A manual of church history

Front matter

-tk

TO

President White Library,

Preface

This work is the product of over twenty years of almost continuous application on tlie autiior's part to tlie study and teacliing of cliurcfi tiistory. It hias been hiis constant endeavor in every part of ttie volume to incorporate the best results of recent research, and to furnish to his readers information at once trustworthy, impartial, and fairly adequate on every topic discussed.

While the work has grown out of the author's own needs and experiences as a teacher, and is primarily intended as a text-book for theological seminaries and universities, he believes that it is equally adapted to the requirements of ministers of the gospel and of intelligent laymen throughout our great Baptist constituency. As he has conscientiously striven to record the facts as he has found them, without distorting them in the slightest degree in favor of any particular view of history, or any peculiar tenets of his denomination, he sees no reason why the work should not be acceptable and useful to members of other denominations as well as to those of his own. The recognition given to the author's fair-mindedness and freedom from partisanship by leading scholars of other denominations who have reviewed his earlier works induces the hope that this also will find a large number of sympathetic readers in the various bodies of evangelical Christians.

It has long been the conviction of the author that a place should be given to church history in the curricula of all colleges and universities. A number of leading American universities have followed those of England and Germany in giving to the history of the Christian religion a place side by side with Greek and Roman history and philosophy, mediaeval and modern politic-ar history, constitutional history, the philosophy of history, the history of philosophy, comparative religion, sociology, etc., as vui PREFACE

fundamental to the effective study of humanity. If, as is unquestionably true, Christianity has been a chief factor in the production of all that is best in modern civilization, its history should be relegated to no subordinate place among the instruments of general culture. It is little creditable to the Christian colleges and universities of the United States that this important department of study has been to so large an extent neglected.

A text-book on this subject, scientifically prepared and free from partisanship, should encourage professors of history to include the history of Christianity in the courses they offer, and it is the author's earnest desire that this work may contribute in some small measure to the more extended study and the better understanding of the greatest movement in human history.

The bibliographies interspersed through the volume, and which it is believed will add greatly to its \alue, are meant to be neither absolutely inclusive nor absolutely exclusi% e of the literature actually used in its preparation.

To Re\ . Joseph Leeming Gilmour, B. D., of Hamilton Ont., one of the most scholarl}' of our younger ministers, the author is indebted for valuable assistance in the preparation of the Index.

The second volume, completing the work, is in course of preparation and will be published, it is hoped, before the close of next year.

A. H. N.

McMaster USilVERSrTy.

Toronto, Canada, October, 1899.

Table Of Contents

PAGE

INTRODUCTION.— Observations on the Study OF Church History, and Preparation for Christ and Christianity 1-64

Chapter l.— Preliminary Observations on the Study of Church history 3-19

chapter 1.— Church and State 305-319 Constantine and his Successors 305

The State Church 311

CHAPTER II.— Controversies in the Church . . 320-392 On Ecclesiastical Polity — the Donatist Controversy 320

On the Relations of the Godhead — the Arian Controversy 323

The Origenistic Controversies 332

On Christology— the Nestorian, Eutychian, Mo-

nothelite, and Adoptionist Controversies • • ■ 33; On Anthropology— The Pelagian and Semi-Pelagian Controversies 358

Xll CONTENTS

Controversies Occasioned by Protests Against the Progressive Paganizatlon of Christian Life as seen in Asceticism, the Veneration of Saints and Relics, etc. — the Aerian, Jovinianist, Vigilantian, Paulician, and Iconoclastic Controversies . 371

Chapter ill.— The Rise and Growth of the Papal

Preliminary Observations 393

Leo the Great and the Papacy 397

The Pontificate of Gelasius 400

The Pontificate of Symmachus 401

Hormisdas 402

Justinian and the Papacy 402

The Merovingian Kingdom and the Church . . . 404

The Pontificate of Gregory the Great 405

The Carlovingian Kingdom and the Papacy . . . 406 The Christianity of Britain in Relation to the

Papacy 409

The Advancement of Papal Dominion through Missionary Endeavor: Augustine, Willibrord,

and Boniface 415

Chapter IV.— The Christian World at the Close

OF the period 423-434

The East and the West 423

Literature and Learning 428

Church Discipline 429

Mohammedanism as a Rival of Christianity ... 431

PERIOD IV.— From the Coronation of Charlemagne AS Roman Emperor to the Outbreak OF the Protestant Revolution (a. d. 800- 1517) 435-621

