Edict of Thessalonica

Last updated

The Edict of Thessalonica (also known as Cunctos populos), issued on 27 February AD 380 by Theodosius I, made Nicene Christianity [note 1] the state church of the Roman Empire. [2] [3] [4] It condemned other Christian creeds such as Arianism as heresies of "foolish madmen," and authorized their punishment. [5]

Contents

This edict, addressed to the inhabitants of Constantinople whom Theodosius wished to pacify in order to make the city his imperial residence, constitutes the first known secular law which includes in its preamble a clear definition of what a Christian Roman ruler considers as religious orthodoxy, opening the way of repression against dissidents qualified as "heretics". The Edict of Thessalonica was subsequently incorporated into Book XVI of the Theodosian Code and was the milestone of the official Christianization of the Roman Empire.

Background

In 313 the emperor Constantine I, together with his eastern counterpart Licinius, issued the Edict of Milan, which granted religious toleration and freedom for persecuted Christians. By 325 Arianism, a school of christology which contended that Christ did not possess the divine essence of the Father but was rather a primordial creation and an entity subordinate to God, had become sufficiently widespread and controversial in Early Christianity that Constantine called the Council of Nicaea in an attempt to end the controversy by establishing an empire-wide, i.e., "ecumenical" orthodoxy. The council produced the original text of the Nicene Creed, which rejected the Arian confession and upheld that Christ is "true God" and "of one essence with the Father." [6]

However, the strife within the Church did not end with Nicaea, and the Nicene credal formulation remained contentious even among anti-Arian churchmen. Constantine, while urging tolerance, began to think that he had come down on the wrong side, and that the Nicenes—with their fervid, reciprocal persecution of Arians—were actually perpetuating strife within the Church. Constantine was not baptized until he was near death (337), choosing a bishop moderately sympathetic to Arius, Eusebius of Nicomedia, to perform the baptism. [6]

Constantine's son and successor in the eastern empire, Constantius II was partial to the Arian party, and even exiled pro-Nicene bishops. Constantius' successor Julian (later called "The Apostate" by Christian writers) was the only emperor after the conversion of Constantine to reject Christianity, attempting to fragment the Church and erode its influence by encouraging a revival of religious diversity, calling himself a "Hellene" and supporting forms of Hellenistic religion. He championed the traditional religious cultus of Rome as well as Judaism, and furthermore declared toleration for all the various unorthodox Christian sects and schismatic movements. Julian's successor Jovian, a Christian, reigned for only eight months and never entered the city of Constantinople. He was succeeded in the east by Valens, an Arian. [6]

By 379, when Valens was succeeded by Theodosius I, Arianism was widespread in the eastern half of the Empire, while the west had remained steadfastly Nicene. Theodosius, who had been born in Hispania, was himself a Nicene Christian and very devout. In August, his western counterpart Gratian promoted persecution of heretics in the west. [6]

Content

The Edict of Thessalonica was jointly issued by Theodosius I, emperor of the East, Gratian, emperor of the West, and Gratian's junior co-ruler Valentinian II, on 27 February 380. [4] The edict came after Theodosius had been baptized by the bishop Ascholius of Thessalonica upon suffering a severe illness in that city. [7]

IMPPP. GR(ATI)ANUS, VAL(ENTINI)ANUS ET THE(O)D(OSIUS) AAA. EDICTUM AD POPULUM VRB(IS) CONSTANTINOP(OLITANAE).

Cunctos populos, quos clementiae nostrae regit temperamentum, in tali volumus religione versari, quam divinum Petrum apostolum tradidisse Romanis religio usque ad nunc ab ipso insinuata declarat quamque pontificem Damasum sequi claret et Petrum Aleksandriae episcopum virum apostolicae sanctitatis, hoc est, ut secundum apostolicam disciplinam evangelicamque doctrinam patris et filii et spiritus sancti unam deitatem sub pari maiestate et sub pia trinitate credamus. Hanc legem sequentes Christianorum catholicorum nomen iubemus amplecti, reliquos vero dementes vesanosque iudicantes haeretici dogmatis infamiam sustinere ‘nec conciliabula eorum ecclesiarum nomen accipere’, divina primum vindicta, post etiam motus nostri, quem ex caelesti arbitro sumpserimus, ultione plectendos.

