History of Emperor Constantine

By: Rev. Dr. Sundara Rao Tsappidi, M.A., D. Litt.

For the readers of the Bible, the study of Christian history is something more than academic pursuit. Here, our attention is drawn to look into the history of one of the Roman rulers by name Constantine, who embraced Christianity along with his mother, Helena. In this context, we have to understand the plans of God, how He molded Constantine for His works. Constantine divided the Roman Empire into four parts and he remained as a ruler to the Eastern part. He made Byzantine as his capital, which originally belonged to the Greeks. Later, that name was changed into Constantinople, which remained as the Eastern Christian world for 1,000 years. After some time, this Constantinople was changed into

Istanbul and again, that was changed into modern Turkey.

Constantine was a courageous hero of faith, and God used him for many purposes. Out of 54 Roman rulers that ruled Israel, he was the only emperor who became a Christian along with his mother Helena. Both tried their best for the spreading of Christianity. Actually, one wonderful thing happened at that time. He was forced to do some battles, and in such a critical situation, he dreamed a dream in which he saw the Cross hanging in the clouds, and he heard a voice saying, “In the sign, you will conquer, or on my name you will win the wars.” Eventually, he became victorious in all the battles. Then, what did he accomplish with the blessing of God?

• He stopped persecution that was rampant for about three

centuries.

• He abolished the Cross punishment.
• He made Christianity an authorized religion.
• He stopped the mass slaughter of innocent people by making Christianity an approved

religion with the following conditions:

a. Christians can openly read and possess the New Testament. b. Christians can openly maintain their churches, ministries, and meetings anywhere without fear. c. Christians can take part in the Lord’s Supper.

d. Church edifice must be rebuilt, and it must be remembered.

• Constantine openly proclaimed himself as a Christian clearly and publicly,

as he understood true faith in Christ and did not care for the consequences.

• He sent his mother to the Holy Land to locate the ancient Christian sites and build shrines

over the holy places. Later, she became Saint Helena and was honored with the title “Reverend Royal Lady”. It is said that she built the Church of Ascension on the Mount of Olives to mark the three traditional holy sites. She also identified two more sites outside the wall of Jerusalem. They were the places of Christ’s crucifixion and burial. She believed that she was guided by God to locate all these places. When the hill was dug, three pieces of wood signifying three crosses were discovered. And Constantine built the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in that place.

Constantine declared that he wanted to hold a meeting at Nicaea (a place), which was about 45 miles from Constantinople. About 2,000 delegates attended this marathon conference, and most of them were bishops. The result was the “Nicaea Creed” came into existence. The meeting also confirmed the scriptures teach and demand for the deity of Christ and the triune nature of God. According to John 1:1-4, Matthew 28:18-20, and Revelation 1:8-20, the Nicaea Creed reads as follows:

“We believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God ……….. And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life…..”

In addition to that, Constantine put before the council the correct date for the celebration of Holy Easter and it was done based on the Jewish calendar. He established Constantinople as the headquarters of Christianity for about 1,000 years. However, the Christians of the West did not know all these wonderful changes.

Then, Constantine gave complete liberty to the Pope, who declared supremacy over everything. Finally, the Pope was crowned as a king to the West with full powers. Today, what we see in the Vatican, the headquarters for the papacy, is the outcome of Constantine himself. His achievements were most wonderful. They were: It was he who made Christianity a national religion. It was he who changed the Sabbath day from Saturday to Sunday. It was he who demolished all the heathen temples built by King Solomon in order to please his heathen wives, and constructed magnificent churches there. That place was called Baalbek, which is in the Eastern part of Mount Olive. So to say, both Christians and Jews were very happy in his reign.

One of his close friends, Eusebius, said the following words about Constantine. First, he praised him for his noble qualities toward humanity and his obedient faith toward God and Christ. As a result, God also blessed him abundantly and he remained as a noble and true believer of Jesus Christ in Christian history. This brief study on the life of Constantine would suffice to

throw light on Christian history and provide some valuable information which might encourage believers to estimate the first Christian Roman ruler. And finally, his accomplishments as a Christian ruler were :

• He stopped the persecutions that continued for about three centuries.
• He sent his mother Helena to the Holy Land to locate Christian sites

and build shrines over them.

• He made Christianity an approved national religion.
• He proclaimed himself as a Christian and followed Christian causes.
• He asked his close friend Eusebius to write about his early Christian life.
• He convinced the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D., which settled the question of Christ’s deity.
• He also asked the Council to decide the correct date of resurrection as Holy Day.
• He established the city of Constantinople to remain as the capital for the entire

Eastern Christian world for a millennium.

• In addition to that-, he built four churches and they were:

a. The Church of Enunciation in Nazareth in the place of the house of Joseph and Mary. b. The church on the birthplace of Jesus Christ called the Church of Nativity. c. The church in Christian colony (in Jerusalem) called the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. d. The church on Mount Olive in memory of his mother Helena named the Church of Helena.

So, what the Emperor Constantine did for the spread of Christianity nobody would have done in the entire world.