In the last blog we saw that though
Constantine put an end to the persecution of Christianity and changed the
policy of the Empire to that of toleration of Christianity by his Edict of
Milan of 313 AD, he himself was not converted until his death bed. Till then he
supported paganism, the worship of Greco-Roman gods and goddesses, and followed
those rituals.
Well, the freedom from persecution
and recognition of their religion by the Empire brought its own flip side. The
church, its hierarchy soon started to imitate and emulate the Roman hierarchy
of authority, its pomp and investments of the purple and its riches. Some
unfaithful stewards of the church lavished the riches of the church on sensual
pleasures, for private gain, fraudulent purchases and rapacious usury.
A decent portion of the tithes of the
people was kept for the maintenance of the bishop and his clergy. A lot of it
went in the expenses of the public worship, feasts of love, the agapae. A major portion of the
collections went to the care of the poor, widows, orphans, the lame, the sick,
and the aged of the community; to the care of strangers and pilgrims, prisoners
and captives, and rescue of unwanted babies. The benevolence of the new
religion was obvious and overwhelming. But we can say that the church has lost
its internal purity and simplicity.
Constantine on defeating his rivals
to power for the Roman Empire, Maxentius and Licinius, was left as the sole sovereign
over the entire Roman Empire. He issued circular letters to all his subjects in
324 AD to emulate the Emperor and embrace the divine truth of Christianity. Labaram, a military standard with cross
and the first two letters of the name Christ in Greek inscribed over it and the
flag hung from this standard, became the regular standard of the Emperor and
his successors as they went to war. Cross, the symbol of Christians came to be
inscribed on the shields of all the soldiers of the Roman army.
With the patronage of the Emperor and
the nobles, the common masses followed suit. Temples were erased and idols
destroyed in towns, and privileges and rewards were extended to such
municipalities. For every convert the Emperor presented a white garment and
twenty pieces of gold. War and trade spread the new religion, which the Emperor
of the most powerful nation had adopted, far and wide. Goths, Germanic tribes
and other barbarians revered the standard of Rome carrying the cross. The
church had 1800 bishops who held the spiritual and legal jurisdiction of their
flock all over the Roman Empire. Quite a number! They were under the five
patriarchs of the mighty church, stationed in Rome, Alexandria, Antioch,
Carthage and Constantine.
An Assembly of the church convened by
the Emperor Constantine to settle the differences and heresies about the
doctrine of Trinity at Nice in Bithynia in 325 AD saw 318 bishops attending. It
lasted for two months, where the Nicene Creed was decided upon which our
churches use even today. Constantine gave the church security, wealth and honors,
but the internecine quarrels over questions of doctrine tore the church apart
and persecution of some sects as heretic by the orthodox sect of the church
replaced the persecution of the church by the State. Blood flowed in the name
of Jesus Christ to settle disputes regarding the doctrinal aspects of His
nature.
A peaceful religion which Christ
preached, emphasizing self-sacrifice and humility, came to be one with cruelty,
dispute and murder. A sad commentary of affairs, I should say, which started in
the 4th century and continued through the turmoil of Protestantism
in the 16th 17th centuries.
The next Emperor Julian, the son of
Constantine, showed attachment to the gods of Athens and Rome and tried to
reverse the flow of tide and to reinstall paganism. Very soon he returned to
the former habit of persecution of the Christians with a vengeance. He
encouraged the Jews by helping them to build their temple in Jerusalem. He
passed laws that obliged the Christians to make good for the demolition of the
temples which they did under the previous regime. Fortunately for the Christian
Julian died in 363 AD while pursuing a war against Persia.
Jovian the next Emperor, restored the
use of Labarum, abolished all the
edicts of Julian which were against Christianity, restored the properties of
the church and peace prevailed. In many cities temples were shut or deserted.
Policy of encouragement of Christianity continued, but Arian controversy[1]
still plagued the church resulting in killings and counter-killings.
Paganism, the worship of Greco-Roman
gods was completely destroyed in the reign of emperor Theodosius in 375 AD. It
took some 68 years from the conversion of Constantine for this to happen. Their
honors and Privileges and financial support from public funds to the priesthood
and the rituals were all withdrawn. The reigning deity’s statue and her altar
of Victory in the Senate were removed. The adherents of pagan faith did fight
back. They attributed the reversals that Roman Empire suffered in the wars,
especially in the Western Roman Empire to the new religion of Christianity and
to the anger of the discarded and offended gods of the Romans.
Nevertheless the gods of antiquity
lost their charms. In a debate in the Senate whether the Romans should worship
Jupiter or Christ, by a large majority vote Jupiter was condemned and degraded
in AD 394. That small minority soon realized the changes in the times and got
converted. The masses simply followed. The temples of the erstwhile Roman gods
were abandoned, neglected and left to ruin. Superstitions were attacked; use of
sacrifices was prohibited; Officers were directed to shut the temples, destroy
the idols, and abolish the privileges of the priests and to confiscate the
consecrated property of the temples. In many places bishops marched at the head
of his faithful monks to destroy idols and temples and the consecrated
trees.
Christianity had won, but the superstitions
of the Pagans still continued in one form or the other. They clandestinely
continued their sacrifices and assemblies under the trees. These were all swept
away by the last edict of Emperor Theodosius in 390 AD, which prohibited
worship of an inanimate idol by sacrifice of a guiltless victim by any of his
subjects. Such offences will be punishable by death, confiscation of property
or a heavy fine of 24 pounds of gold. It was enforced by the emperors and their
officers diligently, sounding the death-knell for paganism. Within 28 years of
the death of Theodosius, pagan worship disappeared without a trace.
But churches were filled with
increasing number of people who were not really converted in their hearts to
the Lord Jesus Christ, but came in because of compulsion of the State and
persecution. They brought in to Christianity the worship of saints and their
relics and pilgrimage to the places of birth or death of these saints, and
offerings of candles and flowers, all reminiscent of pagan worship. Who was the
loser and who was the victor in this all consuming drama, God alone knows and
it will become clearer to us on the last Day of Judgment.
One could see how closely the destiny
of Christianity was related to the rise and decline of the Roman Empire itself.
However the Roman Empire is long gone, but Christ is still ruling in the hearts
of millions of people around the globe and influencing them every day in a big
way.
Let His kingdom come!
Let Thy will be
done on earth as it is in heaven!
[1]
Arius, a Presbyter of a church in Alexandria, Egypt held that Christ, being a Son
begotten by God, was subordinate to God and so he and his followers did not subscribe
to Trinitarian doctrine of the Orthodox Church. Athanasius, also a bishop in
Alexandria opposed Arius and argued for Trinity, three Beings in the God-head of
the same substance and equal status. In Nicaea Assembly convened in 325 AD,
Arianism was branded as a heresy. Still, after Constantine, many Emperors
supported Arianism.
