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28 ◆ Christianity A SHORT GLOBAL HISTORY
and sought to be readmitted to the churches. Bitter struggles erupted
within the communities over whether such folks could return, first to
membership and later to leadership. Was purity of life so necessary that
forgiveness could not be invoked?
Not every Christian leader had to decide about taking a stand against
Roman authority. Paul of Samosata, bishop of Antioch of Syria (Antakya,
Turkey) about 260–8, was unseated by a council of bishops, not so much
for his beliefs as for his practices. He had acquired wealth and influence as
a Roman procurator. He went to the market with a bodyguard, put a high
throne in the Christian basilica as his honored seat, and constructed a
secret room in the sanctuary in which he and his cronies could decide what
was best for the church. He questioned hymns sung in honor of Christ but
had others composed that honored him. The council deposing him claimed
that disciples of Christ did not act that way. But as legal status as a religion
was granted and then establishment began, by custom and eventually
by law under Theodosius, bishops regularly became political powers
within and outside the church. Paul of Samosata’s innovative reconfiguring
of the architecture and furniture in the sanctuary became commonplace.
The choosing of bishops who already had credentials in the Roman
political system also became a more natural decision. Experience in wielding
power seemed desirable for Christian leadership.
A CHRISTIAN CORE
Spirituality, evangelism and service have been central to Christian life
since its beginning. The word ‘spirituality’ has a twenty-first-century
flavor because it is used in so many contexts from religion to pop psychology.
But it is dominant in determining the core of Christianity. The
Latin aphorism ‘lex orandi, lex credendi’ generally proved true: people’s
prayer lives shaped how and what they believed. Jesus appropriated
much of Jewish spirituality. He prayed to God, he worshipped in the synagogue,
he studied the Hebrew scriptures. His model prayer, called the
Lord’s Prayer, became a frequent component of public Christian liturgy.
The opening and closing sections of Paul’s letters were marked both by
praise to God for the Christians to whom the epistle was written and by
specific prayers for persons in those communities. As far as we can tell,
other apostles did much the same. Prayers offered and hymns sung were
so closely intertwined as to be almost inseparable; furthermore some of
the most significant phrases in the New Testament epistles about who