The significance and implications of the year 325 A.D. in the History of the Church: foundation of political theology
The significance and implications of the year 325 A.D. in the History of the Church: foundation of political theology

Summary/Abstract: After the “conversion” of Emperor Constantine, Christianity becomes part of the worldly powers. On the one hand, the “conversion” was part of a smooth political move to consolidate and unify various and scattered territories. On the other hand, Christianity becomes the religion of the empire. The present article focuses on the manner in which Christian identity appears in the first three centuries and how it changes after the “conversion”. This change implies the affirmation of a new political identity and of a new relation between the Church and the Imperium, reflected in theological writings. After the Constantinian change, the very meaning of the word “Christian” changes and, even more importantly, the significance of history itself. Before Constantine, one knew as a fact of everyday experience that there was a church, but one had to have faith that God was governing history. After Constantine, people assumed as a fact that God was governing history through the emperor. This paper highlights the manner in which a concrete historical fact in the 4th century A.D. determined the founding of a political theology and of the concept of authority specific to the Eastern Christianity.

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