DAT. III Kal. Mar. THESSAL(ONICAE) GR(ATI)ANO A. V ET THEOD(OSIO) A. I CONSS.

EMPERORS GRATIAN, VALENTINIAN AND THEODOSIUS AUGUSTI . EDICT TO THE PEOPLE OF CONSTANTINOPLE.
It is our desire that all the various nations which are subject to our Clemency and Moderation, should continue to profess that religion which was delivered to the Romans by the divine Apostle Peter, as it has been preserved by faithful tradition, and which is now professed by the Pontiff Damasus and by Peter, Bishop of Alexandria, a man of apostolic holiness. According to the apostolic teaching and the doctrine of the Gospel, let us believe in the one deity of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, in equal majesty and in a holy Trinity. We order the followers of this law to embrace the name of Catholic Christians; but as for the others, since, in our judgment they are foolish madmen, we decree that they shall be branded with the ignominious name of heretics, and shall not presume to give to their conventicles the name of churches. They will suffer in the first place the chastisement of the divine condemnation and in the second the punishment of our authority which in accordance with the will of Heaven we shall decide to inflict.
GIVEN IN THESSALONICA ON THE THIRD DAY FROM THE CALENDS OF MARCH, DURING THE FIFTH CONSULATE OF GRATIAN AUGUSTUS AND FIRST OF THEODOSIUS AUGUSTUS [8]

—  Codex Theodosianus , xvi.1.2

Importance

The edict was followed in 381 by the First Council of Constantinople, which affirmed the Nicene Symbolum and gave final form to the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. [9]

The edict was issued under the influence of Ascholius, and thus of Pope Damasus I, who had appointed him. It re-affirmed a single expression of the Apostolic Faith as legitimate in the Roman Empire, "catholic" (that is, universal) [10] [11] and "orthodox" (that is, correct in teaching). [12]

The Nicene Creed states: "We believe in one God, the Father Almighty ... And in one Lord Jesus Christ." It declares Jesus Christ be "consubstantial (homo-ousios) with the Father," which may be interpreted as numerical or as qualitative sameness (See Homoousion). The creed adds that we also believe in the Holy Spirit but does not say that the Holy Spirit is homo-ousios with the Father. The Edict of Thessalonica goes much further and declares "the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit" to be "one deity ... in equal majesty and in a holy Trinity."

Enforcement of the Edict

If Theodosius prescribed that the edict be read to the people of the capital, [13] it did not seem to have received any immediate or concrete application in Constantinople to the point that one could wonder if it had ever been published insofar [14] as there was no official method at the time allowing communication to the population. [15] Moreover, the edict only describes vague sanctions against offenders, of a symbolic nature, evoking "divine condemnation" and "ignominy", without these threats being accompanied by any specific provision, not even that of chasing heretics from their places of worship. [16] As such, the edict appears to have had no immediate effect. [13]

After a few campaigns against the barbarian troops, Theodosius returned in September 380 to Thessaloniki where he fell seriously ill to the point that people feared for his life. [17] Healed, he was baptized by the local Nicene bishop Ascholius, probably around October, [18] then he went to Constantinople to make his solemn entry on November 24. [17] The edict was implemented only when Theodosius took possession of the capital, whose prestige he needed as he consolidated his still fragile hold on the former territories of Valens. [19]

Barely two days after his arrival, faced with his refusal to publicly confess the creed of Nicea, [20] Theodosius deposed the popular Acacian bishop of the city, Demophilus, whom he drove out of the walls of the city and replaced with Gregory of Nazianzus [21] not without having had to rely on his troops to curb popular discontent. [22] He then placed members of the Nicaean party—still a minority in Constantinople—in key positions in the clergy, [23] entrusting them with all the churches in the capital [24] and withdrawing their places of worship from the dissidents of Arian allegiance to whom he wasted no time in suppressing freedom of assembly. [23]

