Would anyone have heard of 'Jesus', if Emperor Constantine hadn't used his cult for political gain?

Question

Without Constantine using the christian cult to consolidate power, christianity probably wouldn't even exist today.
The christian cult was gaining in popularity (Mostly due to being 'persecuted' by early Roman Emperors. Refuse something to someone and they'll want it more.) Constantine used this cult to eliminate the power base of his competition in the pagan cults. By supporting the christians and lowering the status of the pagan religions, he was able to use his new cult to further control the population.

Constantine wasn't baptized until he was on his death bed. He only associated the christian god with his pagan god Sol Invictus and if it wasn't for the fact that his mother was a christian he most certainly would never have supported the christian cult.
But I wouldn't expect any of the 'true believers' to actually learn where their religion came from.

Hey, PastorArt? What in the hell does this have to do with that horrible Davinci Code book? NOTHING.

Are you people ******* stupid? When the hell did I even mention the DaVinci Code? NEVER

Answer 1

Sure.
If it wasn't Constantine, God would have used someone else.

Constantine "needed" more manpower for his military, so he played to the Christians to gain their support. His mother was indeed a Christian, and upon visiting the Holy Land, it was she that chose the most holiest of sites in Jerusalem.

Yes, we know where Christianity has come from, and like so many other things in life, some of it isn't pretty. The point is that God used it all (good and bad) to develop and build a faith system based upon His Son.

Answer 2

What the book says is true. Constantine was baptised in the last day of his life, I can't say if it was or wasn't according to his will. Constantine was the illegal son of one of the 4 generals that were in charge of the Roman Army. This general slept one night at an inn in Tracia, and the patron of the inn presented the general his doughter Hellen (you get the ideea). The general eventually became a Caesar (at that time there were two caesars wich ruled the empire, one ruled in the western part and one in the eastern, Constantine's father ruled in the east side). Having no children he eventualy recognised Constantine as his own and Constantine became his succesor. He did many owfull things like killing his wife, boilling his son, killing his fatherinlaw(who ruled the western side) - the edict wasn't his ideea, it was the ideea of his brotherinlaw that isn't even remembered - but all this things were necessary so he could build a powerfull empire, and one of the things that helped him strenghten his empire was the tollerance of christians (the relligion was spreading very fast and if he weren't to do so, a revolt would have been iminent). Although he kept the emperor cult and the old religion (his mother dedicated her life to christians and helped them in many ways ), he was the first to tollerate christians and that was a big step in the evolution of the religion. I am ortodox, an old kind of chritian, and have in our callendar a saint called Stephan The Great and The Holly, he had more the 100 wives and killed many people, he ruled with terror(he was the ruller of my country in the XV age), but the church rememberd him and made him a saint becouse he had a strange custom that helped the church very much - after every war he woud built a church or a monastary - in his long life he built more than 50 monastarys - Constantine is recognised in the same way - although he wasn't a christian in his life time, he tollerated the religion which was a big thing then and helped the relligion very much and you must consider another thing, those were the times, killing was a daily thing

Answer 3

"Where [this] religion came from?" Well, Christianity didn't _come_ from Constantine. He used Christianity, which already existed. So there's no big surprise there.

You said yourself that the popularity of Christianity was due to persecution. This agrees with the Bible. In Acts 8:1-4, the Christians were scattered because of persecution; but when they scattered, they preached the Gospel everywhere they went.

So the false support of Constantine is of no importance. Those who _oppose_ Christianity have a large voice in spreading the knowledge of Jesus. And throughout history, there has been no shortage people who oppose us, from First Century Acts, right down to this very minute (and question).

Answer 4

Would anyone have heard of Constantine if he had not pretended to be a Christian? Can you think of the name of one Roman emporor between Nero and Constantin. If you studied Roman history closely- probably. But most people can't remember the names of the first ten Emporors in order- much less the name of any of those who ruled during the 200 plus years between Nero and Constantin.
The fact is, Chrisitanity was off to such an amazing start that Constantine had to pretend to be Christian in order to gain popular support,. However, his effect upon Christianity turned it into a much more controllable movement- one in which the members themselves did not even have to pretend to be Christian.
It's hard to tell if Christianity has recovered from that one.

