The first Christians were good salesmen

A look at the organizational characteristics of the church according to Eusebius' "History of the Church" * Reading Eusebius's book from a theological-historical point of view can illuminate additional aspects of the development of Christianity which can provide insights into its success and its rooting in Europe in the next thousand years

Haim Mazar

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introduction

Eusebius' composition "Church History" gives a broad historical view of the development of the church from its beginnings to the present day. Eusebius was the bishop of Caesarea. We do not know exactly what year he was born, although it is estimated that he was born in the early sixties of the third century and died in 339. In this book It is possible to follow the conceptual development of the church, the key figures who shaped it, the theological debates that accompanied it in the first centuries AD, and the processes of its establishment into a powerful religio-political organizational framework. This book by Eusebius is the first historical book that focuses on one sector of the population, in this case the religious sector, which is different from the writing of historians in antiquity who focused on states and their mutual relations. This is the history of an organization. For this reason, Eusebius' work can also be examined from an organizational perspective.

The spread of religion and the establishment of churches

Eusebius says: "Thus, with all the power of the grace of heaven, the thing that has the ability to save began to illuminate the whole world like the light of the sun, and as it is written in the Holy Scriptures, the harbingers immediately began to make their voices heard under the inspiration of the Spirit... In every city and village, churches were erected that were filled with thousands of people. Just like a threshing floor... All this happened when the grace of God had already been delegated to members of other nations as well, such as Cornelius, who was the first of his household to believe in Christ in Caesarea in Palestine, and this through divine revelation and through Peter. Many other Greeks who heard the gospel in Antioch also believed like him. (pp. 37-38). The first Christians who spread their religion were imbued with faith, highly motivated and charismatic and managed to draw crowds after them who adopted their words to their hearts. This dizzying success testifies to two things, the talent of the founders of Christianity as ideological leaders and a deep social deprivation throughout the Roman Empire of masses of people that resulted from a severe social crisis and the undermining of religious norms. Many conventions are no longer relevant. The heralds of Christianity were able to quickly locate all those places where the social and religious framework and tradition had been undermined and entered them to bring their message. There was a definite division of labor among them who "The holy apostles and disciples of our Savior were scattered throughout the world. According to tradition, Parthia fell to Tama, Scythia to Andrii, Asia to Yochanan... It seems, on the other hand, that Peter preached to the Jews in the diasporas of Pontus, Galatia, Bethany, Cappadocia and Asia" (p. . 63).

This religious activity was accompanied by the establishment of a physical infrastructure and the intention is to erect buildings for the purpose of gathering and joint activity. The involvement of the activists was great. For example, Paul "had many thousands of colleagues who carried the yoke with him, those whom he calls by name partners in the campaign" (pp. 66-65). It is likely that the other heralds who operated in various places throughout the Roman Empire also had partners. It requires financial resources. The heralds of Christianity were not only imbued with religious fervor, but also pragmatic in nature. They knew how to mobilize people, they knew how to raise a lot of money, keep this money and use it wisely. In today's terms, they were first-class marketing people. 3rd and the beginning of the 4th century), when Christianity began to take more and more roots among many communities, they were no longer content with the old buildings "and built spacious churches from the ground up in all the cities" (p. 271). Despite the persecution and suffering from the authorities, they never broke. They became more and more convinced of the rightness of their way. An event that can testify more than anything to the faith strength of the church is the Armenian people who at the beginning of the fourth century accepted the yoke of Christianity (p. 304). This was the first case in which the church spread its wings not over individuals or small communities but over an entire political community. Most likely this event reverberated all over the Roman Empire and further strengthened its power and increased its financial sources.

Bishops

One of the organizational characteristics of Christianity is that wherever a church was established, the person who managed the affairs of the community was appointed responsible for it. This is the bishop. Jacob, who "was called the brother of the Lord...was the first to be elected to serve as bishop of the community in Jerusalem" (p. 34). With the death of Domitianus The emperor of Rome (reigned between the years 81-96), the apostle John "moved from the island of Patmos to Ephesus, and even visited when requested the neighboring districts of the Pagans, in some places he appointed bishops, in other places he brought about reconciliation between whole communities and in others to give certification to those over them The spirit dyed" (p. 84). This course of action is indicative not only of a deep religious fervor, but also of political wisdom. It was clear to John the Apostle that he was incapable of fighting against Domitian, therefore it was better for him to lower his profile, to wait Until the governmental anger towards the community of believers subsides, and only then move from place to place, strengthen the community of believers, visit the idolaters, encourage them to accept Christianity, and wherever Mina visited, he was responsible for the community.

