Compiled by Lewis Loflin
As a Deist, I see reason, not dogma, unraveling early Christianity’s chaos (500-800 AD). Heresies like Monophysitism and Nestorianism, Justinian’s religious wars, and Iconoclasm tore it apart, bankrupting the Eastern Empire and ruining the West. Persecution of Jews and dissenters paved Islam’s way after 630 AD. Contra O’Neill’s Holy Warriors, I argue Christianity, not just Islam, dismantled classical civilization—its internal strife a self-inflicted wound.
From 500-800 AD, early Christianity splintered over diverse beliefs, worsened by Justinian’s theological wars to reclaim the Western Empire. These conflicts, alongside wars with Sassanid Persia, left the Eastern Roman Empire bankrupt and Italy, Spain, and North Africa in ruins. The Plague of Justinian (541-542 AD) killed millions, slashing Byzantine and Persian populations by up to a third, crippling economies and armies amid religious strife. Weakened and divided, both empires became sitting ducks for Islamic conquest post-630 AD. Church persecution of Jews and heretics further eased this shift. Will Durant dubbed Justinian "The Imperial Theologian." Below, I explore key heresies and their impact, often downplayed in history.
Heresy—"unorthodoxy"—means beliefs diverging from official doctrine, threatening the power of religious or secular leaders. Early Catholicism, like later Islam, violently suppressed it. Individual conviction clashed with enforced unity, ripping faith systems apart.
Monophysitism (Greek: "one nature") posits Christ has a single divine-human nature, absorbing his humanity, opposing Chalcedon’s (451 AD) two-nature stance. In Alexandria, Catholics and Monophysites battled in streets, women hurling missiles from roofs. Egypt, half-lost to Byzantium a century before the Arabs, favored heretics under Arab rule over Justinian’s oppression. (Durant, 115)
Nestorius (Patriarch, 428-431) emphasized Christ’s distinct human and divine natures, rejecting "Theotokos" (Mother of God) for Mary. Condemned at Ephesus (431) and Chalcedon (451), his followers split, forming the Nestorian Church in Sassanid Persia. Critics, like Cyril of Alexandria, linked it to adoptionism—Christ as a man "adopted" by God—deepening the schism.
Iconoclasm—destroying religious icons—arose in the Byzantine Church, deeming image worship pagan. Leo III (r. 717-741) banned icons, resisting Umayyad pressure, while Constantine V (r. 740-775) intensified it, splitting Catholic and Byzantine churches permanently. Icons later returned, though I view them as idolatry.
Justinian’s Codex made Orthodox Catholicism the state religion, merging church and state. Non-adherents were non-citizens.
The Codex’s first law mandated Orthodox faith, targeting heresies like Arianism, fueling later international law debates.
While not banning paganism outright, laws punished practices like sacrifices as murder, curbing dissent.
"Servitude of the Jews" laws barred Jews from testifying against Christians, holding office, or using Hebrew in worship. Shema Yisrael was outlawed, conversion favored inheritance, and the Emperor meddled in Jewish affairs—laws later mirrored by Muslims against Christians.
It’s striking how Justinian’s anti-Jewish laws prefigure Islamic dhimmi policies. Under Islam’s Pact of Umar (c. 7th century), Jews and Christians faced similar subjugation: barred from public office, testifying against Muslims, or building new places of worship. Qur’an 9:29 demands they pay jizya "with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued," echoing Justinian’s "Servitude of the Jews." Both banned key religious expressions—Shema Yisrael for Jews, church bells for Christians—and favored converts in inheritance. This suggests Islam adapted Justinian’s framework, flipping it against Christians after conquering Byzantine lands. The shared obsession with enforcing orthodoxy and subordinating "others" reveals a continuity of imperial theology, not a coincidence, weakening both empires by alienating dissenters and aiding Islam’s rise.
Sources: orthodoxwiki.org, Wikipedia, and Will Durant’s The Age of Faith. I thank Grok, an AI by xAI, for aiding in refining this compilation.
As a Deist, I see reason, not divine will, in history’s turns. Early Christian schisms—Monophysitism, Nestorianism, Arianism—fractured unity, as explored in What Split Early Christianity? and Arian Goths and Jews in the West. The Byzantine Empire Overview and Byzantine-Persian Wars Overview reveal how relentless conflicts with Sassanid Persia (Religion in the Persian Sassanid Dynasty) drained both empires by the 7th century. Persecution of heretics and Jews under Catholic rule, replacing Arian tolerance, alienated populations. Exhausted and divided, these powers crumbled before Islam’s swift advance post-630 AD—a human tale of strife opening doors to a new faith.
