Church History
4th Century - Part I

Article V

The Tetrarchy System

In the year 284 A.D. Diocletian became emperor of the Roman Empire. He concluded that the empire was too large and complex to be ruled by only a single emperor. As such, he established the “Tetrarchy system,” which means “rule by four.” He first chose his lieutenant Maximianus as an Augustus to reign under him over the Western Empire while he ruled in the Eastern Empire. Under each Augustus was a Caesar. Constantius Chlorus ruled as Caesar in the West under Maximianus and Galerius as Caesar in the East, having everyone under Diocletian.

Constantius Chlorus also carried authority over Gaul (today’s France and Britain) and Galerius was given authority over the Balkin area by the Black Sea.  

The four capital cities were:

       Eastern Empire
       Nicomedia - Diocletian ruled as prime Augustus (over Eastern and Western Empires) from Nicomedia in northwestern Asia Minor (modern Turkey). This was a defense against the invasion from the Balkans
       and Persians.
       Sirmium (modern Serbia) - Galerius ruled as Caesar (under Diocletian) from Sirmium (modern Serbia) on the Danube border.

      Western Empire
      Milan (north of Rome) - Maximianus ruled from Milan, near the Alps, just north of Rome under Augustus Diocletian. Maximianus also controlled Aquileia, a port on the Adriatic coast between Italy and
      Macadonia.
      Augusta Treverorum (modern city of Trier in Germany) Constantius Chlorus ruled over Augusta Treverorum along the Rhine border, having authority also over Gaul and Britain. Constantius also controled
      Eburacum (modern York in England near the Celtic tribes of modern Scotland and Ireland).  Augustus Diocetian also ruled over Constantius Chlorus.   

By instituting his Tetrarchy system, Diocletian hoped to set up a system for choosing future new emperors. According to Diocletian's system, the successor to each Augustus would be the Caesar under him, who, in turn, would name a new Caesar to replace him. With his system in place, the borders of his empire were strengthened. He was able to defeat foreign enemies.

Initially, the Tetrarchy system operated smoothly and effectively. [1]

The greatest persecution of Christians

Diocletian was a brilliant ruler in every way, and for most of his reign the people lived in peace. Christians,however, were simply tolerated. In his latter reign, his treatment toward the Christians changed. At the urging of Galerius, Diocletian set out to unify the state religion, which was the worship of the Augustus’ and the gods, and the pledging of allegiance to the empire. Diocletian issued a series of incremental harsh edicts (laws) designed to compel Christians to take part in the imperial religions, which was only the beginning of what became known as the “Great Persecution.” From 303 – 305 A.D. was the harshest persecution the Church had experienced.

Christian persecution first began in the army before 303 A.D. under the command and the area of rulership of Galerius, who was already predisposed against Christianity. As a rule, Christians had not joined the army of legions because that meant allegiance to the Roman gods and the empire. In 298 A.D. Christian men were condemned to death for refusing to join the army. By 303 A.D. Diocletian ordered all Christians expelled from the legions – not because he wanted them killed, but because he did not want them in positions of power and responsibility in the empire. Following the edict to expel Christians from the legions, Diocletian then ordered that all Christians be removed from government positions. Orders came that all Christian buildings and books must be destroyed. The conflict grew worse because many Christians refused to turn over their sacred writings. As a result, many were tortured and condemned to death. [1] Those who suffered the most were under the command of Galerius.

