Christianity in the 4th century
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| - | The '''Adamites''', or '''Adamians''', were adherents of an [[Early Christian]] [[sect]] (later considered [[heresy|heretical]] by the mainstream [[Catholic Church|Church]]) that flourished in [[Early centers of Christianity#North Africa|North Africa]] in the [[Christianity in the 2nd century|2nd]], [[Christianity in the 3rd century|3rd]] and [[Christianity in the 4th century|4th centuries]], but knew later revivals. | + | '''Christianity in the 4th century''' was dominated by [[Constantine I and Christianity|Constantine the Great]], and the [[First Council of Nicea]] of 325, which was the beginning of the period of the [[First seven Ecumenical Councils]] (325–787) and the attempt to reach an [[orthodoxy|orthodox]] consensus and to establish a unified [[Christendom]] as the [[State church of the Roman Empire]], which formally failed with the [[East–West Schism]] of 1054. |
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| - | ==Ancient Adamites== | + | |
| - | The obscure sect, dating probably from the 2nd century, professed to have regained [[Adam]]'s primeval innocence. Various accounts are given of their origin. Some have thought them to have been an offshoot of the [[Carpocratian]] [[gnosticism|Gnostics]], who professed a sensual [[mysticism]] and a complete emancipation from the moral law. [[Theodoret]] (Haer. Fab., I, 6) held this view of them, and identified them with the licentious sects whose practices are described by [[Clement of Alexandria]]. Others, on the contrary, consider them to have been misguided [[asceticism|ascetic]]s, who strove to extirpate carnal desires by a return to simpler manners, and by the abolition of marriage. | + | |
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| - | [[Epiphanius of Salamis|St. Epiphanius]] and [[Augustine of Hippo]] mention the Adamites by name, and describe their practices. They called their church "[[Paradise]]", claiming that its members were re-established in [[Adam and Eve]]'s state of original innocence. Accordingly, they practiced "holy [[nudism]]", rejected the form of [[marriage]] as foreign to Eden, saying it would never have existed but for sin, lived in absolute [[Antinomianism|lawlessness]], holding that, whatever they did, their actions could be neither good nor bad and stripped themselves naked while engaged in common worship. | + | |
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| - | ==Neo-Adamites== | + | |
| - | Practices similar to those just described appeared in Europe several times in later ages. During the [[Middle Ages]] the doctrines of this obscure sect, which did not itself exist long, were revived: in the 13th century in the Netherlands by the [[Brethren of the Free Spirit|Brethren and Sisters of the Free Spirit]] and the [[Taborites]] in [[Bohemia]], and, in a grosser form, in the fourteenth by the [[Beghards]] in Germany. Everywhere they met with firm opposition from the mainstream churches. | + | |
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| - | The Beghards became the [[Picards]] of Bohemia, who took possession of an island in the river [[Nežárka]], and lived communally, practicing social and religious nudity, [[free love]] and rejecting marriage and individual ownership of property. [[Jan Žižka]], the Hussite leader, nearly exterminated the sect in 1421. In the following year, the sect was widely spread over Bohemia and Moravia, and especially hated by the Hussites (whom they resembled in hatred toward the hierarchy) because they rejected [[transubstantiation]], the priesthood and the Supper. | + | |
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| - | A brief revival of these doctrines took place in Bohemia after 1781, owing to the edict of toleration issued by [[Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Joseph II]]. The Austrian government suppressed the last remnants of the ''Neo-Adamites'' in Bohemia by force in 1849. | + | |
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| - | In the [[Modern Age]] some [[English Dissenters]] practiced the Adamite doctrine. An [[English people|English]] [[sect]] was active c1641-1650. The sect probably bears antecedents to the Brethren of the Free Spirit, a [[medieval]] heretical sect sharing many of the same views. The Adamites were viewed on a contemporary basis as the archetypical radicals of the 1640s. [[Thomas Edwards (heresiographer)]] (1599–1647) used the term in his monumental work ''Gangraene'' (1646). Adamites, as were other radicals of the period, were often portrayed as [[Antinomians]]. | + | |
| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
| - | *[[Adamskostuum]] | + | {{Portal box|Christianity|History|Ancient Rome|Bible}} |
| - | *[[Christian naturism]] | + | *[[History of Christianity]] |
| - | *[[Taborite]] | + | *[[History of the Roman Catholic Church]] |
| - | *[[Doukhobor]] | + | *[[History of the Eastern Orthodox Church]] |
| - | *[[Anarchist naturism]] | + | *[[History of Christian theology]] |
| - | + | *[[Christian martyrs]] | |
| + | *[[History of Oriental Orthodoxy]] | ||
| + | *[[Ante-Nicene Period]] | ||
| + | *[[Church Fathers]] | ||
| + | *[[List of Church Fathers]] | ||
| + | *[[Christian monasticism]] | ||
| + | *[[Patristics]] | ||
| + | *[[Development of the New Testament canon]] | ||
| + | *[[Christianization]] | ||
| + | *[[History of Calvinist-Arminian debate]] | ||
| + | *[[List of events in early Christianity]] | ||
| + | *[[Timeline of Christianity#Era of the Seven Ecumenical Councils]] | ||
| + | *[[Timeline of Christian missions#Era of the Seven Ecumenical Councils]] | ||
| + | *[[Timeline of the Roman Catholic Church#313–476]] | ||
| + | *4th-century | ||
| + | *[[Chronological list of saints in the 4th century]] | ||
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Christianity in the 4th century was dominated by Constantine the Great, and the First Council of Nicea of 325, which was the beginning of the period of the First seven Ecumenical Councils (325–787) and the attempt to reach an orthodox consensus and to establish a unified Christendom as the State church of the Roman Empire, which formally failed with the East–West Schism of 1054.
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See also
- History of Christianity
- History of the Roman Catholic Church
- History of the Eastern Orthodox Church
- History of Christian theology
- Christian martyrs
- History of Oriental Orthodoxy
- Ante-Nicene Period
- Church Fathers
- List of Church Fathers
- Christian monasticism
- Patristics
- Development of the New Testament canon
- Christianization
- History of Calvinist-Arminian debate
- List of events in early Christianity
- Timeline of Christianity#Era of the Seven Ecumenical Councils
- Timeline of Christian missions#Era of the Seven Ecumenical Councils
- Timeline of the Roman Catholic Church#313–476
- 4th-century
- Chronological list of saints in the 4th century
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