Constantine: The rumors of my demise were greatly exaggerated

Given that mega-church pastor Rick Warren, rather than some very serious journalist, was the first to moderate a face-off between Barack Obama and John McCain, methinks that Christendom is not dead yet.

And reading Peter Brown's Augustine biography makes one appreciate the pluralism of early Constantinian Christianity.  In Milan, where Augustine was finally converted to his mother's faith, a pagan intelligensia fought tooth and nail against Christian attempts to co-opt neo-Platonic philosophy.  Goths, rather than Romans, manned the Imperial guard.  And when the bishop Ambrose and his parishioners barricaded themselves in their church rather than obey an Imperial edict to share the building with the Arians, was that an example of Ecclesiastical tyranny over the State, or Ecclesiastical independence from the State?

By now we've all had it banged into our heads that there was once a true pure church, persecuted by yet unsullied by the State.  And then the Church got in bed with Constantine.  And then Constantine grew tired of his mistress, and chucked her into the street for new delights:  Marx, Freud, Darwin, Adam Smith, even Foucault.  But now we the Church can be free to become our true spotless virginal selves, hated by the world, yet not conformed to it.

The reality is far more muddled.  21st Century Christians still have their hands on the levers of power, and with the exception of maybe Innocent III, Constantinian Christians often possessed something less than a monopoly on power.  

So from whence comes this oversimplified pre and post Constantinian theory of Church History?  Two guesses.  One, it's a variation of the Fall narrative.  It posits a perfect past which has been lost yet might be obtained anew.  And Fall narratives are endlessly appealing.

Second, it's a way of playing the victim card.  Lee writes,

I think that radicalized American Christians are sometimes tempted by a false pose of “powerlessness,” as though we are, or should aspire to be, in the same position with respect to our government that the early Christians were in with respect to the Roman empire.

However, claiming powerlessness isn’t the same thing as being powerless. What we do (or don’t do) effects not only our fellow citizens but, for better or worse, people around the world. It’s not such a simple matter to abdicate that power.

Would that we could all be Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo in the fiery furnace!  In fact, we might find ourselves more in Queen Esther's shoes, or heels, rather, raised to royal power for such a time as this.  Rather than fantisizing about being thrown to the lions, perhaps we ought to speak a well-chosen word into the right ear so that those who are genuinely in danger of the lion's den might yet go free.

Comments

[Elliot]

Hmmm. Well put. And thanks for the link! I'd kind of forgotten about that post. :-)