genuine humanity as well as by his shrewd statesmanship. Their lofty
monotheism and austere morals attracted the man, their strong organisation arrested the attention of the ruler. When Diocletian threw
down his challenge to the Church, he made religion the urgent question
of the time : and the persecution was a visible failure before Constantine
was well settled in Gaul. If Diocletian had failed to crush the Church,
others were not likely to succeed. Maximin or Licinius might hark
back to the past ; but Constantine saw clearly that the Empire would
have to make some sort of terms with the Church, so that the only
question was how far it would be needful or safe to go. For the
moment, a little friendliness to the Gaulish bishops was enough to
secure the good will of the Christians all over the Empire. Then came
the wars of 312-3, which forced on Constantine and Licinius the
championship of the Christians, and made it plain good policy to give
them full legal toleration. Licinius stopped there, and Constantine did
not make up his mind without anxiety. The God of the Christians
had shown great power, and might be the best protector; and in any
case a firm alliance with their strong hierarchy would not only remove a
great danger, but give the very help which the Empire needed. On
the other hand, it was a serious thing to break with the past and brave
the terrors of heathen magic. Moreover, the Christians were a minority
even in the East, and he could not openly go over to them without risk
of a pagan reaction. So he moved cautiously. Christianity differed
forsooth very little from the better sort of heathenism. They could
both be brought under the broad shield of monotheism, if the heathens
would give up their idols and immoral worships, and the Christians
would not insist too rudely on that awkward doctrine of the deity of
Christ. On these terms the lion of Christianity might lie down with
the lamb of Eclecticism, and the guileless emperor would be the little
child to lead them both.
The problem of Church and State was new, for the old religion of Rome was never more than a department of the State, and the worshippers of Isis and Mithras readily “conformed to the ceremonies of the Roman people.” But when Christianity made a practical distinction between Caesar’s things and God’s, the relation of Church and State became a difficult question. Constantine handled it with great skill and much success. He not only made the Christians thoroughly loyal, but won the active support of the churches, and obtained such influence over the bishops that they seemed almost willing to sink into a department of the State. But he forgot one thing. The surface thought of his time, Christian as well as heathen, tended to a vague monotheism which looked on Christ and the sun as almost equally good symbols of the Supreme: and this obscured the deeper conviction of the Christians that the deity of Christ is as essential as the unity of God. After all, Christianity is not a monotheistic philosophy, but a life in Christ.
