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Constantine the Great and Christianity

During the reign of the Roman emperorConstantine the Great(306–337 AD),Christianitybegan to transition to the dominant religion of theRoman Empire.Historians remain uncertain about Constantine's reasons for favoring Christianity, and theologians and historians have often argued about which form ofearly Christianityhe subscribed to. There is no consensus among scholars as to whether he adopted his motherHelena's Christianity in his youth, or, as claimed byEusebius of Caesarea,encouraged her to convert to the faith he had adopted.

Constantine's vision and the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in a 9th-century Byzantine manuscript.

Constantine ruled the Roman Empire as sole emperor for much of his reign. Some scholars allege that his main objective was to gain unanimous approval and submission to his authority from all classes, and therefore he chose Christianity to conduct his political propaganda, believing that it was the most appropriate religion that could fit with theimperial cult.Regardless, under theConstantinian dynastyChristianity expanded throughout the empire, launching the era of thestate church of the Roman Empire.[1]Whether Constantine sincerelyconverted to Christianityor remained loyal topaganismis a matter of debate among historians.[2]His formal conversion in 312 is almost universally acknowledged among historians,[1][3]despite that it was claimed he was baptized only on his deathbed by theArianbishopEusebius of Nicomediain 337;[4][5][6]the real reasons behind it remain unknown and are debated also.[2][3]According to Hans Pohlsander, professor emeritus of history at theState University of New York at Albany,Constantine's conversion was a matter of realpolitik, meant to serve his political interest in keeping the empire united under his control:

The prevailing spirit of Constantine's government was one of conservatism. His conversion to and support of Christianity produced fewer innovations than one might have expected; indeed they served an entirely conservative end, the preservation and continuation of the Empire.

— Hans Pohlsander,The Emperor Constantine[7]

Constantine's decision to cease thepersecution of Christians in the Roman Empirewas a turning point for early Christianity, sometimes referred to as the Triumph of the Church, the Peace of the Church or theConstantinian shift.In 313, Constantine andLiciniusissued theEdict of Milandecriminalizing Christian worship. The emperor became a great patron of the Church and set a precedent for the position of the Christian emperor within the Church and raised the notions oforthodoxy,Christendom,ecumenical councils,and the state church of the Roman Empiredeclared by edict in 380.He is revered as asaintandisapostolosin theEastern Orthodox Church,Oriental Orthodox Church,and variousEastern Catholic Churchesfor his example as a Christian monarch.

Before Constantine

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The first recorded officialpersecution of Christians on behalf of the Roman Empirewas in AD 64, when, as reported by theRoman historianTacitus,EmperorNeroattempted to blame Christians for theGreat Fire of Rome.According to Church tradition, it was during the reign of Nero thatPeterandPaulwere martyred in Rome. However, modern historians debate whether the Roman governmentdistinguished between Christians and Jewsprior toNerva's modification of theFiscus Judaicusin 96, from which point practising Jews paid the tax and Christians did not.[8]

Christians suffered from sporadic and localizedpersecutionsover a period of two and a half centuries. Their refusal to participate in theimperial cultwas considered an act oftreasonand was thus punishable by execution. The most widespread official persecution was carried out byDiocletianbeginning in 303. During theGreat Persecution,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 togladiatorialcontests to amuse spectators.[9]The Great Persecution officially ended in April 311, whenGalerius,senior emperor of theTetrarchy,issued anedict of tolerationwhich granted Christians the right to practice their religion, although it did not restore any property to them.[10]Constantine,caesarin the Western Empire, andLicinius,caesar in the East, also were signatories to the edict.[11]It has been speculated that Galerius' reversal of his long-standing policy of Christian persecution has been attributable to one or both of these co-caesars.[12]

Constantine's conversion

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It is possible that Constantine's mother,Helena,exposed him to Christianity. In any case, he only declared himself a Christian after issuing theEdict of Milan.[13][14]Writing to Christians, Constantine made clear that he believed that he owed his successes to the protection of the High God alone.[15]

