The reign of Constantine the Great (306-337), changed the whole aspect of the Roman Empire. His decision to build a new capital city for himself, Constantinople, changed the ancient centre of authority. Perhaps more importantly, he also made Christianity a state religion. The Christian community which had been tortured, robbed, and persecuted for two hundred years, suddenly found itself the recipient of the State's favours.

Constantine's father was one of four rulers of the Roman Empire. In 306 A.D. he died. The army immediately proclaimed Constantine ruler in the stead of his father and he was accepted as the junior emperor (Caesar) of the West.

But Constantine wanted much more than just part of the empire. He wanted the whole. War broke out with his rival Maxentius for possession of the Italian section. Before the battle, Constantine saw a cross of light superimposed upon the sun, whereupon he ordered the monogram, resembling the Christian sign, to be painted upon the soldiers shields and declared "by this conquer". He had decided to forsake the Roman gods and put his trust in the Christian god. By winning the battle he became the undisputed ruler of Rome and the western provinces. By 323 A.D. he had gained power over the rest of the empire and became sole ruler (Augustus) of the whole of the Roman empire.

From the time of his ascension to power, Constantine showed himself to be a friend of the Christians. He established a positive relationship with the Catholic Church and gave gratuities and grants of privileges to it. Later he fulfilled his commitment and made Christianity an official State religion. Constantine became very closely associated with the Christians, but he did not ask to be received into the church until he was on his deathbed. Alistair Kee, in his persuasive book "Constantine versus Christ", sets out to prove that Constantine became a mono-theist, but not a Christian until on his deathbed.

Having lost the need to be united against their former persecutors, the Christians soon became deeply divided on matters of doctrine. To deal with these so called heresies, and maintain peace in the empire, Constantine called the principal church leaders together to resolve their differences. He convened and presided over the "Council of Nicaea". At this gathering the doctrines of the church became clarified and were established as official dogma. This became known as the "Nicene Creed".

Constantine was determined to assert his authority in ecclesiastical matters as in all other things and exercise supreme control of religion throughout his empire. Now that the Catholic church was a state religion, it automatically came under state control. For four and a half centuries until 787 A.D. the emperor of the day, or his lay deputies, presided over each Church Council. Constantine's conviction was that he was the supreme ruler of the empire and vicar of god on earth. This attitude was continued by his successors. The Second Council gave the patriarch (Pope) the second place in the state after the emperor. It became essential for communications issued by the General Church Council to be signed by the emperor, not the Pope. The emperor was assigned such an important position in church affairs that a throne was placed next to the patriarch's and the emperor was able to perform functions in the church service. When investing a new patriarch, the emperor would say "This man is appointed Patriarch of Constantinople by the grace of god and by our Imperial authority, which stems from the grace of god."

Emperors in their capacity as heads of the church soon began to issue edicts dealing with theology on their own authority. The emperor was always able to manipulate the election of the patriarch and thereby control the church.

Not until after the conquest of Italy and the coronation of Charlemagne in 800 A.D. did reigning Popes find themselves outside the domination of the Roman emperor. After Charlemagne, church leaders of the eastern empire, who were experiencing dissensions among themselves, could always appeal to the Pope in Rome, who was considered the highest authority in Christendom.

From then on, the Catholic Church became an ecclesiastical empire in its own right. It took over Roman secular organization and crowned its own Popes in a coronation ceremony. The Pope even borrowed the title of "Pontifex Maximus" from the Roman emperors and in time he became the 'impera-tor' (emperor) of the church. The church also took over some of the old pagan rituals and converted them into Christian occasions. Events in the life of Jesus were celebrated on the days which had formerly been pagan holidays. Bishops and priests became advisers to kings of many kingdoms and, because of their literary ability, had a hand in drafting the laws of the country. They were able to inject church dogma into state laws and thereby affect the culture of the people. For instance, they were able to influence the compulsory observances of holy days, the attitude to slavery up to two hundred years ago, the inferior position of women in society and many other untenable attitudes.

The "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle" is a collection of some of the earliest recorded historical events in Britain. It states that "In the year 167 A.D. Eleutherius received the bishopric of Rome and held it with honour for fifteen years. To him Lucius, King of the Britons, sent men and asked for baptism and he at once sent it to him." Perhaps this was the first lord of a British kingdom to become a Christian. Christianity was mainly established in Britain through the baptism of kings. In turn the members of their courts tended to become Christians, followed by community leaders and finally the masses of the people. In 597 A.D. King Ethelbert, the most powerful ruler in England at the time, was converted to Christianity. He had married a Christian Prankish princess for whom a chapel had been built in Canterbury. This led to neighbouring kings and subordinate rulers of Essex and East Anglia being baptised. Edwin king of Northumbria and his people were baptised in 627 by Bishop Paulinus, the king of Wessex followed in 635, the future king of Mercia in 653 and the king of Sussex in 679. Within a century the whole of England was converted to Christianity. Religion almost always gained its power through, and in conjunction with, the ruling governments. Religious and secular power formed an alliance of mutual support each gaining power through the other.

