A Source Book for Ancient Church History - Mirrors

242 A Source Book for Ancient Church History[219]controversy (§ 48). Corresponding to the development of thetheology went that of the cultus of the Church, and already in theWest abiding characteristics appeared (§ 49). The cultus and thedisciplinary work of the bishops advanced in turn the hierarchicalorganization of the Church and the place of the bishops (§ 50),but the theory of local episcopal autonomy and the universalistictendencies of the see of Rome soon came into sharp conflict(§ 51), especially over the validity of baptism administered byheretics (§ 52). In this discussion the North African Churchassumed a position which subsequently became the occasion ofthe most serious schism of the ancient Church, or Donatism. Inthis period, also, is to be set the rise of Christian Monasticism asdistinguished from ordinary Christian asceticism (§ 53). At thesame time, a dangerous rival of Christianity appeared in the East,in the form of Manichæanism, in which were absorbed nearly allthe remnants of earlier Gnosticism (§ 54).§ 47. The Chiliastic ControversyDuring the third century the belief in chiliasm as a part of theChurch's faith died out in nearly all parts of the Church. It didnot seem called for by the condition of the Church, which wasrapidly adjusting itself to the world in which it found itself. Thescientific theology, especially that of Alexandria, found no placein its system for such an article as chiliasm. The belief lingered,however, in country places, and with it went no little oppositionto the “scientific” exegesis which by means of allegory explainedaway the promises of a millennial kingdom. The only accountwe have of this so-called “Chiliastic Controversy” is found inconnection with the history of the schism of Nepos in Egypt givenby Eusebius, But it may be safely assumed that the conditionof things here described was not peculiar to any one part of theChurch, though an open schism resulting from the conflict of theold and new ideas is not found elsewhere.