The Imperial Church -- From Persecution to Dominance, Part 1

The History of Christianity #86

Our History of Christianity Scripture verse today is Acts 17:23 which reads: "For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, To The Unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you."

Our History of Christianity quote today is from Constantine. He said: "I am most certainly persuaded that I myself owe my life, my every breath, in short, my very inmost and secret thoughts, entirely to the favor of the Supreme God."

Today, in the History of Christianity, we are looking at "The Imperial Church -- From Persecution to Dominance" from Dr. Justo L. Gonzalez's fine book, The Story of Christianity (Volume 1).

Although Constantine was certainly an important turning point in the life of the church -- to the extent that one may properly speak of a "Constantinian era" stretching from his time until the early twentieth century -- he did not make Christianity the official religion of the empire. Constantine himself remained a pagan priest, as befitted his role as emperor, and was not baptized until he was about to die. His sons Constantine II, Constantius, and Constans were baptized, and certainly several of their edicts favored Christianity. But their rule was marked by dissension as the church was bitterly divided over the issue of Arianism (a view of Christ and the Godhead) and imperial religious policies focused on that dispute. In 356 AD, Constantius, by then sole emperor, declared the worship of images to be a capital crime; but the law was generally ignored. Then Constantine's nephew Julian -- who had been baptized -- led a pagan reaction, and is therefore commonly known as "the Apostate." 

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