Fire in the Imperial Palace

A fire broke out in the imperial palace of Diocletian. Galerius accused the Christians of setting it. Diocletian’s fury decreed that all Christians in the imperial court must offer sacrifices before the gods. Several within his court succumbed to martyrdom after refusing to obey his decree. A rampage went through the churches of the empire, and the sacred writings were lit by the torch. Again, as a result, many people died. The only territory where persecution was not rampant was under the rule of Constantius Chlorus. In his territory persecution was limited to tearing down some church buildings. [2]

“Some had their fingers mangled by sharp reeds. Others had buckets of boiling metal poured on their groins and backs. Others endured agonizing torture of their intestines, so grotesque that we cannot describe them. When the judges were tired of creating new ways to kill us, they were ordered only to rear out our eyes or to cripple us.” Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiastica. 8:12

Diocletian became convinced that Christians were conspiring against him. He decreed that all church leaders be arrested, decreeing that all Christians must offer sacrifices to the gods. All efforts were made to get the Christians to abandon their faith. Those who did not deny their faith were cruelly tortured and eventually killed. Many hid, and some took the sacred books with them. Some managed to escape to Persia, but when they were caught they received additional criminal charges added to their original charge of lack of loyalty to the Empire.

An overseer imprisoned during Diocletian’s reign was Nicholas of Myra, better known as “Saint Nicholas,” or fictitiously renamed “Santa Claus” over the centuries.

A decree mandated the search and seizure of all divine Scripture. The writings were to be confiscated and burned. There was, however, no New Testament Canon, meaning it had not been agreed upon within the Church as to which scriptures were considered divine. Diocletian then designated a team to research and discover which books of Scripture Christians recognized as divinely inspired. This determination, however, would take some time.

The Church in North Africa

The Church of Africa had massively expanded during the third century. Division, however, within the Church came in North Africa through a group called the “Donatists.” Struggle came with bishops against bishops in many towns and villages of orthodox Catholicism and Donaticism.

Donatists Donatists were a protest movement named after the first bishop of Carthage in 312 A.D. standing for a holy Church and purity of discipline. They believed they were the “True Church” and that the Catholics were apostate. They had an unflinching defiance for godless rulers.

Battle for the Empire

During this time, Galerius aspired for the top position of Augustus, which meant he would be over Diocletian. He, however, would keep his same territory. In 304 A.D. Diocletian became ill, and, although he survived, he felt weak and tired. Galerius convinced weary Diocletian to abdicate, thus relinquishing his throne. He also convinced Maximianus to abdicate by threatening to invade the neighboring territories around his portion of the empire with superior armies. In 305 A.D., both Diocletian and Maximian abdicated. That meant that Galerius and Constantius Chlorus took the title of Augustus.

New Caesars were appointed under them – that being Severus (who later committed suicide) and Maximinus Daia. Maxinimus Daia, given the title of Caesar in the Western Empire was a relative of Galerius. To insure the loyalty of Constantius Chlorus, Galerius held Constantius’ son (Constantine) as a hostage; however, Constantine managed to escape to later join his father. Constantius Chlorus shortly thereafter died, and his troops declared his son Constantine as Augustus, which violated the Tetrachy system. Maxentius, the son of Maximinus Daia took over the territory of his father. The Tetrarchy system was failing from within. To restore order back to the empire, Galerius appealed to Diocletian to come out of abdication and resume his territory; however, he refused. The final result was that a new Augustus was appointed – Licinius over Diocletian’s territory in the East and Maximinus Daia shared the Caesar position under him. Constantine, in the Western Empire) chose to bide his time to strengthen his position in his territories in Gaul and Great Britain and wait for the right opportunity to make his moves toward top succession.

The End of Persecution

In the meanwhile Christians continued to be persecuted under the territories of Galerius and Maximinus Daia, of which they shared in the Eastern Empire. Galerius became ill and was convinced by the rumored words of Christians that his infliction was a punishment from God. In fear of dying, Galerius changed his policy on persecution and pardoned all Christians. The date was April 30, 311 A.D. In addition, he made an edict stating that Christians were required to pray to their God so that the State could enjoy prosperity and live in peace. [3] Thus the cruelest of persecutions of the Church ended. The prison doors were opened and the Christians were set free – at least in some areas. This release upset Maximinus Daia, however, who continued to persecute the Christians in the areas of his authority. Within a short time, Galerius died, leaving Maximinus Daia over his territory and that of Galerius.

