In the former two articles in this series we saw how Emperor Constantine married the Church to the State and by a series of vast civil wars overthrew the armies of the other Caesars and systematically set about the conversion of the Empire to Christianity, at the cost of the pagan religion that hitherto had been the Empire’s dominant influence. This remarkable achievement had enormous consequences upon the direction of the civilised world, for not only was the character of the Roman world drastically changed but also, equally, the nature of the Christian Church. The persecuted minority that composed the Christian community before Constantine now became the advance guard of the Empire, openly revelling in the spoils of civil wars, rising to the head of government and public service, recipients of special endowments from the Sovereign and appointed among his principal confidants and ministers.
Christianity, however corrupt, was now in power. The sword, refused by the believers for 280 years (AD33–313), was now openly espoused and believing generals and soldiers gloried in their new power, always inspired by the cross of Christ emblazoned upon their military banners and other weapons of war. After the Emperor’s account of a vision on the eve of the battle of Milvian Bridge, when he said a cross of gold was presented high in the heavens and a voice was heard, “Conquer in this”, from that time the world was changed. Constantine gathered his officers about him and inspired them with this account, replacing their anxieties with this premonition of Divine favour and sure victory. It was as though he who said, “all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword” (Matt 26:52) had now reversed his principle and encouraged his people to military conquest!
The Milvian Bridge in Rome – Scene of Constantine’s Battle that established Christendom.
Corruption of the Doctrine of the Cross
Constantine later said that it was this “vision” and the consequent victory over Maxentius that convinced him of Christianity. Though he was not baptised until three days before his death twenty five years later (AD337), he claimed that Milvian Bridge was the occasion of his conversion. What dark corruption is in these things! The cross in the Bible is the symbol of submission, as the crucified Jesus has portrayed to the world ever since it occurred. “Not my will but thine be done” is the essence of the meaning of the cross. His disciples are encouraged to follow in kind: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matt 16:24). Now we have a Christian emperor at the opening of a 13 year campaign of brutal and unnecessary civil wars, proclaiming that those who used the sword in the name of the cross of Christ would be blessed!
He said a cross of gold was presented high in the
heavens and a voice was heard, “Conquer in this”
Thus the symbol of Christian submission was turned into a token of military prowess! The doctrine of Christ was critically corrupted and the way opened for those many religious wars that have darkened the annals of history.
Once this course was taken the Church could never be independent. Depicted in the Scriptures as “a chaste virgin” waiting for Christ it now had another master! What’s more the state of the Church was a prime concern to the Emperor. He had hitched his fortunes to the rising star of Christianity, so any disputes or doctrinal disturbances had to be resolved, for what would it be if the Emperor had founded his confidence upon Christian support only to later find the Church divided!
As we said in our last article this meant that the Emperor took a serious interest in all matters of the Church, giving his opinion and his commands in respect to many things. He even called the Council of Nicea: he was present in person and it was he that took hold of the crucial phrase, “one substance”, that defined the relationship of the Son to the Father in the Nicene Creed. So the doctrine of the Trinity can be fairly laid at the feet of Emperor Constantine. His enormous presence was fundamental to all that happened at that Council. The doctrine of the unity of God was thereafter confused.
More Overtones — Persecution for Non-Conformists
The next obvious question soon arose. What was to be done to believing Christians who did not endorse the doctrine espoused by the Emperor? On many issues there were varying opinions among the disciples of Christ. So it was about the decisions at Nicea; there were many who did not believe that Jesus was “very God of very God,” as the (Emperor’s) Creed now said it, but rather that he was of the same flesh as all other men (eg Hebrews 2:14). There were therefore quite a number of widely scattered groups who wished to hold themselves independent of the now established Catholic Church because they felt, essentially, that true Christians should never be bound up with the State but rather wait for their Master’s return when he should be conqueror and king over all the earth. Some of these groups were called Arians, Donatists, Circumcellions, Waldenses, etc. Their independence of conscience in their Christian beliefs now threatened their own lives and circumstances. The Emperor could not accept them and feared the break-up of his united realm. So these people of quiet and submissive behaviour were now attacked, imprisoned, exiled or slain and their buildings demolished. Corruption of the principles of Christ had now led to persecution of fellow Christians. There could be no toleration of independence: the Emperor must have his subjects joined in one body upon his own principles.
Where did the Jew Stand?
