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The Relation Between Christianity and Paganism in the Reign of Saint Emperor Constantine the Great

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The Relation Between Christianity and Paganism in the Reign of Saint Emperor Constantine the Great CUPRINS FOREWORD ............................................................................................... 7 † Dr. IRINEU TEACHING ABOUT THE HOLY CROSS FROM THE HOLY PRIESTS .............. 15 † Dr. Nicodim NICOLĂESCU MAN BETWEEN FREEDOM AND LOVE AS THE GIFTS OF GOD ................ 35 † Dr. Emilian LOVIŞTEANUL THE PERSONALITY OF THE HOLY EMPERORS CONSTANTINE AND HELENA MIRRORED IN THE WORK OF OF FOUR ROMANIAN HIERARCH SAINTS . 54 Acad. Dr. Mircea PĂCURARIU THE TRAIL OF THE EDICT OF MILAN IN MODERN BULGARIA .................. 73 Dr. Klara TONEVA POST-CONSTANTINE PREACHING: THE THREE HOLY HIERARHS ............. 85 Dr. Andrian ALEKSANDROV THE PATH TO CHRISTIANITY OF CONSTANTINE THE GREAT’S FAMILY ACCORDING TO ANCIENT SOURCES AND MODERN HISTORIOGRAPHY. ............................................................................................................... 105 Dr. Constantin PĂTULEANU THE KINGDOM OF CONSTANTINE THE GREAT - THE BEGINNING OF THE GEOPOLITICAL PREDOMINANCE OF THE ORIENTAL ROMANITY IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE .................................................................................... 137 Dr. Dinică CIOBOTEA CONSTANTINE THE GREAT AND HIS CHRISTIAN CONSCIENCE .............. 145 Dr. Dimitris APOSTOLIDIS CONSTANTINE THE GREAT, THE APOLOGIST OF CHRISTIANITY ............ 174 Dr. Gabriel-Viorel GÂRDAN FROM TRAJAN AND DECEBALUS, TO CONSTANTINE THE GREAT. THE ROMANIANS, BETWEEN THE DACIAN HERITAGE AND LATIN IDENTITY. ............................................................................................................... 184 Dr. Sergiu POPESCU 5 SAINT EMPEROR CONSTANTINE THE GREAT AND THE CHRISTIANITY BETWEEN THE CARPATHIANS AND THE DANUBE ................................. 199 Dr. Radu TASCOVICI CHURCH AND STATE IN THE SYNERGY OF THE PAIDEIC ACT ................ 210 Dr. Adrian IVAN CONSTANTINE THE GREAT AND THE UNITY OF FAITH .......................... 231 Dr. Gabriel BASA THE RELATION BETWEEN CHRISTIANITY AND PAGANISM IN THE REIGN OF SAINT EMPEROR CONSTANTINE THE GREAT ................................... 241 Dr. Adrian BOLDIŞOR DAS PARTHENON DER HL. THEKLA IN SELEUKIA (ISAURIEN) IN DER (POST)KONSTANTINISCHEN ZEIT UND SEINE ROLLE IN DER GESCHICHTE DER MÖNCHISCHEN SPIRITUALITÄT ...................................................... 260 Dr. Picu OCOLEANU UNITY CHRISTIAN FAITH, A FACTOR OF STABILITY AND PROGRESS OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN THE REIGN OF SAINT EMPEROR CONSTANTINE THE GREAT .................................................................................................... 273 Dr. Nicuşor Viorel POPESCU THE IMPORTANCE OF HONORING THE SAINTS APOSTLES BY EMPEROR CONSTANTINE AND HIS MOTHER, HELEN ............................................. 285 Dr. Ion Sorin BORA BRIEF OUTLINE ON THE SYRIAN THEOLOGY BETWEEN NICAEA AND CHALCEDON ........................................................................................... 304 Dr. Ioniţă APOSTOLACHE THE RELATIONS OF CONSTANTINE THE GREAT WITH THE NORTH AND SOUTH DANUBIAN LANDS ..................................................................... 324 Dr. Ciprian CATANĂ CANONICAL NORMS AND PRESCRIPTIONS ISSUED UNDER CONSTANTINE THE GREAT ............................................................................................. 343 Dr. Pavel GOREANU 6 THE RELATION BETWEEN CHRISTIANITY AND PAGANISM IN THE REIGN OF SAINT EMPEROR CONSTANTINE THE GREAT Dr. Adrian BOLDIŞOR University of Craiova, Faculty of Theology Introduction The relation between Christianity and paganism represented, especially in the early Christian centuries, the main concern of both the Fathers and Writers of the Church and the pagan Greco-Latin authors. The way that the new religion was understood and interpreted was for a long time, one of the major concerns in the Roman Empire, regardless of the social position of those involved in the dispute. This situation lasted until the time of the emperor Constantine the Great (272-337), and even after his reign (306-337), its analysis being of great interest in knowing how Christianity defeated Greco-Roman paganism and spread throughout the empire and even beyond its borders. St. Constantine the Great remained a controversial figure in the history of the Church of all confessions. „He is one of those people who seem by their personality, their acumen, and their ability both to take the opportunities offered and to leave the world markedly changed by their presence in it. He bequeaths a series of paradoxes: an autocrat who never ruled alone; a firm legislator for the Roman family, yet who slew his wife and eldest son and was himself, illegitimate; a dynastic puppet-master, who