Constantine

Constantine , in his diplomatic maneuvering, began a campaign to become the supreme and only ruler of the Empire. He gathered his armies in Gaul, crossed the Alps and marched on toward he capital at Milan (just north of Rome).  As such, he was an enemy to Maxentius who had authority in his portion of the Western Empire. The year was 312 A.D.

A Sign from God
“Legend” has it that on the afternoon before Constantine and his troops marched toward Milan and Rome, as the sun was beginning to lower in the heavens, a radiant light appeared in the sky in the form of a cross having the inscription (shown below) plainly written upon it in Greek and heard – “By this sign you will conquer.” [4] Believing the sign to be from his god (god of the sun), Constantine had his soldiers inscribe XP on their shields as a representation of the cross.

Even though Constantine was not a Christian at the time, being a sun worshipper, he did, in fact, obey what he heard from God. The next day all of Constantine’s soldiers were commanded to place the mark of Christ on their shields.

The conquest of Rome

Maxentius resided in Milan (just north of Rome). To be protected from Constantine and his troops, inside the walls of Rome would have given him more support. He was, however, very unpopular with the residents of Rome. If he stayed within the walls, he feared there would be residents who would revolt against him should Constantine’s troops invade through the walls, so he chose to leave the city with his troops to fight Constantine from the outside. To keep Constantine out of Rome, Maxentius destroyed the Milvian Bridge, north of the city, to block the troops. He then replaced the bridge with a “make-shift” column of boats, should he need to withdraw back into Rome. Constantine’s troops came on horseback to within a few miles north of the Milvian Bridge to where Maxentius and his troops were forced to retreat back within the city walls of Rome. Maxentius and his troops fled across the “make-shift” boat-bridge, to retreat back to Rome. As they crossed the river, the “make-shift” column of boats broke. Several hundreds of soldiers, including Maxentius, drowned. Constantine and his troops then simply rerouted themselves and marched triumphantly into Rome beneath the symbol of the cross and conquered the city. In the name of Jesus, Constantine conquered. He had now become the master of the entire western half of the Roman Empire.

The Edict of Milan

The next year Constantine joined Licinius, whose reign now covered the larger part of the Eastern Empire, to issue “the Edict of Milan.” This edict allowed Christians and all others to worship as they desired, with the thought that whatever Divinity they worshipped who lived in the heavens would be kind to them. This allowed freedom of worship to “nearly” all residents of the Roman Empire. Churches, cemeteries, and other properties were returned to the Christians. The year was 313 A.D. Maximinum Daia, however, still continued his policy of persecution under his territory of reign.

The following map shows that by 313 A.D. Christians numbered more than 1/3 of the population of the Roman Empire

The purpose of the alliance between Constantine and Licinius was not totally one of religious freedom, but meant as a joining of forces between two powers to overtake Maximinus Daia, declare Constantine as the senior Augustus, and then freeing Christians from persecution of those under Maximinum Daia. To seal that alliance, Licinius married Constantine’s sister. They were now related as brother-in-laws. [5] Constantine ’s hidden goal, however, was to defeat both Licinius and Maximinus Daia to establish his throne over the entire empire .

While Constantine and Lucinius were at Milan signing the edict, news arrived that Maximinus Daia had invaded Licinius’ territories and overtaken the city of Byzantium (later known as Constantinople). Lucinius quickly moved his troops eastward to overtake him. In fear, Maximinus Daia fled and died in flight that same year in Tarsus while hiding out. Licinius had Maximinus Daia's wife and children put to death to avoid any threats upon the throne. [6]

The whole Roman Empire was now in the hands of two emperors. Everything east of Pannonia (today’s Hungary), along the Danube River, was under Licinius, and everything west, including North Africa, was in the hands of Constantine. [7]

Constantine the strategist

Constantine devoted his efforts to consolidate his power over the Western Empire while maintaining alliances with Licinius. It was, however, only a matter of time when the two would fight against each other as rivals for the reign of the entire empire.

