We discussed a little bit more about the reign of Constantine, and there was the request to know about one of his works in building churches, whether those still remained. It took a little digging. I thought that my textbook named them, and it did not. But I was able to find them. There are three. ancient churches, two that trace to the time of Constantine in building New Rome, eventually called Constantinople. The first was called the Church of Holy Peace, Hagia Irene, and And that one was completed, Church of Holy Peace, that's what that translates to. It was completed close to the end of his reign, and it stood for some time, but is no longer standing in its original form. It was key and a large church. The only one that was larger was built by one of his followers, I think his son, and it was Hagia Sophia. That one's more famous and still standing. But it was completed in 337, Hagia Irene, at the end of his reign. And he may even be buried on the site of where that church was located. Sadly, it was burnt to the ground during a riot, the Nica Revolt, N-I-K-A, in 532. So this is prior to the work of the Muslim hordes. And Justinian I rebuilt it. So it stood for quite some time. He rebuilt it in 548 as part of a widespread architectural project. But sadly, it was eventually, if I'm remembering correctly, It was eventually brought into some measure of damage and disarray in an earthquake in 740. So it was then another time rebuilt, this by Constantine V, and then decorated with mosaics and frescoes. And it survived in that form to some extent. You can still see some of those frescoes. So for tourism, that's a potential if you can make it through Turkey. The other was the Church of the Holy Apostles. And That was not as large, but it was very important during its time. Nevertheless, it didn't fare as well, even through all of the difficulties of Hagia Erene, it didn't fare as well. The Ottomans did level it to make way for the Faith Mosque, and that in 1461. So one of those survived. I think it's now used as a concert hall and a museum. So they didn't turn that one into a mosque. I think the Hagia Sophia they turned into a mosque, then back into some kind of a museum. I think it may be back to a mosque again. So that is what happened with those works. Again, There was, you know, contra the claims that Constantine was just acting out of a coarse or crass political maneuvering. None of the things we listed, including the building of these churches, amounts to any evidence to that claim, to support that claim. Any questions or comments on that? We mentioned along the way that what the Lord used to preserve the goods of the empire, such as they were, was Christian evangelism. The presence of Christianity in the empire was used by the Lord to prevent the repaganizing and dismantling of those things hoped for, those things that had progressed to some extent. There were lots of problems, no doubt, with this first foray into a Christian magistrate's influence in caring for the church, taking a personal concern, it was a mess, but there were fundamental goods involved. And they were endeavoring to preserve those goods. So where have we come from? How far have we gotten? Well, we worked through the early church fathers. Remember the apostolic fathers, those who knew in that first generation, the apostles themselves. Then the apologists and polemicists. Then those who arose from those schools in North Africa, the Alexandrian school and the Carthaginian school. And then, as we've moved into the 3rd and 4th century, we're looking at the anti-Nicene fathers, those who came before the Council of Nicaea that Constantine called, and those who were then present at that council, the Nicene fathers. We mentioned what happened after that, and I want to talk about that preservation through evangelism. as the thing that we'll use to close out this section before our break. And then we'll take up afterward more of the characters involved in the church council, those key church figures. But from a broad sweep, I want us to consider how the Lord used evangelistic efforts to preserve the goods of the empire to keep it from simply falling into another bout of paganism now brought about through the Goths and the Vandals. You remember the first set of Goths who made their way in were the Visigoths. Now they started out in the Balkan region. way out to the east, and went somewhat south, came up, invaded Italy, came up again, and made their way through Gaul and into Spain. They settled there and set up their kingdom. These were impressive, warring people. In fact, as we'll get to the one who had an influence on that people, he was an important missionary to them, translated most of the Bible into their language, but did not translate the Book of the Kings, 1st and 2nd Kings, precisely because he didn't want to fuel their warlike spirit. Odd choice, but interesting. They were a powerful, warring set of barbarian people. And we should also note barbarian didn't originally mean what it connotes now. It came to have more of a term of derision or sense of derision in the Roman Empire, but it started out in the Greek as just an And onomatopoeia, the word was imitating