Church History: Examining the Creeds and Confessions of the Church Through the Ages and Why They Matter.
Lesson 8: The Middle Ages (AD600 to the Reformation)
Tonight, we are going to cover a very large portion of history, the period normally referred to as The Middle Ages.
This lesson covers a thousand years of church history, so there will be much more that is left unsaid than is said.
The reason for covering this entire period in one lesson is because it represents a bridge between the great ecumenical councils of the first few centuries of the church and the reformation, which was a revival of solid biblical thinking and scholarship.
We are going to examine four major developments which occurred during this period.
The Rise in Roman Catholic Theology
There have been false teachings which have attempted to invade the church from its inception; however, none has been so pervasive and destructive as the exaltation of the Pope.
The first time the title Pope was given was to Boniface III, by Emperor Phocas in AD607.
The Word Pope, from the Latin word Papa and the Greek Pappas, is a child’s word used to describe a father.
The Bishop of Rome was consider the Universal Father of the Church.
There are other titles which the Pope has been given, all of which demonstrate various degrees of blasphemy.
Vicar of Christ - Vicar, or vicarious, means one in the place of, or a substitute. The problem is that there is already one on earth who is in the place of Christ, and it is not the Pope. It is the Holy Spirit of God. John 14:16-17 “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, [17] even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”
Pontifex Maximus - This title has a long history which goes back to the College of Pontiffs in Ancient Rome. Pontiff means bridge-builder, and this term means “greatest bridge builder”. This is not one of the Pope’s official titles, but it is used on buildings, coins and monuments of the Pope. This title can be associated with the term High Priest, a title which is used in the New Testament exclusively of Christ.
So, along with the title “Father”, we see the Pope also receives titles which belong to the other two members of the Trinity.
There is a very real sense which the Pope proclaims himself as Deity, by accepting the titles reserved for Deity.
NOTE: There are a lot of folks who really like the new Pope, exclaiming his virtue of humility. The problem is that no man can claim true humility who would allow himself to share the titles of God.
During the middle ages, the authority of the Pope is expanded greatly, as are many other false teachings of Rome.
Here are just a few teachings which were established during this period.
Prayers to Mary, Saints and Angels AD600
Worship of the Cross, Images and Relics AD786
Use of Holy Water blessed by a Priest AD850
The Praying of the Rosary AD1090
The Sale of Indulgences AD1190
The Doctrine of Transubstantiation AD1215
It is the doctrine of Transubstantiation that truly demonstrates the dangerous doctrines which are contained in the church of Rome.
Transubstantiation is the belief that the bread and wine of the Eucharist literally become the Body and Blood of Christ.
This, in and of itself, is not the most repugnant part of the teaching.
What makes it so vile is that the reason for this change of substance is that Christ must be perpetually sacrificed for the sins of His people.
In the Catholic Catechism, there is a definition of the Eucharist:
“The Mass is...the sacrificial memorial in which the sacrifice of the cross is perpetuated (1382).”
“The Eucharist is thus a sacrifice because it re-presents [makes present] the sacrifice of the cross...and because it applies its fruit...the forgiveness of the sins we daily commit. The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice: The victim is one and the same. In this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the Mass, the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and is offered in an unbloody manner (1366,1367). It is the seed of eternal life and the power of resurrection (1524).”
In the book, The Faith of Millions, Father John O’Brien explains what the Catholics believes happens during the Mass.
“When the priest pronounces the tremendous words of consecration, he reaches up into heaven, brings Christ down from His throne and places Him upon our altar, to be offered up again as the victim for the sins of man. It is a greater power than that of monarch and emperors. It is greater than of saints and angels, greater than that of seraphim and cherubim. Indeed it is greater even than the power of the Virgin Mary. While the Virgin Mary was the human agency by which Christ became incarnate a single time, the priest brings Christ down from heaven and renders him present on our altar as the eternal victim for the sins of man not once, but a thousand times. The priest speaks and lo, Christ the eternal omnipotent God bows his head in humble obedience to the priest's command. Of what sublime dignity is the office of the Christian priest, who is thus privileged to act as ambassador and Vice Regent of Christ on earth. He continues the assertion ministry of Christ. He teaches the faithful with the authority of Christ. He pardons the penitent sinner with the power of Christ. He offers up again the same sacrifice of adoration and atonement which Christ offered on Calvary. No wonder that the name which spiritual writers are especially fond of applies to the priest, is that of Alter Christus, for the priest is and should be another Christ.”
Beloved, such words are blasphemy... and yet, believed by millions.