Yohanan's course of action was established over many years and continued by his successors in the following generations. The seeds of the kingdom of heaven, which have the ability to save, all over the world... they began their journeys acting as harbingers and devoting themselves with all their souls to preaching to everyone who had not yet heard the word of faith, and to the transmission of manuscripts on which the divine gospels were written. As soon as they laid the foundations of faith in any site They appointed shepherds and entrusted the supervision of the new believers to them. While they themselves continued on their way to other countries and other peoples, with God's grace assisting them" (pp. 100-101). The propagators of Christianity realized that it was impossible to base themselves on the initial enthusiasm of those who accepted the Christianity and their own enthusiasm when they brought their gospel. These actions, as important as they are, if they do not continue, they will be one-time events and all their work will go down the drain. Therefore, they appointed those they found suitable to be in charge of these communities. To use the words of Max Weber, they were There are two stages here, the stage of charisma and the stage of routinization of the charisma that follows. After the initial fervor, the enthusiasm must be formalized. The community of believers should be introduced into a routine of daily activities while dividing work between them or some of them and maintaining its cohesion.

The office of bishops was universal and this can be seen in the mention of many bishops in Eusebius' book regarding each and every city that is referred to in the book. The churches were scattered throughout the Roman Empire and the central cities to which the book refers and for which it is possible to more or less follow the bishops who worked in them in an almost complete chronological manner Jerusalem, the city of Rome, Alexandria and Antioch, and partially in Caesarea. Regarding the other cities, there is mention of a small number of bishops. A possible reason for the paucity of mentions of the other cities is probably the paucity of sources that Eusebius had. The office of bishop was for life. There were those who served for a few years and there Those who served for ten years or more. The appointment of a bishop came after the death of the one who preceded him. There were very few cases in which a bishop finished his position during his lifetime and this was due to retirement or removal. Narcissus, the bishop of Jerusalem, retired from his position, disappeared under unclear circumstances for several years, returned and was reappointed And in the end he finally retired due to his extreme age, in order for his retirement to be orderly he called Alexander the bishop of Cappadocia to serve with him. He received the position upon the death of Alexander (p. 195). In modern terms, this is an overlap until the death of Narcissus. Marcus served as bishop of Alexandria for 10 years and then retired, although Eusebius does not mention the reasons for this (p. 116). Paul the Bishop of Antioch served between the years 260-268 until his removal (pp. 257-262). In Paul's place Domonus, the son of the blessed Demetrianos, was appointed (p. 257-262). Among the bishops there were those who served in two places. They were chosen to serve in another place and for that they finished their service in the place where they served and moved to serve in the cities to which they were appointed, such as Alexander, bishop of Cappadocia who was called to serve in the sanctuary together with Narcissus on the eve of the latter's days. Paulinus served as the bishop of Tire and then Served in Antioch (p. 316). The election of bishops was done in a democratic process. There was a gathering of those who were authorized to participate in the election of the future bishop. Eusebius does not refer to any statute that clarifies the election process, but from the lines one can more or less see that the transfer of bishoprics was institutionalized. "Jacob the righteous was appointed to the position of bishop when this appointment was in everyone's opinion" (p. 131) Dominus, which we referred to earlier because he was "endowed with all the noble virtues suitable for a bishop (p. 262). At the Council of Nicaea according to statute no. 4 A bishop's consecration must be done by three bishops (p. 225). Dionysius, a man of Rome, was elected bishop of the city because he was "considered worthy of the priesthood at that time" (p. 235). Palicarpus, who was a companion of the apostles, "was appointed to the position of bishop of the church in Smyrna by witnesses and servants of the Lord" (p. 98). In one case there was a process of a kind of inheritance when "Theotcanes, bishop of Caesarea in Palestine, ordained Anatolius to the priesthood when he asked to prepare him to be his successor after his death in the community he led. Indeed, for a short period they both led this church, but the council (Synod), referring to Paul called him to Antioch" (p. 267).

