The End of Paganism
In less than twenty years after the death of Julian the Apostate, the paganism he had endeavored to revitalize was stamped out. Theodosius (r. 379–392) was an orthodox Catholic from Spain who became co-emperor with Gratian (r. 367–383) in 379. Theodosius was a soldier and spent time with his father, a Roman general, on campaign in Britain, Gaul, and the Balkans. He eventually became sole emperor, the last man to rule a united empire. Despite his political and military success, Theodosius considered it “more important to be a member of the Church than to be lord of the world.”65 He illustrated this belief at the very beginning of his reign when he became the first emperor to refuse the pagan title Pontifex Maximus.66 Theodosius desired religious unity in the Empire, and issued the Edict of Thessalonica in 380, which declared the Catholic faith to be the sole religion of the Empire:
It is Our will that all the people who are ruled by the administration of Our Clemency shall practice that religion which the divine Peter the Apostle transmitted to the Romans. We command that those persons who follow this rule shall embrace the name of Catholic Christians. The rest, however, whom We adjudge demented and insane, shall sustain the infamy of heretical dogmas, their meeting places shall not receive the name of churches, and they shall be smitten first by divine vengeance and secondly by the retribution of Our own initiative.67
Theodosius’s edict also outlawed paganism, declaring pagan sacrifice a capital offense.68 In only sixty-eight years, the Catholic faith had gone from persecuted minority to state-established religion!
A year later, the great emperor hoped to end the Arian controversy within the Church by calling a second ecumenical council at Constantinople. The Arians also erroneously believed that the Holy Spirit was not coeternal and of the same substance as the Father. In order to reassert the orthodox faith as defined at Nicaea, 148 eastern bishops met and added to the Nicene Creed words about the Holy Spirit, indicating that he “proceeds from the Father, [and] who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified.”69
Church Fathers
During this time in Church history, the Holy Spirit raised up saintly men who guided, loved, protected, and disciplined the faithful. These men, many of whom we have met already, were “heirs to the apostles, the leaders and teachers of the early Church,” and are known as Church Fathers.70 The age of the Fathers extends from the first through eighth centuries of Church history. Nearly ninety men are considered to be Church Fathers, grouped into categories such as hermits and monks, popes, apologists, preachers, philosophers, lawyers, scholars, theologians, and saints. They wrote in a variety of languages, including Greek, Latin, Syrian, and Armenian. Their writings consist of Scripture commentaries, theological works, and attacks against heresies. Pope Saint Gelasius I (r. 492–496) was the first to compile a listing of the Fathers, and Saint Vincent of Lérins (d. 450) defined Church Fathers as “those alone who, though in diverse times and places, yet persevering in the communion and faith of the one Catholic Church have been approved teachers.”71 In order for an early Christian writer to be considered a Church Father, he must meet four basic criteria: orthodoxy, holiness of life, Church approval, and antiquity.72 The work of the Church Fathers continues to be read and studied today.73
The Soldier, Bishop, and Saint
The soldier was filled with joy at the birth of his son and named him “Martin,” or “little Mars,” to honor the favorite pagan deity of the Roman military. Little did the soldier know that his son would be forever remembered as a man of peace and love, not war and violence. Martin’s life was radically altered when he turned fifteen and was forced to enlist in the Roman army. Because the army suffered from a manpower shortage, Constantine had issued an edict in 331 requiring the sons of soldiers to enlist. Martin dutifully joined the service and became a member of the Imperial Guard, an elite cavalry unit charged with protecting the emperor on campaign. Although Martin did his duty, he did not want to join the army. It was the first instance in which “Martin would never be able to act as he intended; he could never decide his own destiny.”74
Four years later, Martin was stationed at Amiens. During that winter, while out of the garrison riding, Martin passed by a poor man, half-naked, shivering in the cold, asking passersby for alms. People ignored the man and his pitiable condition, but Martin took his military winter cloak and cut it in two, giving one half to the poor man. He was ridiculed for such a foolish act, but later that night, in a dream, Martin saw Christ clothed in the cloak he had given to the poor man. The experience roused Martin to embrace the Faith, and he was baptized.
Martin struggled with his military service after his baptism, because he found it incompatible with Christian living. A visit from the western caesar before a battle gave him the opportunity he needed to end his military career. Germanic tribes were making incursions across the frontier, raiding Roman territory in Gaul. Julian the Apostate mustered his forces at Worms for a decisive battle and ordered the Imperial Guard into combat. Before the battle, Julian appeared before the men to pay them a combat bonus, but he was confronted with an unanticipated situation. Martin’s later biographer Sulpicius Severus recorded the story:
There he [Julian] began to distribute a bonus to the soldiers. They were called up one by one in the usual way until Martin’s turn came. But he thought it would be a suitable time for applying for his discharge, for he did not think that it would be honest for him to take the bonus if he was not going to fight. So he said to the Caesar: “I have been your soldier up to now. Let me now be God’s. Let someone who is going to fight have your bonus. I am Christ’s soldier.” These words put the tyrant into a rage and he said that it was from fear of the battle that was to be fought the next day that he wanted to quit the service, not from religious motives. But Martin was undaunted; in fact, he stood all the firmer when they tried to frighten him. “If it is put down to cowardice,” he said, “and not to faith, I will stand unarmed in front of the battle line tomorrow and I will go unscathed through the enemy’s columns in the name of the Lord Jesus, protected by the sign of the Cross instead of by shield and helmet.”75
Confronted with Martin’s strong faith, Julian relented, allowing him to muster out of the army after serving twenty-five years. Martin left the military and embraced the monastic lifestyle, settling in the town of Poitiers. Martin’s reputation for holiness increased, and he soon came to the attention of the saintly and beloved bishop Hilary of Poitiers (310–368). Upon Hilary’s death in 368, the people wanted someone special to take his place, and they quickly agreed it should be Martin. Martin had no interest in the episcopacy and wanted to remain a monk, but “once again he would be obliged to do something he had not wanted to do: he would be a bishop in spite of himself.”76 Despite his hesitance, Martin was an effective and popular bishop, contrary to the other bishops in Gaul who tended to be worldly and stayed in the cities. Martin believed the function of a bishop was to minister to the people, not to spend time in meetings with other bishops. He refused to go to local synods and other gatherings of the episcopacy. He initiated a plan of evangelization to bring the Gospel to the pagani in the countryside: “One could sum up Martin’s apostolate by noting that he did not take the Roman road, but, rather, the Gaulish byway.”77 The saintly man almost singlehandedly brought the Faith out of the city and into the countryside, where he worked many miracles, including the raising of three people from the dead.78 Martin’s efforts ensured the Church would not remain an urban