[ominous music]
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- [Promoter] The world
forever changed his legacy,
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an empire
reaching across centuries.
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His name, Constantine.
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"Shadow Empire".
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[dramatic music]
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[foreboding music]
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- This is the city of
Nis in the heart of Serbia.
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It's a very old town,
one of the oldest in Europe.
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In ancient times, the
Romans called it Nassis.
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And it was here
some 1,700 years ago
00:00:46.41\00:00:49.18
that a baby was born
under a cloud of illegitimacy
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to a very humble and
insignificant village girl.
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That baby would grow up
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to completely
transform the whole planet.
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In fact, you and
I are still living
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under the shadow of his life.
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He has altered the way
you think, the way you live,
00:01:04.56\00:01:07.83
and probably
the way you believe.
00:01:07.83\00:01:09.86
And this is the
ancient land of Israel
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where another even
better known baby was born
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some 2,000 years ago to
another humble village girl.
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And that baby
completely changed the planet
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undeniably to
an extent unmatched
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by any other child in history.
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And the paths of these
two incredible children
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were destined to cross in ways
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that history has
clearly recorded,
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but most of us have forgotten.
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And believe me, our amnesia
hasn't done us any favors.
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[dramatic music]
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[suspenseful music]
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It was 271AD and a
tired Roman military tribute
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by the name of
Flavius Constantius
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was leading his men back from
a battle with the Sarmatians,
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a large confederation of
ancient Persians that had slowly
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been making their way
westward for centuries.
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Eventually, with the help
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of Germanic
barbarians like the Goths,
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they started pushing
their way into Roman territory,
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something the
empire could not allow.
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[foreboding music]
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And on his way back
from fighting the Sarmatians,
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Flavius Constantius stopped here
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in what is now the
modern day city of Nis
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in a village much
like this to get some rest.
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His men spent the
night out in the fields,
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but because he was
a commanding officer,
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he got to stay in a village inn
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where he could get a great
meal, a good night's sleep.
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And unfortunately,
something else that soldiers
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sometimes go looking
for when they come to town.
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He wanted a little
company for the evening.
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According to the story
told by an ancient Greek monk,
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Flavius asked the
local innkeeper to find him a
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companion. And what
usually happened in those days
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is someone would go
and fetch a village widow.
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But that night, the innkeeper
dispensed with the tradition,
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because he was deeply
impressed by the stature
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and bearing of
this Roman soldier,
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and he did the unthinkable.
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He sent for his 16-year-old
daughter, her name Helena,
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and she would go on to become
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one of the most
famous women in history.
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- [Innkeeper] Be kind.
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- The next morning when the sun
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came through the bedroom window,
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Flavius suddenly
worried that maybe
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he had offended
Apollo, the Sun god.
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So he quickly packed up
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and went out to
the fields to his men,
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but just before he left, he
gave money to the innkeeper,
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and then he handed
him something else,
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an object that would later
prove to be very important.
00:04:01.84\00:04:05.71
He gave the
innkeeper his tribunal cape,
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which had a buckle with his
initials and his military rank.
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"Keep the girl pure," he said,
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"and if by chance she
gives birth to a child,
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protect the child as
the apple of your eye."
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And then he left town, and of
course, the girl was pregnant,
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and she gave birth to a
child and named him Constantine,
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which means Little Constantius.
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He was named after his father,
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but his father had
no idea he existed.
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[gentle music]
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In fact, his father went to live
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where modern
day Budapest now is.
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And from there at the age of 33,
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he was suddenly
summoned by the Roman emperor
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to become the
Governor of Dalmatia,
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a region in modern day Croatia.
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Now, that
appointment was a huge deal,
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because Dalmatia was
a key Roman territory
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where the empire
controlled the flow of trade
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between east and west.
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If you became the
Governor of Dalmatia,
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it meant you
were on your way up.
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Now, that
appointment also sealed the fate
00:05:14.91\00:05:16.81
of Helena and
little Constantine,
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because of course, she was
nothing but a humble peasant.
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And the father of the boy
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was now at the
top of Roman society.
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He was now famous enough
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that she probably
knew exactly where he was,
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but ancient Roman civilization
was not exactly egalitarian.
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She had no way to
contact the father,
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because that
would never be allowed.
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That should have
been the end of the story.
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Just another baby born
to another peasant girl,
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and nobody cares.
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Except that
almost a decade later
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something remarkable happens.
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Another group of
Roman soldiers stops
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at the village inn
in Nis for the night,
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and they found
little Constantine,
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now nine years old,
teasing their horses.
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That made them angry.
