January 19, 2021 • 40 mins
This episode reveals the source of today's Christian crisis. It's the story of Constantine, the murderous Fourth Century dictator who ended the miraculous original Christian lifestyle. He's the creator of the formal, ritualistic, unspiritual, worship programs that Christians have today. This episode is unique, with many new and shocking facts.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
John (00:00):
John Shields opens the episode by saying
Episode 04 of the"SavingChristianity" podcast, brought
to you by the Christian FamilyOnline in America.
(00:23):
If this is your first time...
or you've been listening all thetime...
we are so, so appreciative andthankful that you are taking the
time to be with us here! I'myour host, John Shields.
And we're going to continuetoday exploring the book Saving
Christianity-- the book on howto have more peace, healing, and
(00:47):
hope, in our lives.
Now, the title of this episodeis,"The Murderer." Yeah, you
heard me right.
"The Murderer." And you're aboutto hear some shocking facts
about Christianity that very fewpeople know.
But at the same time, thesefacts are going to help you--
and it helps us!-- growspiritually the same way the
(01:10):
Early Christians grewspiritually.
But before we go any further,let me introduce you to my best
friend, and the co- host of the"Saving Christianity" podcast,
Owen Allen.
Owen, say a few words to ourfriends!
Owen (01:24):
Well, thank you, John! Obviously, it's a pleasure, an
honor, and a joy to be here.
And to be honest, as we've saidbefore, I'm humbled by the
reception that the book SavingChristianity is receiving, and
that this podcast-- I guess,because it's based on the book--
is receiving.
But John, more than that, thisepisode now, Episode 04, is
(01:51):
going to be even moresurprising, I think, than our
first three episodes.
Because this time, we'vepromised that we're going to
reveal when, where, and why theUnspiritual Design of Christian
congregations originated inhistory.
Where did it come from?
(02:11):
And tragically, it's a(chuckles)very, very unpleasant story.
John (02:16):
Yeah, I agree, Owen.
And since this episode is soimportant, let's just jump right
in, and let's get started.
And let's start by telling ourfriends the story of the
murderer who changed theOrganizational Design of
Christian congregations.
Owen (02:35):
Okay, John.
Let's put on our slogging boots,and get started.
And let's remind our friendsthough-- maybe some of whom are
just joining us-- if they wantto hear the previous episodes,
all they need to do is go out onthe Internet to www.CFOPODs.com.
C-F-O-P-O-D-S.com.
(02:57):
And they can find a previousepisode there, both the scripts
and the recordings.
But now, in our last episode, wepromised that we were going to
tell when, where, and why, theUnspiritual Design for Christian
congregations originated.
Or, to put it in more scaryterms, we're going to talk about
(03:18):
when, where, and why, theFollowers of The Way stopped
being the Followers of The Way.
John (03:25):
Yes, and what we're really telling is when, where, and why,
Christians as a worldwidemovement stopped being Christian
-- stopped being Spiritual.
And started being unspiritual,right?
Owen (03:40):
Yeah, sad but true! We want to know what it was in
history, that caused Christiansto stop living the supernatural
lifestyle that they had beenliving for 300 years.
What was it, that made them stopliving the way they had been
living for eight generations?
John (04:01):
Yeah, right! We already know that-- whatever it was-- it
happened at the beginning of theFourth Century.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
Right...
right.
We've said that many times.
The Early Christian Lifestyle ofpower, and miracles, and
healings, and angelicvisitations, and the wonderful
things that all Christians aresupposed to experience, stopped
dead in the water in the FourthCentury.
(04:29):
And we've never said yet why itstopped.
Now, remember Christianity was aworldwide movement at the time.
In other words, there wereChristians in every town, and
city, and country, of theancient world.
So think about this.
How could that all be reversedovernight?
(04:51):
How could the habits thatChristians had been growing for
eight generations, suddenly stopovernight?
A big flood couldn't do that.
A big earthquake couldn't dothat.
Even a war couldn't do that.
Who could do that?
What could do that?
Only a human being with theworldwide authority and the
(05:16):
worldwide plan could do that.
John (05:21):
We know it was a human being who did it.
And this was during the days ofthe Roman empire, when the city
of Rome was at the center of theworld.
Owen (05:33):
Well, that's right.
In other words John, put it thisway: Whatever happened in Rome,
happened in the rest of theworld.
(Chuckles.) Or, to put it moreprecisely, whatever the emperor
in Rome commanded...
that happened in the rest of theworld!
John (05:50):
So, we're saying it was one of the Roman emperors who
caused the Early Christians tostop living the Early Christian
Lifestyle.
Owen (06:00):
In a nutshell, that's right.
It was a Fourth Century Romanemperor who did it.
But look...
we're getting ahead of the storya little bit.
We need to slow down a moment.
Because this emperor that we'retalking about-- check this out
now-- had a greater negativeimpact on the entire world than
(06:22):
all of the other 69 Romanemperors in history combined!
And the worst part is that hehad more negative impact on
Christianity than any otherperson in history after it was
founded.
John (06:40):
That's incredible.
I know our friends are on theedge of their seats by now.
So, who was this emperor, Owen,who had such a negative impact
on Christianity?
Owen (06:51):
Well, in Chapter 3 of the book Saving Christianity, we
have a section there with thetitle,"The Greatest Whitewash."
(Repeats.) So, to get us startedon this emperor's bloody,
horrible story, let's read a fewlines from that section of the
(07:13):
book, and let's quote them now.
And I quote:"You probably don'tremember from high school or
college classes, a Roman armygeneral named, Flavius Valerius
Constantinus.
But it's important to rememberhim, because he's the person who
(07:37):
founded the Christiandenominations that we have
today.
In English, his name is"Constantine."(Repeats.) And he
was a cruel and viciousbattlefield commander in the
Four Century, whosingle-handedly founded what
today we know as InstitutionalChristianity.
(07:59):
He didn't do it-- this isimportant-- he did not do it to
teach the Early ChristianLifestyle that Christians were
living at the time.
He did it to suppress thatlifestyle.
And now he's suppressed it for1,700 years.
John (08:21):
Wow.
I think Owen, most people haveheard the name Constantine.
But in actuality, I don't thinkmost people realize that he did
all that.
And why do you think that wedon't know that?
Owen (08:35):
Well, that's a great question! And one of the most
important questions in history!You know, in this section that
we're talking about,"TheGreatest Whitewash," the word
"whitewash"-- if people haven'theard it-- it's an old-time
word.
It means to conceal someone'sfaults.
In other words, you paint overwith white paint, somebody's
(08:59):
faults.
And listen, that's whathistorians have done with
Constantine.
Historians who are sympatheticto Institutional Christianity:
They want to prop it up.
They want to support it.
They have simply leftConstantine's faults out of the
(09:21):
history books.
And that's why many school bookstoday say Constantine was a wise
and noble leader who didwonderful things for
Christianity.
But it's not true.
John (09:36):
I agree.
