Making a Choice
Name: Lisa Blackmore Date: Sept 31, 2008
Title of Event (a specific incident with a distinct time and place): Constantine’s conversion to Christianity.
Hypothesis (Rationale for your Choice): His conversion sparked a dramatic change in the nature of the Christian Church that had a significant impact for the millennium that followed and beyond.
Main Characters & Words That Describe Them:
Constantine:
Powerful, wealthy, famous, warlike.
Christians:
Persecuted, low social status, peaceful, little-known minority.
Roman Empire:
Tolerant, decadent, structured, declining slowly.
Main Events:
Constantine, while fighting a battle at Milvian Bridge (Italy), believed that he saw a vision of a labarum (a cross with the chi-rho symbol on it) and heard a voice saying “By this, conquer.” His army displayed this symbol while fighting, and won. After winning the battle, he converted to Christianity, because he felt that the Christian God must be powerful for helping him win the battle.
Where?
In Italy.
When?
312 CE.
Problem, Conflict, or Goal:
In the immediate context, Constantine just wanted to win the battle and maintain his power and the stability of the Roman Empire.
Outcome:
A year later, Constantine established a tolerance policy for Christians, which led to Christianity being identified as the religion of the Roman Empire, which led to a number of changes in the nature of the Christian Church which impacted the following millennium, as seen below.
What is the Significance of this Historical Event?
Christianity changed from a persecuted and little-known minority religion with strong Jewish roots, to the religion of the powerful (and gentile) Roman Empire. This change had a long-term impact on Christianity in several ways:
· The incorporation of Greco-Roman elements into the Christian faith (ie. Holidays like Christmas & Sunday; also art & architecture)
· The structure of the Roman Empire became the structure of the Church (ie. Dioceses), giving it stability and continuity.
· As the official religion, the Roman Empire had a vested interest in maintaining unity in the Christian Church. Thus, edicts and counsels were called and a definition of orthodoxy was reached.
· People who disagreed with the new “worldliness” of the hitherto persecuted Church found a new challenge in being hermits, a movement which grew into the monastic movement—which itself played an enormous role in the medieval Church.
· When the empire fractured, the church fractured with it, into the Egyptian, Byzantine, and Roman churches.
· A complex relationship between Church and state was born, and until about the 16th century, church and state either worked together or competed for the upper hand in a perpetual power struggle. A general definition of orthodoxy was continually defined and enforced in relation to the bishop of Rome.
· To this day, the Pope, the head of Catholicism, resides in Rome.
Cause/Effect
Possible Causes:
1. Constantine’s mother may have been a Christian.
2. Perceived power of the Christian God in helping Constantine win the battle of Milvian Bridge.
3. Constantine’s desire for power and unity as Emperor of Rome.
Possible Effects:
1. The incorporation of Greco-Roman elements into the Christian faith (ie. Holidays like Christmas & Sunday; also art & architecture)
2. The structure of the Roman Empire became the structure of the Church (ie. Dioceses), giving it stability and continuity.
3. As the official religion, the Roman Empire had a vested interest in maintaining unity in the Christian Church. Thus, edicts and counsels were called and a definition of orthodoxy was reached.
4. People who disagreed with the new “worldliness” of the hitherto persecuted Church found a new challenge in being hermits, a movement which grew into the monastic movement—which itself played an enormous role in the medieval Church.
5. When the empire fractured, the church fractured with it, into the Egyptian, Byzantine, and Roman churches.
6. A complex relationship between Church and state was born, and until about the 16th century, church and state either worked together or competed for the upper hand in a perpetual power struggle.
7. To this day, the Pope, the head of Catholicism, resides in Rome.
Effects:
1. So-called “Edict of Milan” (313 CE), tolerating Christians throughout Rome.
2. Counsels are called to define and enforce “orthodox” Christianity.
3. Christianity becomes the official religion of the Empire.
4. The Christian Church is transformed from a persecuted and little-known minority religion with strong Jewish roots, to the religion of the powerful (and gentile) Roman Empire.
Proof Organizer: References that are Statements to Support your Choice:
Sources / References1. Chadwick, H. (1993). The early church. London: Penguin. / 54-55; 125-129; 277-280: The incorporation of Greco-Roman elements into the Christian faith (ie. Holidays like Christmas & Sunday; art & architecture). For example, the chi-rho was an ancient symbol of Zeus, and mosaics have been found that depict Christ as the sun god. Art & architecture no longer secret, often follow pattern of existing Roman models.
129-131: Counsels called and a definition of orthodoxy defined and enforced (ie. Council of Nicea).
150-151: Council at Constantinople in 381 AD names the bishop of Rome as having more authority than the bishop of Constantinople.
2. Ferguson, E. Ed. (1998). Encyclopedia of early Christianity. (2nd ed.) New York: Garland Publishing. / 280: Helena, Constantine’s mother, may well have been a Christian.
3. Kee, A. (1982). Constantine versus Christ: The triumph of ideology. London: SCM. / 7-22: Constantine sees a vision & wins the battle & allies with the God of the Christians for practical, rather than theological reasons.
4. Grant, R. M. (2004). Augustus to Constantine: The rise and triumph of Christianity in the Roman world. (2nd ed.) Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press. / 236-244: Concern for unity leads to enforcement of orthodoxy.
5. Frank, I. W. (1996). A concise history of the medieval church. New York: Continuum. / 34-54: During the middle ages, Church & State vied for power, and Rome always had in the pie of orthodoxy and enforcement thereof.
I don’t have references for everything, because much of this material I covered in STU’s Father Jennings’ “History of the Early Church” and “History of the Medieval Church,” and to find all the references for what I learned would take weeks. Chadwick’s book, however, is very comprehensive, and includes almost all of what I have mentioned here.