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Post-Nicene Era:
A.D. 325-451; Council of Nicea to the Council of Chalcedon

We need to begin our post-Nicene section with the time around the Council of Nicea because it changed the course of the history of Christianity.

It began with the Great Persecution in A.D. 303. The Great Persecution came to an end in A.D. 311 with the Edict of Milan, and then Constantine rose to power with the defeat of Maximian in 312.

The Great Judo Throw

I like to call the beginning of the post-Nicene period "the Great Judo Throw." In Judo, a throw is performed by first pushing your opponent, which causes him to push back. When he pushes back, you use his momentum to provide the force to throw him.

The Great Persecution was the push, and Constantine performed the pull and throw. Though I am sure Constantine had no ill intentions, he was used by satan to bring about the fall of the Church.

Constantine

Bust of Constantine the Great

There are a lot of myths about Constantine and the Council of Nicea. The Council of Nicea, however, made only one major change to post-Nicene Christianity. It got the emperor involved in the government of the Church, and the Church involved in government.

It was enough.

Constantine did not become a Christian until he was on his deathbed in 337, but he showed great favor to Christians even while he was the official leader of Roman paganism. As a result, whereas perhaps only 10% of Romans were Christians during the Great Persecution, that number skyrocketed to 90% by the end of Constantine's reign.

The result was the post-Nicene Church was full of unconverted pagans; the change was so dramatic that it can't be overstated.

The evidence I constantly cite for this change is the difference between Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History, covering the history of Christianity from the apostles through A.D. 323, and Socrates Scholasticus' Ecclesiastical History, which takes up where Eusebius left off and covers most of our post-Nicene era.

Eusebius' history is what you would expect in a history of Christianity. It describes great men of God, some doctrinal disputes, the bravery of Christians under persecution, and some heresies that arose.

Socrates' post-Nicene history is a horrifying mixture of violence, ambition, political intrigue, and, except for a few shining examples, has little to do with following Christ

The office of bishop became a powerful political office after the time of Constantine. Before the Great Persecution leaders of the churches were not even paid. They were provided their basic needs along with the widows and orphans. After Constantine, they were on government salary, and such offices were often filled by corrupt and ambitious men.

The Nicene Era and the Arian Controversy

The Arian controversy is really the least notable part of the Nicene era.

Though I thoroughly cover this controversy in the section on the Council of Nicea, I'll give you a brief description here.

Arius was an elder in the church in Alexandria, one of the larger and more notable of the early churches. He believed that Jesus, though a God, was created in the beginning by God in the same way all other creatures were, from nothing.

The early churches didn't have a problem with the idea of Jesus being created. They disliked the idea that he was created from nothing rather than formed from the substance of God.

The Council of Nicea met in A.D. 325 to resolve this dispute, but it was really resolved in advance. The tradition of the apostles was clear, and there was no way for a council of all bishops to agree with Arius. They censured him, and Constantine banned him from the empire (temporarily).

The Council of Nicea was held as much to hold the Roman empire together as it was to hold the Church together. So many Romans had become Christians under Constantine that a Church split could easily become a split in the empire.

Constantine would have none of that. He called the Council and, with the permission of the bishops, attended and presided over it.

The Beginnings of Church Hierarchy

The Council of Nicea did put their stamp upon some church hierarchy for the post-Nicene period. They acknowledged the authority of the bishop of Alexandria over all of Egypt and acknowledged the same authority in the bishops of Rome and Antioch.

They established nothing, however. They simply agreed that the authority those three bishops already had was acceptable.

History of Christianity: The Post-Nicene Era and the Ecumenical Councils

Here we'll address the period from Nicea to the Council of Chalcedon in A.D. 451. Honestly, here we depart from my area of expertise for a thousand years. The sidebar is worth reading. You'll get an idea how history works.

What I'm telling you from the post-Nicene period until the Reformation is true and accurate, but I got it all secondhand. I'm not a professional historian. I can only study history part-time. It's impossible for me to read 2,000 years of original sources, though I'd love to do that.

I hope that in the previous sections you can feel my passion for early Christianity. I've read and re-read those authors, and I feel like I know those guys. I understand what was important to them because it comes across in their writings.

So here is information—good and accurate information—on the post-Nicene period, but you'll get a feel from the books I recommend that I will not be able to reproduce.

The Ecumenical Councils

The post-Nicene era is most noted for its ecumenical councils.

To most historians, this was the period when the Church settled the matter of who Jesus Christ was in relation to divinity, to the Father, and to his divine and human natures.