It's a tragedy that mostChristians don't know who
Constantine really was, anddon't know what he really did to
the Fourth Century Christians.
Owen (09:46):
Yeah, I think it's one of the biggest tragedies in
recorded history.
But it's one of the least knowntragedies in recorded history.
So, but John.
You just pointed out somethingvery important.
This tragedy of Constantinecomes in two parts.
The first part is (10:06):
Many Christians don't know who he
was.
And the second part is (10:12):
Many Christians don't know what he
did.
John (10:17):
Well, that being the case, let's give our friends a
thumbnail sketch of each of thetwo parts of this tragedy.
Owen (10:24):
Yeah, because this is something we could talk about,
John, for several episodes.
Maybe we should.
But let's see what we can dohere.
In this one episode, Episode 04,let's talk about who Constantine
really was.
And I quote:"Constantine was nota Christian.
(10:45):
He was a priest in the sun godreligion.
He kept mistresses.
And, he was a murderer.
He murdered his own wife.
He drowned her in her bathtub.
He murdered his son.
He murdered his son-in-law.
He murdered his best friend.
He murdered every politician ormilitary officer who got in his
(11:07):
way.
And, like most Roman emperorsover the centuries, he was
cruel, and bloodthirsty, and hewas a dictator.
The purpose of his life was notto be a wise and noble leader.
The purpose of his life was tounite the Roman empire by
(11:27):
military and political force,and to make himself the Supreme
Emperor of the world." And, hesucceeded in those purposes! So,
that's who Constantine reallywas.
But John, let's tell our friendsnow-- you call it a thumbnail
(11:49):
sketch-- what did he actuallydo?
What did Constantine do?
In the previous episode, we hada Problem-Solving Exercise to
find out when, where, and why,Christians stopped teaching the
Early Christian Lifestyle.
We wanted to know, in that lastepisode, when, where, and why,
(12:14):
the Unspiritual Model ofInstitutional Christianity
originated.
And now we know the answer (12:20):
The Roman emperor Constantine
developed InstitutionalChristianity.
And he developed it to suppressthe Spirituality of Christians.
Why?
( He did it) to help him createa submissive worldwide empire.
John (12:42):
Now we know why Constantine is so important in
world history.
But his story is a horror story,isn't it?
Because he changed Christianityfrom a Spiritual Organization to
an unspiritual one.
Owen (13:01):
Well, it almost takes your breath away, John.
It is a horror story.
It puts"Frankenstein" in theshade.
(Chuckles.) It's a terriblething to say, John.
But listen to this, now.
And I've read this in a numberof history books.
Constantine is probably the mostinfluential person in Christian
(13:24):
history, after Jesus and theoriginal 12 apostles.
Why?
Because he founded InstitutionalChristianity.
And in doing that, he put an endto the Spiritual Design of
Christian meetings that hadoriginally come straight from
(13:45):
the Throne Room of Heaven in theFirst Century.
John (13:48):
That is an overwhelming thought.
And it's actually a lot for usto take in.
Owen (13:55):
Well, it is!(Chuckles.) It is a lot to take in.
I mean...
it's taken me years to-- as youcall it--"put it on soak cycle,"
and understand it for myself.
But let's slow down again.
Why don't we just...
let's don't take this as anopinion.
Let's look at Constantine's lifeand behavior.
(14:16):
Some of our listeners willremember that we've said in
earlier episodes that watching aperson's behavior is the true
test of how Spiritual(he or sheis).
So, let's look at his behavior.
And let's look at the laws thathe passed-- which was part of
his behavior.
And here's the first fact.
Most people don't know this (14:38):
The emperor Constantine was
illegitimate.
He was also an orphan.
His father was a Roman armyofficer.
And his mother-- his biologicalmother-- owned a tavern in town,
where Constantine's father usedto carouse with the other
(15:00):
soldiers.
So, Constantine was illegitimatefrom his mother in the tavern.
And he was never adopted, ornever made legitimate.
Now, point(fact) two (15:11):
Since he had no legal parents, he was
raised in the homes of armyofficers who did that as a favor
to his father.
So what happened?
Constantine grew up acting likethe cruel army officers in whose
homes he was raised-- there wereseveral of them.
And point(fact) three (15:37):
We said this.
But people don't understand it.
He's called a"great Christian,"the"first Christian emperor," in
the school books.
He was not.
He was not a Christian.
He never became one.
He never said he was one.
Like most Romans, he worshipedthe sun god.
(15:57):
And later, when he becameemperor, he was high priest of
the sun god religion.
And he held that position untilthe day that he died.
John (16:09):
And the fact that he was the high priest of the sun god
religion explains why it's wrongfor school books to say he was a
kind and noble"Christian."
Owen (16:20):
Of course! Because he wasn't.
That's a whitewash.
But here's somethinginteresting, John.
Constantine did meet Christianswhen he was growing up.
He was not one.
But he did meet them.
And how did that happen?
That's very important.
The first Christians thatConstantine ever saw were
(16:42):
Christians who were beingtortured in the dungeons of the
emperor's palace.
You remember in the Romanempire, there were periodic
persecutions of Christians.
That wasn't consistent.
But it happened every decade orso.
And it happened that, during oneof these prosecutions,
(17:03):
Constantine was growing up as ateenager in the emperor's
palace.
And so that's where he saw andmet the first Christians.
And interestingly-- and this isimportant-- this is where
Constantine first heard the wordChristus.
(Repeats.) That's Latin for"Christ." And that's important.
(17:26):
Because this is whereConstantine first heard the idea
that"Christ"-- Christus-- is theGod of Christians.
And that's going to becomeimportant just a moment.
But let's continue.
When Constantine was old enoughto fight, his foster parents
(17:47):
sent him to join army in Europe,where his father was actually
the commanding general.
That was interesting.
Well, when he got there,Constantine proved to the other
soldiers that he was one of themost ferocious, bitter, fighters
on the battlefield.
(18:08):
That's important.
He had grown up in such a waythat he was absolutely fearless.
He was indifferent to pain.
And he was ferocious.
And then the next point, John.
This is where fate stepped in.
Suddenly, right there in thearmy, Constantine's father fell
(18:32):
ill and died.
And the other soldiers electedConstantine-- a young man in his
twenties who'd just arrived onthe battlefield-- he was so
ferocious, that they elected himto replace his father, and to
become the general of the army.
Imagine that! So, Constantine,in his twenties, found himself
(18:57):
the battlefield commander of aRoman field army.
And he led that army for sevenlong and bloody years in
hand-to-hand combat.
Think about it.
Can you imagine what a toughcharacter he would be, after
seven years of fighting withsword and spear?
(19:18):
And then...
and this is our point, John...
an event occurred-- or at leastit's supposed to have occurred--
that made Constantine theemperor of Rome at still a young
age.
What happened was, his army wascamped on the Tiber River, near
(19:38):
the city of Rome, at a placecalled the Milvian Bridge.
The Milvian Bridge very famous.
It's still there.
I've walked on the MilvianBridge.
