Holy Seulcher Research Paper

1521 Words4 Pages

Constantine the Great initiated the construction of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in 326 CE (Ousterhout 1990: 44). It was often believed that Constantine built the Church of the Holy Sepulcher to commemorate Jesus because he converted to Christianity after the battle of Milvian Bridge. However, this remained controversial because he received baptism very late in his life. It is arguable that as a Roman emperor, he noticed the expanding community of Christians and their power, and decided to take advantage of their religion to strengthen his empire. Constantine promoted Christianity as a tolerated religion of the Empire, be-leveled the pagan temple on the site of Golgotha and erected a grand church to commemorate Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. …show more content…

Under the influence of political manipulation, in the process of the construction and reconstruction of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, it gradually became a sacred place that commemorated Jesus and also the focal point of pilgrimage. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher conveyed itself as the new Christian Axis Mundi. However, there are still some issues that remained controversial. It is arguable that Christians had had the religious concept of physical holiness before the Church of the Holy Sepulcher was built. It may not be conveyed because Christianity was not a tolerated religion before the reign of Constantine the Great. Considering that fact that Golgotha was occupied by a pagan temple before the time of Constantine, Christianity back then could be a community that did not have power to build a church of their own. It is possible that Christians had already adapted the idea of physical holiness before the reign of Constantine; they just did not have the chance to convey it. By the time of Constantine being the Emperor, he promoted Christianity as a tolerated religion, and Christians had the chance and the power to express its religious ideologies. However, this is only an alternative way of explaining the change of Christianity from a religion with no emphasis on physical holiness to a religion that has a physical center – the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. No matter the reason why; it is unquestionable that the Church of the Holy Sepulcher has significant religious importance to Christianity. It is the Christian sacred architecture in the holy

Open Document