This summer I have been taking a class on the History of Christianity. In this course we had to prepare a paper on a historical figure throughout the History of Christianity and also write how this person contributed to the Church or yourself.
I decided to write about Constantine and how his vision for basilicas has contributed to my life as a Christian.
I wanted to share with you some excerpts from my paper…sorry for the length of this blog entry.
It would be hard to find someone throughout history that has affected the movement of Christianity as much as Constantine. With the affects ranging from both positive to negative alike, we continue to feel the affects of his leadership and his decisions well into the twentieth century.
One of the main controversies regarding Constantine as a person is that many debate and wonder if he truly ever converted to Christianity. Historian Roger E. Olson described Constantine as “general of the Roman legions in Britain and parts of Europe north of the Alps for several years and believed that he had a stronger claim to be emperor than any of his rivals” (Olson 138). Olson goes on to say that “He almost certainly was well acquainted with Christianity, but there is no evidence to it or even strong sympathy for it before his siege of Rome in 312” (Olson 138). According to Constantine’s biographer, the Christian bishop Eusebius, Constantine would appeal to any god who could help him conquer his enemy. As the story goes, Constantine saw a vision of a Christian symbol and the words “In this sign conquer.” Constantine is supposed to have gone to battle the very next day with the symbol of Christ on his battle banners and shields, and Roger E. Olson explains “his (Constantine’s) enemy Maxentius was thrown over the Milvian Bridge just outside Rome and drowned in the Po River. Eusebius, who saw Constantine as a great hero, compared Maxentius to Pharaoh and Constantine to Moses and declared the victory an act of God” (Olson 138). Historian Justo L. Gonzalez also says, “The reason for this was not only that the emperor was both powerful and irascible, but also that, in spite of his policies favoring Christianity and of his repeated confession of the power of Christ, he was not technically a Christian, for he had not been baptized. In fact, it was only on his deathbed that he was baptized” (Gonzalez 121).
As we now look at some of Constantine’s accomplishments, it is important to stop and think that aside from knowing entirely (for only God can know entirely) if Constantine was a Christian or not, he still left a remarkable impression on the Christian faith, and if it were true that he was not a Christian, then maybe he would go down as the greatest figure to NOT be a Christian to impact and fuel a religion for over a thousand years.
Throughout Constantine’s rule as sole emperor, several important events for Christianity took place. The first was just after Constantine assumed sole power as the Emperor of Rome in 313, he issued the Edict of Milan (which was named after the city from which he was ruling at that time). This edict gave “both to the Christians and all others full authority to follow whatever worship each man has desired.” It is important to note that the Edict of Milan did not enforce Christianity as the official religion of the empire, but what it did accomplish was to give the Christians protection from government persecution and to give equality for Christianity alongside the other religions. According to Roger E. Olson, the affects of the Edict of Milan were that “being Christian -at least in name- became popular and prudent. Hordes of unconverted pagans flooded into Christian churches merely to gain status in the eyes of the imperial court and the bureaucracy under Constantine” (Olson 139).
Secondly, Constantine left Rome to go and build a “new Rome” in Byzantium (today’s Istanbul in Turkey) in 330 that was located in the east and was seen as the imperial capital of the empire. Constantine’s moving of the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to Byzantium placed the city on the crossroads geographically between Europe and Asia. Constantine renamed the city Constantinople, which meant, the City of Constantine. Later in 395, when the Roman Empire was split into two parts, Constantinople remained capital of the eastern empire, which also came to be known as the Byzantine Empire. It resided as the center of the church in the east long before the Great Schism in 1054. It was also in this city where the Council of Constantinople was held in 381 to help combat numerous heresies and to affirm the earlier work of the Council of Nicea. Olson says, “Throughout his life one of his main projects was to build the most beautiful city the world had ever seen and place at its center his own great palace and cathedral” (Olson 139).
Thirdly, during the reign of Constantine, Christians experienced one of the greatest schisms that church had ever seen. This schism would later become to be known as the Arian controversy, which was named after Arius, who was a church leader in the third and fourth centuries. In short, the Arians believed that Jesus was a created being, “begotten by the Father,” and so was not fully divine. As we will see in the next paragraph, the Council of Nicea condemned Arianism as a heresy in 325. It is recorded that Constantine and many of his successors were very entangled in this controversy, and they took many different sides at various times.
