male announcer: The
world, forever changed.
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His legacy, an empire
reaching across centuries.
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His name...
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Constantine.
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"Shadow Empire."
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¤¤¤
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Shawn Boonstra: When you
hear the word "basilica,"
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most people
typically think of a church
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and that's because for
the last 1700 years or so,
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that's the way
we've used the word,
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and not just any
church is a basilica,
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it's gotta be a church that has
been granted special ceremonial
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rights or privileges
by the bishop of Rome.
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But a basilica was not
originally a Christian building,
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in fact, a basilica wasn't
even a religious building.
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It was a public
court like this one used by
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the pseudo emperor Maxentius
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and then Constantine after
the battle of Milvian Bridge.
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And just up the road behind
me is another famous basilica,
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one of the most famous in
the world and that basilica
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represents the
merging of two empires,
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the kingdom of heaven
and another shadow empire
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that ran parallel beside it.
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This is the
basilica of St. John Lateran,
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one of the most
famous churches in the world.
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Structurally, it resembles
ancient Roman basilicas.
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You've got a big open space
in the middle called the nave
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and there are aisles
running along the outside.
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When you look at the interior of
St. John Lateran or other famous
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basilicas and you go back and
compare it to Roman basilicas,
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it becomes obvious
that after Constantine,
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the Christian church was
no longer a fringe group,
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an outside religion forced to
survive in spite of the empire.
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Now, it was part of the empire.
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In fact, in Constantine's mind,
Christianity would be the glue
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that held his
new empire together.
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Now remember, under Diocletian,
the unity of the empire
00:02:17.07\00:02:20.74
was all important and
Diocletian achieved stability
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by establishing a tetrarchy,
four emperors who controlled
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the eastern and western
halves of the territory.
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But Constantine changed all
that, not long after he defeated
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Maxentius, he also
conquered the rest of the empire
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which made him the only ruler.
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Rome was back to just one god
but Constantine knew full well
00:02:43.26\00:02:48.20
he was going to have to
find some way to keep it all
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together, some way to achieve
harmony and that's where he saw
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value in the Christian religion.
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To his way of thinking,
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Christians were a
perfectly unified people.
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He'd seen the way
they stood together against
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Roman persecution and
it looked like they were
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so perfectly united,
so perfectly in agreement
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that nothing would
ever make them fall.
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Now, that's what he
wanted for his empire.
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He wanted to transplant
the Christian dedication
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and unity he saw
into his kingdom.
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Now, tradition tells us
that Constantine underwent
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a radical conversion
the day before he won
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the battle of Milvian Bridge,
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but if that's true, if he really
became a Christian that day,
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then he was
remarkably silent about it.
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If he really did see a cross in
the sky, if he really did hear
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a voice telling him, "Go conquer
in this sign," then you'd expect
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those details to show up in the
original telling of the story,
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but why didn't Constantine
tell that story the day
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he marched into Rome?
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Why doesn't it show
up anywhere on his arch?
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Why don't we have any record of
it anywhere until 10 years later
00:04:08.71\00:04:14.15
when he suddenly tells
it to a church historian?
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And if Constantine really
did convert to Christianity
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that day, I mean, if he
really did submit himself
00:04:21.46\00:04:24.56
to the Prince of
peace, then why did he go on
00:04:24.59\00:04:27.46
killing his relatives,
the ones he considered
00:04:27.50\00:04:29.53
to be political threats?
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And why did he
actually put off his own baptism
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until he was
practically on his death bed?
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¤¤¤
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Shawn: There are just too
many holes in the story, enough
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to make me personally
doubt Constantine's conversion.
00:04:49.28\00:04:52.85
What seems more likely is
that Constantine embellished
00:04:52.89\00:04:56.42
the story over time and
the Chi-Rho symbol he painted
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on his men's shields slowly
morphed into the vision story
00:05:00.06\00:05:03.93
over the span of 10 years.
00:05:03.97\00:05:06.70
Here's what probably happened,
Constantine gave credit to
00:05:06.74\00:05:10.44
the Christian God for his
victory and he began to think
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that the Christian God
was the best way to hold
00:05:13.74\00:05:16.34
his kingdom together.
00:05:16.38\00:05:18.55
The tenacity of Christians
impressed him and he thought
00:05:18.58\00:05:21.82
people who would die for
Jesus might also be willing
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to die for him.
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He thought Christians would be
loyal to Rome if he could merge
00:05:26.99\00:05:30.43
the empire and the church.
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So, one of the first things
Constantine did was give this
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palace, the Lateran palace, to
a guy by the name of Miltiades.