Vision of Apollo

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Jugategold multiple issued by Constantine atTicinumin 313, showing the emperor and the godSol,with Sol also depicted in hisquadrigaon Constantine's shield.[16]
Follisissued by Constantine atLugdunumc. 309–310,with Sol holding a globe and wearing aradiant crown.Constantine is described asSOLI INVICTO COMITI,'Companion ofSol Invictus'

In 310 apanegyric,preserved in thePanegyrici Latinicollection and delivered atTrierfor the joint occasion of the city's birthday and Constantine'squinquennalia,recounted a vision apparently seen by the emperor while journeying betweenMarseilleand Trier.[17]The panegyricist recounts that the godApolloappeared to Constantine in company withVictoriaand together presented him with three wreaths representing thirty years of power.[17]This vision was perhaps in a dream experienced by the emperor while practisingincubationat the shrine ofApollo GrannusinGrand, Vosges.[17]Eusebiuswas aware of this vision, or reports of it, and refers in his ownPanegyric of Constantineof 336 to "tricennial crowns"[18]bestowed by the hand ofGod in Christianityon Constantine, "augmenting the sway of his kingdom by long years".[19][17]

Battle of Milvian Bridge

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Main article:Battle of the Milvian Bridge

Eusebius of Caesarea and other Christian sources record that Constantine experienced a dramatic series of events sometime between his fatherConstantius Chlorus's death in 306 and theBattle of the Milvian Bridgeon 28 October 312.[17]The battle secured Constantine's claim to the title ofaugustusin the West, which he had assumed unilaterally when his father died.[17]According to the Eusebius'Life of Constantine,Constantine saw avisionof "a cross-shaped trophy formed from light" above the sun at midday.[17]

The Emblem of Christ Appearing to Constantine,as imagined byRubens(1622). Constantine's army sees achi-rhoin the daytime sky.

About the time of the midday sun, when the day was just turning, he said he saw with his own eyes up in the sky and resting over the sun, a cross-shaped trophy formed from light, and a text attached to it which said, "By this conquer." (τούτῳ νίκα) Amazement at the spectacle seized both him and the whole company of soldiers which was then accompanying him on a campaign he was conducting somewhere, and witnessed the miracle.

— Eusebius of Caesarea,Vita Constantini,1.28.2

The Greek wordsἘν Τούτῳ Νίκα'in this sign, conquer' are often rendered in Latin asin hoc signo vinces'in this sign, you will conquer'.[20]According to Eusebius, Constantine also had a dream that same night.[17]In the dream,

the Christ of God appeared to him with the sign which had appeared in the sky, and urged him to make himself a copy of the sign which had appeared in the sky, and to use this as a protection against the attacks of the enemy.

— Eusebius of Caesarea,Vita Constantini,1.29

Writing hisChurch Historyshortly after 313, Eusebius makes no mention of this story in that work and does not recount it until composing his posthumous biography of Constantine decades afterwards.[17]Life of Constantinewas written by Eusebius after Constantine had died, and Eusebius admitted that he had heard the story from Constantine long after it had happened.Lactantius,writing 313–315 and around twenty years before Eusebius'sLife,also does not mention a vision in the sky.[17]Instead, Lactantius mentions only that Constantine's dream took place on the eve of the climactic battle on thePonte Milvioacross theTiber,with the crucial detail that the "sign" was marked on the Constantinian soldiers' shields.[17]According to Lactantius:

Constantine's dream in a 9th-century Byzantine manuscript
Medallionissued by Constantine atTicinumin 315, withchi-rhoon the emperor'screstandRomulus and Remusand theLupaon his shield.
Late Roman sarcophagus with a combined cross and wreathedchi-rho.

Constantine was advised in a dream to mark the heavenly sign of God on the shields of his soldiers and then engage in battle. He did as he was commanded and by means of a letter X turned sideways, with the top of its head bent around (transversa X littera,summo capite circumflexo), he marked Christ on their shields (Christum in scutis notat). Armed with this sign, the army took up its weapons.

