SECTION V Chapter 2 - Constantine, First Christian Emperor of the Roman Empire When Diocletian abdicated in 305 C.E., the Roman Empire was plunged into a series of civil wars over the next twenty years. Eventually, it would be Constantine who would be victorious over his other rivals, and reunite the Roman Empire under his rule. In 311 C.E., Constantine (who controlled the armies in western Europe) marched his armies on Rome to battle his brother-in-law, Maxentius. As the aggressor, Constantine worried that he could not expect much support from the general population in Rome, which had grown increasingly weary of infighting for control of the Empire. Maxentius also clearly had superior forces stationed in Rome. At this turning point in history, Constantine turned to the persecuted Christians for inspiration. According to the Christian chronicler Eusebius, on the very night of battle, Constantine had a dream that proved to be an premonition for his coming victory in battle. In Constantine's dream, he was shown a sign of the Greek letters Chi-Rho (the first two letters of the name of Christ whose symbol was used by the early Christians in Rome). Alongside the vision of this sign, Constantine heard the words: "By this sign you shall be the victor!" When he woke up the next morning, Constantine gave orders that the symbol of the Chi-Rho was to be painted on every soldier's shield. The next morning, Constantine attacked, winning an easy and impressive victory against Maxentius. Maxentius was decapitated. On the same day, Constantine made a triumphal entry into Rome, holding the gruesome head of Maxentius on his lance. In this way, Rome became conquered by a man, whose policies would soon spread Christianity throughout the entire Empire. Partially as a reward to his Christian subjects, Constantine issued the Edict of Milan whereby "complete toleration" was given to EVERYONE in the Empire-- be they pagan or Christian. This edict promulgated toleration towards anyone who had "given up his mind whether to the cult of the Christians", or to any other cult "which he personally feels best for himself". Constantine was not a Christian before his great victory in Rome. Indeed, he appears to have been a worshiper of the sun-- which was a common symbol used by worshippers of Apollo and other gods of the mystery religion, such as Mithraism. After Constantine's victory, the triumphal arch erected in his honor (which still stands today alongside the Roman Coliseum), was adorned with the traditional PAGAN symbols. It is Apollo, the sun god, who was portrayed in the foreground as the god of Constantine's victorious army.-- The inscription on the arch attributes Constantine's victory to "the inspiration of the divinity" and to the emperor's noble soul. R. Krautheimer, THREE CHRISTIAN CAPITALS, TOPOGRAPHY AND POLOTICS (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1983), pp 35-40 as quoted in A CHRONICLE OF THE LAST PAGANS , Pierre Churvin p 27). Historians have noted that Constantine combined Christian symbols with those from the other mystery cults. A medallion issued by Constantine commemorating his great victory, pictured an image of Constantine side by side with that of the god from the mystery cult of Sol Invictus (at that time, a competitor of Christianity.) Two years, later (in 315 C.E.), Constantine issued another medallion which showed a tiny Chi-Rho (symbol of Christ) symbol on his helmet. There was a horse's head in the background of the coin, symbolizing the chariot of the god Apollo. During 317 to 325 C.E., roughly three fourths of all coins minted under Constantine were dedicated to "the Unconquerable Sun, his Companion" (Soli Invicto Comiti) on the front, while Christian symbols occasionally appeared on the back side. (M.R.Alfoldi, "Die Sol Comes-Munze vom Jahre 325. Neues zur Bekehrung Constantins", FESTSHRIFT TH. KLAUSER (Munster, 1964, as quoted by A CHRONICLE OF THE LAST PAGANS, Pierre Chuvin, p 26). After 325 C.E., pagan symbolism on coins issued from the Roman Empire had ceases, as Christianity began to take stronger hold. Movement of Capital of Roman Empire eastwards to Constantinople, Turkey In 323 C.E., Constantine was victorious over Licinius, which gave him control over both the Eastern and Western halves of the Roman empire. In the next year, Constantine formally established Christianity as the official religion of the Empire. During this time, Constantine had become dissatisfied with Rome as the capital of the Roman empire. He chose to move the capital of the Roman Empire eastwards to Byzantium, Turkey--and to name Rome's new capital after himself (ie Constantinople.) The entire ancient Eastern Empire is often referred to as the Byzantine Empire, taken from Byzantium, the old name for Constantinople. Even here, Constantine's unique fusion of