The Conversion of Constantine: What Really Happened?

Emperor Constantine the Great famously converted to Christianity in the early 4th century CE. But how did this happen? What did Constantine really believe?

Bibliography:
Bart Ehrman, "The Triumph of Christianity."
Henk Singor, “The Labarum, Shield Blazons, and Constantine’s Caeleste Signum,"
Jan Bremmer, “The Vision of Constantine,” in A. Lardinois et al. (eds), Land of Dreams, Leiden: Brill, 2006, 57-79.
Jonathan Bardill, "Constantine, Divine Emperor of the Christian Golden Age," 330 -331.
Noel Lenski, “The Reign of Constantine,” in “The Cambridge Companion to the Age of Constantine,” 65-67.
Noel Lenski, “The Date of the Ticinum Medallion,” 2018, NAC 47, 251-295.

Photo Attributions

[corwin]

Being in a civil war with your brother-in-law must have made for an awkward Saturnalia

[natashatercera]

Anecdote about sun monotheism and Christianity: when I was in Oaxaca, Mexico with Mazatec indigenous people, I learned their language. If you asked them, they would say very strongly that they were catholics, but they were nonetheless syncretic. I noticed they had a lot of pictures of saints, but none of Jesus. When I asked them why, they laughed at me, and one of them said "because he's already here" and pointed to the sun.

[zefft.f]

Constantine: "Solar monotheist"
Akhenaten: This guy. This guy is my kind of guy.

[ModFactory]

I love this channels community. Christians, Atheists, and followers of all other faiths and world views in genuine search of historical truth. It's such a breath of fresh air from the fanatical, agenda driven conspiracy theorists you see scattered throughout religion based channels. I can actually go into the comments and find interesting and productive discussions.

[jeythecount]

Most probably even Constantine himself was unsure what tha hell he actually saw that day.

[timothymclean]

The idea that Constantine syncretized Sol Invictus and the Christian God shouldn't be that much of a stretch. I mean, Romans did that stuff all the time. Heck, it wouldn't even the first recorded time Constantine did religious stuff consistent with syncretizing Sol Invictus.

[knightoffailure]

I always think it's strange when people set up this dichotomy where Constantine's conversion was either instant, or fake. That's rarely how these things work. Genuine conversions can take years, talks with multiple guiding figures, reading important texts, ect. Quite frankly, it's very likely that Constantine saw (or thought he saw) a vision of the Chi-Rho prior to the Milvian, but, having only a limited understanding of Christianity, did not fully understand what that meant for his continued association with Sol Invictus. In fact, while harmony was certainly an issue, it is very likely that a big part of the reason why the Council of Nicaea was called was to give Constantine himself definitive answers to his own questions about Christianity, since up until that point there were numerous conflicting sources and no certain way of determining the correct one. He may well have gone into the council hoping that the bishops would declare Sol Invictus to be a part of the trinity somehow, though if he did, he clearly wasn't willing to force the issue.

We have a modern tendency of seeing Constantine as a sociopathic consummate politician, and he was certainly skilled in politics and battle, but he almost certainly would not have inspired the loyalty that he did if he didn't have any strong convictions or loyalties of his own. Frankly, he seems to have been a deeply religious man who was nevertheless unsure of what religion was correct, and who only settled the question gradually and relatively late in life. As for his allowing pagan temples to be built in his honor, that's not an endorsement. He was a civic figure too, and much like modern politicians do not turn away endorsements from religions they don't belong to, Constantine was likely simply maintaining the peace and being polite. His turn towards Christianity was unmistakable though, and prevailing political precedent of the time held Christians to be a liability, not worth pursuing for support, so Constantine choosing them cannot be explained by politics as usual. If it was not due to a genuine experience on his part, then it was at least a novel strategy that he pursued well in excess of what was necessary to get the Christians on side.

[FailedPoet]

Dr. Darius Arya is such a badass name, he could be a Bond villain

[tehnik]

A new ReligionForBreakfast video after only one week?
And they say miracles don't happen.

[Nolamiamicitizen]

I think for many people, religious conversion isn’t always the “aha” moment when you change your mind; it’s a steady road of thought over an extended period of time

Also still petitioning you to do a video on Margaret Barker’s first temple theory of Christianity... : D

[darlenep.campos]

I rarely comment on videos, but just wanted to tell you that you inspired me to go back to college for a Religious Studies program. I graduated from college in 2016 and thought I'd never, ever go back, but you changed my mind. Thank you so much for your educational videos.

[mathewfinch]

I would imagine that Constantine's conversion was pretty similar to the later conversions of the Norman Vikings to christianity during the medieval era; you're a Christian now, but that doesnt mean you necessarily have to stop worshipping Odin and Thor.

[ibrodirka]

Constantine: J-E-S-U-S, whell that shure is a strange way to spell Sol Invictus

[hippocampus]

This made me think of C.S. Lewis and his conversion. He said that first he had to become a pagan, then a monotheist, then a Christian. Once you accept the possibility of a god, you have to go further and find the answers to additional questions: who is this god? Are they a person, Do they reason? Do they feel? what do they want from me? How do I know them? etc. Constantine identifying with Sol Invictus and then attributing it to the Christian God doesn't make him an embellisher. He was seeking the truth and that took time.

[diegotobaski]

Here before the conspiracy theorists bring up the council of Nicea.

[WackySwackyAdventure]

*Historians:* "Constantine was the first Christian Roman Emperor."
*Constantine:* "The sun is a wondrous body. Like a magnificent father! If only I could be so grossly incandescent!"

[bagsogee]

Hopefully this vid on Constantine is a sign of future vids on Constaninople, Byzantium, the Schism, the orthodix churches; Russian, Greek, Armenian but hopefully most of all, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Fingers crossed.

[Joyride]

On the subject of Constantine's mother and sister, I'd actually really like to see a video about the role and influence of women in the early Christian church. I've heard that the early church seemed extremely popular with women converts, and that there at least some women leaders that contributed to its spread. I'd love to see more detail expanding on this as to why, or how true it is.

[joshg]

Have you ever considered making a video on advice for those considering grad school? I think you probably have an interesting perspective.

[michaelfisher]

I think, having read a lot of analysis of Constantine's conversion, that the story of the sign in the sky before the Battle of Milvian Bridge evolved over time during Constantine's life, and that explains the contradictory stories we receive from that time. Emperors were extremely mindful of the legacy they would leave, and understood that the narrative they left would contribute heavily to that legacy. So it started as a sign in the sky, followed by a dream. Originally only Constantine saw it. Later renditions claimed the entire army saw it, something the earlier versions don't mention. The order to the army to paint the sign on their equipment before Milvian Bridge is questionable, but there is no doubt that the Labarum, with the Chi Rho, was definitely used by Constantine in later battles, particularly against Licinius, who was, apparently, terrified of it ordering his men to not even look at it.
The conversion was certainly not a marked "wow" moment in time, but a long process, tied to the acceptance of monotheism, first through Sol Invictus, which had been a trend since Emperor Aurelius, leading to the Christian Christ through the influence of the growing religion in the empire.