the fact that they sounded like they babbled when they spoke. Bar-bar-bar-bar-bar. That's what they mocked the sound of their language, and they were called barbarians. later the Roman Empire began to look down on them as uncultured, and so it started to pick up its negative connotation. But it still labeled anybody who didn't know Latin, didn't know Greek, and didn't know the culture of the Roman Empire. in the process of evangelism, it started before the Goths invaded. You remember we mentioned Armenia becoming the first Christian kingdom, 301, King Tiridates, and they had Gregory the Illuminator, is how he is named, the great missionary to the Armenians, They had a complete copy of the scriptures in the Armenian language in 433. They, as we talked about before, as a people, have been vigorous and clinging to their Christian identity, even though it has become corrupted with superstitions and so on. Eastern Orthodoxy, its particular form of Eastern Orthodoxy, not being truly faithful but still Christian in orientation. They considered that something non-negotiable and they suffered under the hand of the Muslims. Ethiopia was converted under the labor of Frumentius and he lived from around 300 to 380, so a good long life. He was a Greek believer from Tyre. He was a slave to Ethiopia, but was later freed, and he's credited with the founding of the church in Ethiopia. Massive conversion. They became what was later called a Coptic, or a branch of the Coptic church, which is out of Egypt, Alexandria. In fact, Athanasius of Alexandria was instrumental in giving approval to that church, made Frumentius the head of the Ethiopian church. Remember, they practiced a hierarchy. That hierarchy remained connected to the Coptic church in Alexandria. the way that the church over this history thought and lived and what that produced, that connection to Alexandria as a Coptic church continued till 1957. So started with Athanasius, you know, Contramundum Athanasius, acknowledging them, making Frumentius the bishop there, and This continued in relationship and structure until 1957. We can't think past two generations, practically. I mean, to have that kind of history is breathtaking. And yet, with all the things that we're lacking, that's not one that was lacking. That's exactly how it should be. There should be such a deep devotion and commitment and understanding of our primary identity, seated in the church, that it's a non-negotiable and persists We want it to be full of gospel truth, not emptied of that so that it becomes like a racial identity. No, no. We want it to be a spiritual identity that is vigorous and deeper than racial commitments, ethnic commitments, and other surrounding familial commitments. At least in structure, that is what this looked like. Now, there were also missionary endeavors to the British Isles. that were early on, before the Goths invaded. This founded what's been called Celtic Christianity. And we don't have as clear a record like we have of what happened in Ethiopia. We know who was the missionary there, how he got there, what the connections were. We don't have that for the British Isles. Historians believe it was just likely that as it was a part of the Roman Empire, there were those who were believers who, as a part of military or merchant endeavors, were just those settling as a colony. Those that were Christians brought their Christianity with them. What we see arising there bears some of those earmarks of that era. There's the same kind of structure, some of the same practices, and so on. But interestingly, it was separate enough from the continent that all of the nonsense, if I may speak frankly, that arose about the privacy of Rome, and the Bishop of Rome, and his claims to supremacy, and all that, They had no part of it. The Celtic Christian church never recognized anything about the primacy of some other bishop on the continent. So that passed them by. Now, as we get into the 400s, as we've been talking about that, you remember, we talked about the Goths and the barbarian invasions. As a result, the emperor drew the troops out of the British Isles back to the continent to try to fight the barbarians. That left the British Isles defenseless. It left the Christians defenseless. And the Isles were open to invasion. This is when, you know who invaded at this time? Around 410. They withdrew around 400, early 400s, 401, something like that, those troops. And the invasion began in 410. No, this was the Anglo-Saxons. The Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes. The Normans came later, but this is when the whole Anglo-Saxon thing happened. And the invasion took place in what's now England, and The Christians were basically exterminated or able to flee to the mountainous regions in the north and to the far west. So Wales, Scotland, or Yorkshire area, into the hills. Some survived there. It is thought that this was the location of one Patrick. who became, through some miraculous events and unique providences, the missionary to Ireland. You'll remember Patrick was kidnapped as a slave from Britain and taken to Ireland by pirates, and he was 16 years old when this happened. He was the son of a