Did Constantine Really Convert?

Episode Outline:
0:00 Did Constantine’s conversion really change Christian history?
0:55 Bart returns from Cornwall and Megan from Skye
4:03 What was Christianity’s legal status before Constantine?
6:51 Constantine’s religious background before conversion
8:38 How much did Constantine know about Christianity beforehand?
10:34 The Great Persecution and Constantine’s place in imperial politics
14:24 What “conversion” meant in a pagan world
16:52 The three sources for Constantine’s visions
18:59 Apollo, Sol Invictus, and the first vision tradition
19:11 Eusebius’s account: the cross in the sky and “By this conquer”
23:14 Lactantius’s account: the dream before battle
24:53 Did Constantine’s story change over time, or did the authors shape it?
27:22 Did Constantine’s conversion actually make Christianity take over the empire?
31:05 How ordinary people may have noticed the shift toward Christianity
33:25 Was Constantine’s conversion genuine or politically motivated?
35:47 The evidence against sincerity, and the case for genuine belief
40:49 Bart’s Weekly Update: New Insights in the New Testament conference
53:44 Listener Q&A: Saturn, baptism, dying-rising gods, and Roman invention theories
1:00:52 Final summary: Constantine, conversion, and Christian expansion

Episode Description

The conversion of Emperor Constantine to Christianity is often suggested as a turning point in the history of the religion - but would Christianity have continued on its upward trajectory without this conversion? Was Constantine’s conversion one of genuine religious conviction, or was it motivated by something else? Has his conversion been co-opted and over-emphasized by later Christian authors?

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Today, Megan asks Bart about:

-What was the position of Christianity prior to Constantine’s conversion? Was it outlawed, its adherents persecuted, or simply unpopular?

-What do we know about Constantine’s religion prior to his conversion?

-Do we know what kind of exposure Constantine had to Christianity earlier in his life?

-Do we know if he participated in the suppression of Christianity during his early military and political career?

-What did conversion mean to someone coming from a pagan background?

-Constantine claimed that his conversion was a result of religious visions he experienced while marching his army to Rome. What sources do we have for these visions - and exactly how many visions did he have?

-Why do you think we have differing accounts of his conversion? Did Constantine’s story change throughout his life, or is the story being altered to suit the aims of the writers?

-What was the impact of Constantine’s conversion on the trajectory of Christianity, and what do you think would have happened had he not converted?

-Given the size of the empire, and the difficulties with communication, how aware would people in the empire have been of Constantine’s conversion?

-Finally, the big question: without a time machine, it’s hard to say for sure, but do you think that Constantine’s conversion was genuine?