Could Christianity largely be the product of Constatine's creation?

The Emperor Constantine had a very significant impact on the development of the Christian church. Most Christian scholars would agree that his impact was both positive and negative to the expansion of Christianity in the fourth century. The Da Vinci Code exaggerates the importance of Constantine’s influence on the current teachings of the church. Dan Brown writes, “The fundamental irony of Christianity! The Bible, as we know it today, was collated by the pagan Roman Emperor Constantine the Great.” (page 231) As The Da Vinci Code would tell it, Constantine commissioned the Council at Nicaea and organized a plot to create a divine Jesus, rewriting gospels that excluded Gnostic ideas and the humanity of Jesus. The Da Vinci Code states, “many scholars claim that the early Church literally stole Jesus from His original followers, hijacking His human message, shrouding it in impenetrable cloak of divinity, and using it to expand their own power” (page 233). The general assertion is that the early Church was started by Constantine in the fourth century. He writes, “Their (the Church) brutal crusade to ‘reeducate’ the pagan and feminine-worshipping religions spanned three centuries, employing methods as inspired as they were horrific. . . During three hundred years of witch hunts, the Church burned at the stake an astonishing five million women” (page 125).

Let me begin my response by noting a few contradictions in logic. Constantine is described as pagan and enormously evil in a book advocating paganism. Ancient Gnosticism had a problem with a human Jesus, because matter is evil, and here Constantine is accused of creating a divine Jesus. Christianity is accused of killing millions of pagans when history is very clear that pagans killing Christians was far more numerous and common.

In 312 AD, at the death of Galerius, there was a power struggle for the rule of the Roman Empire. Constantine crossed the Alps into Italy to dislodge his rival Maxentius and take Rome. Constantine was greatly outnumbered when he called out to the Christian God for help. In a dream he saw a cross in the sky with the words, “In this sign conquer.” Constantine went on to win a stunning victory and take control of the Roman Empire. This conversion experience of Constantine has been debated by historians as to its authenticity, because although Constantine favored Christians, he still continued on with some pagan practices. Constantine was baptized shortly before his death in 337. It may seem odd to us that it was 25 years from his dream to his baptism, but Christians in those days often believed that sins committed after baptism would not be forgiven, so baptism was often delayed until as close to death as possible.

The reign of Constantine was a remarkable period in history when Christians went from being killed for their faith to having the ear of the most powerful man on the planet. This is not to say that the society went from being predominantly pagan to predominantly Christian. There was still plenty of pagan beliefs and practices during the reign of Constantine. It was not until about 380 AD that the government’s favor towards Christians turned to hardship (not mass slaughter) for pagans.

There have been times in history when the church and government have teamed up to execute those who were not Christians. The Inquisitions and Crusades of the Middle Ages are most notable for violence done in the name of Christianity. Almost all Christians would look at these times as a black eye for the church in history. I would argue that Christianity has also been unfairly blamed for atrocities in history, such as the evils of Nazism. Hitler may have played the German church to his advantage, but his ideology was in no way founded in the church or teachings of Jesus. I would also add that people who call themselves Christians have killed and been killed for many different reason throughout history. I believe that the number of Christians who have died because they would not convert to the dominant religion or atheism, far outnumber the number of people Christians have killed for religious reasons. That said, there are times in history when church and government have combined to persecute non-believers. Witch hunts may have been well intended, but they clearly contradict the ethic of Jesus. The fourth through sixth centuries were a time that some pagans were executed, but the numbers are nothing like Dan Brown’s fictional claim of “five million women.”

Constantine did establish Sunday as a day off work in 321 AD. He gave Christian ministers the same tax exemptions as pagan priests. The celebration of Christmas on December 25th was started during the time of Constantine. It could be noted that Easter was always remembered on the Christian calendar, while Christmas was a pagan celebration that was baptized Christian. The entire history of Christmas has been a conflict between the secular and the sacred remembrance of the birth of Jesus Christ.

It is clear that Constantine brought influence to church leadership. Not all Christians were happy with the church’s new marriage with political power. The Christians of the pre-Constantine Roman world were deeply committed to their faith in Jesus. The killing spree of Christians in the first decade of the fourth century was a means of purifying the church. Only the most committed Christians continued to practice their faith. Many denied their faith to save their lives. The remaining Christians lived by faith as their homes and churches were destroyed, employment was denied to them, and as they grieved the loss of friends and loved ones who were martyred.

