Nicaea - The Rise of the Imperial Church. William Speir

Emperor’s summons is more important than the curiosity of a simple priest.

      Athanasius remained on deck until Gades had disappeared behind them and the sun was fully visible above the horizon. Then he returned to his compartment to meditate until summoned to Hosius’ cabin.

      Chapter 4

      Athanasius awoke to knocking on the door of his compartment. “Who is it?” he called.

      “Sebastian,” was the reply. “Hosius wants you.”

      Athanasius rose and stretched his legs; they were stiff from falling asleep while kneeling in meditation. “Coming,” he said.

      Sebastian led Athanasius up the narrow stairs to Hosius’ cabin. The two men entered, and Athanasius saw Titurius and Hosius seated in the far corner. Titurius stood, and he and Sebastian left the cabin and closed the door behind them. Athanasius noticed that Hosius was using his travel chests as seats and a table.

      “Come in, Athanasius,” Hosius said, motioning for Athanasius to sit on the chest vacated by Titurius.

      Hosius poured a cup of wine from a stoppered jug and handed it to Athanasius. The young priest accepted the cup and took a sip. It was a fruity-tasting wine – the kind popular in southern Hispania – and the aroma reminded Athanasius of how much he missed Gades. He took another sip and looked at Hosius.

      “The first part of our plan has been a success,” Hosius began. “We’ve created a divide between the churches that cannot be resolved through polite conversations between the two factions. I knew when I made my bargain with Constantine that I could never deliver all of the churches to him with a unified theology. The devout Followers of The Way would never give up their beliefs for the simpler doctrine of the Divine Trinity, and they’d never allow themselves to be used as tools of statecraft for the empire.”

      “So you’re still planning to propose a council of bishops to establish one unified theology?” Athanasius asked.

      Hosius nodded. “Yes. It’s the only way to force the dissenting faction members to either join with the rest of us or be banished from the churches and the protections of the empire.”

      “Then what?” Athanasius asked.

      Hosius smiled. “That’s the right question! If the council is successful, then it will end with a single unified doctrine for all Christian churches. But Christianity is still a loose collection of churches spread out all over the empire – and outside the empire as well. With one theology comes the need for a central church to control the other churches – like the main trunk of a tree giving life to each of its branches. Each church cannot continue to have its own identity and ways of doing things. We need one identity, common orders of service and ceremonies, standardized prayers and blessings… in short, we need one common set of rules for the churches and for the governing of the churches. These rules must give Constantine and his successors a church that stands as an equal beside the Imperial Throne, the Senate, the legions, and the bureaucracy for governing the empire.”

      “That’s the role you see for the church?”

      “It’s what Constantine wants,” Hosius replied. “And it’s what we need. Think about it. The Emperor is the embodiment of the empire’s purpose. The Senate establishes laws that govern the empire. The legions keep the empire secure. The bureaucracy maintains the civil services that keep the machinery of the empire’s government working. But who controls the hearts and minds of the people? There are dozens of religions worshipped across the empire. If we establish a single Imperial Church preaching one doctrine that all men must worship, then we are the ones who control the hearts and minds of the people!”

      “But how is that a tool for the empire to use?” Athanasius asked, feeling confused. “It sounds like the church will be the true power of the empire, and the emperor will just be a figurehead.”

      “I knew you were my brightest student,” Hosius said with a wide grin on his aging face. “You’ve discovered my vision for the church. But it could take generations before that vision is realized. Until then, our immediate problems are creating a church that does what Constantine needs for it to do and getting Constantine to agree with the level of authority that the church needs to have to carry out its mission on his behalf.”

      “I see an even more immediate problem, Hosius,” Athanasius said.

      “What?”

      “You keep talking about control – that the church will control the people. But how will that happen? Our priests don’t have any authority over their congregations. They lead the congregations in prayer and in the study of the gospels, but they are servants of the congregations, just as Jesus commanded his disciples to be. I see how a unified theology can guide people toward a common understanding of the prophets, the gospels, and the epistles, but each individual communes directly with God and won’t be manipulated as easily as you’re suggesting.”

      “I’ve been wrestling with that,” Hosius admitted. “But I don’t have an answer yet. Do you have any ideas?”

      The two men sat in silence for a long time as Athanasius thought about the problem. Hosius waited patiently for the young priest to respond.

      Finally, Athanasius replied. “I keep coming back to the Roman Legions. When you were first describing the unification of the churches under a single church, I thought about how the legions are organized. I saw the priests as legionnaires, the bishops as centurions, and the Patriarchs as the generals. But to make the church work as you envision, it’s the people who’d be the legionnaires, the priests would be the centurions, the bishops would be the tribunes, and the Patriarchs would be the generals. The supreme head of the church would be the Emperor.”

      Hosius nodded. “An interesting analogy. Go on.”

      “The priests would have to command the congregations with the same authority that a centurion has over his legionnaires. Priests would reward good behaviors and punish bad behaviors to keep their congregations in line. If Christianity is truly about the salvation of man, as preached by the apostles, then salvation must come from the priests and not from individual communion with God. Just like a legion’s chain of command, the priests will intercede between their congregations and God as God’s representatives on earth. Through the priests, the church will grant forgiveness of sins, grant salvation, define what behaviors are acceptable, and condemn those who disobey the church’s commands. We will essentially be altering Jesus’ edict that ‘No man cometh to the Father, but by me,’ into ‘No man cometh to the Father, but by my church.’ It’s the only way we can make the people obey the church, as far as I can tell.”

      “I like where you’re going,” Hosius said, “but how can we give the church the authority to intercede between God and man?”

      “Well,” Athanasius began, “you and I acknowledge that Jesus established Peter as the head of the church, right?”

      Hosius nodded, and Athanasius continued. “In Matthew, right after the passage where Jesus declares that Peter is the rock upon which he will build his church, he says, ‘And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.’ Now I know how Arias and his followers read this passage. They believe that Jesus was admonishing his apostles to free people from mental and physical bondage on earth, that the bondage freed on earth will remain freed in heaven, and that the bondage not freed on earth will still need to be freed in the afterlife. But what if it means something else? What if Jesus is giving his church divine authority? What if Jesus is saying that he’ll have bound in heaven whatever the church binds on earth, and that he’ll have loosed in heaven whatever the church looses on earth? If that was his meaning, then the church has the authority to do anything it wants, and heaven will have to approve!”

      “Arias and his followers will accuse you of blasphemy,” Hosius noted. “And they don’t accept that Jesus made Peter the