There wasn’t one.

This is a myth and it is something often curiously thrown in the face of Orthodox Christians as a supposed “refutation” of our claims regarding the Apostolic Faith.

We don’t believe there was ever a “golden age” of the Church.

Sure, it would’ve been interesting to live during the thousand-or-so years’ reign of Byzantium, but that was one of the most violent eras of the Church! Yes, Christianity was the State religion of the time, and yes the emperors (well, many of them) were God-fearing and helped push the agenda of the Faith and preserve, protect and maintain peace throughout the empire through the Church and Her influence, but there were far more problems than can easily be recounted.

Those ignorant of this time period and indeed of the Orthodox Faith in general like to suggest that our claims regarding Apostolic succession, the Ecumenical Councils and the conciliar view of Ecclesiology (just as examples) are somehow rendered moot by the fact that the Church was essentially in turmoil and utter chaos from the very beginning. The reality is, however, that this is all part and parcel of not only our Theology of the Church but also why we believe the way we do regarding everything from Tradition to Icons.

Even a cursory reading of the New Testament reveals that the churches throughout Palestine and up into Asia Minor were troubled from the very beginning. There were heretics spreading heresies, schismatics promoting schism, gnostics twisting the Gospels into their own version of the truth and even councils (e.g. Acts of the Apostles, Ch. 15) to suppress heresy and promote the strengthening of the Faith, the Church, and the unity of Christians worldwide. Indeed, most of Saint Paul’s epistles were written for the sake of suppressing heresy, denouncing schism, promoting unity and building up the Church as the “pillar and stay of Truth” in a time of ecclesiastical chaos.

This all points to the purpose and necessity of the Ecumenical Councils, of Apostolic succession and everything else surrounding the Sacred Tradition of the Orthodox Faith.

The Ecumenical Councils were all — without exception — called by an emperor for the sake of promoting peace throughout the empire, fostering unity among the Christians and exorcising heresy from within the Church. Not many “positive” claims or propositions were set forward as the result of these Councils, but “negative” admonitions and warnings against false doctrine, heresy and following after schismatics. There would’ve been no need for the Nicene Creed, for example, without heresy and schism. It was written for the sake of promoting unity and preserving the Faith. It was only necessary because people such as the Arians (who at one point were practically the majority among Christians) and Nestorians were so easily and rapidly leading the faithful astray by their twisting of the Scriptures and the teachings of the Apostles.

Apostolic succesion, as well, was a powerful tool in the face of heresy and schism. All one needed to do to convince the faithful that a heresy or the teachings of a schismatic sect were in error was point to the fact that many of these teachers had no bishop in Apostolic succession giving them the anointing to teach and proclaim the Faith as priests or bishops. Or, if they did, it was simple enough to go back to those who stood in succession and show that their teachings were contrary to those that came before them. This was a doctrine within the Church from the very beginning, seen in Saint Paul’s admonitions to not be led astray by false Gospels, even if they are preached by Apostles or Angels (cf. Epistle to the Galatians), and especially made reference to by Saint Ignatius and other disciples of the Apostles in the early days of the Faith.

So really, there was no “golden age” of the Church and that is quite alright for us Orthodox Christians.

Why?

Because we believe that the Holy Spirit guides the Mind of the Church and leads us into all Truth through the means given to us by Christ and handed down to us by His Apostles. We need not worry that someday the Church could fall into gross error and that the Faith could be eliminated, because we simply believe the words of Christ our God that “the gates of Hades shall not prevail” against His Bride, the One Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church — and thanks be to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit that this is the case!