- Constantine: the Emperor Becomes
a Christian
a. At one point in his life, Constantine
prayed to the Christian God for help.
He won the battle. This lead to
Constantine himself becoming a
Christian, providing government sup-
port and even a degree of leadership.
b. Even before Constantine,
Christianity had actually spread
through the upper houses, especially
among the women. Christians may
have numbered about ten percent of
the empire.
c. It was Constantine who summoned
the Council of Nicea in 325 CE and
shortly thereafter began the process
of converting Palestine into a
Christian Holy Land.
d. He advised the bishop of Jerusalem
to identify and enshrine the sites
connected with the life and death of
Jesus. Soon, monumental basilica-
shrines were erected, at imperial
expense, at the site of Jesus’ death
and entombment in Jerusalem
(Church of the Holy Sepulcher), and
over the (supposed) site of his birth
(Church of the Nativity) in
Bethlehem. Eventually there were
similar shrines all over Palestine.
CONSTANTINE:
A Christian Emperor
Flavius Valerius Constantinus
was the son of Roman officer
and future emperor Constantius
and Helena, a common woman
of humble background who was
later sainted. Born February 27,
271, 272 or 273 (date is unclear)
he rose to power upon the death
of his father on July 25, 306.
With his rise to power political-
ly, religious change was on the
horizon. Constantine became a
Christian and immediately ended
all religious persecution and even
provided restitution to some suf-
ferers. After defeating the eastern
rulers and becoming sole emper-
or of the Byzantine Empire,
Constantine moved the capital of
the empire away from the pagan-
soaked city of Rome and created
Constantinople, a new city of
devout Christianity.
Constantine died on the day
of Pentecost, May 22, 337. His
sarcophagus was placed in the
Church of the Holy Apostles
surrounded by the memorial
steles of the Twelve Apostles,
symbolically making him the
Thirteenth Apostle.
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