So, his army was waiting for theenemy to come out of the city
and fight them for control ofthe empire.
John (19:59):
So, is this where Constantine supposedly had his
big dream?
And isn't that dream just alegend?
Owen (20:08):
Well, yeah.
That's exactly the point we'recoming to, John.
The Big Dream! Most researchersthink that Constantine's
so-called dream is only alegend.
But the legend says that onenight he was asleep in his army
tent by the Milvian Bridge onthe Tiber River-- when suddenly,
(20:29):
he had a weird, strange dream.
And in this dream, a personappeared to him.
And he thought this person mustbe the God, Christus-- the God,
"Christ." This person issupposed to have appeared.
Now, let's remember John, thatyears earlier, Constantine had
(20:53):
seen Christians, and has heardabout the Christian God,
"Christ," in the dungeons of theemperor's palace.
So, the source of his dream-- ifit even happened-- probably may
have been his unconsciousmemories of those experiences in
the palace dungeons.
(21:14):
But whatever the source of thedream, the legend says that this
mysterious person showedConstantine a strange symbol.
Now this symbol looked like a"plus sign" that we all see in
arithmetic.
Except that it had a loop ontop.
And then this person in thedream supposedly told
(21:37):
Constantine in Latin, that if hewould use this"plus sign" in the
coming battle, he would win.
And he would become emperor.
So, the legend says that herushed out of his tent all
excited, got his soldiers up,and he told them to get some red
paint.
(21:57):
And to paint this weird"plussign" on their helmets and on
their shields, with bright redpaint.
John (22:05):
Ha! Did the strange"plus sign" and the red paint work?
I mean, did Constantine win thebattle?
Owen (22:15):
Well, here's the thing.
First, nobody knows ifConstantine really had the
dream.
There are several versions ofthe legend.
Some books say it neverhappened.
Some say it happened, but itwasn't a dream, it was actually
a vision.
Nobody knows if the soldiersreally painted the"plus sign" on
(22:35):
their helmets and shields.
There's no proof of that.
So, the whole story is a legend.
But here's what really happened.
The enemy army marched out ofRome, came to the Milvian
Bridge, and confrontedConstantine.
And that's true.
And a huge battle took place atthe Milvian Bridge.
(22:57):
That's true too.
And for whatever reason,Constantine's army won.
They actually defeated the otherarmy that marched out of the
city of Rome.
And listen to this, now.
He captured the enemy generalalive.
(23:17):
That general's name wasMaxentius.
(Repeats.) But he beheaded him.
And he threw his body in theriver.
He hung his head on his saddle.
And he rode into Rome as the newemperor.
John (23:33):
Wow! What a story! Huh, the plot thickens! But our
friends need to know whathappened next.
For example, was Constantine akind and noble emperor after
that?
Huh, you know, like the schoolbooks told us?
Owen (23:51):
(Chuckles.) We could probably answer that just from
common sense.
But, you could answer that twoways, John.
It all depends on yourviewpoint.
If you're sympathetic toInstitutional Christianity, and
you want to prop it up...
you're going to hold the factthat all of this is true, and
(24:11):
that Constantine was kind andnoble.
But, if you're skeptical aboutInstitutional Christianity, and
you're trying to stick to thedocumented facts that we know...
you'd have to say thatConstantine was a horrible
emperor.
But whatever your viewpoint is,he was emperor-- this is
(24:34):
documented-- for 25 years.
And his goal was to be the GrandEmperor, as we said earlier, of
a worldwide empire.
So, the first thing he did wasto set about establishing his
personal authority and controlover every Roman person in the
(24:55):
empire!
John (24:55):
And how did he do that?
Owen (24:58):
Well...
first...
he built a giant statue ofhimself-- four stories high--
and he put it on the citysquare.
And in this statue, he's sittingon a throne, and he's got one
upraised hand.
And in this upraised hand, he'sholding the strange"plus sign"
(25:23):
symbol that he claimed to haveseen in the dream.
And you know what, John?
Pieces of that stature stillexist today.
I've looked at them, and handledthem, and taken pictures of
them.
The second thing he did was tobuild a giant"triumphal arch"--
they're called-- to himself onthe city square, seven stories
(25:48):
high.
An amazing, beautiful structure.
And it still stands in Rometoday.
In fact, John, until the 1960s,cars actually drove under it.
Today, they've closed it off.
But that's what used to happen.
John (26:08):
So, Constantine built the statue, and the arch, to
establish his personal authorityand control.
And ultimately, to make thepopulation fear him.
Is that right?
Owen (26:22):
It's actually right, yeah! You know, clearly most people
would agree that Constantine wasa megalomaniac.
Uh, and let's think about it.
Give him a break in one sense.
He was illegitimate.
He was an orphan.
He was raised in foster homes.
He fought bloody battles forseven long years, in
(26:46):
hand-to-hand combat.
So maybe his personality is tobe expected.
You know, as the old sayinggoes,"There was no excuse for
what he did, but there were somereasons."
John (27:00):
Yeah, it all makes sense when you stop and think about
it.
It actually helps us explainwhat Constantine did to the
Early Christians as well.
Owen (27:11):
Yeah, it does.
I mean...
his megalomania does helpexplain what he did to the Early
Christians.
And it...
but listen...
it also proves something else.
It proves by the"whitewash" ofhim by historians, is a coverup.
Because look (27:28):
Anybody who takes even a casual glance(repeats) at
Constantine's life, can clearlysee that he was not a wise and
noble"Christian emperor."
John (27:44):
No, he wasn't.
So, Owen.
Let's tell our friends the truthabout what Constantine did to
the Early Christians.
Owen (27:53):
Well...
let's do that.
And you know, John, I apologize.
But we can only"start" the storyhere, because Constantine did so
many things to the EarlyChristians that we can't tell
them all in one episode.
John (28:09):
Yeah, he did a lot for sure.
But let's just tell as much aswe can in this episode.
Owen (28:15):
Okay.
Well, the most important thingto remember about Constantine is
that historians and researcherscall him"The Great Lawgiver."
(Repeats.) In fact, we have asection in Chapter 3 of the
book, that has that title.
And let me read a few sentencesfrom that.
(28:37):
And I quote:"Constantineimmediately began issuing a
flood of new laws.
Indeed, he became one of themost prolific law givers of all
the Roman emperors, issuing over300 new laws during his 25-year
reign.
Now-- the purpose of thistorrent of laws was to tighten
(29:04):
his control over the Romanpeople.
But, the most important thingabout Constantine's new laws was
that they suppressed the vibrantEarly Christian Lifestyle of the
Fourth Century Christians.
John (29:23):
So we know that the Early Christians were still living as
Followers of The Way whenConstantine came to power.
But what effect did his flood ofnew laws have to shut down their
Spiritual behavior?
Owen (29:40):
Well, you know, John.
That's a whole subject ofdiscussion that you could write
a full book on.
Very important to understand.
Let's just look at his veryfirst law.
