Gregory the Great - History Summary

When Pope Gregory the Great came to power in 590 AD, the Roman Empire in the West had almost completely deteriorated. Gregory used his organizational skills to consolidate many things from the Roman empire into the church, bringing stability. As a spiritual leader, he differed from the earlier church fathers. His writings and teachings centered on eternity, heaven, and the torment of hell. The author says that this laid a foundation for the philosophy of medieval times. It also made the church important as the agent of salvation by which all people could be rescued from this terrible and fearful fate. Gregory also consolidated the monks and made them a part of the church. Both his practical side and his mystic side worked together toward his greatest scheme — the Christianization of England. After a long and careful planning stage, the missionaries set out. It was not long before England itself was sending missionaries to colonize Germany. It’s fascinating to me how quickly England was converted… it makes me wonder why this sort of thing doesn’t happen more in modern missions. Another thought — England must have already had some Christians from the time of the Romans. I think Saint Patrick went as a missionary to Ireland long before Gregory sent his missionaries. In fact, I think Ireland even sent missionaries back to Britain in the later years.

The Pope grew more and more powerful, and it was only a matter of time before the Church would assert its independence from the Empire. The author points out that, to the other church patriarchs (in other powerful cities), the Pope was just another bishop. But to the new converts in England and Germany, the Pope was the Vicar of Christ, holding the keys to their salvation from the deadly fires of hell. One controversy came with the Iconoclast movement. The Emperor of the East (I think) wanted the Pope to comply with a law about that, and Pope Gregory II refused. A formal break did not happen at this point — the author says that Gregory II was worried that the church would fail if it broke away from its protection at this early stage. He wanted a new protector for the church, and just such a one was coming to power in the Merovingian kingdom.

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