The Roman Emperor Constantine the Great is a favourite target for Jesus Mythicists. And not just Mythicists, but Christians of many stripes, including Evangelicals. Do you have trouble finding parking space at your church? It’s probably Constantine’s fault.
It makes sense that people would be critical of Constantine. For many people, he represents both organized religion and organized government. Even without facts, it’s probably all his fault anyway.
But how bad was Constantine?
For some people Constantine was the moment when the Church starting going downhill. But at what moment? In 312 when he defeated Maxentius while using the sign of Christ as his banner? In 313 when he tolerated Christianity? In 325 when he called the Council of Nicaea?
You can find a helpful timeline of Constantine’s life here.
And what exactly did Constantine do, either for good or for bad?
What Constantine did not do
Constantine did not force his own version of Christianity on the Empire. While Nicaea did end in a vote against Arianism, when Constantine was baptized later in life, it was by an Arian.
Constantine didn’t organize Christianity. Those bishops who attended the Council were already in place.
Constantine didn’t have Jesus voted as God. Plenty of people before believed that Jesus was divine and even the Arians didn’t see him as only human.
Constantine didn’t choose the canon. That is a popular misconception. First, the majority of the New Testament canon was in place before Constantine. And the earliest list that is exactly like our present canon does not appear until 367, thirty years after the death of Constantine.
What Constantine did do.
While Constantine didn’t make Christianity the official religion of the Empire, he did officially recognize and tolerate it. People could no longer be arrested simply for being a Christian (or at least that was the hope).
He recognized Christianity has being useful for holding onto power.
He recognized that unity within the Church had a good chance of promoting unity within the Empire.
I am not an apologist for Constantine the Great. I have no need to defend him. But if people, Jesus Mythicists or others, want to criticize him, it should be based on the facts rather than how we feel about authority or our need to have a scapegoat.
You might be interested in Council of Nicaea in 3 1/2 minutes.