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The Abiding Gift of Prophecy

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    Developments in the Fourth Century

    In three centuries of desperate effort by the Roman government to blot out the church of Christ from the face of the earth, it has discovered itself to be at war with an omnipotent power—something vastly more than a mere earthly force. It has also come to a realization of its own utter impotence in this direct warfare. It has seen the spread of the gospel into every part of its vast domain. Everywhere it has witnessed the upspringing of churches composed of Roman citizens, won from the pagan gods of the state, to Christ, the Son of God and Saviour of men.AGP 192.2

    But during these three centuries other changes of a very serious character have developed. The church itself has suffered a marked deterioration. It has lost seriously in what Christ called its “first love;” or, as rendered pointedly by Weymouth, “You no longer love Me as you did at first.” Revelation 2:4. Love for the Master had not been extinguished, but it had lost a measure of its fervor and glow. That loss opened the door for serious evils to come into the church. Doctrinal heresies and jealousies, dissensions and degeneracies, gained a foothold in the congregations. These evils, boring from within, accomplished what all the opposition and persecution from without had failed to effect. It resulted in weakening the great evangelistic endeavor of the believers, and in general deterioration and worldliness throughout their ranks. Indeed, we read the solemn words:AGP 192.3

    “A moral and intellectual paralysis had fallen upon Christendom.” “The Great Controversy Between Christ and Satan,” p. 60.

    Another great peril that befell the church at the close of the third century was the seeming surrender of the pagan state to the Christian church. In the early part of the fourth century, Constantine, the Roman emperor, professed to have abandoned the pagan gods of the empire and to have accepted Christianity.AGP 192.4

    He canceled the cruel edicts for the persecution of the Christians, and issued others in their favor.AGP 193.1

    “The nominal conversion of Constantine, in the early part of the fourth century, caused great rejoicing; and the world, cloaked with a form of righteousness, walked into the church. Now the work of corruption rapidly progressed. Paganism, while appearing to be vanquished, became the conqueror. Her spirit controlled the church. Her doctrines, ceremonies, and superstitions were incorporated into the faith and worship of the professed followers of Christ.” Id., pp. 49, 50.AGP 193.2

    But Constantine went to greater lengths. The historian says:AGP 193.3

    “He prohibited by law the worship of idols in cities and country, commanded that no statues of the gods should be erected, nor any sacrifices offered upon their altars, and sent into all the provinces Christian presidents, forbidding the pagan priests to offer sacrifice, and confirming to the former [the Christian presidents], the honors due to their characters and stations.” “The History of the Christian Church,” William Jones (two-volume edition), chap. 3, sec. 1, 168. Louisville: Norwood & Palmer, 1831.

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