The theme of this chapter is the rise of Christianity – not just in terms of numbers or becoming ‘legal’, but of becoming an institutional power and how this happened.
The opening up of Christianity is fundamental – from being a highly selective private members’ club it becomes an institution open to all.
In 168 AD Celsus, a pagan, wrote that “if all men wanted to be Christians, the Christians would no longer want them”. By 300 the Christians are probably the biggest, certainly the best organised, single religious group in town (at least in some places in the east).
How did this happen? Origen of Alexandria (185-c.254) played a big part by placing Christianity in a historical framework. Since creation the ‘seeds’ of Christian doctrine had existed in every man and they had been tended by God. That is to say, things like Greek philosophy and ethics and the laws of the Jews were part of his divinely ordained progress of the human race. Even the way that Christ’s birth was aligned with the universal Roman peace of Augustus was part of the plan.
Christianity has moved from being (at best) isolated from the surrounding culture to being the culmination of it.
This conversion of Christianity to the culture and ideals of the Roman world was the precursor of the conversion of a Roman emperor to Christianity. It also meant a blending in of Christianity – they became a normal part of town life. The bishop had become a part of the intelligentsia of many a great Greek town, Christ was portrayed like a classical scholar as the schoolmaster of the human race and even their sarcophagi were exquisitely classical.
At the same time, the traditional protectors of the towns, the emperors and their army had never seemed so remote. They were rough, uniformed figures, stationed among and recruited from […] the frontiers.
So, the citizens of the ancient cities found that their civilised traditions were now upheld by the old pagan elites and also by the Christians. In a battle between the wide bridge […] of Christianity and the narrow gate of a pagan aristocracy of letters there would only be one winner. The Christians were keen, organised, flexible, and motivated. When Constantine converted he was actively courted and enmeshed by Christian society – appointed as a judge, having bishops travel to his court, and finding his deeds recorded and disseminated with skill and enthusiasm.
Outside of the cities it was similar story. Many pagans, such as Julian the apostate, saw Hellenism as a fragile veneer and were deterred by the intractable ‘barbarism’ of the surrounding population. These countryfolk made up 90% of the population though and the Christians actively went out and preached to them, using whatever language would best get their message across.
There is an interesting symmetry here – the troubles of the third century democratised the army and gave the Danubian provincial a stake in the Empire. The expansion of Christianity into neglected geographical and social areas had a similar effect on religious issues.
Moritasgus 