Constantine gets a bad rap

[IndigoChild5559]

Misinformation about Constantine abounds on the internet and elsewhere. Perhaps the most damaging, most inaccurate source is the book, "Constantine's Sword." But you can be watching i.e. a simple YouTube video on art history, and someone might say that Constantine made Christianity the religion of the Roman empire (one of the many false claims). I would like to set the matter straight.

The man is known for only three things that had any impact on the Christian church.

1. He issued the edict of Milan in 313 that removed all the penalties for being a Christian, ending the persecution.

Edict of Milan | Description, History, & Facts

Edict of Milan, proclamation that permanently established religious toleration for Christianity within the Roman Empire. It was the outcome of a political agreement concluded in Mediolanum (modern Milan) between the Roman emperors Constantine I and Licinius in February 313.

www.britannica.com

2. He established a seven day week in 321, and made the first day a holiday, which made it easier for Christians, who were gathering on the first day to break bread.

Week - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

3. He called the Council of Nicea in 325 so that the bishops would work out the issue that was dividing them, because he knew that a united church made it easier for him to govern his empire.

First Council of Nicaea - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

What he did NOT do:
A. He did NOT make Christianity the state religion. That was actually done by Theodosius, who came a couple of emperors down the road.
B. He did NOT influence the council of Nicea. Constantine's preference was actually for Arianism, and as we all know, it was the Trinitarians who won out at the Council. The only people who had a say in the Council were the bishops. He was the emperor, not a Christian bishop, and had no say in the decision.
C. He did NOT have anything to do with the formation of the Chrsitian canon of the New Testament, either directly, or indirectly by influencing those who did. The ecumenical councils that formed the canon happened decades after his death in 337 CE. The canon was first formed at the council of Rome in 382 at the Council of Rome. It was then reaffirmed by the councils of Hippo in 393 and Carthage 397, and then definitively reaffirmed by the ecumenical Council of Florence in 1442 and the council of Trent in the 16th century.

Constantine himself, although he was very soft on Christianity, did not actually become a Christian until near death. When he was finally baptized, it was by an Arian bishop, not Trinitarian.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

Constantine himself, although he was very soft on Christianity, did not actually become a Christian until near death.

That wasn't about lack of Christian belief before that point, though.

At the time, it was a fairly frequent practice for believers to wait until they were near death to get baptized. The idea was that this was a form of "insurance": baptism was thought to absolve the person of all previous sin, so better to save it until after you've done all your sinning than to get baptized early and risk missing out on Heaven because of some sin you committed that never got absolved.

 

[Estro Felino]

And there's also another shocking detail.
He converted to Arianism because it was the most merciful heresy at that time.

He was not even a Christian. He was a Mithraist.
But the priests of Mithra told him that since he had put both his wife and his son to death, he was doomed to Hell.
Because those were inexpiable sins.

He converted to Christianity because the Arian priest had promised him that God would forgive his sins.

What a squalid life.
Even if he banned the persecutions...but that had already been done by Galerius in 311, with the Edict of Serdica.