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I once heard two Christians speak ill of Emperor Constantine, and knew this was un-fair. On the contrary, Constantine was a coura-geous hero of the faith, whom God used greatly.

Constantine is known as the fi rst Christian emperor of the Roman Empire. He lived during A.D. 272-337 and began serving as Emperor in A.D. 305. In the system following Diocletian’s dividing of the Roman Empire into four quar-ters in A.D. 293, there were a corresponding four emperors. One was the “Augustus” (the “most majestic”) in the West (the Roman

I once heard two Christians speak ill of For the believer, the study of Christian history should be seen as something far more than simply an academ-ic pursuit. An understanding of Christian history can broaden our perspective and allow us to see the move-ment of God’s plan through time and how it relates to both current events and Bible prophecy. Roman history – especially as it relates to Emperor Constantine – is one such example. Much of what oc-curred in ancient Constantinople and the spread of the Church throughout the Middle East during the Byzantine Empire has signifi cant ramifi cations today. Constantinople, which is modern-day Istanbul, Turkey, will play a major role in the last days.

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I N S I G H T F E A T U R E ■

Written by Dr. Gary G. Cohen

C O N S T A N T I N E

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world), and under him, the Caesars in the West. � en there was the Augustus in the East (the Greek world), and his deputies, the Caesars in the East. Each in turn ruled over a quarter of the empire in this “tetrarchy.” Constantine’s father became Caesar in the West in A.D. 293, and, by A.D. 305, Constantine rose to Augustus in the West. A series of civil wars followed, with Maximian and his son, Maxentius, rising against Constantine.

In December, A.D. 312, Constantine defeat-ed Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge across the Tiber River just outside of Rome. His cavalry broke Maxentius’ cavalry, and his infantry followed, with Maxentius

drowning in the river. Constantine proclaimed before the battle that he saw a cross in the sky among the clouds and heard a voice in a dream cry out, “In hoc signo vinces,” which means, “in this sign you will conquer.” Before the battle, Constantine had his soldiers place an X (Greek, Chi), as a form of a cross or as the fi rst letter of Christos, on their shields. � ey won a momen-tous victory and soon after, in January, A.D. 313, Constantine, as a clearly proclaimed Christian, passed the Edict of Milan (also known as the Edict of Toleration). � is law, at last, permitted Christians to practice their faith legally and open-ly along with Rome’s traditional Mithraic and Mount Olympus pagan religions, and Judaism.

Constantine proclaimed, before the battle, he saw a cross in the sky and heard a voice in a dream cry out, “In hoc signo vinces,” which means, “in this sign you will conquer.”

Constantine had his soldiers place an X (Greek, Chi), as a form of a cross or as the fi rst letter of Christos, on their shields …they won a momentous victory.

Constantine passed the Edict of Milan (Edict of Toleration) permitting Christians to practice their faith legally and openly....

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D R . G A RY G . C O H E N

the firstchristianemperor

C O N S T A N T I N E

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In A.D. 324, Licinius and his army, allied with the Goths, challenged Constantine and his Franks in the Battle of Adrianople, with Constantine’s soldiers’ shields wearing the Labarum, or XP, Chi-rho, which clearly represented Christ. Constantine was again victorious, all serious opposition had been quelled, and Constantine stood as absolute ruler of the Roman Empire. By A.D 325, he moved the chief capital of the Empire out of Rome, the chief city of the Latin West, to Byzantium, the capital city of the Greek East, calling it at fi rst, New Rome. � e eastern Greek people were not keen on this name and it soon became “Constantine’s

City,” which, in Greek, is Constantine Polis, hence Constantinople. (� is great city, which uniquely spanned Europe and Asia, was the chief city and capital of the Eastern Christian world for over a millennium, until its fall to the Ottoman Turks on May 29, 1453. Its new conquerors called it “[Con-] stan-bul,” which became Istanbul.

