Constantine, Creeds and Traditions

1
Constantine, Creeds and Traditions

• Around 325-500AD

2
Constantine

• Roman Emperor - Caesar Flavius Valerius Aurelius
  Constantinus Augustus3 (27 February c. 2722
  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 (/'k?nst?nta?n/), 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.

3
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. Peters Basilica and the
  Church of the Holy Sepulcher
• Used the chi rho symbol of Christianity
• Closed many pagan temples

4
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.

5
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.

6
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.

7
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)

8
Theotokos vs Christotokos

• Marys relationship to Christ
• Theotokos God-bearer (Mother of God)
• Christotokos Christ-bearer (Mother of Christ)
• Evangelicals hold to the second position

9
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

10
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

11
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.

12
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