Church and State under Constantine

Barnes notes an incident recorded by Sozomen that represents the typical relationship between church and emperor under Constantine. Basil of Ancyra, along with a number of other bishops, was deposed by the Council of Constantinople in 360. It was alleged that Basil”gave orders to the civil authorities to sentence clergy from Antioch, from the area by the River Euphrates, from Cilicia, Galatia, and Asia, to exile and other penalties without a hearing, with the result that they endured iron chains and also spent their ubstance on the soldiers who escorted them in order to avoid maltreatment.”

If true, this is remarkable evidence of the church telling the emperor what to do rather than vice versa. Barnes, though, doesn’t believe Sozomen’s account “The bishop can hardly be imagined to have given ‘orders to the civil authorities’ in a private letter. What he did was to write to them in the name of a council of bishops over which he presided to inform them that the council had condemned the clergy in according with the rule laid down by Constantine. The authorities then took action without further ado: since there was no need for any sort of judicial hearing in their court, they simply enforced the ecclesiastical condemnation by bundling the condemned men into exile.”

Barnes argues that this is the characteristic form of Constantinian church-state relations: The emperor did not control the church; bishops were tried by other bishops; councils met with or without imperial approval. Once the church’s decisions were made, however, the civil authorities enforced civil penalties. This division was not observed in every instance, of course, but Barnes thinks this typical.

Athanasius records one Ossius of Corduba who challenged Constantius for interfering with the church’s business: “Stop, I beg you, and remember that you are a mortal man: fear the day of judgement and keep yourself pure for it. Do not intrude yourself into the affairs of the church, and do not give us advice about these matters, but rather receive instruction on them from us. God has given you kingship, but has entrusted us with what belongs to the church. Just as the man who tries to steal your position as emperor contradicts God who has placed you there, so too you should be afraid of becoming guilty of a great offence by putting the affairs of the church under your control.” After quoting the “Render unto Caesar” passage, Ossius says “neither do we [bishops] have the right to rule over the world nor do you, emperor, have the right to officiate in church.”