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He was the bishop of Rome and
he really needed a place to live
00:05:41.34\00:05:45.47
because up to this point,
the bishop of Rome basically
00:05:45.51\00:05:48.84
lived in a shack over on the
other side of the Tiber River.
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What was left of the
original Lateran was ripped down
00:05:52.88\00:05:55.68
in the late 1500s and this
one was one built in its place.
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Today, it's home to
the vicar general of Rome,
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a representative of the pope
who handles all his business
00:06:03.39\00:06:06.46
inside the city.
00:06:06.49\00:06:09.03
But the reason this is a
Christian building at all
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is because Constantine
gave it to the church.
00:06:11.97\00:06:15.50
It was a clear signal,
Constantine had refused to thank
00:06:15.54\00:06:19.61
Jupiter for his victory and now
he'd given the Christian bishop
00:06:19.64\00:06:23.78
one of the most prestigious
pieces of real estate in
00:06:23.81\00:06:26.11
the entire city and
to top it off, he built
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a massive basilica,
the original St. Peter's
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over on Vatican Mountain.
00:06:32.85\00:06:35.09
Christianity had now
come to Rome for good.
00:06:35.12\00:06:39.16
But then something else amazing
happened, in the year 313,
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Constantine
unwittingly fulfilled a prophecy
00:06:43.97\00:06:46.63
from the Book of Revelation.
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He traveled up to the city of
Milan for a wedding and while he
00:06:48.80\00:06:52.07
was there, he did something
that completely reversed
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Diocletian's policy of
persecuting Christians.
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Constantine felt
like the persecution
00:06:58.95\00:07:00.88
was destabilizing the empire.
00:07:00.92\00:07:03.12
It was making people
distrust the Roman government
00:07:03.15\00:07:06.09
so he convinced
other dignitaries that they
00:07:06.12\00:07:09.36
should stop killing Christians.
00:07:09.39\00:07:12.29
This all resulted
in the Edict of Milan,
00:07:12.33\00:07:15.36
a document which suddenly
put an end to persecution
00:07:15.40\00:07:18.33
and elevated the Christian faith
to a position of prominence.
00:07:18.37\00:07:23.87
Shawn: Constantine returned
the property that had been
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confiscated during the
10-year reign of terror.
00:07:29.68\00:07:32.65
And if you found yourself
in the unfortunate position
00:07:32.68\00:07:35.62
of owning confiscated Christian
property, you could actually ask
00:07:35.65\00:07:39.55
Constantine's
government for compensation.
00:07:39.59\00:07:42.42
The church was no
longer a fringe group.
00:07:42.46\00:07:45.53
It was a considered a legitimate
corporation, a legitimate part
00:07:45.56\00:07:48.86
of the Roman Empire.
00:07:48.90\00:07:51.10
And most importantly,
Constantine introduced
00:07:51.13\00:07:53.84
the concept of
full religious liberty.
00:07:53.87\00:07:56.54
In the words of the
Milan Edict, Constantine said,
00:07:56.57\00:07:59.31
"We should give Christians and
everyone else freedom to follow
00:07:59.34\00:08:02.58
the religion each may
want so that whatever divinity
00:08:02.61\00:08:05.95
may exist in the heavens will
be willing to show benevolence
00:08:05.98\00:08:09.32
to us and to all those
who live under our authority."
00:08:09.35\00:08:14.86
So, how does that
fulfill Bible prophecy?
00:08:15.76\00:08:19.69
Well, if you remember from
a previous episode when John
00:08:19.73\00:08:22.83
wrote seven letters to the
seven churches of Asia Minor
00:08:22.86\00:08:26.20
in the Book of Revelation,
there was a direct reference
00:08:26.23\00:08:29.57
to severe persecution
in his letter to Smyrna.
00:08:29.60\00:08:33.01
Now, Smyrna was the
crushed or persecuted church.
00:08:33.04\00:08:37.58
For centuries, sincere Bible
students have recognized that
00:08:37.61\00:08:41.22
those seven letters
predicted the entire span
00:08:41.25\00:08:43.69
of Christian history and
the letter to Smyrna fits
00:08:43.72\00:08:47.46
persecuted Christianity exactly.
00:08:47.49\00:08:51.09
In Bible prophecy, a day
is generally used to represent
00:08:51.13\00:08:54.03
a year so 10 days of persecution
would actually be 10 years.
00:08:54.10\00:08:59.50
The prophecy fits
what Diocletian did
00:08:59.53\00:09:02.77
to the Christians.
00:09:02.80\00:09:04.41
It says in
Revelation 2, verse 10,
00:09:04.44\00:09:06.34
"Do not fear any of those things
which you are about to suffer.