Radically settling the problems of the Church of Constantinople in this way, and probably advised in this direction by his Western entourage, [25] Theodosius sought, rather than adherence to a profession of faith, to attach the loyalty of the Nicene clergy to his personality and his regime [19] in order to maintain a certain stability in his capital, necessary to ensure an imperial residence there. [25] He nevertheless tolerated Demophilus and his supporters continuing to practice their worship outside the city—probably more out of political prudence than out of a spirit of doctrinal tolerance [26] —which the Acacian bishop continued to do for nearly twenty years without worrying. [27]

A few months later, on January 10, 381, Theodosius promulgates a rescript in Constantinople, [28] addressed to the praetorian prefect of Illyricum Eutropius, whose provisions apply more harshly to heretics throughout the region—at least in its cities [23] —echo the problems debated in the East and, referring this time explicitly to the Nicene creed, are much more drastic than those of the previous Theodosian edict: [29] heretics—like the explicitly named Photinians, Arians and Eunomians [30] —are to be expelled from the cities and their churches entrusted to elements who profess the Nicene faith. [31]

After the edict in February 380, Theodosius spent a great deal of energy trying to suppress all non-Nicene forms of Christianity, especially Arianism, and in establishing Nicene orthodoxy throughout his realm: [32]

In January of the following year (381), another edict forbade the heretics to settle in the cities. [9] [33]

In the same year, after the reformulation of the Nicene doctrine by the Council of Constantinople [...] the procouncil of Asia was ordered to deliver all churches to these bishops 'who profess that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one majesty and virtue'. [34] [35]

In 383, the Emperor ordered the various non-Nicene sects (Arians, Anomoeans, Macedonians, and Novatians) to submit written creeds to him, which he prayerfully reviewed and then burned, save for that of the Novatians, who also supported Nicene Christianity. The other sects lost the right to meet, ordain priests, or spread their beliefs. [36]

The execution of Priscillian and his followers may be cited as typical of the treatment of heretics conditions in that time. In 384, Priscillian was condemned by the synod of Bordeaux, found guilty of magic in a secular court, and put to death by the sword with a number of his followers. [37] [38]

Theodosius forbade heretics to reside within Constantinople, and in 392 and 394 confiscated their places of worship. [39]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The Edict is the first which definitely introduces catholic orthodoxy as the established religion of the Roman State. It marks the end of the fourth-century religious controversy on the Trinity, occasioned by Arianism and calling forth definitions of orthodox dogma by the First Council of Nicaea (325) and the First Council of Constantinople (381). Acknowledgment of the true doctrine of the Trinity is made the test of State recognition. The citation of the Roman See as the yardstick of correct belief is significant; bracketing of the name of the Patriarch of Alexandria with that of the Pope was due to the Egyptian See's stalwart defence of the Trinitarian position, particularly under Athanasius of Alexandria. The last sentence of the Edict indicates that the Emperors contemplate the use of physical force in the service of orthodoxy; this is the first recorded instance of such a departure. [1]

Related Research Articles

Arianism is a Christological doctrine considered heretical by all mainstream branches of Christianity. It is first attributed to Arius, a Christian presbyter who preached and studied in Alexandria, Egypt. Arian theology holds that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was begotten by God the Father with the difference that the Son of God did not always exist but was begotten/made before time by God the Father; therefore, Jesus was not coeternal with God the Father, but nonetheless Jesus began to exist outside time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Council of Nicaea</span> Council of Christian bishops in Nicaea, 325

The First Council of Nicaea was a council of Christian bishops convened in the Bithynian city of Nicaea by the Roman Emperor Constantine I. The Council of Nicaea met from May until the end of July 325.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Council of Constantinople</span> 381 AD council of Christian bishops

