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Handout #54 |
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The Empire of Constantine, the kingdom of God on earth? |
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| Thus
all men living were free from oppression by the tyrants; and released from
their former miseries, they all in their various ways acknowledged as the
only true God the Defender of the godly. Above all for us who had fixed
our hopes on the Christ of God there was unspeakable happiness, and a
divine joy blossomed in all hearts as we saw that every place which a
little while before had been reduced to dust by the tyrants' wickedness
was now, as if from a prolonged and deadly stranglehold, coming back to
life; and that cathedrals were again rising from their foundations high
into the air, and far surpassing in magnificence those previously
destroyed by the enemy.
Emperors too, the most exalted (Constantine and Licinius) by a succession of ordinances in favor of the Christians, confirmed still further and more surely the blessings that God showered upon us; and a stream of personal letters from the emperor reached the bishops, accompanied by honors and gifts of money. Old troubles were forgotten, and all irreligion passed into oblivion; good things present were enjoyed, those yet to come eagerly awaited. In every city the victorious emperor published decrees full of humanity and laws that gave proof of munificence and true piety. Thus all tyranny had been purged away, and the kingdom that was theirs was preserved securely and without question for Constantine and his sons alone. They, having made it their first task to wipe the world clean from hatred of God, rejoiced in the blessings that he had conferred upon them, and, by the things they did for all men to see, displayed love of virtue and love of God, devotion and thankfulness to the Almighty. |
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| Eusebius of Caesarea, Church History, X, 2, 10 | ||||
