Some illogical statements on Constantine

Author unknown

The meme above was recently making the rounds. Most memes are rather logically-challenged. This particular meme actually has maintained a fair degree of logical consistency. It is, of course, too short to deal with complexity, but it summarizes well the argument that is used by the Eastern Orthodox, the Roman Catholics, and the Oriental Orthodox.

“You mean to tell me that Constantine the Great convinced the Church to change the Teachings of Christ, when 300 years of open torture and persecution couldn’t? Stop reading Dan Brown. Please.” — author unknown.

Open persecution did not actually take place for an unending 300 years. What was true was that waves of persecution broke out periodically during the first 300 years. Though a very limited persecution is listed in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, the reality is that the first true mass persecution did not begin until the Neronian persecution following the Great Fire of Rome in 64 AD, when it was declared illegal to be a Christian. By 325, some estimates place the total number of Christians over those 2 1/2 centuries at 7,000,000 with around 2,000,000 killed over those same centuries. But, Christianity had been placed on the list of illicit sects by 50 AD (there was a difference between illicit and illegal back then).

While there were six or seven persecutions under various emperors during this time, the two worst ones were the ones that happened right before Constantine. The Valerian persecution (253-260 AD) has been called the Great Persecution. Bishops, in particular, were sought and singled out, under the thinking that if they cut off the heads, then the illegal sect would die out. The Diocletian persecution (285-305 AD) has been called the Age of the Martyrs. Some of the truly brutal martyr stories come from this period. Not everyone resisted, there were apostates and lapsed. One of the major arguments in the Church after the Diocletian persecution was whether, and how, to restore the lapsed.

In 311 AD, the Edict of Toleration is issued by the Tetrarchy in which the four-headed imperiate halted the Diocletian persecution and allowed Christians to exist without fearing penalty of death. In 313 AD, the dual imperiate of Constantine I and Licinius issued the Edict of Milan, which legalized Christianity. The First Ecumenical Council took place in 325 AD while Constantine I was the remaining Roman Emperor. Now, think about it, the Church had resisted unto death for 2 1/2 centuries. A mere 14 years after the Edict of Toleration, the Council was held. The records show that Confessor bishops, priests, and deacons were present (that is, clergy who had suffered under the persecution but had not been killed, merely tortured) at that Council. But, we are expected to believe that after all that fierce resistance that those bishops from both inside and outside the Empire turned over and let Constantine I tell the Church what its doctrine, organization, and worship would be?

That makes zero logical sense. In fact, the conspiracy theorists of the world (and the Anabaptists) have had to invent conspiracy theories in order to try to account for the unaccountable and illogical. In the case of the Anabaptists, it is the misbegotten Trail of Blood theology. In the case of non-Christians, it is the argument about some hidden cabal of bishops who mysteriously took over the Church and then changed all records. This despite the fact that archeology has now found plenty of ancient records that show that, uhm, no such massive change in doctrine can be found. Among very progressive Christians, it became common to speak of “other Christianities.” This became a method whereby every possible disagreement was listed as though it were a totally different group with a totally equal and valid claim to Christian truth. That actually is an argument for no truth. It is also a handy argument for when one wishes to throw away doctrines. Go shopping for a divergent group that holds the doctrine you wish to hold, then elevate them to “alternate Christianity” status. The fact is that the minute the bishops were able to safely travel, they met precisely because they knew that truth is not consistent with multiple alternate groups that hold any doctrine they wish to hold. Even during the persecutions, there were ample writings that show that the pre-Constantine Christians did not merely accept any “truth” that was presented to them.

The meme is correct. It is actually harder to believe that Constantine I was responsible for totally redirecting the Church than it is to believe that the bishops, who had survived the Age of the Martyrs remained firm in the beliefs they had received. There is neither logic nor proof behind the Constantine claim.