— Lactantius,De Mortibus Persecutorum,44.5–6
Follisissued by Constantine at Constantinople in 337, with achi-rhoon alabarum.

It is unclear from these sources what Constantine saw and what was marked on his army's shields.[17]Eusebius's description of the daytime vision suggests a cross-shaped (either Τ or †) symbol, whereas Lactantius's description suggests astaurogram(⳨), although thecrux ansata(☥) or the Egyptianankh(𓋹) have been proposed as interpretations as well.[17]All of these symbols were used by Christians in the 3rd and 4th centuries. Eusebius concurs with Lactantius that a new device was added to Constantine's soldiers' shields but does not connect this with the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, saying only that the "sign of the saving trophy" was marked, but not specifying when.[21][17]Sometime after 317, Eusebius was permitted by Constantine, probably either in 325 or in 335, to see a standard that was made according to the emperor's dreamt instructions during the civil war.[17]He described it as:

A tall pole plated with gold had a transverse bar forming the shape of a cross. Up at the extreme top a wreath woven of precious stones and gold had been fastened. On it two letters, imitating by its first characters the name "Christ," formed the monogram of the Saviour's title,rhobeing intersected in the middle bychi... From the transverse bar, which was bisected by the pole, hung suspended a cloth... But the upright pole... carried the golden head-and-shoulders portrait of the Godbeloved Emperor, and likewise of his sons.

— Eusebius of Caesarea,Vita Constantini,1.31.1–2

This later description of Eusebius's, written after 324, suggests a more elaborate symbol than does Lactantius's earlier text, involving the Greek lettersrho(Ρ) andchi(Χ)ligatured as thechi rho(☧), a monogram of Ancient Greek:χριστός,romanized:khrīstós,lit. 'anointed', referring toJesus.[17]Possibly Eusebius's description refers to achi-rhoinside the loop of anankh.[22]

Following the battle and the defeat and death ofMaxentius,Constantine became the undisputed emperor in the West and performed anadventus,a ceremonial entrance to the city.[17]Arriving inside Rome's walls he ignored the altars tothe godsprepared on theCapitoline Hilland did not carry out the customary sacrifices to celebrate a general's victorious entry into Rome, instead heading directly to the imperial palace.[15]This is probably because the traditionalRoman triumph,concluding with the sacrifice toJupiterOptimus Maximusat his temple on the Capitoline, was traditionally celebrated after victory over Rome's enemies, rather than after the conquest of the city by a claimant in a civil war.[23]TheArch of Constantine,for which numerousreliefsfrom earlier monuments depicting prior emperors sacrificing to various gods were re-carved with the face of Constantine, does not have an image of Constantine sacrificing to Jupiter, although he is shown sacrificing to Apollo and toHercules.[23]

Edict of Milan

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In 313 Constantine and Licinius announced "that it was proper that the Christians and all others should have liberty to follow that mode of religion which to each of them appeared best,"[24]thereby granting tolerance to all religions, including Christianity. The Edict of Milan went a step further than the earlierEdict of Serdicaby Galerius in 311, returning confiscated Church property. This edict made the empire officially neutral with regard to religious worship; it neither made the traditional religions illegal nor made Christianity thestate religion,as occurred later with theEdict of Thessalonicaof 380. The Edict of Milan did, however, raise the stock of Christianity within the empire and reaffirmed the importance of religious worship to the welfare of the state.[25]Most influential people in the empire, especially high military officials, had not been converted to Christianity and still participated intraditional Roman religion;Constantine's rule exhibited at least a willingness to appease these factions.Coinsminted up to eight years after the battle still bore the images of Roman gods.[20]The monuments he first commissioned, such as the Arch of Constantine, contained no reference to Christianity.[15][26]

Patronage of the Church

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See also:State church of the Roman Empire
Hagia Eirenewas the first church commissioned by Constantine inConstantinopleand burned down in theNika riots.The present structure is 6th century.