00:09:06.37\00:09:10.58
Indeed, the devil is about to
throw some of you into prison,
00:09:10.61\00:09:14.12
that you may be tested, and you
will have tribulation ten days.
00:09:14.15\00:09:19.19
Be faithful until
death and I will give you
00:09:19.22\00:09:22.19
the crown of life."
00:09:22.22\00:09:24.16
The Diocletian persecution began
with the edict of 303 and it
00:09:24.19\00:09:29.06
came to an abrupt end exactly
10 years later when Constantine
00:09:29.10\00:09:33.77
issued the Edict of Milan.
00:09:33.80\00:09:37.87
Shawn: Now, that should be
the end of the story and from
00:09:40.14\00:09:43.24
this point on, the church should
have lived happily ever after
00:09:43.28\00:09:46.98
because they were now
the emperor's favorite.
00:09:47.02\00:09:49.92
Nobody could touch them.
00:09:49.95\00:09:52.12
Now, the Edict of Milan
didn't establish Christianity
00:09:52.15\00:09:55.02
as the official religion of
the empire but it did establish
00:09:55.06\00:09:58.29
Christians as a real reason for
religious liberty and there was
00:09:58.33\00:10:02.20
no question that Christians
had suddenly moved from underdog
00:10:02.23\00:10:06.07
to a position of privilege,
a position they would hold
00:10:06.10\00:10:09.44
for many centuries to come.
00:10:09.47\00:10:12.24
But there was a big problem.
00:10:12.27\00:10:14.44
It turns out that Christianity
was nowhere near as unified
00:10:14.48\00:10:17.95
as Constantine hoped.
00:10:17.98\00:10:19.51
Within months of his victory,
he made an unsettling discovery
00:10:19.55\00:10:23.65
and unfortunately, it's
a discovery a lot of people
00:10:23.69\00:10:26.45
still make when they get to
know the Christian community.
00:10:26.49\00:10:29.99
Christians can be
anything but united.
00:10:30.03\00:10:33.73
I mean, sure, on the big
stuff they all get along but on
00:10:33.76\00:10:36.90
the day-to-day things,
well, Christians are still
00:10:36.93\00:10:39.77
human beings, imperfect
sinners in need of a perfect God
00:10:39.80\00:10:43.91
and Christians know how to
argue just like everybody else.
00:10:43.94\00:10:48.64
Within months of Constantine's
victory, a controversy erupted
00:10:51.35\00:10:54.68
on the other side of the
Mediterranean over in Egypt.
00:10:54.72\00:10:58.45
You see, during the
Diocletian persecution,
00:10:58.49\00:11:01.09
a lot of Christian leaders
had caved in under pressure
00:11:01.12\00:11:04.46
when the Romans
came to confiscate
00:11:04.49\00:11:06.53
their Christian books.
00:11:06.56\00:11:08.06
They turned in their Bibles.
00:11:08.10\00:11:10.03
They caved.
00:11:10.07\00:11:11.30
They left the Christian church
and then when the persecution
00:11:11.33\00:11:14.30
ended, they suddenly wanted
back in because now it was easy
00:11:14.34\00:11:18.24
to be a Christian.
00:11:18.27\00:11:19.74
As you can imagine,
those who stayed the course,
00:11:19.77\00:11:22.71
those who were in the church
during all those dark years
00:11:22.74\00:11:26.35
were completely unimpressed.
00:11:26.38\00:11:29.25
They called the people
who had abandoned the church,
00:11:29.28\00:11:31.19
"traditores," it's where
we get the word "traitor"
00:11:31.22\00:11:34.59
and they didn't
think those people
00:11:34.62\00:11:36.42
should be allowed back in.
00:11:36.46\00:11:38.56
And if they did come back in,
00:11:38.59\00:11:40.10
they certainly
couldn't hold church office.
00:11:40.13\00:11:43.50
And if you'd been baptized by
a traditores, someone who left
00:11:43.53\00:11:47.17
during the persecution,
well, they considered your
00:11:47.20\00:11:49.74
whole baptism
completely invalid.
00:11:49.77\00:11:54.31
The people who wanted to keep
the traitors out of the church
00:11:55.51\00:11:58.41
had a leader by the
name of Donatus Magnus
00:11:58.45\00:12:01.28
and they were called Donatists.
00:12:01.32\00:12:03.45
They wanted Donatus to
become the bishop of Carthage
00:12:03.49\00:12:07.09
in North Africa but
there was a problem, there was
00:12:07.12\00:12:09.62
already a bishop of Carthage,
a guy by the name of Caecilian
00:12:09.66\00:12:13.09
and he was in favor
of bringing the traitors
00:12:13.13\00:12:16.13
back into the church.