Fourth, Constantine summoned 380 bishops in 325 A.D. from all around the world. Constantine promised to pay their expenses and provide them with adequate protection in their travels. This council in later years came to be known as the Council of Nicea. Roger E. Olson says, “Most bishops from the East attended. Poor travel conditions and language difficulties prevented many bishops of the West from attending. Nevertheless, both East and West branches of Christianity –Orthodox and Catholic- came to acknowledge this meeting in Nicea” (Olson 152). Christendom (Catholic) was to come together at this council in order to deal with various heresies that had arisen in the 300 years since the time of Jesus Christ. Most famously, the council was to combat Arianism, which was a heresy that denied the divinity of Jesus by claiming that the Son was created by the Father and so was not of the same essence as the Father. Olson also says, “Constantine’s biographer, Bishop Eusebius of Caesarea, wrote an account of the council…Apparently Constantine placed himself on a throne raised above the meeting hall where the bishops sat…Constantine made abundantly clear in his opening remarks that he intended to serve as the “Bishop of the bishops” and guide and direct the deliberations to a satisfactory conclusion” (Olson 152). The Council adopted a creed known today as the Nicene Creed, which reads:
I believe in one God the Father Almighty; Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of light, very God of very God begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father; by whom all things were made; who, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; he suffered and was buried; and the third day he rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, And sitteth on the right hand of the Father; and he shall come again, with glory, to judge both the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.
And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceedeth from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified; who spake by the Prophets. And one Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
This creed over time has become one of the universal statements of faith of Christendom.
Of the many great milestones of Christendom that Constantine was either apart of or was a strong influence in, I want to now turn to yet another area of the church that Constantine influenced, and that is the Basilicas (Modernly now known throughout Christendom as Basilicas, or Church Buildings). We have touched on some key moments of influence in Constantine’s life so far, but I want to focus the remainder of this paper enveloping the effects of basilicas in my own life.
We learn from Gonzalez that “Until Constantine’s time, Christian worship had been relatively simple. At first, Christians gathered to worship in private homes. Then they began to gather in cemeteries, such as Roman catacombs. By the third century, there were structures set aside for worship” (Gonzalez, page 125). Gonzalez continues, “The oldest church that archaeologists have discovered is that of Dura-Europos, which dates from about A.D. 250. This is a fairly small room, decorated with very simple murals” (Gonzalez, page 125). We learn even more the affects that Constantine has had on the church when we come to learn that “incense, which was used as a sign of respect for the emperor, began appearing in Christian churches. Officiating ministers, who until then had worn everyday clothes, began dressing in more luxurious garments. Likewise, a number of gestures indicating respect, which were normally made before the emperor, now became part of Christian worship. The custom was also introduced of beginning services with a processional. Choirs were developed, partly in order to give body to that procession. Eventually, the congregation came to have a less active role in worship” (Gonzalez, page 125). Constantine’s vision for what a church building should look like was truly remarkable. Especially considering that his vision is still alive and well all throughout Christendom today. Just reading these descriptions one can’t help but picture the church building down the road. The church in America is far from this description of what church used to be like, look like, or feel like in Dura-Europos. So what did these churches look like? “Some of these churches had an altar in the center, and their floor plan was polygonal or almost round. But most of them followed the basic rectangular plan of the “basilica.” This was an ancient word which referred to the great public –or sometimes private- buildings whose main part was a great room divided into naves by two or more rows of columns” (Gonzalez, page 126). Within these basilicas, there were three main parts: the atrium, naves, and the sanctuary. The atrium “was the entry way, usually consisting of a rectangular area surrounded by walls. In the middle of the atrium was a fountain where the faithful could perform their ritual washing before entering the main part of the building. The side of the atrium abutting the rest of the basilica was called the narthex, and had one or more doors leading to the naves” (Gonzalez, page 126). The naves “were the most spacious section of the basilica. In the middle was the main nave, set aside from the lateral ones by rows of columns. The roof...was usually higher than the rest of the building, so that on the two rows of columns separating it from the other naves there were tall walls with windows that provided light. The lateral naves were lower and usually narrower than the main one. Since there were normally two or four rows of columns…towards the end of the main nave, near the sanctuary, there was a section reserved for a choir, usually fenced in. On each of the two sides of this section there was a pulpit, which were used for the reading and exposition of Scripture…as well as singing Psalms (Gonzalez, page 126-127). The sanctuary “was at the end of the nave…it ran on a direction perpendicular to the nave and was somewhat longer than the rest of the basilica was wide, thus giving the entire floor plan the shape of a cross or “T.” In a place near the middle of the sanctuary was the altar, where the elements were placed for the celebration of communion. The back wall of the sanctuary, directly behind the main nave, was semicircular, thus forming the apse—a concave space behind the altar. Against the wall of the apse there were benches for the officiating ministers…amid these benches there was a chair for the bishop, the “cathedra” –which gave rise to the word “cathedral” (Gonzalez, page 127).