When people speak ill of Constantine, they usually itemize three things:

1. � ey heard or read someone who suggested that Emperor Constantine

When people speak ill of Constantine, they

probably made Christianity a legal religion because he saw which way the political wind was blowing and wanted to be on the winning side. With this they ask the question, “Do we really know whether or not he was born again?”

2. � ey note that he was responsible for convening the Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325, which connected the “Easter Date” to the Roman solar cal-endar, and thus moved it away from the Hebrew lunar calendar and its Passover connection.

3. He somehow paganized the Christian religion by raising it to the status of the in-house Roman Empire’s state religion.

Of course, we should speak also of that which God accomplished through Constantine.

1. CONSTANTINE STOPPED THE PERSECUTIONS.

From A.D. 64 to 312, Rome’s emperors waged ten brutal persecutions against the Christians, an average of one every 25 years. � is put every generation of Christians through an awful persecution, which lasted one or more years each. Millions of prayers went up, saying, “O Lord, stop them from persecuting us! Stop the killing!” If Constantine alone was used of God to accomplish the ceasing of the killing, every time his name is mentioned, we should lift a prayer saying, “� ank you, Lord.” Give God the glory, but don’t speak evil of Constantine. He is known in history as “Constantine the Great,” and this ceasing of the persecutions was a key reason for this title.

2. CONSTANTINE MADE CHRISTIANITY AN APPROVED RELIGION, AND THE FAVORED RELIGION.

Constantine did more than, for humanitar-ian reasons, at last stop the state killing of Christians, he also secured the ceasing of future mass slaughter of innocents by making

Of course, we should speak also of that

The Chi-Rho symbol was used by the Roman emperor Constantine I as part of a military standard.


I N S I G H T F E A T U R E ■ Constantine, the First Christian Emperor

Turks on May 29, 1453. Its new conquerors called it “[Con-] stan-bul,” which became Istanbul.

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Christianity a permanently approved religion. He made it at last possible for:

(a) Christians to openly possess and read the New Testament;

(b) Church assembly and meetings to be held in the open without fear;

(c) Christians to openly partake in the Lord’s Supper without accusation; and

(d) Church edifi ces to at last be built – and how they were built through the centuries!

3. HE PROCLAIMED HIMSELF TO BE A CHRISTIAN AND FOSTERED CHRISTIAN CAUSES.

Constantine, as Emperor, fully and publicly endorsed Christianity. Isn’t this what we hear conservative radio talk show phone-in people calling for every day? Isn’t this what pastors call for from their pulpits – for national leaders who will clearly stand up for their faith in Christ and openly declare their wish to see our government and courts follow Judeo-Christian principles? Constantine, the Emperor, pro-fessed his faith in Christ clearly, openly, and publicly. Here, at last, was a government offi cial and leader who fearlessly proclaimed himself to be a Christian – and who did not wait for a voter opinion poll to see if this would gain or lose him popularity.

4. CONSTANTINE SENT HIS MOTHER, HELENA, TO THE HOLY LAND TO LOCATE ANCIENT CHRISTIAN SITES AND BUILD SHRINES OVER THE HOLY PLACES.

Helena, c. A.D. 250-330, was a Christian scholar as well as a pious and energetic woman. She is known as “Saint Helena” among the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches. She was given the title Augusta Imperatrix, “Revered Royal Lady” in A.D. 325; and in A.D. 326-328, backed by the royal treasury, went on a journey to Israel to locate biblical holy places. Now that Christianity was a permitted faith and no longer persecut-ed, church buildings could be built.

Eusebius wrote that Helena had built the

Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the Church of the Ascension on the Mount of Olives to mark these traditional holy sites.

Helena also identifi ed two adjacent sites just outside the walls of Jerusalem as the places where Christ was crucifi ed and buried. She told of a healing of a fellow traveler which took place there confi rming to her that the sites were genuine. She believed she had been guided by God to locate the place of the crucifi x-ion just outside west Jerusalem by the confi rmation of fi nding three pieces of ancient wood, signifying the three crosses, when they dug into the hill.

