Constantine & the Church: Constantine was heavily involved with the affairs of the church in the 4th Century. It was the Donatists who first sought his mediation in Christian affairs (only 6 months after he came to power), to intervene in a dispute over appointing a traditore (Caecilian) as bishop of Carthage. When Constantine assigned a delegation of Bishops to sort out the troubles, the Donatists refused them and any authority except for Constantine himself. In response to this rebuff, Constantine persecuted the Donatists, but could not wipe them out and eventually relented. The emperor, as head of the state religion, was responsible for mediating the relationship between his people and their God. Constantine saw himself in a similar role as a Christian emperor, and he viewed troublesome Xian factions as jeopardizing the empire by potentially stirring up the wrath of the Xian God. It was surprising that the church so quickly asked for the emperor’s help. This was partly for political reasons, but also fit the only pattern that Christians had a biblical pattern for (temporal, political and religious kings of the OT). Constantine’s next religious challenge came with the dispute between Arius and Bishop Alexander of Alexandria over the substance of Christ in Jesus. He convened the ecumenical Council of Bishops Nicea (325) to resolve the dispute. His overriding value was church unity, and he initially seemed victorious, but the victory did not last as the terms of the subsequent Nicene Creed were interpreted in antithetical ways by their respective parties. While Constantine failed at church unity, he did succeed in Christianizing the Roman Empire, and with the construction of Constantinople, he shifted the focus of the Empire to the east which caused the West to decline and begin the process of the Western church’s move towards independence. Ultimately, the question of, “What’s the emperor got to do with the church?” was answered with “a lot, and if you don’t like it, deal with it in whatever way you feel best.”
-“from the beginning of Constantine’s reign, most Christians agreed the he had a great deal to do with the Church.” 142 -Donatists were first to ask him to intervene. He referred the matter to bishops, the Donatists did not comply, and he had their Churches confiscated and leaders banished. After this, he revoked his ‘policy of repression’ -Since the Roman emperor had ensured peace b/w the gods and his people, Constantine saw himself in a similar role as a Christian emperor -Constantine, after becoming master of the East in 324, had to deal with Arius, a presbyter under Alexander the bishop of Alexandria. Arius was excommunicated for saying that Christ was created by the father and not divine like the father. This issue was dealt with at the Council of Nicaea (1st ecumenical, general council) -Augutine suggested homoousios/ substantia to describe the Son’s relationship with the Father -The creed was a triumph for orthodoxy, the first great creed, but also a failure since the conflict flared up again later (Athanasius, succeeding bishop of Alexandria after Alexander, refused to accept repentant Arians) -Constantine died tolerant of Arian sympathizers against Athanasius who was defiant and in exile -He Christianized the empire and moved the focus of the Church Eastward: leading to the decline of the West and to the independence of the Western Church.
Constantine & the Church:
ReplyDeleteConstantine was heavily involved with the affairs of the church in the 4th Century. It was the Donatists who first sought his mediation in Christian affairs (only 6 months after he came to power), to intervene in a dispute over appointing a traditore (Caecilian) as bishop of Carthage. When Constantine assigned a delegation of Bishops to sort out the troubles, the Donatists refused them and any authority except for Constantine himself.
In response to this rebuff, Constantine persecuted the Donatists, but could not wipe them out and eventually relented.
The emperor, as head of the state religion, was responsible for mediating the relationship between his people and their God. Constantine saw himself in a similar role as a Christian emperor, and he viewed troublesome Xian factions as jeopardizing the empire by potentially stirring up the wrath of the Xian God.
It was surprising that the church so quickly asked for the emperor’s help. This was partly for political reasons, but also fit the only pattern that Christians had a biblical pattern for (temporal, political and religious kings of the OT).
Constantine’s next religious challenge came with the dispute between Arius and Bishop Alexander of Alexandria over the substance of Christ in Jesus. He convened the ecumenical Council of Bishops Nicea (325) to resolve the dispute. His overriding value was church unity, and he initially seemed victorious, but the victory did not last as the terms of the subsequent Nicene Creed were interpreted in antithetical ways by their respective parties.
While Constantine failed at church unity, he did succeed in Christianizing the Roman Empire, and with the construction of Constantinople, he shifted the focus of the Empire to the east which caused the West to decline and begin the process of the Western church’s move towards independence. Ultimately, the question of, “What’s the emperor got to do with the church?” was answered with “a lot, and if you don’t like it, deal with it in whatever way you feel best.”
-CL
-“from the beginning of Constantine’s reign, most Christians agreed the he had a great deal to do with the Church.” 142
ReplyDelete-Donatists were first to ask him to intervene. He referred the matter to bishops, the Donatists did not comply, and he had their Churches confiscated and leaders banished. After this, he revoked his ‘policy of repression’
-Since the Roman emperor had ensured peace b/w the gods and his people, Constantine saw himself in a similar role as a Christian emperor
-Constantine, after becoming master of the East in 324, had to deal with Arius, a presbyter under Alexander the bishop of Alexandria. Arius was excommunicated for saying that Christ was created by the father and not divine like the father. This issue was dealt with at the Council of Nicaea (1st ecumenical, general council)
-Augutine suggested homoousios/ substantia to describe the Son’s relationship with the Father
-The creed was a triumph for orthodoxy, the first great creed, but also a failure since the conflict flared up again later (Athanasius, succeeding bishop of Alexandria after Alexander, refused to accept repentant Arians)
-Constantine died tolerant of Arian sympathizers against Athanasius who was defiant and in exile
-He Christianized the empire and moved the focus of the Church Eastward: leading to the decline of the West and to the independence of the Western Church.
-BV