Legalizing Christianity

I don't know why, but I feel like most of my posts stem from discussion in my World Cultures V class...but last week in class Tatum brought up the legalization of Christianity under Constantine. And while we, as Christians in a Western society, tend to view the legalization of Christianity as a miracle and this amazing feat that allowed Christianity to grow--Tatum said it could very well have been the death of Christianity as Christ meant it to be.

And I can definitely see that. When we were talking about God's "chosen people" and how the Israelites typically excluded other people, it made me think of how Christians also view themselves as a "chosen people." And throughout history there have been a ridiculous number of examples of Christians in power perverting the concept of a "chosen people" and using it to persecute others. When you think about the crusades, the Catholic Inquisition, the witch hunts, the Spanish Inquisition, the Holocaust, Manifest Destiny, American elitism--some of the most controversial and destructive time periods in world history can trace the problem back to Christian elitist philosophy.

And it never really occured to me before to link this trend with the legalization of Christianity, although I suppose it should have. Before Christianity was a legal religion, the disciples of Christ were typically humble people willing to literally sacrifice everything for Christ's cause of love and mercy. But that humble, loving, grace-filled spirit began to change around the year 313 A.D.--the year Christians stopped making sacrifices. The year being a "Christian" became easy, became "in style."

The year 313 sees those in power attempt to use and pervert Christianity to fit their purposes. The merging of Christian ethics into government policies open the door to government sanctioned discrimination. And not only that, but it began to fundamentally change Christian ethics.

Before 313, the majority of Christians were pacifists. They were martyrs, they died for the Christ's "turn the other cheek" philosophy. But nation-states can't turn the other cheek, they cannot be pacifists. So Augustine, and others, created the "just war" theory to try and reconcile a religion of peace with worldly violence.

This might be over-simplifying the matter, but I had never before considered the ramifications of making Christianity legal. And while I always used to admire Constantine for doing it, now I am not so sure.