De Mortibus Persecutorum

“You might say, 'Can't we have a more human Christianity, without the cross, without Jesus, without stripping ourselves?' In this way we'd become pastry-shop Christians, like a pretty cake and nice sweet things. Pretty, but not true Christians.” Pope Francis

By Alex P. Vidal

THE only fact that historians can establish with certainty is that there was a historical Jesus.

No serious scholar nowadays doubts that there was a historical Jesus who lived in the Roman province of Judea in the time of Emperor Augustus.

Christianity, which began with the teaching of Jesus of Nazareth, provided the religious basis of Western civilization when it conquered the Roman Empire.

In 313 A.D., joint Emperors Constantine and Licinius granted toleration to the Christians.

The following document from De Mortibus Persecutom by Lactantius is not the actual edict but a letter to a perfect referring to the edict published in the Great Issues in Western Civilization:

When I, Constantine Augustus, and I, Licinius Augustus, had happily met together at Milan, and were having under consideration all things which concern the advantage and security of the State, we thought that, among other things which seemed like to profit men generally, we ought, in the very first place, to set in order the conditions of the reverence paid to the Divinity by giving to the Christians and all others full permission to follow whatever worship any man had chosen; whereby whatever divinity there is in heaven may be benevolent and propitious to us, and to all placed under our authority.

COUNSEL

Therefore we thought we ought, with sound counsel and very right reason, to lay down this law, that we should in no way refuse to any man any legal right who had given up his mind either to the observance of Christianity or to that worship which he personally feels best suited to himself; to the end that the Supreme Divinity, whose worship we freely follow, may continue in all things to grant us his accustomed favor and goodwill.

Wherefore your devotion should know that it is our pleasure that all provisions whatsoever which have appeared in documents hitherto directed to your office regarding Christians and which appeared utterly improper and opposed to our clemency should be abolished, and that everyone of those men who have the same wish to observe Christian worship may now freely and unconditionally endeavor to observe the same without any annoyance or molestation…

And since the same Christians are known to have possessed not only the places where they are accustomed to assemble, but also others belonging to their corporation, namely, to the churches and not to individuals, all these by the law which we have described above you will order to be restored without any doubtfulness or dispute to the said Christians—that is, to their sad corporations and assemblies; provided always, as aforesaid, that those who restore them without price, as we said, shall expect a compensation from our benevolence.

INTERVENTION

In all these things you must give the aforesaid Christians your most effective intervention, that our command may be fulfilled as soon as may be, and that in this matter also order may be taken by our clemency for the public quite.

And may it be, as already said, that the divine favor which we have already experienced in so many affairs, shall continue for all time to give us prosperity and success, together with happiness for the State.

But that it may be possible for the nature of this decree and of our benevolence to come to the knowledge of all men, it will be your duty by a proclamation of your own to publish everywhere and bring to the notice of all men this present document when it reaches you, that the decree of this our benevolence may not be hidden.