How the Role of Official toleration during the reign of Constantine helped spread the faith
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Abstract
This research paper examines how religious tolerance policy during the reign of Emperor Constantine helped spread the faith. It explains Emperor Constantine’s relationship with Christianity and Christian beliefs. I will also examine Eusebius, Lactantius, and Ossius, who shaped and influenced most of Constantine’s religious policies. Many scholars viewed Eusebius as a big influence on the emperor’s religious policies. In his Vita Constantini, Eusebius describes the emperor’s religious life, which shaped his policy on toleration.
Along with Ossius, Eusebius led Constantine into the Christian faith and enable him to establish the Christian religion as is currently constituted. Lactinius opened Christianity to pagans, allowing many of them to join the religion. This gesture indicated that the Christian religion had become open and more welcoming, spreading to most parts of the Empire. Eusebius, Ossius, and Lactinius guided Emperor Constantine to establish the official toleration policy, which reverberates in today’s world, helping spread the faith across most parts of the world. Questions about Eusebius’ reliability and the criticism of the Edict of Milan are also explored in this research. In the end, the research concludes that Emperor Constantine maintained policies of religious tolerance, which helped spread the faith.
Introduction
Emperor Constantine reigned during the late antiquity. He was the first Christian emperor and is credited for maintaining the significant idea of religious toleration. The issue of religious toleration emerged in the fourth century, at the height of the Roman persecution of Christians. Constantine grew and was a firm believer in the Christian faith. His belief was demonstrated when he turned to God to propel him to victory against Maxentius (a pagan) before he was crowned emperor. Based on the witness accounts by Eusebius and Lactantius, Constantine turned to the Christian God before the battle. In a vision, God told Constantine that he would conquer. Following his victory, Constantine embraced Christianity, championing and protecting it against persecution. The victory showed the validity of the Christian God’s protection and proved that Constantine’s faith was not misplaced. Constantine defeated Licinius to become the sole ruler in 323 AD. He openly embraced Christianity, maintaining the concept of official toleration. The ruler allowed abstract concepts that were deemed inoffensive to Christians. The emperor became an ardent scholar of the Christian faith, spending most of his time reading scriptures. In his letter to the Arles’ bishops, Constantine expressed his affiliation to Christianity and acknowledged that the power of God guided his life. Despite allowing the cult of Deus Sol Invictus to protect him, Constantine implemented the policy of religious tolerance, which helped spread the faith as explained below.
The Edict of Milan
This proclamation was announced in 313 AD, under both Licinius’ and Constantine’s names. The edict contained policies that were related to religious liberties. The proclamation granted all people, including Christians, the freedom of religion associations. Every person was allowed to follow the religion and denomination of his choice. This announcement was the first official toleration for all religions. During his reign, Emperor Constantine maintained this policy of religious toleration, allowing Christians the freedom of association.
Charles Cochrane, in Christianity and Classical Culture, suggests that the Edict of Milan played an important role in spreading the faith by introducing many changes. The edict granted Christians the right to profess their faith by removing legal restrictions that existed before. Secondly, the proclamation allowed all people to exercise the obligations of their religions, enabling Christians to assemble and worship God without consequences. The policies also compensated Christians for their buildings and lands that were forcefully taken from them during the persecution period. Finally, the law recognized all churches as corporations that were authorized to hold properties. These policies meant that the Christian religion was on par with other well-established religions. Liberties were extended to other religions reducing the Empire’s influence and control over spiritual life. Enactment of the Milan edict meant that Christianity, along with other religions, became autonomous. Official toleration or neutrality of religions became an essential law of public significance that helped spread Christianity. Constantine’s reign as the sole ruler recognized religious freedom as an essential aspect of organized societies. His toleration policy represented a significant departure from his predecessors, who tolerated the persecution of Christians. Constantine charted new grounds for Christianity, leading the way as a firm believer and protector of the religion.