Chapter l— Some Aspects of Medieval Civilization 437-494

Preliminary Observations 437

The Holy Roman Empire 43g

Feudalism 445

Canon Law and Forged Decretals 447

CONTENTS xiii

The Roman Curia 449

MediEeval Monasticism 451

The Crusades 456

The Inquisition 463

Mediseval Universities 469

Mediaeval Theology — Scholasticism, Mysticism . 474

The Renaissance 490

CHAPTER 11. — THE PAPACY DURING THE MIDDLE

The Popes from A. D. 800-1044 495

The Hildebrandine Scheme of Reform 502

The Controversy on Investiture and the Concordat of Worms (1122) 509

The Hohenstaufen Emperors and the Popes ... 511 Decline of the Papal Power: Boniface Vlll., Papal Captivity, Papal Schism, Reforming Councils 518

The Popes of the Renaissance 535

CHAPTER III— REACTIONARY AND REFORMING PAR- TIES 541-621 Preliminary Observations 541

Dualistic Dissent : Bogomiles, Cathari 543

Chiliastic and Enthusiastic Sects : Joachim of

Floris and the Joachimites, Spirituales .... 551 Pantheistic Heresy: Amalric of Bena, Beghards

and Beguines, Brethren of the Free Spirit . . . 555 Evangelical Separatism : Petrobrusians and Henricians, Arnold of Brescia, Humiliati, Tanchelm, Eudo, Waldenses, Taborites, Marsilius of Padua, Peter Chelcicky, Lollards, Bohemian

Brethren 557

Evangelical Churchly Reformers : Wyclifl'e, Huss, Brethren of the Common Life, " Reformers before the Reformation " 600

Introduction

OBSERVATIONS ON THE STUDY OF CHURCH

HISTORY, AND PREPARATION FOR

CHRIST AND CHRISTIANITY

INTRODUCTION

Chapter I Preliminary Observations On The Study Of Church History

LITERATURE: Sections on Church History in the Theological Encyclopedias of Rabiger (English translation), Hagenbach (English'translation, with additions by Crooks and Hurst), Zockler s " Handbuch der Theol. IVissenschaften" Cave's "Introduction to the Study of Theology," Drummond's " The Study of Theology," and Schaff's " Propaedeutics"; Introductions to the Church Histories of Schaff, Gieseler, Hurst, Moeller, Niedner, Kurtz, Dbllinger, Alzog, Hergenrother, Funk, and Kraus ; Fisher, J. A., " Bibliography of Church History," i88; ; Dowling, " Introduction to the Critical Study of Ecclesiastical History," 1838 ; Smyth, E. C, " Value of the Study of Church History in Ministerial Education," 1874; Smith, H. B., " Nature and Worth of the Science of Church History " (in " Faith and Philosophy," 1877) ; De Witt, " Church History as a Science, as a Theological Discipline, and as a Mode of the Gospel " (in " Bibliotheca Sacra," 1883) ; McGiffert, " The Historical Study of Christianity" (in " Bibliotheca Sacra," 1893) ; Stanley, " Lectures on the Study of Ecclesiastical History " (in ''History of the Eastern Church," 1872, Introduction) ; Bright, "The Study of Church History" (in " Waymarks of Church History," 1894).

I. DEFINITION AND SCOPE OF CHURCH HISTORY.

History in its broadest sense is the setting fortli in literary or oral form of tiie development in time of tlie divine plan of the universe, in so far as this development has become an object of human knowledge. This definition involves a recognition of the fact that the universe was planned and created and has been continuously sustained and ordered by an infinite God. Human history would include a narration of all that is known of the origin of mankind and of the development of human nature in all its aspects and under all circum-

Stances. Sacred history is the setting forth of the known facts of man's development as it has been affected by the providential, inspiring, and self-revealing presence of God.

Church history is the narration of all that is known of the founding and the development of the kingdom of Christ on earth. The term church history is commonly used to designate not merely the record of the organized Christian life of our era, but also the record of the career of the Christian religion itself. It includes within its sphere the indirect influences that Christianity has exerted on social, ethical, aesthetic, legal, economic, and political life and thought throughout the world, no less than its direct religious influences.

The history of Christianity has much in common with the history of other systems of religion, and much that is peculiar. Religion is a universal factor in human life. The religious life of every organized people has a history of its own. Each of the great world-religions has had its origin, its growth, its influence on the social, ethical, and political life of the peoples that have professed it, has undergone changes by virtue of the influence of the other elements of life and thought by which it has been surrounded, has been modified by contact with other systems of religion and philosophy, has developed forms of worship, sacred rites, sacred books, sacred persons and classes, sacred places, methods of propagating itself, and theories of the origin and development of the race and of the goal of human history. The religion of Jesus Christ entered upon its career amid Jewish surroundings. Jesus himself as a man was consciously a member of the Jewish community. His early disciples were all thoroughly imbued with the principles of Judaism. By special divine grace a select few were marvelously preserved from the contamination of error. But as Christianity made its way throughout the Jewish and pagan world it was inevitable that it should be profoundly influenced by the current modes of thought and life and that its polity, doctrines, ordinances, worship, ethical conceptions, and ideals of life, should be assimilated in some measure to those of the world in which it had its being. It may be said in general, that just

Chap. I.] Preliminary Observations 5

in proportion as the Christianity of any age and land has submitted to the worldly influences that have been brought to bear upon it has its development approximated that of heathen religions.

In the above definition of church history it is presupposed that the human race is in an abnormal state, alienated from God, and that the end of Christianity is the restoration of man to a condition of obedience to God and communion with him. The history of the church should show, therefore, the progressive accomplishment of this divine purpose through the centuries, taking full account of the obstacles that have presented themselves to the triumph of Christianity and the means by which they have been surmounted.

II. HISTORIOGRAPHY, OBJECTIVE AND SUBJECTIVE.

As the aim of the church historian should be to ascertain and to represent the exact facts in their relations to each other and to the times and circumstances concerned in each case, it is manifestly desirable that in the process of investigation he should deal as impartially with his materials as does the chemist with his specimens. The end and aim of all his research should be the accurate ascertainment of facts in order that truth may emerge. It is incumbent on him to guard scrupulously against allowing his judgment to be swayed by the supposed bearing of the facts on the traditions of his denomination or his own individual opinions.

On the other hand, it is neither practicable nor desirable that the church historian should be indifferent to the subject-matter of his science or that he should be so destitute of convictions as to form no moral judgments on the opinions and acts of parties and individuals whose history he studies and seeks to expound. As a matter of fact, the great mass of those who are in a position to devote their lives to research in church history have been so conditioned by reason of their known convictions and ideals. It is not the scholar who is without personal interest in Christianity and who studies its history in a purely scientific spirit, that is likely to enter into the fullest appreciation of the facts of church history ; but the scholar who is most profoundly imbued with the spirit of Christianity, rejoices in all that is Christlike and heroic, laments the corruptions and perversions of the past, and is most deeply concerned for the honor and purity of the Christianity of the present and the future. Christ is the truth. The church historian must be above all things truthful and truth-loving. That any one who claims to be a follower of Christ should seek to advance the cause of Christ by the suppression of facts or by the suggestion of falsehood is so anomalous as to be incredible were not undoubted instances, ancient and modern, so numerous. The truth-loving church historian will seek to be as scrupulously just to individuals and parties from whom he fundamentally differs as to those with whom he fundamentally agrees. He will be as reluctant to credit disparaging statements against the former, when insufficiently supported by evidence, as to discredit such statements against the latter without adequate reason. The prevalent practice in the past has been to credit every statement that bears against one's opponents and to discredit every statement unfavorable to one's friends. The following points of view may be here discriminated :

I. The Romanist, maintaining that all authority, that of the Scriptures included, inheres in the church ; that the church has the right to legislate independently of Scripture ; that as vicar of Christ on eartfi the pope possesses of right universal dominion, spiritual and secular, will of necessity study and write church history from a hierarchical point of view. Convinced that "the greater glory of God" is involved in the realization of the aims of the hierarchy, he will regard everything as praiseworthy and justifiable that has ministered to the upbuilding of hierarchical power and that the church has approved, and everything as heretical and worthy of reprobation that has opposed the development of the hierarchical scheme. It is evident that the Romanist, as such, is disqualified from treating objectively the facts of church history. He is not even able to view the facts subjectively as conforming or not conforming to the standard set up by his own personal moral judgment. The standard is an objective one, fixed by church authority.

CHAP. 1.] PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS 7

2. The Anglo-Catholic, accepting as supreme the authority of the ancient undivided church as represented by the Fathers of the first six centuries or more specifically by the canons of the first four General Councils, and laying the utmost stress on apostolic succession, church perpetuity, and catholicity, as marks of the church, will inevitably write church history with a view to establishing the identity of his own church with the church of the Fathers, and the historical derivation of its episcopate from that of the early church, and so from the apostles. It were not to be expected that he would deal sympathetically or fairly with Christian individuals or parties who do not bear his " marks " of churchmanship.

3. The advocates of ecclesiastical development, holding that Christ and his apostles did not design to prescribe or exemplify a definite form of church organization that should be perpetually binding, but that the Christian life which embodied itself in a particular form of organization suggested by and adapted to the needs and circumstances of the apostolic time may assume a thousand other forms, under as many varying circumstances, will attach comparatively little importance to changes in ecclesiastical order and in doctrine from age to age. He will show, e. g., by reference to the circumstances and needs of the times, how and why the simple congregational order of the primitive churches gave way first to presbyterial government, then to simple episcopal, then to prelatical, and at last to papal. He will regard each stage as the natural, if not necessary, outgrowth of antecedents and environments, and while he will not hesitate to condemn corrupt practices, he will be slow to condemn any ecclesiastical institution as such. Freed from the necessity of defending any particular form of Christianity as exclusively valid, he will be in a position to treat sympathetically, with reference to the circumstances of their times, even the most corrupted and distorted forms of Christianity, and especially will he be interested in all efforts, however misguided, to bring about reforms. Such is the position of the great mass of modern German students of church history, and it is among these that we find the closest approximation to true objectivity of treatment combined with deep interest in every form of Christian life, organization, and doctrine. English! Broad Churchmen occupy essentially the same position, but have not busied themselves largely with church history.

4. He that sees in the precepts and example of Christ and his apostles, as embodied in the New Testament Scriptures, an authoritative standard for all times and all circumstances, will look upon any deviation from this standard as obnoxious to the spirit of Christianity. While admitting that apostolic church order is given only in outline, and that much has been left open and free for determination from time to time by the wisdom of bodies of believers organized in the apostolic way, practising apostolic ordinances, and subject continually to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, he will refuse to give his approval to any violation of what he regards as the fundamental principles embodied in the apostolic norm. Yet in view of the speedy and almost complete departure of the post-apostolic churches from the apostolic church order, and of the fact that thenceforward to the present time so large a part of the Christian work that has transformed the world has been accomplished by churches and individuals whose church order, doctrines, and manner of life have fallen indefinitely short of the apostolic requirement, he will judge as charitably as possible those who do not appear to have been willful perverters, but who may be supposed to have been led astray by early training or the force of circumstances, and will rejoice in all that is Christlike and noble in life, in thought, and in deed. While he will be ever alert to discover the existence and to trace the history of individuals and parties that in times of general apostasy have earnestly attempted to restore the apostolic form of Christian teaching and practice, he will guard scrupulously against perverting the facts in this interest; and while he may strongly suspect that if the facts were all known, apostolically organized churches and apostolic types of teaching and life would cut a far larger figure in certain periods than appears from materials at present available, he will be content to state precisely what he finds authentically recorded, and to give his reasons for thinking that the facts may have been more favorable than the extant

CHAP. I.] PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS 9

documents reveal. The church historian who feels bound in his own life, doctrine, and practice by the apostolic norm should be the most truth-loving, the most charitable, the most fair-minded, the most unpartisan of all. He should be able to exemplif\' the \ery best sort of objecti\ ity in his investigation and exposition of the facts of church history. Knowing that truth is might\- and must ultimately pre\'ail, he will believe that a statement of the exact facts in each case will better subserve the cause of truth than an\' partial or distorted narrative could possibly do.

