Constantine

The Western and

Eastern Churches

What is going on?• The empire is on the brink of destruction

– Diocletian – ordered “every must worship the same gods”

– Many tribes are entering and destroying the empire

– The empire has more than one emperor at the same time to control the situation

• In 312, Constantine had a vision in which he was told he was going to win under the symbol of the cross – He won the war– Converted to Christianity

• In 313, Constantine and Licinus signed the Edit of Milan– Edit of Milan= a decree offering religious

freedom

Constantine’s vision:Chi Rho – the first two Greek Letters for Christ:

XR + alpha=first and omega=last

Constantine & Christianity • After Constantine’s conversion, he:

– Stopped the practice of using state funds to support pagan worship and transferred the money to churches instead

– He exempted priests and other church leaders from having to perform certain public services

– Allowed people to transfer legal cases from the public court system to the bishop’s court

– Enacted laws to restrict pagan worship and encourage people to convert to Christianity• Being a Christian became a big help if you

wanted to move up the ranks of government

– made Sunday a legal holiday• Included Christian holy days like

Christmas and Easter on the official calendar

– Allowed the use of violence against those Christian people and churches he considered unorthodox or heretical – Gnostics

Constantine’s mission• His mission was to oversee the

development of Christian faith within that empire (called it his divine right)

• Later, he fought and defeated Licinus to become the only emperor of Rome

• One of the first things he did when he became the sole emperor was to abandon Rome (located on the West) and build a new capital city- located on the East (Byzantium)

Two Main Churches • Byzantium’s name was changed to Constantinople honor Constantine• While the rulers of the empire were living in Constantinople, the bishop of Rome became

the “emperor” of the West (Rome)– Constantinople is now known as Istanbul

• In the West, the popes were the sole power overseeing the material and spiritual welfare of the Western Europe– Popes had to rely on faith and conviction to battle invaders intent on pillaging the city

and the western territories– Pope Damasus I

• Asked St. Jerome to translate the standard Bible and the liturgy from Greek into Latin- called the Vulgate (the language of the common people)

• These changes strengthened the position of the papacy even more and added to the growing separation between the Western and Eastern Churches

– Rome/Western church claimed Peter and Paul as citizens since they died in the city of Rome

• Western church= Latin church• Eastern church= Greek church • In the East, emperors and patriarchs divided secular and spiritual rule

East and West(The Eastern and Western churches divided roughly along their respective side of the line)

EAST

WEST