Participants: Pastor Shawn Boonstra
Series Code: SEM
Program Code: SEM000003A
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00:01 male announcer: The world, forever changed.
00:04 His legacy, an empire reaching across centuries. 00:08 His name... 00:11 Constantine. 00:15 "Shadow Empire." 00:19 ♪♪♪ 00:31 Shawn Boonstra: The life of Constantine is something 00:33 of a miracle story. 00:35 He was born to a peasant girl out of wedlock 00:38 and for the first 9 years of his life, 00:40 nobody knew that his real father was 00:42 the governor of Dalmatia, that was a position usually assigned 00:46 to people of great influence. 00:49 Not only did Constantine eventually come to know 00:51 his real father, because of an altercation with some guests 00:55 at the stables at his grandfather's inn, 00:58 he actually ended up living in the palace 01:00 of the Roman emperor himself. 01:10 Shawn: For 11 years, Constantine worked directly 01:13 for the Emperor Diocletian and he witnessed 01:15 all kinds of big events firsthand. 01:18 For example, he watched the emperor successfully squash 01:21 a rebellion in north Africa and he was there 01:24 when the official persecution against Christians 01:27 began in the year 303. 01:30 It was a time when there were actually four rulers 01:32 in the Roman Empire. 01:34 Diocletian was eager to keep his massive empire stable and he 01:37 achieved that by creating what is called a tetrarchy 01:41 or ruled by four people. 01:43 There were two rulers in the east 01:45 and two rulers in the west. 01:47 On each side of the empire, you had a senior emperor, 01:50 they called him the Augustus and a junior emperor under him 01:55 who was known as the Caesar. 01:57 In the east, you had Diocletian as the Augustus 01:59 and Galerius as his Caesar. 02:02 And if you remember, Galerius was the guy 02:04 who really hated Christians. 02:06 In the west, you had Maximian as the Augustus 02:09 and Flavius Constantius as the Caesar. 02:12 And, of course, Constantius was Constantine's father. 02:16 Shortly after the great 10-year persecution began, 02:19 Diocletian did something no other emperor had ever done. 02:22 He decided he was too old to rule so for the good 02:25 of the empire, he would retire. 02:28 He contacted Maximian in the west and suggested 02:31 that both of them should step aside 02:33 and promote their second in command 02:35 to the top position. 02:37 Of course, this meant that Diocletian could abdicate 02:40 the throne while he was still at the top of his game, 02:43 something you see a lot of today in the 21st century 02:46 but back in the 4th century in Rome, that never happened. 02:57 Shawn: So, in September of 303, 02:59 everybody went to the city of Rome. 03:01 Now remember, Rome hasn't really been the capital of the empire 03:06 in a long time but 303 is the 20th anniversary 03:10 of Diocletian's reign. 03:12 It had been 20 years since he took the empire by force 03:15 and the eternal city seemed like the ideal place to hand 03:19 the reigns of power to the two Caesars. 03:22 So, in October, everybody arrived right here in the city 03:26 and thousands of people poured into the streets to see 03:28 the four rulers of the empire, something nobody had ever seen 03:34 and it was here in Rome that Constantine met his father again 03:37 for the first time in 10 years and the reunion happens 03:40 just in time because 33 months later, 03:44 Constantius was dying and on his death bed, he asked his legions 03:48 to promote his son Constantine to become 03:51 one of the four tetrarchs. 03:55 ♪♪♪ 04:01 Shawn: The festivities in Rome began to spiral 04:03 out of control. 04:05 What started as the 20-year anniversary party for Diocletian 04:08 and a retirement party quickly became a long string of drunken 04:12 parties and wild orgies and it got so out of hand 04:16 that Diocletian became disgusted with what he saw 04:19 and he picked up and left town. 04:22 He went north of here to Ravenna, a city that would 04:24 eventually become the capital of the western Roman Empire 04:27 about a hundred years later. 04:30 And up there in Ravenna during a cold and miserable winter, 04:33 Diocletian got really sick. 04:36 Galerius went and visited him, the man who started 04:39 all the trouble against the Christian church. 04:42 "Sir," he says to Diocletian, "the Christians are busy making 04:46 trouble for us again." 