I believe that the creation and vision of the basilicas by Constantine has made a deep contribution to my life as a Christian. Looking back throughout my 7 years of ministry work so far, I can now see a process of deconstruction happening in my life and in the lives of this young generation all around. I almost see it as a cry to retreat or to leave. But it isn’t the faith that I am or that this generation is trying to leave, rather, I think that it is the basilicas of this world or the modern mega-church building era that my generation is trying to leave, and it isn’t just what’s outside but also what’s inside them as well. In other words, I think that we are collectively looking for literal homes or Dura-Europos to worship in and to live in community with others in. From the descriptions that these various Church Historians have given us, it sounds like the church that Constantine envisioned was that of our modern mega-churches, with their enormous budgets, bookstores, coffee shops, big, beautiful buildings, and elder boards that look like corporate America, for many of these Mega-Churches have very similar organizational charts that rival that of Fortune 500 companies. So when you take a step back and look, it appears as though Constantine’s vision is alive and well. I will say, however, that these modern basilicas have made a vast contribution in my life spiritually. They have caused me to redefine what worship is and, in doing so, has helped me find a new generation of people who worship God intimately, communally, and hedonistically. Constantine also made a deep contribution to my life spiritually, as I learned that “Officiating ministers, who until then, had worn everyday clothes, began dressing in more luxurious garments (our version of Tommy Bahama t-shirts). Likewise, a number of gestures indicating respect, which were normally made before the emperor, now became part of Christian worship.” Emperor worship was very common at that time. Many emperors even enforced that you had to worship them. When these gestures and postures were directed toward the ministers, you could only image what happened. They began to be worshiped as well, for it was only natural. The people were already trained to know what these gestures and postures meant. Now, instead of directing them towards the emperor, they would direct them toward their minister (and depending if the people liked the emperor, maybe they liked the idea of worshiping their minister instead…almost as if they had an option). Constantine’s vision for the way ministers were to be treated I think still exists today. It seems like there are no more community churches, rather they are all owned by one person (theoretically). We see this take life when we hear someone refer to the church that they belong to as, “I belong to (insert senior pastor’s name) church.” I do think that this specific worship of the minister comes from a number of reasons. For example, the way that all the pews are facing towards the center of the stage, and the stage is lifted off the ground as if the senior pastor were to be looking down on the people, and the people are in turn looking up towards him. I also think that it is because the pulpit is in the center of the stage. So in a very real sense, when he teaches, the pastor is in a position that would call for people to worship and to adorn him. Equality cannot be found in this posture. The mode of communication is through a voice speaking as authority, rather than through the eyes, which communicates love. I have mentioned these specific ways because I believe that they are rooted deeply in the way that Constantine set up his basilica and the design of his building like we have already read above. Because of these observations mentioned above, I truly believe that Constantine has made a deep contribution to my life spiritually, maybe even the most when it comes to how I live my life communally as the church with other believers. This generation in which I was born is one that wants to have an active role in worship, but, like the basilica way of life in Constantine’s vision, the congregation has a less active role in worship...
These words that I write are not meant to express anger or sarcasm, but, rather, they are meant to cause awareness and give hope that we as a church can see where we have come, how we got here, and also where we want to be. I think more than anything, these words give an explanation to why so many people in their 20’s and even 30’s are leaving the church…the basilicas, but not Jesus. And the humorous irony of it all is that this vision of Constantine’s that we continue to emulate came from a man that we still to this day don’t know if he had a relationship with Jesus or simply used Christian symbols as good luck charms for battle.
Bibliography
Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity. Peabody: Prince Press, 2006.
Olson, Roger E. The Story of Christian Theology, Twenty Centuries of
Tradition & Reform. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1999.
heart.soul.mind.
kyle diroberts
