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Of the 30 bishops of lhe Church
at Rome befare Miltiades, all but
one or two had died a martyr's
death. With a violent persecution
underway, Miltiades expects noth–
ing better.
l t is October 28. Miltiades
emerges from his small house lo
discover the great Constantin e
standing in the street befare him!
With him are guards with drawn
swords.
Constanline has just defeated his
brother-in-law and chief rival Max–
enti us (son of the old Wes.tern
emperor Maximian) at the Milvian
Bridge near Rome. Winning this
key battle has secured Constan–
tine 's throne. He is now sole emper–
or in the West.
But what does Constantine want
of Miltiades? Does he intend to cap
his victory by personally executing
lhe leader of Rome's Christians?·
The emperor steps forward. With
Miltiades' c hief priest, Silvester,
serving as interpreter, Constantine
begins lo speak.
What Miltiades hears signals the
beginning of a new era. The world
will never be the same agai n.
The Flaming Cross
Just befare the battle of Milvian
Bridge, Conslantine had seen a
vision. In thc sky appeared a flam–
ing cross, and above it the words
In
Hoc Signo Vinces
(" In lhis sign,
conquer!"). Stirred by the vision, he
ordered that the Christian sym–
bol-the monogram
i
(lhe super–
imposed Greek letters X and P,
Chi
and
Rho,
the first two lettcrs of the
word
Christos) - be
inscribed upon
lhe standards and shields of the
army.
The battle was lhen fought in the
name of the Christian God. Con–
stantine was victorious. Maxent ius
was defeated and drowned.
The crucial victory spells nol
only supreme power for Constan–
tine, but a new era for the Church.
Constantine becomes the first
Roman emperor to profess Chris–
tianity, lhough he delays baptism
until the end of his life. A magnifi–
cent triumphal arch is erected in his
honor in Rome.
lt
ascribes Con–
stantine's victory to the "inspi ration
of the Divinity."
Soon afterward, Constantine
issues the Edict of Milan (313),
July
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August 1983
granting Christians full freedom to
practice their religion . Though
pagan worship is st ill tolerated until
the end of the century, Constantine
exhorts all his subjects to follow his
example and become Christians.
Constantine donates to the bish–
op of Rome the opulent Lateran
Palace. When S ilvester is named
bishop of Rome upon Miltiades'
death in J anuary, 314, he is
crowned- clad in imperial raí–
ment-as an earthly prince. T he
emperor fill s many chief govern–
ment offices with Christians and
provides assistance in building
churches.
Things have
indeed
changed!
For centuries persecuted by the
Empire, the Christian Church has
now become
a/lied
with it! Chris–
tianity assumes an intimate rela–
lionship with the secular power. l t
quickly grows to a position of great
influence over the affairs of the
Empire.
Christians of decades pasl would
not have believed it. T hey are free
from persecution. T he Emperor
himself is a Christian! l t is simply
"too good to be true." Yet it
is
true!
Many Christians puzzle over this
new order of things. For nearly
three centuries they had waited for
the return of Jesus Christ as deliv–
erer. They had waited for the fall of
Rome, and the triumph of the king–
dom of God.
But now the perseculions have
ended. The Church holds a positio!1
of power and respect throughout
the Empire. The picture appears
bright
for the faith!
What does it all mean?
Christians of various persuasions
see many prophecies of persccution
in the Scriptures. But nowhere do
Jesus or the apostles foretell a pop–
ular g rowth and universal accep–
tance of the Church. No prophecy
says that the Church of God will
become great and powerful in
this
world .
Yet look what has happened!
How is it to be understood?
After centuries of believing that
the kingdom was " not of t h is
world"-that the world and the
Church wou ld be at odds until
J esus' return- professi ng Chris–
tians now search for an explanation
to the new state of affairs.
State Religion
Continuing events within the
Empire fu rther fuel this reevalua–
tion. In 321, Constantine issues an
edict forbidding work on "the ven–
erable day of the sun" (Sunday),
the day that had come to be su bsti–
tuted for the seventh-day Sabbath
(sunset Friday to sunset Saturday).
Christians in general had hitherto
held Saturday as sacred, though in
Rome and in Alexandria, Egypt,
C hristians had ceased doing so. (In
365, the Council of Laodicea will
formnlly prohibit the keeping of the
"Jewish Sabbath" by Christians.)
In 324, the Emperor formally
establishes Chrislianity as the offi–
cial religion of the Empire. The pre–
vious year, Constantine had de–
fealed the Eastern Emperor and
had become the sote Emperor of
East and West. Thus Christianily is
now the estab li shed religion
throughout the civilized Western
world!
In an effort to fu rther promote
unity and uniformity within Chris–
tianity, Constantine caJis a conclave
of bishops from all parts of the
Empire in 325. The council–
intended to settle doctrinal disputes
among Christians-is held at
Nicea, in Bithynia.
The Council of Nicea confronts
two major issues. It deals firstly
with a dispute over the relationship
of Christ to God the Father. The
d ispute is called the Arian contro–
versy. Arius, a priest of Alexandr ia,
has been teachi ng that Christ was
created,
not eternal and divine Iike
the Father. The Council condemns
him and his doctrine and exiles
Arian teachers. (The movement,
however, cont inues strong in many
arcas. When Gothic and Germanic
invaders are converted to Christian–
ity, it is frequently to the Arian
form.)
The other major issue at the
Council is t he proper date for the
celebration of Passover . Many
Christians-especially t hose in
Asia Minor- still commemorate
J esus' death on the 14th day of the
Hebrew month Nisan-the day the
" J ewish" passover lambs had been
s lain. In contrast, Rome and the
Western churches emphasize the
resurrection, rather than the death
(Continued on page 27)
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