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 a number ofbasilicasbuilt, granted privileges (e.g., exemption from certain taxes) to clergy, promoted Christians to high-ranking offices, returned property confiscated during the Great Persecution of Diocletian,[27]and endowed the church with land and other wealth.[28]Between 324 and 330, Constantine built a new city,New Rome,atByzantiumon theBosporos,which would be namedConstantinoplefor him. Unlike "old" Rome, the city began to employ overtly Christian architecture, contained churches within the city walls, and had no pre-existing temples from other religions.[29]

Map of the Church and Empire in the East under Constantine (c. 330 AD).

In doing this, however, Constantine required those who had not converted to Christianity to pay for the new city.[28]Christian chroniclers tell that it appeared necessary to Constantine "to teach his subjects to give up their rites... and to accustom them to despise their temples and the images contained therein,"[30]This led to the closure of temples because of a lack of support, their wealth flowing to the imperial treasure;[31]Constantine did not need to use force to implement this.[28]It was the chroniclerTheophaneswho added centuries later that temples "were annihilated", but this was considered "not true" by contemporary historians.[32]

Constantine respected cultivated persons, and his court was composed of older, respected, and honored men. Men from leading Roman families who declined to convert to Christianity were denied positions of power yet still received appointments; even up to the end of his life, two-thirds of his top government were non-Christian.[citation needed]Constantine's laws enforced and reflected his Christian attitudes.Crucifixionwas abolished for reasons of Christian piety but was replaced withhanging,to demonstrate the preservation of Roman supremacy. On March 7, 321, Sunday, which was sacred to Christians as the day of Christ's resurrection and to the Roman Sun GodSol Invictus,was declared an official day of rest. On that day markets were banned and public offices were closed,[33]except for the purpose of freeing slaves.[34]There were, however, no restrictions on performing farming work on Sundays, which was the work of the great majority of the population.[35]

Some laws made during his reign were even humane in the modern sense and supported tolerance, possibly inspired by his Christianity:[36]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.[37]Publicly displayed gladiatorial games were ordered to be eliminated in 325.

4th-centurysardonyxcameoof Constantine crowned by theTyche of Constantinople
Gold 1½solidusmultiple issued by Constantine atThessalonikiin 327, with Constantine looking skywards and an armoured emperor carrying spear and atropaionwith bound captives

Early Christian Bibles

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Main article:Fifty Bibles of Constantine

According to Eusebius, in 331 Constantine had commissioned him to deliver fifty volumes of scriptures for the churches of Constantinople, which were to be bound in leather and easily portable.[38]Only three or four churches are known certainly to have existed in Constantine's reign, but others appear to have been planned or established, for which the scriptures were commissioned.[38]The volumes were likelygospel bookscontaining the CanonicalGospelsof theFour Evangelistsrather than complete Bibles with the entireBiblical canon,which were very rare in antiquity.[38]

Athanasius(Apol. Const. 4) recorded around 340 Alexandrian scribes preparing Bibles forConstans.Little else is known. It has been speculated that this may have provided motivation forcanon lists,and thatCodex VaticanusandCodex Sinaiticusare examples of these Bibles. Together with thePeshittaandCodex Alexandrinus,these are the earliest extant Christian Bibles.[39]