Since the days of the early Greek Empire the Jewish people had enjoyed wide acceptance of their religious beliefs and practices and what was negotiated in the Greek Empire was largely endorsed in the Roman Empire. The pagan Roman gods were the orthodox deities of the Roman government and people but they allowed the Jews their Sabbath and feasts and other practices in the synagogues. Yet trouble now lay ahead, for if Arians were exiled and persecuted for some refined item of Christian doctrine what was the position of a people who, though having the same Bible (or the Old Testament, at least) refused even the person of Jesus Christ and all his claims with him? Furthermore they argued that the Church (now called the Catholic Church) though using the Scriptures, had misinterpreted their basic teachings. It is not surprising to learn that restrictions were now coming upon Judaism that hitherto had been a recognised religion of the Jews in the Empire. In AD 315, only 2 years after Constantine’s “Edict of Toleration” (!) Jews were forbidden to preach or proselytise—the first anti-Semitic law in centuries! Within a hundred years Jewish proselytising became a crime punishable by death! In the year 429 a lineal descendent of Constantine abolished the patriarchate of Israel, “Not even the Caesars, who twice levelled Jerusalem, had eliminated Jewish political autonomy—an abolition that would not be reversed until 1948. One could almost say that for Jews, the Age of Constantine came to an end only with David ben Gurion!” (Constantine’s Sword, J Carroll, pg176). The legacy of Constantine casts a long shadow upon the history of the Jews. When the Catholic Church embraced an Emperor who could pervert the cross of Christ into a sword of temporal power, then many evils were possible.
Major Jewish Synagogues in the 1st & 2nd Century AD
Super Cessionism and the Hope of Israel
When the apostle Paul was brought in chains to Rome and permitted to speak to the Jewish elders of the capital, he made the statement, “for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain” (Acts 28:20). Again, before king Agrippa, he said, “And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers: Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope’s sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews” (Acts 26:6–7). The Hope of Israel is that spoken of in the Old Testament, of a Messiah in the line of king David, to rise in Jerusalem and bring blessings to the natural children of Abraham; to reign over all the earth and with special favours to a renewed Israel. This message is all through the Old Testament, from Moses, the Psalms and the prophets. We note that the Apostle Paul was an open preacher of that message. So were all the Apostles, who asked of Jesus after his resurrection, “Wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6). It is foolish to ignore these passages for this is the Gospel of the kingdom propounded by Jesus and his Apostles —Matt 8:11–12; 19:28; Luke 19:41–42. The death and resurrection of Christ, though not perceived by the Jews, were equally proclaimed by the prophets, complementing the Gospel of the kingdom. Salvation from sin and death is offered in the name of Christ and that salvation will find its expression in the kingdom of God when Christ will be king over all the earth. The two aspects are the covers of one book, the whole Gospel of Christ.
However, when Constantine converted the cross into a temporal sword then the kingdom of God phase became, it seemed, redundant. There was a resplendent Christian emperor in absolute dominion and members of his Catholic Church (as he now called it) in the highest prominence and influence. The Church that sought his protection and succour was now in his control, even as to what they believed. The Emperor’s will was stamped on all, yet his ministry and generals were from Christian ranks and enjoyed such an intimate working relationship with the palace that it seemed just like a dream come true. The persecuted were now princes and ministers of a world empire. In a short time they and their Church were themselves persecutors!
What further need for the Hope of Israel? All the relevant passages of the prophets and psalms were applied to Constantine and his glorious world wide Empire! The Gospel of the Kingdom was eclipsed, or rather fulfilled in Constantine’s royal empire. Even the principal theologians of the time saw it this way. So what was once the “reigning sentiment” of early Christians, the return of Jesus Christ, the “king of the Jews”, became by degrees but the belief of old – fashioned “fanatics” (Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, chapter 15).
So the hope of Israel, the Gospel of the kingdom, was no longer a hope, rather a present reality! There was no future role for the Jewish people in the purpose of God and all their special titles and promises were transferred to the Catholic Church of Constantine. The Church was the kingdom!—and Constantine was Messiah! This teaching, sometimes called super cessionism, became orthodox by the end of the 4th Century.
What of the Jew?
The Jewish people, scattered very widely through the Empire became very isolated. They had shared an understanding with many Christians in former times but now had nothing in common with the vast majority of the Church. They were out in the cold and no-one cared because almost no-one saw any future purpose for them. In the view of a Trinitarian the Jews had killed God so they were an accused people shunned by God and man! They were outside the pact between Church and State; fair game for verbal invective and malicious persecution.
Helena, the mother of the Emperor, with much royal majesty had visited the Holy Land and made “discoveries,” among them the seamless robe that Jesus wore to the crucifixion and, believe it or not, the very cross upon which he died. Now these relics were brought back to Trier, in north-west Germany, Constantine’s formal capital and became the focus of an even greater concentration upon the death and crucifixion of the cross. There was no parallel symbol for the life and resurrection of Christ, just an increasing obsession upon the Cross. The Hope of Israel was forgotten. The Gospel became the Cross. Queen Helena’s wooden relic, now in the cathedral of Trier, had created an infatuated interest throughout the Church. The cross had centre stage, there was no Gospel of the kingdom, Jerusalem’s Messiah was a lost chord! So the earlier actions of the Emperor in placing the Cross upon all military banners and equipment of all his legions was now further accentuated by the mysterious discoveries of his mother.
Christianity had become Crosstianity, as it still largely is today. And where was the Jew in this picture? Right out in the cold! Even worse, it was reported by the Queen mother that it was a Jew, indeed, that had betrayed his people by informing her of the site of the wooden cross! It was someone like the original betrayer, Judas the Jew—for although all of the Apostles were Jews, time and history had conspired to portray Judas Iscariot as the Jew among the Apostles!
