The Constantine Impact

T.S. Elliot, in Christianity and Culture, wisely states that, “The development of culture and the development of religion, in a society uninfluenced from without, cannot be clearly isolated from each other; and it will depend upon the bias of the particular observer, whether a refinement of culture is held to be the cause of progress in religion, or whether a progress in religion is held to be the cause of a refinement of the culture” (1939, P.100). This is the central problem in determining whether at any point a significant cultural change has drastically positively or negatively affected the church. So is the situation in determining Constantine’s impact, whether positive or negative, it must be regarded from the viewpoint of today and of Constantine’s time in power.

In the time of Constantine, the church was one of many religions that existed within the Roman Empire. However, “according to the historian Eusebius…, bishop of Caesarea in Palestine, before the crucial battle of Milvian Bridge, Constantine was convinced that he needed divine assistance. While he was praying for such assistance, God sent him a vision of a cross of light at midday, bearing the inscription “in hoc signo vinces ” (”in this sign you will be victorious”). That night, he had a dream that reaffirmed his earlier vision” (Ferguson & Grupp, Online Article). This account has many similarities to the Apostle Paul’s conversion. Constantine accepted Christ through a vision and then made Christ a part of his culture, which was the Roman Empire. In fact, a few of Constantine’s decrees are still observed today. Constantine “made Sunday an official Roman holiday so that more people could attend church, and made churches tax-exempt” (Ferguson & Grupp, Internet Article). With this, there were negative aspects, as “people were attracted to the Church because of the money and favored positions available to them from Constantine rather than from piety. The growth of the Church and its new-found public aspect prompted the building of specialized places of worship where leaders were architecturally separated from the common attendees, which stood in sharp contrast to the earlier house churches which were small and informal” (Ferguson & Grupp, Internet Article). So while we dwell on the negative aspects of Constantine’s acceptance of the Christian faith, we also must consider the impact on today’s church.

Today, Americans hold view on the separation of the church and state due to our countries’ laws. The Bill of Rights in the US constitution states, “congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” (U.S. Constitution Online, Internet Source). While this was an ingenious act by congress to ensure that the United States government would not become another dictatorship, it also creates some misconceptions of the impact of our culture on the church. America in the last fifty years has become a culture largely based on science and more recently on the ideals of self-discovery. In our culture today, “one person’s reality is equally legitimate to the next person’s – and the progression is to embrace everyone’s point of view” (Johnston, 2001, P. 29). This cultural reality seeps into our church as well and has drastically changed the way we view scripture. No longer is the Bible perceived as black and white, but with shades of gray. One person may read a passage and believe one thing, and another may read it and believe something else. So we have, in essence, compromised the lessons in scripture because of a cultural philosophy.

In considering the impact of Constantine, we must begin with our culture’s own present impact. Our culture today appears to read into scripture that which it understands or agrees with according to the particular individual. In doing so, we may realize that Constantine’s impact could in no way be considered negative in comparison to our own. While he may have differed in his beliefs of the integration of church and state, his implementation of Sunday as a day of worship and church’s being tax-exempt have transcended to today’s culture. These types of decrees have positively affected the church, even allowing it to spread in recognition to many who may have never known the message of Christ. So in many ways, the innocent acceptance of faith by Constantine has proven to be more of a positive aspect, than negative for the church as a whole.

References
Elliot, T.S. (1939). Christianity and Culture: The Idea of a Christian Society and Notes towards the Definition of Culture. Harcourt, Inc. Orlando, FL
Ferguson, Corrie & Grupp, Amy N. (1998). Constantine Converts to Christianity: 312. Internet Article. Retrieved January 18th, 2009, from http://www.thenagain.info/WebChron//EastEurope/ConstantineConverts.html
Johnson, Graham. (2001). Preaching to a Postmodern World: A Guide to Reaching Twenty-First Century Listeners. Baker Books. Grand Rapids, MI
USConstitution.net. The United States Constitution. Retrieved January 18th, 2009, from http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#Am1