So the Catholic church became a powerful hierarchy, an international ecclesiastical empire. To receive a divine blessing, kings and dignitaries had to obtain the services of the church as the representative of god. Ritual and power became inextricably associated with church approval. Kings enhanced the power of the church and the church enhanced the power of the kings, each adding to the prestige of the other. The notion of the divine right of kings was strengthened and the position of the church as the representative of god confirmed. The church and the rulers of the Christianised world became interwoven so that obedience to one implied obedience to the other.

Constantine's influence changed the emphasis of the church away from the humanistic teaching of Jesus to a structure of power and hierarchy. What became of the message Jesus is supposed to have given to the poor and oppressed? Jesus had said "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of god." Now the situation is reversed. Power has not only dominated the church hierarchy. You can see a tremendous bias to power in the conduct of most evangelists and missionaries down to lay-preachers. There is considerable ego satisfaction to be gained in the manipulation of other people.

The church continues to be involved in public ceremonies, often as a token acknowledgement of its status. The church became the authority in matters of marriage and divorce and many other social judgments. Even today, after all this time, Christians seek to impose their dogma on governments to influence political decisions relating to the continued observance of holy days, the sale of liquor, certain medical practices, contraception and in many other ways. We need to be able to look on these questions from a person to person or social point of view unclouded by ancient Hebrew law and religious prejudices. The important ideas and humanistic concepts of compassion, justice, equality and caring have become wrongly associated with religious dogma. Ethics have always been a necessary part of our social structure and are not religious in that they always have functioned without religion. The story and person of Jesus, historical or not, is incidental to the humanistic concept and has no exclusive connection with justice and human compasson.

From the time of Constantine this unholy alliance of political and religious power increasingly restricted and inhibited the free thinking of the people. It was the demand that everyone physically submit to the absolute power of the state and mentally submit to the absolute dogma of the church which was so inhibiting. There was no room for free thought or innovation. Those restrictions were largely responsible for the intellectual darkness, known as the Dark Ages, which spread over Europe for hundreds of years.

Christian church organizations are still made up of power structures. In the Catholic church, the ladder of power has six or seven steps from the student priest to the Pope. Each is under the authority of the one above and, with some exceptions, each is willing to accept a greater position of power. The same hierarchy of power applies to most established churches. Some would claim that the seeking of power was foreign to them. Yet they are persistently trying to persuade others to join their church. Someone said "the trouble with proselytisers is that they leave no room for those who disagree with them." Only after the Renaissance were people liberated from religious and political absolute domination. The world slowly woke up and people were again permitted to express doubts.

History has shown that the Christian religion dampens, restricts and distorts the spontaneous social imperatives which are built into the nature of the human animal and seek to replace them with an intolerant dogma. Those social imperatives of cooperation, compassion and a sense of justice, need to be understood and allowed to mature as nature intended, without the distortions religious fears of a god and punishment that a supposed spirit world and an after-life create.

The world has recently protested at the restrictions placed by the Chinese government on students seeking free speech and democracy. Many of their leaders have been shot. The same absolute power was demonstrated in the Soviet Union under Stalin, in Germany under Hitler and in different ways and at different times by almost all state governments. Power can be a disease of politics and religion alike. The world needs freedom to reason clearly and to doubt and disagree without the brutality of force or negative religious dogma.

Let us have a new look at the non-violent and non-religious teaching of Confucius, who stated that rulers should rule by the force of personality, wisdom, example and justice. He considered that domination by power alone or brutal force, was the antithesis of the force of personal example. A large part of our society is inclined to give the force of personal example a minimal try before quickly resorting to absolute force.

I see a stirring, and an awakening of disgust in many people at the use of brutal force. Our society still has too many unhappy delinquent members who need thoughtful help. We are not yet fully sure of how to bring out the social and humane qualities which reside in the nature of all human beings. We do know that both social attitudes and brutal force can be learned and are likely to be passed down from generation to generation. We may have to wait for some time to see our society abandon so much force and predatory attitudes.

What we do need is more and deeper understanding of our fellow human beings, more research and clear thinking without the distortions of preconceived dogma. Many songs proclaim that the world needs more love. Perhaps that is right; we need more trust, love and understanding. We need to learn much better how to ensure that all our young children, and older ones too, can express themselves in a non-violent atmosphere devoid of fear. They need a place where love and intelligent caring will encourage the natural forces of compassion, justice and social order to mature. They need an opportunity to develop self esteem, personal dignity and honour. Then, they in their turn, can become people with personal prestige who, when the time comes, will govern by the force of personality, example, wisdom and justice.