The first law that he passed, ashe became emperor: It did not
deal with taxes.
It did not deal with the army.
(30:01):
It did not deal with publicsafety.
It dealt with religion! Isn'tthat interesting?
So the first law-- that firstlaw!-- was the beginning of
Constantine's gradual shuttingdown of the Early Christian
Lifestyle.
John (30:20):
Yeah, and continue on, Owen.
And tell us exactly how thatfirst law started suppressing
the Early Christians.
Owen (30:29):
Well...
what's so strange is that on thesurface, Constantine's first law
didn't actually seem bad.
In fact, school books often sayit was good for Christians.
But, it was not good for them.
And here's why.
The purpose of Constantine'svery first law when he took
(30:53):
power, was to legally recognizeall of the religions in the
empire.
The law said that all thereligions-- and there were about
400 of them-- were now to betreated as equals, and were to
be equally protected under Romanlaw.
(31:16):
And, see, that's why schoolbooks think that sounds good.
That seems like a good thing forChristians.
But it wasn't!
John (31:24):
Yeah, I see the problem emerging here.
That first law wasn't goodbecause Christians weren't a
formal religion at that time,and they didn't want to be a
formal religion.
Owen (31:37):
That's exactly the point! That's something we're going to
talk about over and over andover in these episodes.
The Christian lifestyle-- the"Early Christian Lifestyle" that
we're talking about-- was aninformal lifestyle.
It was a relaxed, free,lifestyle.
So for the first 300 years...
(31:59):
or we often say, the first eightgenerations...
Christians worshiped informallyin private homes.
A lot of people don't know that.
Two or three families would meetin one of the family's homes,
and the Holy spirit would guidetheir worship.
There was no human agenda.
(32:20):
And because of that informalOrganizational Design-- there we
go again, we're talking aboutOrganizational Design--
Christianity had never beenrecognized as a formal religion
anywhere in the world.
And Constantine changed that.
Suddenly, for the first time inhistory, Christians could be
(32:44):
identified, counted,categorized, and cataloged, by
government bureaucrats.
For the first time, they weresubject to census-taking,
taxation, regulation, draftingin the army, and every other
kind of red tape.
(33:04):
So, the truth is, thatConstantine's first law was
actually the first"brick" inwhat eventually became
Institutional Christianity.
John (33:18):
Wow.
So, it actually all depends onyour viewpoint, as you mentioned
earlier.
Because most school books sayConstantine's first law"saved"
the Early Christians, and thatit actually"rescued" them from
persecution.
Owen (33:34):
Well, that's right.
And that's why we call thatsection of the book,"The
Greatest Whitewash." Mosthistorians think that
Institutional Christianity as weknow it today...
think about this now...
as we know it today, is and was,the Organizational Design that
(33:58):
the Early Christians used.
But it wasn't.
The Institutional Design that wehave today was founded by
Constantine in the fourthcentury.
Not(by) the Holy spirit in theFirst Century.
John (34:16):
Ah, ouch.
Owen, I don't know what to say!I mean, how could it get any
worse?
Owen (34:21):
Well...
I hate to disabuse you of thatthought.
But it does get worse.
Because Constantine's first lawstirred up so much controversy--
as you can imagine!-- that hehad to keep issuing follow- up
laws to try to clarify what thefirst law meant! And each
(34:42):
follow-up law only served tomake Christians more visible,
more regulated, and morecontroversial in Roman society.
And that was the beginning ofConstantine's suppression of
Early Christianity.
John (34:59):
But uh, what happened next?
Owen (35:05):
Hmmm, well! It got as bad as it can get! And there's a
whole bunch more to talk about,John.
But once again, the tyranny ofthe clock on the wall tells me
that it's time to close Episode04.
So, we're going to have tofinish Constantine's horrible
story in our next episode.
John (35:27):
Yeah, and I hate that! You know, this story is so
interesting for us(and) for ourlisteners.
It's actually hard to stoptalking about it.
Owen (35:38):
Absolutely.
It's hard for me to stop! But wehave a lot ahead, and our
friends need to hear the rest ofthis story.
You know, John, they need tohear that Constantine is the
person in history who invented"Sundays." He's the person who
invented"churches"...
he's the person who built thefirst"churches." He's the person
(36:06):
who invented about everythingthat we call"Christianity"
today.
So, let's close this episode--Episode 04-- by summarizing
everything that we've said.
And we'll do that by reading afew more sentences right from
the end of Chapter 3, in thebook Saving Christianity.
John (36:28):
I like that.
That's always a good way for usto close.
I like for us to stick close toour reference book.
Owen (36:35):
Yeah.
Stay close to the"operatingmanual." Well, look John.
Let's just read to our friendsthe last paragraph in that
chapter.
And I think it's going to showthem where this story of
Constantine is heading in thenext episode.
(36:55):
So I quote:"With each passingday, the informal, free, and
loving lifestyle of the peoplewho had once been Followers of
The Way.
Who had once been identified bya simple"fish" symbol, became
more regulated and controlled.
(37:18):
And yet, the worst was still tocome.
Constantine's next series ofdramatic actions completely
perverted the original Christianlifestyle.
And we're going to discuss thatseries of actions in the next
episode." So...
(37:40):
end of quote.
So John.
We'll just continue in Episode05.
We're going to explain anddescribe how the structural
design of InstitutionalChristianity that we take for
granted today, did not come fromthe Early Christians.
It came from Constantine, theRoman emperor.
John (38:04):
And it's a shocking story.
And it's one that everyoneshould know, if they have even
the slightest interest inSpiritual growth.
Owen (38:15):
Right, because it's the key.
It's the key to it.
You know, John.
I'm just thinking here, as wesign off, that all of us should
be asking ourselves now someserious questions like:"Which
design of Christianity is mylife based on?
The Spiritual design of theEarly Christians?
(38:36):
Or the unspiritual design thatConstantine founded?" That's a
scary, scary, personal question.
John (38:47):
And Episode 05 is going to help us answer those questions.
Because it's going to describethese two designs clearly.
Owen (38:56):
Right...
and again, John.
As we sign off.
Let's remind our friends thatthis is Episode 04, and a script
and recording of it are on thewebsite.
And they can be accessed bysimply going to www.CFOPODS.com
on the Internet (39:13):
C-F-O-P-O-D-S .com.
John (39:18):
And I hope that you will take the time to subscribe to
this podcast, so we can getnotifications for Episode 05, as
well as the rest of the upcomingepisodes(to you).
Owen (39:32):
Right, and be sure and grab a copy of Saving
Christianity, because we're justskimming, and not giving you the
full meat.
John (39:40):
Yeah, that's important.
Because that's adding the sensesof sight and touch to our sense
of hearing,(and) that will helptriple the power in our
learning.
Owen (39:51):
Absolutely! Old, old principles! It will indeed,
John.
Well, in the meantime, this isOwen Allen...
John (39:59):
...
and this is John Shields, and onbehalf of our producer Shannon
Wolf..
.
