In 325 AD, Constantine imposed his vision of the Imperial Church on the Early Christians

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Uploaded: 06 May 2017 (9 years ago) · Shared: 03 Sep 2017
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0:01
By the early years of the 4th century,the Roman Empire was under siege, the Persians in the East and the German Tribes in the North.
0:14
The Imperial Government was beleaguered and this ministration levied heavy taxes on the people.
0:23
It was in this period as we've spoken, that Christianity was growing in the Empire.
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The various persecutions of which we have spoken did not halt membership, the growth of membership in those churches.
0:41
Not only had the churches been able to tend to one another during the persecution but they had one converts amongst the most influential men and women in Roman society.
0:56
Increasingly during the 3rd and 4th centuries the Christian church formed an international network across the Empire.
1:08
Christians, however, faced a difficult dilemma.
1:13
They were expected by Rome to sacrifice to the gods and the Emperor.
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Many refused to do so, though as we shall see others did comply. The situation in the West fundamentally changed when Constantine became Emperor following the death of his father in 306. Constantine, here in the 4th century colossus, became Caesar over Spain, Britain, and Gaul.
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Constantine took on one of the other rulers, Maxentius, ruler of North Africa and Italy.
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In October 312 he received a vision outside of Rome, a vision of the Chi Ro represented here in the 17th century painting by Rubens.
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This was the first two letters of the name of Christ and a voice said, in this, conquer.
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Constantine had the Chi Ro put on the shields of his soldiers and proceeded to defeat Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge. He became with this victory the undisputed ruler of the Western Empire.
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Maxentius ingloriously drowned in the River Tiber.
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Historians are skeptical about this story that was told by the historian Eusebius. The earliest accounts of the battle make no mention of the vision.
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Eusebius wrote a biography of Constantine after the Emperor's death, and spoke of the vision as a conversion experience.
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He knew Constantine well, and said that he had the story told to him from the Emperor himself.
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But Constantine was a complicated figure, a pagan monotheist, a devotee of the Sun God, Sol Invictus, the Unconquered Sun. The evidence for a conversion is problematic.
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We do not know what Constantine really worshipped prior to this event. He seems to have had contact with Christians early on, and that contact seems to have greatly influenced his thinking.
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What the Battle of Milvian Bridge involved for Constantine was the close bond that he would make between God and the Imperial Army.

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