The First Council of Constantinople was a council of Christian bishops convened in Constantinople in AD 381 by the Roman Emperor Theodosius I. This second ecumenical council, an effort to attain consensus in the church through an assembly representing all of Christendom, except for the Western Church, confirmed the Nicene Creed, expanding the doctrine thereof to produce the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, and dealt with sundry other matters. It met from May to July 381 in the Church of Hagia Irene and was affirmed as ecumenical in 451 at the Council of Chalcedon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theodosius I</span> Roman emperor from 379 to 395

Theodosius I, also called Theodosius the Great, was a Roman emperor from 379 to 395. During his reign, he succeeded in a crucial war against the Goths, as well as in two civil wars, and was instrumental in establishing the creed of Nicaea as the orthodox doctrine for Christianity. Theodosius was the last emperor to rule the entire Roman Empire before its administration was permanently split between the West and East.

The 380s decade ran from January 1, 380, to December 31, 389.

Year 380 (CCCLXXX) was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Augustus and Augustus. The denomination 380 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constantinian shift</span> Political and theological changes

Constantinian shift is used by some theologians and historians of antiquity to describe the political and theological changes that took place during the 4th-century under the leadership of Emperor Constantine the Great. Rodney Clapp claims that the shift or change started in the year 200. The term was popularized by the Mennonite theologian John H. Yoder. He claims that the change was not just freedom from persecution but an alliance between the State and the Church that led to a kind of Caesaropapism. The claim that there ever was a Constantinian shift has been disputed; Peter Leithart argues that there was a "brief, ambiguous 'Constantinian moment' in the fourth century", but that there was "no permanent, epochal 'Constantinian shift'".

In 294 AD, Sirmium was proclaimed one of four capitals of the Roman Empire. The Councils of Sirmium were the five episcopal councils held in Sirmium in 347, 351, 357, 358 and finally in 375 or 378. In the traditional account of the Arian Controversy, the Western Church always defended the Nicene Creed. However, at the third council in 357—the most important of these councils—the Western bishops of the Christian church produced an 'Arian' Creed, known as the Second Sirmian Creed. At least two of the other councils also dealt primarily with the Arian controversy. All of these councils were held under the rule of Constantius II, who was eager to unite the church within the framework of the Eusebian Homoianism that was so influential in the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theodosian dynasty</span> Roman imperial dynasty in Late Antiquity, r. 379–457

The Theodosian dynasty was a Roman imperial family that produced five Roman emperors during Late Antiquity, reigning over the Roman Empire from 379 to 457. The dynasty's patriarch was Theodosius the Elder, whose son Theodosius the Great was made Roman emperor in 379. Theodosius's two sons both became emperors, while his daughter married Constantius III, producing a daughter that became an empress and a son also became emperor. The dynasty of Theodosius married into, and reigned concurrently with, the ruling Valentinianic dynasty, and was succeeded by the Leonid dynasty with the accession of Leo the Great.

Homoousion is a Christian theological term, most notably used in the Nicene Creed for describing Jesus as "same in being" or "same in essence" with God the Father. The same term was later also applied to the Holy Spirit in order to designate him as being "same in essence" with the Father and the Son. Those notions became cornerstones of theology in Nicene Christianity, and also represent one of the most important theological concepts within the Trinitarian doctrinal understanding of God.

In historiography, the Later Roman Empire traditionally spans the period from 284 to 641 in the history of the Roman Empire.

The Pneumatomachi, also known as Macedonians or Semi-Arians in Constantinople and the Tropici in Alexandria, were an anti-Nicene Creed sect which flourished in the regions adjacent to the Hellespont during the latter half of the fourth, and the beginning of the fifth centuries. They denied the godhood of the Holy Ghost, hence the Greek name Pneumatomachi or 'Combators against the Spirit'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First seven ecumenical councils</span> Early Christian governance councils