John Knipfing, in his journal, “Religious Tolerance during the Early Part of the Reign of Constantine the Great,” explains the role played by the Edict of Milan in spreading Christianity. Knipfing acknowledges that the proclamation ended the discrimination and torture of Christians. Not only were Christians granted the freedom of assembly and worship but also allowed to profess and practice their faith without any legal consequences. The Roman Empire accorded its citizens the right to private worship as long as they maintained good public morals. These freedoms allowed churches to be restored to Christians for use during their prayers and divine services. According to John, the Milan proclamation (a Constantine initiative) terminated the Galeria-era persecution by abolishing existing restrictive policies. According to his letter to the Eastern provincials, Constantine wanted his reign to be characterized by unity, toleration, and peace. His letter suggested that he desired that all people live freely and at peace. The emperor believed that faith and religion could lead people to live harmoniously. According to him, many societal instabilities were associated with religious controversies and disputes. Constantine desired to establish an orthodoxy.
Earliest Christian Bibles
Eusebius, in “Fifty Bibles of Constantine,” writes about the earliest Christian Bibles. Eusebius was commissioned by Constantine to deliver sets of scriptures that would be used by the churches of Constantinople. The emperor ordered that the scriptures be portable and bound in leather. Eusebius delivered these scriptures to the four churches that were known to exist during Constantine’s reign as emperor. These earliest Bibles are thought to be gospel books that contained the gospels of the four evangelists.
Constantine and the Theological Orthodoxy
The implementation of the Edict of Milan meant that the church, and Christianity at large, continued to grow. However, religion was not united in its practices and values. As the de facto leader of the religion, Constantine addressed the Donatist controversy. Before the enactment of the Milan edict, the Empire was lenient to some Christians, especially in North Africa. They were allowed to assemble and worship as long as they submitted their scriptures to the Roman leadership in North Africa. Following the Milan proclamation, some Christian believers led by Donatus accused those who submitted their scriptures of being traitors. This conflict created divisions and different factions of churches in North Africa. While attempting to end the conflict, Constantine exacerbated it when he sent gifts to non-Donatist churches only. He called the warring factions to address the issue. The meeting ended without an amicable solution, prompting Constantine to send Donatist leaders into exile. These actions failed to unite the Christian religion, and ultimately, Constantine allowed Donatists to follow their practices and beliefs. This freedom allowed Donatists to spread their religion to most regions of the Roman Empire.
Secondly, the church was divided by the issue of the nature of Jesus. The earliest churches did not comprehensively examine the person of Jesus. According to early churches, Jesus was The Messiah (a son of God). His death and resurrection cleansed Christians of their sins and broke the power of death. These divisions about the persona of Jesus Christ, however, existed long before Constantine ascended into power. Some Christians led by Bishop Athanasius saw Jesus as the Son of God, and therefore, eternal in nature. By contrast, Christians who were led by Presbyter Arius claimed that Jesus was created by God, and therefore, had a beginning. This argument appears esoteric, but it had significant implications on the spirituality of the early Christians. In other words, when we see Jesus do, we see an eternal son of God as Athanasius suggests, or we see a person who only resembles God, as Presbyter Arius suggested. When we see an eternal son of God, we Christians believe that what is said by Jesus Christ is what could have been said by God himself. Emperor Constantine organized a church-wide council to address this issue, and subsequently, end the divisions in the church. The meeting, which was organized at Nicaea, did not provide an amicable solution to this issue since bishops did not agree on the nature and persona of Jesus Christ. The question was left upon the emperor, who recommended the nature of Jesus, which was to be universally adopted by all churches. The Christians who acknowledged that Jesus was God’s begotten Son won the argument. There were only two dissenting opinions which were, subsequently, sent into exile by the emperor. The council formalized the consensus about the nature and person of Jesus as the Nicaean Creed. This creed is the basis for today’s orthodoxy, although some subsequent amendments were made in 451 AD. The Nicaean Creed describes the boundaries of acceptable belief for all churches across the world.
