The Arch of Constantine in Rome, built to commemorate Constantine's victory at the Battle of Milvian Bridge, which led to Christianity becoming the official religion of the Roman Empire.
In 312, Constantine won control of the Roman Empire "by the sign of the cross" and granted complete freedom of worship to Christians. We unpack what made such an astonishing turn of events possible, examine the evidence for and against the sincerity of Constantine's conversion, and list the positive and negative effects the Constantinian shift had on the church. We end by noting that the end of state persecution greatly accelerated the growth of monasticism.
Key Quotes
- “Almost overnight, Christianity went from being from an enemy of the state to being an arm of the state.”
- “Perhaps the most significant change Constantine made was to remove the idols of pagan gods from their temples and use them to decorate public parks... This sent a message that the old pagan gods were powerless and deserved no honor.”
- “[After the Constantinian Shift], the gospel preached often did not sound like good news to the poor. ... As a result, more and more Christians began to believe that it was no longer possible to pursue a life of true holiness within the church.”
- How did the "Century of Revolution" make the Edict of Milan possible?
- How does the sincerity or insincerity of Constantine's conversion affect the legitimacy of his Christianization of the empire (or does it affect it at all)?
- What effect did the Constantinian shift have on the church's influence upon the state and the state's influence upon the church? In your view, which change was more significant?
- If you have a couple of hours, this Peter Leithart lecture at Wheaton College is worth your time. Leithart's 2010 book, "Defending Constantine," bucks the trend of most contemporary scholarship, which is anti-Constantinian.
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