhine and Danube rivers on the north, and by the Euphrates River on the east. (See maps pp. 42, 52.) From the western waters of the Atlantic and the southern sands of the Sahara, Rome had nothing to fear. East of the Euphrates were the Parthians and the Persians. They often threatened the Roman Empire, but the Romans were al­ways able to hold these enemies in check. Along the northern fron­tier, however, it was a different story.

3. German Tribes Invade the Em­pire

East of the Rhine and north of the Danube were German tribes. Behind the German tribes were the Mongolian Huns. The Huns crowd­ed the German tribes. The Ger­mans were barbarians but the Huns were worse. They were fierce horsemen, hideous to look upon. In mortal dread of the Huns, a Ger­man tribe, the Visigoths (West Goths) in 376 crossed the lower Danube. It was the first tribe of barbarians to enter the Empire. Soon they were joined by the Ostrogoths (East Goths). The Ro­man emperor Valens, in the year 378, gave them battle near the city of Adrianople. The Roman army was annihilated, and Valens was killed. His successor was Theo­dosius. (This is the emperor who in Milan submitted to the discipline of the Church at the hands of Bishop Ambrose, and who was the last to rule over the whole of the Roman Empire.) An able states­man and general, he subdued the Goths. Thereafter the barbarians left the eastern part of the Empire alone. It continued to exist as the Eastern or Byzantine Empire throughout the entire Middle Ages up to the year 1453, when Con­stantinople was captured by the Turks. The Turks have held that city down to the present day.

Having failed in the East, the Goths, together with other German tribes, attacked the western part of the Roman Empire. The Empire was decaying, but it was large and still had some strength left. It took the barbarians one hundred years, from the crossing of the Danube by the Visigoths in 376 to the fall of Rome in 476, to conquer the western part of the Empire.

These last hundred years of the Empire in the West were a time of great suffering and disaster. It was in those dark days that Am­brose, Jerome, and Augustine lived.

Hosts of barbarians slashed their way through the Empire, leaving a gory trail wherever they went. Matrons, virgins, bishops, and priests were insulted and slain. Churches were destroyed and horses stabled at their altars. The relics of martyrs were dug up. Monasteries were laid waste. Rivers were dyed red with blood. Crowds of men and women were dragged away into captivity. The Roman world was rushing to ruin.

4. The Empire Falls but the Church Survives In 410 Rome was laid waste by the Goths under Alaric. The bar­barians broke into the city by night. The inhabitants were awak­ened by the tremendous sound of the Gothic trumpet. For six days and nights the barbarians trooped through the city. Soon the streets were wet with blood. At night the flames of the burning buildings cast upon the sky a reflection of lurid red. The palace of the em­perors and the residences of the wealthy citizens were stripped of their costly furniture, their pre­cious plate and jewels, their silken and velvet hangings, and their beautiful objects of art. The city which had plundered the world was now itself plundered. When at last the army of the Goths withdrew, there followed in its train thou­sands of oxcarts groaning under the weight of the spoils. The awful calamity that had be­fallen the "Mistress of the World" shocked pagans and Christians alike. Jerome was sitting in his cave in Bethlehem, writing his Commentary on the Prophecies of Ezekiel, when he heard the news.

He was paralyzed with horror. He could hardly recall his own name for thinking of the frightful scenes which were enacted in the sack of the "Eternal City." To Principia he wrote: "My voice is choked, and sobs interrupt my words as I dic­tate. The city is taken, which took the whole world. It perished by famine before it fell by the sword. The rage of the famished broke into infamous feeding. Men tore each other’s limbs. Mothers did not spare their suckling children."

Jerome was overwhelmed with anguish and consternation. He be­lieved that the antichrist was at hand. He said: "The world is rush­ing to ruin. The glorious city, the capital of the Roman Empire, has been swallowed up in one confla­gration. Churches once hallowed have sunk into ashes. Virgins of God have been seized, maltreated, and murdered." He was so struck with horror that he could scarcely pick up courage to work. In his in­troduction to his commentary on Ezekiel he wrote: "Who could have believed it that Rome, founded on triumphs over the whole world, could fall to ruin; and that she, the mother of nations, should also be their grave ? Rome, once the capi­tal of the world, has become the sepulcher of the Roman people. Who could have believed it that into the holy city of Bethlehem illustrious and noble men and women, who once lived in lordli­ness and abundance, would stream as beggars !" He could do nothing to help them. He could only mingle his tears with theirs. The pagans who still remained in the Roman Empire believed that the ancient gods had made Rome great. They blamed the Christians, who had forsaken those gods, for the calamities that had befallen Rome. In answer Augustine, amid the tremors and rumblings of the stricken Empire, wrote The City of God, his greatest book, and Chris­tianity’s most brilliant apology.

