...History of Christianity Constantine: A Rulers effect on Christianity Since the beginning of time, the ancient Romans worshipped hundreds of gods and goddesses. Many of those deities came from foreign lands that the Romans had conquered. As different faiths sprang up across the ever-expanding empire, they were more or less tolerated. Such open attitude, however, was not the case for Judaism and Christianity. Both religions pointedly refused to honor Roman gods and to idolize Roman emperors. As a result, the Jews and Christians endured centuries of hardship. That was until Constantine took control of Rome introducing tolerance throughout the empire. Throughout this paper the research will show how Constantine’s conversion to Christianity shaped and has continue to shape how Christianity spread throughout the World. Christian Life Before Constantine Before we can dive into how Constantine shaped the Christian world we need to talk about the life of a Christian before Constantine was emperor. A Christian’s life was not fully marked with persecution, as it is commonly believed. While Diocletian was sole emperor Christians lived in relative peace with the Roman government. Eusebius who described the time with extraordinary terms “the glory and the liberty with which the doctrine of piety was honoured” documented this fact. It was not until Diocletian shared the throne with Galerius that the empire began persecuting Christians again. The two of them convened in Nicmedia in...
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...LIBERTY UNIVERSITY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY The Impact the Alleged Conversion of Constantine the Great had on Christianity Submitted to Dr. Gregory Tomlin, in partial fulfillment of the degree requirements for the completion of the course CHHI 520-D02 History of Christianity I By Jerome O. Holmes May 4, 2014 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1 CONSTANTINE BACKGROUND 2 CONSTANTINE’S CONVERSION 3 THE AUTHENTICITY OF CONSTANTINE’S CONVERSION 4 CONSTANTINE CONVERSION AND ITS IMPACT ON CHRISTIANITY 6 CONCLUSION 12 BIBLIOGRAPHY 13 INTRODUCTION In an effort to create a, “new Rome,” out of the declining Roman Empire, Constantine the Great implemented many changes that included, but not limited to, openly embracing and supporting the Christians who had been persecuted under Roman emperors for three centuries. Edward A. Johnson, in his article, Constantine the Great: Imperial Benefactor of the Early Church stated that Constantine was an important figure in Roman history because, “…he ended the imperial persecution of the Church and unified the declining Roman Empire. Not much is known about Constantine personally. Much of what has been written regarding the emperor was writing by the historian Eusebius of Caesaria; and he presented Constantine in the best possible light. Constantine, as stated, is best known for his support of Christianity by the decisions he made and the edicts he passed. However, many scholars...
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...The emperor Constantine was one most important emperor of Rome. The many great events laid foundations that would affect the future of Europe and Western Civilization for centuries to come. His recognition and support of Christianity was one of the most important moments in world history. Moving the government of the Roman Empire to Constantinople and founding New Rome was one of the most significant decisions made by a Roman ruler. This is just one indication of his importance in history and the honor in which he was held by his people. Constantine was born in Naissus, a town in Serbia, on February 27 probably sometime in the 270’s CE. His mother was named Helena who would later become a Christian. Because of her good works, she was made a Christian saint after her death. Constantine’s father was a career military officer named Constantius. Constantine was married at least twice and had four sons Crispus, Constantine II, Constantius, Constans. Constantius, his father, was in charge of the Roman Province of Britannia. When Constantius died Constantine, was immediately proclaimed emperor by the army. However, it took many years of political struggle and actual civil war before he could consolidate his power. Constantine finally became the ruler of the Roman Empire in 323 CE. Constantine’s major accomplishments, the most important were his recognition of the Christianity. In 313 CE, Constantine issued the Edict of Milan which allowed full freedom for Christians to practice...
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...he was met with his 'beginning'. On this road God intervened in Paul's life and with a bright light, being knocked off his horse and blind for three days. This is Paul's testimony of his conversion to trusting in Jesus Christ. Every believer has one even the great Emperor of Rome Constantine. Constantine's conversion is an interesting one and it came about in an unexpected circumstance. Constantine, also known as "Constantine the Great", was born after February 27, 280 and died May 22, 337. His father was an army officer...
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...Constantine was the emperor of Rome and spread christianity through Rome, which was pretty amazing at the time. He also had to fight lots of people of high power to become emperor! Well anyway in this paper I’ll be telling you about Constantine, how he got to power, and his achievements. Constantine was a Roman Emperor who took over by tyranny and monarchy, and was born somewhere between 272-285 AD. Constantine was sent to rule the eastern part of Rome, and he learned under Latin and Greek . While this went on, Constantine’s father ruled Rome under Maximian, yet when Maximian resigned from ruling Rome, Constantine's Father took over. Constantine and his father then went to fight in Britain, yet 1 year later Constantine's father passed away....