Christianity and paganism could be seen in the consecration ceremonies of the new capital. During the sacrifices, a rich variety of religious pagan and Christian artifacts were buried in the foundation of the city to guard it from invasion--ranging from a wooden statue of the Pallas Athena (taken from the old capital of Rome where it was believed to have guarded Rome in the past) to fragments of the wooden cross purportedly found by Constantine's mother during her famous expedition to the Holy Land. Most Christians did not perceive their hero's actions as paganism--as they also had made "compromises" during this time, and amalgamated many of their beliefs with those of the other mystery religions. There were, for example, references to Christ "driving his chariot across the sky" (as opposed to Apollo) in religious art. (The image of the suffering Jesus on the cross was almost never used in Christian religious art until the Middle Ages--possibly because of the ignomious association of crucifixion with criminality and rebellion). How Christians began worshipping the Day of Rest on Sunday, and Celebrating the Birthday of Jesus on December 25th. In 321 C.E., Constantine issued an edict forbidding work on "the venerable day of the sun" (ie Sunday), thus formally establishing Sunday as the day of worship for Christians, as opposed to Saturday. Sunday (or "Sol" day) had previously been the festival day of the week for the celebration of Sol Invictus. He also instituted the celebration of Christ's birth on December 25th. (See Chapter IV, Chapter 2. December 25th was an important holiday to a number of pagan deities--such as Osiris and Mithra.) A study of this history gives a fascinating look into how pagan influence crept into Christianity. Indeed, as any biblical scholar will admit-- there is NOT even ONE reference in the New Testament that justifies changing the day of worshiping to Sunday from the Jewish sabbath on Saturday (commanded by God in Genesis as the official day of rest). The English word "Sun"day has thus kept its original reference to the word "sun"--whereas the Romantic languages refer to this day as the Day of our Lord, which in Latin is "dominica". Later in 365 C.E., the Council of Laodicea would prohibit the keeping of Saturday--the "Jewish Sabbath" by Christians. Constantine never showed any deep interest in religious doctrines during his lifetime--and appears instead to have had the political goal of uniting his deeply divided religious subjects around the universal symbol of an invincible sun. For the followers of the cults of Mithras, Orpheus, and Apollo all worshipped images of the sun. Even the Christians had begun depicting Jesus in their paintings with a face of the sun god Apollo. Constantine's medallion mixing the symbols of the cult of Sol Invictus (eg the horse chariot of Apollo) with the Christian sign of Chi-Rho, is another example of Constantine searching for a unity of religion for his subjects. Was Constantine a "good" Christian? Although Constantine championed the cause of Christianity, he himself could not be considered to have lived a good, pious life during his reign as emperor. He was known to have had a violent temper and a lack of regard for human life. He was criticized for condemning prisoners of war to combat wild beasts and for ordering massacres in northern Africa. In addition to murdering his ex-rival Licinius to become absolute Emperor of Rome, he had his second wife boiled alive and his own son killed as well-- this shortly AFTER officiating at the Christian Council of Nicene (discussed below). Many others were killed on questionable charges relating to political intrigue. According to his nephew Julian (emperor from 360 to 363 C.E. and known as the "Apostate"), Constantine was told that his crimes were unforgivable by the Mithraic Holy Father, and had thus been refused rites of purification. It was then that Constantine turned to the Christians, who assured him that ALL sins could be washed away by the Christian initiation of baptism. At the time, Christian orthodoxy taught that forgiveness could only be conferred ONCE in a lifetime. It is probably for this reason that Constantine chose not to formally convert until he lay upon his deathbed. (When it became apparent that the once in a lifetime forgiveness rule was delaying conversion, Orthodox Christian leaders instituted forgiveness through confession, so that one could be forgiven over and over again-- while staying within the Church.) Constantine was both arrogant and egotistical. According to Julian, Constantine would dress up in a grandiose, ridiculous manner--with glamorous bejeweled eastern costumes, and a tiara atop a tinted wig. The Christian father Eusebius explained away his hero's flamboyant dress style by stating that Constantine did this to impress the