The church had been under persecution by the Roman government for two hundred and fifty years. With the coming to the throne of Constantine the Great, this would all change. He would be the chief instrument for raising the church from a low estate of oppression and persecution to a position of honour and power.
He would become the first Christian Caesar (king). This would result in the joining of church and state (a kind of theocracy), which was a great departure from the organisation given to the church by the Lord.
He perceived that idolatry had outlived itself in the Roman Empire and that Christianity was superior. Christian lifestyles were far superior to pagan lifestyles. Christianity appeared to him to be the power he needed for a political reformation of the empire. At first, he revered all the pagan gods as mysterious powers, especially Apollo, the god of the sun.
The first evidence of a leaning towards Christianity was on a military march from Gaul across the Alps with an army of ninety-eight thousand soldiers toward Rome. He said he had a dream one night, in which he was directed to stamp on the shields of his soldiers the cross with the name of Christ, and then go forth against his enemy.
Later, while praying to God in clear daylight towards evening, he claims he saw a shining cross in the heavens above the sun with the inscription, “By this conquer.”
On the following night, he said Christ himself appeared to him while he slept and directed him to have a standard prepared in the form of the cross and go against Maxentius, an enemy in Italy. Hereafter, this cross standard would take the place of the Roman eagle.
We would suppose that if Christ did appear to him, he would have exhorted him to repent and be baptised rather than to carry out a bloody military campaign. He put off his baptism for twenty-five years, almost to the hour of his death, as many believed baptism took care only of your past sins. It did not cover one’s sins between baptism and death.
After his victory in Rome in 312 A.D., he issued an edict which allowed every subject of the Roman Empire to choose whatever religion he preferred. At the same time, he assisted Christians in getting buildings and property, which they turned into church buildings. Later on, they would gain control of pagan temples, which they would convert into places of worship.
This probably explains the origin of cathedrals, which came next. The building itself would be considered sacred. This would be a far cry from the simple places of worship where the early Christians would meet for worship.
Constantine quickly aligned himself with the bishops, which was to his advantage since it was the bishops who controlled the churches. He exempted Christian leaders from military and municipal duty. He abolished various customs and ordinances which were offensive to Christians.
He also erased heathen symbols such as Jupiter, Apollo, Mars, Hercules, and others from the imperial coins. He facilitated the emancipation of Christian slaves. He also gave his sons a Christian education.
Constantine is remembered the most for the Council of Nicaea. Having espoused the cause of Christianity, he wanted to see the churches united. In the year 325, he called upon all the bishops of the empire to meet with him at the city of Nicaea to settle the question concerning the Godhead and, in particular, the divinity of Jesus.
Their expenses for the trip would come from the public treasury. Each bishop was to bring with him two elders and three deacons, which would amount to over fifteen hundred men. The council began around June 14th and closed on the 25th of July.
The direct concern was to establish the doctrine of the true deity of the Son. The deity of the Holy Spirit did not seem to be an issue. The result was the writing of the first creed for the church that dealt with doctrine.
The Council of Nicaea was a major turning point in the history of the church. It seems strange to us that almost three hundred years after the apostles, there would arise those who would question whether Jesus was divine.
The New Testament was completed by 68 A.D. The deity of Jesus is stressed numerous times throughout the New Testament. For the next two hundred and fifty years, there were serious questions about the divinity of Jesus that were being disputed.
We never cease to be amazed at how quickly error can creep into the church. We wonder why there was no respect for the teachings of the apostles, who were inspired by the Holy Spirit to write the New Testament.
This one man, Constantine, would completely devastate the church so that it would never be the same. Later on, efforts would be made to correct some of the abuses. While history records all the negative things about the church, it does not seem to recognise that there were those who would have opposed such changes.
Jesus said, “The gates of Hades (death) would not prevail against it,” Matthew 16:18. Therefore, there is every reason to believe the Lord’s church continued to exist in smaller numbers in the Roman Empire and later in Europe, but not in as large numbers as the apostate church (Catholic Church) had.
It is amazing what one man can do to destroy the Lord’s church. The pagan emperor claims he saw a sign in the sky of a fiery cross and a vision of Christ at night. These were pure lies.
He claimed to be a convert to Christianity, even though he was not baptised until death was knocking at his door. He called together the bishops of the Roman Empire (about 318) to meet with him in Nicaea. He appeared in royal robes before them and presided over them.
Furthermore, he nominated himself to be a bishop, except he said he considered himself to only be over material and civil matters, whereas the bishops would be concerned with spiritual matters. The result of the Council of Nicaea was the writing of the very first religious creed.
From then on, the writing of creeds would become common. It also marked the beginning of the union of church and state, which still exists today in certain places. This great demagogue demonstration was a complete denial of Scripture. It was nothing but blasphemy and a profound change in the church.
Constantine was the first to make major changes in the organisation of the Lord’s church, leading thousands away from the truth. God’s way is always the best way. It is tragic that men think they know a better way.
Constantine sent his mother, Helena, to locate relics in Palestine. Arriving in Palestine, she builds the Church of the Nativity and the Church of Ascension, supposedly over the places of the birth and ascension of Jesus.
She claimed to have brought back the original cross, its nails, plus many other relics. The buildings and relics became sacred. Thus, we have the beginning of the worship of relics.