How did Emperor Constantine affect the spread of Christianity?

Answer 1

Constantine was favourable to Christianity. He finalised the end of the Great Persecution of Christians, promoted Christians within the imperial bureaucracy and tried to arbitrate disputes between competing Christian doctrines. He also built important Christian churches: the original Basilica of St Peter's in Rome, the St John Lateran's Basilica (the city of Rome's first Cathedral and the original residence of the Popes), the Church of the Holy Apostles and the Hagia Eirene in Constantinople and Church of the Holy Sepulchre, in Jerusalem. Therefore, Constantine helped Christianity to become an established religion in the Roman Empire and to spread further.

Answer 2

Constantine the Great supported Christianity. He ended the last remnants of the Great (and last) Persecution of the Christians which had started in 303. He promoted Christians to high offices in the imperial administration and arbitrated disputes between various Christian theologies. He built Christian churches, most notably, the original Basilica of St Peter's in Rome, the St John Lateran's Basilica (the city of Rome's first Cathedral and the original residence of the Popes), the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople and Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Therefore, he created the first steps of Christianity becoming the established religion of the Roman Empire.

With regard to the Roman Empire, he continued the policy his predecessor, Diocletian, had doubled the size of the imperial bureaucracy and made the rule by the emperor an autocratic one.

Answer 3

Constantine's reign as Roman emperor (A.D. 306-337) dramatically changed the direction of Christianity, though in ways far different from those portrayed in The Da Vinci Code. This grew out of his strategy for unifying his empire by creating a “catholic”—meaning universal —church that would blend elements from many religions into one.