Last Sunday, I taught our youth about how the persecution of Christians had finally come to an end with the help of Constantine. When asked why he acted under the banner of Christianity, some have answered that it was because he was a believer, while others argue that he was trying to gain the support of Christians. Below I discuss why I think both of these views are wrong and discuss Constantine's true motivation.1) THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE TO SUGGEST THAT HE WAS A CHRISTIAN
There is actually sufficient evidence to suggest that he was not. He never placed himself under the direction of Christian leaders or bishops. Christian Historian Justo Gonzalez explained, "Constantine reserved the right to determine his own religious practices, and even to intervene in the life of the church" (121).
He was also known for blending the beliefs of paganism and Christianity and for repeatedly taking part in pagan rites, in which no Christian would participate. According to Gonzalez, "During most of his political career, Constantine seems to have thought that the Unconquered Sun (of paganism) and the Christian God were compatible-perhaps two views of the same Supreme Deity-and that other gods, although subordinate, were nevertheless real and relatively powerful" (122).
2) HE HAD NO REASON TO GAIN THE SUPPORT OF CHRISTIANS AT THIS TIME BECAUSE THEY HAD NO INFLUENCE
When Constantine took power, persecution was taking place throughout the empire and many Christians had been removed from military and government positions due to the policies of Diocletian and Galerius (see previous post). According to Gonzalez,
"If Constantine had been such an opportunist, he chose a poor time to seek the support of Christians...He was preparing to go to battle for the city of Rome, (the) center of pagan traditions...Christians were stronger, not in the West, where the battle was to be fought, but in the East, to which Constantine would lay claim only years later. Finally, it should be pointed out that whatever support Christians could give Constantine was of doubtful value" (121).
3) CONSTANTINE BELIEVED CHRISTIANITY TO BE A POWER THAT COULD BE CONTROLLED.
It is probably correct to say that Constantine believed in the power of Christ. The problem is that he wrongly assumed that this power was his to use as long as he supported Christians. He thought that by appeasing the Christian God, he could gain the power needed to rule the empire. Gonzalez stated,
"For (Constantine), the Christian God was a very powerful being who would support him as long as he favored the faithful...What he sought was not the goodwill of Christians, but rather the goodwill of their God" (122).
Scripture, however, clearly opposes this reasoning. Daniel 4:35 says,
In other words, "God does what he wants without anyone forcing His hand.“(God) does as he pleases with the powers of heaven. He does what he wants with the nations of the earth. No one can hold his hand back. No one can say to him, ‘What have you done?’”
Although Constantine had a distorted view of God, many, however, would argue that he received the power he pursued. Unfortunately, he settled for far less than what God intends. As discussed last week, all those in power eventually lose it and empires rise and fall. Only ones position in Christ as an adopted child of God is permanent. J.I. Packer asserted, “God’s adoption of us (believers) makes us his heirs, and so guarantees to us, as our right (we might say), the inheritance that he has in store for us” (217). Although Constantine gained an earthly inheritance he missed out on a spiritual and eternal inheritance that is better by far (Rom 8:16-17; Gal 4:7).
Gonzalez, Justo. The Story of Christianity: Volume 1 The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation. San Francisco: Harper Collins. 1984. 121-122.Packer, J.I. Knowing God. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press. 1993. 17.