Owen (40:04):
...
we're saying (40:04):
May the God of our fathers bless you, and keep you,
and guide you, and protect you,until we meet again.
Owen and John (40:25):
Owen and John end the episode.
John Shields opens the episode by saying
Episode 04 of the"SavingChristianity" podcast, brought
to you by the Christian FamilyOnline in America.
(00:23):
If this is your first time...
or you've been listening all thetime...
we are so, so appreciative andthankful that you are taking the
time to be with us here! I'myour host, John Shields.
And we're going to continuetoday exploring the book Saving
Christianity-- the book on howto have more peace, healing, and
(00:47):
hope, in our lives.
Now, the title of this episodeis,"The Murderer." Yeah, you
heard me right.
"The Murderer." And you're aboutto hear some shocking facts
about Christianity that very fewpeople know.
But at the same time, thesefacts are going to help you--
and it helps us!-- growspiritually the same way the
(01:10):
Early Christians grewspiritually.
But before we go any further,let me introduce you to my best
friend, and the co- host of the"Saving Christianity" podcast,
Owen Allen.
Owen, say a few words to ourfriends!
Owen (01:24):
Well, thank you, John! Obviously, it's a pleasure, an
honor, and a joy to be here.
And to be honest, as we've saidbefore, I'm humbled by the
reception that the book SavingChristianity is receiving, and
that this podcast-- I guess,because it's based on the book--
is receiving.
But John, more than that, thisepisode now, Episode 04, is
(01:51):
going to be even moresurprising, I think, than our
first three episodes.
Because this time, we'vepromised that we're going to
reveal when, where, and why theUnspiritual Design of Christian
congregations originated inhistory.
Where did it come from?
(02:11):
And tragically, it's a(chuckles)very, very unpleasant story.
John (02:16):
Yeah, I agree, Owen.
And since this episode is soimportant, let's just jump right
in, and let's get started.
And let's start by telling ourfriends the story of the
murderer who changed theOrganizational Design of
Christian congregations.
Owen (02:35):
Okay, John.
Let's put on our slogging boots,and get started.
And let's remind our friendsthough-- maybe some of whom are
just joining us-- if they wantto hear the previous episodes,
all they need to do is go out onthe Internet to www.CFOPODs.com.
C-F-O-P-O-D-S.com.
(02:57):
And they can find a previousepisode there, both the scripts
and the recordings.
But now, in our last episode, wepromised that we were going to
tell when, where, and why, theUnspiritual Design for Christian
congregations originated.
Or, to put it in more scaryterms, we're going to talk about
(03:18):
when, where, and why, theFollowers of The Way stopped
being the Followers of The Way.
John (03:25):
Yes, and what we're really telling is when, where, and why,
Christians as a worldwidemovement stopped being Christian
-- stopped being Spiritual.
And started being unspiritual,right?
Owen (03:40):
Yeah, sad but true! We want to know what it was in
history, that caused Christiansto stop living the supernatural
lifestyle that they had beenliving for 300 years.
What was it, that made them stopliving the way they had been
living for eight generations?
John (04:01):
Yeah, right! We already know that-- whatever it was-- it
happened at the beginning of theFourth Century.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
Right...
right.
We've said that many times.
The Early Christian Lifestyle ofpower, and miracles, and
healings, and angelicvisitations, and the wonderful
things that all Christians aresupposed to experience, stopped
dead in the water in the FourthCentury.
(04:29):
And we've never said yet why itstopped.
Now, remember Christianity was aworldwide movement at the time.
In other words, there wereChristians in every town, and
city, and country, of theancient world.
So think about this.
How could that all be reversedovernight?
(04:51):
How could the habits thatChristians had been growing for
eight generations, suddenly stopovernight?
A big flood couldn't do that.
A big earthquake couldn't dothat.
Even a war couldn't do that.
Who could do that?
What could do that?
Only a human being with theworldwide authority and the
(05:16):
worldwide plan could do that.
John (05:21):
We know it was a human being who did it.
And this was during the days ofthe Roman empire, when the city
of Rome was at the center of theworld.
Owen (05:33):
Well, that's right.
In other words John, put it thisway: Whatever happened in Rome,
happened in the rest of theworld.
(Chuckles.) Or, to put it moreprecisely, whatever the emperor
in Rome commanded...
that happened in the rest of theworld!
John (05:50):
So, we're saying it was one of the Roman emperors who
caused the Early Christians tostop living the Early Christian
Lifestyle.
Owen (06:00):
In a nutshell, that's right.
It was a Fourth Century Romanemperor who did it.
But look...
we're getting ahead of the storya little bit.
We need to slow down a moment.
Because this emperor that we'retalking about-- check this out
now-- had a greater negativeimpact on the entire world than
(06:22):
all of the other 69 Romanemperors in history combined!
And the worst part is that hehad more negative impact on
Christianity than any otherperson in history after it was
founded.
John (06:40):
That's incredible.
I know our friends are on theedge of their seats by now.
So, who was this emperor, Owen,who had such a negative impact
on Christianity?
Owen (06:51):
Well, in Chapter 3 of the book Saving Christianity, we
have a section there with thetitle,"The Greatest Whitewash."
(Repeats.) So, to get us startedon this emperor's bloody,
horrible story, let's read a fewlines from that section of the
(07:13):
book, and let's quote them now.
And I quote:"You probably don'tremember from high school or
college classes, a Roman armygeneral named, Flavius Valerius
Constantinus.
But it's important to rememberhim, because he's the person who
(07:37):
founded the Christiandenominations that we have
today.
In English, his name is"Constantine."(Repeats.) And he
was a cruel and viciousbattlefield commander in the
Four Century, whosingle-handedly founded what
today we know as InstitutionalChristianity.
(07:59):
He didn't do it-- this isimportant-- he did not do it to
teach the Early ChristianLifestyle that Christians were
living at the time.
He did it to suppress thatlifestyle.
And now he's suppressed it for1,700 years.
John (08:21):
Wow.
I think Owen, most people haveheard the name Constantine.
But in actuality, I don't thinkmost people realize that he did
all that.
And why do you think that wedon't know that?
Owen (08:35):
Well, that's a great question! And one of the most
important questions in history!You know, in this section that
we're talking about,"TheGreatest Whitewash," the word
"whitewash"-- if people haven'theard it-- it's an old-time
word.
It means to conceal someone'sfaults.
In other words, you paint overwith white paint, somebody's
(08:59):
faults.
And listen, that's whathistorians have done with
Constantine.
Historians who are sympatheticto Institutional Christianity:
They want to prop it up.
They want to support it.
They have simply leftConstantine's faults out of the
(09:21):
history books.
And that's why many school bookstoday say Constantine was a wise
and noble leader who didwonderful things for
Christianity.
But it's not true.
John (09:36):
I agree.
It's a tragedy that mostChristians don't know who
Constantine really was, anddon't know what he really did to
the Fourth Century Christians.
Owen (09:46):
Yeah, I think it's one of the biggest tragedies in
recorded history.
