There were signs in the sky, but I did not know

[sovay]

If one more student tries to tell me that Constantine was responsible for making Christianity the official state religion of the Roman Empire, I'm going to stab them with a Chi-Ro.

(I agreed to help grade papers for a friend with a classful of undergraduates. I despair of humanity.)

Comments

[ron-drummond.livejournal.com]

Could you share the brief statement you would make to correct this misprision? Who WAS responsible for making Christianity the official state religion of the Roman Empire? I would very much like to hear what you'd say!

And belated congratulations on all the good things happening in your life -- may your success continue and grow.

I thought you might find my new holiday greeting amusing:

Best Wishes for all the Holy Days You Care to Count,
And Not One Holy Day More, So You May as Well Count All of Them,

Ron

P.S. What I like about it is that, really, if one chooses, every day is a holy day, every last one of them. And none of us will ever see any of them ever again, so we may as well treasure each one under foot, in our hearts, before our eyes, beyond the skies.

[schreibergasse.livejournal.com]

Well, it's complicated. Constantine patronized Christianity, so in some sense it took the place of the old religion as the "official" religion: just more like "D'Angelo's: The official sandwich of the Boston Red Sox" than "the one everybody had follow". Pagan cults, on the other hand, weren't banned until Theodosius in about 390, so one could take that as the point at which Christianity became the "official" religion in the latter sense.
But get a second opinion from sovay.
--The Professor in question

[timesygn.livejournal.com]

Constantine was, on the other hand, the first Roman Emperor to report seeing the face of Christ appear in his morning breakfast cereal ...

[sovay]

Constantine was, on the other hand, the first Roman Emperor to report seeing the face of Christ appear in his morning breakfast cereal ...

At least he was classier about it than grilled cheese!

[timesygn.livejournal.com]

Or this:

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/12/24/ohio-woman-says-markings-in-pistachio-look-like-jesus-face/?iref=allsearch

[sovay]

Could you share the brief statement you would make to correct this misprision? Who WAS responsible for making Christianity the official state religion of the Roman Empire?

I make a distinction between personally adopting, decriminalizing, and popularizing a religion (Constantine I, 313 CE) and making it the only option on the menu (Theodosius I, 380). One could still be a practicing pagan under Constantine—the temples were open, the imperial cult was still on the books. After Theodosius, observance of pagan religion was not only illegal, but systematically proscribed. He put out the sacred fire in the Temple of Vesta.

And belated congratulations on all the good things happening in your life -- may your success continue and grow.

Thank you!

And none of us will ever see any of them ever again, so we may as well treasure each one under foot, in our hearts, before our eyes, beyond the skies.

That's a good blessing.