The Falling Away that Brought on the Dark Age
By: Gene Lyles – Part 2
In spite of the division within the church in those early centuries, the Roman government continued persecution of those who were identified as Christians. This persecution continued until the time when Constantine became the emperor. Constantine was among the high-ranking officials within the Roman government, and witnessed the persecution of Christians. He strongly disliked what he saw. Furthermore, his mother was said to be a Christian. When he won a decisive battle over the army of Maxentius in 312 A.D., he stopped the persecutions of Christians, and soon declared himself to be a Christian. Furthermore, he gave Christians special privileges and used great sums from the Roman treasury to build magnificent structures for Christians to use as places of worship.
Also, in the early days of his reign, he declared Christianity to be the state religion, which was a crucial blow to paganism. Even though this appeared to be a great victory to Christianity, it proved to be a hurt rather than a help. Making Christianity the state religion caused many to become Christians (?) who were not truly converted to the faith of Christ, thus they were easily led to follow the apostate leaders in the church.
As emperor, Constantine had those who ruled under him in the various provinces within the empire, and not all of them were pleased with his favor toward the Christians. One ruler in particular named Licinius, who ruled in the Byzantine province, rebelled against his rule, and continued severe persecution against the Christians in that area. Constantine took his army, and defeated Licinius and executed him for his revolt in continuing his persecution of Christians. He rebuilt the city of Byzantium on a magnificent scale, and re-named it Constantinople. In the year 324 A.D., Constantine moved the seat of government from Rome to Constantinople, and became very involved in the religious controversies among the bishops. Since Christianity seemed to be stronger in the East, his leanings were more in favor with the bishops of the East. This was the beginning of a spiritual war between the high-ranking bishops, especially between the bishop of Rome and the bishop of Constantinople.
The spiritual war between the high-ranking bishops of the apostate wing of the church continued about two hundred years. It was not so much a war over doctrinal issues as it was over power and control. Since there were five major provinces within the Roman Empire, there were now five provincial bishops, and each of them wanted to be the chief bishop, yet each was reluctant to make such an exalted claim for himself. These five bishops were located in the seats of each province: Rome, Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Alexander. Of these five cities, the bishop of Rome and Constantinople were without question the most powerful. So the power struggle finally narrowed down to the bishops of Rome and Constantinople. Since the seat of the Roman Empire was now located in Constantinople rather than Rome, the bishop of Constantinople naturally felt he should occupy the preeminent position. So in the year 588 A.D., with the encouragement of the emperor, he declared himself to be bishop over the church universal.
As you can imagine, this didn’t set very well with the bishop of Rome, who at that time was Gregory the Great. He was very upset over this ambitious claim by John the Faster, so he wrote him a very lengthy letter of rebuke, but John did not relent. Without question, Gregory proved by his letter that he knew the idea of a universal bishop was contrary to the scriptures. The following brief quote from Gregory to John will show that he clearly understood this.
You know it, my brother; hath not the venerable Council of Chalcedon conferred the honorary title of universal upon the bishop of this Apostolic See, whereof I am, by God’s will, the servant? And yet none of us hath permitted this title to be given him; none has assumed this bold title, lest by assuming a special distinction in the dignity of the episcopate, we should seem to refuse it to all the brethren (Church History by Klingman, page 18, Par. 2).
From this quote it is clear that Gregory did not make this claim to himself. Yet the Roman Catholic Church today lists him as one of their greatest popes. Furthermore, it proves that there were no such offices as universal bishop prior to 588 A.D.
In the year 601 A.D., the centurion, Phocas, rebelled against the emperor, slew him and his family in an atrocious manner, usurped the throne, and moved the seat of the empire back to Rome. Shortly thereafter, Boniface III, bishop of Rome, persuaded Phocas to transfer the title universal bishop to him. Phocas agreed to do so, thus in the year 606 A.D. Boniface III was declared bishop over the church universal. Please observe that Roman Catholics cannot claim a pope prior to 606 A.D. Furthermore, they will have to admit that the murderous emperor was the one who appointed him, not God.