Eusebius claims that Timothy was the first to be appointed a bishop in the district of Ephesus, however, the book's narrator, Ray Fritz, refutes this claim and according to his assessment, the institution of monarchical hegemony (the exclusive office of a single bishop) is from the first century in a fundamental error. This institution only began to exist in the second century (p. 66).If his words are true, then in the first century every church was led and operated by a team of leaders. Whether Ray is right or wrong, the convergence of the church into an organizational pattern of action was very fast. Even if we accept his assumption as correct, a conclusion is required from this that the transition to the leadership of a single person was the product of a decision or an inevitable result of accumulated experience that showed that joint leadership is ineffective and impairs the ongoing functioning of the church.

ecclesiastical officials

A bishop of a church, however talented he may be, cannot manage the affairs of the church alone. Being both a spiritual leader and an administrative manager is difficult and probably impossible, what's more, over the years the church has taken more and more roots and many have joined it by accepting Christianity. An intermediate mechanism must be developed that is between The head of the church to the congregation of believers. Eusebius cites the words of Philo "who describes the priority given to those who are appointed to the service of the church, to the suns and to the service of the high hegemons, which surpasses all others" (p. 52). the others”?

In the letter sent by Cornelius, the bishop of Rome, to Fabius, the bishop of the churches of Antioch, regarding the greed of Neotianus and his lack of fitness to serve in the sanctuary, it was stated that "the defender of the Zen line did not know that in the orthodox church there must be one bishop, when he did know this (and how did he not know this?"). There are forty-two elders of the congregation, the seven suns, the seven under-suns, forty-two helpers, fifty-two exorcists, readers and gatekeepers, over fifteen hundred widows and people in need" (p. 226). This letter was probably written in 250, a long period of time. Since the advent of Christianity that enabled its institutional development. A similar mention of these officials appears in a decree issued on behalf of the authorities in 303 mandating the imprisonment of all the heads of churches everywhere "Countless people were imprisoned everywhere, and in all those places the prisons were filled...with bishops, elders of the congregation, shamans, narrators and exorcists" (p. 276). In a royal letter issued by Constantine Augustus "ordering the holding of a second synod, for the purpose of canceling the disputes between the bishops and Christos, the bishop of Syracuse, in which he asks him to come to the synod with two persons who have a secondary role" and the reference is to the elders of the congregation (p. 340). From an organizational point of view, the elders of the congregation are second in the order of importance. Since the institution of the elders of the congregation has accompanied the church for many years since the establishment of Christianity, the conclusion is required that since the establishment of the bishopric, they accompanied the head of the congregation in his decisions and actions, brought them to fruition and served as the main link between him and the public of believers. The reference is to the scribe of the church. The one who is referred to as such is Apollonius of Ephesus (p. 171). He lived from the end of the second century to the middle of the third century. From the wording "who is also the scribe of the church" it appears that there were other people who fulfilled this role and they were active in different churches. They are actually the ones who recorded her activity.

Supervision of the churches

About John, the apostle and herald of the church, Eusebius says "who was the beloved disciple of Jesus...supervised the church in Asia, since after the death of Domitianus he returned from his exile on the island, there are two things that testify that he was indeed among the living at that time. The reliability of these witnesses is not in doubt since they are representatives who are faithful to the laws of the church" (p. 83). In this introduction it can be seen that from the moment the churches were established they were under close supervision and this supervision can serve two purposes to see that they function and that they take care to spread the The faith. It seems that from the very beginning various regulations were drafted for this purpose. In the Council of Nicaea, for example, in regulation no. 4 There is a reference to the number of bishops needed to ordain a new bishop (p. 225 note). Additional evidence regarding the supervisory function is regarding "the grandsons of Judah, one of the Lord's so-called brothers...they came and served as priests and oversaw every church as witnesses belonging to the Lord's family. Thus peace prevailed in every church. They themselves continued to live until the reign of Emperor Trianus" (p. 96) With the first resignation of Narcissus from the post of bishop of Jerusalem, "the supervisors of the area's churches decided to appoint another bishop" (p. 195). The impression one gets, although this is said very carefully, is that these supervisors performed a role similar to that of the state auditor. They moved from church to church, They followed what was being done and when necessary also solved various problems that required their intervention. How was the audit function founded, according to what criteria were the supervisors chosen and for how long were they chosen, all of these are not addressed by Osvibus.