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So, they started to hit the boy,
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and his mom heard the commotion
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and came running into the barn.
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"Stop," she said,
"don't you know who that is?
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You are hitting
the governor's son."
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"Do you take us
for fools?" they said.
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"I swear to the gods. I'm
telling the truth," she said.
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When Flavius
Constantius was just a tribune,
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he slept here and
I became pregnant.
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- What proof do you
have of such a name?
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- [Shawn] "If you want
proof, I can give it to you."
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That's when she
pulled out the cape.
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- FC Flavius Constantius.
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- Imagine the panic
those men must have felt
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when they saw the initials,
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Flavius Constantius,
Governor of Dalmatia.
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The good news is
they did the right thing.
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They went and told the governor
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he had a son living in Nassis.
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The governor was delighted.
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He sent for the boy immediately.
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Helena was now 26 years old,
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and the reunion went as
well as you might imagine.
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She was welcomed into the
governor's house with open arms.
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There was only one problem.
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There was no way Flavius
Constantius could marry her,
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because she was a peasant.
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And it wasn't because Flavius
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thought he was
too good for Helena.
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In fact, he himself had
been raised by shepherds
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in a village just a few
miles north of this location.
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The problem was that
society didn't allow it.
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She could go and
live in his house,
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but she could not be his wife.
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It turns out that young
Constantine and his mother
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were not a fit for
high Roman society.
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[suspenseful music]
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Neither was that other
baby born 300 years earlier
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in Bethlehem to
another young mother
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who didn't have a husband
when she found herself pregnant.
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Her name, of course, was
Mary, and the child was Jesus.
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And as the whole world knows,
He was cruelly put to death
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on an instrument of torture,
00:08:06.61\00:08:08.35
actually, concocted by
earlier pagan societies,
00:08:08.35\00:08:11.95
but perfected into a
grizzly sadistic science
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by none other
than the Roman Empire.
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The followers of Jesus
were not particularly welcome
00:08:18.29\00:08:21.00
in the city of Jerusalem,
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because they were
perceived to be a threat
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to the
traditional religion of Moses.
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And in time, the burgeoning
movement of Christians
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also found themselves at odds
with the entire Roman Empire.
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[playful music]
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This is a bridge
built some 60 years
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before the birth of Christ.
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And wouldn't you know it?
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The bridge is
still in service today.
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Now, you wanna pay
attention to bridges
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as we unfold the
rest of our story,
00:08:53.40\00:08:55.50
because they'll
prove to be very important.
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This bridge is a
remarkable example
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of just how
skilled the Romans were.
00:09:01.04\00:09:03.44
They managed to build an
international infrastructure,
00:09:03.44\00:09:06.51
one that held
together an empire made up of
00:09:06.51\00:09:08.84
hundreds of different
cultures and nationalities.
00:09:08.84\00:09:12.45
You had the Jews to the east,
the Barbarians to the north,
00:09:12.45\00:09:16.69
and the ancient civilizations
00:09:16.69\00:09:18.19
of Greece,
Persia, and North Africa,
00:09:18.19\00:09:20.69
all in one empire that somehow
00:09:20.69\00:09:23.29
was remarkably
stable and peaceful.
00:09:23.29\00:09:26.29
After Augusta Caesar's victory
00:09:28.36\00:09:30.00
at the Battle of Actium in 27BC,
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the Roman Empire became
very stable and predictable.
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It was a good place to live.
00:09:36.50\00:09:38.51
To the point where
people spoke of Pax Romana.
00:09:38.51\00:09:41.71
Now, you've probably
heard that expression.
00:09:41.71\00:09:43.68
It means the Peace of Rome.
00:09:43.68\00:09:46.01
From northern
Europe to North Africa,
00:09:46.01\00:09:48.35
from Spain to the Middle East,
00:09:48.35\00:09:50.19
you could count on
Roman water, Roman highways,
00:09:50.19\00:09:53.86
Roman courts, and Roman law.
00:09:53.86\00:09:56.86
Even though the people
were conquered subjects,
00:09:56.86\00:09:59.19
most of them still liked living
in the world of the Romans,
00:09:59.19\00:10:02.33
because it was a
great place to live.
00:10:02.33\00:10:05.00
It was the person of the emperor
00:10:10.91\00:10:12.67
that served as a
focal point for unity.
00:10:12.67\00:10:16.04
Conquered people had almost
absolute freedom of conscience.
00:10:16.04\00:10:19.35
They could go on worshiping
whatever God they wanted.