Constantine soon after began the construc-tion of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher over these spots. � e church was constructed with two large connected rotundas, the larger over the burial tomb and the other over the rock of Calvary. It is certainly legitimate to question whether these locations are accurate based on Helena’s discovery of three pieces of ancient wood and the healing of a fellow traveler, but it should be noted there are other historic and plausible reasons for the locations she selected to build these churches in commemoration of biblical events. (Today, many Protestants pre-fer the nearby “Garden Tomb” location as con-taining the sites of the crucifi xion and resurrection.)

Among other landmarks, she had a chapel built in the Sinai Peninsula where St. Catherine’s monastery now stands.

5. CONSTANTINE ENABLED EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA TO WRITE HIS EARLY HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY.

Because of Constantine, Eusebius (A.D. 260-340) had the liberty, means, and encour-agement to give us his Ecclesiastical History(English translation 439 pages), which is con-sidered by many as the fi nest and most detailed history of the fi rst 300 years of the Christian era. Originally written in Greek, it contains lengthy accounts of the origin of each of the Gospels. Eusebius, also known as Eusebius

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher was constructed with two large connected rotundas, the larger over the burial tomb and the other over the rock of Calvary.

Because of Constantine, Eusebius (A.D. 260-340) had the liberty, means, and encourage-ment to give us his Ecclesiastical History, which is considered by many as the fi nest and most detailed history of the fi rst 300 years of the Christian era.



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Pamphili, was a contemporary of Constantine, a Roman of Greek lineage, and a brilliant and pious defender of the Christian faith. He quotes extensively from writings that are no longer with us, and quotes from believers and eye-witnesses such as the martyr Polycarp, c. A.D. 69-160, who tells us of his talks with the apostle John, and of the latter’s seeing the vision of the Revelation while imprisoned on the island of Patmos. Anyone who doubts the authenticity and genuineness of John’s or Matthew’s Gospels should read Eusebius’ detailed histo-ry, and their faith will be strengthened.

6. CONSTANTINE ORDERED AS MANY AS 50 COPIES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT TO BE WRITTEN ON THE BEST PARCHMENTS.

Our two oldest complete New Testaments (or almost complete, with a few pages missing) are Codex Sinaiticus, discovered and salvaged by Constantin von Tishendorf in 1869 at the Mount Sinai monastery (symbol: Hebrew letter aleph) and Codex Vaticanus (symbol: B), dis-covered also circa A.D. 1900, buried amid the endless shelves of the Vatican Library. According to a library notation with it, its previous usage had occurred some 400 years prior. � ese are fourth-century manuscripts, circa A.D. 325-350, written in Greek capital letters. � ey are not only the two oldest nearly complete Bibles ever discovered, but probably will never be su-perseded by any older full Bibles since, prior to

this time, copies of biblical books were penned on individual scrolls of vellum or parchment sheets; the “book” or “codex” had not yet been invented. [Note: We have many parchments of individual New Testament books which are centuries older than Sinaiticus and Vaticanus, but these two are the oldest complete Bibles.] It is thought by many that these two earliest Bibles were among those 50 which Constantine commanded to be copied from the most ancient manuscripts. Eusebius tells us that Constantine ordered the copying of Bibles, which was a complete and marvelous turn-around from their destruction by previous sovereigns.

7. CONSTANTINE CONVENED THE COUNCIL OF NICAEA, A.D. 325, WHICH SETTLED THE QUESTION OF CHRIST’S DEITY.

� e early Church was persecuted and, until Constantine, usually did not have the freedom to meet in public to settle pressing theological issues. By A.D. 325, the Church, particularly the Greek church in the east, was divided over the “deity of Christ” question – the nature of Jesus and His relationship to the Father. An elder named Arius taught and sang rhymes that, “� ere was a time when He [Jesus] was not,” and that Jesus was “a distinct substance diff erent from the Father,” being the greatest of prophets, but not deity. Another voice arose, Athanasius of Alexandria, who championed the deity of Christ against the “Arian heresy.”