04:49 Now, we don't know that that's true but don't forget, 04:52 Galerius really hated the Christians because they 04:55 wouldn't participate in his mother's pagan rituals. 05:00 ♪♪♪ 05:12 Shawn: Galerius makes a suggestion, the restrictions 05:14 they put on Christianity, he said, weren't enough. 05:17 The religion should be outlawed the same way the Manichaeans 05:21 in Egypt had been outlawed a few years earlier. 05:23 So, in April of 304, Diocletian agrees 05:27 and the persecution gets even worse. 05:29 Now, it's a capital offense just to be a Christian 05:32 and the bloodshed ramps up to a much higher level. 05:35 Now honestly, if Diocletian had been a good student of history, 05:39 he should have known what would happen. 05:41 In the 12th chapter of the Book of Revelation, 05:43 the Bible speaks about Christians who resist the dragon 05:46 and do not love their lives unto the death, the century 05:51 since Jesus had proven that biblical Christianity 05:54 actually thrives under persecution. 05:57 People whose God had sacrificed his own life on a cross 06:01 didn't consider death to be punishment. 06:04 They weren't afraid. 06:06 They considered dying for Christ a privilege. 06:14 Now, here's what's really interesting, the persecution was 06:18 much worse in the eastern part of the empire where Galerius 06:21 was rising to the position of senior emperor. 06:24 In the west, it wasn't quite so bad. 06:28 In fact, some historians estimate that the very best 06:31 place to be a Christian during those years was northern Europe 06:34 where my own ancestors come from. 06:36 Now, why was the persecution lighter in northern Europe? 06:40 Well, here's something to consider, Constantius, 06:43 now remember, that's Constantine's father, 06:45 he had a daughter named Anastasia which is 06:49 a pretty remarkable name for a pagan, why? 06:53 Well, it's a Greek word. 06:55 It comes from Anastasi which literally means resurrection 06:59 and it's a Christian name, 07:02 a name that honors the resurrection of Christ. 07:05 Is it possible there were Christians living 07:08 right in the house of Constantine? 07:11 Well, the answer to that is yes. 07:13 Remember, when Constantine's father divorced Helena, 07:17 Constantine reacted with bitterness but historians 07:21 believe that Helena found consolation in the Christian 07:24 message which has always spoken powerfully to people whose lives 07:28 are full of disappointment. 07:30 Helena probably became a Christian very early on 07:33 and somebody convinced the Caesar to name their 07:36 daughter after the resurrection of Christ. 07:39 Now, that's all we really know but what happens next has me 07:43 utterly convinced that Constantine was exposed to 07:45 Christianity very early on and not just because he was there 07:49 for the Diocletian persecutions. 07:51 He was exposed through his own family and I'm convinced 07:54 he started to become sympathetic very early on. 08:02 ♪♪♪ 08:18 Shawn: But at this point, things get messy. 08:21 Diocletian and Maximian retire, they step aside and Galerius 08:25 decides he's going to decide who the new junior emperors will be 08:29 so he picks Severus, a legion commander 08:32 with a drinking problem and his own nephew, Daia Maximinus, 08:36 a kid who was actually half barbarian 08:39 and Daia was bad news for the Christians. 08:43 Now, Diocletian actually doesn't like either of these 08:46 two new appointees but he figures, 08:48 "Hey, I've already retired. 08:50 Nobody's going to blame me if the empire falls apart." 08:53 So, he does nothing about it. 08:56 And by doing nothing, he unwittingly creates 08:59 a big problem in the west. 09:04 You see, Maximian, the now retired Augustus of the west, 09:07 the one that Diocletian convinced to retire with him, 09:10 he has a son Maxentius and Maxentius has just been 09:14 completely passed over for the position of Caesar, 09:17 of course, Constantine has also been passed over. 09:22 And Galerius must have realized the potential for hard feelings 09:25 because at this point, he actually forbids Constantine 09:28 from leaving his palace. 09:30 "You can't go home," he says. 09:32 Because he knows if Constantine goes home and joins his father 09:36 and his father wants Constantine to be Caesar, 09:38 there's going to be trouble. 