00:12:16.16\00:12:17.97
So, there was this
really heated controversy
00:12:18.00\00:12:20.67
right in the
beginning of Constantine's reign
00:12:20.70\00:12:23.34
and when Christians couldn't
settle the matter themselves,
00:12:23.37\00:12:27.24
they made a direct
appeal to the emperor.
00:12:27.28\00:12:30.51
They wanted the state's
help to resolve a dispute.
00:12:30.55\00:12:34.85
Shawn: That represented
a radical change in the way
00:12:37.69\00:12:40.79
that Christians handled
their internal disputes.
00:12:40.82\00:12:43.93
Centuries earlier,
the Apostle Paul wrote to
00:12:43.96\00:12:46.09
the Corinthian Christians
telling them not to drag
00:12:46.13\00:12:49.53
their
disagreements into public court.
00:12:49.56\00:12:51.97
According to Paul, Christians
served a king whose kingdom was
00:12:52.00\00:12:55.07
not of this world and because
of that, worldly courts had
00:12:55.10\00:12:59.27
no place in the church.
00:12:59.31\00:13:01.38
Now, you'll notice the
Bible still anticipates that
00:13:01.41\00:13:04.05
Christians would have disputes
because they are, after all,
00:13:04.08\00:13:07.52
human beings.
00:13:07.55\00:13:09.05
But the place for arbitration is
the church, not the courthouse.
00:13:09.08\00:13:15.09
But under
Constantine, that all changed.
00:13:16.99\00:13:19.89
The Donatists, no longer fearing
any kind of persecution, thought
00:13:19.93\00:13:23.26
it would be a good idea to
let the state decide their case.
00:13:23.30\00:13:27.34
So, Constantine asked the bishop
of Rome to preside over a panel
00:13:27.37\00:13:31.27
that would make a
decision one way or another.
00:13:31.31\00:13:34.34
Should traditores be
readmitted to the church?
00:13:34.38\00:13:37.78
Should they be allowed to hold
office and perform the rights
00:13:37.81\00:13:40.25
and rituals of Christianity?
00:13:40.28\00:13:42.45
Well, that panel decided against
the Donatists and the Donatists
00:13:42.48\00:13:47.36
were furious so they appealed
the case saying their side
00:13:47.39\00:13:50.56
had not been
given a full hearing.
00:13:50.59\00:13:52.56
They said the bishop of Rome had
stacked the meeting against them
00:13:52.59\00:13:56.00
so Constantine
ordered another meeting
00:13:56.03\00:13:59.70
in another city in 314 A.D.
00:13:59.73\00:14:02.80
This time he called bishops
from all over the empire to come
00:14:02.84\00:14:06.01
and decide the matter and
once again, they ruled against
00:14:06.04\00:14:09.28
the Donatist and once again,
the Donatists were not happy.
00:14:09.31\00:14:14.98
Shawn: It was becoming
obvious to Constantine that
00:14:22.39\00:14:24.26
the glue for his new
empire, the Christian church,
00:14:24.29\00:14:26.53
might not be as
strong as he thought.
00:14:26.56\00:14:29.63
At one point, he got really
irritated and he wrote this
00:14:29.66\00:14:32.43
letter, "So great a madness
persists," and he's speaking
00:14:32.47\00:14:36.91
to the Donatists, "that
with incredible arrogance they
00:14:36.94\00:14:40.04
repudiate the equitable judgment
that has been given, so that by
00:14:40.08\00:14:43.31
the will of heaven, I
have learned that they demand
00:14:43.35\00:14:45.91
my own judgment.
00:14:45.95\00:14:47.68
They demand my
judgment when I myself await
00:14:47.72\00:14:50.82
the judgment of Christ."
00:14:50.85\00:14:53.32
Constantine believed that
if he could not bring unity
00:14:53.36\00:14:55.86
to the Christian church,
God would stop favoring him
00:14:55.89\00:14:59.36
and he would never be
able to unite the whole empire
00:14:59.39\00:15:02.93
so he got angry.
00:15:02.96\00:15:04.60
He told the African church
if they didn't get their act
00:15:04.63\00:15:06.53
together, he was coming
down in person to show them
00:15:06.57\00:15:09.97
how to run a church.
00:15:10.01\00:15:12.24
If anybody didn't like
that well, to quote Constantine,
00:15:12.27\00:15:15.48
"These without doubt
I shall cause to suffer
00:15:15.84\00:15:18.91
the due
penalties of their madness
00:15:18.95\00:15:20.42
and their reckless obstinacy."