This soon had the Christian world bit-terly divided, and Constantine, realized the vital importance of this issue. He grieved as he saw the Church split so soon after the persecutions had been lifted. He called for an Ecumenical (“the inhabited world”) Council to prayerfully settle the matter. He decreed that it be held in Nicaea, about 45 miles southeast of Constantinople. Some 2,000 delegates were invited. The result of this Council was the Nicene Creed which declared that the Scriptures teach and demand the deity of Christ, and a triune nature of God as per John 1:1-4, 10; 6:62; 10:30; Matthew 28:18-20; Revelation 1:8-20. The Nicene Creed reads as follows:

Eusebius, a con-temporary of Constantine, quotes extensively from writings that are no longer with us, and quotes from believers and eye-witnesses such as the martyr Polycarp.

Anyone who doubts the authenticity and genuineness of John’s or Matthew’s Gospels should read Eusebius’ de-tailed history, and their faith will be strengthened.



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We believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only- begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, being of one sub-stance with the Father by whom all things were made; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucifi ed also for us un-der Pontius Pilate. He suff ered and was buried, and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and as-cended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead, whose kingdom shall have no end.

And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceeded from the Father [“and the Son” – added in the 6th century in the West], who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorifi ed, who spoke by the prophets. And we believe in one holy catholic* and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins**. And we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

8. CONSTANTINE ASKED THE COUNCIL OF NICAEA TO ALSO SETTLE THE DATE OF THE RESURRECTION HOLY DAY, “EASTER.”

Many Christians today do not dearly re-gard days of the Christian calendar as did those in past centuries. The Resurrection Day is commonly called Easter, possibly because the Germans who settled in Rome in the fifth century labeled it Ostern, which means “east” or “sunrise.” Others suggest “Easter” comes from Eostre, the pagan goddess of the dawn; or from other pagan

origins such as the goddesses Astarte (Phoenician) and Ishtar (Babylonian).

� e problem was that Christians across the empire were observing Good Friday (by tradition the day Jesus was crucifi ed) and Resurrection Sunday on diff erent dates. Constantine heard the bishops’ pleas for the entire Church to observe the Resurrection on the same day. He turned the problem over to the Council and, after prayer and debate, the Council decided not to put it on a fi xed calen-dar date, but to make it a movable feast. Also, Christians at this time did not want their holy day to depend upon Jewish rabbinical lunar calculations, which had to be adjusted by the rabbis every few years. � us, the Resurrection was to be celebrated on the fi rst Sunday fol-lowing the fi rst full moon following the vernal equinox (the Paschal full moon). � is put it reasonably near the Jewish Passover, in Nisan, the Jewish fi rst month (Leviticus 23:5).

Constantine wrote, “When the question arose concerning the most holy day of Easter, it was decreed by common consent to be ex-pedient, that this festival should be celebrated on the same day by all, in every place. For what can be more beautiful, what more venerable and becoming, than that this festival, from which we receive the hope of immortality, should be suitably observed by all in one and the same order, and by a certain rule” (Eusebius, Council of Nicaea, p. 52).

9. CONSTANTINE ESTABLISHED CONSTANTINOPLE AS A CITY, WHICH BECAME THE HEAD OF EASTERN CHRISTIANITY FOR OVER 1,000 YEARS.

Western Christians usually pay little atten-tion to Eastern Christian history. However, from A.D. 325 until A.D. 1453 (when Constantinople fi nally fell to the Ottoman Turks), it stood as the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire and a bastion of the Christian faith. Justinian the Great ruled from here, from A.D. 527 to A.D. 565, with his strong wife � eodora, who proved to be the backbone of the empire, standing at his side. � ey also laid a foundation for the East to stand for another 900 years against the pressures of Islamic armies. � eir stand in the East con-

* � e word “catholic” here does not refer to religion of Catholicism, but means “pertaining to the whole Christian body or church.”

