Does Constantine Have A Passion For Christianity

Roman society didn’t care for the Christians very much. They would blame them for communal catastrophes, such as earthquakes and outbreaks of diseases. They would claim that these misfortunes were caused by the Christians angering the gods. Being Christian by itself was illegal. “The crime of being Christians; that is, to belonging to an illegal sect or association. The penalty for such unlicensed association was death.” (pg. 174) There was freedom given to anyone who renounced their faith and was willing to worship a Roman god. The martyrs went through vicious punishments for staying in their faith. This tells us that living in Roman society could be fatal if you don’t follow what the Roman Empire expected you to be.

Christianity was frowned upon by the Romans. The Roman Emperor wanted the people to worship him and the Roman Gods. Christians were blamed for many of the misfortunes that happened in Rome. Due to the belief that Christians were to blame they were ostracized, tortured and even killed.

When Constantine was battling for control of Rome, he prayed for divine interference and saw a cross, the sign of Christianity. He put a cross on all of his soldiers, and they were victorious, with Constantine crediting his triumph to the Christian God. After Constantine took power in 313 AD, he announced the end of Christians persecutions. Later, in AD YEAR, Constantine converted, and Christianity grew faster than ever. Of all factors that influenced Christianity development, Constantine’s conversion was one of the most important, because he made it acceptable.

While Constantine I ruled the Roman Empire, Christianity became the overriding faith of Rome. 5 While Constantine I had been exposed to Christianity during childhood through his mother, Helena, he was never a true believer. Many Christian sources write that Constantine received a revelation in 312 before the Battle of Milvian Bridge.

Christianity during the early century was very difficult for many Christians. As many Christians were persecuted for not worshipping pagan gods.

This declaration was a precursor to the manipulation of religion as a means to acquire wealth, enhance social and political power, and as a method of societal control; a manipulation that would only grow and continue in coming centuries. Constantine understood that by getting people to believe that there was only one true and worthy God to worship and obey, convincing them to obey and worship only one worthy and true earthly leader, was entirely feasible. Implementing this religion upon his people was a self-serving attempt at coming to be an all-powerful, rightful and ruling God on earth: a concept later defined as “divine right” by successive emperors (Lundskow, 2008, 72). Abrupt social changes occurred under the rule of Constantine, and this aided with the people’s ready reception of and conversion to the Christianity. Pagan practices, although still in existence, were becoming out-dated and society was open to the idea of a religion that was a more accurate reflection of their current lifestyle; Christianity responded accordingly to this desire. Similarly, to the Emperor, not every individual was particularly overcome by everlasting faith in Christianity. Rather, its social advantages and opportunity for economic advancement proved to be the deciding factors for most. The people’s acceptance of Christianity is attributable to Constantine’s political ascension to power, which in turn is attributable to a multitude of subsequent worldly leaders embracing the Christian faith to push their own personal

Besides Constantine’s hunger for power, there was another detrimental flaw in his strategy for the spread of Christianity. According to many historians, Constantine did not actually believe in the Christian religion. Although he made it a priority to spread Christianity through the Roman Empire, He continued to worship the Sun God. According to The Impact of Constantine on Christianity there was,

The conversion of Roman Emperor, Constantine, marked the start of a reform that would change Rome forever. A once pagan society, Rome was one of the last to grasp the Christianity concept. The start of “Christianizing” Rome began with two of Jesus’ disciples, Peter and James, as well as the apostle Paul in the Roman province of Antioch during the first century ("New Women of Color Study Bible" 1742). From this, Christianity spread all over the province, by the time it got to Rome it was not widely practiced. It wasn’t until the reign of Constantine that Christianity took its place as the empires forefront religion. Since Rome was known for its worship and idolizing of gods, how and for what reasons did Constantine transform his subjects’ beliefs? According to authors, Ramsay MacMullen, John Curran, and A.H.M. Jones, a number of tactics were used to sway the masses’ minds. Use of coercion, money, and campaigns aided Constantine’s questionable Christian “cleanse”.

Constantine the ruler of the Roman Empire had been surrounded by many controversies during his reign (Cameron, 14). He was the son of a great warrior and he defeated Manutius a great ruler at Milia Bridge. He had gained much respect and admiration among the Romans as a fair ruler. He emerged as a ruler who supported Christianity and then became popular as a Christian ruler himself. His reign and victory over the Roman Empire is a significant event in the history of Christian religion. With the Edict of Milan in 313 Christianity was recognized as a religion, and the followers were free to practice Christianity without fear. It has been argued that Constantine failed to treat different religions equally as paganism (Cameron, 57). Constantine also sponsored churches, promoted Christians to high government ranks, exempted taxes for the clergy. In the latter days of his rule Constantine had a stricter approach towards Christianity and professed that there is one God, the Christian God. He rewarded building temples into churches. He played a key role in framing important church policies namely The Council of Arles, A.D. 314 and The Council of Nicaea, A.D. 325.

The reason for this is because in the Edict of Milan Constantine makes a statement about letting the citizens practice the religion that they want so he can be the first one who has done this (Dutton 1). This shows that he is giving back the citizens their right to practice a religion instead of forcing people to have to practice the religion that he prefers. It also shows that he is freeing the citizens of limitations upon what religion they can practice by giving people complete rights to practice the religion of Christianity. But in reality, he is really ensuring he power over the citizens. In the text, it states that Constantine talks about himself being the first to let people be able to practice the religion of Christianity (Dutton 1).

He passed laws that were in favour of the Christian officials. He made church lands free of tax and he gave Bishops religious and judicial powers. This act allowed Christianity as a religion to have access to power and some authority; this led to its rise as it showed its legitimacy. Constantine although not being a Christian till his death bed become greatly involved with the religion itself. Constantine contributed greatly to the Christian community.

Even though Constantine was the first emperor to introduce Rome to Christianity, Rome wasn’t completely Christian. Pagan was still practiced and the Christian church was built outside of Rome that way he didn’t offend his people since a few upper-class man were still pagan. The whole irony of this is that he wasn’t baptized yet and he was still practicing paganizing while claiming to be Christian. While on his journey he noticed he was starting to feel weak and after a time his illness started getting worse and had to halt his campaign against Persia. Constantine died on May 22, 337, in Ancyrona, near Nicomedia, Bithynia at the approximate age of 57. Before dying, he got baptized so he could rest in peace. (Constantine I

Constantine the Great, first Christian Emperor, originator of Constantinople, creator of the Byzantine Empire, military conqueror, and honored saint, has been labeled by many the most instrumental emperor of the Roman Empire. Constantine played a crucial role in the development of Europe during the Middle Ages, and founded Christianity as the formal religion of the Roman Empire. His dynamic yet effective predominance laid the infrastructure of European development. From his humble beginnings, to his command of the Roman Empire, to his final days, Constantine’s impact on world history and Christianity has left behind an unforgettable legacy. He was described by Eusebius as “such an emperor as all history records

In the Roman Civilization where the prevalent worship of roman gods were impersonal and did not provide a moral base or a message of hope, in the fourth century Christianity was formed, born as a movement within Judaism Christianity emphasized the personal relationship between God and people slowly spread through the Roman Empire until ultimately dominating the western culture. Three of the several factors that aided to the growth of Christianity in the Roman Empire were; the central beliefs and value of Christianity, prominent figures, and Christianity appeal to women.

Christianity’s history is filled with division, controversy, and conflict. One of the most important people who contributed to the lasting success of this diverse religion was Constantine. While legalizing Christianity in Roman society, he founded the capital of the eastern Roman Empire, Constantinople. Because of this and other great accomplishments, Constantine appropriately earned the name Constantine the Great.