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...Movie Critique of Constantine HUM/150 Movie Critique of Constantine Constantine is a horror movie that rest on supernatural concepts. The film is about a chain smoking psychic, John Constantine, who exorcises demons and has a disdain for life. He teams up with another psychic, Angela, who has lost her twin sister, Isabel, to suicide. Together they find out her motives of suicide tie into a large sinister plot to get Satan’s son to rule the earth. They decide to try and thwart these plans but end up getting mixed up in them, particularly Angela. Constantine makes an effort to save her, and temporarily succeeds, but faces an unlikely foe (the archangel Gabriel) and his plans are derailed. Finally, he attempts to sacrifice his life for Angela and the world and, because of this, is redeemed. This movie is chock full of scary and creepy looking demons and cold half demons (“half breeds”). It is a horror movie in every sense, but is also a supernatural film. The editing in this film was appropriate to the story that was being told. The types of editing techniques used were specific to the horror genre. There are a few examples that show what type of editing was used. Match cuts, eye-line match cut, and fast cutting are just a few editing techniques that were used in this film. They contribute to the overall feeling of the film. For example, eye-line match cut was used a few times which increase the suspense of the movie. Eye line match cut was used at the beginning...
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...on the folds of the dress she is wearing. (Athena Nike Parapet Frieze, 2012) It depicts the God Nike which means victory, adjusting her sandal. (Athena Nike Parapet Frieze, 2012) This piece romanticizes the female form and gives a beautiful and very expressive example of the talent it took to create this piece. (Athena Nike Parapet Frieze, 2012) This piece looks as if she could come alive and the form of her legs and torso under the drapery of the dress Nike is wearing, it’s as if one can see through the dress. (Athena Nike Parapet Frieze, 2012) This piece was created in a time of war and Athenians suffered several losses. (Athena Nike Parapet Frieze, 2012) Before this time sculpture was more realistic and depicted what is seen in real life but this is more formal and leans to what is more pleasing the eye. (Athena Nike Parapet Frieze, 2012) Suffering losses in war may be the reason behind this change in the way sculptor was created, with being surrounded with suffering and hardship looking at pleasing, above average depictions of their gods may have giver the people visiting this temple hope in something better. (Athena Nike Parapet Frieze, 2012) Nike adjusting her sandal is located at the Acropolis Museum, in Athens, Greece. (Athena Nike Adjusting Her Sandal, 2005-2012) Hellenistic Greece (Jockey of Artemision, Marsyas, 2006) The young jockey of Artemision and his horse located in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens 150-146 BC. This piece was...
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...Constantine’s Importance in the Reign of the Church Emperor Constantine was the ruler of the Roman Emperor from 306 to 337. The reign of Constantine left a lasting impact on Christianity. Constantine began the process of making Christianity the religious foundation of Europe. (James Carroll, 2001, pg. 58-67), also known as Constantine the Great, was credited with converting the Roman Empire to Christianity. He was also the first Roman Empire to adopt Christianity. During the time of his rule Constantine was able to end the persecution of Christians and eventually converted to Christianity. “Constantine signed the Edict of Milan, which ensured religious tolerance for Christians. This edict returned all confiscated property back to the Christians; it also gave them the right to create dedicated churches.” (Herbermann) Another perk of The Edict of Milan was that it granted the freedom for all to worship whichever deity they pleased, as well as ending the Age of the Martyrs, which was when Christians were subject to empire-wide persecution. Constantine saw it as his duty to ensure that God was properly worshipped during his empire. After he brought a stop to the persecution of Christians in the empire, he was instrumental in their integration into both Roman society and government (Freeman, 2002, pg. 152). The Edict of Milan was not solely a victory for the Christians, but for Constantine as well. After Rome was unified Constantine rebuilt his seat of power, and renamed the town Constantinople...
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...Empire. Several reasons are issued for the fall. These reasons are issued to be sequacious and interwoven. For example, one of the most influential modern historians, Edward Gibbon wrote “The Decline and fall of the Roman Empire” in 1776, where he stated that the initiation of Christianity was one of the reasons for the decline. The transition of religions in the Roman Empire, from a polytheistic religion to a monotheistic religion, leads to instability within the Empire. (Gibbon, 1782) How Christianity was a factor in the decline of the Western Roman Empire will be discussed more extensively in this paper. In the beginning, Christianity was not more than an insignificant sect of Judaism and began its spread from Roman Judaea during the life of Jesus, but in only four centuries Christianity had become the state religion of the Roman Empire. The rise of Christianity is a much more inexorable story than portrayed by contemporary Christians. In the first few centuries, Christians were dreadfully targeted by the Roman Empires. For example Emperor Nero who, in 64 AD,...
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...are based on the life, teachings and death of Jesus Christ in the first AD century. The largest Christian groups include the Protestant churches, Eastern Orthodox, and Roman Catholic churches. There are numerous independent churches of Christians in the Eastern region such as Eastern Orthodoxy. Over the years, Christianity gained fame in Roman Empire after the introduction of Christian Roman emperors such as Constantine. The aim of this essay is to provide a description of the rise of Christianity during the Roman Empire. In the early centuries, the followers of Jesus spread Christianity throughout the Roman Empire. It is believed that Paul constructed a church in Rome. The majority of the first Christian groups were from the east, in Egypt, there was Alexandria as well as Jerusalem and Antioch. Due to Christianity teachings of the theology of love, caring for the orphans, widows, and sick, and stance against infanticide, abortion, and adultery it gained believers among...
