In Hoc Signo Vinces - The Vision of Constantine

Triumph [the book] | H. W. Crocker III

[Antoninus]

The truth is that his vision is really the figment of some Medieval poet's imagination.

I guess that explains why it appears in Eusebius of Pamphylia's "Life of Constantine" which was written contemporary to Constantine's reign. Unless you're claiming that the vision was inserted into the text by a Medieval monk? If so, please provide the textual criticism backing up that claim.

Constantine basically had what amounted to a temporary fox hole conversion. After the battle he went back to worshipping his pagan son god.

Which explains why he dedicated such stately buildings as the Chuch of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople, and the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome during his lifetime, in addition to many other churches. Neo-Platonists were not know for such largesse toward Christians.

When he merged the Church of Rome with the Roman Empire, it kicked off the Dark Ages

Hardly! You've been bamboozled by someone impersonating a history professor! Try reading Belloc's "Crisis of Civilization" for an introduction to the real history. If it wasn't for the Church, the accumulated knowledge and culture of antiquity would have been lost when the barbarian hordes over-ran the Western Empire. It's quite conceivable that if not for the Catholic Church saving the writings of Livy, Tacitus, Aristotle, etc. the American Republic may never have existed.

...which gave us the Inquisition, the Borgias, the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre, the Gun Powder Plot and a millennium of corruption and bloodshed that lasted until the rise of republics and democracies which followed the fall of the feudal kingdoms.

And Lord knows, the rise of secular "republics and democracies" along with atheist socialist and communist regimes have given us several centuries of uninterupted peace and quiet. You also managed to leave out the hundreds and thousands of people who lost wealth, property and lives in England simply because they were Catholics. The early history of Protestantism (particularly in England) is one of pillage and murder on a terrible scale.

Back to the history books with you!

[american colleen]

sez you! ;-)

[Antoninus]

From an Orthodox web site:

Troparion Tone 8

O Lord, thy disciple Emperor Constantine, who saw in the sky the Sign of Thy Cross, / Accepted the call that came straight from Thee, as it happened to Paul, and not from any man. / He built his capital and entrusted it to Thy care. / Preserve our country in everlasting peace, through the intercession of the Mother of God, / for Thou art the Lover of mankind.

Amen!

[Antoninus]

Raphael's The Cross Appears to Constantine

[Antoninus]

Flavius Valerius Constantinus Magnus

[Antoninus]

Constantine and Justinian offer their famous churches to the Theotokos and Child.

From a mosaic adorning the most beautiful Church I've never seen ... Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.

[Antoninus]

Illulstration of the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople, built by Constantine. Later, it was destroyed by Sultan Mehmet II who built the Fatih mosque on its foundations. This mosque was then damaged beyond repair in 1763 by an earthquake...

[JMJ333]

Thank you! I was searching and searching for the painting in 44. I found one, but it was hosted by geocities. I should've looked under "Raphael" and went from there.

I appreciate your contributions! =)

[Romulus]

When he merged the Church of Rome with the Roman Empire, it kicked off the Dark Ages...

You're peddling a ludicrous anachronism. It was Catholic Christianity (incorporating the churches of Rome, Alexandria, Jerusalem, Antioch, Ephesus, and more) that Constantine promoted, not the Church o' Rome. The great majority of Christians in Contantine's time lived in the East; Rome was comparitively pagan until quite late. Although the universal Church was acknowledging the primacy of the bishop of Rome for a good two centuries before the Battle of the Ponte Milvio, no one at that time would have understood "Church of Rome" as meaning anything but that metropolitan see and possibly its suffragans.

But I would like to pursue this theory of yours, that what kick-started the Dark Ages was not barbarian invasion, nor economic collapse, plague, internecine warfare, or the destruction of the aqueducts, but the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed. Moreover, please explain how Christianity triggered a "dark" age only in the West, while the Eastern Empire with its capital in Constantinople (even more fervently Christian, and consumed with theological debate) survived as a powerhouse of fabulous wealth, learning, and political might for centuries after the political-economic smash-up of the West.

I look forward to hearing from you.

[MarMema]

please post any thoughts you might have on this thread for my enlightenment.

[Commander8]

All I know is had I lived back then, I would have either been burned at the stake or boiled in oil for refusing to kiss some statue's foot or even reading the Bible.
I thank God for the religious freedom we all have today.

[JMJ333]

That's quite a turn around from your farflung accusations earlier on the post. I thank you anyway. It made the thread intetesting.

[Antoninus]

All I know is had I lived back then, I would have either been burned at the stake or boiled in oil for refusing to kiss some statue's foot or even reading the Bible. I thank God for the religious freedom we all have today.

Back when? Your original post covered a scope of about 1000 years of history! If you're talking about what happened to Christians during the persecutions of the 1st - 3rd centuries AD, this statement is indeed correct. Otherwise, you have no idea what you're talking about.

[Romulus]

You still here, Commander? Ready to answer my questions yet?

[The_Reader_David]

It seems a very standard account, albeit written by a Westerner, since it ahistorically uses the capitalized "Catholic Church," at a time when the Church, at once catholic and orthodox, was simply the Church.

It also stops the story early: Constantine, while still technically a pagan, not having received Holy Bapstism, proceeded to build a new capital for the Empire, a capital city without any pagan temples, but with many Christian temples. He also looked after the interests of the Church by calling the First Ecumenical Council, and accepting its outcome, despite the fact he personally seemed to have Arian sympathies (witness his choice of bishop from whom to receive Baptism on his death bed.)

It should be noted that the forgiveness of post-baptismal sins was not yet generally received throughout the Church in St. Constantine's day, so his decision to delay baptism should likely be understood as a desire to be forgiven of the sins which were occasioned by statecraft, rather than a lingering pagan belief.