which roman emperor issued a decree allowing christians to practice their religion freely? how had christians been treated by romans before that time?
When the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great ruled Rome between 306-337AD, Christianity became the dominant religion of the Roman Empire. Historians are still ignorant of the reasons for Constantine’s preference for Christianity. Religious scholars (theologians) and historians have discussed and debated which types of Christianity he took as an approach. Although Constantine’s mother, St. Helena, was a Christian, scholars did not agree on whether he embraced his mother’s (Christian) religion in his youth, or it was progressive over his life, and that he was not baptized until just before his death.
Constantine’s conversion was a turning point for early Christianity, which is sometimes referred to as the “victory of the church,” the peace of the church or Constantine’s conversion. In the year 313 AD, Constantine and Licinius issued a decree of Milan legalizing Christian worship and rites. The emperor became a great supporter of the church and paved the position of Christian emperor within the church and the concept of Orthodoxy and Christianity, the Ecumenical Councils and the official church of the Roman Empire by decree announced in 380 AD. He was called the saint and apostle in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and made him an example and a role model for every “Christian king”.
hee which roman emperor issued a decree allowing christians to practice their religion freely? how had christians been treated by romans before that time?
Christians suffered from a series of sporadic persecutions, which were directed against them over a period of two and a half centuries. Their refusal to participate in imperial worship was a form of treason punishable by death. Most of the official persecutions were during the reign of Diocletian. Between the years (303 AD-311 AD) there was the “Great Persecution” where the emperor ordered the demolition of Christian buildings and the homes of Christians and the collection and burning of their holy books. Christians were also arrested, tortured, maimed, burned, starved and taken to wrestling competitions to amuse spectators.
This “great persecution” officially ended in April of 311 AD, when the Tetrarchy, Galerius, issued a decree calling for tolerance, which granted Christians the right to practice their religious rites, even though he did not return any of their property to them. Constantine, Caesar of the Western Empire, and Licinius Caesar of the East signed the Edict of Toleration. Some believe that the change in Galerius’ policy of persecuting and oppressing Christians for a long time is attributable to one or both of these Caesars.