In the history of Christianity, the first seven ecumenical councils include the following: the First Council of Nicaea in 325, the First Council of Constantinople in 381, the Council of Ephesus in 431, the Council of Chalcedon in 451, the Second Council of Constantinople in 553, the Third Council of Constantinople from 680–681 and finally, the Second Council of Nicaea in 787. All of the seven councils were convened in what is now the country of Turkey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christianity in the 4th century</span> Christianity-related events during the 4th century

Christianity in the 4th century was dominated in its early stage by Constantine the Great and the First Council of Nicaea of 325, which was the beginning of the period of the First seven Ecumenical Councils (325–787), and in its late stage by the Edict of Thessalonica of 380, which made Nicene Christianity the state church of the Roman Empire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christianity in late antiquity</span>

Christianity in late antiquity traces Christianity during the Christian Roman Empire — the period from the rise of Christianity under Emperor Constantine, until the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The end-date of this period varies because the transition to the sub-Roman period occurred gradually and at different times in different areas. One may generally date late ancient Christianity as lasting to the late 6th century and the re-conquests under Justinian of the Byzantine Empire, though a more traditional end-date is 476, the year in which Odoacer deposed Romulus Augustus, traditionally considered the last western emperor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bishops of Rome under Constantine the Great</span>

Constantine the Great's (272–337) relationship with the four Bishops of Rome during his reign is an important component of the history of the Papacy, and more generally the history of the Catholic Church.

In the year before the Council of Constantinople in 381, the Trinitarian version of Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire when Emperor Theodosius I issued the Edict of Thessalonica in 380, which recognized the catholic orthodoxy of Nicene Christians as the Roman Empire's state religion. Historians refer to the Nicene church associated with emperors in a variety of ways: as the catholic church, the orthodox church, the imperial church, the imperial Roman church, or the Byzantine church, although some of those terms are also used for wider communions extending outside the Roman Empire. The Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodoxy, and the Catholic Church all claim to stand in continuity from the Nicene church to which Theodosius granted recognition.

The history of Eastern Orthodox Christian theology begins with the life of Jesus and the forming of the Christian Church. Major events include the Chalcedonian schism of 451 with the Oriental Orthodox miaphysites, the Iconoclast controversy of the 8th and 9th centuries, the Photian schism (863-867), the Great Schism between East and West, and the Hesychast controversy. The period after the end of the Second World War in 1945 saw a re-engagement with the Greek, and more recently Syriac Fathers that included a rediscovery of the theological works of St. Gregory Palamas, which has resulted in a renewal of Orthodox theology in the 20th and 21st centuries.

The religious policies of Constantius II were a mixture of toleration for some pagan practices and repression for other pagan practices. He also sought to advance the Arian or Semi-Arianian heresy within Christianity. These policies may be contrasted with the religious policies of his father, Constantine the Great, whose Catholic orthodoxy was espoused in the Nicene Creed and who largely tolerated paganism in the Roman Empire. Constantius also sought to repress Judaism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Byzantine Empire under the Theodosian dynasty</span>

The Eastern Roman Empire was ruled by the Theodosian dynasty from 379, the accession of Theodosius I, to 457, the death of Marcian. The rule of the Theodosian dynasty saw the final East-West division of the Roman Empire, between Arcadius and Honorius in 395. Whilst divisions of the Roman Empire had occurred before, the Empire would never again be fully reunited. The reign of the sons of Theodosius I contributed heavily to the crisis that under the fifth century eventually resulted in the complete collapse of western Roman court.

