Christianity In The Third Century

Today, Christianity is a diverse, extensive religion spanning dozens of countries and billions of people. However, its roots are quite humble. In fact, the earliest Christians didn’t even call themselves such; the first followers of Jesus Christ were Jews, and it would take hundreds of years for this sect of Judaism to become its own religion. During this time, many Christians living in the Roman Empire incurred the wrath of Roman officials by refusing to conduct Pagan sacrificial rites. Until the third century, Christians were ruthlessly persecuted for their perceived refusal to acknowledge authority. In the third century, though, Constantine changed everything. Once he became emperor, he declared it legal to practice Christianity. His Edict

“One of the first things Constantine does, as emperor, is start persecuting other Christians . . . There’s a kind of internal purge of the church as one emperor ruling one empire tries to have this single church as part of the religious musculature of his vision of a renewed Rome. And it’s with this theological vision in mind that Constantine helps the bishops to iron out a unitary policy of what a true Christian believes” (Cohen). Though Constantine’s purges were criticized for being harsh, they were arguably necessary: they made Christianity consistent. Previously, there had been Gnostics, dualists, and those who refused to accept the New Testament. Instead of there being multiple branches and denominations of Christianity, this unitary policy instructed a newly converted Christian on exactly what to do, eliminating confusion and the corruption of religious affairs. This unified religion could also be more easily assimilated into Roman culture and government. Instead of trying to coax Romans into accepting multiple denominations of the same religion, Constantine could present them with one religion with a single definitive set of beliefs. This caused Christianity to seem more admissible to many Pagans, which allowed the religion to become popular in the

As emperor, he dismantled the systematic persecution of Christians as a whole, allowing for freedom of religion. He also unified Christianity by removing the differences in beliefs found between sects. In addition, Constantine funded extravagant building projects, yielding churches and buildings for public worship. He also allowed Bibles to be legally printed and distributed, making the exchange of ideas much easier. Overall, Constantine’s role as emperor has left an indelible impact on Christianity. Without him, Christianity may have faded into the backwater of history; instead, he caused the religion to be an integral part of Roman culture and government. Had Constantine not been inspired to legalize Christianity, the history of the modern world would be tremendously