Hosius leaned back with a pleased look on his face. Then he said, “What you’re describing is quite a departure from the way that the priests currently serve their congregations. How would we transform the churches to be more like the legions with the priests in command of the congregations? There would be pushback from some bishops and priests, not to mention some of the congregations.”
“Based on what?” Athanasius asked.
“Based on their understanding and interpretation of the gospels and the epistles,” Hosius replied. “This is something I’ve been thinking about for some time – especially regarding the Divine Trinity and the arguments against it by Arias and his followers. If we want to ensure that there is no doubt as to what the scriptures are saying, then we may need to clarify the scriptures.”
“You mean alter them?” Athanasius asked.
“I wouldn’t use that word,” Hosius replied. “But we may need to create an official version of the gospels and epistles – one that will replace all of the existing versions and be worded so that there is no misunderstanding among the priests about what the passages mean. The theological decisions made by the council of bishops would be included in the official version.”
“And what about the congregations?” Athanasius asked.
“What about them? They don’t need to read the scriptures. They’ll have the priests to teach them all that they need to know. But back to my question: how do we transform the churches to be more like the legions, over the objections of any bishops and priests?”
Athanasius drained his cup, and Hosius refilled it too full. The wine sloshed over the rim as the warship swayed, and the young priest quickly drank it down while thinking about Hosius’ question. Finally, he sat up with a smile on his face.
“I think that you’ve already given us what we need to force the transformation,” he said happily.
“What are you talking about?” Hosius asked.
“Arias! Specifically, the conflict between Alexander and Arias, between the Divine Trinity and the Followers of The Way. If the council of bishops is successful and Arias and his supporters are defeated, then there’s still the risk of Arias’ philosophies remaining ingrained in many of the congregations, not to mention many of the priests and bishops. If the council votes that Arias’ philosophies are no longer acceptable, then it would be prudent to implement safeguards against them resurfacing, wouldn’t it? We might not be able to make the complete transformation quickly, but we can implement parts of it immediately, and then add the rest of the parts slowly so that the transformation of the churches happens gradually. We’ll also need to educate the priests in the new theology and official scriptures, and we can educate them on the new rules and the reasons for the transformation at the same time.”
“And the pushback from the congregations?” Hosius asked.
“If Christianity becomes the state religion for the empire and all other religions are abolished, then pushback from the congregations won’t matter. They won’t have a choice but to comply with the new theology and the new authority of the church.”
Hosius smiled and nodding enthusiastically. “And this is why I wanted you to accompany me to Byzantium. I’ve been so focused on the theological questions that I couldn’t see the way to make everything else work as Constantine expects.”
“Will the council of bishops be considering the other things that the Emperor wants in addition to the theological questions?”
“No,” Hosius replied. “Only the Patriarchs will be privy to the other plans for the church. Once they’re in agreement with the plans, they’ll help convince the bishops and priests.”
Athanasius nodded. “If you’d share with me all that Constantine wants, perhaps I can help you figure out how to make it work with the new theology,” he offered.
“I was hoping you’d say that.”
Athanasius was exhausted when he returned to his compartment late that night. As he lay down on his cot, he suddenly thought of something that Arias had said to him. “My position is reasonable because it is the same position held to by the priests of this church since its founding. Your position has no such foundation, so which of us is being reasonable?”
Why did I think of that? Am I doubting what Hosius and I are doing? Was Arias right?
Athanasius stared at the ceiling of his compartment. Hosius has spent most of his life securing the free worship of Christianity in the empire, and now he’s even managed to convince the Emperor to make it the state religion. Christians are no longer being persecuted for their beliefs. Isn’t that what’s important? No more martyrs, no more fear. And all that we have to do to secure the safety of all Christians is to give the Emperor what he wants.
Arias is a purist. He’d rather die that change his beliefs. But this is the real world, and compromise is required if we’re going to survive. All that Hosius and I are doing is unifying the doctrine of the churches, which needs to happen anyway, and establishing a few additional functions to be performed by the churches on behalf of the empire. We’re ensuring that the churches will flourish for as long as Rome herself stands – perhaps longer!
Athanasius smiled. Even Jesus told his followers to render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s. He paid his taxes, and God gave him the coin with which to do it. If Jesus knew that obedience to the empire was required to live freely within its borders, then why can’t Arias understand that? Hosius and I aren’t recommending changes to the churches for ourselves; we’re recommending changes to ensure the survival of the churches. If we don’t, and Christianity loses its imperial protections, who will be left to worship Jesus and serve God’s church? If we’re all martyred, who will keep the gospels and epistles alive in the hearts of men? What Hosius and I are doing is small compared to what will happen if we don’t please the Emperor.
Arias doesn’t understand, and he never will. He represents the past. Hosius and I represent the future, and we’ll be the ones remembered for saving the churches and setting our religion on the path to everlasting glory. That’s what reasonable men do.
Athanasius’s confidence in what he and Hosius were doing was restored. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep to the swaying of the warship.
The two warships docked in Barcino two days later. Sebastian and Titurius went ashore to get more blank scrolls and pencils for Hosius. Athanasius barely noticed that the galley was no longer moving. He and Hosius remained cloistered the entire time the ships were in Barcino, working on detail after detail of how the new Imperial Church would function.
The two warships left Barcino the next morning, and they arrived in Arelate two days later. Once again, Athanasius and Hosius remained on board, working all day and through most of the night.
The day before the warships arrived in Rome, Athanasius and Hosius were discussing ideas through most of the night. Shortly before sunrise, Athanasius said, “I think that one of the most valuable imperial services the church can provide is information. The priests will know what’s going on in the areas around their churches, and they can report back anything that the imperial government might need to know. We’ll need permission to use the Imperial Courier Service to send this information so it can arrive quickly, unless we want to someday set up our own courier service. But there’s another kind of information that should prove useful to the Emperor.”
“What’s that?” Hosius asked.
“The kind of information that can be used against political rivals.”
“I don’t understand. How will our priests become privy to information like that?”
“There are three passages in the gospels and the epistles that I keep coming back to. The passage in the gospels