References

  1. ↑ Church and State Through the Centuries Ed. Ehler and Morrall
  2. ↑ World Encyclopaedia of Interfaith Studies: World religions. Jnanada Prakashan. 2009. ISBN   978-81-7139-280-3. In the most common sense, "mainstream" refers to Nicene Christianity, or rather the traditions which continue to claim adherence to the Nicene Creed.
  3. ↑ Pahner p. 378
  4. 1 2 Ehler, Sidney Zdeneck; Morrall, John B (1967). Church and State Through the Centuries: A Collection of Historic Documents with Commentaries. p. 6-7. ISBN   978-0-8196-0189-6. Archived from the original on 2016-05-15. Retrieved 2016-09-28. This Edict is the first which definitely introduces Catholic orthodoxy as the established religion of the Roman world. [...] Acknowledgment of the true doctrine of the Trinity is made the test of State recognition.
  5. ↑ "The Edict of Thessalonica | History Today". www.historytoday.com. Retrieved 2021-02-27.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Williams & Friell, (1994) pp. 46–53
  7. ↑ "Ἀχόλιος ἢ Ἀσχόλιος ἐπίσκοπος Θεσσαλονίκης". Ιερά Μητρόπολη Θεσσαλονίκης. Archived from the original on 2016-09-24. Retrieved 2016-09-23.
  8. ↑ Codex Theodosianus XVI.1.2
  9. 1 2 Boyd (1905), p. 45
  10. ↑ "Catholic" . Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press.(Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  11. ↑ (cf. Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon)
  12. ↑ orthodox. Dictionary.com. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Dictionary definition (accessed: March 03, 2008).
  13. 1 2 Charles Pietri, , dans Jean-Marie Mayeur, Charles Pietri, Luce Pietri, André Vauchez et Marc Venard (dirs.), , vol. 2 : Naissance d'une chrétienté (250–430), Desclée, 1995 ( ISBN   2-7189-0632-4), p. 387.
  14. ↑ Pierre Maraval, Paris, Arthème Fayard, 2009, p. 108
  15. ↑ R. Malcolm Errington, The University of North Carolina Press, 2006, p. 217
  16. ↑ Maraval 2009, p. 108
  17. 1 2 Claire Sotinel, Belin, coll. « Mondes anciens », 2019, p. 410
  18. ↑ Maraval 2009, p. 107.
  19. 1 2 Mark Hebblewhite, , Routledge, 2020, p. PT83.
  20. ↑ Victoria Escribano Paño, , dans Jean-Noël Guinot et François Richard (éds.), Cerf, 2008 ( ISBN   978-2-204-08661-5), p. 396.
  21. ↑ Marie-Françoise Baslez, , Paris/impr. en Italie, Tallandier, 2019, p. 243.
  22. ↑ Victoria Escribano Paño, , dans Jean-Noël Guinot et François Richard (éds.), Cerf, 2008 ( ISBN   978-2-204-08661-5), p. 397.
  23. 1 2 3 Hebblewhite 2020, p. PT83.
  24. ↑ Maraval 2009, p. 113.
  25. 1 2 Errington 2006, p. 218.
  26. ↑ Maraval 2009, p. 113.
  27. ↑ Neil B. McLynn, Ambrose of Milan : Church and Court in a Christian Capital, Berkeley, University of California Press, 2014, 406 p.
  28. ↑ Codex Theodosianus, XVI, 5, 6.
  29. ↑ Maraval 2009, p. 115.
  30. ↑ Stefan Rebenich, , Routledge, 2002, 211 p,p. 21.
  31. ↑ Piet Hein Hupsch, The Glory of the Spirit in Gregory of Nyssa’s Adversus Macedonianos : Commentary and Systematic-Theological Synthesis, Brill, 2020, 424 p. ( ISBN   978-90-04-42228-5), p. 33.
  32. ↑ Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Theodosius I"  . Catholic Encyclopedia . New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  33. ↑ "Boyd, William, The Ecclesiastical Edicts of the Theodosian Code". From Daniel to Revelation. Retrieved 2021-09-24.
  34. ↑ Boyd, William Kenneth (1905), The Ecclesiastical Edicts of the Theodosian Code, Columbia University Press, pp. 45–46
  35. ↑ Richard Rubenstein, When Jesus Became God, 1999, p. 223
  36. ↑ Boyd (1905), p. 47
  37. ↑ Boyd, pp. 60–61
  38. ↑ "The Edict of Thessalonica | History Today". www.historytoday.com. Retrieved 2021-09-25.
  39. ↑ Boyd (1905), p. 50

Bibliography

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.