Answer 5

My God, I hate the DA VINCI CODE BOOK AND MOVIE. That is totally not true. Really you shouldn't get your info from Dan Brown. If you look into it do you know how much of his book is false? Christianity would never have failed and will never fail.

Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus[2] (27 February ca. 280[1]–22 May 337 AD),
Constantine is perhaps best known for being the first Christian Roman Emperor. His reign was a turning point for the Christian Church. In 313 Constantine announced toleration of Christianity in the Edict of Milan, which removed penalties for professing Christianity (under which many had been martyred in previous persecutions of Christians) and returned confiscated Church property. Though a similar edict had been issued in 311 by Galerius, then senior emperor of the Tetrarchy,[7] Constantine's lengthy rule, conversion, and patronage of the Church redefined the status of Christianity in the empire.


Constantine the Great, mosaic in Hagia Sophia, Constantinople, c. 1000.Scholars debate whether Constantine adopted his mother St. Helena's Christianity in his youth, or whether he adopted it gradually over the course of his life.[8] Constantine was over 40 when he finally declared himself a Christian.[9] Writing to Christians, Constantine made clear that he owed his successes to the protection of the Christian High God alone.[10] Throughout his rule, Constantine supported the Church financially, built various basilicas, granted privileges (e.g. exemption from certain taxes) to clergy, promoted Christians to high ranking offices, and returned property confiscated during the Great Persecution of Diocletian.[11] His most famous building projects include the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and Old Saint Peter's Basilica.

The reign of Constantine established a precedent for the position of the Christian Emperor in the Church; Constantine considered himself responsible to God for the spiritual health of his subjects, and thus he had a duty to maintain orthodoxy.[12] For Constantine, the emperor did not decide doctrine - that was the responsibility of the bishops - rather his role was to enforce doctrine, root out heresy, and uphold ecclesiastical unity.[13] The emperor ensured that God was properly worshipped in his empire; what proper worship consisted of was for the Church to determine.[14]

In 316, Constantine acted as a judge in a North African dispute and condemned the heresy of Donatism.[3] More significantly, in 325 he summoned the First Council of Nicaea, effectively the first Ecumenical Council (unless the Council of Jerusalem is so classified), which condemned Arianism and formulated the Trinity as it is known today. The Council of Nicea traditionally marks the end of the early Christian era.[citation needed]

Another view on Constantine's conversion to Christianity was of convenience. In Constantine's time it is estimated that about ten percent of Rome's population were Christian with an even more significant proportion of the military following Christ.

It is interesting to note that Constantine followed a common practice of the era and was not baptized until his deathbed.

Answer 6

Constantine was a big reason, but I think it would have spread without him. Constantine's mother, Helena, was a Christian well before him, and she was the one that told him about Christianity. A number of prominate scholars at the time were also Christian, so it was already a big religion even when it was banned.

Answer 7

Ignoring the term "cult" I'll say that Christianity would have been a lot less widely spread where it not for Constantine. But it definately would have lived on, just in lot less smaller proportions. There still would have been the existing Christians, zealous in their faith, who continued to evangalize and pass down their beliefs to future generations. It was Christs promise that the gates of hell would never prevail against his church. His church will never die.

Answer 8

Hmmm, the Romans captured Peter, and eventually crucified him upside down, (of course after making him the first Pope) and it was another 325 years or 33 Popes, when Constantine broke from Rome and created the Byzantium sect.

So yes, i think we all would have still heard of "Jesus"

Answer 9

I know where my beliefs came from. Jesus Christ is and was God in the flesh. We didn't need some Roman emperor to "claim" Him to be a deity. He was already who He was, and His followers believed Him to be Lord. That's why they died horrible deaths, believing what they did. I have a personal relationship with the Lord. You wouldn't understand, if you don't know Him. The only thing you are "trying" to do is discredit Him. NOT WORKING

Answer 10

It just shows you how God's plan works. If it hadn't been Constantine it would have been another way. The news of Christ would have gotten out one way or the other.