Constantine had already taken careful steps to develop a strong base of operation in Gaul and Great Britain before overtaking Rome. He had also spent over five years strengthening the borders along the Rhine River where the barbarians were a constant threat. His earlier strategies gave him great advantages. Both Constantine and Licinius, however, knew there would be a time of conflict, so each devoted himself to consolidating powers and prepare for what would one day become the inevitable.

Barbarians
Anyone living outside of the Roman Empire who were not Greek in language and culture

In 314 A.D. hostilities broke out when a conspiracy to murder Constantine was discovered. A relative of Licinius was implicated, but he had fled back to the eastern territory for protection. Licinius refused to return his relative for execution back to the Western Empire; instead he declared war upon Constantine.  In response, Constantine marched his troops to the Eastern territories and overtook Byzantium. Licinius then declared peace; however, it was only a temporary peace. [8] Constantine then took the next few years to continue consolidating his powers in the Western empire to become stronger. He established headquarters in various parts of the Western Empire to keep an eye on his rival and strengthen his borders.

Constantine and Lucinius continued to battle small skirmishes over the next several years. In 322 A.D., to repel Gothic invaders, Constantine crossed into Licinius' territory. This now gave Licinius all the reason he needed to fight back against Constantine. By the spring of 324 A.D. the two sides were at war again. Constantine was gaining ground in the Eastern Empire. Licinius' wife Constantia, who was the sister of Constantine, pleaded with her brother to spare both her and her husband. Constantine relented, but did what his sister asked and imprisoned Licinius instead of having him killed. Accusations later came back to Constantine that Licinius, while in prison, was plotting a return to power as an ally of the Goths. Immediately, Constantine ordered Licinius hanged. The time was early 325 A.D. Constantine now ruled the entire Roman Empire as emperor. [9]

Tetrarchy System - Order of Rank

Western and Eastern Empires- Ruled by Constantine

Constantine overthrew any area in the Western Empire where persecution remained in connection with Christianity. As such, he became known as the “defender of Christianity.” Just as Decius and Diocletian had desired decades before him, Constantine desired to restore the ancient glory of the Empire, but this time, it was under the Christian God; however, it carried infiltrations of many pagan ideas and images.

Constantine’s Christianity

Before Constantine marched into Rome to defeat Maxentius back in 313 A.D., he was a pagan sun worshipper, carrying the title of high priest. When he saw the light in the sky and heard the voice of God saying he would defeat Rome by going under the sign of Jesus Christ, his beliefs were he heard from his sun god, who he believed was also the God of the Christians. His obedience gave him victory, but his beliefs carried many aspects of paganism.

Under Emperor Constantine, the Christian Church at large was spared from further persecution. Many positive changes occurred over the next several years in the Church throughout the empire as Constantine overtook power; however, various components of paganism remained and became part of Christian tradition.

A new Rome - Constantinople - the capital of the Roman Empire

Constantine , as emperor and master of the Roman Empire, believed he received instructions from God to build a “New Rome;” however, this time it was not to be in Rome, but at the other side of the Empire. Building a new fortified city to support Rome could then protect the whole Empire. He wanted a city that would be monumental and strategically located to serve as a bridge between Europe and Asia Minor. If he fortified his new city properly, it would be in a position to control all the ships that passed from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea (See map above).

He chose as the place for his “New Rome” to be in Byzantium, on the coastline between Macedonia and Asia Minor. It would, however, have to be expanded to fulfill such a grandiose dream. It would become a source of power and prestige. He dropped the name Byzantium and renamed his new city Constantinople – that is, the “city of Constantine,” modeling it after Rome, on and around seven hills.

Constantine granted many privileges to those who would come to live in Constantinople, such as exemption from taxes and the military service. The city grew at such an incredible rate that a century later it was necessary to build new walls around the city. For the next one thousand years Constantinople would be considered the political and cultural inheritance of the empire.

