Transcript The Constantine Shift - Bishopbriggs Academy

The Constantine Shift
The Early Church in the Roman
Empire
• The apostles of Jesus began preaching
his Word after Pentecost when they
received the Holy Spirit (Acts 1)
• Each apostle travelled within the Roman
Empire and churches grew in these areas
• The original base for the early Church was
Jerusalem but after 70CE it moved to
Rome
The Early Church in the Roman
Empire
Early Christians were part of the
Roman Empire
• After the initial missions of the apostles
most Christians came from Non-Jewish
(Gentile) backgrounds
• After the Council of Jerusalem there was
no longer an obligation for Christians to
become Jews first
• Christianity grew in popularity amongst
Roman and non Roman citizens
Paul the Christian Roman Citizen
• St Paul was a Jewish convert who spread
Christianity around the greatest area of the
Empire
• As a Roman citizen he saw the benefits of
the Empire and had no sympathy with
rebellion
• “ Obey the State authorities” Romans 13
indicates he believe the government was
there by God’s will
Ordinary Christianity
• As Christianity grew throughout
the Empire it became a leading
political force.
• Church leaders or Bishops had
power of their supporters
• Early Emperors sought to quash
it as they enjoyed the adulation
that Emperor worship conveyed
• By the 4th Century C.E. the
numbers were to great to
persecute.
Emperor Constantine
• Emperor Constantine chose
to harness the power of
Christianity to his Empire
• He organised the Council of
Bishops at Nicaea to come
to agreement over the basic
tenets of Christianity
• He made Christianity the
official religion of the Empire
The Constantine Shift
• Once Christianity was
the official religion it
had new issues to
contend with
• Fighting was no
longer a matter of
personal conscience
but of defence of the
Empire
The Constantine Shift
• The reasons for the
justification of War
had to be worked
through
• Allowances had to be
made for soldiers
whose job was
defence
• The Church was now
established and had a
hierarchy Pope,
Bishops etc.
Constantine Shift
• Christians had to
accept that the Final
Judgement may be
later than originally
thought
• The difference
between those
concerned with
religion (e.g. priests)
and others could be
made
Task
1. Why were Early Christians pacifists?
2. Why were the Early Christians persecuted
by a)The Jews b) The Romans and why
did this change over time?
3. How did Constantine’s attitude change
Christianity?
4. Why is the Constantine Shift significant in
the discussion of Christianity and warfare?