Thibault Serlet
  • Home
  • Book Reviews
  • Contact

Articles

​

Constantine and the Conversion of Europe

11/2/2016

0 Comments

 
Picture
Constantine and the Conversion of Europe
by A.H.M. Jones
​222 Pages
Recommended: 4/5

I was always very curious about the process by which Christianity supplanted European paganism, so who better study than Constantine?

The book is very clearly written, and kept me interested the whole time. I finished the book in just 2 days. I was disappointed that the author didn't include enough background historical information, and I occasionally found myself confused.

5 things I learned from Constantine and the Conversion of Europe

1. Europe was still mostly pagan at the time of Constantine's rise to power. Prior to reading this book, I had the impression that, by the 3rd century, nearly everyone had already converted to Christianity. I was shocked to read that the majority of the population was not Christian, and that nearly all of the land owning and senatorial classes were polytheistic.

2. The speed at which Christianity spread. When Constantine began coming to power, there were no Christians in the government or army. By the time Constantine died, paganism was outlawed and rapidly receding.

3. Constantine's life goal was to unify the Christian church. He miserably failed. As part of his attempts to centralize power, he called the council of Nicaea, where all of the various heresies of Christianity were to be debated. Clergy and theologians from across the empire debated and decided what was official Christian doctrine and what wasn't. This would be the first of many Ecumenical councils.

4. Constantine was a weak leader, prone to a short temper, lapses in judgement, and indecision.

5. Despite being the first Christian emperor, he wasn't baptized until right before his death. One possible reason why is because he knew that he would have to sin as emperor, and only received the baptism when he knew his life was ending so he wouldn't have to sin before his death.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Thibault Serlet

    Most of my articles are book reviews, but I also write about many other topics.

    Archives

    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Book Reviews
  • Contact