masses, while laughing at himself in private. This latter view of Constantine, however is contradicted by other evidence. For example, Eusebius also wrote on how Constantine commissioned the construction of the magnificent Church of the Apostles in Constantinople. According to Eusebius, "Constantine "anticipat[ed]" that here "his body would share the title with the apostles himself." Upon his death, Constantine's coffin was placed in the center of the church, with monuments to the twelve apostles flanking both sides--making Constantine the thirteenth and possibly highest ranking apostle. (Ironically, Constantine's grandiose mausoleum was torn down roughly a thousand years later, when Constantinople-- now called Istanbul--was conquered by Muslim Arabs. In its place was built a funerary mosque dedicated to the Sultan Mehmet.--Today this is a Turkish museum.) Constantine halted the pagan tradition of proclaiming himself as a god in the Roman pantheon of gods. However he obviously envisioned himself as God's right hand and thus ruled as an absolute monarch. In Eusebius' conclusion to his book, ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY-- he states how beginning with Constantine, the Roman emperors now "had God, the universal King, and the Son of God, the Savior of all, as their Guide and Ally...against the haters of God." Constantine himself was seen as the "interpreter of the word of God", a "powerful voice declaring the laws of truth and godliness to all who dwell on earth." Orthodox Christian bishops who met with Constantine portrayed him as the "Lord's angel" and his majestic Empire as "a picture of Christ's kingship". (Eusebius, LIFE OF CONSTANTINE) As the right hand of God, it followed that the emperor should have ABSOLUTE powers: "There is one king, and his Word and royal law is one; a law not subject to the ravages of time, but the living and self-subsisting word." (Ibid). Constantine converted upon his deathbed in 337 C.E. Although he had delayed his conversion, his policies laid the groundwork for orthodox Christianity to become the dominant religion throughout the Roman Empire. The Council of Nicene--or How Jesus became God Incarnate During the fourth century a bitter doctrinal dispute had erupted among two Christian sects over the EXACT "nature" of Jesus: The Arian sect (so named, after their leader Arius) taught that although Jesus Christ was the highest of all creatures--yet he was SECONDARY (and therefore less powerful) in nature to the Father. Arius (born 256 C.E.) studied in Antioch Syria under an earlier Christian heretic named, Lucian who in turn was a follower of Paul of Samosata. Paul of Samosata was excommunicated for teaching that Jesus was a MAN who had become divine, instead of a GOD who had become a man. (As mentioned in Section I, the Ebionite Christians who also lived around the Palestine/Syria area held this view that Jesus had been BORN a man, not a god.) Arian doctrine taught that Jesus was the divine being as personified in the Greek "Logos". He did NOT pre-exist with God at the beginning of Creation, nor was he of the same SUBSTANCE as God. Arians believed that the "Logos" or Son was created by the Father, became incarnated as man, and thereupon experienced crucifixion and resurrection. Only this theory, they argued could RECONCILE a belief in ONE God along with a belief in a THREE-member Trinity. Violently opposed to the Arians were the Athanasians who argued the Orthodox position--that Jesus the Son was consubstantial (meaning "identical in substance") with the Father. Athanasians held Jesus was a god, who took on the FORM of a human while on earth. Their leader Athanasius believed that the doctrine of man's eternal salvation was at risk if Jesus was not the SAME as God.--Althanasians argued that for men to partake in the divine nature of "God" in the afterlife, it was necessary for Jesus to be the SAME as God, who became a man and was then resurrected back to heaven in divine form. (Another concern was that if Jesus were merely a SECONDARY god, people might be tempted to add on even more gods--essentially reverting back to paganism. ) Arians quoted from the Epistle to the Colossians as proof that Jesus was created AFTER the Father by being "the first-born of all creation." Among the early Christian leaders, Tertullian was quoted when he stated the Son had a beginning in time. On the other side, the Athanasians liked to quote from the first chapter of the Gospel of John which declared that Jesus was with God FROM the beginning. Likewise Athanasians could quote from Origen, who claimed that the generation of Christ had been timeless. (Bainton, op cited, p 96) The dispute between these two Christian groups was so great, that they both hurled the most hateful insults at each other that they could muster. For example, Athanasius