The following is from the account of Bishop Ambrose concerning the legend of Helena’s finding the “True Cross”:
“The Spirit inspired her to search for the wood of the Cross,” Ambrose declared. “She drew near to Golgotha and said: ‘Behold the place of combat: where is thy victory?… Why did you labor to hide the wood, O Devil, except to be vanquished a second time? You were vanquished by Mary, who gave the Conqueror birth” (Constantine’s Sword, J Carroll pg 201).
Ambrose and Augustine, Fathers of Anti-Semitism
The above words were from an oration of Bishop Ambrose (339–397) at the funeral of Emperor Theodosius in 395. They express in the most bitter terms the despisement of the Jew in the Catholic Church of the 4th Century, in the legacy years of Constantine and all in the name of Helena, “the saint, the queen, the friend of nuns and priests.” The Jew is the Devil personified, once defeated by Christ upon the Cross and a second time now that this True Cross had been rediscovered! Such was the mind of the principal theologian of the Church as he expounds on the Legend of Helena. “The Church manifests joy, the Jew blushes. Not only does he blush, but he is tormented also, because he himself is the author of his own confusion” (Constantine’s Sword, J Carroll, page 201).
In the year 388 the Emperor Theodosius protested the wanton destruction of a Jewish Synagogue by some irresponsible mob of Christians. Here now is the written reply of Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, to the Emperor (!) expressing his total support of the mob: “that there might not be a place where Christ is denied. A synagogue is a haunt of infidels, a home of the impious, a hiding place of mad men, under the damnation of God Himself. To order the rebuilding of such a place was an act of treason to the Faith.”
It is not hard to imagine Adolf Hitler taking pleasure in these words.
Augustine of Hippo (354-430) is frequently represented as the greatest theologian since the Apostles. In fact he was a disciple of Ambrose, baptised by him in 387. When the Church is reproached by critics of anti-Semitism, the claim is made that the Church has never been anti-Jew and that Augustine preached leniency to the Israelites. What is the truth?
Augustine’s teaching was not to kill the Jews as frequently occurred in his era. The Jews he said were guilty of the death of God (!) and were a witness to the judgements of God as spoken in the Bible. If the Jew was eradicated then that witness would be lost. So the unbelieving Jew was to be allowed to live, albeit in shame, ignominy, exile and privation, to witness to the Word of God!
Is it any wonder that Europe’s history has been stained for 1,500 years with anti-Semitism, pogroms and the Holocaust?
The first pogrom in history occurred in Alexandria in AD414, wiping out for a time that city’s extensive Jewish community. This was nearby on the same continent as Augustine and in the height of his influence! So much for the amelioration of Augustine’s doctrine.
The Anti-Semitic Legacy of Constantine
This story began at Trier where the new Emperor Constantine set up his new capital of the western quarter. It was to that city that Helena brought “The True Cross” that became a catalyst for Jew hatred in Christians of early times. It is a quaint fact of history that the first organised murder of a Jewish community also began in Trier. The soldiers of the First Crusade carried, after the example of Constantine, the symbol of the cross on their shields. They amassed an army of hundreds of thousands at the stirring behest of Pope Urban II, gathering at Trier! But if the actual purpose was the elimination of unbelieving Muslims from the Holy Land, then what about the unbelieving Jew in their local cities? So beginning in 1096 at Trier and moving east through Europe to Asia Minor and Palestine went this marauding, murderous Christian army, destroying Jewish communities along the way, gaining practice for their eventual assault on Islam in the Holy Land.
Subsequent “crusades” followed the same course with the same behaviour.
Only Nazis could be pleased with such abhorrent behaviour.
“Come out of Her, My People”
The gruesome sequel of this story goes on to the Inquisition, the Holy Office, the legal discrimination against Jews throughout European history, to the Dreyfus affair, to Russian pogroms, to Hitler, Mein Kampf doctrine, to the Holocaust. Nor were the Protestant churches much better; Martin Luther was a strident anti-Semite!
In all of this history, though, the fact stands out that anti-Semitism goes back pre-eminently to Constantine, to his perversion of the doctrine of the cross whereby the Christian symbol of selfdenial was turned into a token of military brutality. The Catholic Church responded to his overtures and sought temporal power in this world at his side. Subsequently the Popes have justified this behaviour and those opposed, whether “heretics” or Jews, have suffered cruelly at their command.
To Abraham it was said, “And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee! (Gen 12:3). Paul the Apostle many times warned against arrogant behaviour against Israel. “Boast not against the branches (Jews)… Be not high-minded, but fear… God is able to graft them in again… And so all Israel shall be saved, as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob” (Romans 11:16,18, 20, 23, 26).
The Hope of Israel remains the Hope of the Bible. That is the significance of the re-birth of the nation of Israel. God is telling us that the return of their Messiah is near at hand.
The Bible also speaks of terrible judgements upon those who have destroyed the truth of the Gospel and persecuted the Jewish people and made war against those that have stood for the Truth.
Dear reader, think upon these appealing words,
“And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities” (Rev 18:4-5).