Page 84 - LD215 History of the Church in Africa A4 final

A History of the Church in Africa

Didymus wrote many books on theology and doctrine and especially
on the work of the Holy Spirit.

A student of history is well-advised to evaluate the monastic movement.
On the one hand, the desire for spiritual solitude, hard work, and a simple
lifestyle are attributes to be admired—especially when our generation
sometimes links spirituality with material prosperity. On the other hand,
one would do well to ask a follow-up question: How does monasticism fulfill
the scriptural mandate to fulfill the Great Commission?

Although it seems that some monks did missionary work, by the fourth
century there were many monasteries and nunneries. The movement
grew and became foundational to Coptic Christianity and expanded
geographically and numerically. The results can still be observed today in
places like Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and elsewhere.

Not everyone evaluates the movement in positive terms. For example,
Isichei observes wryly:

Jerome spent some time in the Syrian Desert, learned Hebrew to rid
his imagination of dancing girls, and discovered, in the end, that his
calling lay elsewhere. St. John Chrysostom ruined his digestion when
a desert ascetic [monk], and, as a result, later gained a reputation for
being inhospitable. (29)

Gibbon also condemned monks as being “inspired by the savage enthusiasm
which represents man as a criminal and God as a tyrant” (quoted in Isichei, 29).

Monophysitism
The Egyptian church faced another challenge in the fifth century.
Some of the leaders of the church taught that Jesus had only one (mono)
“nature.” They claimed that He was only God and was never a man. They
denied that Christ was ever the God-man. This issue troubled the church
until A.D. 451 when Christian leaders met to resolve this matter at the
Council of Chalcedon. The Monophysite view was rejected as heresy and
the council concluded that Jesus had two natures. They expressed their
view in the following creedal statement: “There is to be confessed one
and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, perfect in Godhead and perfect
in manhood, truly God and truly man” (quoted in Latourette 1953, 171).

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