Eventually the barbarians con­quered every province of the west­ern part of the Empire: Italy, North Africa, Spain, Gaul includ­ing the Netherlands, and Britain. (See map below.) The Empire fell, but the Church survived. When the smoke and dust cleared away there stood intact among the blackened ruins of the Empire the Church, ready to bless and educate the barbarians who had caused this ruin.

5. The Distribution of Peoples after the Barbarian Conquests With their invasion of the west­ern part of the Roman Empire and their conquest of Rome in 476, the barbarians brought Ancient His­tory to an end and ushered in the Middle Ages, which were to con­tinue for almost a thousand years until the fall of Constantinople in 1453. For the understanding of the history of the Church which now follows it is necessary to know what peoples lived in each of the countries at this time.

LOCATION OF TRIBES AFTER THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS
Adapted from The Church Through the Ages,
Courtesy Concordia Publishing House

Let us begin with the eastern part of the Empire. It was this part of the Roman Empire that was not conquered and occupied by the barbarians. It embraced the Balkan Peninsula, Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt. It is known as the Eastern or Byzantine Empire. Its capital was Constan­tinople. In this Eastern Empire there were still some pagans. But the emperors and the great ma­jority of its citizens were Chris­tians in name, at least. They were also highly advanced in the arts and in human thought. The Greeks, when they were still heathen, had written many wonderful books. After they became Christians they wrote other great books. All these treasures of civilization were throughout the Middle Ages pre­served in the Eastern Empire, and especially in Constantinople.

Now let us take a look at the population in the various provinces of what until recently had been the western part of the Roman Em­pire.

First of all there was Italy. Orig­inally Italy had been inhabited by a great many different tribes. After Rome conquered all of Italy its inhabitants were Romanized. They learned to speak Latin, the language of the Romans. In Italy also the great majority of people confessed the Christian religion. After the invasion by the bar­barians, the Ostrogoths settled in Italy among the native popula­tion. The Goths, both the Ostro­goths and the Visigoths, had been converted to Christianity before they invaded the Empire. This had come about through the preaching and teaching of Ulfilas, a bishop who also translated a large part of the Bible into Gothic. The southern part of Gaul (France) and the northern half of Spain were occupied by the Visi­goths. Like their kinsmen, the Os­trogoths in Italy, they had ac­cepted Christianity.

There were besides the Goths many other German tribes who had a part in the invasion. The Bur­gundians settled down in eastern Gaul. They were Christians. The Vandals who conquered southern Spain and North Africa also were Christians. However, the Goths, the Burgundians, and the Vandals were Arian Christians. In Northern Gaul, in what is now Belgium and the Netherlands, and in Britain the situation was different. The Franks who took northern Gaul, Belgium, and the southern Netherlands; the Frisians who lived in the northwestern part of the Netherlands; the Saxons who settled in the eastern part of the Netherlands; and the Anglo-Saxons who conquered Britain, were all still heathen.

Then there were the people who lived in countries which never had been part of the Roman Empire: the Celts in Ireland; the Scandi­navians in what is now Denmark, Norway, and Sweden; the many German tribes east of the Rhine; and beyond them still farther east the tribes in what is now Russia. All these teeming millions scat­tered over all these vast territories were heathen.