00:10:19.35\00:10:22.05
They could stick with the
religion of their ancestors
00:10:22.05\00:10:24.85
just as long as
they also acknowledged
00:10:24.85\00:10:27.46
the deity of the Roman emperor.
00:10:27.46\00:10:29.56
He was considered
the embodiment of Roma,
00:10:29.56\00:10:32.93
the goddess of Rome.
00:10:32.93\00:10:34.66
Now, in
reality, nobody actually,
00:10:34.66\00:10:37.33
thought the
Emperor was a divine being,
00:10:37.33\00:10:39.17
especially, if you
happen to grow up with the guy,
00:10:39.17\00:10:42.00
but during the reign of
Augustus Caesar, the unity,
00:10:42.00\00:10:45.57
the hard won peace of the
empire became so important
00:10:45.57\00:10:49.58
that emperor worship became
a symbol of national unity.
00:10:49.58\00:10:53.08
Everybody knew he
wasn't really a god,
00:10:53.08\00:10:55.85
but you offered him
a little worship anyway
00:10:55.85\00:10:57.89
to prove your
allegiance to the gods of Rome
00:10:57.89\00:11:00.42
and to the whole empire.
00:11:00.42\00:11:01.69
[gentle music]
00:11:02.76\00:11:05.43
All you really had to do,
especially in later years,
00:11:06.83\00:11:09.46
was offer this tiny
little pinch of incense
00:11:09.46\00:11:11.93
to the Emperor
just once in a while.
00:11:11.93\00:11:15.24
Then you could go
back to life as normal.
00:11:15.24\00:11:17.01
Essentially, you
barely had to acknowledge
00:11:17.01\00:11:20.24
the deity of the Emperor.
00:11:20.24\00:11:22.24
Now, that was required
for everybody except the Jews
00:11:22.24\00:11:26.08
who had a national exemption.
00:11:26.08\00:11:28.12
And how did they
get that exemption?
00:11:28.12\00:11:29.58
Well, they had proven so helpful
00:11:29.58\00:11:31.75
to Julius Caesar
during his conquest
00:11:31.75\00:11:34.29
that they got a
formal legal excuse
00:11:34.29\00:11:37.26
from those kinds of regulations.
00:11:37.26\00:11:39.09
They didn't have to acknowledge
the Emperor as a god.
00:11:39.09\00:11:42.13
They just had to
promise to pray for him
00:11:42.13\00:11:44.90
and for the
health of the empire.
00:11:44.90\00:11:46.77
And of course,
given all the options,
00:11:46.77\00:11:49.07
that was something
they were quite happy to do.
00:11:49.07\00:11:51.74
Now, the Romans had a
word for the Jewish faith.
00:11:51.74\00:11:54.08
They called it a religio.
00:11:54.08\00:11:56.18
It's where we get
the word religion.
00:11:56.18\00:11:58.25
And a religio
was a national faith,
00:11:58.25\00:12:01.02
a religion that actually
defined the whole nation itself.
00:12:01.02\00:12:04.89
Now, in the very beginning,
00:12:07.19\00:12:08.69
the followers of Jesus
were also considered a religio,
00:12:08.69\00:12:12.66
because as far as the
average Roman could tell
00:12:12.66\00:12:15.46
there was really no difference
between Jews and Christians.
00:12:15.46\00:12:18.73
Christians were just
one more set of Jews.
00:12:18.73\00:12:22.14
But then a few years went
by and a radical separation
00:12:22.14\00:12:25.31
started taking place
between the two groups.
00:12:25.31\00:12:28.48
As time went by,
Christians were no longer
00:12:28.48\00:12:31.15
called a religio,
a national religion.
00:12:31.15\00:12:34.18
Now, they were
called superstitio.
00:12:34.18\00:12:36.99
It's where we get
the word superstition.
00:12:36.99\00:12:39.82
Suddenly, the Christians
had no more legal exemption,
00:12:39.82\00:12:43.02
and they too were
required to acknowledge
00:12:43.02\00:12:46.16
the deity of the Roman emperor.
00:12:46.16\00:12:48.33
[suspenseful music]
00:12:52.97\00:12:55.97
[suspenseful music continues]
00:13:02.38\00:13:06.25
A little more than
200 years after Christ,
00:13:09.65\00:13:12.79
right here in the city of Rome,
00:13:12.79\00:13:14.39
there was this great example
00:13:14.39\00:13:16.12
of the problem that
early Christians faced.
00:13:16.12\00:13:19.23
There were probably
about 30,000 of them
00:13:19.23\00:13:21.70
living in the city at the time.
