Secularization of the Church Through Constantine

Samantha Rough Rome – Spring 2013 Susan Pitchford Essay 1 Christianity: Started From the Bottom, Now We’re Here “It is a bitter thought, how different a thing the Christianity of the world might have been, if the Christian faith had been adopted as the religion of the empire under the auspices of Marcus Aurelius instead of those of Constantine. ” John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, 1859People of the Christian religion went through numerous trials, such as mass persecutions, being executed and imprisoned, edicts banning Christian practices such as freedom to worship and their churches being destroyed, until Constantine and the Edict of Milan, “an agreement to treat Christians benevolently” (Cross and Livingstone, 1974), helped Christendom move from something criminalized to one of the world’s largest religions. After the Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312, where Constantine had his vision that later led to his conversion, Christians would start to see positive dramatic change under Constantine in the seat of emperor.From the year 313, when Christianity became legalized under Constantine’s rule, to the year 380, when Christianity became the official state religion (Cross and Livingstone, 1974), Christians were no longer persecuted which meant that they were now allowed to freely worship and publically express their beliefs.

Large, ornate churches were built which enabled Christians to come together for worship but at the same time changed the nature of worship from something personal and intimate to something very public.Christians were now being furthered socially by the church, being given different political and administrative jobs with better benefits, eventually leading to the line between church and state constantly diminishing over time. These changes were, in large part, responsible for the survival of Christianity throughout the 4th century. After Constantine’s conversion, members of the church no longer had to hide their faith or live in fear of being killed or imprisoned for what they believed in.Christians no longer had to hide the bodies of their dead loved ones underground in catacombs on the outskirts of Rome to avoid torture; instead they could now receive a proper burial above ground. Christians were now safe from persecution, which then opened up positions for work in the government and military, giving them a chance to work for their money and up their status in society (Meyendorff, 1989) This helped the Christian movement soar, going from an subterranean and even criminally prosecuted religion to one of continuously heightening power within the Roman society.

The legalization caused enough conversion that Christianity became the dominant religion, and the compensation was no longer as severe (Stark 1997). That is to say, since all of these things were now possible under Constantine’s ruling, Christians no longer had to worry about being killed in spite of their faith and more people were more likely to convert to the Christian religion knowing that they could provide for themselves and their families.However, now that the main focus of persecution was taken off of Christians, the fear that Christians felt before the legalization was now being imposing on those who had imposed that fear just years before. Pagans were now the ones that were killed for their practices, their temples burned to the ground and laws were established to get rid of the Pagan ways of life just as the Christian tradition was before they came into power. (McLachlan 2010) When Constantine became emperor, social reforms had to be made.Mass quantities of people flocked to the Christian religion, among them were members of the aristocracy and people of higher social status, which eventually helped Christianity grow as a strong political entity (Gonzalez 1996).

He supported the Church financially by exempting the clergy from certain taxes, which encouraged more people to want to join the Christian movement in order to further them socially (Drake, 2000). Emperors now thought themselves in charge of the spiritual health of the people they were to rule over, they were to ensure that God was worshipped in the “right way” nd the right way was to be determined by the church. Bishops were given political and administrative responsibilities in society and judges were now advisors to the emperor (Drake, 2000). Government was now looked at by Christians as a group of mortals ordered by God to further the welfare of all people. Therefore, Christians were to pray for their leaders and follow the laws that were put into place. As Paul says in Romans 13:1-2, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities.

For there is no authority except by God’s appointment and God has instituted the authorities that exist.So the person who resists such authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will incur judgment. ” However, as bishops were given more administrative and political power, they also incurred more wealth, which eventually led to them leading more glamorous lives than those whom they were supposed to be walking along side with as brothers. And as members of the aristocracy took up the Christian faith, providing the church will both a devote Christian but also a political influence, the line between church and state started to dissolve.

Constantine ordered to have basilicas built, and promoted a state-supported church-building campaign, enabling Christians to move from small house churches to bigger places where large amounts of people could come together and freely express their beliefs. “In the early phases of development, much of the member’s sense of commitment comes from the sense of belonging and the feeling of community” (Roberts, 2004). These large churches provided a space where community could come together to freely worship and at the same time build a supportive commonality around them.However what was lost as church membership grew and the focus shifted to the building of massive ornate churches for all the new converts to worship in, was the loss of the original mission of Christianity, which emphasized the personal relationship with God. Pre-Constantine, before these huge churches were built, there were house churches where Christians were forced to hide out in order to freely express their beliefs.

The small, intimate environment of house churches helped people feel a great connection to Christ and provided a safe climate to be able to focus on one’s personal faith.As with any religion, it is important to its members to stay true to their goal-seeking process to ultimately achieve their religious compensation (Stark, 1997). Constantine also played a crucial part in the Council of Nicaea, developing the Nicene Creed, the first Ecumenical Council and the Council of Constantinople which all supported the idea of Christianity as the true religion of Rome, trying to rule out all heresy and rule on a general consensus among Christendom.The Council of Nicaea debated the Trinitarian controversy with the question of whether God of one essence or of similar essence and thus “explicitly refutes Arianism” (Stark, pg.

178). Arianism was was a polytheistic religion instead of monotheistic and Arians were against the idea that God had only one essence, instead they thought that God the Father created the Son (Jesus Christ) as a creature, Son created everything else but was not fully God because there is only one God, they thought that if you were created, you cannot be completely God.The Nicene Creed “encapsulates the entire good news of the gospel into a short and rich summary” (Holcomb, 2011) by saying that Jesus was begotten, not made, from God, as a child is a part of you, not just made by you like you would make a table. The creed recognizes that although there are many debates between Christians, the certain ideals stated in the creed are constants that all Christians can come together and agree on.These councils and the Nicene Creed brought together all aspects of religion, therefore unifying the people within the religion as one. All considered, the church’s transition from a persecuted outlaw movement to the imperial church was not an easy one, there were numerous contributing factors that had to fall into place in order for church to rise above predispositions and eventually gain recognition as an official religion without repercussions.

The church gaining power and momentum through the political shift was a good thing in the sense that members of the Christian religion no longer had to worship privately in fear of imprisonment or death, but now Christians are struggling to find a balance between maintaining the foundation of their faith and Christianity growing not only as a religion, but as a strong political entity as well. So which is worth more according to the moral foundations of the Christian religion? A ontribution of money in order to maintain gigantic churches and their now wealthy leaders, or the willingness to sacrifice your life to be able to simply practice something that you so strongly believe in? Works Cited 1. ) The Holy Bible, King James Version. New York: American Bible Society: 1999; Bartleby. com, 2000 Web. 24 May 2013.

2. ) Meyendorff, John. “Church and Empire” Imperial Unity and Christian Divisions (Crestwood, NY, St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1989) pg. 7.

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The Triumph of Christianity: How the Jesus Movement Became the World's Largest Religion. New York: HarperOne, 2011. Print. 6. ) Drake, H. A.

Constantine and the Bishops: The Politics of Intolerance. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins UP, 2000. Print. 7. ) Cross and Livingstone.

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