A. D. Constantine's Defender Of The Persecuted Church

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death" (Rom 8:1-2). Paul believes if you are in Christ Jesus, then you will be saved. Because of Jesus ' selflessness, he has freed us from sin and death. God had created the world

When Constantine was battling for control of Rome, he prayed for divine interference and saw a cross, the sign of Christianity. He put a cross on all of his soldiers, and they were victorious, with Constantine crediting his triumph to the Christian God. After Constantine took power in 313 AD, he announced the end of Christians persecutions. Later, in AD YEAR, Constantine converted, and Christianity grew faster than ever. Of all factors that influenced Christianity development, Constantine’s conversion was one of the most important, because he made it acceptable.

Throughout history, there have been many instances of leaders converting to new religions, but none have had an impact such as the conversion of Constantine I, nor as ground-breaking as that of Clovis I. Constantine I was born in the year 280. During his reign as emperor of the Roman Empire, the state was falling apart. 1 He was the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He called the Council of Nicea in 325 to resolve conflicts arising between the Arian Christians and the Athansian Christians. 2 This resulted in the canonization of Athansian Christianity, to which Constantine I converted his empire. 3Clovis I was born in the year 466, he was the king of the Franks and ruled Gaul for 30 years. 4 It is unknown when he converted to Christianity, however he was baptised in 496. Clovis I was the first Germanic king to convert to Christianity, and while he did not convert his entire state, his conversion was a turning point in Frankish and European history. Behind any conversion, is a reason. For Constantine I, it was an empire coming apart at the seams. For Clovis, it was a need to be more palatable to a mostly Christian populous.

The battle of Milvian Bridge lead by Constantine in 312 (Allan, 45), gave Christians a surge of hope and faith as Constantine would claim king of the Roman Empire. After such a great battle, Christianity would be put into question how it was impacted through living and socio-economic standards.

From the third to the fourth century, the Roman Empire witnessed a widespread attempt to stop the spread of Christianity. Initially, leaders of the church were predominately targeted, but later anyone admitting to Christianity became a target. The persecutions hit a climax during Diocletian’s reign. These persecutions actually helped the spread of Christianity by glorifying Christians and beginning a tradition of martyrdom that shaped the Church, and the strength that Christians displayed shows that the persecutions could not have possible stopped the spread of Christianity.

Constantine was a very influential leader throughout his life. He was able to accomplish many things, everything from making a major world religion possible, to running a successful empire. It all started when he was born in around 280 CE in Naissus, Moesia, to father Flavius Valerius and mother Helena. His father became Roman emperor in around 305 CE. He was elected to the position of emperor by Maximalla, who was the emperor of Western Rome at the time. While his father was alive, Constantine was sent off to Eastern Rome, where he received a great education and became fluent in both Greek and Latin. This is when most historians agree that he was introduced to Christianity. Constantine then went back to Western Rome where he would take over the position of emperor after his father died. At the age of 57, Constantine got sick and died in Constantinople on May 22, 337 CE. Throughout his whole life, Constantine made many efficacious and influential contributions as a leader, and he was a great example of the Gerstell academy definition of leadership and the Principles and Attributes.

In 303 C.E according to Gaddis (2005), Emperor Diocletian ordered that all the Christian churches and scriptures to be destroyed. Furthermore, any Christian that held a rank in the government were to be dismissed. Diocletian was hopeful that these actions that he was taking would put an end to the Christians. However, once the decree was posted, many Christians were angered by this and were not about to give up so easily.

When we look back at Christianity over the years, there are several people who are remembered for their impact on the religion. The first most important figure was Jesus Christ. However, if we travel forward a bit, into the 4th Century we come across Constantine. Historians agree that Constantine served as an important component in the spread of Christianity. Although he spread the religion in a massive way, others wonder if his methods were more harmful then anything. In this paper I will be discussing Constantine in his rise to power and his impact on Christianity. Constantine provided a mean for the word of God to be spread, which is a major benefit. However, He also used violence and hate as

Once Constantine became the ruler of the entire Western Roman Empire, he met with Licinius, the co-emperor of the eastern empire, in Milan in 313. The intended purpose of this visit was to secure an alliance between the two rulers by the marriage of Constantine's half-sister Constantia to Lucinius. It was at this time that the emperors established what is now known as the Edict of Milan. It granted the freedom to pursue any religion within the empire, not just Christianity. Christianity was merely made legal at this point, not the state-sponsored religion. The edict also granted the return of properties seized from Christians by governors. Maximinus Daia, who was the co-ruler of the eastern empire invaded Lucinian territory in the Balkans and was defeated by Lucinius' army. After a time, relations soured between Constantine and Lucinius. Lucinius eventually went back on the agreement made during the Edict of Milan and in 322 and began persecuting Christians once again (Constantine I). This led to the conflict between him and Constantine in 324, which was viewed as a war of religious beliefs in which Lucinius and his army of Goth mercenaries represented ancient pagan beliefs, and Constantine and his army of Francs represented Christianity. The opposing armies met at Adrianople on the third of July and eventually led to Constantine besieging the city of Byzantium with his ground troops and naval fleet.

Heili argued that Constantine exiling bishops that refused to sign the Nicene creed was wrong. Constantine was completely justified in doing this. If they did not sign the creed, they were heretics. This means they would be kicked out of the Church. As Christianity was the official religion of the Roman Empire, it was right for Constantine to kick them out as they were not part of the Church.

There are several points throughout the history of the church that hold great significance. The bride of Christ has grown from her obscurity to be one of the most prominent religions of today. She has persevered through many challenges. She has pressed her way through oppression. Along the way, God used prominent political figures to aid in the progression of the Christian church.

For my adaptive leadership assignment I decided to write about Constantine. He was born in Naissus, Moesia Superior (modern day Serbia) on 27 February in roughly AD 285. His parents, Flavius Valerius Constantius was an army officer of Rome and his mother, Helena. (Constantine I Biography) After his father death it was known that Constantine was going to be the next Roman emperor, but he was ravenous about ruling the whole four sections of Rome. He was a great military commander that he ended up winning most of his battles. One of his greatest battles was against Maxentius at the Battle of the, Milvian Bridge in AD 312 with the largest army. Constantine claimed that an image of a cross or a Christian God appeared in the sky signifying that

The vision, however, differs between the sources reporting it. Lactantius stated that Constantine did not have a direct vision in the sky, rather he simply had a dream. Needless to say, whatever story of the vision may or may not be true, this battle had shown his confidence in mens divina (divine mind), because it was there that Constantine became a supporter of Christianity. In 313, Constantine declared that Christians should be able to have the freedom and worship whomever they desire in peace. This was stated in The Edict of Milan, signed by Constantine and Licinius, which proclaimed the religious toleration and

In conclusion, we can say that Pelagianism rejects the belief and the doctrine of the Original Sin and claim that humans have not been corrupted, so people are capable of deciding to do good and avoid sin without the help of God. In summary, humans are capable of merit salvation on their own without God’s grace. Pelagius believed that the only thing that can affect us to obey God would be the human ignorance of God’s will.

Christianity’s history is filled with division, controversy, and conflict. One of the most important people who contributed to the lasting success of this diverse religion was Constantine. While legalizing Christianity in Roman society, he founded the capital of the eastern Roman Empire, Constantinople. Because of this and other great accomplishments, Constantine appropriately earned the name Constantine the Great.