00:13:21.70\00:13:23.70
And the Emperor Trajan
Decius passed a law saying
00:13:23.70\00:13:27.64
that every male citizen had
to buy a sacrificial animal,
00:13:27.64\00:13:31.44
bring it to the
temple for ritual cooking,
00:13:31.44\00:13:34.08
publicly consume
some of the meat,
00:13:34.08\00:13:36.48
and then offer
some wine to the genius
00:13:36.48\00:13:39.38
or the guiding
spirit of the emperor.
00:13:39.38\00:13:42.32
In other words, they had to
recognize the emperor as a god.
00:13:42.32\00:13:45.89
Now, if you did that, if
you performed the rituals,
00:13:47.22\00:13:49.32
you got a signed certificate,
00:13:49.32\00:13:51.39
but if you didn't,
00:13:51.39\00:13:52.89
you were considered a
traitor to the empire.
00:13:52.89\00:13:55.76
[suspenseful music continues]
00:13:56.87\00:14:00.70
At other times, and
with other emperors,
00:14:02.27\00:14:04.77
all you really had
to do was just offer
00:14:04.77\00:14:06.47
that tiny pinch of incense,
00:14:06.47\00:14:08.68
a token ritual that
proved you were loyal.
00:14:08.68\00:14:12.01
Now, for the most part,
Christians didn't have a problem
00:14:12.01\00:14:14.45
with being loyal to government,
00:14:14.45\00:14:16.28
because their
scriptures, actually,
00:14:16.28\00:14:18.12
taught them to be good citizens,
00:14:18.12\00:14:20.49
but they could
not, they would not,
00:14:20.49\00:14:22.89
participate in a
Roman religious ritual,
00:14:22.89\00:14:25.69
because they were monotheistic
00:14:25.69\00:14:27.03
just like their Jewish cousins.
00:14:27.03\00:14:29.03
They acknowledged the
existence of just one God,
00:14:29.03\00:14:32.00
and that God they said, had
come to Earth in human form.
00:14:32.00\00:14:35.87
He'd been put to
death on a Roman cross,
00:14:35.87\00:14:39.17
and then He rose from the dead.
00:14:39.17\00:14:41.28
That same God in
human flesh would come again
00:14:41.28\00:14:43.98
to judge the
living and the dead,
00:14:43.98\00:14:46.28
and then He would set
up a kingdom of His own.
00:14:46.28\00:14:49.55
So, now the
Christians were perceived
00:14:54.19\00:14:56.12
as a clear threat to Pax Romana.
00:14:56.12\00:14:58.49
They were an unstable element.
00:14:58.49\00:15:01.10
They clearly
served a different king,
00:15:01.10\00:15:03.53
which might have
been fine as long
00:15:03.53\00:15:05.20
as Caesar was still
at the top of the heap.
00:15:05.20\00:15:08.17
The problem was
Christians only had one king,
00:15:08.17\00:15:11.37
and they spoke about the day
00:15:11.37\00:15:13.01
when their king would
overthrow every other empire.
00:15:13.01\00:15:16.68
These people were conversant
00:15:16.68\00:15:18.18
in the ancient
prophecies of Daniel,
00:15:18.18\00:15:20.35
which spoke of a time
when Messiah's kingdom
00:15:20.35\00:15:22.35
would destroy every
single human kingdom
00:15:22.35\00:15:25.02
and replace them for all time.
00:15:25.02\00:15:27.06
Their Jesus was
not just Messiah,
00:15:28.19\00:15:30.89
He was not just the son of God,
00:15:30.89\00:15:33.09
He was the king of
kings and Lord of lords.
00:15:33.09\00:15:36.16
Here's how the
prophet Daniel described Him.
00:15:37.33\00:15:39.50
"Then to Him was
given dominion and glory
00:15:41.00\00:15:43.77
and a kingdom that
all people's nations
00:15:43.77\00:15:45.94
and languages should serve Him.
00:15:45.94\00:15:47.84
His dominion is an
everlasting dominion,
00:15:47.84\00:15:50.25
which shall not pass away,
00:15:50.25\00:15:52.18
and His kingdom the one
which shall not be destroyed."
00:15:52.18\00:15:56.02
[ominous music]
00:15:57.45\00:16:00.26
It's not hard to
see why the Romans
00:16:03.86\00:16:06.03
weren't keen on
this brand new sect.
00:16:06.03\00:16:08.40
It didn't help that Christians
were distancing themselves
00:16:08.40\00:16:11.77
from some of the
day-to-day activities
00:16:11.77\00:16:13.57
the average Roman enjoyed.