00:15:20.45\00:15:23.35
Basically what happened is
that Constantine resorted to
00:15:23.39\00:15:25.99
the one thing he
knew as a Roman soldier,
00:15:26.02\00:15:29.29
he resorted to force.
00:15:29.32\00:15:31.79
He began mixing church and state
in a way that had never happened
00:15:31.83\00:15:35.30
in the first 300
years of Christianity.
00:15:35.33\00:15:38.40
He blended the interest
of the empire with the life
00:15:38.43\00:15:41.00
of the church and he even
threatened the death penalty
00:15:41.04\00:15:44.31
for people who
didn't toe the line.
00:15:44.34\00:15:46.78
Some historical records
even indicate that Caecilian,
00:15:46.81\00:15:49.51
the bishop who won the Donatist
dispute actually rounded up his
00:15:49.54\00:15:53.18
opponents with the help
of the Roman authorities
00:15:53.21\00:15:55.28
and had them put to death.
00:15:55.32\00:15:57.29
The Roman emperor had
now become the de facto head
00:15:57.32\00:16:00.99
of the Christian church.
00:16:01.02\00:16:04.03
That became even more obvious
in the next dispute that erupted
00:16:08.20\00:16:12.53
in the brave new world of
state-sponsored Christianity.
00:16:12.57\00:16:16.57
A priest by the name of
Arius also from North Africa,
00:16:16.60\00:16:20.41
began to question the divinity
of Christ and that created
00:16:20.44\00:16:24.31
a massive uproar.
00:16:24.35\00:16:26.11
This wasn't a matter
of church politics like
00:16:26.15\00:16:28.32
the Donatist
controversy, this was doctrinal.
00:16:28.35\00:16:32.19
It touched on a key teaching
of the Christian faith, Jesus,
00:16:32.22\00:16:36.56
the God-man, the
second person of the Godhead,
00:16:36.59\00:16:38.99
God in human flesh.
00:16:39.03\00:16:41.63
Now, without getting
into the technical details,
00:16:41.66\00:16:43.60
the heretic Priest
Arius was teaching that Jesus
00:16:43.63\00:16:46.53
was not equal to the Father,
that he held a lesser position.
00:16:46.57\00:16:51.67
Arius was teaching that
Jesus proceeded from the father
00:16:51.71\00:16:55.61
at some point way
back in ancient history.
00:16:55.64\00:16:58.91
Now, to solve the dispute,
Constantine called a meeting
00:16:58.95\00:17:01.75
in the ancient city of Antioch,
which was one of the key centers
00:17:01.78\00:17:04.69
of the Christianity, and the
reason Constantine called that
00:17:04.72\00:17:08.02
meeting was because
he now considered himself
00:17:08.06\00:17:10.99
the head of the church.
00:17:11.03\00:17:13.33
¤¤¤
00:17:13.53\00:17:23.51
Shawn: The meeting in Antioch
was a bust, so Constantine
00:17:27.84\00:17:31.25
called another one, one of
the most famous church councils
00:17:31.28\00:17:33.98
in Christian history and
he called it in what today is
00:17:34.02\00:17:37.19
the city of Iznik but
back then was known as Nicaea.
00:17:37.22\00:17:41.12
Delegates from all over
the empire went to Nicaea
00:17:41.16\00:17:43.86
and history tells us that every
single one of them actually had
00:17:43.89\00:17:47.76
scars from the
10-year persecution.
00:17:47.83\00:17:50.33
Some were blind, some
were missing their limbs,
00:17:50.37\00:17:52.93
some had burns
all over their bodies.
00:17:52.97\00:17:55.54
Every one of them had survived
Diocletian's 10 years of terror.
00:17:55.57\00:18:00.31
At the Council of Nicaea,
the delegates confirmed what
00:18:00.34\00:18:03.45
Christians had always
believed, Jesus was fully God
00:18:03.48\00:18:07.82
coeternal with the Father.
00:18:07.85\00:18:09.55
Some people you'll hear
say Constantine invented
00:18:09.58\00:18:12.72
the divinity of Christ and
he used the Council of Nicaea
00:18:12.75\00:18:14.99
to do it.
00:18:15.02\00:18:16.62
It's a popular theory with lots
of modern skeptics but honestly,
00:18:16.66\00:18:23.03
how do I put this?
00:18:23.06\00:18:24.53
It's--well, it's nonsense.
00:18:24.57\00:18:26.00
Historically speaking,
that is not what happened here
00:18:26.03\00:18:28.04
in the city of Nicaea.
