History Of Christianity
The Conversion of Constantine
In the peer-reviewed Catholic Historical Review, author Charles Odahl explains that there was an "arduous military campaign" to regain control of Rome from "usurper Maxentius" in A.D. 312 (three hundred years after the death of Jesus Christ). The campaign was brutal and so Constantine the Great sought "supernatural assistance" against the enemies of Rome (Odahl, 1995). Of course previous emperors had sought power and influence from "traditional pagan cults" and had persecuted the Christian Church, and it hadn't worked out well in terms of military successes. So Constantine was said to have invoked (through prayer) "the Highest God" of the universe to help his troops; and because he believed he had an answer from the Christian God, he ordered placed on troops arms the "caestia signa of Christ" (the Cross). Because Roman troops won the Battle of the Mulvian Bridge (on October 28, 312), that was enough to convince Constantine that the Christian God was on the side of the Romans. Constantine did indeed become the first Christian emperor, but at the outset he knew very little about the "characteristics of the Christian Deity" or the sacraments and practices of the Christian Church...
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