** � e evangelical Church does not concur with this statement. � e Bible teaches that baptism cannot save one from his sin. Rather, baptism is symbolic of the Christian’s “change of identity,” from an individual condemned to death for his sins to one transformed into a “new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17).



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tributed to the preservation of the Christian West by causing the armies of Islam to fi ght a two-front war and thus have their Islamic strength divided. � ese regents built the larg-est Christian church edifi ce, Hagia Sophia (Church of Holy Wisdom) in A.D. 537, famed for its immense and wondrous intersecting domes, and stood as the largest church build-ing until Saint Peter’s in Rome in the sixteenth century. It served as the center of the faith and of the Eastern Patriarchate until 1453, when it was converted into a mosque until 1931. Today it is a museum.

10. CONSTANTINE MOVED THE CHIEF EMPEROR’S CAPITAL TO THE EAST, WHICH HAD GREAT REPERCUSSIONS FOR THE BISHOP OF ROME AND FOR WESTERN CHRISTIANITY.

While the Roman emperor was situated in Rome, the Bishop of Rome had less authority and infl uence as the emperor was the domi-nant fi gure both in the city and in the empire. When in A.D. 325 Constantine moved the chief seat of his capital to the East, the Bishop of Rome suddenly became the chief person of stature and infl uence in the West. � is power grew and by A.D. 600, Pope Gregory I in Rome (pope from A.D. 590 to 604) was the leading infl uence in the West. By the thirteenth centu-ry, the height of papal power, popes from Innocent III to Bonifi ce VIII claimed papal su-premacy, crowned and disposed of kings, de-clared and stopped crusades, and ruled in opulence and might. � is all began with Constantine’s move to the East.

As for the “Donation of Constantine,” this was a document now almost universally con-

sidered to have been a forgery made some 400 years after Constantine. Its words contain a supposed decree of Constantine that, at his death, the authority over and ownership of the city of Rome and the western portion of the Roman Empire was bequeathed to the Bishop of Rome. � e document was used in the thir-teenth century to support papal claims of own-ership of lands far beyond the Vatican and authority over the entire empire. While still debated by some, Lorenzo Valla, an Italian Catholic priest, in A.D. 1440 showed it to be a late forgery. � us we needn’t chide Constantine for directly giving the empire to the Pope when he moved his capital to the East.

Constantine waited until A.D. 327 to be baptized, when he realized he might be dying. He perhaps thought, in error, this ceremony was the fi nal cleansing and that sins after baptism clung to a person, or perhaps he felt through the years of his wars that he was per-sonally unworthy. In A.D. 326, he had one of his sons, Crispus, executed, and soon after, one of his wives, Fausta, as well. Little is known about these. Some said the two were living in immorality, while others attribute it to the plots and counter-plots connected with a king’s soon demise and the jostling for posi-tion for the next in line to be emperor.

As for his words about Constantine, there is not space here to quote more of his lengthy and detailed accounts of his friend and sovereign Constantine (however, if you care to look it up, you will fi nd it goes on and on in praise of Constantine’s humility and of his crediting the true God and Christ with bless-ing him and his people). We fi nd in Eusebius’ writings that he – a personal friend of the Emperor – regarded Constantine to be the fi nest and most pious Christian ruler who ever lived. Here is an excerpt:

And God himself, whom Constantine worshiped, has confi rmed this truth by the clearest manifestations of his will, being present to aid him at the

he moved his capital to the East.

Constantine waited until A.D. 327 to be

tion for the next in line to be emperor.

As for his words about Constantine, there

The Hagia Sophia (Church of Holy Wisdom) built in A.D. 537, famed for its immense and wondrous intersect-ing domes, stood as the largest church building until Saint Peter’s in Rome in the sixteenth century.