00:18:28.07\00:18:29.94
Go back through the writings
of the Roman pagans in the first
00:18:29.97\00:18:32.21
years of the Christian church
and one of the key objections
00:18:32.24\00:18:35.68
that pagan philosophers had to
the Christian faith was the fact
00:18:35.71\00:18:39.41
that they were
actually worshiping Jesus.
00:18:39.45\00:18:42.38
So, it wasn't the Christians
who questioned the divinity of
00:18:42.42\00:18:45.52
Christ, it was the Romans
and while the Council of Nicaea
00:18:45.55\00:18:49.92
absolutely did affirm Jesus'
divinity, it didn't invent it
00:18:49.96\00:18:54.46
and neither did Constantine.
00:18:54.46\00:18:57.60
¤¤¤
00:18:57.93\00:19:07.81
Shawn: The other thing that
some people say happened here
00:19:14.05\00:19:16.38
in Nicaea is that the
council essentially invented our
00:19:16.42\00:19:19.45
New Testament.
00:19:19.49\00:19:20.92
Now, I've heard that
a lot in recent years.
00:19:20.96\00:19:23.26
You'll have people
arguing that before 325 A.D.
00:19:23.29\00:19:26.33
there may be hundreds of books
that Christians were considering
00:19:26.36\00:19:29.63
sacred, maybe dozens and dozens
of gospels but here in Nicaea
00:19:29.66\00:19:34.17
they say Constantine
only allowed the books
00:19:34.20\00:19:36.54
and the gospels
into the New Testament
00:19:36.57\00:19:38.67
that agreed with his
ideas and he rejected the books
00:19:38.71\00:19:41.71
that didn't teach
the divinity of Christ.
00:19:41.74\00:19:45.01
Now again, it's
more historical nonsense.
00:19:45.05\00:19:48.72
The early church fathers made
clear reference to the books of
00:19:48.75\00:19:51.69
the New Testament
already back in the 2nd century,
00:19:51.72\00:19:54.72
100 years before the
council met here in Nicaea.
00:19:54.76\00:19:59.06
In the year 180, for
example, an early church father
00:19:59.09\00:20:01.93
by the name of Irenaeus,
00:20:01.96\00:20:03.77
referred to four
gospels and he argued four is
00:20:03.80\00:20:06.94
the perfect number for how
many gospels there would be.
00:20:06.97\00:20:09.54
You'd expect God
to choose that many.
00:20:09.57\00:20:11.81
Now, if Constantine picked
our four gospels and put them in
00:20:11.84\00:20:15.01
the New Testament, how in
the world did Irenaeus know
00:20:15.04\00:20:18.28
150 years before that
how many there would be?
00:20:18.31\00:20:23.92
The truth is
that the New Testament
00:20:27.96\00:20:29.89
was already
very well established
00:20:29.92\00:20:32.03
by the time we had
the Council of Nicaea
00:20:32.06\00:20:34.36
and Christ's divinity was
well understood the very day
00:20:34.36\00:20:37.00
the Christian church started.
00:20:37.03\00:20:38.93
That was something
Jesus taught to his disciples.
00:20:38.97\00:20:42.07
As much as the critics
want the Christian church to be
00:20:42.10\00:20:44.71
an invention of
Constantine, it's just not true.
00:20:44.74\00:20:48.04
The church was established long
before he was even born but,
00:20:48.08\00:20:53.28
of course, that
doesn't mean that Constantine
00:20:53.31\00:20:54.88
didn't change something.
00:20:54.92\00:20:56.89
At the Council of Nicaea,
he underscored the emperor's
00:20:56.92\00:21:00.09
new role as the
head of the church.
00:21:00.12\00:21:02.86
He actually came in person
and presided over a lot of
00:21:02.89\00:21:05.89
the discussions and it's at this
point in history that the state
00:21:05.93\00:21:09.50
takes charge of determining
what is Orthodox belief.
00:21:09.53\00:21:14.24
It started deciding
cases for the church.
00:21:14.27\00:21:17.74
Now fortunately,
the state mostly came to
00:21:17.77\00:21:19.87
the right decision on that
occasion regarding the teachings
00:21:19.91\00:21:23.65
but they had the
wrong person presiding.
00:21:23.68\00:21:25.75
It should not have
been a Roman emperor.
00:21:25.78\00:21:28.88
In the New Testament, Paul
writes that the Scriptures are
00:21:28.92\00:21:32.05
the standard of
truth, not the emperor
00:21:32.09\00:21:34.39
or his state-appointed councils.
