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Constantine and his effect on Christianity
Constantine and Christianity
How did constantine promote christianity
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Emperor Constantine
History has it that Constantine, the first Christian Caesar (one of the most talented, vigorous, and triumphant Roman emperors), who established the Constantinople and the Byzantine empire, was the first Roman Emperors to impose the idea of a Christian theocracy, a system of policy which assumes all subjects to be Christians, thereby merging civil and religious rights. He was the Constantine at that time saw Christianity as the only weapon strong enough to wipe out the high rate of idolatry that swept across the Roman empire. His monarchical regime held in high regard the Catholic unity. He was in close contact with the bishops in the year 313, thereby making peace and harmony his topmost priority in the Donatist and Arian disagreements.
The devout pilgrimages of Helena, the fanatical Aranism of Constantia etc proved that Constantine had his entire family very much bought into his idea of the religious sentiments. Even though Christianity at the initials was adopted with infused superstition till it finally disappeared. Constantine was more interested in promoting the outward front of Christianity as a social structure than an inward mission causing transformation.
After the death of Constantine, his sons did not fully follow the footsteps of their Father (even with their Christian education) in keeping the
Christianity of the 4th - 6th centuries was engulfed in the monastic spirit giving high credence to poverty, voluntary celibacy, total obedience and excessive self-punishments of the pillars of the saints and martyrs of the desert. More flamboyant life styles were seen as a low degree of morality as against the prevailing corrupt social situation of the continuous decaying Roman Empire.
Emperor Ju...
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...n the Middle East 1789-1923 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999. Rudolph Peters, Jihad in Classical and Modern Islam (Princeton: Markus Wiener Publishers, 1996), especially chapter 6, "Jihad and War Propaganda: The Ottoman Jihad Fatwa of November 11, 1914"), pp. 55-57.
For examples in the immediate wake of 9/11, see Alan Philips, "Ill chosen Word [Crusade] Fuels Claims of Intent to Wage War on Islam," Daily Telegraph (London) (September 18, 2001); Eric Black, "Christian Crusades are Bitter Chapters in History of Islam," Star Tribune (Minneapolis) (October 21, 2001); Jonathon Phillips, "Why a Crusade Will Lead to a Jihad," Independent (London) (September 18, 2001).
The PBS video "Islam: Empire of Faith" (2001)
History Channel/A & E's "Inside Islam" (summer 2002)
MSNBC, PBS [Public Broadcast Service] video "Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet" (Dec. 18, 2002),
Ansary, Mir Tamim. Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World through Islamic Eyes. New York: PublicAffairs, 2009. Print.
Cobb, Paul. "Introduction." Ibn Munqidh, Usama. Book of Contemplation Islam and the Crusades. New York: Penguin Books, 2008. xv-xlii.
However, this was different compared to Constantine who converted to Christianity and evangelized people to convert to Christianity as well. Constantine ruled as emperor from 306-337 A.D. and was the first Christian emperor of the time and credited
Print. Doak, Robin. Empire of the Islamic World. Rev. ed.
The rise of Christianity in Rome did not come easily. It came with much destruction and death. The spark of Christianity in Rome came from an appearance of Martyrs in Rome. Martyrs were people that were executed for going against the common beliefs of pagan (polytheistic) ways. (Tignor, 2011, p. 286) Because of these awful executions, Christianity is said to be based off of “the blood of martyrs.” One of their main ways of spreading Christianity was through the sharing of their writings and by 300 CE there was an exceptional amount of book production throughout Rome. (Tignor, 2011, p. 289) “Christianity operated as one among many minority religions in the Roman Empire, and on several occasions experienced widespread persecution, especially under the emperors Nero (r. 54–68), Decius (r. 249–251), and Diocletian (r. 284–305). However, the situation changed radically under the emperor Constantine (r. 306–337), who in 313 issued the Edict of Milan that made Christianity a legitimate religion in the empire.” (Melton, 2010, p. 634)
... and Jihad According to Islam." HWeb. HWeb, 13 June 2006. Web. 05 Nov. 2013. .
Gaius Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus, or Constantine, is commonly referred to as the fist Christian emperor of the Roman Empire and as the defender of Christianity. Such grand titles are not necessarily due for the reasons that people commonly think of them today.
As the greatest empire in the western world began to crumble one city at a time, the leader of the Roman Empire, Constantine, under pressure from external and internal sources moved the capital of Rome to Constantinople around 330 AD. The movement of the capital was after his conversion to Christianity in 312 AD, a growing religion throughout the empire despite being officially illegal. Constantine was not the devote saint that the church may speak of today, “from 312-320 Constantine was tolerant of paganism, keeping pagan gods on coins and retaining his pagan high priest title "Pontifex Maximus" in order to maintain popularity with his subjects, possibly indicating that he never understood the theology of Christianity” (Ferguson & Grupp, 1998). The first Christian Emperor claimed to have converted after a victorious battle with his brother and there are many that corroborate this story it appears highly suspicious to only promote Christian ideals and worship. Constantine was not even the Emperor that made Christianity the religion of the Roman people, but simply permitted religiou...
Christianity developed with Jesus of Nazareth (6 BCE- 29 CE). He was born during the reign of Augustus Caesar. He practiced Christianity from 26 CE to 29 CE. He was the Son of God and the Redeemer of all Mankind. The Romans viewed him as someone “rocking the boat” with what was already a nation of the religiously obsessed. Eventually h...
Lafraie, Najibullah (2009). Revolutionary Ideology and Islamic Militancy : The Iranian Revolution and Interpretations of the Quran. Tauris Academic Studies. Retrieved March 23, 2012, from Ebook Library.
"The Crusades (Overview)." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras. ABC-CLIO, 2011. Web. 12 Oct. 2011.
His refusal to change his mind on the subhect is what eventually led Emperor Leo to force him out of office. His replacement, of course, was an Iconoclast named Anastasius. Seeking help, Germanus made an appeal to the West, which was accepted by Pope Gregory II. Even after Pope Gregory II’s death, his successor Pope Gregory III continued to support Germanus. As a Way to punish the West for their support, Emperor Leo took away land that was under the control of the Pope, which made tensions between the East and the West stronger. John of Damascus, came to the defense of idols, and was responsible for writing three treaties in its defense. He claimed that since God became visible in the incarnation, that it was no longer idolatry because they were not representing the invisible God. He also claimed that the feelings of unworthiness towards idols and images would eventually spread to the matter of Christ. Eventually Constantine’s mother Irene with the help of Pope Hadrian, won over the member of the Council and they ruled that icons have a legitimate role in worship, but this victory was short lived because Emperor Leo II
Khashan, Hilal. “The New World Order and the Tempo of Militant Islam.” British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. Volume 24, Issue 1 (1997. 5), 5-24.
As the Imperial system gained hold, it was common practice for the Emperors to accept divine honors before their deaths. These living gods, in some cases, required sacrificial rituals as signs of loyalty and ingrained themselves with the older more traditional pagan gods. The requirement of a sacrifice to the emperor, as well as the forced belief in the complete pantheon became a significant source of conflict with early Christians. As Christians refused to worship the emperor as a god, persecution of the Christians and conflict with the cult was a constant source of strife. Emperor worship would continue until late in the western Empire until the reign of Constantine. In the early 4th century AD, Constantine either converted to Christianity or made it an acceptable part of Roman religion, eliminating the emperor deification altogether. Later Emperors such as Julian attempted to revive the old ways, but the deeply rooted Mithraism, and Christian cults combined were firmly set within Roman society. By 392 AD, Emperor Theodosius I banned the practice of pagan religions in Rome altogether and Christianity was, without question, the official religion of the state.
Throughout the early centuries of the church’s existence, the Roman government suppressed the spread of Christianity. Many emperors did their absolute best to try to stop the Christian populace from spreading with none succeeding (demonstrated by the fact that Christianity is still in existence today). It was not until 322 A.D. when Constantine united all of Europe under his throne that Christianity could be spread without threat of persecution. Under Constantine, Christianity, in terms of numerically, thrived. Councils were held, doctrine developed, and great strides were taken in order to have Christianity be one catholic church. However, in the next couple centuries, the church would grow apart and rulers would fall resulting in mass turmoil throughout the Western Empire. The Roman Catholic Church (as it would later be called) used these events to secure its grip over the entire western empire.