Bible Students

A reflection based on “The Story of Christian Theology” by Olson (chapters 16-20)

Chapter sixteen covers the fallout from church conflict at Chalcedon. The church made a major break between the East and West at this point. The western church emphasized ecclesiological unity at the cost of a well-speculated theology. The eastern church emphasized speculation on the character of Christ at the expense of uniform theology across the churches. The emperor Justinian commanded that all bishops of the East and West affirm the Chalcedonian council. It was the character and nature of Jesus that was truly at risk in the contemporary historical heresies, so Chalcedon (and by extension, Nicaea) was an important landmark council in unifying the theological stance of the church. I believe the uniformity over this council is a good model for churches and denominations today, which are able to examine the contemporary heresies and make well-articulated stances. Protestant Christianity has much to glean from the ecumenical councils, which are models for good and bad reactions to the culture’s contemporary heresies. As a Christian of the 20th century, I can see the early church’s heresies and use the methods the early church used to address them then, in order to address them today. Additionally, being aware of the history of heretical thought, I can preemptively protect new converts in foreign cultures, especially, from wolves who come afterwards to steal the sheep away. 

The next chapter, seventeen, discusses Augustine. Augustine was a great thinker of his time. He was raised as a Christian, but left the faith as a young adult to follow paganism. Eventually, Augustine converted to Neoplatonism, which gave Augustine the door to Christianity. Ambrose, a later mentor of Augustine, demonstrated publicly that Christianity was an appropriate worldview for intellectuals. He was something of an evangelist or teacher. Missionaries in non-Christian countries may have something to learn and follow from Ambrose’s example of public proclamation of the attractive qualities of the gospel. The gospel is attractive and offensive, and these two qualities should not be taken away from each other. Every culture will see the offense and attraction of the gospel if it is presented well. Augustine became a bishop in North Africa and entered into much discourse with the Manichaeans. Augustine was a philosophical mastermind. Contrary to the most popular position today, Augustine did not believe in seven-day literal creation. Additionally, Augustine had much discourse with Pelagius, the most important heretic of Augustine’s time. Pelagianism was one of the most prevalent and dangerous ideologies to infiltrate Christianity around that time period. Augustine believed to deny the Trinity was to lose salvation, but to try to fully understand the Trinity was to lose one’s mind. He was a constant antagonist to the ideas of Pelagius. He also believed Christians were free to take pagan ideas as far as they affirm the true God. Donatism, a semi-cult in North Africa, had been kicking all priests from their sect for any sort of sin committed, and saw the church as only including the near-perfect Christians. Augustine argued against this, making the differentiation between the physical and spiritual church, the tares and the wheat. He believed even children who are baptized die to sin. However, Pelagius rejected the doctrine of original sin and believed one could choose to never sin. He believed people could obey God in all circumstances if they chose to. Augustine was one of the most influential figures in the western church, paralleling the influence of all of the Cappadocian fathers in the eastern church. 

Chapter eighteen covers the western church before the great Schism. For six hundred years, the western church depended on the writings of Augustine. The heresy of the time was led by Cassian and the Massilians, who taught that only if humans took one step toward God would He take the rest of the steps toward man. However, the theologians of the time reasoned that God has compassion on us first, and we step toward God after. The senate of Orange finally condemned semi-pelagianism around this time. Many bishops, however continued to practice semi-pelagianism. Vigilance in the church for other churches is essential to the growth of the geographical church. If I were to help plant churches on another continent, continuously checking in on their theological health would be an essential part of my job. One of the theologians of the time who depended on Augustine was Gregory the Great. Even though he depended much on the theological prowess of Augustine, he was still known as the Great. There is much in this for pastors who attempt to reinvent the wheel in terms of theology generally, and ecclesiology more specifically. Gregory the Great was one of the only four catholic doctors of the church.  

On the other side of Christianity was the eastern church, covered by chapter nineteen. Origen was an extremely influential theologian in the eastern tradition. The Orthodox church believes heavily in interpreting issues through the lens of tradition. Ironically, neither the Catholic or Orthodox view the other as catholic (ecclesiological structure) and orthodox (theological understanding). The Orthodox did not focus heavily on systematic theology, but instead focused more on orthopraxy. Even heroes of the faith in the East did not write theological books, but rather lived the faith well and went to their martyrdoms with confidence in Jesus. An Orthodox theological conversation was the nature of Christ’s natures. The conversation at the time had reached a conclusion that “what the Son had not assumed, He has not healed.” If Jesus did not assume humanity, He did not heal humanity. Worship of icons was not allowed. Iconography was a major industry among monks and laypeople alike. John of Damascus said Jesus could be represented by icons, and this was confirmed by Nicaea II, the last of the seven Orthodox ecumenical councils. Personally, I believe there is a right time and place for the use of iconography, especially in cultures other than America. I would not be theologically opposed if the next major theological shift in the West involved the addition of icons as commonplace.  Chapter twenty explains the division between the previous two chapters: The Great Schism. As seen, the West and East churches had become increasingly separated from each other. The opportunity to understand each other was gone. Churches were split between the East and West. By this time, the ecclesiological expectations were entirely different. They continuously quoted their own church fathers and not the others, and marked the other church as heretical. One major point of separation was the spiration of the Spirit from either the Father or the Father and Son. However, there is truth in both saying, depending on the context used. This is an important point to remember for understanding theology: Theologically-loaded sentences can be true in some circumstances and false in others.