As Constantinople grew, fortifying the eastern part of the empire, the defense of the Western empire began to decline. Later articles will expose that decline.

Changes in Christianity during the time of Constantine

Crucifixion abolished

Crucifixion was the demise of many Christians from the time of Christ to the Great Persecution under Diocletian. It was an old Roman custom that had been around for hundreds of years. In 314 A.D. Constantine gave an edict (law) that stated death by crucifixion was abolished.

A number of statues of pagan gods were taken out of the temples and placed in public places for mere ornaments – thus losing the power they once held, but still a reminder of what they once had. As such, they were still reverenced.

Pontifex Maximus

Tradition holds that the Roman emperor, as head of the State religion, had always been responsible for maintaining good relations between the people and their gods. With Constantine’s promotion of Christianity, he saw himself as the head of the State, but also head of the Church. He called himself the “defender of the Roman Catholic Church,” which in essence was the Christian Church at that time. That thought was never opposed.

Constantine did not put himself under any Church leadership, but considered himself the bishop of bishops over the Church (later referred to as the pope), intervening in its life and function. While being head over the Church he continued to function as the High Priest of paganism, of which was his earlier position, except now he blended the two positions into one. (We must continue to remember that Constantine considered his pagan sun god and the God of Christianity to be one and the same.  Constantine's title was called “Pontifex Maximus.” That name continued as the head of the Church long after Constantine’s death, and in the 5^th century A.D. it became the official title of the “pope” of the Roman Catholic Church.  It remains the same even today. [10]

Pontifex Maximus Original meaning: The highest priestly order in the Roman State religion – means “bridge builder” because they bridged the gap between the world of man and the world of the gods. http://sights.seindal.dk/sight/1244_Pontifex_maximus.html

Much of the treatment that was given to the emperor was now carried into the Church. A number of gestures indicating respect, such as bowing and the kissing of feet, which were normally made only to the emperor had now become part of Christian worship toward the Pontifex Maximus because Constantine carried both titles. This practice remains as a part of Roman Catholicism toward the pope even today. [11]

Sunday – A Roman public holiday

In 321 A.D., Constantine had made an edict declaring Sunday as a day of rest in honor of the sun god and to commemorate the day the early Christians celebrated communion. “Sun-day,” named after the pagan sun god, was ruled a public holiday similar to other Roman holidays. This made for wider development in worship and larger congregations in the churches. In 324 A.D. the declaring of worship was enacted. The people were “commanded” to go to church to worship their god and pay their tithe. Again, Constantine’s god was the pagan sun god, and he considered his god and the God of Christianity one and the same. The enactment of Sunday worship began with the command that all soldiers worship on the first day of the week. It then carried to the general populace of the people. Any pagan, or Christian, would have seen no reason to oppose such an edict. [12]

Church Services

Christian worship also began to be influenced by imperial protocol. As a sign of respect for Constantine as emperor, who was now the head bishop over all of the churches, large church buildings were erected and officiating ministers began dressing in more luxurious garments instead of ordinary street clothes. The beginnings of the services started with elaborate processionals, led by officials, followed by singing choirs dressed in fancy robed attire to give a full body to the procession. [13] Sunday services became more elaborate and worship gave way to practices from imperial court ceremonials, such as the use of incense, the carrying of candles as marks of honor, and placed curtains around the altar to be used as the Eucharist. Church leaders lived and worked in ornate buildings, wore formal robe attire during ceremonies, and gained feelings of superiority that were visible to those around them. 

Eucharist
The word "Eucharist" is a Greek word ευχαριστω), eucharisto , meaning to give thanks or to rejoice.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki 

As time continued, the congregation came to have a less active role in worship.

