Research Anyone?

“The Emperor’s New Religion (Constantine’s Conversion)”

Bruce Shelley describes in this article the rise of Constantine to power over the entire Roman empire, as well as his “encounter” with Christ and its implications during his reign. Constantine was the son of Constantius Chlorus, the ruler of the West. When his father died, he was given the rule his father had of the West. When the throne was threatened, he prepared to battle to defend it. While on the move to attack, his army—and Constantine himself—saw a large cross in the sky with the words “by this sign conquer” on it. Constantine even claimed that Christ spoke to him in a dream and told him to use the cross as their symbol of victory. This is considered “Constantine’s Conversion,” however, some question the legitimacy of his conversion because of certain patterns of behavior and action that the emperor continued to exhibit throughout his rule. He did, however, give much freedom to the Christians, and helped to resolve the Arian controversy by assembling the Council of Nicaea to discuss the matter. Shelley does an excellent job summarizing the rule of Constantine, with particular emphasis on how his “Christianity” influenced his rule.

Shelley, Bruce. “The Emperor’s New Religion (Constantine’s Conversion)”. Christian History 17:38-41 (1998):

“The Excellent Empire: The Fall of Rome and the Triumph of the Church”

In this book written by Jaroslav Pelikan, he describes the “fall of Rome” and the part which religion, particularly Christianity, played in its demise. In this book, Pelikan analyzes in detail Edward Gibbon’s book History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Gibbon saw religion as one of the key elements to the destruction of the Roman Empire, and looks to works such as Augustine’s City of God for support of this claim. The works of the Christians of the day seemed to rejoice at the coming collapse of Rome, and their hope for a better empire. Even though Gibbon did not like Christianity, he admitted that Christianity has softened the impact of the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Pelikan describes all of this in his book.

Pelikan, Jaroslav. The Excellent Empire: The Fall of Rome and the Triumph of the Church. Harper and Row Publishers, Inc., San Francisco, 1987.

“Secrets of Islam’s Success”

In this article, Elesha Coffman describes the reasoning behind Islam’s rapid spread throughout much of the Middle Eastern world. One of the main ways, Coffman claims, is that there was much doctrinal divide between the churches in Northern Africa. The churches were split over major doctrine, which made them more like a bunch of small sects rather than a united front against the Islamic invasion. Islamic ruler Umar conquered much of the region and put the Christians and Jews under dhimmitude, which essentially made them second or third-class citizens underneath the Muslims. The Christians and Jews were forbidden to build new worship centers, and forbidden to evangelize. They paid higher taxes, and they were forced to only marry like-minded people (i.e. Christians or Jews) as opposed to Muslims, who could marry Christian or Jewish women. This oppression led to the submission of many to the Islamic faith, in order that they might not be so burdened by these restrictive policies. The Muslims soon controlled much of the area. Coffman points out that this “tolerance” was at the beginning seen as a blessing, but ended up being much less “tolerant” than it appeared at first.

Coffman, Elesha. “Secrets of Islam's success”. Christian History 21:16-18 no. 74 (2002):