Friday, January 31, 2025

*** This is a rough transcript of today’s show ***

It is the 31st of January 2025. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

Let’s head to the early church today- the crucial years in the early 300s when Christianity went from persecuted to gaining a kind of “most favored religion” status in the Empire.

As you may recall, the early church developed a hierarchy of bishops, elders, and deacons (the New Testament itself doesn’t seem to provide us with any systematic classification of church positions). Bishops in major centers took prominence: those in Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Rome.

And, you may know that the “Bishop of Rome” would eventually come to the father, or “il papa” of them all… how did the Bishop of Rome come to rule them all? For this question and a remarkable story made up of some “made up stories,” we go to this day, the 31st of January in 314, and the consecration of Pope Sylvester I.

Your ears might perk up for the early 300s, as this was when Constantine was emperor, the council of Nicea helped define Christian doctrine, and Christianity started off on the path that made it the cultural juggernaut it was in the Middle Ages.

The first thing to know about Sylvester is that he was the Bishop of Rome (called the Pope) for a long time- of the 260-something number of Popes, the average length of office is about seven and a half years. Sylvester was Pope for 21 years- in the top 10 of longest reigns and perhaps one of the luckiest, as he was the first Pope to hold office entirely under the liberty granted the church.

In conjunction with the Emperor, Pope Sylvester managed to have St. Peter’s Basilica, the Basilica of the Holy Cross, and the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran all constructed. The idea of Rome as a particular city and its bishop as elevated above the others is percolating in these years, as are various legends.

One had it that it was Sylvester himself who baptized the new Christian Emperor Constantine and that in being baptized, he was cured of leprosy. According to the legend, Constantine was told by his advisors to bathe in the blood of children to be cured, but Sylvester said otherwise.

Constantine wasn’t baptized until he was on his deathbed, and then by an Arian… but still, the association with Constantine and Sylvester and Rome had been set. Jump to the 700s- Pepin, a king and father of the future Charlemagne, recaptured Italian lands, including Rome, from the Lombards and gave them to the Bishop of Rome. The Emperor in Constantinople wasn’t happy- on what grounds does the Bishop of Rome have special authority in the West?

The answer came in a document purportedly written by Constantine the Great himself and given to our man, Pope Sylvester. This “Donation of Constantine” read, “I…decree that his holy Roman church shall be honored with veneration; and that, more than our empire and earthly throne, the most sacred seat of St. Peter shall be gloriously exalted; we giving to it the imperial power, and dignity of glory, and vigor and honor. And we ordain and decree that he shall have the supremacy as well over the four chief seats Antioch, Alexandria, Constantinople, and Jerusalem, as also over all the churches of God in the whole world.” thus, the bishop of Rome became the Pope…  

It was in the 15th century that advances in textual criticism led to questions about the authenticity of this document, which elevated Sylvester and other Roman Bishops over the rest. The document was a forgery, and the story shook Europe. If the church had been lying about this in order to keep power, what else might it be guilty of? Can we trust any or all of our ancient texts? This would lead to the cry of “ad fontes” or “back to the sources” and the Renaissance, Reformation, and explosion in biblical archaeology and textual criticism.

And all of this goes back to Sylvester, who- interestingly, would die on the 31st of December such that he would also be associated with the New Year- in places where there is a different “new year” for religious or cultural reasons the western new year is marked as “Sylvester’s Day.” A holiday and forged document that forever changed the course of Western civilization? And with a cool name, “Sylvester” was pope before it was cool to change your name upon becoming Pope… we remember him and what his papacy wrought… on the anniversary of his ascension to the Bishop of the See of Rome- the first under Constantine and with a legalized Christianity on this day in 314

 

The last word for today from the daily lectionary and Psalm 71:

In you, Lord, I have taken refuge;
    let me never be put to shame.

In your righteousness, rescue me and deliver me;

    turn your ear to me and save me.

Be my rock of refuge,

    to which I can always go;


give the command to save me,

    for you are my rock and my fortress.

Deliver me, my God, from the hand of the wicked,

    from the grasp of those who are evil and cruel.

For you have been my hope, Sovereign Lord,

    my confidence since my youth.

From birth I have relied on you;

    you brought me forth from my mother’s womb.

    I will ever praise you.

  

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 31st of January 2025, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man whose favorite Sylvesters include Stallone, the Cat, Graham of Graham Cracker Fame, and Sylvester Rax- the bad guy on M.A.S.K. He is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man whose favorite is Sylvester Mc Monkey McBean. He has what you need. And his prices are low. And he works at great speed. And his work is one hundred percent guaranteed.” I’m your Fix-it-up-Chappie Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.