Which change did rome incororate into the idea of an ecclesia in roman government?

Answer 1

Ecclesia is the Latin spelling of the Greek word ekklesia, which means church or congregation. Even when the Latin or Western Church and the Greek or Eastern Church, which were both Christian, became the main churches of the Roman Empire and they were supported by the emperors, their affairs remained separate from that of the Roman state up to the reign of Justinian I.

Prior to the Reign of Justinian I the only connection between the Roman state and the two main Christian churches was the Edict of Thessalonica of 380. This Edict, which was issued by the co-emperors Gratian and Theodosius I, made mainstream Christianity (Latin or Western Christianity and Greek or Eastern Christianity) the sole legitimate religion of the Roman Empire. The purpose of the edict was to ban dissident Christian doctrines, which were branded as heretic. At that time the Latin/Western church and the Greek/Eastern Church, which were the main church of the western and eastern part of the empire respectively, were two branches of one church which was called Catholic Church and they both subscribed to the Nicene Creed, a particular interpretation of the trinity Later these two churches spit and came to be called Catholic and Orthodox respectively.

Theodosius I immediately started to persecute the dissident Christian doctrines which had different interpretations of the trinity in his part of the Roman Empire the eastern one. Arian Christians, who were popular throughout the empire, were his main target.

In the eastern part of the Roman Empire the Orthodox Church continued to develop and emperor Justinian I (reigned 527-565) was one of the most important emperors in the history of this Church. He is described as a 'nursing father' of the church. He put it on a more solid footing and redefined its structure. He protected the purity of the official church and persecuted dissident Christian sects and paganism. He secured the rights of the church and the clergy and protected and expanded the monastic orders. He granted the monks the right to inherit property from private individuals and to receive annual gits for the state and from taxes and banned the confiscation of monastic property. He gave the canons of the church legal force and issued laws regarding the administration of church property, the elections and rights and obligations of the clergy, the conduct of service and episcopal jurisdiction.