A series of ancient liturgies #2: A Eucharistic rite of the 4th Century
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In the beginning of the 4th century the Christian church was illegal, had no official scriptures, used a simple statement of belief that was attributed to the apostles (the Apostles Creed), and met cautiously in private homes to celebrate and deepen their devotion to Jesus.
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Lections
used for this liturgy are for the 7th Sunday of Epiphany, Year A,
NRSV, revised Common Lectionary.
In the beginning of the 4th century the Christian church was illegal, had no official scriptures, used a simple statement of belief that was attributed to the apostles (the Apostles Creed), and met cautiously in private homes to celebrate and deepen their devotion to Jesus.
It is almost impossible to imagine the change that the Christian Church underwent in the first years of the 4th century. As the four sections of the Roman Empire were forced to unite under the rule of the ambitious Emperor Constantine, the church went from the status of being illegal and persecuted to becoming the officially established church of the emperor . . . and all that within about 10 or 12 years.
At the time, most thought of that as a good thing. Christians could come out of the closet and were given more freedom to proclaim their faith. They no longer lived in fear of arrest or property loss, but this change also changed the character of the church in some unfortunate ways as well.
Constantine had his own personal agenda, which was aimed at unifying the life of the empire under his domination.
For him, the church replaced the “Emperor Cult”, which put the emperor in the place of God (heresy and treason were one crime), and he promoted the idea of “one God, one empire, one church, and one emperor.” He promoted the Christian Church to further his ambition, built large churches, gave government contracts to Christian businessmen, and, in time, largely made the church dependent on the emperor. Where the church was once persecuted, now it became a smart move to become a Christian.
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