The converting of Pagans to Christians
Christians were still minorities within the Roman Empire after the official toleration policy was implemented. It took many years for the Christian religion to infiltrate the Roman Empire. As explained earlier, Christians faced Roman persecution in the first three centuries of their existence. This targeted discrimination ended in 311 AD when Emperor Galerius declared a religious tolerance decree. The Milan Edict further codified the declaration under Emperor Constantine’s reign. The religion gained active support from Constantine, the first Christian emperor in the Roman Empire’s history. Many churches were built during his reign. Constantine was the de facto leader of the Christian religion, playing an active role in its spread across the Roman Empire. He gave tax breaks to bishops and clerics. Moreover, he restored the confiscated buildings and lands to churches. Constantine declared himself a firm believer in Christianity even though he encouraged all citizens to worship the Sun god. Constantine’s favouring of Christianity prompted many pagans to convert and worship the Christian God.
Constantius II succeeded Emperor Constantine following his death. The new emperor initiated a gradual process of dismantling all remnants of Paganism across the Roman Empire. Constantius II established regulations and policies that outlawed all temple sacrifices in 350 AD. He was determined to abolish superstition and the folly of temple sacrifices from the Empire. Constantius II imposed the death penalty for any pagan who made sacrifices in 353 AD. The gradual closing of temples followed this legislation. Pagans were forbidden from accessing temples, and all public funding of Paganism activities were abolished. Encouraged by the emperor’s condescending attitude towards Paganism, some Christians actively participated in destroying pagan temples without consequences. Most vestiges of Paganism were destroyed during this period. However, some pagan schools, along with popular pagan cults such as “priestesses of Vesta,” were spared. The subsequent decades, under Emperors Julian, Gratian, and Gratian, were characterized by frequent struggles between Christianity and Paganism. Gratian confiscated many properties from pagans while restricting their sources of revenue. He abolished all pagan practices with new sets of policies, some under the death penalty. This period was characterized by many revolts and plans by pagans to restore their lost cult without success. These revolutions served to increase the persecution of pagans who desired to regain control of the Empire. Eventually, many pagans converted to Christianity.
The Spread of Christianity
The mission of the well-established Christian religion was to spread the word of God and the Good news of Jesus Christ. Christian missions resulted in the conversion of many people within the Roman Empire and beyond. Before the Edict of Milan, it was estimated that only ten percent of the entire Roman population embraced Christianity. By 100 AD, some Christians were spread across Sri Lanka, Algeria, and Monaco. This number increased steadily with Christian communities documented in North Africa, China, Portugal, Morocco, and Southern France. Christian mission activities ramped up during Emperor Constantine’s reign. Some of the earliest missionaries included a woman named St. Niño. Nino was born into a Roman family, living around 296 and 340 AD. Her missionary activities were focused in ancient Iberia (today’s Georgia). Most people in ancient Iberia worshipped the Persian gods. On her visit, Nino converted Nana (the queen) into Christianity. The queen converted her husband too, who, according to ancient literature, prayed to God while he was lost and was saved. This salvation prompted the King (Mirian III) to declare Christianity the religion of choice within the Empire.
Implications of the Official toleration
Constantine maintained the concept of religious toleration to help grow and spread the Christian religion. According to him, Christianity embraced equality for all people, promoting harmonious living within our societies. These new policies changed the sacred space to include Christians who were persecuted for their religious beliefs before. The religious toleration allowed all religions to celebrate in their ways since none were prevented. It allowed the word of God to be shared across the Roman Empire, helping spread faith and convert many pagans into Christianity. Constantine’s policies of toleration enabled Roman society to be inclusive by recognizing all religions in the public space. These policies helped spread the Christian faith within and outside of the Roman Empire.
Conclusion
Emperor Constantine maintained policies of religious toleration during his reign of the Roman Empire. These policies are credited for helping to grow and spread Christianity within the Empire and across the world. As the first Christian emperor, Constantine’s toleration policies protected Christians from persecution, enabling them to assemble and spread the word of God without consequences. The policies created an accommodative society where Christians and pagans shared heritage and education, converting many pagans into Christianity. By tolerating the pagan culture, Constantine allowed continuation as the society forged forward into a new Christian order. Constantine’s toleration policies, along with his resolve to address the existing divisions in the church, helped spread the faith within and outside the Roman Empire.
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