This book was published ten years ago, but we thought it worth reviewing because of its material. The point of view expressed in the work supports the Christadelphian view of the history of Christianity.
Christianity transformed
Constantine versus Christ is the result of some very scholarly work, and it includes numerous source references. It is 186 pages in length, including subject and scripture indexes. The author, Alistair Kee, was Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies in the University of Glasgow. “The subject of this book is politics and religion, the relationship between Constantine and Christianity. Something happened in the reign of the Emperor Constantine which transformed both politics and religion in Europe, and anyone who seeks to understand modern Christianity must analyze this transformation and its consequences. The reign of Constantine is remembered as the victory of Christianity over the Roman Empire; the sub-title of the book indicates a more ominous assessment: ‘The triumph of ideology” (Cover).
Dr. Kee’s studies have led him to believe that Christianity was radically changed through its alliance with the fourth-century Emperor Constantine. He has become convinced that, in modern Christianity, the religion of Christ has been replaced by a theocratic system that is the product of imperial Rome.
This author thus confirms what Christadelphians have always understood. Christendom has strayed from its roots, from the Bible and from the gospel.
Constantine and Christianity
“Whether unconsciously, whether intuitively, yet effectively nevertheless, Constantine pursued a policy which achieved the conquest of the church” (page 157).
The author produces more than adequate evidence that the Emperor used the Christian religion to his own advantage and in the process completely changed its character. We know that the church had become ripe for such a conquest through its gradual abandonment of the principles of the Truth. This had been a process that had been going on from the end of the first century. The apocalyptic image of the harlot riding the beast indicates a reciprocal situation. The apostate church used its new position of favor to exercise a power and authority that would outlive the Empire.
Dr. Kee is certainly correct is his assessment of the facts of the case, though his concern falls short of acknowledging those elements of truth that had already been lost by the church at the time of Constantine.
Was the emperor a Christian?
The author uses about two thirds of his book proving that Constantine was not, in fact, a Christian. His arguments are compelling, though somewhat tedious. It is a bit difficult to maintain interest in this part of the book although we never doubted the truth of the conclusion. And while it is of minor significance to us whether the emblem of Constantine’ s movement, the labarum’ — the Greek letter rho (P) imposed upon the Greek letter chi (X) — was or was not the “Christian” cross, we agree that the Emperor was an opportunist in his support of Christianity.
The false Messiah
The church historian Eusebius is credited as the author of the myths surrounding Constantine and his conversion to Christianity. Dr. Kee does a very good job of uncovering this great deception. Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea, saw in Constantine something of a new Messiah, and he welcomed the new “Christian” era with great enthusiasm. The Emperor and his court — not the Christ of Galilee and his apostles -became the model of “Christian” reward. The Messianic hope was now associated, not with Christ, but with Constantine.
It is of course well known that Constantine put off actual membership in the religion he supported until he was on his death bed. And through all those years, he was, as the author shows, every inch an imperial despot. He was still Caesar– not a follower of Christ in any real sense.
“In this sign conquer”
The last chapters of Constantine versus Christ are of considerable interest to us. They reveal how the Emperor was able to impose upon Christianity his own ideals and how the church allowed itself to be changed after the imperial image. None of this is new to us. It has always been our position that the church was corrupted and betrayed, and that Constantine had a good deal to do with it. He sponsored the Nicaean Council (3rd century) which imposed the doctrine of the Trinity upon Christianity, and that is just one example of his influence.
The author concludes that mainstream christendom, its religion and its politics, were formulated by Constantine and his “Christian” supporters. Previous emperors had tried to destroy Christianity through persecution and they failed. As Tertullian had commented, “The blood of Christians is seed [to bring forth more Christians].” It was when the persecution ceased that Christianity was in the greatest danger.
The new imperial cult
Dr. Kee details “the difference, indeed incompatibility, between a religion which takes Constantine to be the focus of the revelation of God and a religion in which God is manifest in Christ.” The two, he writes, “are not different phases of the same religion: they represent diametrically opposed alternatives.” Christians like Eusebius would, in effect, put Constantine in the place of Christ. Of course this did not develop into a new religion in which Constantine would be termed the savior. “Instead, a much more subtle and insidious development took place. The values of Constantine replaced the values of Christ within Christianity.”
There are a number of remarkable statements in this section of the book. They support our view of the ultimate corruption of Christianity, and we cannot do better than to quote some of them.
The triumph of ideology
“Christ remains at the center of Christianity, but the values of the historical Jesus are now replaced by the values of Constantine… ‘In this sign conquer:’ and he did. He conquered the Christian church. The conquest was complete, extending over doctrine, liturgy…and ethics…
“What made it a victory was not the fact that he gained the support of the church, but that in the process he completely altered the nature and the basis of the Christian faith.
“Christianity sold its birthright for a pension and became the state religion. Effectively this marks the beginning of the history of Christianity as we know it…
“Sooner or later those who live in palaces come to be called ‘princes of the church,’ and people do homage to them in the manner of the ‘kings of the Gentiles.’ Why? Because the model is not a Christian model but an imperial model. When we recall the humiliation of Jesus by the soldiers of the authorities, it is beyond comprehension that his followers should wear symbolic crowns and adorn themselves in the royal color. Beyond comprehension if it were not that the church, as the religious arm of the state, should now replicate the symbols of authority of the state itself…
“The church now turned from sharing the sufferings of Christ, and set its eyes on the glory already revealed in Constantine.”
All this we already knew, but it is gratifying to find corroborating witness from one who is himself a “doctor” of the nominal church.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One