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SOPHIA OF WISDOM III - CONSTANTINE & CHRISTIANITY
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THE LIBRARY OF SOPHIA OF WISDOM III
THE SOPHIA OF ALL SOPHIA OF WISDOMS
AKA
CAROLINE E. KENNEDY_____________________
FEB 12, 2007
RE: CONSTANTINE AND CHRISTIANITY
Constantine I and Christianity
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Saint Constantine the Great
mosaic in Hagia Sophia, Constantinople, c. 1000
Isapostolos, 13th Apostle
Born Feb 27, 272 in Ni
Died May 22, 337 in Nicomedia
Venerated in Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Catholic Churches, Acta Sanctorum
Major shrine Church of the Holy Apostles
Feast May 21
Attributes In hoc signo vinces, Labarum
Troparion From the Byzantine Menaion Your servant Constantine, O Lord and only Lover of Man, beheld the figure of the Cross in the Heavens; and like Paul (not having received his call from men, but as an Apostle among rulers set by Your hand over the royal city) he preserved lasting peace through the prayers of the Theotokos.
Kontakion From the Byzantine Menaion With his mother Helen, Constantine today brings to light the precious Cross: the shame of unbelievers, the weapon of orthodox Christians against their enemies; for it is manifest for us as a great and fearful sign in struggle!
Disputed "When certain oriental writers call Constantine equal to the Apostles, they do not know what they are saying; and to speak of him as a saint is a profanation of the word." -Barthold Georg Niebuhr[1]
This article covers the events of, reaction to, and historical legacy of Roman Emperor Constantine I's promotion, legitimization, and conversion to Christianity.
Contents [hide]
1 Christianity's status in the empire before the Galerius' Edict of Toleration
2 Constantine's conversion
2.1 Sincerity
2.2 Constantine's vision
2.3 Other influences
3 Constantine's edicts and actions
3.1 Public office
3.2 Army
3.3 Church building
3.4 Clergy
3.5 Internal church controversy
3.6 Legal reforms
3.7 Opposing paganism?
3.8 Constantine and the Jews
4 Reactions and reflection
4.1 Persian reaction
4.2 Historical reflections on Constantine's actions
5 References
6 See also
7 External links
[edit] Christianity's status in the empire before the Galerius' Edict of Toleration
Contrary to popular imagery, hunting Christians was not the first priority of the Roman Empire. Only under the specific direction of reigning emperors and at times of particular crisis (which were put down to the Christians not worshipping the state gods) were persecutions enforced:
Nero.
Trajan (98-117) wrote the famous response to Pliny the Younger's letter regarding how Christians should be treated. Also, Ignatius of Antioch was martyred in his reign.
Septimius Severus (193-211) ordered provincial governors to round up Christians and punish them according to the local governor's preference.
Decius launched the first Empire-wide persecution against Christians in 250, but military concerns soon led to a loss of interest and the persecution was stopped.
Valerian had led Decius' persecution and in 257 he re-enacted the original edict and in 258 added more stringent measures that targeted clergy with summary execution.
The Great Persecution 303-311 of Diocletian (284-305) was the most extreme; he ordered Christian buildings (and the homes of Christians) torn down, their sacred books collected and burned, and Christians themselves were denied the protection offered other citizens by Roman law. Christians were arrested, tortured, mutilated, burned, starved, and forced to gladiatorial contests to amuse spectators. His successor Galerius (305-311) was responsible for the more draconian aspects of this persecution, and some argue that it was he who persuaded Diocletian to launch the persecution after the success of the persecution against the Manichees, members of a religion based in Persia which was at that time a resurgent threat on the Empire's Eastern border.
Most of the time Christianity was tolerated, though not officially allowed. Alexander Severus was even friendly to the Christian movement and built a shrine to Jesus in his own home next to his shrines to the Roman gods. [citation needed] After emperor Valerian was captured by the Persians in 260, his son and successor Gallienus abandoned the persecution of Christians. Until the start of the Great Persecution, Christianity enjoyed over 40 years of relative peace without major persecutions.
