Hierarchy in Christianity

From Zanecorpwiki

It occurs to me that the overt hierarchy in Christianity, best exemplified in the Catholic Church, is a direct result of the adoption of the faith by the Romans under the emperor Constantine. What little we know of the faith prior to that time points to a far more chaotic and personal religion. Hence the gnostic "heresies" which plagued the early Catholic church. Gnosticism was particularly powerful and problematic because it emphasized hidden knowledge revealed directly to the faithful. The gnostic vein of thought represented a parallel and disruptive chain of power wholly outside the empire.

It was thus paramount that the new religion, as the old state religion before, be brought into and in-line with the state. It thus took on the character and nature of the state as it was at the time. Though we cannot say how the faith would have developed had it been otherwise, it is certainly no accident the idea of the pope as head of the church closely mirrored the Roman very old idea of Pontificus Maximus, the chief priest of Rome since pre-imperial times. Indeed, though the church would, perhaps due to the fall of the Roman state apparatus in the west, gain independence and define a (highly questionable) succession of popes independent of the empire, many would argue that at least during his lifetime, Constantine himself was considered at least the effective head of the church.

The protestant, evangelical, as well as many prior revolutions, schisms, etc. all sought a return to "the original church", it is impossible to sustain an argument that such is credible. While factions question translation and such, these are but details, for the Bible itself was created by the early Catholic church for the purpose of justifying and defining the faith as the Catholic church, under imperial influence wished to define it.

This is not to say that the Bible is a complete invention or anything. It is certainly based on books that existed prior to the collections and revisions that came to be the Bible, nor was the Bible simply or even largely state-propaganda. The point is that the questions debated within religion are often subtle, so the influences surrounding the central document of the Christian religion need not be gross to be profound.