THE RE-ESTABLISHING OF CHRISTENDOM
‘The First Christendom’ (the first Christendom-proper) could be said to have lasted less than twenty years – from 391 to 410. In a rather weaker sense, it might be thought of as having lasted from Constantine’s victory at the Milvian Bridge in 312 until the fall of Rome to the Goths in 410 – just under a century. It’s worth observing, though, that if Constantine had been followed by another pagan emperor like Diocletian, this ‘First Christendom’ would never have come into being. As we’ll see again with Charlemagne and his Holy Roman Empire (from 800), which revived Christendom, some projects which seemingly fail gain a new lease of life later.
Monasticism – a radical Christian alternative
Even before Constantine had set in process the project that would become Christendom, a movement arose that would affect Christianity very differently: monasticism. In 3rd century Egypt, in Alexandria and the Nile delta, there was a large Christian population living very near uninhabited land. At church in 271, aged 20, Antony, the son of well-to-do Egyptian peasants, heard Jesus’ words read: “If you want to be perfect go, sell all you have and give to the poor, and come, follow me.” This he proceeded to do, and began to live alone, dedicating himself to a life of prayer and manual work. ‘No doubt individuals had acted in a similar way before,’ says David Knowles. ‘Antony differed from them both in the determination and sanctity of a long life, and in his gift for inspiring and guiding others, the stream of imitators that soon became a flood, begging Antony to tell them the secret of his life.’ The climate in Egypt allowed a person to exist all the year round on a meagre diet in caves or primitive shelters. Although Antony moved further and further into the desert, disciples still sought out this saintly man and his wise advice until he died aged 105. Many would come to follow his example:
What may be called the golden age of Egyptian hermit life ran from around 330 to around 440. The first ‘fathers of the desert’ lived alone by twos and threes in caves, huts, or brick-built cells, supporting themselves on the produce of their vegetable patches and small fields, making baskets of palm fronds which they sold to visitors or agents for money with which to buy the other necessities of life. Their time was spent in prayer, in work and in reading and memorising the scriptures; such a life, if it were to be satisfying and fruitful, demanded an uncommon degree of psychological stability and self-control. Their penances and fasts were [commended] by contemporaries and have been criticised by modern writers … [The] element of severe physical and mental endurance, accepted as a spiritual discipline, was part of the early monastic spiritual climate …’