Not only does the year 606 A.D. mark the beginning of the Roman Catholic Church, but it also marks the beginning of a great division between the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church, neither of which by this time bore any similitude of the true church of the Lord. Truly the great falling away spoken by Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 had occurred and a very dark age for the church was fully present. It all started with the desire of church leaders to seek a position of preeminence within the church. The grounds on which they moved to attain this unwarranted position was to claim direct guidance of the Spirit; a claim they could not substantiate by any God given miraculous power.
In conclusion we would like to point out that present day religious division and confusion can be traced to the same problem that occurred in the early days of the church. Just as religious leaders claimed direct guidance of the Spirit then, there are many religious leaders today making the same claim. Rather than being guided by the divinely inspired word of God’s divinely appointed apostles and prophets of the first century, they make a false claim which they cannot substantiate by any miraculous credentials. Just like the bishops in the early church who taught conflicting ideas, these today who make the same claim are teaching conflicting ideas. The only solution that God will accept is for men to quit making a claim which they cannot substantiate, and be guided solely by the scriptures which were given by the men whom God gave the necessary credentials to substantiate their testimony. Until this is done, there can be no religious unity among those professing to be Christians. It is this course to which this writer appeals.
Now back to our main thoughts. Since the bishop of Rome now had the backing of the emperor as being universal bishop over all the churches, and since Christianity had been made the state religion, any person, or group who did not submit to the authority of the Roman bishop was either slain or excommunicated by his command. This is why we read in the history of the bloody inquisition in which literally thousands were put to death if they didn’t submit to the authority of the Roman pontiff. This bloody persecution continued until the time of the great Protestant Reformation which finally broke the power of the Roman pontiff.
Even though the Protestant Reformation broke the power of the Roman pontiff, and gave the scriptures back into the hands of the common man, the different Protestant churches retained much of the false teaching that was brought on the scene by the various bishops of the early church who claimed direct guidance by the Spirit. Thus Protestantism fractured into a multitude of denominational churches. Each church drew up its own creed rather than allow the scriptures to be their guide. It is these creeds that keep these Protestant churches divided, and as long as these creeds are kept intact, religious division will continue among them.
It should be clear to any thinking person that God alone can give to man a perfect creed. This he has done in giving to the world his inspired word. If we really want religious unity, we must discard all these human creeds, and by guided solely by His divinely given creed. For us today that is the last will and testament of Jesus Christ, the New Testament scriptures.
It is utterly foolish to say we cannot understand what the Holy Spirit directed the apostles and prophets to write, but that we must have the Holy Spirit to guide us to understand what he guide them to write. This is as foolish as saying that the Holy Spirit directly guides me, but now must explain what he meant when he guided me. If one believes this foolish notion, he needs to read again 2 Corinthians 1:13, and Ephesians 3:3-5. Since God by the Spirit is the author of the written word, it is blasphemy to say that God could not give to man a written record that he cannot understand without additional guidance of the Spirit.
It is the conclusion of this writer that if the Christians of the first century could understand the oral message of inspired men, and become members of the church of Christ without being a part of any man-made denomination, then men today are able to understand their inspired written word, and become members of the same church of Christ without being a part of any manmade denomination. If we today continue steadfastly in the apostles doctrine in every phase of the faith and practice they handed down to us, then we are indeed members of the true church of the Lord.
The writer of this article not only believes it is possible for one to be a member of the true church of the Lord, but is fully persuaded that he has been for the past sixty-four years. He sees no reason why anyone would want to stay in a denominational church that was founded by men, when he could be in the church founded by the Lord that is governed by his divinely given creed, the New Testament scriptures. One would be truly a Christian, wearing a divinely given name that would glorify the one who died in his behalf. Friend, why not follow this safe and only course?
Gene Lyles
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