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notes from the week 12 lecture on Constantines impact on the Christian church...

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Constantine and the Christian Church

The conversion of Constantine, the first Christian Roman Emperor, marked a turning point in the history of the Christian church which cannot be understated in its significance. Christ had been born in approximately 4 B.C., and Constantine’s conversion over three centuries later in 312 A.D., and his subsequent reign as the first Christian Roman Emperor, saw a change in the Christian Church from a persecuted minority to a state-sponsored religious entity. To truly understand the impact of Constantine on the Christian Church we must first understand the nature of the Christian Church before his conversion, and then compare it with the church that existed around the time of Constantine’s death in 337 A.D. The New Testament and other religious sources will be used occasionally in this essay; biblical and other religious records were not always written to be historical accurate, but they are useful in giving insight to organisational and doctrinal matters within the early Christian Church, and that is the purpose for which these will be used. A major impact that Constantine had on the church was certainly the way in which the church was organised and governed. Another impact which will be discussed is the rapid growth in numbers of Christians living in the Roman Empire, which Constantine likely influenced. Constantine heavily impacted the organisation of the Church and its relationship with the state, and his councils and legislation made changes and set precedents which would continue to affect Christianity for centuries to come. One key change which Constantine appeared to initiate was the combination of secular and religious authority. Paul’s epistles had instructed the Christian’s to organise themselves by calling “some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and

some, pastors and teachers,”1 with the highest authority in the first century of the Christian Church being held by the twelve apostles. By the beginning of the second century, the leading authorities of Christianity seem to be the bishops in the various cities in which the church had been organised, with an absence of a more central authority which the apostles had provided in the early decades of Christianity. Constantine’s entry to the Christian world was accompanied by his desire to bring Christianity under a central authority, and this authority was himself. At no point in his conversion to Christianity does Constantine seem to ask the question of who he must turn to as an authority on religious matters, he simply seems to assume that as Emperor his authority is great enough that it transcends into spiritual things. By the end of Constantine’s reign, Christianity would no longer see a clear division between church and state, and whilst it gave the church itself a lot of newfound power in secular matters, this also gave the emperor and his successors an unprecedented amount of religious power. In his desire to create a more centralised authority over Christianity, Constantine took a number of measures. Perhaps his most significant measure was the Council of Nicaea, the first ecumenical council, named so because it was the first council that had a broad representation of bishops throughout the empire, which he held in 325 A.D. This was a council made up of Christian bishops from throughout the Roman empire, and multiple other Christian leaders, all convened under the direction of the Emperor. Constantine’s goal in this council was to unite Christianity under an agreed upon faith. This was in some ways necessary, for in the previous century the Christian Church had not been particularly united, with multiple different sects forming with varying interpretations of the doctrines of Christianity that culminated in the “Arian Controversy” which broke out in 321 A.D. This 1 Ephesians 4:11, NT KJV

involved the division between Arius, leader of the “Arian” faction against Alexander, leader of his opposition. Constantine wanted in his council to establish a form of Christianity with which all of the different sects would unite. About this he wrote an open letter to both factions desiring “all the provinces should be united in one consistent view” to heal the “wounded” republic, and to “establish a general concord among all the servants of God.” 2 As was typical during his tenure, Constantine here combines his political motivations with his religious beliefs. The council which followed resulted in much debate between the different bishops attending the council, and the adoption of the Nicaean creed, a document which acted as an agreed upon statement of belief for those who identified as a Christian. Although he died before the second ecumenical took place in Constantinople, 381 A.D., Constantine had set the precedent that such councils of church leaders under the authority of the Roman Emperor would be essential in directing the Christian church and deciding its doctrine for centuries to come. Another drastic change which Constantine could be attributed to is the large growth in membership of the Christian church. Absolute numbers are not available to measure the growth of the church during his lifetime, but at the time of his birth in 272 A.D. it is believed that the Christians were a minority group of around 10% of the empire’s population. At his death, the number of Christians had grown but was still not dominant, but by at least fifty years after his death, around 387 A.D. it has been estimated that over half of the empire, a clear majority, were by then Christian. It is not as though Constantine could be considered personally responsible for each individual’s conversion to the faith, but there are a number of factors why Constantine’s actions could have attributed to the growth of the church.

