Some historians call him “the Great,” and other historians consider him a tyrant, even reckoning him one of the most infamous villains of Church history. The Emperor Constantine (c. 272 – 337) was a Christian monarch of major importance and has always been a controversial figure. In the Orthodox Church, he is revered as St. Constantine the Great, Equal-to-the-Apostles. But in the Kingdom Christian movement, St. Constantine “was an unregenerated man of the world” (David Bercot, The Kingdom That Turned the World Upside Down [Amberson, PA: Scroll Publishing Company, 2003], 164).
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Emperor St. Constantine the Great
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His conversion before the battle at Milvian Bridge (312) is debated by historians. Doubts about the sincerity of his Christian faith are usually based on a number of questions. Why did Constantine continue to tolerate paganism intermingled with his Christian faith? How could a saintly Constantine execute his eldest son Crispus and his wife Fausta? Why did Constantine postpone his baptism until the end of his life? Nevertheless, Constantine's enormous legacy in Christianity is widely known. The Edict of Milan (313) gave Christianity legal status and a reprieve from persecution. After becoming emperor, Constantine bestowed numerous favors upon the Church. He also summoned the Council of Nicaea (325) to settle the Arian controversy. Additionally, Constantine founded Constantinople as a “New Rome,” which laid the foundations for the Christian civilization of the Byzantine or East Roman Empire. But even these great efforts on behalf of Christianity are scrutinized by some historians and theologians. With regard to these confusing and complicated controversies, this essay seeks to examine the tensions of the career and personality of Constantine the Great.