III. SOURCES OF CHURCH HISTORY.

These embrace all the contemporary information on Christian life, thought, organization, and achievement in each age and country, extant in written or other form. The following specifications may be made :

I. Co!:tcn:p:''r.in' Christi.m literature of retry kitiJ. I i) Edificatory writings show the ideals of Christian life that prevailed, tiie e\"ils that had to be guarded against, the methods of using and interpreting the Scriptures, and the current types of teaching. (2) .Apologetical literature shows the attitude of the church of each age toward the world and of the world toward the church, and usually embodies the philosophical conceptions that underlie the Christian thinking of the time. (_3) Polemical literature re\'eais the antagonistic forces at work in each age among professing Christians, and while it often gi\es evidence of the presence of intolerance and partisan rancor and shows little appreciation of the position of opponents, it is exceedingly valuable as furnishing the materials for the history of doctrinal development. (^4) The canons of s\nods and councils and the collections of rules and regulations for the guidance of the churches in matters of discipline belonging to each age and country, throw much light on the practical working of organized Christianity". (5'> Creeds, usually formulated as a result of controversy and generally embod\ing either compromise statements or the opinions of the dominant part\", have their obvious uses as materials for church history. (6) Liturgies and hvmns produced by and for the churches of each age and country embody the prevailing ideals of worship and reflect the religious life of the times. (7) Correspondence, public and private, embodying in many cases the frank expression of the opinions of leading actors on current events, is often of the highest value. (8) Papal decretals, rescripts, bulls, briefs, etc., present in concrete form the claims of the hierarchy from time to time, and the methods employed for securing recognition of hierarchical authority. (9) Imperial and royal edicts, capitularies, and other enactments in relation to ecclesiastical matters, have their obvious uses. In fact, civil and ecclesiastical history are so intimately related, especially since the union of Church and State, that most civil records have a bearing direct or indirect on church history. The Corpus Juris Civilis is almost as important for church history as the later Corpus Juris Canonici.

2. Christian Archceology. Religious sculpture and painting, symbolical representations of religious acts and truths (as on the walls of the catacombs and on gems), inscriptions on coins and seals, remnants of church architecture, baptisteries, etc., are embodiments, each in its way, of the religious life and thought of their age, and are worthy of the attention of the church historian.

Abundant materials of all the varieties specified have been preserved, and through the industry of scholars have been made available to the student in printed form. The work of research is still going energetically forward, and it is probable that within a few years little extant material of value will have remained in concealment.

Treatises on church history, ancient and modern, are of value only so far as they are known to rest upon a critical and judicial use of the original sources.

The materials of church history ar^ now so vast that no individual can hope to master them. The best work appears at present not in general treatises on the entire subject, but in monographs on limited periods, particular movements, particular institutions, individual leaders, etc. The general church historian must depend very largely on such monographs prepared by specialists ; but he will be careful to test their results on all important matters by direct reference to the sources.

CHAP. I.] PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS II

IV. THE EMPLOYMENT OF SOURCES.

1. It is obvious that if sources are to be used the languages in which they are written must be thoroughly mastered. The sources of ancient church history are mostly in the Greek and Latin languages, a knowledge of which is indispensable. Some valuable material exists in the Syriac, Ethiopic, Coptic, Armenian, and the various Slavonic languages, but few church historians undertake the mastery of these. For the church history of Western Europe during the Middle Ages, Latin is the principal language ; but important writings are preserved in the primitive forms of the German, the Romance, the English, and other languages. For modern history the German, French, Dutch, and Italian languages are important, especially the first two.

2. The successful historical investigator must have critical insight in a high degree. A vast amount of spurious material is intermingled with the genuine literature of each age. He must be able to discriminate between the genuine and the spurious. Of genuine writings some are more trustworthy than others, owing to the character, the circumstances, and the competence of the writers. The investigator must be able to judge of the relative value of documents, and amid conflicting evidence to reach conclusions reasonably well assured.

3. Most church historians will find it convenient to make use of translations of the pertinent literature along with critically edited texts in the original languages. When translations are used for securing a general familiarity with the subject-matter, the originals should be carefully compared on all obscure and controverted points.

4. On matters of controversy we are to study carefully the documents on both sides. This is absolutely essential.

5. We are to distrust writers evidently prejudiced when they make grave accusations against opponents, unless there are other reasons for crediting such accusations. The average polemicist of ancient, medieval, and Reformation times had less regard for truth, when in the heat of controversy, than the polemicist of the nineteenth century.