Before moving on, I want to address another historical problem which arose in regard to Roman Catholicism: The Rise of Political Power.
On Christmas day, in the year 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne as the Roman Empire, effectively establishing the Holy Roman Empire.
Charlemagne, the Frankish King, was actually very surprised by this event.
The story goes that Charlemagne was knelt before the Pope preparing to receive the Eucharist when the Pope produced the crown and placed it on his head.
This was a political move which did not go unnoticed by Charlemagne himself.
He knew that the one who crowns a King is, at least in a sense, establishing his own authority over that king.
This would eventually lead to division between Emperors and Popes, both offices claiming to have legitimate authority over the other.
There were basically two parties, the Papists and the Imperialists.
In regard to Emperor Charlemagne, the point was made that the Pope was the “Vicar of Christ” but that the Emperor was the “Vicar of God”, and thus had the higher authority.
One could argue that the Pope really had final authority because he had the power to excommunicate the Emperor from the church, which would separate him from the Eucharist, which was believed to contain the forgiveness required for entrance into Heaven.
So much power was invested in the office of Pope, and much corruption came as a result.
Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
It was this corruption and hunger for power which would also lead to the Great Schism which occurred in AD1054.
If one discusses the divide between the Easter and Western church - what we would call today the Western (Roman Catholic) Church and Eastern (Orthodox) Church - the issue of the Filioque Clause will come up.
This was the clause in the Nicene Creed which stated that the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father “and the son”.
This clause was not in the original Nicene Creed, but was later added by the Western Church, even though it was rejected by the Eastern Church.
This may seem like a small thing to divide over, but we should consider two things.
Doctrinal matters are serious, and the nature of God had been a point of serious debate for a thousand years by this point; men had been excommunicated for their denials of God’s nature. It makes sense that the church would take it serious enough to divide over it.
This divide was a long-time coming, because of the desire of the Western Church to centralize power in Rome. What made the Filioque Clause such a serious issue was that the decision was made for its inclusion without seeking the approval or input of the Eastern Church, which was considered to be a serious insult.
There were other issues which brought about this division, such as the use of Leavened bread in the Eucharist, the place of Constantinople among the Pentarchy (Five Major Episcopal Sees), and the universal jurisdiction of the Pope.
This was a serious church split based on serious differences, not the least of which was the position and power of the Pope - the perpetual achilles heel of Rome.
There were so many serious political issues occurring during this time, and some of them were also related to our next point.
The Spread of Islam
Prior to September 11, 2001, most Americans had no understanding of the influence of Islamic culture in the world, or even in the United States.
Since then, we have been exposed to much more of that culture than we ever had before.
Words like “Sunni” and “Shiʼite”, “Madrasa” and “Shariʼa Law” have become very common on the news and in print.
NOTE: September 11, 2001 also had a profound impact on my ministry because it was the Sunday following that I preached my first sermon.
Islam began with the preaching of a man named Muhammad in the 7th century.
Muhammad was born in A.D. 570 in a place called Mecca, which is in Saudi Arabia.
In 610, when he was 40 years old, Muhammad (while sitting in a cave) received what he would later describe as the first of his many visions from Allah (the muslim name for God).
In 612, he began to preach and started accumulating for himself converts.
He and his converts, though many, were effectively run out of Mecca - and he was forced to flee to another city called Medina.
Soon, a great battle erupted between the followers of Muhammad and the people of Mecca, and the followers of Muhammad conquered the city, effectively reclaiming it for Islamic rule.
After this conquest, Muhammad’s power would extend over most of Arabia, and he would be known as not only a powerful religious leader, but also a powerful governmental ruler as well - with the worship of Allah being greatly enforced.
Muhammad was, and still is, considered by the Islamic people as being the greatest prophet God has given to mankind.
The words Muhammad spoke were considered to be the prophetic utterances of God - and they would eventually form the Muslim Holy Book called the Qur’an.
The writings of the Qur’an would become the basis for the Islamic religion - and it is believed by Muslims to be the Word of God.
SIDENOTE: Muhammad was effectively illiterate, so he had his disciples write down his words.The term Qur’an actually means “the reciting” or “the reading”.
Evolution of Islamic Teaching
There is an interesting change which occurred during the life of Muhammed.
In the beginning, he was more willing to coexist alongside Christians and Jews.
However, as his followers and power grew, there became less tolerance in his teachings.
In Islamic teaching, later revelation has the power to come in and correct earlier revelation.