00:16:13.57\00:16:15.60
For example, Christians weren't
keen on Roman entertainment,
00:16:15.60\00:16:19.34
because it was so violent.
00:16:19.34\00:16:22.01
From what I understand
historically speaking,
00:16:22.01\00:16:23.91
sometimes when a Roman
play called for a death scene,
00:16:23.91\00:16:27.52
condemned prisoners were
actually murdered right on stage
00:16:27.52\00:16:31.19
to make it seem more realistic.
00:16:31.19\00:16:33.09
And of course,
Christians weren't interested
00:16:33.09\00:16:35.46
in watching that kind of stuff.
00:16:35.46\00:16:37.26
They served a Creator God,
a God of love and redemption.
00:16:37.26\00:16:42.23
Then there was the
issue of healthcare.
00:16:42.23\00:16:44.23
A lot of the
hospitals were dedicated
00:16:44.23\00:16:46.23
to the pagan gods of healing,
00:16:46.23\00:16:48.60
which wouldn't have
been a huge problem,
00:16:48.60\00:16:51.11
except that sometimes
the priest of the serpent god
00:16:51.11\00:16:54.41
would actually come
right into your hospital room
00:16:54.41\00:16:56.58
and involve you
in his pagan rituals.
00:16:56.58\00:16:59.78
Public education also
posed a bit of a problem,
00:16:59.78\00:17:01.98
because the value system
taught by Roman educators
00:17:01.98\00:17:05.32
was essentially at
odds with Christian belief.
00:17:05.32\00:17:08.92
And if you sent your
kids to a Roman school,
00:17:08.92\00:17:11.76
they would be
subjected to pagan religion.
00:17:11.76\00:17:14.83
They would learn
different theories
00:17:14.83\00:17:16.30
about philosophical truth or
the origins of the human race
00:17:16.30\00:17:19.97
and the meaning of life.
00:17:19.97\00:17:21.90
And while Christians have never
00:17:21.90\00:17:23.87
really shied away
from other people's ideas,
00:17:23.87\00:17:26.84
they didn't
wanna expose their kids
00:17:26.84\00:17:29.14
to that stuff at a young age.
00:17:29.14\00:17:31.15
[ominous music continues]
00:17:32.15\00:17:35.72
[ominous music continues]
00:17:41.99\00:17:45.56
In the second
century, the Emperor Trajan,
00:17:47.36\00:17:50.03
the one who actually
built this famous marketplace,
00:17:50.03\00:17:53.17
he sent a new
governor to Asia Minor
00:17:53.17\00:17:55.57
to rule a region called Bifinia.
00:17:55.57\00:17:58.51
And in one town in that region,
00:17:58.51\00:18:00.24
there were people complaining
about the Christians.
00:18:00.24\00:18:03.04
What was the complaint?
00:18:03.04\00:18:04.55
Well, the local butchers
weren't selling enough meat.
00:18:04.55\00:18:07.65
So, how could that be
the Christian's fault?
00:18:07.65\00:18:10.09
Well, a lot of
the meat was earmarked
00:18:10.09\00:18:12.72
for sacrifices
to the pagan gods,
00:18:12.72\00:18:14.89
and the
influence of Christianity
00:18:14.89\00:18:16.79
had supposedly put a
massive dent in sales.
00:18:16.79\00:18:20.10
So, the butchers blame
the Christians for their woes.
00:18:20.10\00:18:23.97
Now, at first, the new governor,
00:18:26.87\00:18:28.87
a guy by the name
of Pliny the Younger,
00:18:28.87\00:18:31.77
he didn't see a problem.
00:18:31.77\00:18:33.21
He wrote back to
the Emperor and said,
00:18:33.21\00:18:35.38
"I don't know what
all the fuss is about.
00:18:35.38\00:18:36.98
I still see all kinds of
meat for sale in the market.
00:18:36.98\00:18:40.05
I think those
butchers are exaggerating."
00:18:40.05\00:18:43.25
But you know, facts
seldom matter in a world
00:18:43.25\00:18:45.55
where people want a scapegoat.
00:18:45.55\00:18:47.46
So, even though the accusation
00:18:47.46\00:18:49.46
against the
Christians had little substance,
00:18:49.46\00:18:51.99
Pliny executed a
few of them anyway
00:18:51.99\00:18:54.46
just to keep
the merchants happy.
00:18:54.46\00:18:57.03
And he was,
actually, happy to do that,
00:18:57.03\00:18:59.43
because he found
Christians inflexible,
00:18:59.43\00:19:02.87
unwilling to compromise
on certain principles.