Gatherings

From time to time there would be gatherings of the people of the church (synods) at the level of bishops to solve various theological questions and personal problems. In order to feel the nature of these gatherings, the descriptions of Eusebius will be presented here.

A. Between the years 189-192 there was a difficult debate regarding Easter. B. All the provinces of Asia found it appropriate, as if out of attachment to an older tradition, to celebrate the Savior's Easter on the fourteenth day of the moon, which was the day on which the Jews were commanded to sacrifice the lamb. It was therefore necessary to end the fast on the same day without referring to the day of the week. However, this was not the custom that prevailed in the other churches in the world, because since the age of the apostles they maintained the custom that still exists that it is not appropriate to end the fast alone except on the day of our Savior's resurrection. In the assemblies and meetings held with the bishops, it was agreed that the secret of the resurrection of the Lord from the dead cannot be celebrated on one day alone other than the first day" (p. 177).
B. As a result of the experience of "a number of people who tried to introduce principles foreign to the truth, they claimed that the soul dies for a while together with the body, and together with it they are destined for death and that after the resurrection the body will also return to life. A large synod gathered around this issue" (p. 215) .
G. Navatus, whom we referred to earlier, who was one of the elders of the congregation in the church in Rome, began to show opposition to the converts, obtained the position of bishop in unworthy ways and aroused the wrath of many of the church's people, and for this reason the synod convened in Rome and it was decided to remove him from the ranks of the church (p. 224) .
D. In one of the major meetings of the bishops' synods, instructions were set regarding the rebaptism of the heretics (p. 233).
E. In the year 268, a synod was held in Antioch and a sweeping decision was made by the bishops to depose Paul of Samosta in Antioch due to his view that Christ was an ordinary man (p. 257). Osbois continues and says that "in the days of Orleanus, a summary council meeting (synod) convened in the presence of a very large number of bishops in which the leader of the heresy from Antioch who was exposed clearly condemns him. He is excommunicated from the universal church which is under the dome of heaven" (p. 258).
F. When Theotcanus, the bishop of Caesarea, ordained Anatolius as the one to succeed him, the synod opposed this and ordered him to move to Antioch (p. 267).
G. The Roman emperor Constantine, who accepted Christianity, required a synod to be convened in order to cancel all the disputes between the bishops (p. 340).
It is likely that there were additional synods that Eusebius does not mention. Some of the yeshiva had a limited composition and some had a large composition. As we have seen, the church as a whole had different regulations.

Correspondence

There were close ties between the churches and a clear expression of this is the total correspondence to clarify various issues, the resolution of theological disputes and the transfer of information regarding various people in the church, including the appointment of bishops. Eusebius often uses the word epistle and in rare cases the word letter to describe these correspondences. If we use modern terms, the correspondence in the ecclesiastical world was extremely intense and testifies to the dynamism and vitality of Christianity. In terms of addressee, one must distinguish between 3 types of correspondence - between community to community, between bishops and bishops, and between Bishops to communities. With the growth of the church and its spread, the correspondence between bishops and bishops took up an increasing share of the volume of ecclesiastical correspondence.

The sending of letters began already in the early days of Christianity and an impressive testimony to this is "Petros' epistle, the first type was accepted and in the early days the elders of the congregation used it without any doubt. Because it was used for study purposes alongside other writings" (p. 64). This is an example of how the epistles were used in many cases not only for functional purposes, but also became part of the theological corpus that was for those used in the sanctuary an educational means and a textbook for instilling Christianity among the members of the community, including spreading the messages The religious. Various disagreements accompanied the church from the very beginning. On many issues there was no widespread general agreement and it was necessary for a person with authority in the position of a bishop to resolve differences of opinion such as the letter composed by Clemens on behalf of the church in Rome for the church in Corinth (p. 80).

Eusebius does mention the correspondence of many bishops, but the number of letters from each bishop to which Eusebius refers is small. Besides these, there are a number of bishops whose letters Eusebius refers to a greater number of, such as Dionysius the bishop of Corinth (pp. 133-134) and Dionysius the bishop of Alexandria (pp. 256-257 241-248, 232-236). Is the mention of their many letters due to the fact that he had a greater number of their writings at his disposal compared to other writers? Or were they central figures in church history? It's hard to know.

