Justinian And Theodora's Influence On The Christian World

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Fear the Lord, and serve him in truth with all your heart.
Samuel, 12:23-25, KJ21

Though from the King James Bible, similar words would have been heard preached in Byzantine Empire by Christian priests and bishops. Rulers of the Byzantine Empire, from Constantine I to the Emperor Heraclius, understood the power of religion over people: the power to unite, divide, inspire, and intimidate. Constantine used Christianity to bind together a sweeping Mediterranean empire, and established a doctrine of one God, one Emperor, one Empire (Early Christianity, 9/11). Justinian and Theodora inspired the Christian world by constructing spellbinding churches and patronizing the arts, as well as employing the politick philosophy of representing both major factions of Christianity at the time, orthodoxy and monophysitism (Byzantine Empire, 9/20). Though no emperor’s relationship with the Christianity was exactly the same, and though the balance of power and moral authority between the imperial court and Church shifted over time, the Eastern Christian Church became and remained a powerful tool of Constantinople for strengthening the Empire, expanding Byzantine influence abroad, and …show more content…

In 392 St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, excommunicated the Emperor for his vicious massacre of seven thousand men, women, and children in Thessalonica, Greece. The head of a Christian Empire was now detached from God, and what’s more, the Church had stood above the Imperial Throne and exercised moral superiority (Growth of Early Church, 9/13). This marked a turning point in the relationship between the Emperor and the Church, though this would not be permanent, as can be seen from the reign of Justinian in particular. Neither did this shift in moral authority undermine the efforts of Theodosius to strengthen the

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