Constantine was a Roman emperor who ruled during the third century. He was most famous for legalizing Christianity in the Roman Empire and is often viewed as the savior of the modern church. Before the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, Constantine saw God in a dream telling him to fight under the sign of the cross and he would be victorious. By converting to Christianity and ending the persecution of Christians, Constantine allowed Christians to thrive. Constantine took this stand because he had almost completely converted after his vision before the Milvian Bridge and he wanted to support the church as much as possible. This stand is important because it allowed Christianity to thrive and grow and Constantine was the first major figure in …show more content…
Also by doing so he created the Byzantine Empire which was a Christian empire and stood well into the 14th century. If Constantine had never legalized Christianity in the Roman Empire than it would not have flourished like it does today.
Constantine took a stand by converting to Christianity and ending the persecution of Christians. Upon his deathbed in Nicomedia Constantine was baptized a Christian by Eusebius of Nicomedia, as it was the custom to be baptized before death (Potter 291). Constantine had always wished to be baptized in the Jordan like Jesus but died before he could. During his reign, he expanded the rights Christians had such as the right to judgment by an episcopal court and that Bishops have the power to act as judge and what decision they make is final (Stephenson 174). Constantine adopted the Chi-rho a Greek version of the cross and a pagan symbol as his official symbol. It appeared on statues, mosaics, and even coins. The Chi-rho being both a cross and a
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Constantine was a huge benefactor when it came to the Church. He ordered the construction of many Churches in Rome including St. Paul’s outside the walls and the Basilica of St. Peter in 318 A.D.(Morgan 61-62). Both Churches are built on the spots where both Saints are buried. Constantine wanted to help the church grow and spread throughout the empire. In order to make this easier, he gave tax breaks to priests and made all church land tax free(Morgan 55). He also gave allowances to nuns, monks and others who devoted time to the Church. Even though he never made Christianity the official religion of the empire his conversion was the reason for a massive growth in the Christian population in the 4th century. Even though many people think it was a conversion based on spiritual reasons, it was actually a more political move seeing as many of his soldiers were already Christians and he wanted to be seen as more relatable(Stephenson 14). Also, Constantine wanted to appeal to the large and growing Christian communities within the empire. He feared the Christians would rebel against him if he did not act in their favor. Also, many of his soldiers were converting to Christianity and he did not want a military takeover to take place if he did not act in favor of the Christians. He came to realize through his working with the Church, that there was truth to Christianity and
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
Early Christianity was greatly influenced by the emperors of the Roman Empire both positively and negatively. Emperors like Nero and Diocletian attempted to restrict Christianity, but it continued to grow politically and religiously in part due to emperors like Constantine and Theodosius. Although Nero failed to bring an end to Christianity, his persecution was quite brutal and marked the beginning of Christian oppression in Rome. The last example of Christian persecution occurred during Diocletian’s reign and was the most brutal, yet it still failed to eliminate the faith. When Constantine came to power, he ended Christian oppression and contributed to the spread of Christianity. Theodosius combined the church and state, enforcing strict orthodox beliefs on Romans, which mandated Christianity’s growth.
Constantine’s departure from Rome took with him the political seat of power. With the removal of the political head a power vacuum was created. The body that remained in Rome was that of the Christian church, feeble though it may have been. Rome’s identity was so deeply rooted in the pagan tradition that despite his best efforts Constantine was unable to convert it entirely. The former capital was still home to a powerful group of aristocrats which held on firmly to the roots of paganism. Gradually, with the support of the imperial court and the city’s urban masses, the church was able to gain a foothold in the fifth century (Krautheimer 33).
Historians still question why Emperor Constantine decided to get baptized on his deathbed, converting him to a Christian just minutes before his passing- but his decision changed the fate of Christianity forever. In the Roman Empire, the only option was the belief in the Greek-Roman Gods, such as Apollo. Those who believed in Christianity were victimized for their beliefs, often killed, and were considered martyrs. However, after Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity, it inspired more people to believe in Jesus Christ. Christianity became the foundation for Byzantine culture, and established order and control in the empire until its collapse in the 15th century.
With the fall of Rome, the world saw the rise of Christianity, specifically the Roman Catholic Church, which was created when a Roman Emperor named Constantine adopted Christianity as his own personal and the Roman Empire's official religion. From that time through the middle ages, Christianity grew in power and influence, the church enjoying a cozy relationship with the state. By the early fifth century, a mere one hundred years after Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, the church and state's power structure were deeply intertwined.
...accepted Roman religion. Constantine was converted to Christianity by his mother, but did not call himself a Christian until he was in his forties. He did not get baptized until shortly before he died. If it was not for Constantine, it is hard telling where Christianity would be at today. He affected all of the people talked about in this paper, plus a lot of others.
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.
Mullin, Robert. A Short World History of Christianity. Louisiville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2008. http://books.google.com/books?id=2nWP0_6gkiYC&pg=PA54&dq=constantine's conversion to christianity&hl=en&sa=X&ei=gNgCU8_BFqXC0gHZ6oD4DQ&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAg
Founder of Constantinople, Constantine claimed the great Byzantine Empire and in turn inherited the new Holy Roman Empire. With the Edict of Milan in 313, Constantine proclaimed religious tolerance of Christians throughout the empire and soon the religion spread. Constantine then transformed the city of Byzantium into the new capital of the Roman Empire, which then was known and proclaimed as Constantinople. The new capital would profit from its location being closer to the east frontier, having then the advantage of better trading, and a militarily sound location being protected on three sides by water.
At one time a common religion was a huge factor that kept Romans united. Once the right of free worship was denied Rome became an empire of raging anger. Christianity a new religion appealed to the majority of the people of the Roman Empire. The message especially appealed to the poor and the slaves; it was also something new to put their faith in. Christianity was spread like wild fire. The Roman emperors felt that Christianity was so influential that it could be a possible threat. Around 100 AD. the first persecutions of the Christians occurred. Many of the Romans had already committed to the faith of Christianity and they refused to abandon it because it was the most important part of their life. This led to many social problems as well as a decline in the patriotism that had once lived in the hearts of all Romans. The People objected to Roman politics and became independent of the government. By the time that Constantine legalized Christianity it was much too late and the Empire was too deep in disunity to recover. The decision to outlaw Christianity was a terrible decision and caused the once united empire to crumble.
Constantine went far beyond the Edict of Milan, which extended indulgence of Christians during the persecution. By 313 A.D., Constantine had donated the property of Lateran, where a new cathedral, the Basilica Constantiniana was soon built, to the bishop of Rome. Constantine had an arch erected in his honour at Rome after the defeat of Maxentius ascribed the victory to the “inspiration of the Divinity”. After his victory over Licinius in 324, Constantine wrote that he had come from the farthest shores of Britain as God’s chosen instrument for the suppression of impiety. Later, in a letter he proclaimed that he had come to bring peace and prosperity to all lands, with the help of God. He gave vast amounts of money from his own personal treasury to the churches of God, to help enlarge the sacred buildings and to decorate the sanctuaries. Throughout his life, Constantine ascribed his success to his conversion to Christianity and the support of the Christian
Constantine lived from 280-337 CE, and in 312 CE moved his army in on Rome and began his powerful uprising in the Mediterranean. Constantine looked to God in all his battles and it was said that he once saw an emblem and was told to put the symbol on his shield i...
...cil of the Church, establishing a creed in which we still use today. Constantine formed a union between the Church and state successfully consolidating the Roman Empire and protecting the welfare of all the people in the empire.
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...
Constantine’s conversion made him more tolerant of Christianity in Rome, allowing the Church to spread to other parts of his empire and to preach in public society. Constantine is praised as the emperor who made Christianity no longer anti-Roman. Had Constantine not converted and reformed Rome, the Church would have never been able to gain as much of a foothold in Rome and the West. His conversion ended the widespread persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire and greatly increased Christian power and influence in Rome. Additionally, his conversion contributed Roman law to the Catholic Heritage of the West, forming a basis of Western thought on law and justice. The time frame significant to Constantine and the Church stretches back to as early as Nero’s persecution in AD 64 all the way to after the death of Constantine in ca. AD 400, when paganism in Rome finally fell.