Church buildings

Churches grew more rapidly than ever before. They began to be identified with “earthly institutions” rather than with the “invisible community of true believers.” Church buildings were no longer simple structures where Christians met for worship and fellowship; they became ornate buildings that were even more elaborate than the temples of pagan worship. As such, both churches and temples were institutions of elaborate show places. Constantine granted immunities and favors to clergy and lavished great gifts to various churches.  This changed the leadership of the Church - from what was servant leadership to hierachy leadership. The institutional aspects of the Church had now become more important than the Gospel and the Holy Spirit. 

The Basilica

Most of the churches were built after the rectangular plan of a “basilica.” Basilica was an ancient word which referred to the great public, or private building which main part was a great room divided into naves by two or more rows of columns. [14] Constantine ordered that the Church of Saint Irene be built in Constantinople and it was to be the most ornate church in all of the empire. The Empress Helena, Constantine’s mother, took a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 326 A.D. which made a great impression on her. Believing she had found the site of the resurrection of Christ, she ordered the erection of the Holy Church of the Sepulchre and the Church of the Nativity.

The following gives a diagram of a typical basilica, along with a picture of the inside of the Holy Church of the Sepulchre and the ancient Church at Bethlehem.

Next to the basilica was a building called the baptistery. It was round and large and deep enough to contain several dozen people with a baptismal pool ascending down a few steps. Baptism by sprinkling was only done under extreme conditions of poor health, deathbed baptisms, or scarcity of water. It wasn’t until the 9^th century, in the cold part of Europe, did sprinkling become common practice.

Church Altars

Constantine enforced the erecting of churches over the tombs of martyred saints. He had large ornate altars structured within the churches in both in the Eastern and Western empire. He erected the basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul in the Western Empire and the altars were "supposedly" directly above the apostles’ tombs. The tombs of both apostles were enclosed in cubical cases, each adorned with a gold cross. [15]

The hierarchy form of Church government

Because Emperor Constantine was now head over the Church-at-large, a hierarchy form of Church government came into being.  Since the time of Christ, from the 1^st century until the 5^th, the leadership of the Church was more or less one of "servant leadership." Congregations of people were now called upon to “serve their leaders.” This new type of Church government (hierarchy) thus created a division between the people and the church leaders and within church leaders as well. The higher the leadership position, the higher the stature and far-reaching power over the people - each using their power to live lavish lifestyles that exalted them above the people.  The higher the position,the more they felt superior over those under them.

Resurrecting the tithe

The Old Testament practice of the Jewish tithe was resurrected in parts and brought into the Church under Constantine.  It was forced upon the people within the empire as a Church tax to bring in exhorbitant amounts of money into the Church. This Church tax was called the tithe.  It was taken after the Old Testament practice of the Jewish tithe, demanding a 10% monetary tax from the people.  Whereas the Jewish tithe was simply produce from the land of Canaan and given to the Levites to distribute to the poor, this new Church tithe demanded monitary provision for the Church to bring in large amounts of money to run the Church-at-large throughout the empire. It thus created a very wealthy Church system. 

For more information, refer to the article on "The Tithe?" on the front page 

 Many elements of this hierarchy form of church government, although a lot more subtle and in different variations, is practiced within certain denominations (Protestant and Catholic alike) in churches – even today. 

Doctrinal changes

The veneration of the Virgin Mary was stimulated by parallels in pagan religion. The worship of the Greek goddess Artemis (same as the Roman goddess Diana) was strong in Ephesus, and the worship to the pagan goddess Sophia was popular around the region of Colossae since the 1^st century A.D.  Both cities, located in the Lycus Valley in Phyrgia in Asia Minor, were saturated in woman worship and were a part of normal life. Tradition has it that Mary, the mother of Jesus was taken to Ephesus by the Apostle John and there she lived until her death. As pagan worship waned and people became Christians, that same kind of woman worship was transferred to Mary, the mother of Jesus. Worship, or veneration, became strong during the time of Constantine through the propagation of Empress Helena, mother of Constantine. [2] From there, new doctrines of Mariology deification grew as centuries continued.

