1. Recalling the history of Christianity is recalling our own journey: where we came from in order to understand where we stand today.

2. This is a very rich century in the history of Christianity, a time when a true turning point took place. Until then, Christians were very simple people—fishermen, laborers—who gathered in catacombs, always in hiding.

3. From this point on, the Roman Empire became Christian, first with the Edict of Tolerance, issued in the year 313 by Constantine, and later in 380 by Theodosius. From that latter date onward, Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire.

4. We then have Christianity appearing in its Catholic form, meaning Roman Universal Catholicism, that is, the official religion.

5. This century contains many details that require deeper study, such as the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, held in 325 of the Christian era (Nicaea was a city in Asia Minor, now Turkey), the Second Council of Constantinople, the Barbarian invasions, and Arianism, which was one of the heresies.

6. Arius, a presbyter from the city of Alexandria in North Africa, caused a true schism within the Church. He proposed that God is the Creator, the Word, the Logos, and that Jesus is the most perfect creature created by God to serve as our model and guide, and that the two are not the same being. The Church, however, is based on the doctrine of consubstantiation: God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one and the same. Therefore, at the Council of Nicaea in 325, the Arian proposal was declared heretical and rejected.

7. Several important figures emerged in this century. Among them, arguably the most significant was Augustine of Hippo, who, among the historians and thinkers of the period known as the Patristic era (the Church Fathers), is the one who most influenced Church history and had the most to say about the fourth century.

8. At first, as previously mentioned, Christians were simple people: the poor, the enslaved, who upheld a proposal of equality, where all were equal, and who believed in one God. Because of this, they were persecuted for three centuries. Christianity was not an elite religion until then. From this century onward, Christians became those in positions of power. Christianity even became the religion of certain Barbarian peoples.

9. Manichaeism also appeared in this century. It was a doctrine from Persia (present-day Iran), taught by the philosopher Mani. Manichaeism divides reality into two poles: good and evil, shadow and light, resulting in a doctrine of extremes without a middle ground. There are still Manichaean thinkers today. Augustine of Hippo, a major figure of the Patristic era, was a Manichaean for a long time.

10. At the end of the third century, we saw that Emperor Diocletian, a harsh ruler, realized he did not have the power to dominate and govern all of Rome. He decided to divide the Roman Empire into two parts and its administration into four: the Eastern Empire with an Augustus and a Caesar, and the Western Empire with an Augustus and a Caesar. This created the foundations for what would later remain solely as the Eastern Roman Empire.

11. The Roman Empire was a true mare nostrum because everything surrounding the Mediterranean Sea belonged to Rome: North Africa, Asia Minor, territories further east in what is today Asia, all of Europe, parts of Normandy, and parts of the Nordic lands.

12. In the Eastern Roman Empire, Diocletian himself served as Augustus (the divine ruler), with Galerius as his Caesar (administrator). In the Western Empire, Maximian was Augustus and Constantius Chlorus was Caesar. They did not get along, for each wanted more power. Entering the fourth century, these disputes intensified.

13. In this fourth century, the son of Maximian, named Maxentius, and the son of Constantius Chlorus, named Constantine, each managed to seize control of part of the Empire. They began fighting one another because both wanted to rule the Empire as a whole. One could say that in the previous century Diocletian divided the Empire in two, and in this century the sons of the Augusti wanted to reunify it, restoring its former unity. They believed the glory of the Empire was being weakened by division, since Rome’s power was based on accumulating possession, dominion, and control over people’s lives.

14. The battle between Maxentius and Constantine unfolded with great intensity near Rome, specifically by the Milvian Bridge. It was a very curious battle. Constantine was the son of Helena, who had already converted to Christianity.

15. By the end of the third century, many influential Romans had converted to Christianity. Christianity had broken out of the lower classes and reached Roman society.

16. Helena, the mother of Constantine, according to historians, traveled through Israel and Palestine and identified the traditional site of the cross of Jesus, the hill of Golgotha or Calvary. She also initiated the construction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. She was later canonized as Saint Helena.

17. Throughout Constantine’s life, his mother instructed him, encouraging him to adopt Christianity. She would say, “I believe this is the doctrine that will change our path, because this Man is our Savior.” She explained that although Romans believed in many gods, those gods were transient realities.

18. According to historians, however, what led Constantine to convert was a dream. Others say he saw a sign in the sky, a cross. Still others claim he saw the Greek letters chi and rho, the first letters of the word Christos. The message revealed to him was, “Under this sign, you shall conquer.” He told his generals to remove the Roman eagle from their shields and replace it with the symbol of the cross and the letters chi and rho. With this, he won the battle.

19. Having won the battle, he unified the Roman Empire and became the sole Augustus, the supreme emperor. He embraced Christianity. He issued the Edict of Tolerance on June 13, 313 in the city of Milan, hence the name Edict of Milan. This edict did not make the Empire Christian; it only initiated tolerance. From that date onward, Christians could no longer be persecuted, churches could no longer be burned, and Christians would no longer pay heavier taxes than Roman citizens, since their emperor was now a Christian who had won under the supreme symbol of Christianity. It was a time of peace for Christians.

