We want to consider next is the “church” and its relationship with rulers, with secular governments, and that sort of thing. This is where we’re really going to cut the information fairly short. If you are up on your European history, then you will know some of this information.

The West, primarily the Roman Empire, was attacked by barbarians. It was weakened and it eventually disappeared. As the Roman roads fell into disrepair and travel became dangerous, Western Europe was broken up into numerous small states. Only gradually did some order begin to emerge out of this chaos.

During this time, there were other peoples, other powers, which came to pass, like the Franks, the Lombards—those aren’t family names; those are the names of powerful forces there in middle Europe in this period of time. But, there were a number of battles that were fought, territories that changed hands, and various power elements who came to pass. During this period of time, there was an effort on the part of the “leadership” of “the church,” as it was at that time, to cultivate various alliances so that they could curry the favor of whoever the ruling party, whoever the ruling power, was. And so, it came to pass that during this period of time that eventually something emerged from this that became known as “The Holy Roman Empire.”

Out of this chaos of competing kings and nobles arose a new ruling house, and these ones were called “the Frankonians,” and a new political entity, which was known as “the Holy Roman Empire.” Otto, who was Duke of Frankonia, was able to establish his authority over much of the territory of central and eastern portions of what had been Charlemagne’s Empire. Eventually, this control was extended to Italy, where in 962, he was crowned Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. The Holy Roman Empire, then, tied the church and secular authority even more closely together. And thus, the concerns of the Empire became the concerns of “the church,” and vice versa. This arrangement later led to a long series of struggles between emperors and the popes for ultimate supremacy. And we will see some of this in our studies to come.

There is another major event which takes place during this particular time, and that is the rise of Mohammedanism. There was certainly a great deal of ebb and flow of the political tide, of various battles and wars which were won and lost, and territories which changed hands. While much of this was going on, there was something that was going on in the Arabian Desert. It was something that went largely unnoticed until it was probably too late.

One named Mohammed was born about AD 570, and he was born, apparently, of humble origin. For a number of years he worked for an uncle as a camel driver. Because of his travels, this brought him in contact with both Jews and those who claimed “Christianity.” In these contacts that he made with these Jews and “Christians,” he noticed that their faiths were so much different from the idolatrous paganism that he and his people practiced.

Eventually, Mohammed married a wealthy widow. With this acquired wealth and status, it gave him time to meditate, to reflect, on things that he had seen, things that he had witnessed, and he began to have what historians refer to, what he referred to, as “visions.” He believed that these “visions” were a revelation from God. Among other things that these “visions” told him, or instructed him concerning, was to oppose idolatry—the idolatry that was so prevalent in this region—specifically in Mecca. Now, he would receive a great deal of opposition for this stance that he took, and so in 622, he had to flee Mecca, and he found refuge in a place called Medina.

Mohammed called his religion “Islam,” meaning “surrender,” that is, obviously, to surrender to the will of God, whom he called “Allah.” The sacred book of Islam was and is called the “Koran.”

Well, that is the beginning of this movement, of this religion—a very militant and aggressive religion. Islam enjoyed an amazing growth. Its Arabic devotees became driven by religious fanaticism, but they were also motivated by a desire for wealth, for prosperity and for land. So, they began to move, they began to expand, they began to organize themselves, and so we see that in a fairly rapid period of time, and in fairly rapid succession, many of the major cities, major areas, of both central and eastern Europe would be overtaken by the Arabs. Damascus fell in 635; Jerusalem fell in 638; Egypt fell in 642. In the following century, after the death of Mohammed (632 – 732), Islam had swept across North Africa, and Spain, and far into France. We can see what an effect, and how quickly the effect of, this religion was.

One of the characteristics of Islam was that it was quite intolerant of “Christianity.” You know, we spent a good bit of time talking about the persecution of the early Christians. For several centuries, the Christians enjoyed—beginning with Constantine and following thereafter—a period of peace and prosperity without the persecutions. In fact, we pointed out last week [Lesson 5] that as “Christianity” became the favored religion and the official religion of the Roman Empire, some “Christians” began to persecute the pagans. Those who had been the persecuted had become the persecutors. Well, we see here that the tables have once again been turned—that the Arabs, that those practicing Islam, were not tolerant at all of “Christianity.” And as these regions began to fall, “Christians” were given two choices. They were either given the choice of the Koran or the sword. Well, under such pressures, many of those who professed to “Christianity” as their belief, as their faith, gave in—were converted, in effect, to Islam. Many took the sword. There are many examples of those who were martyred during this period as well. But, there were many more who sought ways to escape, to flee, or to practice their faith secretly.

During this period, Bibles were destroyed, “Christian” schools were closed, church buildings were converted into mosques, and so on. However, as time went on, the Arabs became fairly apt students of the culture. They came to realize that there was something to be gained, perhaps, by not taking such a strong stand against “Christianity,” so it eventually developed that there was a third choice that “Christians” were given: One was still the Koran; one was still the sword; the third was tribute. If you pay, you can practice your religion. And so, many “Christians” were able to keep and to practice their faith by paying tribute. But they were reduced to second-class citizens, and the “church” in these areas was permanently crippled.

Of course, it’s during these kinds of periods of time when we really don’t have the history, we really don’t have the information, to know just exactly who all of these ones are. Perhaps, some of those ones who were put to the sword by the Mohammedans were those who were off in apostasy, but they were firm in their belief of what they were practicing. They had, perhaps, strayed far away from New Testament doctrine and pattern of things, but they were put to the sword, nonetheless. There may have been those, as well, who were doing their very best to follow New Testament Christianity—trying to abide by the apostles’ doctrine—faithful brethren, if you will, and they, too, were put to the sword. It’s doubtful that the Mohammedans were too interested, necessarily, in “What ‘brand,’ what ‘flavor,’ of Christianity are you?” Simply, “Here’s your choice, the Koran or the Bible; Islam or Christianity?” And they made no differentiation between those in apostasy and those who followed New Testament Christianity.

[Note: At this point, some questions arose about this study of the History of the Church. Some points needed to be clarified, and John interrupted this lesson to do so. You will find these clarifications in Lesson 6 – Part 2, dated August 11, 2004. He then continued this lesson, Lesson 6 – Part 1, on August 18, 2004, with The Great Schism as seen below.]