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...Christianity is the world’s largest religion with 2.18 billion people as of 2010 (Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life). The rise of Christianity went through many struggles, including persecution because they were portrayed as traitors. Emperor Constantine grew up a Christian and helped spread Christianity throughout the Roman Empire through the creation of churches and he allowed Christianity within his empire. Jesus was born around 3 BCE in Palestine. Jesus grew up in a Jewish family and became a public speaker as he grew older. He traveled from place to place where he taught and prayed, spreading the beliefs of Christianity along with a group of his followers. He was arrested at around age 33 and was sentenced to death. The Roman officials said that he should be put to death for blasphemy because...
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...Truth and Fiction in The Da Vinci Code -Bible did not arrive from heaven: or not divinely inspired, God-breathed; product of man -Man created it as a historical record and has evolved through countless translations, additions, and revisions. History has never had a definite version of the book -Jesus Christ was a historical figure of staggering influence -Over 80 gospels were considered for NT, but Constantine the Great chose the 4 of Matt, Mark, Luke, John -Was Constantine a Christian? Hardly – He was a lifelong pagan who was baptized on his deathbed, too weak to protest -In Constantine’s day, Rome’s official religion was sun worship – the cult of Sol Invictus, or Invincible Sun – and Constantine was its head priest -After crucifixion of Jesus Christ, Christ’s followers had multiplied exponentially and Constantine changed religion to Christianity because he was a good businessman, because he could see that Christianity was on the rise and he simply backed the winning one -Historians still marvel at the brilliance with which Constantine converted the sun-worshipping pagans to Christianity -Fused pagan symbols, dates, and rituals into growing Christian tradition, he created a kind of hybrid religion that was acceptable to both parties -transmogrification the vestiges of pagan religion into Christian symbology are undeniable -Egyptian sun disks became the halos of Catholic saints; Pictograms of Isis nursing her miraculously conceived son Horus became the blueprint...
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...Constantine the Great Deathbed Memoir Constantine the Great: A Deathbed Memoir As I, Constantine the Great, lay on my deathbed, I would like to give an account of my life. On February 27th 280, I was born Flavius Valerius Constantinus in Naissus, Moesia (Nis, Serbia). My father was Flavius Valerius Constantius, an officer in the Roman army. My mother, Helma, a woman from humble beginnings, has been described as either my father’s wife or concubine. The nature of their relationship is an for which I am not clear. When I was 9, my father left my mother to marry Theodora, the stepdaughter of Maximian, the Western Roman emperor. This marriage presented an opportunity for my father to be positioned as deputy emperor under Maximian. I was offered the opportunity to be educated within the court of Diocletian, the Eastern Roman emperor. While in Eastern Rome, I would be educated in Latin and Greek and witness the persecution of Christians. This relationship with Theodora and my father’s influence would provided me the opportunity to embark on my own military career. In 305, after Maximian’s renunciation of the throne, my father became Emperor Constantius I. I, by now Constatine, joined my father on his military campaign then later fought alongside my father in Britain. One year later my father would die at Eboracum. As a result of his death, I was declared emperor by his troops (Constantine I, 2014) My rise to power was met with immediate opposition. My reign as emperor...
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...outwardly oppressed community of believers; this was heralded the age of the Emperor Constantine the Great, (312 to 337 A.D), who was both the inward life and outward strength of the Church. The Roman Catholics present him as laying the foundation for the Papacy, Protestants see him as the one responsible for leading the early Church away from the simplicity of the pure gospel and turning it into an institutional Church. Thus this short paper seeks to explore the life of Constantine and his contribution to the Christian church. Family and Birth of Constantine: Flavius Valerius Constantinus, known as Constantine the Great, was born on February 27, c. 280, in Naissus, in the province of Moesia Superior (Serbia). Constantine's mother was named Helena, described as a barmaid, and his father was a military officer named Constantius. Constantius would become the Emperor Constantius I (Constantius Chlorus) and Constantine's mother would become famous as the canonized St. Helena. Helena is thought to have found a portion of the cross of Jesus.Constantine had for siblings, three half-sister and three half-brothers, the products of his father's marriage to a second woman of less shady background than Helena's. On October 28, 312, Emperor Constantine met Emperor Maxentius, his major rival to the imperial throne, in battle just outside the city of Rome at the Milvian Bridge. The day before the battle, Constantine appealed to the God of the Christians to give him victory over the pagan Maxentius...
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...her talking about this and that the father would come and visit her as a child every Saturday. Although she was his daughter and he loved her, he could not accept her as his own child.1 He could not marry her mother or take Constantine into his own home. Therefore, Constantine was forced...
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