00:19:02.87\00:19:06.47
All across the
empire, suddenly there were
00:19:06.47\00:19:08.31
these anti-Christian
pamphlets in circulation,
00:19:08.31\00:19:11.51
and the rumor mills
started to fill in blanks
00:19:11.51\00:19:13.88
wherever Romans struggled
to understand the new faith.
00:19:13.88\00:19:17.62
They heard about
Christians who met in secret,
00:19:17.62\00:19:20.69
and that was actually true.
00:19:20.69\00:19:22.12
Some of them had
to meet in secret,
00:19:22.12\00:19:24.29
because Romans were
suspicious of any gatherings
00:19:24.29\00:19:27.36
that involved
more than a few people.
00:19:27.36\00:19:29.43
They always feared
that bigger groups,
00:19:29.43\00:19:31.27
say more than a dozen,
00:19:31.27\00:19:33.30
might become a breeding
ground for political unrest.
00:19:33.30\00:19:36.20
And of course,
large group of Christians
00:19:36.20\00:19:38.77
did meet for worship so
they were immediately suspect.
00:19:38.77\00:19:42.61
Many Christians were
forced to meet in secret.
00:19:42.61\00:19:45.81
[foreboding music]
00:19:47.78\00:19:50.72
Then the general
public started to hear
00:19:57.16\00:19:58.56
about the communion service,
00:19:58.56\00:20:00.20
where, supposedly, Christians
were eating human flesh
00:20:00.20\00:20:03.10
and drinking human blood.
00:20:03.10\00:20:04.70
What they were doing, of course,
00:20:04.70\00:20:05.93
was eating bread
and drinking wine,
00:20:05.93\00:20:07.37
symbols of the
body and blood of Jesus,
00:20:07.37\00:20:09.94
but facts seldom matter to
people who want to hear rumors.
00:20:09.94\00:20:13.78
They called those
communion services,
00:20:13.78\00:20:15.44
agape feasts, love feasts.
00:20:15.44\00:20:17.61
So, obviously,
they were wild orgies.
00:20:17.61\00:20:20.62
The Christians were
people of low morals
00:20:20.62\00:20:22.68
who ate human
flesh, they were cannibals.
00:20:22.68\00:20:25.45
And then the story
started to go around,
00:20:25.45\00:20:27.32
"Watch out for those Christians.
00:20:27.32\00:20:29.49
You never know when they
might come after your kids."
00:20:29.49\00:20:32.79
[crowds screaming]
00:20:35.03\00:20:37.93
This is that moment in
history when all those stories
00:20:40.04\00:20:42.64
you heard in school
started to take place.
00:20:42.64\00:20:45.27
Christians were put
to death in the arena.
00:20:45.27\00:20:47.98
Now, we don't
actually know of any Christians
00:20:47.98\00:20:49.84
who died here in the Colosseum,
00:20:49.84\00:20:51.55
but they were put to
death in other venues.
00:20:51.55\00:20:54.68
At one point, apparently, Nero
had Christians dipped in tar,
00:20:54.68\00:20:58.79
nailed to crosses,
and then lit on fire
00:20:58.79\00:21:01.69
so that he could use them
as nightlights at his games.
00:21:01.69\00:21:05.09
He wrapped them in animal skins
00:21:05.09\00:21:06.96
and fed them to wild animals.
00:21:06.96\00:21:09.16
They became the
outcasts of Roman society.
00:21:09.16\00:21:12.50
They did not fit in.
00:21:12.50\00:21:15.00
And then they became
convenience scapegoats.
00:21:15.00\00:21:18.01
There was one occasion toward
the end of the first century
00:21:18.01\00:21:20.51
when the city of Rome
actually burned to the ground,
00:21:20.51\00:21:23.51
or at least a
big part of it did.
00:21:23.51\00:21:26.18
And the day that happened,
00:21:26.18\00:21:27.68
apparently, the Emperor
Nero was somewhere out of town.
00:21:27.68\00:21:31.39
Yet, people still suspected
00:21:31.39\00:21:33.02
that he might have
started the fire himself
00:21:33.02\00:21:35.36
in order to make
room for his projects.
00:21:35.36\00:21:38.13
And that's when the Christians
suddenly got the blame.
00:21:38.13\00:21:41.56
[somber music]
00:21:45.93\00:21:48.50
[somber music continues]
00:21:55.11\00:21:58.51
A rumor spread
all through the city.
00:22:00.25\00:22:02.65
"We've heard that
Christians believe
00:22:02.65\00:22:04.45
the world will end in fire,
00:22:04.45\00:22:05.75
and we think
they started the fire
00:22:05.75\00:22:07.66
to make their own
prophecy come true."