00:21:34.42\00:21:37.19
¤¤¤
00:21:37.49\00:21:44.67
Shawn: The Christians had
everything they needed to run
00:21:45.93\00:21:48.07
the church and make
decisions about what they would
00:21:48.10\00:21:50.01
and would not believe
because they have the Bible.
00:21:50.04\00:21:54.24
They didn't need the
empire to run the church.
00:21:54.28\00:21:56.48
Jesus was clear, "My
kingdom is not of this world."
00:21:56.51\00:22:00.08
But starting in the 4th century
when the favor of the emperor
00:22:00.12\00:22:03.12
suddenly fell on the church,
our Christian ancestors launched
00:22:03.15\00:22:06.55
something of a shadow empire.
00:22:06.59\00:22:08.79
It looked like Christianity,
it sounded like Christianity,
00:22:08.82\00:22:12.23
but it had some problems.
00:22:12.26\00:22:14.13
The life of the church
was now about the Roman Empire
00:22:14.20\00:22:17.10
and not really about
the gospel commission.
00:22:17.13\00:22:19.77
Over the years, it became more
about Rome's European successors
00:22:19.80\00:22:23.37
than the coming
kingdom of Christ.
00:22:23.41\00:22:25.71
We stopped preaching the words
of Jesus, you know, "Render unto
00:22:25.74\00:22:29.88
Caesar the things that are
Caesars and unto God the things
00:22:29.91\00:22:32.51
that are God's."
00:22:32.55\00:22:34.08
Instead, what we did is we
started blending the things of
00:22:34.12\00:22:36.55
God with the things of
Caesar and history has proven
00:22:36.58\00:22:40.42
that was not a
healthy development.
00:22:40.46\00:22:43.16
The state tragically started
using force to run the church to
00:22:43.19\00:22:46.86
the point where Constantine even
passed one of the very first
00:22:46.90\00:22:50.30
Blue laws, a law forbidding work
on Sunday in the city of Rome.
00:22:50.33\00:22:54.84
What was really strange about
that was that most Christians
00:22:54.87\00:22:56.91
weren't even observing
Sunday in the early 4th century
00:22:56.94\00:23:00.18
but the first day of the
week was sacred to the Romans
00:23:00.21\00:23:02.81
and it was a key part of
Roman life so it became part
00:23:02.84\00:23:05.91
of the church,
not through the Bible,
00:23:05.95\00:23:08.45
but through the emperor.
00:23:08.48\00:23:11.35
Constantine gave us the marriage
of church and state, a marriage
00:23:12.75\00:23:16.42
that continued well into
the history of medieval Europe.
00:23:16.46\00:23:19.76
He created an environment
where eventually it was not just
00:23:19.79\00:23:22.90
the state running the
church, it was also the church
00:23:22.93\00:23:26.53
running the state.
00:23:26.57\00:23:28.80
It was a shadow empire, not
the kingdom that Jesus intended
00:23:28.84\00:23:32.74
but a shadowy substitute and it
was not good for Christianity.
00:23:32.77\00:23:38.05
I mean sure, in the very
early years under Constantine,
00:23:38.08\00:23:41.75
just getting rid of persecution
brought a lot of relief and
00:23:41.78\00:23:44.89
freedom was a breath of fresh
air but honestly, we really lost
00:23:44.92\00:23:49.82
something when
our faith became easy.
00:23:49.86\00:23:53.40
Once we blurred the line between
Caesar and Christ, between
00:23:53.43\00:23:57.30
church and state, Christians
became a tool of the state
00:23:57.33\00:24:01.90
and the state became
a tool of the church.
00:24:01.94\00:24:04.84
The Roman basilica
became a Christian basilica
00:24:04.87\00:24:08.21
and eventually when the
Roman emperors all moved east
00:24:08.24\00:24:11.31
to Constantinople,
the church actually became
00:24:11.35\00:24:13.95
the de facto Caesar in the west.
00:24:13.98\00:24:17.99
Suddenly, it wasn't Diocletian
persecuting Christians for their
00:24:18.02\00:24:21.72
beliefs, Christians actually
started persecuting each other.
00:24:21.76\00:24:27.03
We started running the church
00:24:27.03\00:24:28.33
like the Romans
ran their empire.
00:24:28.36\00:24:30.50
If someone didn't toe
the line, we brought them
00:24:30.53\00:24:32.97
to a torture chamber
00:24:33.00\00:24:34.90
or maybe even tied them
to a stake and burned them.
00:24:34.94\00:24:39.14
Now, let me ask you, where
did we get those kinds of ideas?
