A quiet undocumented history …

Seasons often change with a sudden gust of wind. Autumn is here, at this writing, and the first blast of super air-conditioned air has hit ushering in the cozy season of sweater-weather and pumpkin spice. When the age of the church dawned a sudden gust of wind, a mighty wind, blew
ushering in the defeat of the enemy of heaven in the lives of 3000 newly illumined. For much of
the West leaving the pages of Acts one enters into a quiet undocumented mystery. Many Bible
schools simply skip the years after the first century, touch briefly concerning the age of
martyrdom, then reengage the storyline with the Edict of Milan in 313 and the subsequent seven
ecumenical councils. This short paper will focus on those two mysterious centuries. Those 3000
baptized Christians didn’t just return to business as usual. They and those that followed them
were transformed into “what the blessed Augustine designated as the totus Christus (Christ in all
his fullness, complete with his mystical body).”
Christianity may have begun with fishermen in small villages, but it’s growth quickly
impacted towns, cities, even world class metropolitan areas. It spread through an “empire of
cities”. Christianity was and is salvation for the whole man, not just
individuals, but for entire people groups. The indivisible unit of the Church wasn’t a person, it
was a people; a people or community of a particular city. Even the country side was impacted by
the city that served the area. This is not unlike to day where our country-folk go to “the city” for
supplies, trade, and worship. The primitive structure of the church grew from this natural
organization of humanity. A bishop was established in each city to govern the church.
Presbyters or priests and deacons were raised up to assist the bishop in his ecclesiastical duties.
The church continues to grow and eventually encounters growing pains. Questions arise
that require answers and the vehicle for accomplishing this is codified straight out of Acts. In
chapter 15 the bishops of each community gathered in the first council in Church history. It’s
important to note the Apostles viewed the decisions of this council as authoritative and
prescriptive.
This structure of bishop/priest/deacon was manifestly present when St. Ignatius wrote
around the year 100AD, “Let no one do any of the things which concern the Church without the
bishop... Wherever the bishop appears, there let the people be, just as wherever Jesus Christ is,
there is the Catholic Church”. Paul saw the church of each city as a
complete whole of Christ in that community. Ignatius continued that traditional viewpoint
considering each local community as the fullness of the Church.
The faithful came together in each community for a specific purpose: to worship God.
Ignatius thought of the Church as a “Eucharistic society, which only realizes its true nature when
it celebrates the Supper of the Lord, receiving His Body and Blood in the sacrament”. This can only happen locally, in person, in community, gathered around the
bishop as the fullness of the Body of Christ. It’s this experience, this ritual, this coming together
that forges everything else: the bonds of true Christian family in Christ, fellowship, communion
which directly creates community, the “cult” that is the root of Christian culture. This is the
mystery, the very celebrating of the Mysteries, that is cloaked and possibly guarded from the
West. It’s this essence of what it means to be the Church that was simply lost in translation or
lost to history.
Islamic armies and pillaging Crusaders destroyed many of the schools that once shone
brightly in Damascus, Alexandria, and Constantinople. The books that did survive in the free
lands of Orthodoxy such as Russia, were and still are considered obscure and inaccessible. Only
recently have these books begun to be translated into Western languages. The West is slowly
waking up to the horrors of the Fourth Crusade for the 1st time. Christian on Christian historical
violence is unthinkable even as we witness this phenomenon anew in our own troubled times.
Orthodoxy has the unique perspective for the West that is both instructive and
enlightening. With the Lord of Love as our guard and the Holy Spirit as our guide it’s possible to
see how this dialogue could turn this mysterious beginning shrouded in the darkness of ignorance
into a beacon of truth uniting all flesh unto Him who is able to do exceedingly more than we can
ever ask or think. The West’s stumbling sojourn just might be met with welcome winds of
inspiration blowing in a new season of perspective and ancient wisdom. “Western readers [will]
see how many of the familiar episodes of their own history are not part of that story, and what a
difference to the overall topography that might make in reimagining Christian origins”

Music:
https://suno.com/song/b06ab96a-c91a-4...
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