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mom_07
Guest
Did Constantine make Christianity the “official” religion of Rome? And did he declare that Jews could no longer have citizenship?
Thanks.
Terri
Thanks.
Terri
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bengal_fan
Guest
yes
no
no
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piety101
Guest
No, not really.Constantine was a pagan who stopped Christian persecution in Rome. He kind of wanted everyone to get along. He supposedly had a vision of the cross and had his troopers paint a symbol of that on their shields in battle. He won. But Constantine simply allowed Christianity to flourish without persecution. He would allow the church bishops from all persuasions to bicker over doctrinal ideas, especially the Arian’s against the trinitarians. He would sit back and listen and then decide the winner.
At first he banished Arius the Arian bishop. Then he allowed him back and banned Arthatius the trinitarian. But Constantine remained a sun worshiper most of his life and supposedly was baptized a Christian while lying dying. Mainly,for "Hey they could have been right" idea.
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mom_07
Guest
Thank you for taking the time. However, I seem to be getting conflicting answers.Could you elaborate?yes
no
Again thanks
Terri
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Rand_Al_Thor
Guest
From my studies of Roman history–and I just took a class on it this term–it does seem that Constantine made a genuine conversion. It couldn’t have been political, because that really would not have been the way to go if you wanted to be popular in Rome, especially after Diocletian. And Constantine did not make the decision in the Arian heresy, though he was present at the Council of Nicaea.
I think that his conversion is interesting. “Under this sign shall you conquer.”
In Christ,
Rand
I think that his conversion is interesting. “Under this sign shall you conquer.”
In Christ,
Rand
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Rand_Al_Thor
Guest
mom 07:
In Christ,
Rand
He means yes, Constantine made Christianity the official religion, and no he did not deny Jews citizenship.
In Christ,
Rand
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Fidelis
Guest
It’s hard to judge the motives of a person over the space of 1600 years, but the consensus has been that he delayed baprism because he held to the prevailing belief of the time that sins commited after baptism were difficult, if not impossible to be atoned for. If so, it would not have been a case of hedging his bets, but rather an acknowledgement that he was liable to fall into serious sin. Either way, it seems to show a distrust in the Divine mercy.
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Isidore_AK
Guest
Actually, he never made Christianity the ‘official’ religion.
What he did do was issue the ‘Edict of Milan’ which returned the the Church all confiscated property, gave Christians the right to worship in public, and removed any obligation to follow the Roman cult. Basically he gave the Christians a ‘favored’ status within the Empire.
He converted to Christianity on his death bed…
As for the Jews, he never did anything to persecute them. Jerusalem had been sacked centuries before Constantine, so the Jews weren’t really much of a concern.
What he did do was issue the ‘Edict of Milan’ which returned the the Church all confiscated property, gave Christians the right to worship in public, and removed any obligation to follow the Roman cult. Basically he gave the Christians a ‘favored’ status within the Empire.
He converted to Christianity on his death bed…
As for the Jews, he never did anything to persecute them. Jerusalem had been sacked centuries before Constantine, so the Jews weren’t really much of a concern.
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Fidelis
Guest
Isidore_AK said:
Correct. That he did is a common misrepresentation made by anti-Catholics to show that, at this point, people ONLY became Christians because of social or legal pressure, thus ushering in the “there-were-no-real-Christians-between-the-time-of-the early church-til-the-Reformation” canard. Don’t buy into it.
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Atreyu
Guest
ROFL!!! I love it, I really do.
ps I’m reading Lord of Chaos at the moment, I think it’s my third time reading the series
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mlchance
Guest
mom 07:
– Mark L. Chance.
Nope. That was Emperor Theodosius in A.D. 380.
– Mark L. Chance.
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Rand_Al_Thor
Guest
I’m reading that same book for the second time now! But that quote is actually recorded as what was told to Constantine in his vision before the battle that he won (there were, what…three other Augustus’ at that time?) that established him as sole Augustus. I’m sure that’s where Robert Jordan got it from, but I don’t see too many other Roman influences in his work. Most of what I’ve found is mythology.ROFL!!! I love it, I really do.
ps I’m reading Lord of Chaos at the moment, I think it’s my third time reading the series
And you guys are right…Constantine didn’t make Christianity the official religion; I was wrong. I was inaccurately remembering about the land being restored to the Church and his taking part in religious disputes as the establishment of an official religion.
In Christ,
Rand
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mom_07
Guest
The person I am TRYING to have a conversation with takes it even further. She believes that Christianity illegitimately REPLACED the true Early Christians who were messianic Jews. The kernel of truth is that, of course, they were Jews (mostly) and they did believe Jesus the Christ was the Messiah. Where reality parts company with this schism is her contention that Constantine MADE modern Christianity (i.e. first the Church and from her, Protestantism). This “apostate” church (i.e. Catholic) then went on to persecute and suppress the true Christians (i.e. the Jews). And now that the Jews are back in Israel, Christ will return and “punish” those who have persecuted his chosen. That’s it in a nutshell.
Terri
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