nobleman who was a Christian, a deacon, but also serving in the civil sphere. He was a tax collector, apparently. But Patrick was not very devout when he was taken captive. When he was taken and made a slave, he served a Druid leader as a shepherd. Though he had not been deeply committed to his Christian heritage, apparently what he learned during those 16 years had been planted like seeds in his soul. Because while he was stuck in the hills of Ireland shepherding a Druid leader's sheep, he cried out to God. And he records that God was kind to him as he vigorously pursued a prayer life informed by what he had been taught. He sought God in prayer during the six years of his slavery. As he records it, he had a miraculous vision, heard a voice assuring him that he was going to be restored, that his ship was waiting, and he was led to go quite a distance to a dock where he persuaded a ship captain to take him. And there is some dispute among historians as to where he came from in Britain. Some have even suggested, well, he probably wasn't from Britain, he was probably from Gaul, which is France. Most historians believe it was Britain. But when he made his way to the dock for his escape, apparently, if I understood correctly, it was on the west side of Ireland. So it was a long journey to get around Ireland, back up to Britain. And then it was a long journey to make it back to the place of his origin. When he got back, Of course, that was a joyous reunion. They didn't want him ever to leave again, but the Lord had other plans. He had another vision, and that of someone from Ireland giving him a message from the Irish people, calling him back to them. to evangelize. So he returned in 432 and labored in Ireland until his death evangelizing and establishing monasteries in Ireland. And there's a notable book that may be a little colorful but it records a genuine history and that's how the Irish saved civilization. It was the monastery effort of Patrick that established scholarship, preserved documents, that while Europe was in tatters and losing its history, much of it was preserved in those monasteries and could be repopulated to Europe later. so remarkable things accomplished as we trace Christ's providence in preserving the goods of the kingdom, again through Christian evangelism. It was as a result of those evangelistic efforts to Ireland that a particular Irishman was called to evangelize those northern Celtic tribes that had not been Christian up in Scotland. That man was Columba, and that was some time later. He lived 521 to 597, sent from Ireland to Scotland to evangelize. And there were Scots, but more largely the Picts and other pagan tribes there in the north. if you see a map of Scotland, where Columba landed and created his base station to evangelize, he set up a monastery on the island of Iona. And if you take the size of Scotland, or the sweep of Scotland, it's an island just about in the center of the the breadth or the height of Scotland just off the coast, Iona. And he established that in 563. And from that base of operations, witnessed to the tribes, the pagan tribes that were there in Scotland. We know the outcome of that to some extent. So going back then to the Barbarians, Before that invasion, not only were these other evangelistic endeavors taking place, there was evangelism that took place to the Goths. In particular, those that started in the Balkans, that sweep the Visigoths made, included certainly pagans, but also those who knew something of Christianity. It was Ulfilas, who lived from 311 to 381, U-L-F-I-L-A-S. Now, he had a very successful evangelistic effort to the Visigoths and to other people groups that ended up invading. Here's the thing, though. You note by his dates, 311 to 381, he's living and laboring around the time of the controversy of the Aryan heresy. And while that was settled at the Council of Nicaea, and Constantine tried to exercise civil authority in enforcing the decision of the council, It took a while for that orthodox, biblical view to gain the upper hand. His successful evangelism was under the influence of Arianism. He was somebody who did not embrace the orthodox position of Christ as truly God. equal with the Father in every way, including having but one essence. That was the doctrine of Nicaea. And whatever he believed that was flavored with Arianism was less than that pure expression of orthodoxy. Nevertheless, what was the effect of this? Well, a large portion of these Goths were either a part of Aryan Christianity or familiar enough with it that once they made their sweep and raid into the Roman Empire and established their kingdom in Spain, they were familiar with Christianity and ready to be evangelized to Orthodoxy. That included not only the Visigoths, Lombards who settled in Gaul were also influenced by the labors of Wolfagos. Now it took a long time and a great deal of effort by the Orthodox believers in the empire in exerting missionary effort to these goth kingdoms and regions that made an establishment in what had been the Roman Empire. But that effort was eventually successful. These, not by war, not by coercion, but by evangelism, were persuaded of the Orthodox