4.2. The Influence of Constantine and Augustine
Under Constantine the church became the empire and that changed the way the church looked at violence. In the time after constantine more people died at the hands of Christians than died in the previous time period under the Roman empire.
The Most Influential Christian Ever. Augustine justified persecution in the time of the Donaatists controversy. He was the first to write a theology of the Inquisition. It is, according to Hardin, not Christian.
Why Does IT Seem That Everybody Is Talking About Empire? We live in an empire world. The church has defined its theology to accommodate empire. Some signs of that are:
- Triumphalism/Supercessionism. Triumphal theology is rooted in power. Supercessionism is the belief that Christianity replaced Judaism as the true religion. From that belief it is short hop to anti-Semitism.
- Docetism. This is the view that Jesus only appeared to be human. That view leads to the idea that life is all about getting to heaven.
- Marginalization of the poor. It is by marginalizing the poor that we are able to maintain a rich lifestyle. But empire driven theology says that the more you have, the more God has blessed you.
- Justification of violence and war.
- Defense of Institutions.