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Tom Coop July 10, 2016 Romans13:1-7 First the Quiz  Constantine Quiz

1. Nero blamed the for the BIG fire that destroyed much of in what year? a. 33 B.C. b. 64 A.D. c. 124 A.D. d. 311 A.D.

2. Diocletian was best known for a. The Great Persecution b. Tearing down of pagan temples c. Constantine’s father and first emperor to outlaw gladiatorial contests d. A new diet – “Christians on Toast”

3. The Edict of Milan a. Declared to be THE religion of the b. Declared Christianity to be a legal religion c. Forbad Christians from owning property d. Forbad Christians from owning a business

4. The Battle of Milvian Bridge a. Where Constantine defeated Maxentius and became the Western Emperor of the Roman empire b. Where Constantine defeated Maxentius and became the Emperor of the ENTIRE Roman empire c. Where Constantine lost to Maxentius, turned to the one true God, and defeated Maxentius at the Battle of Rome d. Where Constantine lost to Maxentius and was banished from the Empire for a period of 20 years.

5. Eusebius was a. Constantine’s general who helped him win the Roman Empire b. A pagan prophet who incorrectly predicted Constantine’s demise c. Constantine’s father d. The first historian of the Christian

6. The Council of Nicea a. Was the first b. Travel expenses for all attending Bishops was paid for by Constantine 2

c. Where for the first time the word “homoousios” was inserted in the baptismal creed d. Affirmed the divinity of Christ

7. Byzantium a. Is what we now call Istanbul b. Was the summer home of Constantine c. Was the winter home of Constantine d. Was the first theme park in the Roman Empire

8. Constantine was baptized on his deathbed because a. He struggled with his faith b. As Emperor, he thought it would be bad form for an Emperor to select one faith over another – but still wanted to go to c. He wanted as many sins as possible to be washed away at baptism and not leave time for any more to occur d. It seemed like a good thing to do

9. Thing Constantine DIDN’T abolish a. Gladiatorial Games b. Crucifixions c. Sunday work d. Burning at the Stake

10. Eastern Orthodox view Constantine as a. Equal to the apostles b. A traitor to their faith c. A Bishop of Rome d. A Pagan who pretended to be Christian for political purposes

Constantine: Pious Convert or Political Sage (or both)? Someone once said, “Tell me the and I can tell you your theology.” This is especially true with a controversial figure like Constantine. 3

Where Roman Catholics present him as laying the foundation for the Papacy… … Protestants see him as the one responsible for leading the early Church away from the simplicity of the pure and turning it into an institutional Church. Today, the Orthodox Church sees Constantine as the emperor who assisted the early Church in evangelizing the Roman Empire. For this reason, it honors him as Saint Constantine Equal-to- the-Apostles.

To understand why, we need to go back a bit in history. Throughout its first three centuries, the church went through unimaginable persecution from the Roman Empire, though all the time growing and spreading. Christians were first targeted for persecution as a group by the emperor Nero in 64 AD. A colossal fire had broken out in Rome, and had destroyed much of the city. Rumors abounded that Nero himself was responsible. He certainly took advantage of the resulting devastation of the city, building a lavish private palace on part of the site of the fire. Perhaps to divert attention from the rumors, Nero blamed Christians and ordered that they should be rounded up and killed. Some were torn apart by dogs, others burnt alive as human torches. According to Church tradition, it was during the reign of Nero that Peter and Paul were martyred in Rome. 4

Christians continued to suffer from sporadic and localized persecutions over a period of almost the next three centuries. Their refusal to participate in Imperial cult of Rome was considered an act of treason and was thus punishable by execution. The most widespread official persecution was carried out by Diocletian. During what was called, The Great Persecution (303–311), the emperor ordered Christian buildings and the homes of Christians torn down and their sacred books collected and burned. Christians were arrested, tortured, mutilated, burned, starved, and condemned to gladiatorial contests to amuse spectators. Then in 313, the situation reversed itself. Constantine (with his co-emperor ) issued the famous Edict of Milan, declaring Christianity to be a legal religion. Christianity wasn’t yet the official religion of the Empire—this wouldn’t happen until almost seventy years later under Emperor Theodosius. And, actually, even Constantine’s edict of toleration was not the first—Galerius issued a similar edict in 311. But Constantine’s is recognized as the one that marked a major turning point for the Roman government. With the Edict of Milan, the three-centuries-long era of persecution came to an end.

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So, who was this man who, according to some, almost singlehandedly stopped the persecution of the Christian church? Of Constantine’s early years, we know only that he was born in Illyria, a region in the Balkans. His father, Constantius Chlorus, was already a Roman official on the rise. Helena, the daughter of an innkeeper and Constantius’s wife, gave birth to Constantine around 280 A.D. in Naissus, just south of the Danube. By the time Constantine was 31, he was in line to become emperor of the western empire—and more. Eusebius of Caesarea and other Christian sources record that Constantine experienced a dramatic conversion experience in 312 A.D. at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge. According to these sources, Constantine looked up to the sun before the battle and saw a cross of light above it, and with it the Greek words “Ἐν Τούτῳ Νίκα”, meaning “in this sign, you will conquer.” Constantine commanded his troops to adorn their shields with a Christian symbol, and thereafter were victorious.