09:43 And, of course, sure enough, Flavius Constantius 09:45 asks for his son. 09:48 Now, what in the world is Galerius going to do? 09:50 He can't deny the request of another Augustus so he tells 09:54 Constantine, "Look, you can leave but not until tomorrow." 09:59 What he planned to do was figure out a way to have the boy 10:01 arrested but Constantine smelled a rat. 10:04 That night after supper, he snuck out of the palace 10:07 and made a run for it and on his way westward, 10:10 he cleverly killed every horse at every post making it 10:15 impossible to follow him. 10:23 The next day at noon, Galerius wakes up and he discovers 10:26 Constantine's gone and then he discovers every horse along 10:31 Constantine's route is dead and he's never going to catch up. 10:35 It reduces him to tears. 10:38 Now, Constantine made his way all the way to western Europe 10:41 where he joined his father in a region called Gaul 10:43 or modern day France and together, father and son 10:47 went to war and defeated the Picts, 10:50 a fierce pagan tribe from the British aisles. 10:53 Constantine was so magnificent in battle that his men wanted 10:58 him as the king and they honored the request of his dying father. 11:03 Constantine becomes ruler by popular acclamation. 11:07 Constantine: And the glory of our gods, 11:09 I except this responsibility. 11:10 Shawn: And they didn't just make him Caesar 11:12 or second in command, they took his father's purple cape, 11:15 put it on Constantine's shoulders 11:17 and called him Augustus. 11:20 They gave him the top job. 11:22 He became his father's replacement. 11:28 Now, you have Galerius with Daia in the east and Constantine 11:32 with Severus in the west. 11:36 ♪♪♪ 11:40 Shawn: Of course, when Galerius found out what 11:41 happened, he was very unhappy, but what exactly is he 11:45 supposed to do? 11:47 History tells us Constantine actually sent him a gift, 11:50 a bust of himself and in a fit of rage, 11:53 Galerius smashed it against the wall. 11:55 He wants Constantine gone. 11:58 But then Diocletian, the old retired emperor, 12:01 comes up with a suggestion. 12:02 "I don't think you can fight this," he said. 12:05 "So, for the good of the empire, just recognize Constantine 12:08 as a junior emperor, recognize him as Caesar." 12:13 Now, that kind of made sense so that's exactly what 12:15 Galerius did. 12:17 He sent an imperial mantle to Constantine, along with 12:20 a friendly letter congratulating him, not as Augustus, 12:23 but Caesar of the west. 12:25 And because Constantine was a patient man willing to buy 12:29 this time and because he was a smart man, 12:32 he accepted the demotion graciously. 12:35 Now, the tetrarchy is restored. 12:37 You've got Galerius and Daia in the east, 12:39 Severus with Constantine in the west. 12:43 There's just one problem, do you remember Maxentius, 12:47 the other son of the retired western emperor, 12:49 the other guy who got passed over? 12:51 He's not happy. 12:59 Shawn: But Maxentius was kind of powerless. 13:02 I mean, what exactly was he going to do? 13:04 Then, an opportunity miraculously presents itself. 13:09 For years, the city of Rome had been exempt from paying taxes 13:12 because she was the mother city but Galerius decides to tax 13:17 the Romans and, of course, that made everybody angry. 13:21 This was an opportunity that Maxentius could not resist. 13:26 He knew that over the centuries, the senate had been stripped 13:29 of its power. 13:31 In the distant past, the senate had actually chosen emperors, 13:34 but now it was usually the army who did that. 13:38 I mean, Diocletian came to power by acclamation of his troops 13:41 and the same thing happened with Constantine. 13:44 Maxentius traveled here to Rome and he told the senate here in 13:49 this building that they could have a revival, 13:52 he could make them powerful. 13:55 "Make me the emperor," he said, 13:56 "and I'll restore Rome's former glory." 14:00 Of course, that was an offer the senate couldn't resist. 14:03 The only problem was that Maxentius was really young 14:07 and inexperienced. 14:09 "Well, no problem," he said to the senate, 14:11 "I'll just be an assistant emperor then. 14:13 You see, what you don't know is that my dad is willing to come 14:16 out of retirement and he could be the senior ruler in Rome. 14:20 You make him the emperor and I'll just be his assistant." 