Church construction

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According toSocrates Scholasticus,Constantine commissioned the construction of the first Church ofHagia Irenein Constantinople, on the site now occupied by theJustinianchurch of the same name.[38]It commemorated the peace won by Constantine andCrispus's victory over Licinius andLicinius IIat the Battle of Chrysopolis in 324; its name, the Church of the Holy Peace (Ancient Greek:Ἁγία Εἰρήνη,romanized:Hagía Eirḗnē,lit. 'Holy Peace') recalled the Altar of Peace (Latin:ara pacis) built byAugustus,the first deified Roman emperor.[38]Two other large churches were dedicated to SaintMociusand to SaintAcacius;both worthies had supposedly been martyred in Byzantium during the Diocletianic Persecution.[38]The Church of St Mocius was supposed to have included parts of a former temple of Zeus or Hercules, though it is unlikely that such a temple existed on the site, which was without the walls of the Constantinian city as well as of erstwhileSeveranByzantium.[38]According to Eusebius, Christian liturgies were also performed in Constantine's Mausoleum, the site of which became theChurch of the Holy Apostles;although Eusebius does not mention any Byzantine church by name, he reports that Christian sites were numerous inside the city and around it.[38]Later tradition ascribed to Constantine the foundations in Constantinople of the Church ofSaint Menas,the Church of SaintAgathonicus,the Church ofSaint Michaelat nearbyAnaplous,and the Church of Hagios Dynamis (Ancient Greek:Άγιος Δύναμις,romanized:Hagíos Dynamis,lit. 'Holy Power').[38]

Christian emperorship

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Enforcement of doctrine

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The reign of Constantine established a precedent for the position of the Christian emperor in the Church. Emperors considered themselves responsible to the gods for the spiritual health of their subjects, and after Constantine they had a duty to help the Church define and maintain orthodoxy.[40]The Church generally regarded the definition of doctrine as the responsibility of thebishops;the emperor's role was to enforce doctrine, root outheresy,and uphold ecclesiastical unity.[41]The emperor ensured that God was properly worshiped in his empire; what proper worship (orthodoxy) and doctrines and dogma consisted of was for the Church to determine.[42]

Constantine had become a worshiper of the Christian God, but he found that there were many opinions on that worship and indeed on who and what that God was. In 316, Constantine was asked to adjudicate in aNorth Africandispute of theDonatistsect (who began by refusing obedience to any bishops who had yielded in any way to persecution, later regarding all bishops but their own sect as utterly contaminated). More significantly, in 325 he summoned theFirst Council of Nicaea,effectively the firstecumenical council(unless theCouncil of Jerusalemis so classified).[43]The Council of Nicaea is the first major attempt by Christians to define orthodoxy for the whole state. Until Nicaea, all previous Church councils had been local or regional synods affecting only portions of the Church.

Nicaea dealt primarily with theAriancontroversy. Constantine was torn between the Arian andTrinitariancamps. After the Nicene council, and against its conclusions, he eventually recalledAriusfrom exile and banished Athanasius of Alexandria toTrier.

Just before his death in May 337, it is claimed that Constantine was baptised into Christianity. Up until this time he had been acatechumenfor most of his adult life. He believed that if he waited to get baptized on his death bed he was in less danger of polluting his soul with sin and not getting to heaven.[citation needed]He was baptized by his distant relative Arian BishopEusebius of Nicomediaor byPope Sylvester Iwhich is maintained by theCatholic Church,theCoptic Orthodox Church,theAntiochian Orthodox Church,theGreek Orthodox Church,theRussian Orthodox Church,theSerbian Orthodox Church,upon by many otherEastern Orthodox,Nestorian Orthodox,andOriental OrthodoxChurches.[44][45][46][47][48][49]During Eusebius of Nicomedia's time in the imperial court, the Eastern court and the major positions in the Eastern Church were held by Arians or Arian sympathizers.[50]With the exception of a short period of eclipse, Eusebius enjoyed the complete confidence both of Constantine andConstantius IIand was the tutor of EmperorJulian the Apostate.[51]After Constantine's death, his son and successor Constantius II was an Arian, as was EmperorValens.

Raphael'sThe Baptism of Constantine.