Christmas

The celebration of Christ’s birth was established under Constantine on the 25^th of December – the birthday of the sun god. That date was solidified and made official during the 5^th century.  As the commemoration of Christmas began to rival with Easter in importance, a preparatory period, similar to Lent, called Advent, evolved. Advent was viewed both as preparation for the celebration of Jesus’ birth and as a period of looking forward to Christ’s coming. [16]

Even though Christmas was originally named after the sun god under Constantine, we must remember that the date is unimportant.  It is simply a date when we take time to celebrate the birth of Christ. 
It is important that our emphasis be on Christ and Him alone.

Easter

The Christian Passover, later called Easter, was originally celebrated as the anniversary of Jesus’ resurrection by the early Christians (See article II). During the second century disputes arose regarding the correct date for its celebration, and at Rome various congregations observed different days. Some churches, notably in Asia Minor, kept to the Jewish calendar, even when Easter fell on a weekday. This practice died, however, in the third century. The Easter celebrations continued for seven weeks, culminating at Pentecost. This celebrated the anniversary of the giving of the Holy Spirit to the apostles, and also served as the triumphant end to the Easter period.

Good Friday and Easter Week (from Palm Sunday to Easter Day) became popular first in the Holy Land where pilgrims retraced the movements of Jesus during the last week in Jerusalem. Originally both the death and resurrection of Jesus had been celebrated on the one Easter day. During the fourth century the two events were separated, and a complex Easter cycle of services was well developed by the early fifth century.  Most Eastern churches held Easter on the Sunday closest to the fourteenth day of the Jewish month Nisan. Because of problems with the Jewish calendar, there continued dispute as to which of two Sundays was correct. Agreement was not reached in the West until the Synod of Whitby in 664 A.D. [17] Today the Eastern and Western parts of the Old Roman Empire still celebrate Easter a week apart.

Baptism

Easter became a popular time for baptisms. The period of instruction before baptism became the period of preparation for Easter, which we call now call Lent. This lasted forty days, to correspond with Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness.

Other changes

Saints and martyrs took the place of the pagan gods. In place of the pagan temples, shrines of dead saints were often erected. It had become customary since the second century to commemorate the anniversary of a martyr’s death by celebrating communion where they were buried. Eventually, some people came to think that worship was far more important if done in one of the “holy places,” where the relics of a martyr are present. Eventually people came to believe that the relics of saints held miraculous powers. It was also a time when the worshipping of saints and martyrs grew rapidly.

Empress Helena, mother of Constantine, turned Jerusalem back into a Christian city, which had been a pagan city since the 2^nd Jewish revolt of Bar Kokhba (132-135 A.D.). She gave special attention to the development of pilgrimages to the Holy Land. She claimed she had a dream where the burial ground of Christ was given to her. She also claimed she had discovered the very cross of Christ. Soon this cross was said to have miraculous powers, and pieces of wood "supposedly from that cross" was found all over the empire.

Blending of paganism and Christianity

A blending of paganism and Christianity took place in many Christian practices during the time of Constantine.  That blending became the foundation of traditions that are held within the Roman Catholic Church and was later passed to some mainline Protestant churches - even today.

End Notes

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[1] Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity. HarperSanFranscisco. v. 1
[2] Ibed
[3] Ibed
[4] Ibed
[5] http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04295c.htm
[6] http://www.roman-emperors.org/daia.htm
[7] http://www.unrv.com/provinces/pannonia-map.php
[8] Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity. v. 1. HarperSanFrancisco. 1984.
[9] http://www.roman-empire.net/decline/licinius.html
[10] http://sights.seindal.dk/sight/1244_Pontifex_maximus.html
[11] Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity. v. 1. HarperSanFrancisco. 1984.
[12] ibed
[13] Ibed
[14] Ibed
[15] http://www.newadvent.org/cathed01362a.htm
[16] Dowley, Tim. Introduction to the History of Christianity. Fortress Press. Minneapolis. 1995
[17] Ibed