1 / 18

The Influence of Constantine

The Influence of Constantine. Key source: F. W. Mattox, The Eternal Kingdom: A History of the Church of Christ , Delight, Arkansas: Gospel Light Publishing Company, 1961. Constantine. He was taken to the court of Diocletian “to be educated,” but as a hostage.

rasul
Download Presentation

The Influence of Constantine

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. The Influence of Constantine Key source: F. W. Mattox, The Eternal Kingdom: A History of the Church of Christ, Delight, Arkansas: Gospel Light Publishing Company, 1961

  2. Constantine • He was taken to the court of Diocletian “to be educated,” but as a hostage. • In 305, he fled to be with his father, Constantius. • His father offered a measure of protection to Christians. • His mother was a Christian.

  3. Constantine • When Diocletian and Maximian abdicated in 305, Constantius and Galerius became Augusti. • Galerius had ruthlessly persecuted Christians and died a miserable death. • With his dying breath, Galerius recognized defeat in his opposition to Christianity, and signed an edict of toleration.

  4. Constantine’s Rise to Power • In 306 Constantius died and his army proclaimed Constantine “Augustus.” • After a period of conflict, Constantine emerged sole Emperor in the West. • On the way to Rome, he is said to have seen the sign of the cross in the sky with the statement under it, “By this conquer.” • He overthrew Rome with 40,000 men up against an army of 170,000 men.

  5. Constantine the Great • He seems to have come under the conviction that the God of the Christians was the strongest supernatural force in the world. • He adopted a Christian monogram and inspired his soldiers with the belief that God would give them victory. • After winning this great victory, favor for the Christians was assured. • During Constantine’s early reign, he outwardly supported the Christian religion and used it for his purposes.

  6. Support of the Church • He gave assurance that there would be no more persecution and began to favor Christianity as though it were a state religion. • He first decreed that all church buildings should be returned and the state would reimburse those who had obtained possession of them. • He encouraged construction of additional elaborate buildings, allotting state money for this purpose. • He authorized money to be distributed to ministers.

  7. Support of the Church • He issued decrees that ministers were excused from all public offices, so they could fully serve in the church. • He took a hand in all internal affairs in order to preserve the unity of the church. • When he received word of a rising faction in the church, he ordered ten bishops on each side of the issue to come to Rome so the matter could be tried by a synod under his authority and supervision.

  8. Support of the Church • He issued an edict against soothsayers. • He decreed that all judges, city people, and craftsmen should rest on Sunday, with a provision that farmers could work if their crops required it. • This made it possible for Christians to give themselves to worship without affecting their occupations. • His favoritism of the church seems to have been more a matter of expediency than conviction.

  9. The Church Was Used As a Center of Unity to Preserve the Empire • His actions as emperor are not in harmony with Christian conduct. • In 326, he put his son to death on charges of treason brought by his wife, Fausta. • Soon after, he became displeased with Fausta and had her executed. • He kept his position as chief priest of the Pagan state religion. • He was influenced by his father’s protection of Christians and peace/prosperity that had been the result.

  10. Council of Nicaea • As long as the church had been under persecution the fine points of theology had not been a chief matter of concern. • After persecution ceased, problems, both great and small, crept in and the church needed to study scripture carefully to separate truth from opinion.

  11. Conflict Over the Nature of Christ • In 325, conflict arose over the nature of Christ. • Alexander, “the bishop” had preached a sermon on “Unity of the Trinity.” • Arius, one of the elders and a popular preacher, took issue with the sermon, saying Alexander did not make enough distinction between God the Father and Jesus, and this view made three Gods instead of one. • In order to defend his view, Arius believed Christ was above man but beneath God, a view that was immediately challenged.

  12. Synod at Alexandria • Alexander called a synod [at Alexandria] to debate the nature of Christ. • In the discussion, the nature of Christ and the length of His existence were debated. • Arius said that He was in existence long before the world began, but that He had not existed eternally as had the Father. • He also said Christ was of different essence than the Father. • Arius was accused of denying that Christ was divine, of false teaching, and driven out of Alexandria.

  13. The Council of Nicaea (325) • Constantine called a council of bishops (Nicaea), of which he was considered bishop of bishops and presided as chairman. • 318 bishops assembled – Constantine’s chief concern initially was not who was right, but that unity be restored. • In his keynote address Constantine, said the gospel, the Apostolic writings, and the ancient prophecies teach what we are to believe concerning the divine nature. • He called for contentions to be set aside, and for all to seek in the divinely inspired word the solution of all doubtful topics.

  14. The Council of Nicaea • The council drew up a creed. • Aruis was excommunicated. • After Constantine changed some of the wording of the creed it became the adopted creed, called “The Articles of Faith maintained by the Council.” • Another decision of the council was that Easter should be celebrated on the same day in all churches.

  15. Results of the Council of Nicaea • Constantine sent letters to the churches stating: • Widows and orphans – they should be cared for from the public treasury. • The change concerning Easter, He sent an open letter to all his subjects exhorting them to renounce their superstition and accept Christianity. • Bishops in every city were to build churches and furnish them with money. • In these letters he gave the council the position of speaking for God.

  16. Following the Council of Nicaea • Constantine called upon Eusebius to have made for him 50 copies of the Scripture “on fine parchment” to be placed in the churches in Constantinople. • He specified that the bishops in Jerusalem were to build elaborate buildings.

  17. Conclusion • Constantine’s active interest in behalf of the church led Christians to exalt him and rely on his decisions. • He soon took the affairs of the church into his own hands and became dictatorial. • Arian bishops gained the Emperor’s ear and eventually control in church matters, a most violent period from 325-381. • In 324 Constantine selected the city of Byzantium (later Constantinople) to be rebuilt as his capital, the center of government and the church.

  18. Conclusion • On Constantine’s death bed he received baptism and communion. • The church had given up her independence and relied on the state for its organization and authority. • Leaders did not seem to see the danger in these developments.

More Related