Introduction
Constantine was an emperor of Rome from AD 306 to 337 and the sole ruler of the Roman empire from AD 324 to 337. He has been accused of compromising the Christian religion by turning Christian clergy into an elite class of male-only priests and by excluding books from the canon of scripture, among other things. Whether Constantine was a genuine follower of Jesus, or not, these accusations, as far as I can work out, are unwarranted. Moreover, several of his policies were beneficial for Christians. In this article, I briefly outline why I don’t think we can single out Constantine and blame him for the trajectory which Christianity took.
Constantine Halted the Persecution of Christians
In 313, Constantine was one of the people behind the Edict of Toleration, AKA the Edict of Milan. This made Christianity a legal religion and it halted the persecution of Christians. This was welcomed by all Christians! According to Lactantius’s “On the Deaths of the Persecutors” (De mortibus persecutorum), this edict granted Christians and other religious groups, including pagan devotees, “liberty to follow that mode of religion which to each of them appeared best.”
Lactantius, who was an advisor to Constantine, combined history with a defence of Christianity and he claims to quote Constantine:
“When we, Constantine and Licinius, emperors, had an interview at Milan, and conferred together with respect to the good and security of the commonweal, it seemed to us that, among those things that are profitable to mankind in general, the reverence paid to the Divinity merited our first and chief attention, and that it was proper that the Christians and all others should have liberty to follow that mode of religion which to each of them appeared best; so that that God, who is seated in heaven, might be benign and propitious to us, and to every one under our government.
And therefore we judged it a salutary measure, and one highly consonant to right reason, that no man should be denied leave of attaching himself to the rites of the Christians, or to whatever other religion his mind directed him, that thus the supreme Divinity, to whose worship we freely devote ourselves, might continue to vouchsafe His favour and beneficence to us.
And accordingly we give you to know that, without regard to any provisos in our former orders to you concerning the Christians, all who choose that religion are to be permitted, freely and absolutely, to remain in it, and not to be disturbed any ways, or molested.” (Lactantius, Deaths of the Persecutors, Section 48)
Property that had been confiscated was returned to Christians, and church buildings were built or rebuilt. Constantine sponsored some of these building projects himself. Church buildings, however, became more and more like temples, and priest-like rituals developed that bore no similarities with mid-first-century worship practices.
However, Christianity did not become the official religion of the Roman Empire in Constantine’s lifetime. In 380, with the Edict of Thessalonica, Theodosius made Trinitarian (or, Nicene) Christianity the official state religion.
Before Constantine and Pre-Nicea
Already at the beginning of the second century, in some Christian communities, worship rituals were becoming more formalised and contained priest-like elements such as altars. These changes started 200 years before Constantine became emperor. So it is unjust to blame Constantine for the priestly elements that were introduced into Christian liturgies.
Furthermore, Constantine did not introduce patriarchal church structures of leadership. Imperial Roman culture was patriarchal and highly stratified in the first century, as it was in later centuries, and this influenced the church almost from the beginning. For the author of 1 Clement (circa AD 90), the author of the Didache (circa 100), and Ignatius (circa 110), bishops (or, overseers), presbyters (or, elders), and deacons were all men in a tiered hierarchy. When it became a legal religion, and then the official religion of the Roman Empire, Christianity became more appealing to upper-class men who were given powerful roles in the church.
The Council of Nicea (AD 325)
In the early 300s, there was a great deal of discord among Christian bishops which Constantine wanted to resolve for the sake of harmony in his realm. In an effort to establish peace, he convened the first Council of Nicea, which was paid for by the imperial treasury. However, Constantine did not chair the Council; it was chaired by either Ossius (Hosius), Bishop of Cordoba, Eustathius of Antioch, or Alexander of Alexandria. The main topics of discussion were Christology, especially Arianism, and the date of Easter.
In the resolutions passed by the Council, it is evident that male clergy as a professional priestly class was already established at this time. Moreover, apart from a regulation concerning the deaconesses who had been part of the Paulinist movement (a movement which had been deemed heretical), there’s no record I know of about Nicea I that mentions women’s ministry was discussed. Contrary to some ideas I’ve heard, there was no general ban imposed on women ministers at the first Council of Nicea.
Also, I have not found evidence that Constantine or the Council of Nicea had anything to do with the formation of the canon of Scripture. On the other hand, the Nicene Creed was formulated at this Council and it remains a benchmark for orthodox Christian faith. The original Nicene Creed can be read here. The regulations (canons) made at Nicea can be read here.
Conclusion
Constantine was a warrior and a controversial figure. Nevertheless, many bishops welcomed Constantine’s convening of the Council of Nicea and his involvement. For example, Eusebius, who was bishop of Caesarea and played a significant role at Nicea, thought Constantine was great. In his Church History, Theodoret (423-457) described Constantine as “a prince deserving of all praise, whose calling, like that of the divine Apostle, was not of men, nor by man, but from heaven” (Theodoret, Church History, 1.1).
While some continue to blame Constantine for the way Christianity developed, little blame is given to the Christian bishops who wholeheartedly accepted and adapted to the changes facilitated by Constantine, the biggest change being that Christians were no longer being imprisoned, tortured, maimed, and killed. Many bishops who attended Nicea I bore the literal scars of these persecutions.
Explore more
The First Century Church and the Ministry of Women
Sandra Glahn on the Decline of Women in Public Ministry
The Authority and Authenticity of NT Scripture
Freebies for Students of Early Christianity
Further Reading
Primary Sources
Constantine’s letter concerning the dating of Pascha (Easter), as recorded by Eusebius, can be read here in Greek and English.
Regulations concerning the Jewish people, some of which were instituted by Constantine, are recorded in Codex Theodosianus 16 and can be read here. They are in Latin but can be read in other languages using Google Translate or a similar program. Constantine wanted a clear distinction between the Jewish people and Christians and he said some appalling things about the Jews, but he upheld their right to follow their religion, etc.
Eusebius’s biography of Constantine (in four parts) can be read here.
Eusebius’s letter about the Council of Nicea can be read here.
Marutha of Maiperqat, in around 400-410, wrote an account of Nicea I. He claims that of the 318 fathers who attended the Council, only eleven were free from physical marks of torture, “all the others were more or less maimed in their persecutions.” You can read his account here. Other ancient sources give different numbers of how many bishops were present: “Eusebius 250, Eustathius of Antioch 270, Athanasius about 300, Gelasius of Cyzicus at more than 300.” (Source)
More primary (and secondary) sources are listed at the bottom of this page.
Secondary Sources
Marc Alan Schelske has an excellent article entitled, “Constantine wasn’t the problem …”
Michael Bird has a short blog post entitled “Six Things I Bet You Did Not Know About Constantine.”
Chapter 1 of The Church in Crisis: A History of the General Councils, 325-1870, which is on the first Council of Nicea, can be read here. The author is Philip Hughes and this book was published in 1960.
If you’d like to learn more about Constantine and church history, I recommend this video series on YouTube.
Image Credit
Emperor Constantine and the Council of Nicea. Drawing on vellum from MS CLXV, Biblioteca Capitolare, Vercelli, circa 825. (Wikimedia Commons: Public Domain)