Spread of Christianity: Christians Get Organized
It took awhile for Christians to understand that Christ’s second coming was not likely to happen really soon. So the churches had to get organized to make certain that the teachings of Jesus were taught accurately – that is to keep the Christian faith true to Jesus’ own teachings. The structure of the Christian church echoed that from the Roman Empire.
At the top had been the most important bishops – those of Rome, Antioch, Alexandria, Constantinople and Jerusalem. Beneath them were the bishops of other great cities, and beneath them were the ordinary clergy. Decisions on matters of doctrine had been made by synods (meetings) of bishops, either from individual countries, or occasionally, of the whole Church. These were recognized as ecumenical councils.
The importance from the Bishop of Rome (later known as the Pope) as the head of the Church was not claimed until the late 4th century, but as the descendant of St Peter, Rome’s very first bishop, he was usually given unique dignity. As it was a state religion, the Roman emperor also had a hand in church decisions. This was to be the cause of much church-state friction in later centuries.
Those early Christians who wanted to follow Jesus in their personal way became hermits and lived in deserts. The monastic movement, which began as the hermits organized themselves into communities, gave further impetus to Christianity’s spread. It was the monasteries and also the bishops who had been to maintain both the faith itself and all the learning of previous generations and civilizations alive when Europe went into cultural decline during the Dark Ages.
