IJRF Vol 7:1/2 2014 (157–173)
157
Religious monopoly and the loss of religious freedom in Christendom Maximilian J Hölzl1 Abstract The aim of this article is to analyse how the developments in the post-apostolic church, and particularly after the Constantinian shift, soon resulted in the loss of religious freedom. In recent years, there has been a great deal of interest in mission in the changing contexts of post-Christian societies in the West. Yet most of this research has neglected to examine the relationship between the post-Christendom shift and the previous shift from the persecuted primitive church to the religiouspolitical construct of Christendom. What is more, an examination of the Christendom era contributes to the study of the conditions of religious freedom and persecution. The compulsion to religious uniformity and monopoly resulted inevitably in the loss of religious freedom over many centuries. In the final analysis, the differing assessments of Constantinianism depend on the respective eschatological and ecclesiological view. Keywords
Religious freedom and persecution, Christendom era, Constantinian Shift, ecclesiastical institution, imperial church, compulsory church, enforced uniformity, abuse of power, from martyrs to inquisitors, concept of discipleship, non-conformist movements.
At the second assembly of the World Council of Churches in Evanston, 1954, Edmund Schlink delivered a remarkable address on the main theme “Christ – the Hope of the World,” which was contrary to the prevailing optimistic eschatological expectations and left some delegates and reporters shocked and annoyed.2 The remarkable thing is how he connected the massive persecution of Christians in his 1
2
Maximilian Hölzl (*1960) is co-author and co-translator into German of the Bad Urach Statement, as well as translator of the Bad Urach Call. He has published and lectured in the areas of Missiology, Practical Theology, religious freedom and persecution, Church History, and New Testament Theology. He holds an MA in Missiology (Columbia International University, USA), an MPhil in Theology (University of Manchester, U.K.), with further studies of Classical Languages and Theology (Universities of Tübingen, Heidelberg and Greifswald, Germany). For many years he served as a pastor, evangelist, speaker and translator, and is currently working on a PhD dissertation on non-conformist evangelical anticipations of post-Christendom mission. Recently he served as a guest lecturer at Nepal Baptist Bible College and Kathmandu Institute of Theology. The author writes in British English. Article received: 22 March 2014; Accepted: 5 Feb. 2015. Contact: Maximilian J. Hölzl, Tubizerstr. 3, 70825 Korntal, Germany, E-Mail: m.hoelzl@t-online.de. Eugene M. Skibbe, Edmund Schlink: Bekenner im Kirchenkampf, Lehrer der Kirche, Vordenker der Ökumene (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2009), 102-104.