It is Mohammed's later revelations which encourage defeating the unbelievers (infidels) which are used to encourage people to kill in the name of Allah.
It was the rise in Islam that would eventually lead to the Crusades
Of all of church history, there is not a time which is more vilified by those who oppose Christianity tan the Crusades.
This stands to reason because there were many atrocities which were perpetuated by the church during this period.
There was great brutality demonstrated and many people were forced to “convert” to Christ under the threat of the sword.
We would no more support this than we would support the current behavior of Muslims who seek to do the same thing in the name of Allah.
The Crusades were a series of battles fought by the church to reclaim the land in the Middle East that had been conquered by Muslims.
QUOTE: “Got Questions” The crusades were responses to Muslim invasions on what was once land occupied primarily by Christians. From approximately A.D. 200 to 900, the land of Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Syria, and Turkey was inhabited primarily by Christians. Once Islam became powerful, Muslims invaded these lands and brutally oppressed, enslaved, deported, and even murdered the Christians living in those lands. In response, the Roman Catholic Church and “Christian” kings/emperors from Europe ordered the crusades to reclaim the land the Muslims had taken.”
It has been pointed out that by the time of the Crusades, all of the churches mentioned in Revelation - the area of Asia Minor - were in Muslim controlled lands.
We need to point out that the idea of conquering land in the name of Christ through war and violence is not in line with biblical teaching.
In addition, there is no justification in murdering civilians and destroying cities in the name of Jesus.
However, in God’s providence these battles probably did quell what would have been a major Muslim expansion.
QUOTE: Pastor Brian Borgman: “Say what we will about the Crusades, but had they not taken place there is a chance we could all be speaking Arabic right now.”
Again, I am not saying the crusades were good.
I am simply agreeing with Joseph who said in Genesis, what men mean for evil God can mean for good. (Gen. 50:20)
With all of the negative which occurred during this time, it is no wonder why some have labeled this the “Dark Ages”. However, we mustn’t think that there was total darkness...
The Lights in the Darkness
The Missionaries
Two missionaries of this period worth our attention are Patrick and Boniface.
Most people are familiar with the celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, but few are familiar with his life and ministry.
He is credited with taking the Gospel to Ireland, having been kidnapped by Celtic raiders at the age of 16, and spending several years as a slave in Ireland.
After escaping back home to Britain, he studied to become a bishop in the church and then returned to Ireland to bring the Gospel to Celtic people.
He is responsible for taking the Gospel to tens of thousands of people.
The second was a man named Boniface
There were actually many who had the name, including a few Popes; his real name was Winfrid, but the title Boniface means “doer of good”.
Boniface was a missionary responsible for taking the Gospel to the Frankish Empire and is known as “The Apostle to the Germans”.
There is an interesting story about the life of Boniface.
The people he was trying to evangelize would all gather to worship around an Oak, which had been dedicated to the pagan god Thor.
So Boniface and his associates went to chop down the tree.
The people were amazed and fearful of what would become of Boniface, and as he was chopping a wind blew and the tree fell under its own weight.
When no divine punishment befell Boniface, the people converted to Christianity.
Wood from the Oak was even reported to have been used to build a church.
These are just two men who were used to spread the Gospel far and wide during the Middle Ages.
The Dissidents
Long before the Reformers would ever live, there were groups who took issue with the excesses and the false theology of Rome.
Time does not permit a proper recounting of these groups, so I will simply give a few to demonstrate that there were people willing to stand for truth against a world filled with error - God’s remnant never ceased to be.
The Waldensians - Translated the Bible into the common tongue (which was against the Law) and they believed and taught doctrines similar to what would be later coined The Doctrines of Grace.
The Paulicians - They refused to affirm Maryology and they denied baptismal regeneration. They also believed it to be their duty to live holy lives, preach the Gospel, and raise children in accord with Scriptural principles.
There are other groups of dissidents, and many evil things are written about them.
But most of those negative writing come from the Catholic Church.
As one pastor noted, to ask the Catholic Church to describe the ministry of their dissidents would be like asking Annas and Caiphas to describe the ministry of Christ!
CONCLUSION: The evils and excesses of the Roman Catholic Church and the Holy Roman Empire are well documented and very sad.
They are often used by unbelievers to denounce Christianity in full.
But certainly the Roman Catholic Church which arose during this age - and still exists today - was not the true expression of the Church of Jesus Christ.
The church of the Middle Ages was in desperate need of Reformation, which came in the great revival of teaching beginning with men like John Wycliffe, the morning star of the Reformation.
We will see him and many others in our next lesson.
