At first the Christian persecution wasn’t physically deadly, but mentally deadly. Diocletian ordered the Christian writings and the church buildings across the Empire to be burned. Later, he changed his mind and issued and edict for the church at Nicomedia to be burnt down with over 600 Christians within the building. Christians were now being starved to death because they wouldn’t sacrifice to the gods, and were also being killed at the stake, and other gruesome deaths like being eaten alive by animals. Christians were being persecuted for so many years, that it never looked as if things were going to get better between the church and state, until Emperor Constantine took over the Empire. Constantine was a Christian, and new that he had to braid together both church & state. He knew that from the Roman heritage that the empire had to be right with the gods, in order to succeed. In Constantine’s case, that god was Christ. For the first time in Christian history their persecution would go from all to none. This meant for the first time in the church’s history it had to deal with new conflicts like what role the emperor had in the church, what roles the church had with the emperor, and what doctrines the emperor would hold as absolutes within the church.

Constantine was a great emperor in many ways, including his dealings with the armies, legalities, and politics. These, united with his Christian faith made him not only a great emperor, but allowed his people to embrace his decisions and seek advice from him. At first, Constantine was hesitant to get involved with the churches conflicts and sought for the church to handle their own problems. However as time passed, and much like we do today, the Christians used his political power to solve their disputes. Much like it is in today’s culture, we base our decision of what the role of a political leader should be within the church, depending on their doctrinal views that they hold. For example, if the President of the United States was a Southern Baptist who wanted to create a new creed of the bible’s inerrancy within the church, I doubt we would have objections. However if the President of the United States was a Methodist, we as Southern Baptist might have strong objection to whatever that President might want to input within the church.

For the first time the Christian church had someone on their side that was dictating how the empire was going to transact with Christians. Constantine overturned the prior judgments upon the Christians with the freedom to worship Christ, the return of all the Christian heirlooms and relics that were taken from them, and linked Christianity as the Roman Empire’s religion. Since Christianity was now attached to the Roman Empire name, much like God attached His name to the Israelites, Christians felt that it was their duty to instruct the Roman Empire how to deal with things to keep their name holy. We see the same tactics in today’s politics we hope that if we can get a “Christian” into power, than we can use that leverage to get our moral beliefs to reflect our country, state, and cities.

One of the biggest problems that Christianity faces is its division amongst itself. Many Christians today see these divisions as something recent. On the contrary, Christianity has been debating doctrinal absolutes since the death of Christ. Constantine fought several himself including monasticism, and donatism. But the one that he is must famous for was arianism. Constantine was requested to deal with the issue of the deity of Christ. Arius was teaching that Christ did not co exist with God the Father, and the Holy Spirit. Thus Constantine brought all the bishops together and formed the Council of Nicaea. The outcome of the debate was that the teachings of Arius were heretical, and the Trinitarian belief was established. There can be positive and negative outcomes when the state has influence on doctrinal absolutes. The problem that we face, is each division among Christianity believes they know the absolutes, so depending on what division that state leader believes in, can be positive for some and negative for others. The states decision on absolutes won’t necessarily change individuals’ beliefs but can have an effect on the masses, as people tend to follow their leaders.

As a Christian we all desire to have that church and state relationship, as long as it adheres to what we believe individually. Who wouldn’t desire a nation that women and men alike would cover their bodies to prevent others from lusting? Or that all types of pornography would be illegal, where you could walk down the streets without fear of seeing an explicit billboard or driving passed a strip club. Where god’s word is the ultimate deciding factor when it comes to laws and regulations on the land. Where homosexuality, abortions, and same sex marriages are not only outlawed but forbidden. Where the majority of the society not only practice these laws but practice in their faith because of their fear of god. Some would go to even say that this unity of church and state could never be possible, but I would beg to differ. Not only is it possible, but it is currently working and in place in a country we know as Saudi Arabia. For you see they follow the Shari Law, which not only adheres to the above but goes into more and more strict laws. While reading those lines, we picture them with our Christian beliefs. And though many of us would love to live in a country that instilled those beliefs, we as Christians wouldn’t move to Saudi Arabia because of its church and state relationship. I bring this point up for one reason, though I believe it is extremely important for us as Christians to be involved with the state, if we turn Christian America into what Muslim Saudi Arabia is, who will we then reach for Christ. For I believe that for the same reasons we will not move to Saudi Arabia, if America becomes our heaven away from Heaven, non believers will not desire to move to America. The church and state relationship is important, because I desire my freedom to worship Christ, however we have to be careful to not turn America into a dictatorship.