Constantine and Christianity

In class this week we learned about the beginnings of Christianity. Christianity started out with a very small cult following just like all of the religions that have appeared throughout history. St. Paul spread the word about Christianity to as many people as he could and made it available to all those who wanted to embrace it. Although St. Paul did great work kin promoting Christianity, the real acceptance of the religion came when Constantine the Great converted. St. Paul was instrumental in the first promotion and spread of Christianity but I have to wonder if the religion would have gained the same popularity and become so successful without Constantine the Great.

There is no question that Christianity could not exist without St. Paul and everything he did to promote the religion that he loved. Although this is true, I cannot help but wonder if Christianity would have gained the same status if it had not been adopted by Constantine. At the time, Constantine was such an influential person that people followed his example without question and his move to Christianity encouraged others to follow. When Constantine converted to Christianity he became the biggest supporter of the new religion. He donated a great amount of money for the building of churches and other holy needs and he also made Christians exempt from paying Roman taxes. He did everything he could to promote Christianity because he truly believed in it and he wanted to make sure that it reached as many people as possible. When his people saw how devoted he was to Christianity, they to accepted and adopted the religion.

Today Christianity is one of the most common religions in the world and this never could have happened without the work of St. Paul and the promotion from Constantine the Great.