wrote a letter to his bishops around 324 C.E., describing Arians as follows: "Impelled by avarice and ambition, these knaves are constantly plotting to gain possession of the richest dioceses...they are driven insane by the devil who works in them...skilled deceivers...hatched a conspiracy... vile purposes...equipped dens of robbers...organized a gang to fight Christ ...excite disorders against us...persuade people to persecute us...their immoral womenfolk...their younger women followers run around the street in an indecent fashion and discredit Christianity..." Mediation of the Conflict by Constantine Constantine was obviously not aware of all the subtleties and contradictions in Christian doctrine, but apparently at first did not consider them important. His initial reaction to the dispute was that it was over a "small and very insignificant" issue, "an intellectual exercise" that was "fostered by misused leisure." He thought the matter was over the heads of most people. Constantine initially tried to smooth out these differences, by issuing a letter to both Christian sects, which read in part... Constantine the Victor, Supreme Augustus, to Alexander and Arius ...how deep a wound has not only my ears but my heart received from the report that divisions exist among yourselves...having enquired carefully into the origin and foundation of these differences, I find their cause to be of a truly insignificant nature, quite unworthy of such bitter contention... Restore my quiet days and untroubled nights to me, so that joy of undimmed light, delight in a tranquil life, may once again be mine. The letter was basically ignored, and bitter disputes continued. At this time, there was no single ecclesiastical authority (the office of the 'Pope' did not exist yet). Thus, to resolve these issues, both sides refused to back down. Constantine decided to take matters personally into his own hands, and he summoned all the Christian leaders to the first Christian council which he set up in Nicaea, Turkey in the year 325 C.E. The Council of Nicea, 325 C.E. Christianity had already spread by this time as far as Britain in the west and India in the east. The hermit Jack of Nisibis wore goatskins (along with a local swarm of buzzing gnats.) Also present was the saintly Nicholas from the city of Myra in Asia Minor, and the model (though not in appearance) of today's Santa Claus. Before this mixed assemblange presided Constantine, in his dazzling robe, bedecked with rich gold and jewelry. The purpose of this assembly was to decide once and for all what was the TRUE nature of Jesus was on earth. The Arians whose views were presented by Eusebius of Niomedia and Eusebius of Caesarea, wanted the following statement on the nature of Jesus to be sanctioned: "We believe in on God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of all that is seen and unseen; and in one lord Jesus Christ, the word of God, god from God, light from light, life from life, only begotten son, first-born of all creation, before all ages begotten from the Father, who for our salvation was incarnate and lived among men..." The Athanasians contested this statement, because it did not go far enough in stating that Jesus was an EQUAL to God himself. Their creed (which was officially chosen to represent true Christianity after the Council of Nicene) read: "The Son of God, begotten from the Father, that is from the substance of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made, of one substance with the Father" Constantine arbitrated, and sided with the Athanansians. Some have suggested that he chose the latter view as this was closer to his view of a universe with an absolute, all powerful order. The Aryan view, in turn, was declared heretical in the Nicene Creed of 325 C.E.: "But those who say: 'There was a time when he was not', and 'He was not before he was made', and 'He was made out of nothing', or 'He is of another substance or essence' or 'The Son of God is creator' or 'changeable' or 'alterable'--they are condemned by the holy catholic and apostolic church." Constantine placed tremendous pressure for all of those present to sign a statement of faith by which it was agreed all Christians in the future would be bound to follow. For those that signed, Constantine invited as guests to his twentieth anniversary celebration. For those that refused, the penalty was immediate banishment. All but two of the most loyal Arian followers signed the document. On returning back to their communities, some of the Arians, Eusebius of Nicomedia, Maris of Chalcedon and Theognis of Nicaea regretted their decision to sign the document. Eusebius later wrote back to Constantine the words: "We committed an impious act, O Prince by subscribing to a blasphemy from fear of you". But it was too late and the doctrine of the Trinity