Transcriber's Note: Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully aspossible, including some inconsistencies of hyphenation. Some changes of spelling and punctuation have been made. They are listed at the end of the text. Italic text has been marked with _underscores_. The University of Chicago THE TRANSFORMATION OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY FROM AN ESCHATOLOGICAL TO A SOCIALIZED MOVEMENT A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND LITERATURE IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF CHURCH HISTORY IN THE GRADUATE DIVINITY SCHOOL BY LYFORD PATERSON EDWARDS The Collegiate Press GEORGE BANTA PUBLISHING COMPANY MENASHA, WISCONSIN 1919 CONTENTS Chapter I. Political Theories of the Early Christians 1 Chapter II. The Early Church and Property Concepts 24 Chapter III. The Early Church and the Populace 50 Chapter IV. Chiliasm and Patriotism 70 Chapter V. Chiliasm and Social Theory 83 CHAPTER I THE POLITICAL THEORIES OF THE EARLY CHRISTIANS When Christianity came into the world it found a number of different political theories already in existence. These various conflicting concepts; Hebrew, Greek and Roman, influenced Christianity in varying degrees and in varying degrees were influenced by Christianity. Christianity as such added no new ideas to the current stock of political notions. The Hebrew Christian retained his Jewish theory; as did the Greek and the Roman in perhaps a less degree. The development of the Christian conception of the state, the Church, and history generally is a process of elimination, selection, adaptation, and synthesis of the various elements of political theory current in contemporary Hebrew and pagan thought. The characteristic modern separation of Church and State, the divorce between religion and government, existed as a matter of fact in early Christianity. But it was forced upon the Christians by the historical situation. As an idea it was foreign alike to Jews and Christians, Greeks and Romans. It was contrary to the whole body of contemporary political theory. The union of Church and State in the Fourth century, which has been so deplored by many modern historians and moralists was in reality perfectly inevitable. The social mind of the whole ancient world made any other course impossible either to Christians or Pagans once Christianity had developed to the point where it was the most powerful religious force in society.