Transcript From Constantine To Tradition

Constantine, Creeds and Traditions
Around 325-500AD
Constantine
•
Roman Emperor - Caesar Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus
Augustus[3] (27 February c. 272[2] – 22 May 337), commonly known
in English as Constantine I, Constantine the Great, or (among
Eastern Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Byzantine
Catholic Christians) Saint Constantine (/'kɒnstɛntaɪn/), was Roman
emperor from 306, and the undisputed holder of that office from
324 until his death in 337. Best known for being the first Christian
Roman emperor, Constantine reversed the persecutions of his
predecessor, Diocletian, and issued (with his co-emperor Licinius)
the Edict of Milan in 313, which proclaimed religious toleration
throughout the empire.
•
The Byzantine liturgical calendar, observed by the Eastern Orthodox
Church and Eastern Catholic Churches of Byzantine rite, lists both
Constantine and his mother Helena as saints. Although he is not
included in the Latin Church's list of saints, which does recognize
several other Constantines as saints, he is revered under the title
"The Great" for his contributions to Christianity.
•
Constantine also transformed the ancient Greek colony of Byzantium
into a new imperial residence, Constantinople, which would remain
the capital of the Byzantine Empire for over one thousand years.
Contributions
• Issued the Edict of Milan which stopped the
persecution of Christians
• Council of Nicea (chaired the consultation)
• Throughout his rule, Constantine supported
the Church financially, built various basilicas,
granted privileges (e.g. exemption from certain
taxes) to clergy, promoted Christians to high
ranking offices, and returned property
confiscated during the Great Persecution of
Diocletian
• Also built Old St. Peter’s Basilica and the
Church of the Holy Sepulcher
• Used the ‘chi rho’ symbol of Christianity
• Closed many pagan temples
Flaws
• Still seemed to worship Apollos the
Sun God and commanded everyone to
observer the venerable day of the sun
(Sunday)
• Esoteric Eastern sun worship on coins,
(Sol Invictus) Christianity not on coins,
only on his personal attire
• Did not declare himself a Christian
until he was past 40 years old.
Disastrous Decisions
• Intervened in the Donatist dispute and
eventually led a Christian army against the
Donatists – the first intra-Christian war
• Retained the title of Pontifex Maximus or head
of the pagan cult worship of the day.
• He made December 25th, the birthday of the
pagan Unconquered Sun god, the official
holiday it is now--the birthday of Jesus. It is
likely that he also instituted celebrating Easter
and Lent based on pagan holidays.
• His mother, Helen, made a pilgrimage to
Jerusalem and began excavations to recover
artifacts in the city, discovering the “holy
Cross’. This popularized the tradition of
pilgrimages in Christianity.
Mixing Church & State
• Constantine believed that Church and State
should be as close as possible.
• By chairing Nicaea, and enforcing its
decisions and intervening in the Donatist
dispute and even by elevating Christians and
destroying pagan temples Constantine mixed
church and State very closely and this
inevitably leads to problems.
• The Church becomes political and corrupt
• The State makes decisions on doctrines and
worship practices they do not fully
understand.
The Two Natures Dispute
• Pages 164 to 173 in Latourette
• The divine and human natures
of Jesus Christ
• One nature (divine) that
transforms the human –
monophysitism
• Two separate natures Nestorianism
• Two full natures (Chalcedon)
Theotokos vs Christotokos
• Mary’s relationship to Christ
• Theotokos – God-bearer (Mother
of God)
• Christotokos – Christ-bearer
(Mother of Christ)
• Evangelicals hold to the second
position
Nestorius Vs. Cyril
• A vicious debate that was totally
un-Christian
• Doctrine decided by political
skulduggery and by alliances
rather than by examining the
Scripture
• Whoever convinced the Emperor
of the time won the day.
• Ecclesiastical politics rather than
the Holy Spirit!!
• The age of mere human tradition
and church politics had begun
Creed of Chalcedon
• Page 170-172 in Latourette
• Dispute between Bishop of
Alexandria (Dioscurus) and Bishop
of Rome (Leo) over two nature of
Christ
• Tome of Leo
• Eventually decided that Christ was
fully God and fully man
Three Main Creeds of Christianity
• Apostles Creed –
response to Gnosticism
• Nicene Creed –
response to Arianism
• Formula of Chalcedon –
response to Nestorianism and
to allegorical views of Christ.
Forced Unity Only Brings Disunity
• The desire to have a completely
unified Christian faith was so strong
that good people were being
excommunicated over very subtle
doctrinal differences
• Politicians desired a united empire
in ‘harmony’ and would interfere in
ecclesiastical matters in to bring
‘order to the Empire’
• The result was complete chaos and
the development of an extremely
carnal and competitive Church