# The summarized history of the Christian church 4: A Legal Religion

The actual canonization of the [Bible](theology-bible.md) emerged as a natural community-led movement, and it's difficult to place when the 27 books of the New Testament were *first* established, though Origen of Alexandria may have first compiled it around 250 AD.

By the time Constantine came into power in 306, about 40% of Rome was Christian.

- [Christian evangelism](spiritual-exercises-evangelism.md) was highly prominent everywhere.
- The poor, slave class, and women were largely Christian.
- Christians were shown as largely law-abiding citizens, with the small exceptions of the Montanists, Novationists, and later the Donatists.
- Christian prayers and miracles often worked, which demonstrated the validity of the message.
- As further evidence of their faith, many of them were dying in the arena.

Constantine himself practiced Sol Invictus, which was a less-popular worship of a sun god. But, he became more sympathetic to Christians around the year 313 AD:

- As a child, Constantine had "seen" Apollos or Mithros, so he had a strong sense of the miraculous.
- Before a decisive battle with Maximius over 2/3 of the Roman Empire, he saw a vision of something like Jesus, the cross, or the Greek letters for Jesus, which he attributed to his victory.
- The Edict of Milan was part of a peace treaty with Licinius, who had the final 1/3 of the Empire. It was one of the first legal documents to enforce [fair](morality-justice.md) treatment of Christians (though technically not *the* first, which was Galerius' Edict of Toleration a few years prior).
- He built multiple basilicas of the saints, and established sites showing Jesus' walk by his mother's guidance (which are still in [Israel](history-israel.md) to this day).
- Constantine used a *lot* of solar imagery, which was likely merging Christianity and Sol Invictus, and it has persisted in Catholic tradition.
- He set Sunday as the day of rest for all Christians, and assembled a canon of the Bible.
- Constantine sought for Christians to peaceably work out their differences, and financed the first Ecumenical Council, which was able to get all Christians to theologically agree on issues about core doctrine, especially on [Arianism](people-conflicts-christian-why.md).
- In many ways, he broke the precedent of the Roman emperors of the past, which utterly destroyed the Roman Empire while also bringing a Catholic presence into the political void.

The new freedoms for Christians in the 4th century opened up room for the Church to expand. This expansion meant that the [Church leadership](mgmt-church.md) became a modified form of Roman [government](politics-systems.md) (with the pope and emperor side-by-side), and the theological discussions added in a hefty grade of Greek [philosophy](philosophy.md).

Ecumenical Council #1 in 325 AD - the First Council of Nicaea, feat. Pope Sylvester I and Emperor Constantine and 318 bishops present

1. Condemned Arianism as heresy (that Jesus was absolutely separate from the Father)
2. Created the [Nicene Creed](creeds)
3. Resolved some petty disputes about what day to celebrate Easter

However, Constantine's three children were bitter over him killing their mother in 327, and the government descended into standard Roman chaos again after Constantine died in 337. But, Roman politics had now become inextricably commingled with Christianity.

For Christians, things were also contentious, since Arius posited a [theological conflict](people-conflicts-christian-why.md) that argued about the substance of Christ versus the Father. This created severe issues for within the Church for about 55 years.

In the year 380 AD, emperor Theodosius I declared Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire, which destroyed the last portions of Rome's polytheistic [culture](people-culture.md) until its official end in 476 AD by instituting the **Roman Catholic Church**.

When everyone is a Christian, most people really aren't, and from 380 AD onward the world's culture had *completely* merged with Christian culture. The religion of the Hebrew God wasn't technically Jewish-inspired anymore after that, and pagan influence became ubiquitous among Christian culture. While some Christian leaders stood out among the rest (e.g., Augustine of Hippo starting in 386), the pagan influence would continue.

It's worth noting that the attitude of the Church at this time was that the [State](groups-large.md) was responsible to lead the flock to Christ alongside the [church leadership](mgmt-church.md). Across centuries, they suppressed pagans, Jews, and later Muslims, though they were a bit more favorable toward Jews among the rest.

Ecumenical Council #2 in 381 AD - the First General Council of Constantinople, feat. Pope Damasus I and Emperor Theodosius w/ 150 bishops

1. Condemned the Arianism as heresy (again)
2. Condemned Macedonianism as heresy (that the Holy Spirit *isn't* equal to the other persons of the Trinity)
3. Modified the Nicene Creed to reflect the Holy Spirit as well

Ecumenical Council #3 in 431 AD - the Council of Ephesus, feat. St. Cyril of Alexandria, representing Pope Celestine I and Emperor Theodosius II w/ 200 bishops

1. Condemned Nestorianism as heresy (that Jesus *wasn't* 100% God and 100% man), who eventually broke off to make groups like the **Assyrian Church of the East**
2. Defined Mary as God's holy Mother
3. Condemned Pelagianism as heresy (that we simply must [choose](mind-decisions.md) God and don't need His grace for salvation)

Ecumenical Council #4 in 451 AD - the Council of Chalcedon feat. Pope Leo the Great and Emperor Marcian w/ 150 bishops

- Condemned Monphysitism/Eutychianism (that Jesus' God and human natures were one and the same), who eventually became all the groups under the **Oriental Orthodox Catholic Church**

Ecumenical Council #5 in 553 AD - the Second Council of Constantinople, feat. Pope Vigilius and Emperor Justinian I w/ 165 bishops

- Condemned the *Three Chapters* (a body of 3 works by different people that made a gigantic controversy) as perverted by Nestorianism
- Condemned Origenism as heresy (that the Bible is merely [symbolic](symbols.md) and not necessarily literal)
- Reaffirmed the first 4 Councils' authority, especially #4, to crush arguments against it

Ecumenical Council #6 in 680 AD - The Third Council of Constantinople, feat. Pope Agatho and Emperor Constantine IV w/ 174 bishops

- Condemned Monothelitism as heresy (that Jesus only has one [will](purpose.md) instead of two broken out as God vs. human)
- Censured Pope Honorius I for making a vague statement which wasn't infallible (which would risk the doctrine of papal infallibility)

Ecumenical Council #7 in 787 AD - The Second Council of Nicaea, feat. Pope Hadrian I and Emperor Constantine VI and his mom w/ 300-367 bishops

- Condemned iconoclasm as heresy (that using images constitutes [idolatry](addiction-substances.md)) and venerated holy [images](symbols.md)
- Condemned Adoptionism as heresy (that Jesus wasn't the natural Son of God, but was only adopted)

Ecumenical Council #8 in 869 AD - The Fourth Council of Constantinople, feat. Pope Hadrian II and Emperor Basil w/ 102 bishops, 3 papal legates, and 4 patriarchs

- Condemned Adoptionism (again)
- Deposed Photius as the patriarch of Constantinople (to take a side in whether the Church had influence in the East's [political power](power-types.md), which was all part of the Photian Schism)