The History of Early Christianity

Formation of Doctrine in the Early Christian Church

Christianity was an extremely dynamic religion during its early days of existence. "In a dramatic turn of events, Christianity had gone from being persecuted to the favored religion of the Empire" (Vidmar 27). One of the earliest controversies was that of Donatism, or the question of how to act towards those who had lapsed in their faith during the persecution of the Emperor Diocletian (Vidmar 28). This controversy was relatively swiftly resolved, with the penance depending on the nature of the believer's apostasy -- penance was greater for those who had sacrificed to pagan gods versus those who had merely offered incense or who had professed to be pagan in name only (Vidmar 28).

A more serious issue which emerged was Gnosticism, a radical, new interpretation of Christianity. Gnosticism viewed the physical world as essentially evil and stressed the need for the believer to enter into a wholly spiritual union with God (Vidmar 31). Orthodox Christianity was based upon the physical nature of Christ's sacrifice and the fact Christ was God and man simultaneously and always. The Gnostic perspective denied this with its emphasis on spiritualism and mystical union to the exclusion of the physical world. Another controversy which developed during this era was Arianism, which stressed the oneness of God the Father. This belief in oneness meant that Arians denied the concept of the Trinity, viewing Christ and the Holy Spirit as of a separate substance from the Father (Vidmar 56). This is why one of the most critical milestones in the evolution of the early Church occurred at the Council of Nicaea, at which what became to be known as the Nicaean Creed was developed. The Creed insisted upon the literal resurrection of Christ, and the fact that Christ came to earth and was part of the same substance as the Father.

The Council of Nicaea, however, did not fully settle the controversies raging within the developing Christian faith. At the Council of Ephesus, another issue was debated, namely whether Mary was the mother of Christ. "Nestorius said that Christ had two 'personalities' or was two distinct persons -- that he was God and had always been God, but that for a time he put aside his divinity and became man. After the resurrection he reverted to being God and ceased being man" and thus Mary was the mother of Christ, not of God (Vidmar 61). However, at Ephesus, once again the fact that Christ was both God and man and the existence of the Trinity was again reaffirmed.

The Church was thus a very dynamic entity during this era and even many of the early Church fathers were involved in some of the heresies. Augustine, for example, was a Manichaean (a form of Gnosticism or dualism) when he was young, although he later came to repudiate these ideas (Vidmar 64). Of course, the idea of a Church father being in error during his early years before finding redemption is far from without precedent. Paul was originally Saul, a persecutor of Jesus, before Paul became the apostle to the gentiles and wrote the epistles that were later canonized along with the Gospels into scripture.

One of Augustine's most notable concepts as a theologian is his belief in Original Sin, or the idea that all humanity is innately sinful due to the fall of Adam. Original Sin is why Christ's sacrifice was so necessary for humanity's redemption (Vidmar 71). Augustine also embraced a highly deterministic philosophy which stressed the need for divine grace to lead the believer to Christ. This was based upon Augustine's own, personal redemptive experience during which he was told by a small child to pick up a nearby Bible and to read from scripture. Because of humanity's innately sinful nature, without grace no human being could be redeemed by his own free will alone (Vidmar 64). Once again, the vehemence of Augustine's writings can be partially traced to a controversy within the Church at the time known as Pelagianism, which stressed that free will was enough for human beings to lead a life without sin.