6. On the other hand, admissions by partisan writers of shortcomings on their own side, or of merits on their adversaries' side, are among the best proofs of such facts, independently of the general credibility of the writers.

V. HISTORY OF CHURCH HISTORIOGRAPHY.

The Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles are the earliest extant writings in the sphere of church history, the former narrating from different points of view the birth, early life, ministry, death, and resurrection of the Messiah, the latter giving an account of the missionary labors of the apostles, especially of Peter and of Paul, including Paul's two years' residence as a prisoner in Rome. Passing on to the post-apostolic time we may distinguish the following eras of church-historical writing :

I. Ancient Church Historians. Hegesippus (about 175- 189) wrote five books of "Memoirs," from which Eusebius quotes, but which are unfortunately lost. He seems to have given chief attention to the rise and growth of heresy, and to Jewish sects. Eusebius speaks of him as a converted Jew. Eusebius of Caesarea (260-340) is entitled to be called "the Father of Church History." One of the most learned men of his time and as the courtier of the Emperor Constantine possessed of every facility for gathering materials and composing a meritorious work, he prepared on a comprehensive plan a "Church History" that has held its position to the present time as the most important work on the ante-Nicene Church (1-324). The scholarly translation by McGiffert, with ample annotations,^ is indispensable to the student of church history. He was a careful investigator, and quoted largely from many writings that have perished. That his work is uncritical and ill-arranged is a remark that would apply to all ancient and medieval treatises on the subject. His "Life of Constantine " is of the nature of a panegyric, and is too favorable to the first Christian emperor, but it contains much important matter. He also wrote a " Chronicle," in which he gave an abstract of universal history with chronological tables. In the follow-

1 New York, i8go.

CHAP. I.] PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS 13

ing century Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret, each in his own way, continued the Church History of Eusebius to his own time. These include accounts of the great Christological controversies, and of the struggle of Christianity with paganism during the fourth and part of the fifth centuries. Eusebius' work was translated into Latin by Rufinus, with a continuation to the death of Theodosius the Great (395). Cassiodorus, a Roman statesman, had the Church Histories of Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret translated into Latin by Epiphanius, and himself continued the narrative to 518. This so-called " Tripartite History," along with that of Eusebius, formed the chief authority on ancient church history throughout the Middle Ages.

Sulpicius Severus, a Gallic noble and ascetic (died 420), wrote a "Chronicle," in which church history followed biblical history. His work abounds in the fabulous and is of little value. The works of Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret, like that of Eusebius, are available in excellent translations in the " Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers." Of less importance are the Church Histories of Theodorus and Evagrius (sixth century), which were continuations of those already mentioned.

2. zMediiZval Writers. The Middle Ages produced nothing important on ancient church history. Contemporary chronicles, often preceded by a digest of early history from the Latin translations of the writings mentioned above, represent the achievements of the age in this department. Lives of the saints, full of fables, abounded. Several compilations of universal history were produced, but these are of little value.

3. Church Historians of the T^eformation Time. The Protestant Revolution, which was a revolt against the corruptions and the tyranny of the Roman Catholic hierarchy, called forth the "Magdeburg Centuries" (1559-1574), written by Matthias Flacius lllyricus, Wigand, Judex, and others. It is a vast and monumental effort to vindicate the Protestant position by an exhibition of all that is most disreputable in the history of medieval Catholicism. Stress is laid upon the protests against Rome that were made from time to time, and much valuable material is brought forward by these scholarly and Industrious writers. The work is excessively polemical, but served a useful purpose. It called forth the learned and voluminous " Ecclesiastical Annals," edited by Baronius (1588), who had at his disposal the resources of the Vatican Library. Baronius' work, which embraced only the first twelve centuries, has been continued by various writers to 1585.

In France, Bossuet attempted to vindicate the Roman Catholic Church against Protestant attacks, and to destroy the foundations of Protestantism by his " Discourse on Universal History" (1681). The voluminous work of Tillemont, a Jansenist nobleman, on the first six centuries,^ was based upon an industrious and somewhat critical study of the sources, and was written in a spirit of moderation. It is still of value.