One of the amazing things about being in Rome last week was seeing the by-gone glory of the Roman Empire right next to the memorials of Christendom, both past and present. While I was in the Roman Colosseum there was a point when I could peer over at the Arch of Constantine. In the Colosseum legend tells us Christians may have been tortured and killed as enemies of the state. At the Arch of Constantine we remember the military victory of the first emperor of Rome to legalize Christianity.
I tend to be one who thinks negatively of Constantine. Yet I have often asked myself how I would see him if I had been a Roman Christian in that day. As an American Christian there has never been a time in my life where I was under a hostile government that didn’t allow me to live religiously. Would I have viewed Constantine differently if I went from persecuted minority to someone who could both worship Christ and not worry about persecution? Probably.
These two symbols of Christianity threatened and Christianity vindicated represent an internal tension within me. Do I think my faith has lost some of its original vision once it became vogue? Yes. Do I want to experience what my brothers and sisters in places like Afghanistan, China, or Iraq experience? No, not at all. I love/hate what happened to Christianity after Constantine. I am not sure if I will ever resolve this.
the archives near Emmaus 
There are always two ways of looking at something. Every time I understand this, the tensions always arise. I have a feeling that this kind of wrestling will be a life-long thing — if not with theology, then with something else.
@JohnDave: While I tend to be sympathetic toward the more Mennonite, pacifistic approach to Christianity as I read Scripture it becomes difficult to hold this position as I theologize about the history of the church and even current events.
When I was at the Colosseum (as a kid) I got my head stuck in a fence….
@Mark: That explains the shape!
Like the pics even though I rant against certain church buildings and cathedrals and the like. 😀
But good questions though about living back in Emperor Constantine’s world and the peace he brought. I suppose I would have gone with the majority of Christians.
@T.C.: While modern mega churches often bother me I love old cathedrals. Either I am hypocritical or artistically intelligent. St. Peter’s is 1000 x’s more brilliant, amazing, and thoughtful than say the stadiums where Willow Creek and Saddleback congregations meet.
If God can use a pagan king like Nebuchadnezzar, then he can also use a quasi-believing emperor like Constantine. In addition, Rome wasn’t anti-Christian per se. Romans were quite religious and held certain religious freedom (the Jews were legal, at times). They just ordered that all worship often ended at worship of the emperor. That’s where Christians drew the line, rightly so, and had to suffer for it. The post-Constantinian emperors and bishops that ordered the cessation of pagan worship often created more problems than not. I see some of post-Constantinian Rome in our leaders today. You can’t legislate religion or morality in the same way you do traffic laws.
@Dave: You are correct that religion cannot be legislated. This has often been as much of a problem for pro-Christian political leaders as it has been for anti-Christian political leaders. It is hard to know what to do with Christian political leaders at times because there were none in the early church, but it does appear that Paul tried to convert a few though there was no fruit.
I wonder what Paul would have said to someone like Felix or Festus has they become a Christian.