But it's one of the least knowntragedies in recorded history.
So, but John.
You just pointed out somethingvery important.
This tragedy of Constantinecomes in two parts.
The first part is (10:06):
Many Christians don't know who he
was.
And the second part is (10:12):
Many Christians don't know what he
did.
John (10:17):
Well, that being the case, let's give our friends a
thumbnail sketch of each of thetwo parts of this tragedy.
Owen (10:24):
Yeah, because this is something we could talk about,
John, for several episodes.
Maybe we should.
But let's see what we can dohere.
In this one episode, Episode 04,let's talk about who Constantine
really was.
And I quote:"Constantine was nota Christian.
(10:45):
He was a priest in the sun godreligion.
He kept mistresses.
And, he was a murderer.
He murdered his own wife.
He drowned her in her bathtub.
He murdered his son.
He murdered his son-in-law.
He murdered his best friend.
He murdered every politician ormilitary officer who got in his
(11:07):
way.
And, like most Roman emperorsover the centuries, he was
cruel, and bloodthirsty, and hewas a dictator.
The purpose of his life was notto be a wise and noble leader.
The purpose of his life was tounite the Roman empire by
(11:27):
military and political force,and to make himself the Supreme
Emperor of the world." And, hesucceeded in those purposes! So,
that's who Constantine reallywas.
But John, let's tell our friendsnow-- you call it a thumbnail
(11:49):
sketch-- what did he actuallydo?
What did Constantine do?
In the previous episode, we hada Problem-Solving Exercise to
find out when, where, and why,Christians stopped teaching the
Early Christian Lifestyle.
We wanted to know, in that lastepisode, when, where, and why,
(12:14):
the Unspiritual Model ofInstitutional Christianity
originated.
And now we know the answer (12:20):
The Roman emperor Constantine
developed InstitutionalChristianity.
And he developed it to suppressthe Spirituality of Christians.
Why?
( He did it) to help him createa submissive worldwide empire.
John (12:42):
Now we know why Constantine is so important in
world history.
But his story is a horror story,isn't it?
Because he changed Christianityfrom a Spiritual Organization to
an unspiritual one.
Owen (13:01):
Well, it almost takes your breath away, John.
It is a horror story.
It puts"Frankenstein" in theshade.
(Chuckles.) It's a terriblething to say, John.
But listen to this, now.
And I've read this in a numberof history books.
Constantine is probably the mostinfluential person in Christian
(13:24):
history, after Jesus and theoriginal 12 apostles.
Why?
Because he founded InstitutionalChristianity.
And in doing that, he put an endto the Spiritual Design of
Christian meetings that hadoriginally come straight from
(13:45):
the Throne Room of Heaven in theFirst Century.
John (13:48):
That is an overwhelming thought.
And it's actually a lot for usto take in.
Owen (13:55):
Well, it is!(Chuckles.) It is a lot to take in.
I mean...
it's taken me years to-- as youcall it--"put it on soak cycle,"
and understand it for myself.
But let's slow down again.
Why don't we just...
let's don't take this as anopinion.
Let's look at Constantine's lifeand behavior.
(14:16):
Some of our listeners willremember that we've said in
earlier episodes that watching aperson's behavior is the true
test of how Spiritual(he or sheis).
So, let's look at his behavior.
And let's look at the laws thathe passed-- which was part of
his behavior.
And here's the first fact.
Most people don't know this (14:38):
The emperor Constantine was
illegitimate.
He was also an orphan.
His father was a Roman armyofficer.
And his mother-- his biologicalmother-- owned a tavern in town,
where Constantine's father usedto carouse with the other
(15:00):
soldiers.
So, Constantine was illegitimatefrom his mother in the tavern.
And he was never adopted, ornever made legitimate.
Now, point(fact) two (15:11):
Since he had no legal parents, he was
raised in the homes of armyofficers who did that as a favor
to his father.
So what happened?
Constantine grew up acting likethe cruel army officers in whose
homes he was raised-- there wereseveral of them.
And point(fact) three (15:37):
We said this.
But people don't understand it.
He's called a"great Christian,"the"first Christian emperor," in
the school books.
He was not.
He was not a Christian.
He never became one.
He never said he was one.
Like most Romans, he worshipedthe sun god.
(15:57):
And later, when he becameemperor, he was high priest of
the sun god religion.
And he held that position untilthe day that he died.
John (16:09):
And the fact that he was the high priest of the sun god
religion explains why it's wrongfor school books to say he was a
kind and noble"Christian."
Owen (16:20):
Of course! Because he wasn't.
That's a whitewash.
But here's somethinginteresting, John.
Constantine did meet Christianswhen he was growing up.
He was not one.
But he did meet them.
And how did that happen?
That's very important.
The first Christians thatConstantine ever saw were
(16:42):
Christians who were beingtortured in the dungeons of the
emperor's palace.
You remember in the Romanempire, there were periodic
persecutions of Christians.
That wasn't consistent.
But it happened every decade orso.
And it happened that, during oneof these prosecutions,
(17:03):
Constantine was growing up as ateenager in the emperor's
palace.
And so that's where he saw andmet the first Christians.
And interestingly-- and this isimportant-- this is where
Constantine first heard the wordChristus.
(Repeats.) That's Latin for"Christ." And that's important.
(17:26):
Because this is whereConstantine first heard the idea
that"Christ"-- Christus-- is theGod of Christians.
And that's going to becomeimportant just a moment.
But let's continue.
When Constantine was old enoughto fight, his foster parents
(17:47):
sent him to join army in Europe,where his father was actually
the commanding general.
That was interesting.
Well, when he got there,Constantine proved to the other
soldiers that he was one of themost ferocious, bitter, fighters
on the battlefield.
(18:08):
That's important.
He had grown up in such a waythat he was absolutely fearless.
He was indifferent to pain.
And he was ferocious.
And then the next point, John.
This is where fate stepped in.
Suddenly, right there in thearmy, Constantine's father fell
(18:32):
ill and died.
And the other soldiers electedConstantine-- a young man in his
twenties who'd just arrived onthe battlefield-- he was so
ferocious, that they elected himto replace his father, and to
become the general of the army.
Imagine that! So, Constantine,in his twenties, found himself
(18:57):
the battlefield commander of aRoman field army.
And he led that army for sevenlong and bloody years in
hand-to-hand combat.
Think about it.
Can you imagine what a toughcharacter he would be, after
seven years of fighting withsword and spear?
(19:18):
And then...
and this is our point, John...
an event occurred-- or at leastit's supposed to have occurred--
that made Constantine theemperor of Rome at still a young
age.
What happened was, his army wascamped on the Tiber River, near
(19:38):
the city of Rome, at a placecalled the Milvian Bridge.
The Milvian Bridge very famous.
It's still there.
I've walked on the MilvianBridge.
So, his army was waiting for theenemy to come out of the city
and fight them for control ofthe empire.
John (19:59):
So, is this where Constantine supposedly had his
big dream?
