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The Falling Away That Brought On The Dark Age (Part 4 of 5)
As emperor, Constantine had those who ruled under him in the various provinces within the empire, but not all of them were pleased with his favor toward the Christians. One ruler in particular, named Licinius, who ruled in the Byzantine province, rebelled against Constantine’s rule and continued severe persecution against the Christians in that area. Constantine took his army, defeated Licinius, and executed him for his revolt in continuing his persecution of Christians. He rebuilt the city of Byzantium on a magnificent scale, and renamed it Constantinople. In ad324, Constantine moved the seat of government from Rome to Constantinople, and became very involved in the religious controversies among the bishops. Since Christianity seemed to be stronger in the East, his leanings were more in favor with the bishops of the East. This was the beginning of a spiritual war between the high-ranking bishops, especially between the bishop or Rome and the bishop of Constantinople.
The spiritual war between the high-ranking bishops of the apostate wing of the church continued for about 200 years. It was not so much a war over doctrinal issues as it was over power and control. Since there were five major provinces within the Roman Empire, there were now five provincial bishops, and each of them wanted to be the chief bishop. Yet, each was reluctant to make such an exalted claim for himself. These five bishops were located in the seats of each province: Rome, Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Alexander. Of these five cities, the bishops of Rome and Constantinople were without question the most powerful. So, the power struggle finally narrowed down to the bishops or Rome and Constantinople. Since the seat of the Roman Empire was now located in Constantinople rather than Rome, the bishop of Constantinople naturally felt he should occupy the preeminent position. So, in ad588, with the encouragement of the emperor, he declared himself to be bishop over the church universal.
As you can imagine, this didn't set very well with the bishop of Rome, who at that time was Gregory the Great. He was very upset over this ambitions claim by John the Faster, so he wrote him a very lengthy letter of rebuke, but John did not relent. Without question, Gregory proved by his letter that he knew the idea of a universal bishop was contrary to the scriptures. The following brief quote from Gregory to John will show that he clearly understood this:
“You know it, my brother; hath not the venerable Council of Chalcedon conferred the honorary title of universal upon the bishop of this Apostolic See, whereof I am, by God’s will, the servant? And yet none of us hath permitted this title to be given him; none has assumed this bold title, lest by assuming a special distinction in the dignity of the episcopate, we should seem to refuse it to all the brethren” (Church History, Klingman, p. 18, part 2).
From this quote, it is clear that Gregory did not make this claim to himself. Yet the Roman Catholic Church today lists him as one of their greatest popes. Furthermore, it proves that there were no such offices as universal bishop prior to ad588.
In the year ad601, the centurion, Phocas, rebelled against the emperor, slew him and his family in an atrocious manner, usurped the throne, and moved the seat of the empire back to Rome. Shortly thereafter, Boniface III, bishop of Rome, persuaded Phocas to transfer the title of universal bishop to him. Phocas agreed to do so thus in the year ad606 Boniface III was declared bishop over the church universal. Please observe that Roman Catholics cannot claim a pope prior to ad606. Furthermore, they will have to admit that the murderous emperor was the one who appointed him, not God.
Not only does the year ad606 mark the beginning of the Roman Catholic Church, but it also marks the beginning of a great division between the Roman Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church, neither of which by this time bore any similitude of the true church of the Lord. Truly the great falling away spoken of by Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2.3-4 had occurred, and a very dark age for the church was fully present. It all started with the desire of church leaders to seek a position of preeminence within the church. The grounds on which they moved to attain this unwarranted position was to claim direct guidance of the Spirit; a claim they could not substantiate by any God-given miraculous power.