The Islamic min-aret towers were added later when the Ottoman Turks converted it into a mosque in 1453.



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commencement, during the course, and at the end of his reign, and hold-ing him up to the human race as an instructive example of godliness. Accordingly, by the manifold blessings he has conferred on him, he has dis-tinguished him alone of all the sover-eigns of whom we have ever heard as at once a mighty luminary and most clear-voiced herald of genuine piety (Nicene and Ante-Nicene Fathers: � e Life of Constantine with Orations of Constantine and Eusebius: Chapter 4). Constantine to Eusebius of Caesarea VICTOR CONSTANTINUS, MAXIMUS AUGUSTUS, to Eusebius:

Forasmuch as the unholy and willful rule of tyranny has persecuted the ser-vants of our Saviour until this present time, I believe and have fully satisfi ed myself, best beloved brother, that the buildings belonging to all the churches have either become ruinous through actual neglect, or have received inade-quate attention from the dread of the violent spirit of the times. But now that liberty is restored, and that ser-pent driven from the administration of public aff airs by the providence of the Supreme God, and our instrumen-tality, we trust that all can see the effi -cacy of the Divine power, and that they who through fear of persecution or through unbelief have fallen into any errors, will now acknowledge the true God, and adopt in future that course of life which is according to truth and rectitude. With respect, therefore, to the churches over which you yourself preside, as well as the bishops, presbyters, and deacons of other churches with whom you are ac-quainted, do you admonish all to be zealous in their attention to the build-ings of the churches, and either to re-pair or enlarge those which at present exist, or, in cases of necessity, to erect new ones” (ibid, Ch. 46).

AND now I beseech thee, most mighty God, to be merciful and gracious to

thine Eastern nations, to thy people in these provinces, worn as they are by protracted miseries; and grant them healing through thy servant. Not with-out cause, O holy God, do I prefer this prayer to thee, the Lord of all. Under thy guidance have I devised and ac-complished measures fraught with blessings: preceded by thy sacred sign I have led thy armies to victory: and still, on each occasion of public dan-ger, I follow the same symbol of thy perfections while advancing to meet the foe. � erefore have I dedicated to thy service a soul duly tempered by love and fear. For thy name I truly love, while I regard with reverence that power of which thou hast given abundant proofs, to the confi rmation and increase of my faith. I hasten, then, to devote all my powers to the restoration of thy most holy dwelling- place, which those profane and impious men have defi led by the contamination of violence (ibid, Ch. 55).

And truly our worship is no new or re-cent thing, but one which thou hast ordained for thine own due honor, from the time when, as we believe, this system of the universe was fi rst estab-lished. And, although mankind have deeply fallen, and have been seduced by manifold errors, yet hast thou re-vealed a pure light in the person of thy Son, that the power of evil should not utterly prevail, and hast thus given tes-timony to all men concerning thyself (ibid, Ch. 57).

It is my hope that this brief study on the life of Constantine has shed some light on the movement of Christian history and has provid-ed some helpful information that may encour-age believers to re-evaluate their notions of this fi rst Christian emperor.

It is my hope that this brief study on the life

IMPORTANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF CONSTANTINE

1. Stopped the persecutions

2. Made Christianity an approved religion

3. Proclaimed himself Christian and fostered Christian causes

4. Sent his mother to the Holy Land to locate Christian sites and build shrines over them

5. Enabled Eusebius to write his early History of Christianity

6. Ordered 50 copies of the New Testament to be written on the best parchments

7. Convened the Council of Nicaea A.D. 325 whichsettled the question of Christ’s diety

8. Asked the Council to also settle the date of the Resurrection Holy Day

9. Established the city of Constantinople, which became the head of Eastern Christianity for over 1,000 years

10. Moved the Chief Emperor’s Capital to the East which had great repercus-sions for Western Christianity



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