And isn't that dream just alegend?
Owen (20:08):
Well, yeah.
That's exactly the point we'recoming to, John.
The Big Dream! Most researchersthink that Constantine's
so-called dream is only alegend.
But the legend says that onenight he was asleep in his army
tent by the Milvian Bridge onthe Tiber River-- when suddenly,
(20:29):
he had a weird, strange dream.
And in this dream, a personappeared to him.
And he thought this person mustbe the God, Christus-- the God,
"Christ." This person issupposed to have appeared.
Now, let's remember John, thatyears earlier, Constantine had
(20:53):
seen Christians, and has heardabout the Christian God,
"Christ," in the dungeons of theemperor's palace.
So, the source of his dream-- ifit even happened-- probably may
have been his unconsciousmemories of those experiences in
the palace dungeons.
(21:14):
But whatever the source of thedream, the legend says that this
mysterious person showedConstantine a strange symbol.
Now this symbol looked like a"plus sign" that we all see in
arithmetic.
Except that it had a loop ontop.
And then this person in thedream supposedly told
(21:37):
Constantine in Latin, that if hewould use this"plus sign" in the
coming battle, he would win.
And he would become emperor.
So, the legend says that herushed out of his tent all
excited, got his soldiers up,and he told them to get some red
paint.
(21:57):
And to paint this weird"plussign" on their helmets and on
their shields, with bright redpaint.
John (22:05):
Ha! Did the strange"plus sign" and the red paint work?
I mean, did Constantine win thebattle?
Owen (22:15):
Well, here's the thing.
First, nobody knows ifConstantine really had the
dream.
There are several versions ofthe legend.
Some books say it neverhappened.
Some say it happened, but itwasn't a dream, it was actually
a vision.
Nobody knows if the soldiersreally painted the"plus sign" on
(22:35):
their helmets and shields.
There's no proof of that.
So, the whole story is a legend.
But here's what really happened.
The enemy army marched out ofRome, came to the Milvian
Bridge, and confrontedConstantine.
And that's true.
And a huge battle took place atthe Milvian Bridge.
(22:57):
That's true too.
And for whatever reason,Constantine's army won.
They actually defeated the otherarmy that marched out of the
city of Rome.
And listen to this, now.
He captured the enemy generalalive.
(23:17):
That general's name wasMaxentius.
(Repeats.) But he beheaded him.
And he threw his body in theriver.
He hung his head on his saddle.
And he rode into Rome as the newemperor.
John (23:33):
Wow! What a story! Huh, the plot thickens! But our
friends need to know whathappened next.
For example, was Constantine akind and noble emperor after
that?
Huh, you know, like the schoolbooks told us?
Owen (23:51):
(Chuckles.) We could probably answer that just from
common sense.
But, you could answer that twoways, John.
It all depends on yourviewpoint.
If you're sympathetic toInstitutional Christianity, and
you want to prop it up...
you're going to hold the factthat all of this is true, and
(24:11):
that Constantine was kind andnoble.
But, if you're skeptical aboutInstitutional Christianity, and
you're trying to stick to thedocumented facts that we know...
you'd have to say thatConstantine was a horrible
emperor.
But whatever your viewpoint is,he was emperor-- this is
(24:34):
documented-- for 25 years.
And his goal was to be the GrandEmperor, as we said earlier, of
a worldwide empire.
So, the first thing he did wasto set about establishing his
personal authority and controlover every Roman person in the
(24:55):
empire!
John (24:55):
And how did he do that?
Owen (24:58):
Well...
first...
he built a giant statue ofhimself-- four stories high--
and he put it on the citysquare.
And in this statue, he's sittingon a throne, and he's got one
upraised hand.
And in this upraised hand, he'sholding the strange"plus sign"
(25:23):
symbol that he claimed to haveseen in the dream.
And you know what, John?
Pieces of that stature stillexist today.
I've looked at them, and handledthem, and taken pictures of
them.
The second thing he did was tobuild a giant"triumphal arch"--
they're called-- to himself onthe city square, seven stories
(25:48):
high.
An amazing, beautiful structure.
And it still stands in Rometoday.
In fact, John, until the 1960s,cars actually drove under it.
Today, they've closed it off.
But that's what used to happen.
John (26:08):
So, Constantine built the statue, and the arch, to
establish his personal authorityand control.
And ultimately, to make thepopulation fear him.
Is that right?
Owen (26:22):
It's actually right, yeah! You know, clearly most people
would agree that Constantine wasa megalomaniac.
Uh, and let's think about it.
Give him a break in one sense.
He was illegitimate.
He was an orphan.
He was raised in foster homes.
He fought bloody battles forseven long years, in
(26:46):
hand-to-hand combat.
So maybe his personality is tobe expected.
You know, as the old sayinggoes,"There was no excuse for
what he did, but there were somereasons."
John (27:00):
Yeah, it all makes sense when you stop and think about
it.
It actually helps us explainwhat Constantine did to the
Early Christians as well.
Owen (27:11):
Yeah, it does.
I mean...
his megalomania does helpexplain what he did to the Early
Christians.
And it...
but listen...
it also proves something else.
It proves by the"whitewash" ofhim by historians, is a coverup.
Because look (27:28):
Anybody who takes even a casual glance(repeats) at
Constantine's life, can clearlysee that he was not a wise and
noble"Christian emperor."
John (27:44):
No, he wasn't.
So, Owen.
Let's tell our friends the truthabout what Constantine did to
the Early Christians.
Owen (27:53):
Well...
let's do that.
And you know, John, I apologize.
But we can only"start" the storyhere, because Constantine did so
many things to the EarlyChristians that we can't tell
them all in one episode.
John (28:09):
Yeah, he did a lot for sure.
But let's just tell as much aswe can in this episode.
Owen (28:15):
Okay.
Well, the most important thingto remember about Constantine is
that historians and researcherscall him"The Great Lawgiver."
(Repeats.) In fact, we have asection in Chapter 3 of the
book, that has that title.
And let me read a few sentencesfrom that.
(28:37):
And I quote:"Constantineimmediately began issuing a
flood of new laws.
Indeed, he became one of themost prolific law givers of all
the Roman emperors, issuing over300 new laws during his 25-year
reign.
Now-- the purpose of thistorrent of laws was to tighten
(29:04):
his control over the Romanpeople.
But, the most important thingabout Constantine's new laws was
that they suppressed the vibrantEarly Christian Lifestyle of the
Fourth Century Christians.
John (29:23):
So we know that the Early Christians were still living as
Followers of The Way whenConstantine came to power.
But what effect did his flood ofnew laws have to shut down their
Spiritual behavior?
Owen (29:40):
Well, you know, John.
That's a whole subject ofdiscussion that you could write
a full book on.
Very important to understand.
Let's just look at his veryfirst law.
The first law that he passed, ashe became emperor: It did not
deal with taxes.
It did not deal with the army.
(30:01):
It did not deal with publicsafety.
It dealt with religion! Isn'tthat interesting?