14:29 Well, the senate jumped on it and after a series of 14:32 political maneuvers, Maxentius became the emperor in Rome. 14:37 Now, we don't have time for the whole story. 14:39 There's a lot that happens over the next few months 14:40 but when the dust settled, there were actually four agusti, 14:46 four senior emperors and here in the city of Rome, there was 14:50 a problem with Maxentius, he was quickly losing people's respect 14:54 because the power went to his head and he began to fancy 14:58 himself the ruler of the whole world. 15:01 He began to party, sleep around, and he began selling favors 15:05 to some of his favorite men. 15:07 So, Maxentius ended up with lots of purchased friends 15:10 but very few real ones. 15:14 Now, all this was happening at a time when there was suddenly 15:17 lots of Christian influence in Constantine's house. 15:20 When Maximian, the old Augustus finally died, Constantine buried 15:25 him in a coffin, which was a Christian custom 15:29 and, of course, his mother Helena was also a Christian 15:33 and his stepmother had also quietly become a Christian 15:37 and she was keeping the Christian minister 15:39 right on the premises. 15:41 And, of course, there was also Constantine's stepsister 15:44 Anastasia named in honor of the resurrection. 15:48 There was lots of Christian influence in Constantine's life 15:52 but he's still a pagan, a sun worshiper 15:55 who goes to give sacrifices to Apollo 15:57 just before every significant battle. 16:08 Shawn: Now, I'm really condensing the story 16:11 because I want to focus on what's important. 16:14 Maxentius has declared himself emperor of Rome and Constantine 16:18 is determined to do something about that. 16:21 He begins fighting his way toward the mother city 16:24 and inside the city, people are understandably getting 16:28 very nervous because Constantine is not just a great leader, 16:32 he's also a great fighter. 16:35 He wasn't one to sit on the sidelines and watch his men 16:37 fight, he actually joined them down on the field 16:40 and that really inspired his troops. 16:44 Constantine's men were almost undefeatable. 16:53 Shawn: Inside the city walls, 16:54 people were starting to get nervous. 16:57 They knew Constantine was coming so to put their minds at ease, 17:01 Maxentius threw a party, now that's the same thing 17:04 Nebuchadnezzar's son did in Daniel chapter 5. 17:07 When the Babylonian King Belshazzar 17:09 knew the Persians were coming to take Babylon, 17:12 he threw a massive feast to put people's minds at ease 17:16 because there can't be real trouble if the king feels like 17:19 having a party. 17:21 Maxentius probably should have learned from that example. 17:24 On the 26th of October 312, the festivities in Rome 17:28 were really gearing up. 17:31 Maxentius was celebrating 5 years on his throne 17:34 and he was determined to make everybody understand 17:38 that he would never fall. 17:41 The citizens of Rome actually began to feel a little better 17:44 because if Maxentius was willing to party, he must be confident, 17:49 maybe the city walls would be enough to stop Constantine. 17:54 Now, that was something Maxentius was actually counting 17:56 on because he knew that Constantine's men would feel 18:00 hesitant to attack Rome, it's the mother city. 18:04 Roman armies had attacked the city in the past and they'd lost 18:07 their courage because it felt like you were attacking 18:10 your own mother. 18:12 But if Maxentius had to go outside the city 18:14 and face Constantine, he would probably lose. 18:19 If he could stay inside, he stood a much better chance. 18:25 ♪♪♪ 18:32 Shawn: That October, the people inside the city 18:33 celebrated Maxentius' reign and they went to the chariot races 18:37 in a place just like this, the old Circus Maximus. 18:42 And right after the first race ended, a voice suddenly shouts 18:46 from the stands, "Maxentius, are you afraid to fight Constantine 18:50 out in the open?" 18:52 We don't know who did that but he was probably a plant, 18:56 probably one of Constantine's men who had snuck into the games 19:00 and if that's true, the ploy was very effective. 19:05 A murmur quickly spread all through the crowd and more 19:08 and more people started yelling, "Maxentius, are you a coward?" 19:14 Eventually, this whole place was shouting. 19:18 You know, if Constantine planned that, orchestrated it, 19:21 it was brilliant because he didn't really want to fight 19:24 inside the city either. 