00:22:07.66\00:22:10.36
Again, that was an
absolute distortion
00:22:10.36\00:22:12.43
of what
Christians actually believed,
00:22:12.43\00:22:14.30
but that didn't matter.
00:22:14.30\00:22:16.06
The Christians got the blame,
00:22:16.06\00:22:17.73
and Nero probably relieved
to be out of the spotlight,
00:22:17.73\00:22:21.27
went after them.
00:22:21.27\00:22:22.67
From that point
on, Christian leaders
00:22:22.67\00:22:24.97
were persecuted
with some regularity.
00:22:24.97\00:22:27.34
[somber music continues]
00:22:30.51\00:22:33.75
Even then, the
Christians weren't really
00:22:33.75\00:22:36.02
on the Emperor's radar, not yet.
00:22:36.02\00:22:38.52
Some historians
suggest that Nero,
00:22:38.52\00:22:40.86
actually, blamed
another easy target, the poor,
00:22:40.86\00:22:44.13
because he knew nobody
would stand up for them.
00:22:44.13\00:22:47.30
And among the poor, there were
lots and lots of Christians,
00:22:47.30\00:22:50.80
because from the very start,
00:22:50.80\00:22:52.73
Christianity was the religion
of a poor carpenter's son.
00:22:52.73\00:22:57.24
It was a religion of
outcasts, the downtrodden.
00:22:57.24\00:23:00.58
It was a
movement started by a man
00:23:00.58\00:23:02.24
who spent his time
with tax collectors
00:23:02.24\00:23:04.31
and lepers and prostitutes.
00:23:04.31\00:23:07.25
In the very beginning,
00:23:07.25\00:23:08.68
Christianity was not
a religion of the rich.
00:23:08.68\00:23:11.92
To use the words of
the book of Hebrews,
00:23:11.92\00:23:14.19
"It was a faith for people
00:23:14.19\00:23:16.02
of whom the
world was not worthy."
00:23:16.02\00:23:18.76
And when poor
Christians faced death,
00:23:19.73\00:23:22.36
they did it so
fearlessly that people noticed.
00:23:22.36\00:23:25.57
They stood out from
the other poor people.
00:23:25.57\00:23:28.14
And after a while, the
Christians were so notable
00:23:28.14\00:23:31.47
that they became the
number one scapegoat,
00:23:31.47\00:23:34.14
the very face of
the Emperor's problems.
00:23:34.14\00:23:37.51
So, you can see Christians
00:23:37.51\00:23:39.81
did not fit into
the Roman empire.
00:23:39.81\00:23:42.18
Jesus wasn't
particularly welcome
00:23:42.18\00:23:44.35
in the highest
levels of Roman society.
00:23:44.35\00:23:47.69
Not only was
there no room for Jesus
00:23:47.69\00:23:49.99
at the inn of Bethlehem,
00:23:49.99\00:23:51.83
apparently,
there wasn't much room
00:23:51.83\00:23:54.00
for Him in the
Emperor's palace either.
00:23:54.00\00:23:56.50
[people chatting]
00:23:58.37\00:24:01.20
There were also some
key philosophical objections
00:24:04.57\00:24:07.21
the Romans had to Christianity,
00:24:07.21\00:24:08.88
and these are really important,
00:24:08.88\00:24:10.55
because they prove
what Constantine was doing
00:24:10.55\00:24:12.88
and not doing in later years.
00:24:12.88\00:24:15.25
Today, some people
say that Constantine
00:24:15.25\00:24:17.42
invented the idea
of Christ's divinity.
00:24:17.42\00:24:20.12
I've heard people claim that,
00:24:20.12\00:24:21.66
that idea didn't show up
for some 300 years after Jesus.
00:24:21.66\00:24:25.76
But if you go back and read
what the ancient Romans said
00:24:25.76\00:24:28.70
about Christians in
the first two centuries,
00:24:28.70\00:24:30.93
it's obvious that they
were worshiping Christ.
00:24:30.93\00:24:34.20
In fact, there was
a harsh Roman critic,
00:24:34.20\00:24:36.37
a guy by the name of Celsus
00:24:36.37\00:24:37.87
who lived in the last
half of the second century,
00:24:37.87\00:24:40.54
and he detested the Christians.
00:24:40.54\00:24:43.04
He was a big deal,
he was very popular,
00:24:43.04\00:24:45.81
so popular that Christians
00:24:45.81\00:24:47.92
felt obliged to
answer his accusations.
