Constantine's Reign of Change
Going through chapters nine and ten this week, we dove deeply into the history of Jerusalem becoming a Christian city. The Byzantine Period was our focus, looking at the birth of Christian monuments and relics taking their place in the holy city. Tuesday for me was such an interesting look into what I see in the modern day Christian church, and the ways that the ideas still exist in the 21st century.
Starting with Eusebius, he argued for the opinion that there are no true sacred places; a person can find Jesus regardless of their location. On page 393, Armstrong writes that “Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he (Eusebius) argued, had had no Temple and no elaborate Torah: Eusebius pointed out that they had worshipped God wherever they found themselves, simply, in spirit and truth.” (Armstrong, 393). Eusebius had an heavenly outlook on the Christian faith. He thought that we should reach towards the afterlife in our relationship with God and Jesus, and that the things of this world do not matter. This is obviously still very prevalent today. In a children's church choir, not even a full year ago, I listened to seven year olds sing a song about "storing up treasures in heaven". There is a push against the desires of sin, or worldly lusts, and to do good deeds while we're here and focus on heaven. To be dedicated
to a statue of a cross isn't looked down upon, but a preacher will definitely ask you if you're idolizing it above God himself if you look at a particular one for too long. Eusebius believed our lives here are temporary and our worship can't be limited by one space or item.
This was put to the test as Constantine decided to start building and destroying different aspect of Jerusalem. The tomb of Jesus was found after destroying the Temple of Aphrodite, and there was an immediate drawl to the site as a foundation of Christians in Jerusalem. It became an extremely important aspect of the life of Christians, and Eusebius took back much of what he said. I think what stuck with me the most throughout all of this is just how flexible religion can be. Because of the majority opinion on the importance of a holy place, Eusebius was willing to change his ideas to match the current situation. We see this throughout history, and like we talked about in class, it's incredibly hard to see in our current time. Looking back on these chapters they show significant changes in the Christian beliefs that at the time probably did not seem as significant. It illustrates the way that politics, social issues, and arguments can flip religions around completely. Time changes religion, and in a way it's a bit scary to know that some of our foundational beliefs in Christianity today were formed because Eusebius wanted to be on the winning side of history. To me, it feels like he compromised his own beliefs just because of the introduction of an opposing opinion. I think this truly highlights the personal aspect of religion as well. Although we all might think a certain big idea is true, there are still conflicts about every little detail of the scriptures and history of Christianity. I'm interested to see in 10 years what pivotal events that are happening currently, shape the Christianity of 2022 into the Christianity of 2032.
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