From the time of the Apostles and well into the early centuries of Christianity, the church is known as the age of martyrdom. 303-304 was another round of Christian persecution. The Emperors Diocletian and Galerius sent waves of persecution throughout the Roman Empire.[1] This was a devastating time for Christians in the Roman world. When Diocletian came to power (284-305) he instrumented an aggressive reform to unite the empire, which included strengthening the cultures participation in worship to Roman pagan gods.[2] Christian Scriptures were burned, church buildings taken away, people were imprisoned and executed; all one had to do was renounce their faith in Christ by offering sacrifice to pagan gods to be pardoned.[3] Alas, in 306 Diocletian was killed during battle, leaving the throne to his son, Constantine the Great.[4] Galerius would continue persecuting Christians in the East until he “issued an edict of toleration for Christians in 311, asking them to pray for his recovery, but the request (if complied with) did not prevent his death”[5] (declining health). It is difficult for the non-persecuted church to understand what the Edict of Milan meant to a church ravaged by persecution. Some may have rightly been suspect, others may have found hope that this meant persecution was a thing of the past, and others may have simply felt relieved it was over. Constantine grew up in the wake of his father’s war against Christianity. What he does next is not short of a miracle.
The Edict of Milan is a document ensuring religious freedom of expression, granting favor toward the Christian religion, with a hopeful expectation of peace throughout the Empire.[6] Wright elaborates the significant transition at work, conveying, “It marks the Empire’s final abandonment of the policies of persecution of Christians. The age of the martyrs was at an end. The transition to the era of the “Christian Empire” had begun.”[7] The story goes like this: Emperors Constantine and Lacinius convened in Milan in 313 to discuss the new era of religious freedom of expression, and six-months later (in modern day Turkey) they “rescripted” and finalized the document to be sent throughout the Roman Empire.[8] The edict was preserved in Latin by Lactantius and in Greek by Eusebius, and not only did it establish religious freedom, Constantine provided reparations for church buildings seized during the persecution.[9]
The Edict of Milan was certainly monumental within its own historical setting. For several-hundred years the Christian church had only known the rollercoaster of persecution and unprotected seasons of peace. What occurred for millenniums to come was the establishment of Christian political alignment. Love or hate for Christian Nationalism in the American West today, for better or worse it exists because of this document. However, there were multiple reactions to Rome’s edict of religious freedom. While many adherents to the Christian religion enjoyed and flourished with the alliance of state and church, Christians devoted to a more rigorous ascetic believed the alliance weakened the churches devotion to God.[10] Wright notes that this division drove persons devoted to a higher pursuit of ascetics left the hustle of city life, for a life of solitude in the deserts, a practice still observed: “To this day state churches perpetuate alignment between Christianity and the Empire worked out in the fourth century. Meanwhile, Christians in independent, “free” churches have long regarded the Constantinian revolution as little short of the fall of Christianity, almost as calamitous as the fall of Adam and Eve.”[11] The most obvious distinction in contemporary America is the contrast between Christian Nationalism and the separation enjoyed by the Amish and Mennonite communities. One extreme sees state and believes political engagement as a Christian duty, while the other disengages entirely.
In reflection, my introduction to Christianity came within a Charismatic church deeply devoted to rigorous ascetics, viewing the marketplace as an effort to demonstrate Christ. We were to be in the world, but not of the world.[12] Thereby, the first seven-years I participated in the Christian faith, I personally limited my intake of secular entertainment. I fasted more than I ate some years, and I spent four hours a day, five days a week, in corporate prayer meetings during these seven-years. I was also a “read nothing but the Bible” kind of guy, and on average I read the Bible three-hours a day, minimal. All this while holding down a thirty-to-forty-hour work week. Young and single I was. I am not boasting, or even suggesting this as sustainable. Rather, it testifies to a form of ascetic lifestyle of which I ascribed to. Now, I am married and have three-children with disabilities. Between work, seminary, and community relationships, I am blessed to get thirty-minutes a day for private prayer and scripture reading. I take delight in the minutes our family gathers to pray and worship God together.
How I would use the Edict of Milan today falls within my moderate disposition, politically and theologically. I have never voted, and at this rate, I may never vote. I do not reject Christian involvement in state or national politics, nor do I reject political disengagement. To my Christian Nationalism friends, I would suggest a greater humility is required to truly demonstrate the truth of Christ, and to my friends unapologetically disengaged from politics, I encourage them to allow for more engagement with the culture. Nevertheless, I encourage everyone to devote some time each day to Scripture and prayer. It is not enough to suggest the sovereignty of God, in His dealings with church and state, to dominate non-Christian communities. It is also incorrect to ignore God’s sovereignty, call it all evil, and disengage entirely. The church should be extremely grateful for the freedom of religious expression, and it should do more to aid the persecuted church around the world. The answer cannot be world domination or disengagement. Remembering, the option to engage or not to engage is a freedom only possible because of epochal edicts, such as the Edict of Milan. Notwithstanding, the last one-hundred years has been a bloodier scourge of Christian martyrdom than the “age of martyrdom” itself. Our freedoms outweigh the sorrow of our cultural wars. While the global Christian Church is being bathed in blood, the American West suffers anxiety over gender identity-sipping on lattes dreaming about their next vacation. So be thankful, and consider how we may support he global persecuted church.
[1]David F. Wright. “313: The Edict of Milan.” Christian History Institute, 2024. Web. https://christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/edict-of-milan
[2]Everett Ferguson. Church History, Volume One: From Christ to the Pre-Reformation: The Rise and Growth of the Church in Its Cultural, Intellectual, and Political Context. Grand Rapids MI: Zondervan Academic, 2013. P. 177-178. Print.
[3]Ibid., Ferguson. P. 179.
[4]Ibid., Ferguson. P. 180.
[5]Ibid., Ferguson. P. 180.
[6]Ibid., Wright. Web.
[7]Ibid., Wright. Web.
[8]Ibid., Wright. Web.
[9]Henry Bettenson and Chris Maunder. Documents of the Christian Church, Fourth Edition. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2011. P. 17. Print.
[10]Ibid., Bettenson & Maunder. P. 228.
[11]Ibid., Wright. Web.
[12]ESV. English Standard Version. Wheaton, ILL: Crossway, 2001. John 17:11-15. Print.