00:24:47.92\00:24:51.82
And what exactly did
Celsus hate about Christians?
00:24:51.82\00:24:55.16
Well, for starters, he hated
the idea of the incarnation.
00:24:55.16\00:24:58.39
This idea that Jesus
is God in human flesh.
00:24:58.39\00:25:02.10
According to Celsus, for
God to change from good to bad,
00:25:02.10\00:25:05.37
from beautiful to shameful,
from happiness to misfortune,
00:25:05.37\00:25:10.44
well, to him
that was unthinkable.
00:25:11.54\00:25:12.87
He didn't see God's
condescension as an act of love.
00:25:12.87\00:25:15.68
He figured that
the very act of God
00:25:15.68\00:25:18.15
being born in
Bethlehem as a human
00:25:18.15\00:25:20.52
would be far beneath the
dignity of a supreme being.
00:25:20.52\00:25:24.19
Now, there was another reason
00:25:24.19\00:25:25.45
he didn't like the
idea that Jesus was God.
00:25:25.45\00:25:28.39
Some prominent Roman
thinkers were already moving
00:25:28.39\00:25:31.33
toward the idea of just one god,
00:25:31.33\00:25:34.30
and Jesus seemed
like a second god.
00:25:34.30\00:25:36.93
So, Celsus
considered worshiping Jesus
00:25:36.93\00:25:39.33
to be some kind of
relapse into polytheism
00:25:39.33\00:25:43.27
and all that business about
Jesus coming back from the dead,
00:25:43.27\00:25:47.21
well, it was obvious
to him that can't happen.
00:25:47.21\00:25:50.11
[ominous music]
00:25:51.31\00:25:54.05
[ominous music continues]
00:26:00.26\00:26:03.76
[ominous music continues]
00:26:09.56\00:26:13.17
In later years,
another pagan philosopher
00:26:16.17\00:26:18.94
by the name of
Porphyry told the Roman world
00:26:18.94\00:26:21.51
that Christians were
unsophisticated simpletons
00:26:21.51\00:26:24.85
that were holding back
the progress of civilization.
00:26:24.85\00:26:29.35
In Porphyry's opinion,
Christians were a huge detriment
00:26:29.35\00:26:32.89
to the advancement
of logic and science.
00:26:32.89\00:26:35.89
So, as you can
see, in the Roman world,
00:26:35.89\00:26:39.03
the worth of Jesus
would have to be proved.
00:26:39.03\00:26:41.73
[suspenseful music]
00:26:44.50\00:26:47.54
Just like the
worth of Constantine,
00:26:49.50\00:26:52.84
It wasn't until that
cape came out of storage
00:26:52.84\00:26:55.18
that Helena could
prove her boy was important.
00:26:55.18\00:26:59.35
And even when they finally
arrived in the governor's
00:27:00.85\00:27:02.78
palace, almost 10
years after his birth,
00:27:02.78\00:27:05.42
she was still an uneasy fit.
00:27:05.42\00:27:07.59
Low class peasant,
unfit to be a governor's wife,
00:27:08.76\00:27:12.79
but she was good
enough to be a concubine.
00:27:14.30\00:27:17.90
You see there was this Roman law
00:27:17.90\00:27:19.57
that could help make
Constantine legitimate.
00:27:19.57\00:27:22.40
They called it
concubine marriage.
00:27:22.40\00:27:23.97
Now, it wasn't
full-fledged Roman marriage.
00:27:23.97\00:27:27.48
This was something you
could end quite easily.
00:27:27.48\00:27:29.58
Divorce was simple,
00:27:29.58\00:27:31.45
but it still gave the
young Constantine something,
00:27:31.45\00:27:35.08
some kind of
claim to legitimacy.
00:27:35.08\00:27:38.02
Gave him a home, and
it gave him a headstart
00:27:38.02\00:27:41.02
in an empire he
would eventually control.
00:27:41.02\00:27:43.79
[suspenseful music continues]
00:27:44.99\00:27:48.90
[suspenseful music continues]
00:27:55.40\00:27:59.27
[suspenseful music continues]
00:28:05.35\00:28:09.75
- [Promoter] This
has been a broadcast
00:28:09.75\00:28:11.32
of The Voice of Prophecy.
00:28:11.32\00:28:13.15
To learn more about
how you can get a DVD copy
00:28:13.15\00:28:15.99
of "Shadow Empire" for yourself,
00:28:15.99\00:28:18.33
please visit ShadowEmpireDVD.com
00:28:18.33\00:28:22.06
or call toll free 844-822-2943.
00:28:22.06\00:28:24.80