The Great Persecution officially ended in April of 311, when Galerius, then senior emperor of the Tetrarchy, issued an edict of toleration, which granted Christians the right to practice their religion, though it did not restore any property to them.[1]
[edit] Constantine's conversion
Constantine's conversion, by Rubens.
[edit] Sincerity
Constantine is best known for being the first Roman Emperor to embrace Christianity, although he may have continued in his pre-Christian beliefs as well. Fifth Century historian Salminius Hermias Sozomen wrote that Constantine was converted to Christianity in Gaul and Britain saying:
... that it was then no easy matter to dwell in Gaul, in Britain, or in the neighboring countries, in which it is universally admitted Constantine embraced the religion of the Christians,...[2]
Some modern scholars, however, question the historicity of his conversion. [citation needed] This includes those who refer to the Church tradition that he was not baptised until his deathbed, and it was only witnessed by the same Christian leaders that made the subsequent claims of his baptism. That delay is likely to be linked to a then widely held belief that only pre-baptismal sins could be forgiven, so many postponed baptism as long as they could. [citation needed]
Constantine even turned to preaching in later life, giving his own sermons in the palace before his court and invited crowds, preaching harmony at first, but gradually turning more confrontational with the old pagan ways. The reason for this later "change of heart" remains conjectural.
Many historians, including philospher Bertrand Russell, believe Constantine favored Christianity due to its organization and contagious zeal:
In the modern world, we are accustomed to political organization; every politician has to reckon with the Catholic vote, but it is balanced by the vote of other organized groups. A Catholic candidate for the Presidency is at a disadvantage, because of Protestant prejudice. But, if there were no such thing as Protestant prejudice, a Catholic candidate would stand a better chance than any other. This seems to have been Constantine's calculation. The support of the Christians, as a single organized bloc, was to be obtained by favouring them. Whatever dislike of the Christians existed was unorganized and politically ineffective. Probably Rostovtseff is right in holding that a large part of the army was Christian, and that this was what most influenced Constantine. However that may be, the Christians, while still a minority, had a kind of organization which was then new, though now common, and which gave them all the political influence of a pressure group to which no other pressure groups are opposed. This was the natural consequence of their virtual monopoly of zeal, and their zeal was an inheritance from the Jews." Bertrand Russell, a History of Western Philosophy
Peter Novak also alludes in his book Original Christianity that Constantine utilized Christianity to strike fear and condemn souls to eternal damnation:
"With a renewed alignment of church and state, the people would no longer merely fear the ability of the state to take their lives, but would then also fear its ability to condemn their souls to eternal damnation in the afterlife. A government that could get the population to believe it had such power would possess the most successful populace control system imaginable." Peter Novak, Original Christianity
[edit] Constantine's vision
The traditional story of Constantine's conversion is presented as Constantine seeing an omen in the sky whilst marching along with his troops in front of the sun, the shape of an ambigram cross with two Greek letters, chi (Χ) and rho (Ρ) (the first two letters of the Greek ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ, Christos, or Christ) along with a Greek inscription reading "Εν τούτω Νίκα", En Touto Nika (meaning "with(in) this win"), which is often translated into the more familiar Latin: In hoc signo vinces (meaning "in this sign thou shalt conquer") before his victory in the Battle of Milvian Bridge on October 28, 312.
Either upon seeing this vision or upon being instructed to use the emblem he had just seen as a standard in a dream afterwards [citation needed], Constantine is said to have instituted a new standard to be carried into battle, the labarum. Another major religion of the time, Sol Invictus, also used a similar symbol. [citation needed]
There are at least three different surviving ancient versions of this battle in greater detail, not all of them are by prominent Christian apologists:
Panegyric of Constantine, sees the vision as from Apollo as Constantine's patron (Panegyrici Latini VI (7), 21 from 310);
Lactantius, Of the manner in which the persecutors died, 44;
Eusebius of Caesarea, The life of Constantine, 24-31;
Zosimus, New History, 2 (43,44) (this version seems to have numerous owls as an omen of victory, and is by a hostile pagan).
