The Role Of Constantine's Contribution To The Development Of Christianity

Christianity has been known to human beings as the world’s largest religion. People nowadays are familiar with lots of Christian terms, such as Cross, Bible and God, even though some people are not Christians. This phenomenon can be attributed to the spread of God’s words by Christians and Christian church all over the world. Their contributions to spread Christianity support the development of the religion. In the development of Christianity, many famous people had contributed to spread God’s words. Emperor Constantine played an influential role in promoting the development of Christianity.
Constantine was the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. His conversion to Christianity was a milestone in the development of the religion.
Constantine was close to his mother, Helena, who allegedly discovered the True Cross in her final years. Helena had a major influence on Constantine’s faith. “Constantine’s adherence to Christianity was closely associated with his rise to power. He fought the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in the name of the Christian God, having received instructions in a dream” (J. F. and Nicol). Constantine attributed his success to his conversion to Christianity and the support of God. “The triumphal arch erected in his honor at Rome after the defeat of Maxentius ascribed the victory to the ‘inspiration of the Divinity’ as well as to Constantine’s own genius” (J. F. and Nicol). In his letter to the Persian king Shāpūr II, he proclaimed how much he revered God, and how God has lead him in seeking the truth. Under the rule of Constantine, Christianity had emerged from the shadows. (Stephenson) “Shortly after the defeat of Maxentius, Constantine met Licinius at Mediolanum (modern Milan) to confirm a number of political and dynastic arrangements” (J. F. and Nicol). As a results of this meeting, in 313 AD, Constantine established the Edict of Milan. The Edict stated that “when you see that this has been granted to [Christians] by us, your Worship will know that we have also conceded to other religions the right of open and free observance of their worship for the sake of the peace of our times, that each one may have the free opportunity to worship as he pleases; this regulation is made that we may not seem to detract from any dignity of any religion” (Edict of Milan, 288). The establish of the Edict of Milan can regarded as Constantine’s first step in creating an alliance with God. Christians lived a hard life before 313 AD.
“Ever since the fall of the Severan Dynasty in 235, rivals for the imperial throne had bid for support by either favoring or persecuting Christians” (Frend, 135). During this time, Christianity was illegal for citizens to talk about. They are forbidden to worship their God, nor proclaim their faith. Any specific Christian element can not be found in Christian artworks before 313 AD. Christian artists, since their faith was not known by any one, might be forced to produce artwork used to worship the other legal religious gods. However, artists hided bible stories in their artwork and metaphorized elements, such as shepherds, to worship God in their artworks. The establish of the Edict of Milan can be marked as the milestone in the development of Christianity, which gave Christianity a legal
status. In the reign of Constantine, the First Council of Nicaea convened in 325 AD. This ecumenical council was the first effort to attain consensus in the Church, by settling the Christological issue of the divine nature of Jesus and his relationship to God. “The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built on his orders at the purported site of Jesus’ tomb in Jerusalem and became the holiest place in Christendom”. Constantine built new churches with distinguishable architectural style, which during the pre-Constantinian time can not be distinguished from the typical domestic architecture. The structure of Constantinian churches reflects the significance of the sacrament of Baptism to initiate more new believers to convert to the faith. The Council of Nicaea had important effects on the later development of Christian churches. Constantine not only played an influential role as a Christian, but he was also embraced as a great emperor.
“As an emperor, Constantine united the Roman empire, and he enacted many administrative, financial, social, and military reforms to strength the empire” (Stephenson). His reform of Roman empire reversed the frail Rome. The new government structure that he established was the important institutional foundations of the Roman empire for more than a thousand years. From this point of view, although the Constantine era was not the golden age of Roman empire, he was the pivotal monarch who turned the frail Rome into a unity and set up a slid foundation for the later growth of the
empire. Ultimately, Constantine had made influential efforts in the development of Christian churches. As a Christian, Constantine successfully changed the fate of Christians by legalizing Christianity in the Roman empire, which gave a tolerance and freedom for all Christians to worship God at that time. In addition, his contributions to set up the Council of Nicaea solved the argument about the relationship between Jesus and God, and thus unified the churches. His efforts provided a foundation to the later development of Christian churches, and had pushed Christianity to become the dominated religion in later years. Even after his death, his settlements still affected the development of Christianity in the empire and extended for more than a thousands years. Without his contributions, it would take a longer time for Christianity to be accepted in the empire, and Christianity would not be known to so many people nowadays. His efforts not only affected the Roman empire, but also bring an impact on modern Christian churches.