19:30 Maxentius, of course, was furious and he stormed out 19:34 of the arena and went over here to see the senate. 19:37 He asked them to consult an ancient set of books known as 19:39 the Sibylline Books. 19:41 Now, that's not to be confused with the Sibylline Oracles. 19:44 It's the Sibylline Books. 19:46 And he asked the senate, "Is there a prophecy in there? 19:49 Is there something that will indicate who's going to win?" 19:52 The next morning, the senate came back with an answer, 19:56 "Tomorrow the enemy of Rome will perish." 20:00 Maxentius, of course, was delighted because he assumed 20:03 the enemy of Rome was Constantine but you'll notice, 20:07 if the enemy of Rome is supposed to die tomorrow, 20:10 then there has to be a battle tomorrow. 20:19 Outside the city on this side of the Tiber, someone gave 20:21 Constantine the bad news, Maxentius had a prophecy, 20:27 a prophecy that said he was would win. 20:29 Now, that made Constantine's men really nervous. 20:32 I mean, here they were about to attack the mother city 20:35 and the king on the inside had a good omen, 20:39 he had a prophetic message. 20:41 Constantine saw his men's spirits beginning to falling and 20:44 he knew that he needed an omen too and that's when one of the 20:48 most famous episodes in world history suddenly takes place. 20:56 ♪♪♪ 21:00 Shawn: Constantine said, "I had a dream 21:02 and I saw this symbol. 21:05 All of you are going to paint it on your shields 21:08 and that's how we're going to win." 21:12 Even though it was a well-known pagan symbol, apparently 21:17 Constantine was already tying it to the Christian god 21:20 of his mother. 21:21 It was just too good to pass up. 21:23 The first letters in the word for good luck also happened 21:26 to be the first letters in the word for Christ. 21:29 All that exposure to Christianity was now coming 21:32 to bear on Constantine's army. 21:39 Shawn: There's an old story that the night 21:41 before the battle, Constantine had a vision. 21:43 He looked up and saw the Chi Rho superimposed on the sun. 21:46 Some versions say he actually saw the Christian cross 21:49 superimposed on the sun and he heard a voice, 21:52 a heavenly voice saying, 21:54 [speaking foreign language] 21:56 "Go conquer in this sign." 21:57 In other words, Jesus was telling him, "Go take the city 22:00 of Rome under the sign of the cross." 22:03 It's a great story and Christians love it, 22:05 there's just one problem with it, this arch was built 22:07 to commemorate his victory shortly after it happened, 22:11 and it tells the whole story. 22:12 The problem is you can search this from top to bottom 22:15 and there's no mention of a Chi Rho. 22:17 There's no picture of Jesus. There's no cross. 22:20 There's no indication on here at all that that ever happened. 22:28 The only possible reference you can find to Christianity 22:31 anywhere on the arch is this vague inscription that gives 22:35 credit to the inspiration of divinity, but that's it. 22:39 There is no cross. 22:41 If the story is true, if Constantine really had a vision 22:45 from God, well, you'd expect it to show up in an official 22:47 telling of the story which is really why the arch was built. 22:51 But it's not up here and that's because Constantine probably 22:55 made the story up about 10 years later when he was telling it 22:58 to a church historian by the name of Eusebius. 23:02 You see, when Constantine attacked the city of Rome, 23:04 it wasn't really a Christian cross, 23:06 a Latin cross on his army's shields. 23:09 It was just a Chi Rho, a good luck charm 23:12 he said he saw in a dream. 23:18 Now, what happened next is absolutely stunning. 23:21 On October 28, Constantine is camped on the north side 23:25 of the river and in the wee hours of the morning, 23:27 one of Maxentius' generals suddenly comes out 23:30 and crosses this bridge, Milvian Bridge, 23:34 and he launches a surprise attack on Constantine's men. 23:37 The plan was he would hit quickly and then suddenly 23:41 retreat back to safety on his side of the bridge. 23:46 So, why the sudden retreat? 23:48 Well, it's because Maxentius had rigged the bridge. 23:52 As soon as Constantine followed him back over, he would break it 23:55 in half, trapping Constantine's men on the north bank 23:59 of the river. 24:00 It would make them sitting ducks. 