20. Because Constantine won the battle under the Christian symbol, Christians began to interpret Christianity in relation to political power. They thought that the God who granted Constantine victory was stronger than all others. Thus, the idea of power and the political ascension of Christianity began to circulate. Christianity started to appear not merely as an option but as the religion of the Roman Empire.

21. Two statements are often quoted in history books. First: “If you cannot defeat an idea, join it,” because for three centuries Christians were killed, yet their numbers kept growing. Tertullian of Carthage, a major Patristic figure, wrote the famous phrase: “The blood of Christians is the seed that makes Christianity flourish ever more,” because the idea grew stronger and would not die.

22. Second: some historians question whether Constantine truly converted or simply used the idea to unify the Empire. After becoming supreme ruler, he did not begin to love others as his mother did. Instead, he continued seeking greater dominion and used Christianity to rule and even to kill. His mother reportedly became disappointed in her own son.

23. The religion of the oppressed became the religion of the oppressors. Christians were no longer humble people, as the entire imperial court was becoming Christian. Ceremonies grew more elaborate, clothing more ornate, and dogmas began to arise. Since many new converts kept their personal devotions, the period became one of confusion and mixed beliefs.

24. Historians say that Helena had great influence on Constantine in issuing the Edict of Milan. It was her support for Christians that led him to sign the Edict of Tolerance. This marked a major change within the Roman Empire. Even the Christian symbol, which until then had been the fish, changed. The letters forming the Greek word for fish constitute the acronym “Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.” The fish also symbolizes multiplication and abundance, recalling the distribution of bread and fish by Jesus. From this century onward, the cross was added as a Christian symbol because of the phrase “Under this sign, you shall conquer.”

25. Constantine’s victory over Maxentius near the Milvian Bridge, bearing the cross on Roman shields, completely transformed Christian history, shifting it from a humble doctrine to one associated with political power.

26. Within ourselves we carry the simplicity of the first Christians, but also the power and pride of Romanized Christianity. Our challenge today is to recognize all these layers of our inner life and move toward greater love, fraternity, and simplicity.

27. In this century, the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea took place. A council is a gathering where Church leaders such as bishops, presbyters, and religious figures meet to deliberate on Church matters. At this Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, more than three thousand participants attended from all over the world, but only about six hundred were heard in the final deliberations.

28. The Council of Nicaea is undoubtedly the one that most defined Church history. Many issues were discussed there. The main and most debated one was that of the presbyter Arius of Alexandria. His thesis that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit were not the same being was widely examined. The conclusion reached was that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are one.

29. The creed recited in the Catholic Church to this day was formulated at this council in 325, known as the Nicene Creed. It was at this council that Christianity delivered its first decisive break from earlier beliefs, formally declaring that Jesus is God.

30. The beginning of the Gospel of John was also discussed, based on the scrolls present at the Council: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh,” meaning that the Logos “dwelt among us.”

31. They debated whether Jesus was the Word or was posterior to the Word; whether Jesus was a manifestation of the Logos or a creation of the Logos. The prevailing thesis was that if the Logos dwelt among us, it meant that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are the Logos. This thesis was defended by Bishop Athanasius. It became the doctrine of the consubstantiation of the Holy Trinity: “I believe in God, I believe in Jesus, I believe in the Holy Spirit as one being.” According to Athanasius, if Jesus were not God, he could not save us, heal us, or give meaning to his sacrifice.

32. Athanasius’s thesis triumphed. Only about two people voted for Arius’s proposal, and the Church decreed them proscribed and later executed.

33. Walace Leal Valentim Rodrigues, a Spiritist writer and author of “Esquina de Pedra,” which recounts that era, described the event at Nicaea by saying: “In those days, Christianity lost its way because we mixed Jesus, who is a perfect type, a Christ-spirit, but who is not God.”

34. The doctrine of transubstantiation was also discussed. It holds that in receiving the sacrament of the Eucharist, the bread becomes the actual body of God. This doctrine, however, was not adopted in the Protestant Reformation.

35. Another issue debated was the date of Easter. We know it is the first Sunday after the first full moon following the equinox. In the southern hemisphere this is the autumn equinox; in the northern hemisphere it is the spring equinox. The council determined the date based on the fourteenth of Nisan, the night of the Last Supper. Since Jesus resurrected on a Sunday, Easter should fall on the Sunday after the full moon following the equinox.

36. Another matter discussed at the council was priestly celibacy. Although this only became a dogma in the twelfth century at the Lateran Council, the discussions began at Nicaea in this century.

37. Constantine was magnanimous. He left his Empire to his three sons, whom he named Constantine, Constantius, and Constans. He renamed the city of Byzantium as Constantinople in the year 330.

38. He was very important for Christianity in this century, not only because he unified the Empire, issued the Edict of Milan, and convened the Council of Constantinople, but also because he sustained Christianity throughout his reign as a vital element of cultural development.

39. And from that point onward, Christianity continued…