After Constantine’s rise to power, the church went from being radical disciples to a crowd of half converted pagans. This deeply disturbed many of the faithful Christians. One response to the new Christian experience was the rise of the Desert Fathers. Because there was no outward persecution, communities developed that sought to create hardship in order to draw near to God. People would move out to caves in a desert and live lives including celibacy, periods of fasting, hours in prayer, solitude, and a general denial of earthly pleasures. Over time these Desert Fathers developed a reputation for wisdom, and people living in society would make trips out to the desert to seek council on decisions they were facing. They were the Christian version of the wise man sitting on a mountaintop sought out by ordinary people for advise. Desert Fathers were one of the legacies of the change that followed Constantine.

The Da Vinci Code makes reference to Constantine’s calling of the council of Nicaea. Constantine did call together all the leaders of the church in 325 AD to work out theological differences. Constantine was no theologian and hardly understood what the debate was all about, but he was a politician and he understood the importance of a unified organization, in this case, the church. Dan Brown writes, “Jesus’ establishment as ‘the Son of God’ was officially proposed and voted on by the Council of Nicaea” (page 233). He goes on to imply that the vote almost went the other way. The truth is that the nature of Jesus was the major theological discussion of the 300 years prior to the Council of Nicaea.

It should be noted that the Council of Nicaea was not even about the Gnostic heresy. The major issue of the council had to do with the Arian heresy which stated that Jesus was not equal with the Father, he was only the first created. Arius was at the council and he had the support of two of the 300 Bishops in attendance. The Council of Nicaea clearly sided against Arius, and he was excommunicated along with the two other leaders. The Arian heresy continued to be popular with many people for the next 50 years and even had the support of a later Emperor. Arianism was the major heresy of the fourth century and it came closer than any other heresy in history to overtaking the church. Arianism was revived in the late nineteenth century and is believed today by the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

The Nicaean Creed is the summary statement that was the product of the Council in 325 AD. It continues to be the standard of orthodox belief for almost all the Christians of the world today. I would not suggest that the Nicaean Creed created a newly formed belief as much as a summarized 300 years of theological discussion that was organized into a short concise statement about the Christian understanding of the nature of God.

The Roman Empire after the death of Constantine was disintegrating. There was the division between the East and the West and Rome fell in 410 AD. The time of the fall of Rome also produced one of the greatest theologians of the church, Augustine, Bishop of Hippo (in Northern Africa). Augustine wrote “The City of God” which is still a classic book on church and state. Pagan temple sacrifice was outlawed in 391 AD, but that was not to say that the practice or belief of paganism stopped. The fourth to the sixth century was a time that the Papacy developed, martyrs and saints began to be worshipped, and the sale of relics developed. By the sixth century the major issue was the development of Islam whose followers often used the sword to expand its rule. Bishops and political leaders during the fourth through sixth century were at times great men of integrity and at times corrupt. The following story illustrates well the tension that existed between church and state during that era.

In a Greek city in 390 AD, a charioteer was accused of homosexuality and imprisoned. The crowds demanded his freedom and the local governor refused. The crowd murdered the governor and freed their hero. This angered the Roman Emperor, Theodosius, who ordered his soldiers to retaliate. In three hours they killed 7000 fans at a chariot race. Bishop Ambrose wrote Theodosius the following letter,

I cannot deny that you have a zeal for the faith and that you fear God, but you have a naturally passionate spirit which becomes ungovernable when you are excited. I call on you to repent. You can only atone for your sin by tears, by penitence, by humbling your soul before God. You are a man, and you have sinned as a man so you must repent. No angel, no archangel can forgive you. God alone can forgive you, and he forgives only those who repent (from Church History in Plain Language by Bruce Shelley 1995, pages 97,98). At first Emperor Theodosius stayed away from the church. Ambrose refused the Emperor communion until he publicly humbled himself a number of times. He was later restored to church membership.

I recount this story to highlight that few pagan supreme rulers from the Pharaohs to the Roman Emperors would ever submit themselves to public humility as Theodosius did. It is true that the ancient world was a place where violence was common and human life was often not valued. In the context of the time, Christian rulers were often more benevolent than their non-Christian counterparts.

In conclusion, Constantine was very influential and his impact on the church was both positive and negative. He did solidify Sunday as the Christian day of worship and Christmas on December 25th can be traced to his influence more than anyone else. Constantine did bring bishops together to resolve theological differences, but he had little influence on the theological conclusions that were reached at those councils. It is not good history to speak of the church starting in the fourth century under his influence.

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Does Faith Create Reality out of Myth?