became firmly rooted as Christian doctrine, this despite the fact that no gospel writer had regarded Jesus as God himself, with the exception of the gospel of John. Arius was banished to the backlands of Ilyria after the Council of Nicea in 325 C.E. According to Bishop Athanasius, just as Arius was about to be restored to his office, Arius was walking down the street when he was horribly gripped by a seizure which caused not only his bowls and liver to protrude out of his body, but his heart as well. According to Athanasius, Arius thereupon fell into a sewer (to Athanasius, this was supposed to symbolize poetic justice) and disappeared forever. The dispute between the followers of Arius and Athanasius did not end upon Arius' death. The majority of Christians in Asia Minor were pro-Arian. (Althanasius was later banished from Alexandria by order of Constantine, for using his position to interfere with grain shipments from Alexandria to Constantinople.) Following Constantine's death, the Empire was divided among his three sons. After a series of bloody rivalry (marked by at least half a dozen murders), Constantius emerged as sole emperor. As the first Christian-bred emperor (as his father was a pagan convert), Constantius began the precedent of allowing Christians to begin persecuting the pagans--by closing down temples and imposing death penalties on anyone who used them or offered sacrifice. However, during this time, the most bitter fighting was still between faction Christians. Constantius favored Arius' position and so now Christians were persecuted who held Athanasius' views. One bishop was tortured, another put to death-- while many were banished. Athanasius himself would have likely been imprisoned (possibly killed), if Egyptian monks had not hidden him. Indeed, some fifteen years after the Council of Nicene, the bitterness between Arians and Athanasians had escalated into all-out fighting during 342-343 C.E. Julian reported that thousands of "heretics" were massacred. In some provinces, whole towns and villages were destroyed, and the populace was divided into fanatical factions that fought like savages even in the churches. During the reinstatement of an Arian bishop at Constantinople, roughly three thousand people died during this ONE episode of in-fighting between rival Christian groups. (Some historians have estimated that more deaths resulted from this in-fighting between Christian than had been caused by Roman pagans against Christian martyrs throughout all the preceding centuries.) As Julian would summarize these times, "There is no wild beast like an angry theologian." Aftermath of the Council of Nicea. Before the Council of Nicene, Constantine had given complete religious freedom to his subjects, and had even issued an edict forbidding anyone "to compel others" to accept Christianity. (Eusebius, LIFE OF CONSTANTINE, 2.56-60). This religious toleration applied to all his subjects in his empire--including pagans and Jews. Following the Council of Nicene, Constantine was caught up in the violent battle among Orthodox and Aryan Christians for control. Interestingly, Constantine never swayed from allowing toleration for his Jewish and pagan subjects. However, Orthodox Christian leaders talked him into declaring their other Christian rivals as "heretics"--ordering them to convert to Orthodoxy. (The pagans would not be similarly persecuted until after the death of Constantine). Thus, the books of the Arians were declared heretical and ordered burned under the following decree by Constantine: "If any treatise composed by Arius is discovered, let it be consigned to the flames... in order that no memorial of him whatever be left... [and] if anyone shall be caught concealing a book by Arius, and does not instantly bring it out and burn it, the penalty shall be death; the criminal shall suffer punishment immediately after conviction." All other Christian sects were also ordered to conform to the new "catholic" or universal religion: "Understand now by this present statue, Novatians, Valentinians, Marcionites, Paulinians, you who are called Cataphrgians... with what a tissue of lies and vanities, with what destructive and venomous errors, your doctrines are inextricably woven! We give you warning ...Let none of you presume, from this time forward, to meet in congregations. To prevent this, we command that you be deprived of all the houses in which you have been accustomed to meet... and that these should be handed over immediately to the catholic church." (Eusebius, LIFE OF CONSTANTINE, 2, PP 64-5) This decision at Nicene had deep fundamental implications on the new direction Christian doctrine was to take IN THE WEST, over the next centuries. For example, once it was established that Jesus had always been a god, it was determined that Mary should be