Regarding the church becoming to a favored state, once again, Constantine is the one looked to through history. He did not make the church, at that time, the sole religion of the Empire, but his policy was, rather, a policy of toleration. But as the years passed, Christianity came to be seen in more and more of a favorable light, and the church was granted more and more privileges. Constantine died in 337 AD, and he would have his three sons come to the throne in those succeeding years. They would continue this practice that was begun under their father. As a matter of fact, they would expand what he had begun by granting Christianity additional rights. At the same time that Christianity was being granted additional rights by the state, some of the pagan religions of the day were facing restrictions.

Well, with the encouragement and this favored status that the state gave to Christianity, there were thousands and thousands who turned to Christianity. Unfortunately, not all who embraced Christianity did so for the right reasons. Some, it would seem, would embrace Christianity, not out of a true faith in Christ, not out of a true desire to be obedient to His Will, but rather, because it was something that was expedient for them to do, because, after all, it was something that the state favored. If one wanted to be in good favor with the Roman Empire, then this would be the religion that you would want to be a part of. And so, it did have a certain amount of prestige. It gave one opportunity for political advancement. In fact, there were even some economic favors that were received if they claimed to be a Christian in these days. My! What a contrast between what had gone on with those early Christians with the persecution that they suffered, even to the point where they could not work, could not make a living, and then progressing to the point where people found it attractive to be a “Christian” so that they might gain more wealth.

This “rosy” period in the Roman Empire was brief. In 361 AD, a nephew of Constantine came to the throne. His name was Julian, and he’s often referred to as Julian the Apostate. Well, why so? It was because he began to, not in any way begin a persecution of the church, of Christians, but he began to take away some of the rights and privileges that Christianity had come to enjoy in the previous 50 years or so, and he began to elevate some of the pagan religions that had been in existence. This didn’t last very long at all; in fact, it was only a period of about two years, and Julian the Apostate would be killed in battle. Following his death the church would quickly regain its lost privileges, and even add new ones.

Emperor Theodosius I issued an edict in AD 380 that made “Christianity” the exclusive state religion of the Roman Empire. And beyond that he even threatened punishment to any who followed any other religion. By AD 395 “Christianity” had become recognized as the official religion of the Roman Empire, and its promulgation was carried out in the name of “patriotism.” In other words, it was connected so closely with the state that it was believed to be a very patriotic thing to support “the church,” to be part of “the church,” to grant these favors to “the church.” And in that period of time began the practice of, really in many ways, persecution those who practiced paganism in a similar way as Christians had been persecuted years before. Pagan temples were often seized. They were converted into Christian churches. Devotees of pagan religions were occasionally the victims of angry mobs, and those mobs were often times led by members of the Christian “clergy.” It’s really most distressing that those who had been so badly, so severely, so unmercifully persecuted even to the point of death would now, in such a short period of time, revert from being the persecuted to being the persecutors. Well, this is a force that is going to grow, as we will see as we continue our study, and we see activities that will be endorsed, that will be conducted, under the name of “Christianity.”