Originally Posted by More&Faster
2. from what i remember, christianity was embraced in rome initially during a war. didnt they paint crosses on their shields and 'miraculously' win a battle after the general had a dream about it or something? anyway, i imagine that christianity was adopted because it was easier to control than the 'pagan' religions of the time.
Constantine is supposed to have seen a vision in the sky, which vision consisted of the Chi Rho Monogram:
At this stage of early Christianity, the Chi Rho symbol was more popular than the Cross as the symbol of Christianity.
At the same time, he was supposed to have heard a voice whisper to him, "This is the banner under which you will succeed."
By the time the story became firmly entrenched in western Catholicism, the Chi Rho had become the cross, and the whisper had become a blazing heavenly inscription in Latin, "In hoc signo vinces" (With this sign you will conquer).
The Chi Rho symbol remained with Christianity, especially in Orthodoxy, for centuries. The shields of the legions of Theodosius the Great bore this symbol:
This is a combination of the Chi Rho monogram and the alpha and omega from the Greek text of what Christ spoke, "We are the way and the life. We are the beginning and the ending, the alpha and the omega."
so now that ive given you my answer, wont you enlighten me and tell me why these questions are relevant?
I honestly wanted to know what you felt.
We don't have a lot of writings left over from the hand of Constantine I, saint and emperor, but we have words of his secretaries. One might infer from their writings that the organisational mirror of Christianity, which copied that of the Empire, was an influence.
Although he is an Orthodox saint, many people still claim that Constantine I (Ever August) refused communion on his death bed. :eek3: