CONSTANTINE THE GREAT (280 A.D. 337 A.D.)
CONSTANTINE The first Roman emperor to profess Christianity. He not only initiated the evolution of the empire into a Christian state but also provided the impulse for a distinctively Christian culture that prepared the way for the growth of Byzantine and Western medieval culture.
CONSTANTINE CONT. Constantine's rise to power was through many civil wars with other leaders of Rome. One such leader was the tyrant Maxentius. After this victory, Constantine was granted power from the people of Rome, although he still had a few other power players within Rome who wished to thwart his rise to power.
BATTLE OF THE MILVIAN BRIDGE Constantine led his men in the Battle of the Milvian Bridge near the outskirts of Rome. He fought this battle in the name of the Christian God after receiving a vision from God and he saw a Cross of Light and is told In this sign, you will conquer.
BATTLE OF THE MILVIAN BRIDGE Another account states that in the vision, God told Constantine to paint the Christian monogram (Chi Rho) on his men s shields before the battle.
CONSTANTINE S RELIGIOUS CONVERSION Many historians believe that Constantine s religious conversion was purely politically motivated. This is somewhat undermined by Constantine s continued devotion to the Christian religion throughout the remainder of his life.
CONSTANTINE S DEVOTION Shortly after Constantine s final victory, he issued the Edict of Milan (313 A.D) This Edict granted all persons freedom to worship whatever deity they pleased, assured Christians of legal rights (including the right to organize churches), and directed the prompt return to Christians of confiscated property. NOTE: This did not make Christianity the Official Religion of Rome.
BYZANTIUM (330 A.D.) Near the end of his live, Constantine renamed Byzantium as Constantinople, and immediately upon his return from the West he began to rebuild the city on a greatly enlarged pattern as his permanent capital and the second Rome. The dedication of Constantinople (May 330) confirmed the divorce, which had been in the making for more than a century, between the emperors and Rome. Rome had long been unsuited to the strategic needs of the empire. It was now to be left in splendid isolation, as an enormously wealthy and prestigious city still the emotional focus of the empire but of limited political importance.
THE GREEK EAST The eastern part of the Roman empire was absorbed in the Greek tradition much more thoroughly than the west. A free flow of ideas had always been a feature of Greek Philosophy, and the Christian churches in the eastern Mediterranean had been absorbed in this tradition. The Patriarchs of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem were especially influential and competitive. Many doctrinal differences arose between the pope in Rome and these eastern patriarchs over such issues as the nature of the Trinity and worship religious icons (representation of saints and other religious artifacts.)
THE GREEK EAST Also, the major question, whether the Papal authority held primacy for Byzantine Christians. Eventually these matters split the Christian Church in 1054, with the establishment of the Eastern Orthodox Christianity and Roman Catholic Christianity. The churches still remain split, though Pope John Paul II renewed the call for unity in the 21st Century.
THE GREEK EAST Byzantine Emperors had a long tradition of involvement with religious affairs. In fact, the term Caesaro-papism describes this melding of political power and religious authority in the person of the Emperor. (this will hold great importance as we move forward) We need to look at the dangerousness of heresy in the late third century which threatened the unity of the Christian church. Heresy: belief or opinion contrary to orthodox religious
CONSTANTINE S RELIGIOUS INVOLVEMENT Council of Nicaea was called together in 325 A.D. in an attempt to create some Christian orthodoxy. The construction of the great Church of St. Peter. Ending the Roman tradition of Crucifixion.
ST. PETER S BASILICA
THE ARIAN HERESY Arius was an Egyptian priest who argued that Jesus was the son of God and since sons always existed after their fathers, then Jesus could not be both son of God and God at the same time. Jesus was a created being and therefore not eternal, nor made of the same substance (homousion) as the father. Arius believed that Jesus was made of similar substance (homoiousion), but was primarily Human.
THE ARIAN HERESY Constantine himself called the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. to settle the dispute, and therein was formed the Nicene Creed, which settled the matter and provided a precedent for secular influence within the Eastern Churches.
THE NICENE CREED (325 A.D.) We believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten of the Father, that is, of the substance [ek tes ousias] of the Father, God of God, light of light, true God of true God, begotten not made, of the same substance with the Father [homoousion to patri], through whom all things were made both in heaven and on earth; who for us men and our salvation descended, was incarnate, and was made man, suffered and rose again the third day, ascended into heaven and cometh to judge the living and the dead.
THE NICENE CREED (325 A.D.) And in the Holy Ghost. Those who say: There was a time when He was not, and He was not before He was begotten; and that He was made out of nothing (ex ouk onton); or who maintain that He is of another hypostasis or another substance [than the Father], or that the Son of God is created, or mutable, or subject to change, [them] the Catholic Church anathematizes. The First Council of Nicaea Catholic Encyclopedia
WESTERN ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE EAST The Western or Roman Catholic Church had a very low view of the Eastern Greek Church. This lack of trust furthered the rift between Churches and to the further loss of power and influence in the west.
THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE The Eastern Roman City
REFERENCES Matthews, J.F., Nicol, Donald MacGillivray Constantine the Great, Flavius Valerius Constantinus. Encyclopedia Britannica, August 23, 2016. https://www.britannica.com/biography/constantine-i-roman-emperor