The Age of Christendom

Mount Shasta Evangelical Free Church

by Bubba Suess

 

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out for us

 

Hebrews 12:1

 

• The history of the early churches generally defined as the period between A.D. 1-600. It can be divided into four periods:

• The Fall of the Western Roman Empire occurred curing the final period of the early church.
• The Church preserved through the upheaval and grew stronger
• Nonetheless, the Church was substantially affected by the new world order.
• By the late 4th century the Roman Empire was showing signs of weakness both economically and militarily..
• The Empire was experiencing both plague and economic depression.
• In AD 307 the Empire suffered a disastrous defeat at the hands of the Goths at Adrianople.
• Though he brought about some recovery from defeat, Theodosius was the last emperor to rule a united Empire.
• When he died in AD 395, he divided the Empire between his two sons, Arcadius and Honorius. Never again would the Eastern and Western Empires be one.
• The year AD 410 saw momentous and far reaching events that contributed to the fall of the Empire:
• The Empire withdrew its legions from Britain, effectively abandoning the province after over 300 years as part of the Roman Empire.
• The barbarian tribes east of the Rhine are finally able to cross the river without significant opposition and invade the heartland of the Western Empire. Rome is sacked by Alaric the Visigoth, the first time a foreign army had occupied the city in 800years.
• The barbarians that established kingdoms in the territory of the western Empire included:
• Franks
• Visigoths
• Ostrogoths
• Vandals
• Burgundians
• Alemanni
• Sueves
• Huns
• Of these groups, only the Franks, Goths, and Vandals would establish lasting kingdoms.
• In AD 476 Romulus Augustulus is deposed by the barbarian general Odoacer, who establishes the Kingdom of Italia with himself as king. This is generally noted as the end of the Western Empire
• The legally appointed Emperor Julius Nepos dies in Illyricum four years later.
• The general Syagrius continues to fight in the name of the Empire in northern Gaul (France) until AD 486. When is defeated, there is no representative of Imperial government left in the west.
• Through all of this, the Eastern Roman Empire is generally unaffected and continues to thrive.
• The barbarian kingdoms are ultimately whittled down to four major players:
• The Vandals in North Africa.
• The Visigoths in Spain and Aquitania
• The Ostrogoths in Italy
• The Franks in Gaul
• These divisions lay the foundations for the modern political divisions in Europe.
• In AD 527 a Juntinian the Great comes to the throne of the Eastern Empire.
• In AD 534 his general Belisarius conquers the Vandal kingdom in North Africa.
• In AD 535 Belisarius invades Ostrogothic Italy.
• The conquest is completed in AD 554
• Justinian also reconquers southern Spain.
• Once again the Mediterranean Sea begins to look like a Roman Lake.
• Due to the reconquests of Justinian, the power in the barbarian kingdoms shifts to north Europe, centered on the Franks.