A special case that left its mark on church correspondence is that of Navatus, "who was one of the elders of the congregation in the Church of Rome, who in his arrogance began to show opposition to the converts as if all hope of their salvation was lost. Even if their actions coincided with a sharp turn and pure devotion to the faith. This is how he became The leader of a sect whose members, in most of their pride, presented themselves as correct in religious laws" (p. 224). References to him are found in the letters of Cornelius, Bishop of Rome, and Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria.

The correspondence was used to summon synods, as in the case of Victor, the bishop of Rome, demanding from the bishop of Ephesus a council meeting regarding the date of the Easter celebrations (p. 178) and the letter of Cornelius, the bishop of Rome, to Fabius, the bishop of the Church of Antioch, in which he reported on the synod that convened in Rome where the fate of Navatus was decided (p. 224). Beside all of these there is the report on current matters such as the letter of Polycrates, Bishop of Ephesus to Victor, Bishop of Rome, in which he mentions John, the apostle Philip and Philip's daughters (p. 95). Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth, mentions in his various letters the appointment of bishops (p. 133) Alexander, the bishop of Jerusalem, in a letter to the people of Antinoopolis, mentions Narcissus as his co-leader (p. 195) and his own appointment to this position (p. 196). Later he reports on the severe plague that struck Alexandria (p. 229).

schools

Christianity as a new religious framework worked intensively and energetically to spread its gospel in order to acquire as large an audience of believers as possible. In this way it could instill its legacy to future generations and anchor itself firmly in every community it reached. A work that mentions sales agents passing from door to door), bringing the good news and putting their words in writing. From the description of the good news according to Marcus, one can get an idea of ​​the processes that were involved in the way of spreading their good news, as Eusebius describes it: "And on the understanding of those who listened to Peter, a great light of faith shone It was not enough for them to hear just once. Not even when they were taught God's announcement only orally; But they spread and demanded from Markus, who wrote the gospel that he composed and extant. Since he was a disciple of Peter who left the words of the Torah with them in writing, they learned them by heart. They did not stop pleading with him, until he was convinced, and thus this was the factor that led to the writing of the gospel according to Markus. It is said that the messenger who knew by the revelation of the Spirit what had happened put his name in the face of their zeal and approved what was written for the purposes of study and teaching in the communities" (p. 48).

There was a formal and regulated educational framework in Alexandria. For the first time, Eusebius refers to this framework by mentioning Origen who was 18 years old and headed a school for studying the principles of Christianity in 204 (p. 189). Regarding this school, Eusebius gives a partial chronological overview of the principals of this school. Origen transferred the management of the school to Herakles when he moved to Caesarea (p. 211). Following the appointment of Herakles to the position of governor in Alexandria, the management of the school passed into the hands of Dionysius (p. 212 ). Another school that Eusebius mentions is the one established by Pamphilius in Caesarea in his own time (p. 268). There is no reference from Eusebius to schools in other Christian centers, but it is likely that they did exist due to their important role in the spread of Christianity. A hint of this is found in the reference of Eusebius to Clemens "who oversaw the teaching in Alexandria for a very long time" (p. 192). From the very reference to this function and its geographic scope, there is a possibility to conclude that they have a similar function in other places. It should not be forgotten that the establishment of schools requires the help of people for their ongoing maintenance and for this, funds are needed many.

It seems that there was no place for study centers that dealt with secular matters, and we can learn from the words of Eusebius about Anatolyus the man of Alexandria that due to his education and knowledge "in secular matters and philosophy he reached the most senior position among the famous of his generation... in the certificates we find that due to his achievements they thought it worthy that he should be established in Alexandria A school according to Aristotle's lineage" (pp. 264-265).

Summary

Reading Eusebius' book from a theological-historical point of view can shed light on other aspects of the development of Christianity which can give insights into its success and its rooting in Europe in the next two thousand years. Despite the great hostility and sometimes cruel violence towards it, Christianity knew how to anchor itself within the communities with a living content and drive in indestructible stakes can be challenged in the way of thinking of growing publics. A powerful means it used is a high organizational ability and an institutionalized accompaniment of the religious fervor of its spiritual leaders. What contributed greatly to its success is its style of operation. A network of organized and regulated churches supporting each other that strengthened its cohesion over the years.

מקור

Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea-Church History, Acedmon Publishing 2001, 372 p.