Roman Imperialism

Fourth century Christianity was also shaped by Roman imperialism.[1]   Many of the religious customs of church services were adopted from Rome. For example, the custom of beginning a service with processional music was adopted from Rome at the entrance of the ruler and therefore, choirs were introduced.  Worship became very professional, dramatic, and ceremonial. Roman emperors had lights before them in public, accompanied by a basin of fire filled with spices.   So, Constantine introduced candles and the burning of incense as part of the service when the clergy entered the room.  It was also during the time of Constantine that the clergy wore special garments comparable to those worn by Roman officials and they were given gestures of respect similar to those given by Roman officials.  Ceremonial aspects of the mass, such as incense, candles, and the architecture of the church building with its furnishings were all borrowed from the ceremonial court of the Roman emperors.[2]    These are the origins of Catholicism and Greek Orthodoxy, not the Bible.    It is unreasonable to suggest that these traditions came from the oral traditions of an apostle of our Lord as Jesus transitioned from the old physical forms (signs of something to come) to the spiritual realities.   This would make the Old Testament shadow a shadow of more shadows.  It makes sense for the apostles of Jesus to hand over their work to men who returned them to the shadows of the old law.   The entire circumstance of pomp and emphasis on the physical is a shameful departure from what Jesus and his apostles had taught and lived.   The temple of the kingdom of Christ was neither identified by a physical edifice nor the priests by physical sacrifices, clothing, or service.  The physical type has been fulfilled by its spiritual anti-type.  To present a continuum of Old Testament symbols as evidence of its fullness is to digress to a state of ignorance and spiritual blindness. 

[1] Jungmann, 129-133.

[2] Smith, From Christ to Constantine, 173

  Jungmann, Early Litury, 132-33, 291-92.