left no clear successor; a soldier whose legacy was far more spiritual 241 than temporal”1. Constantine the Great is considered „holy” in the Orthodox Church, in the Roman Catholic Church „great”, while the Protestant world and a large number of modern scholars consider him a political opportunist who was driven by personal and state interests to achieve his goals. „Many scholars ascribe sincere religious motives to him, while others see him as an opportunist currying favor with a vocal minority. We do know that Constantine's contemporaries and successors viewed his patronage of Christianity as a watershed: for pagans, such as Zosimus, it was the beginning of the end of a proud empire; for Christians, such as Eusebius, it was the dawning of a bright new day of Christian triumph. Constantine put a great deal of financial and political support behind Christianity, beyond the simple legalization of the movement in 313 C.E.”2. According to some researchers, the king helped the Christian Church in order to use it: he kept the title of pontifex maximus, he tolerated paganism, he was baptized only on his deathbed by the Arian bishop Eusebius of Nicomedia, he oscillated between Christianity and paganism and between Orthodoxy and Arianism. His policy was unfavorable to Christianity frequently. To understand the transition of St. Constantine the Great from paganism to Christianity it is necessary to see both his whole life and the religious, social, economic, political and military realities in the time when he lived and reigned as king. Only trying to be inclusive of all realities in the 4th century and the society that was preparing for the greatest transformation in history one can understand the decisions taken 1 Bill Leadbetter, Constantine, in: The Early Christian World, Volume I-II, Edited by Philip F. Esler, Routledge, London and New York, 2002, p. 1069. For a pertinent analysis of the opinions regarding the controversial personality of Saint Constantine the Great read: Prof. N. Bănescu, Din istoria Imperiului bizantin. Perioada protobizantină, in the magazine „Mitropolia Olteniei”, Year XXI, Nr. 5-6/1969, p. 355-386. 2 Bart D. Ehrman, Andrew S. Jacobs, Christianity in Late Antiquity – 300-450 C.E. A Reader, Oxford University Press, New York, Oxford, 2004, p. 24. 242 by the Roman emperor and some „slippage” from the ideal that he followed in life. The imperial religious policy promoted by St. Constantine should not be interpreted separately from his personal evolution from paganism to Christianity, becoming in time a rule of life for him. „The question of the conversion of Constantine has continued to excite controversy. Its authenticity has been questioned and asserted with equal ferocity. The degree of vigour with which the partisans of either side (…) have approached this question is enduring testimony to the historical significance of the religious policies embarked upon by Constantine. Despite attempts to demonstrate otherwise, the nature of Constantine’s personal religious beliefs will always be a mystery precisely because they remained private. What does matter, however, is the way in which Constantine came to frame a religious policy which did more than merely tolerate Christianity”3. Politics and religion in the Roman Empire in the 3rd and 4th centuries In the 3rd century AD the Roman Empire was going through a deep crisis that is observed both in a rapid succession of the Roman emperors to the throne, and in the barbarian invasions that tended to approach Rome. „Also, religiously and morally, Latin paganism no longer met the requirements of the age. People aspired to a religion entirely detached from this disappointed world, a religion that would transfer into another world the goal and finality of the earthly existence”4. In 284, Diocletian was proclaimed emperor in the East, and starting from 285, after the death of Carinus, became sole emperor of the 3 Bill Leadbetter, cited work, p. 1074. 4 Ion Bica, Istoria Bizanţului (324-1453), University of Pitesti Printing Press, 2002, p. 11. 243 Roman Empire. He chose Nicomedia as residence city and he considered himself, at the same time that he was king, the representative on earth of the supreme god Jupiter, thus having supreme power in all areas of the Roman life. This was a thinking heavily influenced by the East, where the leader was considered the son of the god. By doing so, Diocletian managed to maintain the unity of the Empire and restored order in the chaos that existed for several generations, thus proving a worthy successor of his predecessors, especially of Caesar, Augustus and Hadrian. On the other hand, Diocletian is known in Church history as one of the greatest persecutors, the promoter of what will endure over time as the „great persecution”. The king chose Maximian as associate (augustus), in 286, who administered the western part of the Empire, thus the East remaining subordinated to himself. In
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