The Changing State Of Mind Of Constantine Essay

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.

The new faith that brought a message and established the resurrection of Jesus Christ was the faith that Constantine adopted as a child from his mother. Christianity during Constantine’s reign established much dominance over other religions and was the main reason for influence of the Christian. Christianity in the Roman world had many perils from gladiatorial battles, to forms of charity which affected the Roman world for good (McGiffert, 34). Charity became with

Christianity experienced notable change during the Byzantine Era as a result of the fact that new ideas were introduced into the religion and because more and more cultural values from across the world started to pervade it. The religion was very different in Byzantium from how it was in the West principally because a series of Eastern ideas were adopted by Christian leaders. Christianity experienced a different development in the East when compared to the evolution that it experienced in the West. In the centuries lasting between the beginning of the Eastern half of the Roman Empire and the end of a small medieval state Christianity has practically been bombarded with Eastern ideas and with ideas that generally differed from the ones promoted in the West, eventually making it possible for "a distinct system of religious practice and devotion" (Krueger, 1) to emerge.

Constantine is best remembered in modern times for the Edict of Milan in 313, which fully legalized Christianity in the empire for the first time. Constantine’s edict gave Christians the right to openly practice their faith. Until then, they had met in the homes of fellow believers. Within a year of edit, Constantine ordered the building of churches throughout the empire. Although some Christians were very worried about the future of the churches if it became too close with the empire. The only people edit mentioned by name were the Christian, and the laws that came afterwards radically limited the rights of Jews as citizens of the Roman Empire.

When we look back at Christianity over the years, there are several people who are remembered for their impact on the religion. The first most important figure was Jesus Christ. However, if we travel forward a bit, into the 4th Century we come across Constantine. Historians agree that Constantine served as an important component in the spread of Christianity. Although he spread the religion in a massive way, others wonder if his methods were more harmful then anything. In this paper I will be discussing Constantine in his rise to power and his impact on Christianity. Constantine provided a mean for the word of God to be spread, which is a major benefit. However, He also used violence and hate as

The emperor Constantine’s legalization of Christianity and his personal conversion significantly aided the Church in surviving and growing in the future. Before Constantine accepted Christianity, Christians were heavily persecuted by the Romans which kept their numbers low. After Christianity was legalized, it greatly grew and spread across the Roman empire. This growth gave the Church power.

One of the most crucial times in our history was in the era of Emperor Constantine. Prior to Constantine’s rule, Christianity was opposed by the Roman Empire. This occurred because Christians were on a different agenda. The Roman authorities were tolerant of the religions within its territories. The various religions throughout the land gave the emperor respect and honor in their rituals and ceremonies.

Christians went from being persecuted to dominating Rome rather quickly. In a world where separation between church and state does not exist, a Christian becoming the sole emperor of Rome symbolized a huge turning point in history. The power switched and the Pagans in turn became persecuted. Christians rose up and took control of all aspects of Roman society. The Pagan past was destroyed, banned, or forgotten about. Those Christians that did not agree with how things were being run either left the empire and became monks or formed their own sect. All of Rome changed.

Enacted in 313 A. D. by Constantine Augustus, this law was made and established to prevent the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire, and was a huge step forwards for society for a number of reasons. Firstly, the law was a very early example of tolerance and acceptance of religious practices. This law was put in place to bring peace, but more so than just peace it helped set a precedent for future civil issues and how they could be solved. “among other things which we saw would be for the good of many, those regulations pertaining to the reverence of the Divinity ought certainly to be made first, so that we might grant to the Christians and others full authority to observe that religion which each preferred; whence any Divinity whatsoever in the seat of the heavens may be propitious and kindly disposed to us and all who are placed under our rule” (Edict of Milan, Page 1) The second, and arguably most important advancement this law promoted was a turning point for the development of civilization through the vast growth of Christians following the edict. While the Roman Empire had once been a Polytheistic worshipping society, once Christians were granted the right to free worship, we see a very large shift in the number of Christians compared to other forms of religion within the empire. However, not only were Christians the majority in Rome, they quickly became the dominating religion in the world, and because they became the biggest and most influential religion in the world, their choices in early history are ingrained in our own society today. We typically measure time in history by suffixing years with either BC or AD, which stand for ‘Before Christ’ and ‘anno domini’; The latter being Latin for ‘The year of our Lord’. So through this law, we see civilization not only getting its first taste of civil liberties, but also inadvertently affecting the way in which we

The conversion of Constantine was pivotal to the Christian faith. In the "Edict of Milan", Constantine allowed freedom to every member of the empire to worship as they chose. Constantine restates this principle after acquiring the eastern half of the empire from Licinius in a document called the "Edict to the Provincials." Constantine strove for a peaceful coexistence between the Christians and the non-Christians. Throughout this document and an oration called "To the Assembly of the Saints", Constantine continues to push for a united, Chrisitan empire. The second edict and the discourse together looked more to be a policy change than a religious one. Constantine's next speech entitled "Oration to the Saints" began to set the tone of Constantine's

In some ways, this might have strengthened and reinforced Christian faith because in the period between 68 CE and 313 CE (the year in which Emperor Constantine signed toleration of Christianity into law via the Edict of Milan), Christians had to be more careful in their practices; if an individual felt the desire to be a Christian, that individual had to be extremely committed to the faith and fully aware of the risks associated with it. For a number of years, public demonstrations and declarations of Christian faith continued to be an offense punishable by death in Rome. In addition, the reputation of Christians had been badly damaged by Emperor Nero in the aforementioned allegations of arson by Christians as the cause of the devastating

In 313 AD the Emperor Constantine formally recognized the Christian religion. Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire, this event affected the way people thought and lived their lives. Had a great impact on how rulers viewed their power and used their powers. Such influence was portrayed in Christian art as we know today.

When Constantine charged into battle he saw a magnificent and majestic event, a giant cross appeared in the sky above the sun with inscriptions to conquer with this symbol, but I wonder, was it sent by god, an angel, or did he make it up to gain the favor of the Christian people. Everyone who’s studied roman history has heard of the vision that Constantine had when he went to battle at the Milvian Bridge, where he saw a vision of the cross and was inspired by it so he put it on the shields of his men and won the battle that day. The reason for me asking whether or not Constantine was sent the vision by god or an angel was because for one angels have been known to be messengers of god, take Gabriel for instance he has delivered messages from god to people like Muhammad who eagerly took it. But there have been times when god himself would come to a person. Take Moses for example, when he was tending to his sheep he saw a bush burning brightly but wasn’t bothered by the flame, he approached carefully and curiously and then a mighty voice erupted from the flame telling Moses that he is God and that he wants Moses too free his people the Israelites. Not to mention Constantine has saw what happened to those before

In 312 CE, Roman Emperor Constantine achieved a victory at the Milvian Bridge. The night previous to this battle, Constantine dreamt of a cross inscribed in hoc signo vinces, in this sign you will conquer. As trivial as this dream may seem, it ultimately signified the beginning of the rise of Christianity. With his victory, Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity and supported and encouraged it throughout the empire. In 313 CE, another milestone occurred as the emperors, both Constantine I of the West and Licinius of the East, signed the Edict of Milan declaring that the Diocletianic Persecution would end, and Christianity would be tolerated in the Roman Empire. This religion began to flourish as people quickly converted from pagan

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.