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Imperial Unity And Christian Divisions: The Church from 450-680 A.D. (Church in History, Vol 2)

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Fr. John Meyendorff, professor of church history and patristics, has produced in Imperial Unity and Christian Divisions, the second volume in a series on church history published by the Seminary Press of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, a unique and sweeping view of the early development of the Christian church, which gives insight into the nature of later Christendom, as well as new perspectives on why our history of Christendom came to be so Western-Euro-centric, despite the fact that much of early Christendom was independent of (and in some ways opposed to) the western/Nicea/Romish orthodoxy that has dominated the church historically, politically, and theologically for the past thousand years.

Of course, early Christianity grew up in the Mediterranean basin, based on missionary activity out of Palestine through the Roman imperial world largely via trade routes. This part of history is well known, and it is no surprise to us -- the history of Christian development from Jerusalem to Rome to the rest of Western Europe is the best-documented and most-often-repeated form of history. And, as Rome was the centre of the 'civilised world' at the time of the New Testamentary developments, this makes sense from a political point of view. However, while people were heading toward Rome and other points west, there were simultaneous missionary and expeditionary activities to the north, east, and south.

Meyendorff recounts the early and continuing development of the church in Africa, Asia, and non-Roman Europe in addition to the developments within the Roman Empire. Additionally, Meyendorff recounts in great detail the lesser-studied divisions within the Roman Empire, the struggles for dominance between senior sees (Rome struggling for dominance; Constantinople arising as a power when the political centre of gravity shifts to the East; Alexandria striving to maintain at least second priority worldwide and unhappy at being relegated minority status). The impact of geography, the dissemination of theology, hymnody, and scripture along trade routes, the development of independent structures of the church outside the Roman/Byzantine Empires -- these are parts of the grand diversity of Christian history which is often neglected by both Catholic and Protestant historians, who, due to language barriers (few scholars read Syriac, Coptic, etc., today, languages required for careful study and understanding of these other Christian branches; even fewer scholars knew these prior to the last few generations of researchers), the unavailability of texts, and simple cultural and geographical ignorance, were unaware of the foundation and continuation of Christian communities beyond the Roman imperial borders. Also, in the intellectual prejudice against the East, all non-Roman Catholic or Protestant groups in Africa, Asia, and Northern Europe were lumped together as 'Orthodox' or 'Eastern Orthodox', as if this were one uniform, monolithic group for whom this description would be adequate.

This is a part of history that is of vital importance for study today, as it helps clarify the issues that were at the heart of so many things taken for granted today, but which beg further study and understanding. Early creedal understanding cannot be gained unless the controversies, many of them Eastern in origin (both intellectually and geographically), are understood in the context in which they arose, and not simply in the polemical exposition laid out by the more-victorious Western scholars. Canonical development likewise cannot be understood without an examination of the world in which the canon was formed, and without an understanding of what was left out of the canon. (I would argue, as I did in a previous review, that what was left out of the canon is important to study to help put the canonical scriptures in greater perspective.)

Meyendorff writes with care toward developing a comprehensive view of the church universal. Despite claims to universality given by creeds of Western churches, or mandates and charges given to particular sees or scriptures, there is in fact no universality of Christianity without the inclusion of the study of these divers and unique forms of Christian worship and belief. In conjunction with Meyendorff's other writings, a broader view of the church can be gained than is generally available in most popular or scholarly texts on church history.

This is a fairly dense text. For long stretches of the narrative, new characters are introduced with each paragraph, and the narrative flow can become confusing without keeping the various missionaries, bishops, church-planters, emperors and kings straight. Likewise, the geography becomes very confusing, as the text introduces lands and polities generally unfamiliar to Western readers, and Meyendorff strives to maintain historically-contemporary consistency, which means, if a kingdom comes to have a new name during a new period, Meyendorff will then use the new name, but not always with a reference back to the old kingdom, etc.

Plan to read this book twice for true understanding, but much can be gained from one reading, too.