designated "Mother of God". Mary was even worshipped as the "Ever Virgin". (As we shall see in Section V, Chapter 19--in 1854, Pope Pius IX made it an article of faith for all Catholics to believe that Mary was "immaculately conceived". That is, Jesus' GRANDMOTHER had conceived Mary in an immaculate fashion, just as Mary had Jesus.) The decision at Nicene would also formally break all official ties between Judaism and Christianity. For once the Council of Nicene had declared that Jesus was the SAME as 'God', all links between Judaism and Christianity would become irreparably destroyed--and those Christian sects which had maintained a "Jewish" outlook towards the Jewish laws and customs were now declared heretical. By defining Jesus as equal to God--this logically linked Jews as the "killers of God"! Faithful Christians could now be justified in mounting massive persecutions and pograms against the "God-killing" Jews, from this time onward. Of course, once the purges against other "heretical" Christians had taken place, Orthodox Christian would next turn their wrath against pagans-- destroying their temples and demanding conversion--upon penalty of death. Communities of Jews were allowed to live on into the Dark Ages--only because some Orthodox Christian fathers such as St. Augustine believed that there needed to be SOME remnant of Jews left to convert--to initiate the Second Coming. Evolution of the concept of the Trinity--And the Official Definition of the "NATURE" of Jesus The most bitter, divisive issue among early Christians--had from the very beginning--been over the concept of the "true" nature of Jesus. As we have seen, early Jewish Christian sects (especially around Syria and Palestine) perceived Jesus in "adoptionist" terms--as an ordinary man who was inspired by the "Logos" or "Word" of God--but made divine upon the baptism by John the Baptist. As long as Jesus was defined as the Jewish messiah, the Christian and Jewish religious systems had points in common, that could be reconciled to each other. Pauline theology--with its insistence that Jesus was a divine being-- was largely responsible for transforming the understanding of Jesus' nature from a local Jewish messiah into a universal divine being! This, however, created another theological problem in its place.--How could the belief in ONE GOD (ie monotheism) be equated to belief in three Gods in ONE (Father, Son, and Ghost). Were they separate in substance, or manifestations of one monolithic being? The gnostics believed that Christ was a manifestation of the one spirit of God. As such, he could never have REALLY had any material substance.--That is Jesus was a divine spirit, and not a human. The Docetists, who were an offshoot from this same school of thought, believed that Jesus only "appeared" to be human and to have suffered on the cross. According to their doctrine, "If he [Jesus] suffered, he was not God. If he was God, he did not suffer." The problem with these later doctrines, is that they were in conflict with the gospel accounts which insisted on Jesus' status as a human who had actually suffered on the cross to atone for man's sins. Sabellianism (named after Sabellius) sought to reconcile the concept of the Trinity with monotheism by teaching that the one God Jehovah acted out all three roles of the Old and New Testament. That is, He existed as the Father in creating the world; He was reincarnated as the Son or "Logos" while on earth; and after the resurrection, he existed as the Holy Spirit to inspire and guide the early Christian Church. Another heresy, the Monarchianists, approached the problem by suggesting that the Father had descended through the Virgin Mary and was thus transformed into the baby Jesus (a formulation known as Patripassionism). During the fourth century C.E., Arian Christianity become popular as a way to reconcile these two seemingly irreconcilable positions. According to Arius, Jesus was a divine being, but he did NOT pre-exist with God from the beginning of Time. As Arius put this "We are persecuted because we say that the Son had a beginning, but God is without beginning..." Orthodox Christians, supported a view that insisted that Jesus was BOTH a Godhead of a Trinity AND a man. However, even this doctrine was NOT without theological difficulties--and could get even the most well-meaning Orthodox Christians into trouble. For example, Eutyches, a monk from Constantinople swung too far in the direction of proclaiming Jesus' divinity. He was called before a council in 348 C.E. for not properly employing the correct terminology proposed by Constantine regarding the nature of Jesus. At his trial before Constantine, Eutyches in exasperation, tried to redeem himself: "Hitherto I have always avoided the phrase 'consubstantial after the flesh' [as being too confusing]. But I