Eusebius, the bishop of Caesarea in Palestine, is known as the first church historian and apparently had a very close relationship with Constantine. So close, that he wrote a book about him. 6

Here is how Eusebius described Constantine’s first encounter with the God of the Christians: “Because of the wicked magical enchantments so diligently practiced by the tyrant Maxentius, who was in control of Rome, Constantine was convinced that he needed more powerful aid than his military forces could give him, so he sought the help of God. “He believed arms and soldiery less important than the help of the power of an invincible and unshakeable God. So he considered which god he could rely on for protection and help. “It occurred to him that, of the many emperors who had preceded him, those who had put their hope in a multitude of gods and served them with sacrifices and offerings had been deceived by flattering predictions and oracles promising prosperity, and then come to a bad end, without one of their gods warning them of the impending wrath of heaven. “On the other hand, the one who alone had condemned their error, honoring the one Supreme God throughout his whole life [i.e. his father], had found him to be the Savior and Protector of his empire. “Reflecting on this, Constantine decided it would be great folly to join in the idle worship of those who were no gods, and to err from the truth after such convincing evidence. “For this reason, he felt bound to honor his father’s God alone.” 7

(Most historians doubt Eusebius’ accounting of this fact as there is no evidence that Constantine’s father ever believed in only one god.) Whatever … what we do know is that in the spring of 311, with 40,000 soldiers behind him, Constantine rode toward Rome to confront an enemy whose numbers were four times his own. Maxentius, vying for supremacy in the West, had waited in Rome with his Italian troops and the elite Praetorian Guard, confident no one could successfully invade the city. But Constantine’s army was already overwhelming his foes in Italy as he marched toward the capital. Maxentius turned to pagan oracles, finding a prophecy that the “enemy of the Romans” would perish. Constantine was still miles away. So, bolstered by the prophecy, Maxentius left the city to meet his foe. Meanwhile, Constantine saw his vision in the afternoon sky: the bright cross with the words “By this sign, you will conquer.” As the story goes, Christ himself told Constantine in a dream to take the sign into battle as his standard. Though accounts vary, Constantine apparently believed the omen to be a word from God. When he awoke early the next morning, the young commander obeyed the message and ordered his soldiers to mark their shields with the now famous Chi (kee)-Rho. Chi-Rho are actually the first two letters of Christ in Greek and was a common way to identify Christians. 8

With this added motivation, Constantine’s troops attacked with a vengeance. Maxentius’ troops fled in disarray back toward the surging river Tiber. Maxentius attempted to escape over the wooden bridge erected to span the stream, but his own army-turned-mob, pressing through the narrow passage, forced him into the river, where he drowned by the weight of his armor. Constantine then entered Rome the undisputed ruler of the West, and the first with a Christian cross in his crown.

Eusebius went on to write that Constantine was “so struck with amazement at the extraordinary vision and ensuing victory, that he resolved to worship no other God than him who had appeared to him. “And so, he sent for those who were acquainted with the mysteries of his doctrines, and enquired who that God was, and what the vision meant. “They affirmed that he was God, the only begotten Son of the one and only God: “That the sign which had appeared was the symbol of immortality, and the trophy of that victory over death which he won in the past when visiting the earth. “They told him about how he came to be born, and explained to him the true account of his incarnation. 9

“Believing this knowledge had been given to him by God, he decided to devote himself from then on to the reading of the inspired writings. “Moreover, he made the priests of God his advisers, and thought it his duty to honor the God who had appeared to him with all devotion.” So wrote Eusebius.

Well, following his stunning victory over Maxentius, the very next year, in 313, Constantine, now Emperor of the West, and Licinius, Emperor of the East, announced: “It is proper that the Christians and all others should have liberty to follow that mode of religion which to each of them appeared best.” This thereby granted tolerance to all religions, including Christianity. Called the Edict of Milan, it made the empire officially neutral with regard to religious worship. And, although it neither made the traditional religions illegal, nor made Christianity the , as occurred later with the Edict of Thessalonica of 380… … the Edict of Milan did, raise the stock of Christianity within the empire and it reaffirmed the importance of religious worship to the welfare of the state.

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Ten years later, in 323, Constantine went to war with Licinius and following his victory became the sole ruler of the Roman empire. The victory enabled Constantine to move the seat of government permanently to the East, to the ancient Greek city of Byzantium. Once there, he enlarged and enriched the city at enormous expense and built magnificent churches throughout the East. The new capital was dedicated as New Rome, but everyone soon called the city . Today known as … Istanbul.

