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The Constantine Shift: Historical Friday

For us here in America, it is incredibly hard for us to empathize with the early Christians. We have never been rounded up and executed for our faith. We don't fear having to watch our children be burned alive just to make us renounce Christ. We are used to Christianity being socially acceptable.

Many Christians today in other parts of the world still live in fear of persecution. Their situation mirrors the earlier Christians much better than ours does. So why is Christianity hated in some places and tolerated in others? Why do we in America have it so easy? The answer goes back to a man named Constantine.

The Constantine Shift

Before Constantine became Emperor of Rome in AD 306, Christians lived in constant fear of persecution. Christianity was illegal in the Roman Empire. Emperors had tried repeatedly to destroy this new religion. In spite of it all, Christianity was spreading. 

To be a Christian was to be an outcast. You were seen as being unpatriotic for not worshiping the pagan gods of Rome. Rumors about Christians spread like wildfire. They were accused of cannibalism, incest, and atheism. When a new emperor took the throne, Christians never knew if that man would hunt them down or leave them alone.

The emperors before Constantine had initiated a massive attempt to purge Christianity from the empire. This period from about 282 to 313 was a dangerous time to be a Christian. At first it started small, with Christians being kicked out of the military and other public offices. But in 303 the emperors made persecution law. 

They issued 4 edicts that were aimed at wiping out Christians. The first edict ordered all church building destroyed and all copies of the Bible burned. The second edict had all of the ministers, elders, bishops, and deacons arrested. The third edict allowed those arrested clergymen to be released, if they made a sacrifice to the gods and denounced Christ. The fourth edict ordered everyone in the empire, down to the last child, to come before a judge and sacrifice to the gods and denounce Jesus. If anyone refused they were to be executed immediately.

This was the culture Christians lived in right before Constantine. Now when Constantine took over he immediately repealed these edicts and made Christianity legal. In fact it seemed to many that Constantine himself was a Christian.

When Constantine assumed the throne Christianity went from a hated religion to the favored religion of the empire almost overnight. Instead of being hunted, Christians were being emulated. Christian clergy were suddenly tax exempt and even got to use public transportation for free. Constantine provided funding for church buildings.

From then on in the West Christianity has been the favored religion. Governments for a long time submitted themselves to the authority of the Catholic Church. Even when many broke away from Catholicism, they still maintained strong ties to Christianity. Constantine changed everything.

Conclusion

It is only in very recent times that Christianity has seen a decline of influence from the public life. In fact certain politicians sell themselves as people who will make Christianity the favored religion again. In fact Christianity is often seen simply as a political force in our country.

Constantine made Christianity the norm. Today we are witnessing a decline of Christianity in the West. Many see this as a tragedy. The thing is it may not be too much longer that we can actually understand what the early Christians went through. 

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