6. The Church Faces a Twofold Task The Church at the beginning of the Middle Ages differed greatly from what it had been at the be­ginning of its existence. The con­ditions which the Church had now to face were also vastly different from those which it had encoun­tered in its early years. At its beginning the Church was very small and weak, but the peo­ple to whom Paul and the other missionaries brought the Gospel were civilized. Those people lived in the Roman Empire. The Roman government maintained peace and order throughout the Empire, and that Empire was covered with a network of excellent roads for travel. At this later period the Church, although in many ways seriously deteriorated, was large, strongly organized under its bishops, and in possession of a well-worked-out body of doctrines. But the Church now lacked the protection of the one Roman government. In its place had been set up a number of barbarian kingdoms. Some of these kingdoms, like that of the Franks in Gaul and those of the Anglo-Saxons in Britain, were heathen. The tribes living outside the for­mer territories of the Empire were also heathen, and the country in which they lived was wild, unculti­vated, and without roads. Besides, all these nations and tribes were barbarous, ignorant, uneducated, and uncultured. The Church once more, as in its beginning, faced a heathen world. However, there was a difference. The heathen to whom it now had to bring the Gospel were not civi­lized, but barbarous. And so the Church, standing at the beginning of the Middle Ages, saw set before it a twofold task: that of Chris­tianizing and that of educating the new nations. The accomplishing of this task, however imperfectly, within the next thousand years was a remark­able achievement on the part of the Church. In the five hundred years following the invasion of the Ro­man Empire by the barbarians, that is, by the year 1000, all the new nations of Europe had been Christianized. By the end of the next five hundred years, that is, by the year 1500, the new nations of western Europe had become edu­cated, and had fully developed the wonderful medieval civilization.

7. The Ancient Civilization Is Pre­served and Transmitted The barbarians were ignorant but not stupid. Stupidity is incur­able; ignorance can be cured by education. But the barbarians were not totally ignorant. In fact, they knew many things. They had a religion and a mythology — stories and ideas about their imaginary gods. They had laws and a system of government. They knew how to make a living. They knew how to raise and prepare food and make drinks. They had horses and cattle. They knew how to make clothing, wagons, and weapons. They knew how to make war well enough to defeat the Romans. They knew how to make songs and stories. But they did not know how to read or write. Their ignorance was ig­norance of books. When the barbarians invaded the Empire they did not destroy everything. They destroyed many but not all the books. Thousands upon thousands of the inhabitants of the Empire were killed, but many more were not. Among those who were not killed were a good many educated people. Some of the learned men who survived the in­vasion of the barbarians wrote books in which they handed on to the Middle Ages much of the learn­ing of the ancient world. And this is where the monks played an important part. Many of them were educated and could read and write. There were no printed books at this time; all books were written by hand. These manuscripts, or hand-written cop­ies, would wear out, and the only way to replace them was to make copies of them. That is what the monks did as they sat in their cells. By doing this they rendered an invaluable service to civilization.

During the first three hundred years after the invasion very few barbarians took an interest in books. These were the Dark Ages. But the monks, by their patient drudgery and persistent industry in copying manuscripts, main­tained a supply of books. In this way they provided the means for the education of the new nations at a time when they would be ready for it.

8. The Franks Are Converted The Franks, under the leader­ship of their king, Clovis, gradually extended their rule over all Gaul. From that time on Gaul was called France. The Franks were the first Germanic tribe to adopt Christian­ity after the invasion. The story told about the conversion of Clovis is very similar to the story told about the conversion of Emperor Constantine. In the heat of a des­perate battle Clovis saw the sign of the cross in the sky. He vowed that he would become a Christian if he won the battle. After the vic­tory was gained he was baptized, together with three thousand of his warriors, on Christmas day of the year 496, in the city of Rheims.

Heretofore people had accepted Christianity individually. From this time on whole tribes became Christians when their king be­came a Christian.

Whereas the other German tribes who had accepted Christianity were Arians, the Franks adopted the orthodox Christianity of the Nicene Creed. From the start, therefore, they were in agreement with the Catholic Church, which had prevailed in the Empire, while the other converted German tribes were heretics.

THE BAPTISM OF CLOVIS
The baptism of Clovis in Rheims in 496.
Painting by François-Louis Dejuinne . The conversion of the Franks to orthodox Christianity was an event of the greatest importance. It was to have tremendous consequences for the future history of the Church. But at the time no one realized how important this event really was. More than two hundred years were to pass by before the consequences would unfold.

9. Ireland, Scotland, and England Are Christianized

Before the fall of the Empire in the West, Christianity was intro­duced into Britain by Christian Roman soldiers. In the last years of the Empire in the West, a British monk, St. Patrick, became "the Apostle of Ireland." By the time of his death in 461 the Church was firmly established in that country. The Irish monasteries be­came famous centers of learning; but they owed their greatest fame to their missionary activities.

INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY INTO BRITAIN DURING THE ROMAN PERIOD
Schoenfeld Collection from Three Lions

About a hundred years after the death of St. Patrick, an Irish monk by the name of Columba founded a monastery on the island of Iona. From there he set out with a num­ber of companions to do missionary work in Scotland. His labors were blessed, and the Church was planted in Scotland. Other Irish monks brought the Gospel to the Germans east of the Rhine.

One year before the death of Columba in 597, Pope Gregory the Great sent the monk Augustine with forty other monks to Eng­land, which in Roman times had been known as Britain. Since the conquest of Britain by the Angles and Saxons it had become known as Angleland or England. The Angles and Saxons were fierce heathen. When they conquered Britain in the fifth century they erased every trace of Christianity in the island, and made of it a heathen country again.

Now more than one hundred years later Pope Gregory’s attention, as he walked through the slave-market in Rome, had been attracted to some fair haired, blue-eyed youths. On being told that they were Angles he said: "Not Angles, but Angels." It was then that he decided to send mission­aries to England to regain that country for Christ. It took more than a hundred years to re-estab­lish Christianity in England and drive out heathenism.

EUROPE IS CHRISTIANIZED 10. Germany and the Netherlands Are Evangelized

After they were converted, the English became great missionaries. They labored among the heathen in the northern part of the Euro­pean continent. The greatest of these missionaries was Boniface. He first preached to the Frisians, but without success. Then he crossed the Rhine into Germany, and there he won many converts. One of the greatest gods of the German heathen was Thor. Boni-face cut down a big oak which was believed to be sacred to that god. The heathen looked on with awe, expecting that Thor, the god of thunder, would strike him down with lightning. When nothing hap­pened to him the heathen gave up their belief in Thor, and accepted Christianity. Of the wood of the oak the missionary built a chapel.

BONIFACE CUTS DOWN THE OAK BELIEVED TO BE SACRED TO THE HEATHEN GOD THOR To this day Boniface is known as "the Apostle of Germany."

Later Boniface returned to his first field of labor among the Frisians. He was already seventy-three years old at that time. He made some converts, and was just lifting his hands in blessing over the heads of the newly baptized when he and fifty-three of his com­panions were knocked down and murdered by the clubs of the Frisians, near what is now the little city of Dokkum. That was in the year 754.

Another English monk who la­bored in the Netherlands, from 690 to 739, was Willibrord. The Saint Willibrord Well in the prov­ince of North Holland near Heilo is a memorial to him. His labors resulted in the establishment of the Archbishopric of Utrecht. That city is even now the head­quarters of the Roman Catholic Church in the Netherlands. By the year 1000 the Chris­tianization of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Russia had also made good progress.

Thus we see that within the five hundred years immediately follow­ing the fall of the Empire in the West, the Church did grow again marvelously. (See map above.) 11. A Summary of the Conquests of the Church The Church within five hundred years from its birth conquered the highly civilized heathenism of the Roman Empire. In the course of the next five hundred years, after the fall of the Empire in the West, it conquered the barbarous hea­thenism of northern Europe.

While engaged in this strenuous, large-scale gospel campaign with its many fierce battles, the Church itself underwent certain great changes, as we shall learn in the following chapters.

12. Pope Gregory the Great Sym­bolizes the Medieval Church The most important pope in the days when the new barbarian king­doms were being built up on the ruins of the Empire in the West was Gregory the Great. He was the first monk to become pope, and ruled from 590 to 604. He called himself "the servant of the serv­ants of God," a title used by popes down to the present day. He had more power in Italy than had the emperors, although legally and in theory Italy still belonged to the Eastern Empire. Now the strongest man in Italy, Gregory was able to keep the Lombards, who had con­quered northern Italy, at bay.

He strongly upheld the claim of the bishops of Rome to power over the entire Church as succes­sors of the apostle Peter. It was Pope Gregory whose work in be­half of missions, as we saw just a while back, had such far-reaching results. To him has been ascribed the style of church music known as the Gregorian chant.

Gregory taught (1) that the Lord’s Supper is a repetition of the sacrifice of Christ, (2) that the saints can be of help to us, and (3) that there is a purgatory. The saints referred to here were men and women who were considered to have been persons of extraordi­nary piety during their life on earth, and who after their death were declared officially by the Church to be saints.

Pope Gregory the Great stood for all the things which form the most distinctive traits of the Church of the Middle Ages.