The Church in the beginning (Level 2)

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Somewhere after the first thousand years, the church found itself in continuing growth and turmoil. The era began with the crusades, a vision of reclaiming the holy land for Christianity by supporting holy wars. Great individuals like St. Francis of Assis arose to help rebuild a church that seemed to have fallen into disrepair. Individuals like Galileo arose to try and open up a dialog between faith and reason. The inquisition occurred where the evangelization message was promoted at the tip of a sword. Royal dynasties, wars, political intrigue were the order of the day, and the church was both emmeshed in them and yet striving to rise above them. Numerous Saints tried to steer it in positive directions. The Middle Ages provided intellectual stimulus and at the same time challenged it to address some of its less well-developed doctrines. It was being called in a way reminiscent of St. Paul’s statement in 1 Cor 13:11 When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things. The church developed the Roman Missile to try and make its liturgies more consistent and support the first great commandment of putting God first. It was one of many steps to try and reach organizational maturity level 3.