2 Constantine, Letter to Alexander and Arius, in Eusebius, Life of Constantine II.64-5, 324 A.D.

Firstly, Constantine changed the way in which Christianity was viewed by the Roman Empire and its leaders. Since the religion’s very beginning, Christians had been heavily persecuted by Roman authorities. Tacitus wrote that “Nero…inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians”3. The threat of death had been so prevalent for practising Christians during the first three centuries that martyrdom had become an ingrained aspect of church practice and teachings, Bishop Dionysius of Alexandria is quoted as teaching that martyrs were: “blessed pillars of the Lord, strengthened by Him and receiving power and endurance deservedly and in proportion to the vigorous faith that was in them.”4 Constantine himself was crowned Augustus during a time known as the “Great Persecution” and had witnessed extensive persecution of Christians before his conversion. In 313 A.D., Constantine ordered the “Edict of Milan”, which legalised Christianity as a religion and thereby put an end to any official persecution. This legalisation direct towards Christianity doubtless changed its growth rate for two reasons, one being that the routine martyrdom of the religion’s most devout members ending would allow for some more consolidated growth in Christianity, the second being that now the fear of persecution was not so prevalent, the otherwise fearful may become more susceptible to converting. Secondly, Constantine as a Christian Emperor was able to introduce legislation to the empire which would encourage the growth of Christianity. It is debatable whether or not he actually actively endorsed Christianity, but there is evidence of this in the work of Eusebius. Eusebius, known as the “Father of Church History” wrote extensively about Constantine, but his record was certainly biased and focused more on promoting Constantine’s Christianity than writing factually. According to Eusebius, Constantine’s legislation often restricted pagan 3 Tacitus, Annals XV.44.3-6 4 Bishop Dionysius of Alexandra, quoted in Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History VI 41. 10-14

religions whilst supporting Christianity, he wrote statements such as Constantine “confuted the superstitious error of the heathen in all sorts of ways,”5 more specifically claiming he removed idolatry6 and artwork dedicated to other gods. Eusebius is the only source available claiming this, but we can assume, if this is true, that Constantine’s measures to discourage pagan religions could have accounted for a growth in Christianity. Other legislation by Constantine also made the operations of the church easier, such as his exemption of clergy from local curial duties7. Constantine allowed the church to build better buildings and receive donations of land, and this led to the church ultimately having extensive wealth with regards to its properties, becoming Europe’s biggest landowner within the next two hundred years. Prior to Constantine, Christians met in houses, after Constantine, the Church met in their own large, grand structures. All of these measures likely attributed to the Christian church being able to rapidly grow. Almost definitely, without Constantine, Christianity would never have grown to become a dominant faith which would shape the history of the entire world. Another legacy which Constantine would leave for the church that would alter Christianity forever was his commissioning of the first Christian bibles. For the first three centuries, the apostles, bishops and other Christians had written extensively numbers of gospels, epistles, apologies and histories, and Constantine’s request for bibles to be compiled would permanently affect what would be considered scripture and what would not. According to Eusebius, Constantine commissioned him to “order fifty copies of the sacred scriptures,”8 and the subsequent compilation of the bible (or, “the books”) would begin to shape what would be considered as canonical scripture by the Christian church. As 5 Eusebius, Life of Constantine III.54 6 Eusebius, Life of Constantine II.45.1 7 Constantine, Letter to Anulinus, in Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History X.7, 313 A.D. 8 Eusebius, Life of Constantine, IV.36

far as can be understood, 363 A.D., more than twenty years after Constantine’s death, would be the first time the new testament was written down in the order it is currently found. Not only would Constantine impact what would be considered scripture by the church, he also influenced what would be considered doctrine, whether this was done directly or indirectly. The council of Nicaea became the first instance in which the concept of trinitarianism can be found, in the Nicene Creed where Christ and God are described as being “consubstantial”9. Due to the fact that Constantine was more preoccupied with establishing harmony in the empire than identifying religious truths, many Christian doctrines were allowed to be altered by debate between the bishops and others which could later be argued to contradict the original biblical teachings, an issue which would become a major role later during the period of the reformation. Constantine’s influence in transitioning Christianity into a major state religion also allowed for a counter-effect to take place, which was the Romanisation of the Christian Church. Christianity’s major impact on the Roman Empire was perhaps equally matched by the Empire’s major impact on Christianity. In return for its newfound legitimacy under Constantine, the Christian Church adopted some more traditionally Roman concepts in its practices. The widespread adoption of patron saints as a practice by the church compares closely with the idea of local gods which had been practiced by the Romans for centuries. As the church and state became more closely intertwined, the operations of them both would become increasingly similar, bishops would become more powerful political figures and Roman rulers would gain more religious authority, a precedent which began with Constantine.

9 Nicene Creed, as found on https://www.catholic.org/prayers/prayer.php?p=495

In conclusion, Constantine changed the Christian church forever. Without Constantine, Christianity may never have become the world’s largest religion. He ended the persecution of Christians and incorporated Christianity into his empire, including legislation which allowed the church to grow and expand, possibly also influencing the decline of other religions in the empire. Constantine also heavily impacted all kinds of aspects of the church, including its councils, buildings, debates, leadership, religious texts and even some of its fundamental beliefs and practices. By the time the full effects of Constantine’s reign had set in, the Christian Church looked far different from the time of Paul and his epistles. Christianity had now become dominant, political and powerful, arguably sacrificing its theological purity in exchange for its newfound legitimacy. Constantine’s personal impact on this change through his blending of state authority with religious authority cannot be understated. He undoubtedly had more of an impact on the development of the Christian church in the fourth century than any other person, his impact was extensive and would change both faith and empire forever.

Bibliography: -

New Testament, King James Version

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The Nicene Creed, as found on: https://www.catholic.org/prayers/prayer.php?p=495

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Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History, translation by H.J. Lawlor, J.E.L. Oulton, London: Heinemann, 1932

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Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea, Life of Constantine, translation by Averil Cameron, Stuart G Hall, Oxford: Clarendon, 1999

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Tacitus’ Annals, Ronald Mellor, United States: Oxford University Press, 2010...