Suppression of other religions

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Main article:Religious policies of Constantine the Great
See also:Christianization of the late Roman empire

Constantine's position on the religions traditionally practiced in Rome evolved during his reign. In fact, his coinage and other official motifs, until 325, had affiliated him with the pagan cult of Sol Invictus. At first, Constantine encouraged the construction of new temples[52]and toleratedtraditional sacrifices;[15]by the end of his reign, he had begun to order the pillaging and tearing down ofRoman temples.[53][54][55]

Beyond thelimes,east of theEuphrates,theSasanianrulers,perennially at war with Rome,had usuallytolerated Christianity.Constantine is said to have written toShapur IIin 324 and urged him to protect Christians under his rule.[56]With the establishment of Catholicism as the state religion of the Roman Empire, Christians in Persia would be regarded as allies of Persia's ancient enemy. According to an anonymous Christian account, Shapur II wrote to his generals:[57][58]

You will arrest Simon, chief of the Christians. You will keep him until he signs this document and consents to collect for us a double tax and double tribute from the Christians... for we Gods[59]have all the trials of war and they have nothing but repose and pleasure. They inhabit our territory and agree with Caesar, our enemy.

— Shapur II, A History of Christianity in Asia: Beginnings to 1500

Constantinian shift

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Constantinian shiftis a term used by sometheologiansandhistorians of antiquityto describe the political and theological aspects and outcomes of the4th-centuryprocess of Constantine's integration of the imperial government with the Catholic Church that began with the First Council of Nicaea.[60]The term was popularized by theMennonitetheologianJohn H. Yoder.[61]The claim that there ever was a Constantinian shift has been disputed;Peter Leithartargues that there was a "brief, ambiguous 'Constantinian moment' in the fourth century," but that there was "no permanent, epochal 'Constantinian shift'."[62]