So the first law-- that firstlaw!-- was the beginning of
Constantine's gradual shuttingdown of the Early Christian
Lifestyle.
John (30:20):
Yeah, and continue on, Owen.
And tell us exactly how thatfirst law started suppressing
the Early Christians.
Owen (30:29):
Well...
what's so strange is that on thesurface, Constantine's first law
didn't actually seem bad.
In fact, school books often sayit was good for Christians.
But, it was not good for them.
And here's why.
The purpose of Constantine'svery first law when he took
(30:53):
power, was to legally recognizeall of the religions in the
empire.
The law said that all thereligions-- and there were about
400 of them-- were now to betreated as equals, and were to
be equally protected under Romanlaw.
(31:16):
And, see, that's why schoolbooks think that sounds good.
That seems like a good thing forChristians.
But it wasn't!
John (31:24):
Yeah, I see the problem emerging here.
That first law wasn't goodbecause Christians weren't a
formal religion at that time,and they didn't want to be a
formal religion.
Owen (31:37):
That's exactly the point! That's something we're going to
talk about over and over andover in these episodes.
The Christian lifestyle-- the"Early Christian Lifestyle" that
we're talking about-- was aninformal lifestyle.
It was a relaxed, free,lifestyle.
So for the first 300 years...
(31:59):
or we often say, the first eightgenerations...
Christians worshiped informallyin private homes.
A lot of people don't know that.
Two or three families would meetin one of the family's homes,
and the Holy spirit would guidetheir worship.
There was no human agenda.
(32:20):
And because of that informalOrganizational Design-- there we
go again, we're talking aboutOrganizational Design--
Christianity had never beenrecognized as a formal religion
anywhere in the world.
And Constantine changed that.
Suddenly, for the first time inhistory, Christians could be
(32:44):
identified, counted,categorized, and cataloged, by
government bureaucrats.
For the first time, they weresubject to census-taking,
taxation, regulation, draftingin the army, and every other
kind of red tape.
(33:04):
So, the truth is, thatConstantine's first law was
actually the first"brick" inwhat eventually became
Institutional Christianity.
John (33:18):
Wow.
So, it actually all depends onyour viewpoint, as you mentioned
earlier.
Because most school books sayConstantine's first law"saved"
the Early Christians, and thatit actually"rescued" them from
persecution.
Owen (33:34):
Well, that's right.
And that's why we call thatsection of the book,"The
Greatest Whitewash." Mosthistorians think that
Institutional Christianity as weknow it today...
think about this now...
as we know it today, is and was,the Organizational Design that
(33:58):
the Early Christians used.
But it wasn't.
The Institutional Design that wehave today was founded by
Constantine in the fourthcentury.
Not(by) the Holy spirit in theFirst Century.
John (34:16):
Ah, ouch.
Owen, I don't know what to say!I mean, how could it get any
worse?
Owen (34:21):
Well...
I hate to disabuse you of thatthought.
But it does get worse.
Because Constantine's first lawstirred up so much controversy--
as you can imagine!-- that hehad to keep issuing follow- up
laws to try to clarify what thefirst law meant! And each
(34:42):
follow-up law only served tomake Christians more visible,
more regulated, and morecontroversial in Roman society.
And that was the beginning ofConstantine's suppression of
Early Christianity.
John (34:59):
But uh, what happened next?
Owen (35:05):
Hmmm, well! It got as bad as it can get! And there's a
whole bunch more to talk about,John.
But once again, the tyranny ofthe clock on the wall tells me
that it's time to close Episode04.
So, we're going to have tofinish Constantine's horrible
story in our next episode.
John (35:27):
Yeah, and I hate that! You know, this story is so
interesting for us(and) for ourlisteners.
It's actually hard to stoptalking about it.
Owen (35:38):
Absolutely.
It's hard for me to stop! But wehave a lot ahead, and our
friends need to hear the rest ofthis story.
You know, John, they need tohear that Constantine is the
person in history who invented"Sundays." He's the person who
invented"churches"...
he's the person who built thefirst"churches." He's the person
(36:06):
who invented about everythingthat we call"Christianity"
today.
So, let's close this episode--Episode 04-- by summarizing
everything that we've said.
And we'll do that by reading afew more sentences right from
the end of Chapter 3, in thebook Saving Christianity.
John (36:28):
I like that.
That's always a good way for usto close.
I like for us to stick close toour reference book.
Owen (36:35):
Yeah.
Stay close to the"operatingmanual." Well, look John.
Let's just read to our friendsthe last paragraph in that
chapter.
And I think it's going to showthem where this story of
Constantine is heading in thenext episode.
(36:55):
So I quote:"With each passingday, the informal, free, and
loving lifestyle of the peoplewho had once been Followers of
The Way.
Who had once been identified bya simple"fish" symbol, became
more regulated and controlled.
(37:18):
And yet, the worst was still tocome.
Constantine's next series ofdramatic actions completely
perverted the original Christianlifestyle.
And we're going to discuss thatseries of actions in the next
episode." So...
(37:40):
end of quote.
So John.
We'll just continue in Episode05.
We're going to explain anddescribe how the structural
design of InstitutionalChristianity that we take for
granted today, did not come fromthe Early Christians.
It came from Constantine, theRoman emperor.
John (38:04):
And it's a shocking story.
And it's one that everyoneshould know, if they have even
the slightest interest inSpiritual growth.
Owen (38:15):
Right, because it's the key.
It's the key to it.
You know, John.
I'm just thinking here, as wesign off, that all of us should
be asking ourselves now someserious questions like:"Which
design of Christianity is mylife based on?
The Spiritual design of theEarly Christians?
(38:36):
Or the unspiritual design thatConstantine founded?" That's a
scary, scary, personal question.
John (38:47):
And Episode 05 is going to help us answer those questions.
Because it's going to describethese two designs clearly.
Owen (38:56):
Right...
and again, John.
As we sign off.
Let's remind our friends thatthis is Episode 04, and a script
and recording of it are on thewebsite.
And they can be accessed bysimply going to www.CFOPODS.com
on the Internet (39:13):
C-F-O-P-O-D-S .com.
John (39:18):
And I hope that you will take the time to subscribe to
this podcast, so we can getnotifications for Episode 05, as
well as the rest of the upcomingepisodes(to you).
Owen (39:32):
Right, and be sure and grab a copy of Saving
Christianity, because we're justskimming, and not giving you the
full meat.
John (39:40):
Yeah, that's important.
Because that's adding the sensesof sight and touch to our sense
of hearing,(and) that will helptriple the power in our
learning.
Owen (39:51):
Absolutely! Old, old principles! It will indeed,
John.
Well, in the meantime, this isOwen Allen...
John (39:59):
...
and this is John Shields, and onbehalf of our producer Shannon
Wolf..
.
Owen (40:04):
...
we're saying (40:04):
May the God of our fathers bless you, and keep you,
and guide you, and protect you,until we meet again.
Owen and John (40:25):
Owen and John end the episode.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!