The accession of Constantine was a turning point for early Christianity. After his victory, Constantine took over the role of patron of the Christian faith. He supported the Church financially, had an extraordinary number of basilicas built, granted privileges (e.g., exemption from certain taxes) to clergy. He also promoted Christians to high-ranking offices, returned property confiscated during the Great Persecution of Diocletian, and endowed the church with land and other wealth.

In the course of Christian history though, few events loom larger than the Council of Nicea in 325. The Council of Nicea was effectively the first Ecumenical Council and was the first major attempt by Christians to define for the whole Church. 11

Until Nicaea, all previous Church Councils had been local or regional synods affecting only portions of the Church. Emperor Constantine was a moving force in the formation of the Council and he, in effect, called it in order to solve this dispute. He did so because at that time he had just completed his consolidation of authority over the whole of the Roman Empire. Remember, up until 323, he had ruled only half of the Roman Empire. And now, he wanted to have uniformity of belief, or at least not major disputes within the church under his rule. And so he was dismayed to hear of this major controversy that plagued the church. You see, a theologian named , taught, contrary to accepted doctrine, that the Son of God had a beginning and was a created being. He argued that Jesus had undoubtedly been a remarkable leader, but he was not actually God in flesh. More specifically, Arius claimed that Jesus was a created being. This effectively denied His divinity. Concerned for the unity of the empire, Constantine wrote letters to Bishop Alexander and to Arius, urging them to make up their differences and forgive each other.

When that failed, he convened this ecumenical council of the entire Church. 12

Constantine aided this historic gathering by covering the travel expenses of bishops coming from the far-flung corners of the empire. In order to repudiate the Arian , the bishops inserted the word homoousios (“of the same essence”) into the baptismal creed. By asserting that Christ was of the same essence as , the Council decisively affirmed the divinity of Christ. This was approved by an overwhelming majority of the Council (only three persons—including Arius—out of three hundred disagreed).

Constantine was baptized on his deathbed in May of 337 by Eusebius … remember him? He had hoped to be baptized in the Jordan River, but as his final illness overtook him, he called the bishops together at Nicomedia and requested baptism. The decision to wait till just before death was not as unusual as you might think. In a day when many Christians believed that since baptism washed away sins, one ought to hold off getting baptized as long as possible.

And, since the sins of worldly men, especially those with public duties, were considered incompatible with Christian virtue, 13 some church leaders delayed baptizing such men until just before death. Although, he gave his sons an orthodox Christian education, and his relationship with his mother was generally happy, Constantine continued to act as a typical Roman emperor. Even so far as to order the execution of his eldest son, his second wife, and his favorite sister’s husband. No one seems to be able to explain fully his reasons. Following his baptism, Constantine refused to wear the imperial purple and died wearing the white baptismal robe. He was buried in the Church of the Holy Apostles just days after he had dedicated it. The day of his death—May 21—is commemorated in the Orthodox Church as a major feast day.

Constantine made many valuable contributions as a result of his Christian faith. For example, according to Eusebius: “He gave away a great deal of money, largely to those who were in need, even to non-Christians, who had no claim on him. “Even the miserable, idle beggars in the forum he provided with money, food and good clothes. And to those who had fallen from earlier prosperity he was even more generous.” Other historians note that crucifixion was abolished most likely as a result of Constantine’s Christian faith, but then was also 14 replaced with hanging, to demonstrate the preservation of Roman supremacy. On March 7, 321, Sunday, already sacred to Christians and to the Roman Sun God Sol Invictus, was declared an official day of rest. On that day markets were banned and public offices were closed, except for the purpose of freeing slaves. There were, however, no restrictions on performing farming work, which was the work of the great majority of the population, on Sundays. Some laws made during his reign were even humane in the modern sense, possibly inspired by his Christian faith. For example, a prisoner was no longer to be kept in total darkness but must be given the outdoors and daylight. A condemned man was allowed to die in the arena, but he could not be branded on his “heavenly beautified” face, since God was supposed to have made man in his image, but only on the feet. Publicly displayed Gladiatorial games were ordered to be eliminated in 325.

Constantine’s support for the early Church also laid the foundation for the doctrine of symphonia—the ideal of political and religious leaders working in harmony to realize God’s will here on earth. This ideal is rooted in the Lord’s Prayer: “Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” 15

Symphonia, thereby, avoids two extremes: the complete separation of Church from State on the one hand, and the fusion of Church and State on the other. Despite his active participation in the Ecumenical Council, Constantine did not view himself as one of the bishops, but rather as “bishop of those outside.”

Constantine helped make the Roman Empire safe for Christians to practice their faith. And needs to be acknowledged for his patronage of the Christian church. However, to go so far as to honor him as “Saint Constantine Equal-to-the-Apostles” may be going a bit far. Still, whether we remember him today as laying the foundation for the Papacy … OR … as the one responsible for leading the early Church away from the simplicity of the pure gospel and turning it into an institutional Church – that is up to you! Amen!