The late Father John Meyendorff was a deeply knowledgeable historian of Christianity, who, unlike most of his peers was Orthodox, but also of the west. Church history has lost a major scholar and writer.
The material in this volume covers a period during which the Roman government at Constantinople sought to unify the church. Unfortunately, many regions (Egypt and Syria, as well as those areas which had never been part of the empire) were hostile to theological developments championed by by the government and to the position - second in the pentarchy of patriarchs, after the pope - that the councils decreed. This estrangement was a major factor in the spread of Islam.
There is also an excellent summary of Christianity in areas that had never been in the empire. (Persian, Caucasian, Armenian, etc.)
This is volume 2 of a series of 6. Volume 1, part 1 Formation And Struggles: The Church Ad 33-450: the Birth of the Church Ad 33-200 (The Church in History) and volume 3, Greek East And Latin West: The Church AD 681-1071 (The Church in History) appeared in late 2007. Volume 4 The Christian East and the Rise of the Papacy: The Church 1071-1453 A.D (Church History, Vol 4) appeared earlier. Volumes 5 and 6 are yet to appear.

The late John Meyendorff wrote perhaps the best general history of late Christian antiquity in "Imperial Unity and Christian Divisions." Reading it will help readers to understand the present Christian world, and dispel the myth that the Christian church was a unified institution, or that the union of church and state was solely the work of Constantine.

The title of the book implies Meyendorff's themes quite well. He talks about imperial unity and Christian divisions. The imperial unity he explores is the idea, present in Christian thought at least since the 2nd century, that the Roman empire had a providential role in the spread of Christianity. "Jesus was born during the reign of Augustus, the one who reduced to uniformity, so to speak, the many kingdoms on earth so that he had a single empire. It would have hindered Jesus' teaching from being spread through the whole world if there had been many kingdoms...everyone would have been compelled to fight in defense of their own country."(Origen- Contra Celsum) In other words, before Constantine's conversion, the emperor was regarded as the providential manager of earthly affairs. After Constantine's conversion, the Roman emperor was looked on as bringing the kingdom of God about. The bishops were then granted imperial posts, and the church in general started to develop a structure mirroring that of the imperial government. The church in general was granted privileged status until Theodosius banned Pagan cults; Justinian stamped out the last vestiges of Paganism in the Roman empire.

The Christian divisions were many. Meyendorff explores the many doctrinal disputes that took place in late antiquity, and in particular those of Eastern Christendom, an area that until his work had largely been neglected in church histories written in English. The sects included arians, monophysites, monothelites, apolloninarian, etc. He details these groups as well as the numerous schisms that took place. The divisiveness was particularly striking in the "three chapters" controversy. Justinian, in order to heal the schism with the monophysites and unite the empire, asked Pope Vigilius to condemn the works of 3 theologians. When he did so, virtually the entire west protested; the North African church excommunicated him, and even the Roman deacons refused to concelebrate with him. So Vigilius retracted his condemnation, and Justinian convoked the Second Council of Constantinople, which excommunicated Vigilius, who then changed his mind again. Justinian then repressed dissent against the council by force, and Constantinople II was not widely recognized as a council in the west until the Middle Ages. Two lessons can be learned from this: many sects claimed to represent true Christology, and no one had the foggiest idea of who was right and who was wrong; the only way that the unity of the empire could be maintained was through the emperor's force.

Another interesting aspect of this book is the history of the development of the papacy. Briefly, the papacy in late antiquity was not what the Vatican (and modern Catholic apologists like Steve Ray) says it was. The popes did not exercise any kind of jurisdiction outside of the Italian suburban dioceses, and even then it was largely to confirm episcopal elections. The turning point was in the 7th and 8th centuries, which in addition to the Islamic invasions in the middle east, saw the iconoclastic controversy in the Byzantine empire and the Lombard invasion of Italy. The Byzantine empire, its hands full with the iconoclast controversy, refused to help Rome against the Lombards. The Pope looked for a new protector, and found one in Charlemagne. "He was now called to save the See of Peter abandoned by its legitimate protectors in Constantinople. But in doing so, he also gradually assumed the imperial legacy itself, in opposition to Byzantium, with the pope becoming a crucial factor in this new version of Romanitas. None of the main actors of this fundamental change of political geography realized the future consequence for the fate of Christendom: the religious and cultural polarization between East and West." (p. 327)

History of Church Dogma
To write a record of these schismatic and tiring years of the Church, when thousands of Egyptians and Syrians paid their life in defense of their miaphysite belief of the hypostatic union of Christ's incarnate nature, the ecclesiastic history writer needs to master Christology. Fr. john, revised and published his other gem "Christ in Eastern Christian Thought", qualifies what he wrote about Christological developments during these centuries.