However, I'm no fan of the councils. How could I be?

I've told you already that many of the post-Nicene bishops were ambitious men who obtained their position out of a desire for power. Gathering a bunch of politicians with competing agendas is no way to decide Church policy or doctrine.

I've also told you that the ante-Nicene churches had no overarching hierarchy. The churches were independent. I believe it should have stayed that way.

The Council of Nicea settled nothing. Though that council decided in favor of the historical doctrine of the Church, doctrine means nothing if it's not accompanied by holy living produced by the Spirit of God himself.

Arius didn't quit after Nicea. Eventually Constantine sent him back to Alexandria to be restored to the church there against their wishes. He began the trip, but died under suspicious circumstances during a step in Jerusalem.

Eusebius of Nicomedia (not to be confused with Eusebius the historian), who had recanted of Arian doctrine after being banished at Nicea, went right back to championing the Arian position as soon as Constantine died. Eusebius was a relative of the emperor's family, and he was able to influence Constantine's son, Constantius. Constantius then favored Arianism, and he appointed Arian bishops and removed Nicene bishops throughout his life.

Emperors after Constantius did the same, depending on which party they favored.

The issue wasn't settled for decades. Often during the post-Nicene period there were competing churches in the same city, one with an Arian bishop and one with a Nicene bishop. The situation was very sad, and often violence ensued.

A decree by Emperor Theodosius I in A.D. 383 did finally settle the issue. The end of the Arian Controversy is often attributed to the Council of Constantinople of 381, but that's not accurate (reference coming soon).

More councils followed to address "the Christological Controversy." The Council of Ephesus in A.D. 431 addressed Nestorianism, the idea that in Christ there are two natures and two persons, one human and one divine. Twenty years later the Council of Chalcedon condemned monophysism, the teaching that Christ had only one nature, a divine one.

Those are called ecumenical, but they led to permanent division during the post-Nicene period that has not been rectified to this day. A bishop named Nestorius was excommunicated at the Council of Ephesus and much of the church in Syria left the fellowship of catholic Churches at that time. Their descendants still exist and are known as the Church of the East and are often still called Nestorians.

, though their bishop still attended the council of Chalcedon, and some middle Eastern bishops were excommunicated at Chalcedon.

The ecumenical councils that happened during this period are:

1. First Council of Nicea: A.D. 325
2. First Council of Constantinople: A.D. 381
3. Council of Ephesus: A.D. 431
4. Council of Chalcedon: A.D. 451

Church Fathers

This was also the period of some of the most famous of the church fathers. Augustine and Jerome belong to this period, as do Basil the Great, John Chrysostom ("Golden Tongue") and two Gregories: Gregory of Nyssa and Gregory Nazianzen.

These fathers were noted for their theology. Theology became a much greater emphasis during the post-Nicene era. One historian writes:

That shift of emphasis from conduct to belief characterized post-Nicene Christianity. Ante-Nicene Christianity was quite the opposite.

Those "brief and concise utterances" were commands that Christians were to live by, not fight over.

These things were what mattered to the ante-Nicene churches, not creeds to argue over.

Monks and Monasticism

Monasticism first arose during the post-Nicene period. As unconverted Roman citizens flocked into the Church, those who wanted to completely devote themselves to Christ found it easier to just get away.

Icon of St. Anthony, the first desert monk

The first monks are often called "the desert fathers." St. Anthony is the first and most famous of them, living a secluded life in the wilderness in Egypt.

Philip Schaff writes of these early monks:

What sort of people were attracted to this life? People of all sorts. Schaff continues:

Again, we'll go further into this when I can put up a page on St. Anthony and hopefully on an even earlier hermit whose history is "lost in the mist of fable," Paul of Thebes.

A Summation of the Post-Nicene Period

The Post-Nicene period must be best remembered for the influx of society into the Church, the general councils and great theologians, and the rise of monasticism.

I call the post-Nicene period the fall of the Church.The holiness, unity, love, and testimony to the world were gone. Yes, men like Augustine, who maintained a holy and humble life even as a powerful and respected bishop, and St. Anthony, whose life of self-denial made a powerful impact during those rare times when he was seen in public, had powerful and positive influence on the people around them. For the most part, however, the Church had degenerated into a national religion.

The post-Nicene era, more than anything, was preparation for the Dark Ages. The true church—the gathered people of God, forming a new society in the midst of the corrupt society of the world—became extremely difficult to find.