FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:
THE SHREWD STATESMAN EMPEROR: CONSTANTINE THE GREAT
“Constantine had been watching, he said, those [Roman Caesars] who had PERSECUTED the Christians [during the Smyrna stage of the church], and found that they usually had a BAD END, while his father, who was favorable toward them, had PROSPERED.
“So when he and Licinius met at Milan in 313 A.D., they jointly prepared an edict, usually called ‘THE EDICT OF MILAN,’ which gave equal liberty to Christians and pagans, Had Constantine STOPPED here, he might have been HONORED as the originator of religious liberty in the Roman Empire, but he had a DIFFERENT aim in view.
“The Roman Empire had been ruled at times by two, four, or even six Caesars jointly, and in his AMBITION to become the sole Emperor, Constantine, as a shrewd statesman, soon saw that the Christian church had the ViTALITY to become the STRONGEST FACTOR in the empire. The other Caesars were persecuting the Christians.
“If he could WIN them without LOSING the goodwill of the pagans, he would win the GAME! He therefore set himself to the task of BLENDING the two religions (Christianity and Paganism) into ONE. As H. G. Heggtveit (Lutheran) says:
‘Constantine labored at this time untiringly to UNITE the worshippers of the old and the new faith to ONE RELIGION. All his laws and contrivances are aimed at promoting this AMALGAMATION of religions. He would by all lawful and peaceable means MELT together a PURIFIED HEATHENISM and MODERATED CHRISTIANITY……His injunction that the ‘Day of the Sun’ should be a GENERAL REST DAY was characteristic of his standpoint…..Of all his blending and melting together of Christianity and heathenism NONE is more easy to see through than this making of HIS Sunday law. ‘The Christians worshipped their Christ, the heathen their SUN-GOD; according to the opinion of the Emperor, the OBJECTS of worship in both religions were essentially the SAME.’ – ‘Kirkchistori’ (Church History), pp. 233, 234. Chicago: 1893.” – Facts of Faith, Christian Edwardson, p. 109.
Tomorrow, the full text of Constantine’s Sunday Law of 321 A.D. We are rapidly approaching the prophesied final confederacy of all churches and religions, supported by the state powers to enforce the “Christian Sabbath” or “Lord’s Day,” which is none other than Sunday. Do you know what your responsibilities are towards this final test of faith, and how to prepare for it, even now, with family members who are willing? May the Lord of the Sabbath bless us all, NMF