Setup of the empire and Churches
A systematic account of Church-state developments are narrated masterfully in chapters I,II,and III. In chapters IV you will enjoy understanding the cultural variety of the Greek east and its founding Churches, and their robust theological traditions. Chapter V will give you a glimpse of the Latin west.

Chalcedony and its aftermath
chapter VI recounts in a relatively unbiased tone this critical time of the Church and Empire.The age of Justinian is a pleasure even if of a sour epoch, the modus operandi of Justinian and his ingenuous wife Theodora left their imprint, not only in Ravenna's St. Vitale glorious mosaic, but in the memory of Christianity.
chapter VII explains how Constans II tried to establish Ravenna as the center of Imperial Christianity.

Byzantine Emperor and Pope Gregory
Here you will see the first pontiff Maximus, the Byzantine Emperor striving to keep unity of an empire, in disintegration by applying a "Standard Orthodox" faith from the Henoticon to the three chapters, condemning writings of long parted Church thiologians and Chrismatics and the great 'monophysite Orthodox' contra the diophysite orthodox.

New Vocabulary, Ancient personalities?
Yes, indeed, entertaining and confusing. What about monothelites and Monoenergism, and all the other monos, theopaschites, akoimetai, hesycasts, iconoclasm, and all the other ism's.
Can you distinguish Severus of Antioch from that of Asmonien? Or,all the Al's; Al-Harith, Al-Mundhir,and Al-Noman ;Arab kings who influenced the Christian East?

400 pages of ecclesiastics
This is the most honest concise Eastern Church record that is available at hand, since 'History of Eastern Christianity by the late eminent coptologist Aziz Atiya is out of print. For this critical period, in the life of the Empire and the Orthodox Church doctrine. Meyendorff historical mastery with enlightening analysis of the Holy Church of the East as Neil calls it, its Emperial politics to keep its unity throug an enforced Doctrinal belief. .

Jean Meyendorff
Fr. john, of blessed memory, a master of patristic and dogmatic theology is qualified to give us a skillful tour through the maze of these schismatic centuries. A fellow of the Guggenheim Memorial foundation, Fr. John had an opportunity to perfect his in depth study on the history of the Church during its critical years 450-680.
Dr. Jaroslav Pelikan wrote "There are very few scholars in the East or the West who would be in a position to undertake this assignment. And that is, of course, precisely what John Meyendorff is."

History of Eastern Christianity
The First Seven Ecumenical Councils (325-787): Their History and Theology (Theology and Life Series 21)

The late Father John Meyendorff was a deeply knowledgeable historian of Christianity, who, unlike most of his peers was Orthodox, but also of the west. Church history has lost a major scholar and writer.
The material in this volume covers a period during which the Roman government at Constantinople sought to unify the church. Unfortunately, many regions (Egypt and Syria, as well as those areas which had never been part of the empire) were hostile to theological developments championed by by the government and to the position - second in the pentarchy of patriarchs, after the pope - that the councils decreed belonged to the Patriarch of Constantinople. This estrangement was a major factor in the spread of Islam.
There is also an excellent summary of Christianity in areas that had never been in the empire. (Persian, Caucassian, Armenian, etc.)
It is very unfortunate that volumes 2 and 4 are the only ones to appear of a projected six volume history.
I have been informed that a new editor has been hired and the first part of volume one is to be out in Fall, 2007, with the rest to follow (date not set). Also volumes two (this one) and four The Christian East and the Rise of the Papacy: The Church 1071-1453 A.D (Church History, Vol 4) are scheduled to be reprinted in Winter, 2007.