History of the Church I: Week Ten

Start of the Papacy  In 452, Attila the Hun was advancing towards Rome  Bishop Leo went to meet Attila as a representative of the Roman Emperor  Three reasons why Rome became the most important church in the West:  1) Rome was the imperial capital with the most wealth  2) It had 30,000 members by the 3 rd century  3) Peter/Paul started the church at Rome

Structure of the Church  Followed the pattern of the empire  Each province of the empire had a bishop who answered to the bishop of the major cities  Rome in Italy  Carthage in N.A.  Alexandra in Egypt  Antioch in Syria  As the church spread out into rural areas, presbyters (Greek for elder) or priests substituted for the bishops

Rome in the West  As Constantine and other emperors called councils, bishops from the major cities increased their power  As Constantinople became the political center of the empire, the church at Rome relied more on its spiritual roots as the head of the Old Roman Empire  Thus the power of the bishop or Pope in Rome increased

Pope Leo  When Leo took the office of Bishop of Rome, he decreed he was now the head of the entire church.  He loosely based it on Jesus’ reference to Peter in Matt. 16:13-19  Emperor Valentian III agreed

Pope Leo  The Emperor agreed because of the instability of the western half of the empire  At the Council of Chalcedon the year before it was decreed the bishops of Rome and Constantinople would be co-heads of the church

Vandals reinforce Leo’s power  Read p. 139  When the Vandals attacked Rome in 455, Leo again came to beg mercy  Last emperor was killed and no general assumed his spot  Leo took a pagan title of Pontifex Maximus  His total power was now complete