Constantine

[PierreGringoire]

What did Constantine do to Christianity? I believe he had an indirect role in contributing to its reformation so to speak. He called the council of Nicea, but did he institute any rituals such as baptism or was that mainly started by the cloister monks in Rome (including Augustine in the East)? Interestingly enough, Constantine never converted to Christianity himself until he was on his deathbed. About 100 years after Constantine Rome had its first Catholic ponifus maximus. The first "pope's" name was Leo I.

[PierreGringoire]

Again, to clarify: Did Constantine play any direct role in inspiring the Roman Catholic Church to be a certain way.

[togre]

No.

Constantine reigned during the strife of the Arian controversial. He called the counsel that formulated the Nicene Creed. However, he was not particularly theologically astute and also his court was inclined in favor of the proscribed error.

The Arian Controversy: Arius was a bishop (I think) who taught that Jesus was like God (homoiousius) but not of the same substance as God (homoousius). He also said "There was when he was not" teaching that while greater than angels or humans Jesus was nevertheless a created being. [This is a similar Christological position to that of Mormons or Jehovah Witnesses, although they seem to have no direct connection to this ancient heresy.] The opposing view championed by Athenasius, Bishop of Alexandrea, showed from Scripture that Jesus is in fact true God and has all the attributes of God. Even though his side prevailed, it took two ecumenical councils and Athenasius was exiled (several times I believe) for his views. While Arianism was denounced it was to remain a problem in the eastern portion of the Church. The western portion, led by the Bishop of Rome, was for the most part spared of this turmoil.

This entire incident did provide a pattern of mingling church and state. The later church perfected this to the point where the Pope and many bishops were secular rulers of feudal territories.

Constantine's baptism on his deathbed flowed from an misunderstanding of baptism that viewed it as washing away only the sins that preceded the baptism. If that were the case you would want to wait as late as possible. This is not the Biblical teaching of Baptism.

Constantine did not institute any sacraments or ordinances or even common practices. His mother (St. Monica?) established churches and monasteries especially in the Holy Land, identifying the traditional sites of important events in Christianity (the Church of the Nativity for example). Her identification of these sites is a mixed bag, given the 300 years that passed between the events and her life.

Constantine's biggest impact on Christianity was the dramatic influx of converts (or "converts") that followed the Emperor to his new religion. Some were obviously sincere, but others obviously were simply trying to curry favor (when in Rome?). Prior to this the process of becoming a full member of the church involved a two year period of instruction called the "catecumanate." This instruction preceded a convert being allowed to receive the Eucharist or Lord's Supper. It also protected the underground church from betrayal during persecution. The influx of converts overwhelmed the training process and resulted in a large number of poorly instructed, modestly devote Christians. Some have traced the rise of saint and Mary worship to this time as the new Christians imported some of their old religious practices and teachings (sycretism).

Oh! I failed to mention at the outset, that Constantine made Christianity a legal religion (not the, but a) in the Empire. Before this it was outlawed, although most of the persecutions were local, not empire wide (though some were) and had died down a bit at that time.