Constantine. In 313, Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, which redefined
Christianity as the official religion of the empire. Two years later, Constantine
converted on his deathbed. Whether or not this was a sincere conversion is
still a matter of debate; some claim he was hedging his bets to avoid the pos-
sibility of eternal damnation in the afterlife. In any case, when he converted,
the entire Roman aristocracy converted with him. Suddenly the status of Jews
and Christians became inverted, leaving Jews in a precarious position for
more than a millennium.
There was a moment of reprieve for Jews under Julian (361–6), the grand-
son of Constantine. Julian, ostensibly a Christian priest and bishop, was a
closet pagan. Once emperor, he revealed his true pagan nature and a bitter
contempt for Christians and Christianity. In order to undermine the spread
and popularity of Christianity, he attempted to revive pre-Christian religion.
To this end, he invited Jews to rebuild the Temple. This offer was short-lived,
however. In 366, Julian was assassinated by his Christian weapon-bearer dur-
ing a campaign against the Sassanian Persians.
The surging confidence and power of Christians bred a growing hostility
toward Jews, particularly in cities such as Antioch, where Christians and Jews
lived in close quarters. Antioch, a wild, cosmopolitan city, was full of Jews,
Christians, and pagans. There, a leading preacher named John Chrysostum
was disturbed by the influence that Judaism continued to exert on local
Christians, and particularly by Christians celebrating Jewish holidays. In
response, he preached hostility toward, and violence against, Jews. In retro-
spect, this was a dangerous moment for Jews. Had Roman policy followed the
teachings of John Chrysostum, the Roman Empire could have eradicated a
majority of world Jewry.
That Roman policy continued to tolerate Jews stemmed from the teachings
of Augustine of Hippo. Augustine lived in isolation, and not in a big city, and
thus had a more idealistic outlook than John Chrysostum. Augustine preached
toleration of Jews, citing four theological reasons. First, he pointed out that
Christ had begged mercy for the Jews. Second, Augustine claimed that Jews
were indispensable as preservers of Hebrew Scripture, and as conduits through
which to understand its true meaning. Third, he argued that the ongoing suf-
fering of Jews attested to the truth of Christianity. Finally, he noted that the
eventual conversion of Jews to Christianity was a precondition for the Second
Coming of Christ; thus Jews must be around at the end of days. From these
arguments, Augustine concluded that Christians must neither kill Jews nor
forcibly convert them to Christianity. The beauty and magnificence of
Christianity, he argued, would in time bring Jews to the baptismal font volun-
tarily. At the same time, he argued that Jews must suffer.
The fact that Christians periodically killed or forcibly converted Jews there-
after suggests that, while Augustine’s notion of Christian toleration of Jews
was the predominant mainstream Christian doctrine, the more antagonistic
The challenge of Hellenism 47