will use it now, since your holiness demands it." Apollinaris, Bishop of Laodicea (d. 392 C.E.), while attempting to demonstrate his loyalty to orthodoxy by emphasizing the divinity of Christ, (in contrast to the Arian view of Christ's human form), unintentionally created a new heresy by implying that Christ did not have a human mind. Appollinarians argued that Jesus was the Logos and that Mary was literally the Mother of God. Nestorius, Bishop of Constantinople (428-31 C.E.), had objected to calling Mary, the Mother of God-- because of the image it conjured up of a "God at the breast." He and his followers were considered heretics and forced into exile, because by refusing to give Mary the title of God bearer, they were accused of denying Jesus' divine birth. (Nestorians Christians later became an influential sect in the east, with missionaries pushing as far as Syria, Iran, India and China. Nestorians were influential within the Mogul empire of China, even as late as the fourteenth century. However, following Tamerlane's (1336-1405) conversion to Islam, the Nestorian Christians were heavily persecuted. (After centuries of persecution, many of its survivors moved to San Francisco at the close of WW I.) Greek Orthodoxy vis-à-vis Latin (Catholic) Orthodoxy The Eastern half of the Roman empire remained largely Greek in language and culture, while the Western half fell largely under the influence of Rome. Rome, which was increasingly perceived as the headquarters of Orthodoxy in the West, approved of the term consubstantial of the flesh. The Greeks-- who largely regarded the Romans as illiterate amateurs in the area of theology, had a more difficult time translating the concept to where it made sense in their language. In Latin, the terminology was a little less confusing-- (although not entirely). Still, Romans were not so concerned about theoretical matters-- such as establishing a completely logical and comprehensible formula of faith-- as they were in stamping out heresy. To the Eastern Greek Orthodoxy, theological doctrine was taken more seriously by the people. According to Gregory of Nazianzus, Bishop of Constantinople, the citizens were so involved in doctrinal matters, that "If you ask a baker the price of a loaf, he will reply: 'The Father is greater and the Son inferior'. And if you ask if your bath is ready, the servant will tell you: 'The Son was made out of nothing.'" At the Council of Chalcedon (451 C.E.), it was again the Orthodox view that emerged triumphant: Christ was defined as "one substance with us regarding his manhood; like us in all respects apart from sin; as regards his Godhead, begotten of the Father before the ages, but yet as regards his manhood begotten, for us men and for all salvation, of Mary, the Virgin, the Godbearer; one and the same Christ, Son, lord, Only begotten, recognized in two natures without confusion, without change, without division, without separation." This complex, incomprehensible formula was created to end the schisms within Christiantity. In the West, it arguably did help to unify Christianity under orthodoxy. In the East, where Arianism was more prevalent, the formula had the OPPOSITE effect--leading to an irreparable rift between Eastern and Western Christianity. It has been suggested by some historians that this uncompromising position on dogma was one of the reasons why the majority of the Eastern Christian population converted to Islam, centuries later. (see Chapter 8). Rites and Pageantry of the Catholic Church As the church became the representative of the official religion of the Empire, it became entangled in state and local politics as well. Bishop Damasus of Rome (366-84 C.E.) had introduce pomp and ceremony into the catholic church in Rome, to show off its status as the universal center for Christianity. He employed architects and sculptors. Many forms of the ceremony--the architecture, the bishops dress style, the incense, the elaborate rituals-- were taken from pagan worship, while others were borrowed from the imperial court in Constantinople. He completed the Latinization of the western church (which previously had all their services conducted in Greek) It was Damasus that engaged Jerome to translate the Greek bible into the version known as the Vulgate (which was the standard bible throughout the middle ages up until the Reformation). The goal was to display the imminence of the orthodox church, by incorporating ceremonies within it that were equal if not better than those of the pagans, and of the Arian (heretical) Christians. (During this time, Arians still outnumbered the orthodox in the Eastern realm of the empire.) There had been earlier translations of the Bible into Latin, but Jerome's translation was later taken up by the Catholic Church to be the "official" Latin version of the Bible.