00:24:39.17\00:24:44.25
You can search a Bible from
cover to cover and you will not
00:24:44.28\00:24:47.15
find Jesus telling
anybody to burn the heretics,
00:24:47.18\00:24:50.82
that was a tactic we
learned from the Romans.
00:24:50.85\00:24:54.26
And today, the world looks
on Christians with a great deal
00:24:54.29\00:24:57.19
of skepticism and to be
honest, we've kind of earned it.
00:24:57.23\00:25:01.63
For hundreds of years, we
lived in the shadow empire
00:25:01.66\00:25:04.83
of Constantine instead of
the biblical kingdom of Christ.
00:25:04.87\00:25:09.44
We started to build a so-called
kingdom of God on earth using
00:25:09.47\00:25:12.91
human government but the Bible
teaches that human governments
00:25:12.94\00:25:17.41
are standing in the
way of God's will on earth.
00:25:17.45\00:25:21.55
Shawn: Ancient biblical
prophets like Daniel actually
00:25:26.25\00:25:29.32
predicted the
development of human kingdoms
00:25:29.36\00:25:31.39
hundreds of years in advance.
00:25:31.43\00:25:34.30
He managed to predict
the empires of Babylon,
00:25:34.30\00:25:36.46
Persia, Greece, and Rome.
00:25:36.50\00:25:38.47
He even named names long
before any of it existed,
00:25:38.50\00:25:42.50
but Daniel's point
was essentially this,
00:25:42.54\00:25:45.51
all those kingdoms would
pass away the day Messiah
00:25:45.54\00:25:48.31
came back and set up
his own everlasting empire.
00:25:48.34\00:25:52.31
Now, today you and I
are lucky enough to live in
00:25:52.35\00:25:54.85
the freest society in the
history of the whole world.
00:25:54.88\00:25:58.32
We have what the early
Christians really never had.
00:25:58.35\00:26:02.69
In the words of
Thomas Jefferson,
00:26:02.72\00:26:04.29
we have a wall of separation
between church and state
00:26:04.33\00:26:08.83
and that wall gives
us the freedom to worship
00:26:08.86\00:26:11.67
as we please, to live freely
as the followers of Christ.
00:26:11.70\00:26:16.74
But in the 1980s, in the
face of rapid moral decay
00:26:16.77\00:26:20.14
in North America,
we started to question
00:26:20.18\00:26:22.61
that all-important wall.
00:26:22.64\00:26:25.25
We started to say that
maybe some atheists, maybe even
00:26:25.28\00:26:27.95
the Soviet Union came up
with the idea of separation
00:26:27.98\00:26:30.89
of church and state to
undermine the Christian faith.
00:26:30.92\00:26:34.29
We started to think that
maybe the best way to secure
00:26:34.32\00:26:36.96
our future was to win with
Christianity at the ballat box,
00:26:36.99\00:26:40.96
to just take over the reins of
government and make Christianity
00:26:41.00\00:26:43.90
the official state religion.
00:26:43.93\00:26:47.57
At this juncture in history,
it's very important that we
00:26:47.60\00:26:50.47
realize what happens
when Christians build
00:26:50.51\00:26:52.77
a shadow empire.
00:26:52.81\00:26:55.18
When we recreate Christianity
in the image of Rome, we end up
00:26:55.21\00:26:59.21
with something that kind
of looks like Christianity.
00:26:59.25\00:27:02.35
It has all the same trappings,
all the same language,
00:27:02.38\00:27:05.89
but it has a
completely different objective.
00:27:05.92\00:27:08.69
It no longer
represents the humble teachings
00:27:08.72\00:27:10.69
of the carpenter from Nazareth.
00:27:10.73\00:27:13.96
And that means that you and I
have a decision we have to make.
00:27:15.23\00:27:19.60
Will it be Caesar or Jesus?
00:27:19.63\00:27:23.14
By all means, live in
this world, be an active part
00:27:23.17\00:27:27.04
of the community,
obey the powers that be,
00:27:27.08\00:27:29.11
be a good citizen, all of that
is your God-given biblical duty
00:27:29.14\00:27:33.55
but at the same
time, you have to know
00:27:33.58\00:27:35.62
who the real King
is and never lose sight
00:27:35.65\00:27:38.95
of the real kingdom.
00:27:38.99\00:27:41.12
And when there is a
discrepancy between Caesar
00:27:41.16\00:27:43.89
and the King of
kings, there is no choice
00:27:43.93\00:27:47.36
for the Christian but
to cast his lot with Jesus.
00:27:47.40\00:27:52.13
¤¤¤
00:27:52.47\00:28:02.34
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