position and converted to the Nicene faith. Again, Visigoths who settled their kingdom in Spain. Lombards, some Burgundians settled in Gaul, which is modern day France. Now, There were not only these Eastern Goths who made their way West, there were also Teutonic Pagans from the North who made their way South. And missionaries of import in relation to evangelizing those Teutonic Pagans, Germanic tribes that were still rather thoroughly Pagan Martin of Tours, 355-400. Martin of Tours. His labor was mostly in Gaul, modern-day France, and primarily to the Burgundians. Now, His was not a successful and evangelistic effort. What he's well known for is the monks that he led were sort of a troop that was formed somewhat like military and they were well known for burning groves. So they would find the, the places where the pagan, the Teutonic pagans had influence and where pagan worship involved various set up groves of trees for pagan worship, they'd burn them down. That didn't convert the Burgundians in Gaul. They rather aligned themselves. They were like, OK, fine. it was apparently easy. I didn't find that there was some kind of revolt at this sacrilege to their pagan groves of trees for worship. Rather, they just took up the paganism of the Franks, which were also in that general region. The Franks continued and really had the most influence And thus, the name for France arose from the Franks and other barbarian tribes that were in that region. The one who had the most influence, in fact, had influence as a missionary converting the Franks. And that was in 466 to 511. Clovis, the king of the Franks, was really the one who was instrumental in the conversion of the Franks. The way that happened is a little interesting. He had married Clotilda. This is a significant person. Clovis married Clotilda. I want to make sure I spell that right. Who was a Christian. There she is. Clotilda. And historians suggest that she, in professing her Christianity, did not find what the backstory was of how she became his bride, but she did not disown her Christianity. He became familiar with the Christian claims and what was distinctive in his conversion. was something similar to what happened to Constantine, not a bold vision or anything like that, but rather what seemed to him to be a clear providence. In battle, 496, there was a marvelous turn of the battle. He won a great victory, and to his mind, that was no happenstance. That was no chance victory. This was a clear hand of providence to his mind, and he converted. And as we've mentioned before, it was understood in that era and before that if your leader had a certain faith, it was expected that everyone would follow that faith. Well, apparently he did not have to coerce anyone. History books I looked at did not indicate that this was some kind of coercive conversion. The heart of the king was turned towards Christianity, so his people turned to Christianity. As one of my textbooks said, this may have been nominal only, but again, the Lord draws a straight line with a crooked stick. The king may very well have been sincere, and since all the people said, okay, we'll be Christians then. Over time, the gospel is there, and the Lord used it to establish Christianity in the hearts of the people. At some point, it became a Christian nation. And that continued in Gaul as all the leaders there in what eventually became France remained deeply devoted to defending Christianity. They became the base of operations for continued missionary efforts that were eventually completely successful to the Visigoths. We mentioned others who had made that effort. it was brought to its full success by Christian missionaries coming from this region after the conversion of Clovis, king of the Franks. And so, the thing I want to leave you with there is not that everything was perfect in that evangelism, not that everything made perfect sense to us in that evangelism, just rather that In the midst of what looked like utter defeat, the church persisted earnestly, diligently, faithfully in her faith through thick and thin, and had a passion for seeing that faith spread through evangelism, and they organized to do it. And with that passion, with that heart, when the Lord opened the door, we mustn't miss this other point, when the Lord opened the door, by allowing it to have free course in a kingdom. The conversion of the Franks. then they were ready by their fervor for evangelism, their presence there, the work that had gone before that, to make full use of it once the door opened. And so that's why we pray in that fashion. We pray that the Lord will in fact preserve his church and remove the hindrances. And when he does so, that we will be able to exploit those spiritually for the gospel. So we'll land there, pick up again in September, and we'll post when that will happen. Any questions or comments? All right, let's pray. Heavenly Father, we are grateful for this example. We pray that we may be diligent to be obedient with greater insight, both of that history and our calling. And so give free course to the gospel, we pray, and make us a people fervent in sustaining and spreading that gospel, we pray in Christ's name. Amen.