See also

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References

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  1. ^abWendy Doniger(ed.), "Constantine I", inBritannica Encyclopedia of World Religions(Encyclopædia Britannica,2006), p. 262.
  2. ^abNoel Lenski (ed.),The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Constantine(Cambridge University Press,2006), "Introduction".ISBN978-0-521-81838-4.
  3. ^abJones, Arnold Hugh Martin(1978) [1948].Constantine and the Conversion of Europe(1962 ed.). University of Toronto Press (reprint 2003) [Macmillan: Teach Yourself History, 1948, Medieval Academy of America: Reprint for Teaching, 1978]. p. 73.ISBN978-0-8020-6369-4.
  4. ^Hans A. Pohlsander,The Emperor Constantine(Routledge,NY 2004), pp. 82–84.ISBN0-415-31938-2;Lenski, "Reign of Constantine" (The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Constantine), p. 82.
  5. ^Gonzalez, Justo (1984).The Story of Christianity.Vol. 1. Harper Collins. p.176.ISBN0-060-63315-8.
  6. ^"Eusebius of Nicomedia".Catholic Encyclopedia.Retrieved2018-12-18.
  7. ^Pohlsander,The Emperor Constantine,pp. 78–79.
  8. ^Wylen, Stephen M.,The Jews in the Time of Jesus: An Introduction,Paulist Press (1995),ISBN0-8091-3610-4,Pp 190-192.;Dunn, James D. G.,Jews and Christians: The Parting of the Ways, A.D. 70 to 135,Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing (1999),ISBN0-8028-4498-7,Pp 33-34.; Boatwright, Mary Taliaferro & Gargola, Daniel J & Talbert, Richard John Alexander,The Romans: From Village to Empire,Oxford University Press (2004),ISBN0-19-511875-8,p. 426.
  9. ^Bomgardner, D. L.The Story of the Roman Amphitheatre.New York: Routledge, 2000. p. 142.
  10. ^Lactantius,De Mortibus Persecutorum( "On the Deaths of the Persecutors" ) ch. 35–34.
  11. ^Galerius, "Edict of Toleration", in Documents of the Christian Church, trans. and ed. Henry Bettenson (London: Oxford University Press, 1963), 21.
  12. ^H. A. Drake, Constantine and the Bishops: The Politics of Intolerance (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000), 149.
  13. ^ Brown, Peter(18 December 2012).The Rise of Western Christendom: Triumph and Diversity, A.D. 200–1000.Making of Empire. Vol. 3 (10th Anniversary Revised ed.). Wiley.ISBN978-1-118-33884-1.Retrieved2012-08-08.Constantine was not a young convert. He was over 40 and an experienced politician when he finally declared himself a Christian. He had had time to take the measure of the new religion and the difficulties which emperors had experienced in suppressing it. He decided that Christianity was a religion fit for a new empire.{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  14. ^Peter Brown,The Rise of Christendom2nd edition (Oxford, Blackwell Publishing, 2003) p. 61.
  15. ^abcdPeter Brown,The Rise of Christendom2nd edition (Oxford, Blackwell Publishing, 2003) p. 60.
  16. ^Holloway, R. Ross (2004).Constantine & Rome.Yale University Press. p. 14.ISBN978-0-300-10043-3.
  17. ^abcdefghijklmnopqBardill, Jonathan; Bardill (2012).Constantine, Divine Emperor of the Christian Golden Age.Cambridge University Press. pp.159–170.ISBN978-0-521-76423-0.
  18. ^Eusebius,In Praise of Constantine,6.1
  19. ^Eusebius,In Praise of Constantine,10.7
  20. ^abR. Gerberding and J. H. Moran Cruz,Medieval Worlds(New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004) p. 55.
  21. ^Eusebius,Vita Constantini,4.21
  22. ^Bardill, Jonathan; Bardill (2012).Constantine, Divine Emperor of the Christian Golden Age.Cambridge University Press. pp.192–193.ISBN978-0-521-76423-0.
  23. ^abBardill, Jonathan; Bardill (2012).Constantine, Divine Emperor of the Christian Golden Age.Cambridge University Press. pp.94–97.ISBN978-0-521-76423-0.
  24. ^Lactantius,De Mortibus Persecutorum( "On the Deaths of the Persecutors" ) ch. 48.
  25. ^Constantine and Licinius, "The 'Edict of Milan'", in Documents of the Christian Church, trans. and ed. Henry Bettenson (London: Oxford University Press, 1963), 22.
  26. ^J.R. Curran,Pagan City and Christian Capital. Rome in the Fourth Century(Oxford, 2000) pp. 70–90.
  27. ^R. Gerberding and J. H. Moran Cruz,Medieval Worlds(New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004) pp. 55–56
  28. ^abcMacMullan 1984:49.
  29. ^R. Gerberding and J. H. Moran Cruz,Medieval Worlds(New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004) p. 56
  30. ^quoted after MacMullan 1984:49.
  31. ^MacMullan 1984:50.
  32. ^MacMullan 1984: 141, Note 35 to Chapter V; Theophanes,Chron.a. 322. pp. 108, 117
  33. ^Corpus Juris Civilis3.12.2https://web.archive.org/web/20130727022718/http:// freewebs /vitaphone1/history/justinianc.htmlaccessed 20 April 2016
