Why an Atheist Thinks the Shroud of Turin is the Real Deal

Constantine the Great

Much of what we know about Constantine, or think we know about him, comes from Eusebius of Caesarea who reported the legend of Abgar. And historians recognize that much of what Eusebius wrote about Constantine as legend, as well.

Constantine did issue an edict of tolerance for Christianity. He was not the first of the Roman emperors to do so. Galerius had done so two years earlier. But the difference was that Constantine restored confiscated property to the church. He adopted Christianity, his mother’s religion, as his own. When, exactly, and how sincerely, is something that historians debate unceasingly.

Nevertheless, he built churches. He began the process of bringing squabbling bishops together to hammer out their theological differences. In a sense he consolidated much of Christianity.  He made Christianity respectable among the ruling elite; indeed he began the process of fusing Christianity with the state, laying the seeds for Christendom.