It should be noted that historical sources of the 4th century Roman Empire seem to be unusually rich in omens, magic, hexes and spells, while lacking in critical inquiry.[3] A suspicion of literacy and higher learning which began at least a century before had grown. These may have been the results of the fear and high mortality rates caused by the first and second outbreak of the Antonine Plague (165 - 180 and 251 - 266 respectively).
[edit] Other influences
Family influence is also thought to account for Constantine's alleged later, death-bed adoption of Christianity: Helena is said to be "probably born a Christian" though virtually nothing is known of her background, save that her mother was the daughter of an innkeeper and her father a successful soldier, a career that excluded overt Christians. Helena became known later in life for numerous pilgrimages.
The sign in the sky was not in Latin but Greek: En touto Nika (in this, conquer). Also, Constantine was responsible for declaring Sunday to be a day of rest for the empire, though early Christians had already been celebrating on Sunday (as opposed to on Saturday, the day of the Jewish Sabbath) since the first century because it was the day of the Resurrection. Sunday was the day which the Roman state had dedicated to Sol Invictus (following the Egyptian tradition of associating that day with the worship of the sun), the main rival religion to Christianity at the time, and of which Constantine was chief priest (pontifex maximus) until his death.
[edit] Constantine's edicts and actions
Coin of Constantine I, making a benediction gesture, with his sons, enthroned.Galerius was the first emperor to issue an edict of toleration for all religious creeds including Christianity in April of 311.[4] Constantine confirmed this with his co-Emperor Licinius with the so-called Edict of Milan of 313. This edict removed penalties for professing Christianity , under which many had been martyred in previous persecutions of Christians (ie legalized it), and returned confiscated Church property. However, it neither made paganism illegal nor made Christianity a state-sponsored religion, but instead granted religious freedom.
There is no historical evidence that an Edict of Milan was ever issued as a formal legal document[5]. Licinius after returning to his Eastern portion of the Empire, issued a decree from Constantine and himself, but we have no surviving writing from Constantine on this topic. What is claimed as the text of the edict [2] is not a joint "Edict of Milan," but something issued by Licinius in the East.
[edit] Public office
Once imperial favor was granted to Christianity by the Edict, new avenues were opened to Christians, including the right to compete with pagan Romans in the traditional cursus honorum for high government positions, and greater acceptance into general civil society.
Constantine respected cultivation, and his court was composed of older, respected, and honored men. Leading Roman families that refused Christianity were denied positions of power, yet pagans still received appointments, even up to the end of his life, and two-thirds of his top government was non-Christian.[6]
[edit] Army
Considered a critical component of Roman society, the army was a prime target for conversion. Exerting his absolute power, Constantine had the army recite his composed Latin prayer in an attempt to convert them to Christianity, which failed. It was unpopular in the army both because it accepted women, and because the soldiers generally were members of other religions such as those of Mithras and Isis. [citation needed]
[edit] Church building
He began a large building program of churches in the Holy Land, which while it greatly expanding the faith also allowed considerable increase in the power and wealth of the clergy. New churches were allowed to be built, often under Constantine's (or his mother Helena's) patronage, under which the church prospered. He gave the Lateran Palace to the Pope, ordered the building of:
in the Holy Land:
the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem
Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem
in Rome:
Saint Peter's Basilica
an oratory now the Basilica di San Lorenzo fuori le Mura
Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls
in Constantinople
Hagia Sophia
the Church of the Holy Apostles where he was entombed.
[edit] Clergy
The clergy were patronised by Constantine, and received legal perks. Christian leadership became increasingly bold Christian bishops became prominent and took aggressive public stances that were unheard of among other religions, drawing a hostile pagan reaction and the outlawing of public proselytism. [citation needed]
[edit] Internal church controversy
Christianity's new status meant that church controversies, lively within the Christian communities since the mid-2nd century, now flared (often with violent acts) into public schisms see, for example, the Donatist schism in Africa. Constantine, believing himself divinely appointed, saw quelling religious disorder as the divinely-appointed emperor's duty. [citation needed] He therefore called the 314 Council of Arles against the Donatists and, after becoming Emperor of the East, the first Ecumenical Council: the First Council of Nicaea (May 20 - July 25, 325), to
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