24:02 They'd be out in the open and Roman archers would shower them 24:05 with arrows wiping them out. 24:09 It seemed like a pretty good plan, 24:10 the only problem was it backfired. 24:15 Constantine responded to the surprise attack much faster than 24:18 anybody could have anticipated so there was no time to retreat. 24:22 Instead, Constantine caught up with Maxentius' men 24:26 right on the north shore and started hitting them 24:29 with arrows instead. 24:35 Constantine: Move your men forward. 24:38 [yelling] 24:42 Shawn: That's when the panic really starts. 24:44 Maxentius realizes he's now losing the battle and he orders 24:47 his men back over to the other side of the river. 24:49 They have to retreat. 24:51 The problem was this was a very narrow bridge in those days 24:54 and it's the only route of escape so hundreds of men 24:57 pour on to the bridge and chaos begins to build. 25:00 When Maxentius sees the chaos, he rides his horse 25:03 into the middle of his men trying to take control 25:06 and somehow in all that pushing and shoving, he gets knocked 25:09 off his horse and thrown into the Tiber River. 25:12 His armor drags him to the bottom and they find his body 25:15 in the reeds the next day. 25:17 The word quickly goes through Rome, Maxentius is dead. 25:27 Shawn: The next morning, October the 29th, Constantine 25:30 rode victorious into the city but this was unlike any victory 25:34 procession the citizens of Rome had ever seen. 25:37 Usually, the victor brought in the spoils of war and led 25:40 a parade of captives but Constantine came empty handed. 25:48 There was one other key difference, the parade made 25:51 its way to the base of the Capitoline Hill 25:54 where conquering heroes almost always offered sacrifices 25:58 at the temple of Jupiter but this time, no sacrifice 26:03 because Constantine wasn't giving Jupiter the credit. 26:06 This time the honor all went to the Christian God, 26:11 that's what changed the whole world. 26:14 Even though Jesus said his kingdom is not of this world, 26:18 Constantine believed his victory came from the God of his mother, 26:21 from the Christian God. 26:23 He started to think of his mother's God as a God of war, 26:27 as the key to unifying his new empire. 26:30 When he rode into the city, when he refused to offer sacrifice to 26:34 Jupiter, that was the precise moment when the paths of Jesus 26:40 and Constantine finally met. 26:43 And what happened next is so explosive that it changed 26:46 the face of the empire, 26:48 and it changed the path of world politics, 26:50 and it changed the nature of Christianity forever. 26:59 Shawn: The religion of Jesus took on a new flavor because 27:02 the Prince of peace has just become a Roman God of war. 27:06 In a single moment, 27:08 he moved from being the God of the underdog, 27:10 the outcast and the downtrodden to the God of the emperor. 27:14 Jesus is now made to say, "Blessed is the man who sacks 27:18 the city of Rome." 27:20 Just a few weeks after Constantine's big win, 27:22 the Chi Rho started showing up all over this city. 27:25 It became Constantine's symbol and it was clearly identified 27:30 with Christianity. 27:31 There's just no way to underestimate how important this 27:35 moment was and to some extent, that moment has changed the way 27:39 that you and I think. 27:41 It just might be that to some measure, you and I are living 27:45 in a shadow empire. 27:49 ♪♪♪ 28:02 announcer: Order your copy of "Shadow Empire" 28:04 from the Voice of Prophecy today. 28:06 Go to ShadowEmpireDVD.com now to get your set of this exciting 28:10 4-part series on DVD or call toll free, 1-844-822-2943. 28:17 Again that's 1-844-822-2943. 28:21 We're ready to help you Monday through Thursday 28:22 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. mountain time, 28:25 or you can order anytime at ShadowEmpireDVD.com. 28:30 announcer: If you've enjoyed "Shadow Empire," 28:32 join the Voice of Prophecy for the sequel, 28:35 "A Pale Horse Rides." 28:36 We'll focus on a remarkable untold story that set the stage 28:40 for the appearance of Martin Luther. 28:42 Travel with us beyond the fringes of the Roman Empire 28:45 revealing the amazing tale of a biblical Christianity 28:47 that somehow survived the darkest hours 28:49 of the Dark Ages. 28:52 ♪♪♪ 28:58 announcer: Join other churches in hosting something big. 29:00 Visit our website now. |
Revised 2017-09-21