08-03-2006, 01:29 AM
Ave Restitvtvs,
I'm glad you liked my choice of pic. Do you want us to keep posting pics here or in some other place ?
The first part : Death by baptism was typical Christian practice for the time. Apparently, there was no mechanism yet established to allow one to die in a state of grace (i.e. via the sacrament of confession). Baptism washed away your past sins permanently but you could only be baptized once. So most Christians opted to wait until they were near death. The first Christian Emperor to be baptized years before his death was Theodosius the Great - everyone thought he was on his deathbed, but to everyone's surprise (including himself) he recovered.
The second part : I hadn't heard this before, but I'm not terribly surprised. I guess he didn't want to break with all pagan tradition. My belief : He was a convinced Christian although perhaps not an orthodox one in some respects. (His son Constantius II certainly wasn't - he was Arian.) Since Constantine still ruled over a Pagan majority Empire, I don't think he wanted to alien them any further. After his death, I believe the Senate in Rome (still pagan) proclaimed him a god - maybe to undermine the new status of Christianity ?
Hey, I'm surprised Travis hasn't jumped in here yet.
I'm glad you liked my choice of pic. Do you want us to keep posting pics here or in some other place ?
Quote:Several books & websites summarize that Constantine wasn't baptized in the Christian rite until he was practically on his deathbed, and that during his last days or weeks, he also was ritually blessed by various pagan priests... Seems like he was hedging his bets.
Any other details, consistent or contradictory, or intrepretations about his religion(s) in his "last days"?
The first part : Death by baptism was typical Christian practice for the time. Apparently, there was no mechanism yet established to allow one to die in a state of grace (i.e. via the sacrament of confession). Baptism washed away your past sins permanently but you could only be baptized once. So most Christians opted to wait until they were near death. The first Christian Emperor to be baptized years before his death was Theodosius the Great - everyone thought he was on his deathbed, but to everyone's surprise (including himself) he recovered.
The second part : I hadn't heard this before, but I'm not terribly surprised. I guess he didn't want to break with all pagan tradition. My belief : He was a convinced Christian although perhaps not an orthodox one in some respects. (His son Constantius II certainly wasn't - he was Arian.) Since Constantine still ruled over a Pagan majority Empire, I don't think he wanted to alien them any further. After his death, I believe the Senate in Rome (still pagan) proclaimed him a god - maybe to undermine the new status of Christianity ?
Hey, I'm surprised Travis hasn't jumped in here yet.
Jaime
