Why was Theodosius important to Christianity?

Answer 1

By the reign of Emperor Theodosius (378-395), Christianity had grown rapidly under various Christian emperors. Theodosius made Christianity the official religion of empire in 380, although perhaps less than half the population of the empire was Christian. He then made the public worship of the pagan gods illegal in 391, and then even banned pagans from owning household idols.

The persecution of pagans rose to a fury never seen against the Christians during the time of the pagan emperors. It became illegal even to look at an idol smashed by the Christian mobs. It was no longer safe to be a pagan, and large numbers adopted Christianity for their personal safety.

The Church was encouraged to enrich itself by looting the temples and taking them over as church property. The Church began to have the financial resources and the motivation to enforce mandatory Christianity right acrossd the empire.

Answer 2

In 303, Emperor Diocletian began the most fierce and intense period of persecution of the Christian Church that had been seen up to that point. Its influence was felt throughout the Roman Empire, although its impact was more severely felt in the eastern half of the Roman Empire. The policy of persecution was abandoned for short times, but then recommenced again as a new Emperor or Caesar (a position just below emperor) came to power. The Edict of Milan, published jointly by Emperor Constantine and Emperor Licinius in 313, which granted Christians the right to worship, brought about the official end of persecution.

While the persecution was being conducted, it damaged the Church. Many Christians were unable to maintain their confession of the faith in the face of these overwhelming dangers. It is accepted that, for some, it could have had the effect of strengthening their resolve to remain faithful, but many of these died or were imprisoned.

In the end, Diocletian's persecution failed. After Diocletian and his colleague Maximian resigned, Constantius became Maximian's successor in the western half of the Roman Empire, and it died away there. Diocletian's successor in the eastern half of Roman Empire, Galerius, was a fierce persecutor, but he eventually abandoned it as a failure. He issued an edict of toleration on his death-bed, but the Caesar, Maximinus, later resumed persecution in the territory he controlled. This continued until Maximinus was defeated by Emperor Licinius. After this, Maximinus also declared toleration for Christians.

The complete failure of persecution provided a good platform for Christianity to resume its path of growth. It has to be considered that it rapid growth in the second half of the third century had been a strong underlying cause of Diocletian's action in the first place, since Diocletian was a true conservative, and wanted to hold onto the old ways.

The fact that, once the persecution had ended, the Church adopted a path of leniency towards those Christians who had "lapsed" in their faith, and provided a way back to full fellowship in the Church, also helped the Church to recover.

Answer 3

The final and most severe of the ten major persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire began under Diocletian in 303 and lasted nearly a decade. Some Christians renounced Jesus Christ, especially those who were most severely tortured. Others were martyred. Most survived so honorably that the Christian community emerged from the storm more respected in the Empire than ever. When Constantine became Emperor and began to favor the Church from 313 onward, there were untold thousands of converts to Christianity.

Answer 4

Not all in Christianity would say he was important in the positive sense of the term. Some see him as the final nail the set the course of modern Christianity. See related link below: