Story of Christianity: Volume 1: The Early Church to the Reformation (The Story of Christianity)

by Justo L. González

The only area where there seems to have been a slight respite was the territory under the rule of Constantius Chlorus, where persecution was limited to tearing down some church buildings—at least, this is what we are told by historian Eusebi...

He then decreed, first, that all the leaders of the churches be arrested and, somewhat later, that all Christians must offer sacrifice to the gods.

Thus was unleashed the most cruel of all the persecutions that the ancient church had to endure.

Accustomed as they were to the relative ease of several decades, many Christians succumbed.

In 304 Diocletian became ill and, although he survived, he felt weak and tired. Galerius went to him and, first with entreaties and finally with threats, induced him to abdicate.

In 305 both Diocletian and Maximian abdicated, while Galerius and Constantius Chlorus took the title of augustus.

The two caesars under them, Severus and Maximinus Daia, were Galerius’ inept creatures.

Maximinus sought to perfect the policies of Galerius by having Christians maimed and put to work in stone quarries.

The lists of martyrs grew longer and longer, and there seemed to be no end in sight.

Galerius became ill with a painful disease and, perhaps convinced by those Christians who said that this was a punishment from God, grudgingly decided to change his policy. On April 30, A.D. 311, he proclaimed:

In return for our tolerance, Christians will be required to pray to their god for us, for the public good, and for themselves, so that the state may enjoy prosperity and they may live in

Such was the edict that ended the most cruel persecution that the church had to suffer from the Roman Empire.

Galerius died five days later, and Christian historian Lactantius, who made it a point to show that those who persecuted Christians died horrible deaths, declared that his repentance came too late.

But a great political change was about to take place, which would put an end to persecution.

Suddenly, when least expected to do so, Constantine gathered his armies in Gaul, crossed the Alps and marched on Rome, Maxentius’ capital.

According to two Christian chroniclers who knew Constantine, on the eve of the battle he had a revelation.

One of our sources, Lactantius,

says that it was in a dream that Constantine received the command to place a Christian symbol on ...

The other chronicler, Eusebius, says that the vision appeared in the sky, with the words, “...

Since these are the first two letters of the name, “Christ,” this labarum could well have been a Christian symbol.

Although eventually Christians saw in this the great moment of Constantine’s conversion, historians point out that even after this event Constantine continued worshiping the Unconquered Sun.

In truth, Constantine’s conversion was a long process, to which we shall retu...

“Edict of Milan,”

although in truth Galerius’ edict was much more important, and even after the “Edict of Milan” Maximinus Daia continued his policy of persecution.

Whatever the case may he, there is no doubt that the conversion of Constantine had enormous consequences for Christianity, which was forced to face new questions.

What would happen when those who called themselves servants of a carpenter, and whose great heroes were fisherfolk, slaves, and criminals condemned to death by the state, suddenly saw themselves surrounded by imperial pomp and power? Would they remain firm in their faith?

Or would it be that those who had stood before tortures and before beasts would give way to the...

and of social p...

Although we have already indicated that eventually he became sole ruler of the Roman Empire,

SPOILER....lol

But what is of paramount importance for the story of Christianity is not so much how sincere Constantine was, or how he understood the Christian faith, as the impact of his conversion and his rule both during his lifetime and thereafter.

That impact was such that it has even been suggested that until the twentieth century the church has lived in its “Constantinian era,”

Constantine’s religious policies had such enormous effect on the course of Christianity that all of Part II may be seen as a series of reactions and adjustments in response to those policies.

This did not make him an ideal ruler. His love of luxury and pomp was such that he built a grandiose and ornate palace in his capital city—Trier—while neglecting public works to such an extent that the drainage system of the nearby fields failed, and the vineyards that were the backbone of the local economy were flooded. Yet, he seems to have had that rare gift of rulers who know just how far they can tax their subjects without losing their loyalty.

blood—the barbarian captives thus sacrificed were so many that a chronicler of the times affirms that the shows lost some of their interest because the beasts grew tired of killing.

His military preparations were such that in his campaign against Maxentius he committed only one-fourth of his resources, thus making sure that during his absence there would not be a major barbarian invasion, or a revolt in his own

territories.

he waited until Licinius was involved in a conflict with Maximinus Daia before launching his own invasion of Italy.

Thus, while Constantine gathered further resources, Licinius was forced to spend his in a war with Maximinus.

But Licinius moved rapidly, and Maximinus was still near Byzantium—later Constantinople, and now

Istanbul—when his enemy appeared before him with a smaller army and defeated him. Maximinus was forced to flee, and died shortly thereafter.

The Empire was then divided between Licinius, who ruled over the entire area east of Italy, including Egypt, and Constantine, who controlled Italy as...

Although Christian historians have usually laid all the blame for this conflict on Licinius, the truth is that Constantine wished to go to war with his brother-in-law, but was able to make his rival appear as the aggressor.

Since Licinius was on the European side of his territories, and Byzantium controlled communications with Asia, where the main body of his resources was, Licinius was effectively cut from those resources and had to sue for peace.

When Licinius used his imperial powers to assure peace, there were groups of Christians that considered themselves wronged, and who began thinking of Constantine as the defender of the true faith, and as “the emperor whom God loved.”

Licinius was not a Christian, but there are indications that he feared the power of the Christian God;

It was then that he took measures against some Christians, and this in turn gave Constantine to opportunity to present himself as the defender of Christianity against Licinius the persecutor.

After many years of planning and warring, Constantine was master of the entire Roman Empire.

Constantine had not sought absolute power for the mere pleasure of it. He also dreamed, like Decius and Diocletian before him, of restoring the ancient glory of the Empire.

The main difference was that, whereas Decius and Diocletian had sought that end through a restoration of paganism, Constantine believed that it could best be achieved on the basis of Christianity.

Constantine’s choice—for which he took no credit, claiming that he was following instructions from God—proved to be most wise, for the city that he founded would play a strategic role for centuries to come.