Roman Emperor Constantine I is believed to be the first emperor of the Roman Empire to become Christian. Professor Emeritus, Dr. Harold Drake, University of California, Santa Barbara, joins the show to illuminate this event in history.
Some topics explored
- Constantine father, Constantius Chlorus religious orientation and his policy towards religion
- Where Constantine was born
- Constantine founding the city of Constantinople
- The story of a vision that Constantine (an account of, during a battle, Constantine seeing a cross in the sky eclipsing the sun), and the canonical source of the story
- Eusebius of Caesarea who wrote about being told of the story of Constantine’s vision by Constantine himself
- What religion Constantine is believed to have adhered to prior to Christianity (known by scholars as Solar Monotheism)
- Different accounts and the details of Constantine’s baptism (i.e., at the end of his life, in the middle of his life in Rome, in the east)
- Exploring Constantine’s donations to the Christian Church
- The 11th century schism that started Greek Orthodoxy as a branch of Christianity
- Arianism which is founded after a priest in Egypt
- First worldwide council of Christian Bishops
- 1143 – Council of Chalcedon’s statement about the nature of the Christian Trinity (451 AD)
- Constantine’s religiosity
- Constantine’s relationship to the Council of Nicea (Constantine started the practice of emperors enforcing Christian beliefs)
- Edict of Milan
- Constantine’s policies towards religions during his reign, including his religious tolerance
Listen to the episode
The episode can be streamed below and is also available on major podcast apps: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music.
Show Notes
- Professor Emeritus H.A. Drake is the author of many publications over his career including the books A Century of Miracles: Christians, Pagans, Jews, and the Supernatural, 312-410 (Oxford University Press) and Constantine and the Bishops: The Politics of Intolerance (Johns Hopkins University Press)
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