shifted from the mainspring of the Christian life in the person of
Christ Himself to the periphery of outward conformity and daily
behaviour." 20By the second and third centuries there was developing
a "Christian religion" contrary to the Christian gospel.
Many of the advocates of early Christian morality systems
were labeled as "heretics" – their morality emphases were
part of serious theological errors that were condemned.
They were trying to integrate Greek philosophy and
Gnosticism with the gospel. They were advocating
moralistic asceticism as the antidote for "fleshly
indulgence." It does not work! (Col. 2:23)
Early in the fourth century, by about 325 A.D., the
church became integrated with the state, as Constantine
declared Christianity the state religion of the Roman
empire. The institutionalizing of the Church required
increased moral definition in order to "control" the
"society." Authoritarian-ism, even totalitarianism, resulted
as the hierarchical leaders, later speaking with the alleged
infallibility of papal decree, determined the absolutism of
moral formulations. Moral formulations are not absolute.
God is absolute! What God is, only God is. We must not
attribute an attribute of God to anything else. We must
respect the non-transferrability of the divine attributes.