  34. ^Carson, Don A. From Sabbath to Lord's Day. Wipf & Stock Publishers/Zondervan. pp. 252–98.ISBN978-1579103071.
  35. ^MacMullen 1969;New Catholic Encyclopedia,1908;Theodosian Code.
  36. ^Norwich, John Julius,A Short History of Byzantium.Alfred A. Knopf, 1997, p. 8.ISBN0-679-77269-3.
  37. ^Miles, Margaret Ruth,The Word Made Flesh: A History of Christian Thought.Blackwell Publishing, 2004, p. 70,ISBN1-4051-0846-0.
  38. ^abcdefghiBardill, Jonathan; Bardill (2012).Constantine, Divine Emperor of the Christian Golden Age.Cambridge University Press. pp.251–55.ISBN978-0-521-76423-0.
  39. ^The Canon Debate,McDonald & Sanders editors, 2002, pp. 414–15, for the entire paragraph
  40. ^Richards, Jeffrey.The Popes and the Papacy in the Early Middle Ages 476–752(London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1979) pp. 14–15.
  41. ^Richards, Jeffrey.The Popes and the Papacy in the Early Middle Ages 476–752(London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1979) p. 15.
  42. ^Richards, Jeffrey.The Popes and the Papacy in the Early Middle Ages 476–752(London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1979) p. 16.
  43. ^Pre-Ecumenical councils include theCouncil of Rome (155),Second Council of Rome193,Council of Ephesus (193),Council of Carthage (251),Council of Iconium258,Council of Antioch (264),Council of Elvira306,Council of Carthage (311),Council of Ancyra314,Council of Arles (314)and theCouncil of Neo-Caesarea315.
  44. ^"St. Sylvester, Pope".
  45. ^"The Departure of St. Silvester, Pope of Rome".St. Takla Haymanout Coptic Orthodox Website.Retrieved24 June2022.
  46. ^"January 2014 – St. Sylvester, Pope of Rome".
  47. ^"V. Rev. Fr. Thaddaeus Hardenbrook. Emperor Constantine the Great (306–337). The Importance of His Faith in the History of the Church".
  48. ^"Emperor Constantine the Great (306–337): The Importance of His Faith in the History of the Church".
  49. ^Velomirovic, Nikolai “St. Constantine, Equal to the Apostles” The Prologue of Ochrid. (Serbian Orthodox Church Diocese of Western America: May 21, 1999)
  50. ^Drake, "Constantine and the Bishops", pp. 395.
  51. ^Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913)."Eusebius of Nicomedia".Catholic Encyclopedia.New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  52. ^Gerberding, R. and J. H. Moran Cruz,Medieval Worlds(New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004) p. 28.
  53. ^R. MacMullen, "Christianizing The Roman Empire A.D. 100–400, Yale University Press, 1984,ISBN0-300-03642-6
  54. ^"A History of the Church",Philip Hughes,Sheed & Ward, rev ed 1949, vol I chapter 6.[1]Archived2018-12-23 at theWayback Machine
  55. ^Eusebius Pamphilius andSchaff, Philip(Editor) and McGiffert, Rev. Arthur Cushman, Ph.D. (Translator)NPNF2-01. Eusebius Pamphilius: Church History, Life of Constantine, Oration in Praise of ConstantineArchived2018-04-17 at theWayback Machinequote: "he razed to their foundations those of them which had been the chief objects of superstitious reverence".
  56. ^Eusebius, vita Constantini IV, 8–13
  57. ^Moffett, Samuel H. (1992).A History of Christianity in Asia: Beginnings to 1500.p. 140.
  58. ^"After Constantine".gnosis.org.Retrieved2017-07-11.
  59. ^In general, there is a "silence of the Perso-Arab and classical historians on any claim by Iranian kings to divinity". The Cambridge history of Iran: The Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian...: Volume 1, p. xxxiii.
  60. ^Clapp, Rodney (1996).A Peculiar People.InterVarsity Press. p. 23.What might be called the Constantinian shift began around the year 200 and took more than two hundred years to grow and unfold to full bloom.
  61. ^e.g. inYoder, John H. (1996). "Is There Such a Thing as Being Ready for Another Millennium?". In Miroslav Volf; Carmen Krieg; Thomas Kucharz (eds.).The Future of Theology: Essays in Honor of Jurgen Moltmann.Eerdmanns. p. 65.The most impressive transitory change underlying our common experience, one that some thought was a permanent lunge forward in salvation history, was the so-called Constantinian shift.
  62. ^Peter Leithart,Defending Constantine: The Twilight of an Empire and the Dawn of Christendom,p. 287.

Further reading

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  • Eusebius,Life of Constantine,Introduction, translation, and commentary by Averil Cameron and Stuart G. Hall, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1999.
  • Ramsay MacMullen,Christianizing The Roman Empire A.D. 100–400,Yale University Press, 1984ISBN0-300-03642-6,
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