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134-592: Rabbinic Judaism contrasts with the Sadducees , Karaite Judaism , and Samaritanism , which do not recognize the Oral Torah as a divine authority nor the rabbinic procedures used to interpret Jewish scripture. Although there are now profound differences among Jewish denominations of Rabbinic Judaism with respect to the binding force of halakha (Jewish religious law ) and the willingness to challenge preceding interpretations, all identify themselves as coming from

268-571: A chi - rho inside the loop of an ankh . Following the battle and the defeat and death of Maxentius , Constantine became the undisputed emperor in the West and performed an adventus , a ceremonial entrance to the city. Arriving inside Rome's walls he ignored the altars to the gods prepared on the Capitoline Hill and did not carry out the customary sacrifices to celebrate a general's victorious entry into Rome, instead heading directly to

402-659: A Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible known as the Septuagint . An important advocate of the symbiosis of Jewish theology and Hellenistic thought is Philo . Hellenistic culture had a profound impact on the customs and practices of Jews, both in Judea and in the diaspora. These inroads into Judaism gave rise to Hellenistic Judaism in the Jewish diaspora which sought to establish a Hebraic-Jewish religious tradition within

536-526: A civil war. The people, who did not want to continue to be governed by a Hellenized dynasty, appealed to Rome for intervention, leading to a total Roman conquest and annexation of the country, see Iudaea province . Nevertheless, the cultural issues remained unresolved. The main issue separating the Hellenistic and other Jews was the application of biblical laws in a Hellenistic ( melting pot ) culture. Hellenistic Judaism spread to Ptolemaic Egypt from

670-465: A cross-shaped (either Τ or †) symbol, whereas Lactantius's description suggests a staurogram (⳨), although the crux ansata (☥) or the Egyptian ankh (𓋹) have been proposed as interpretations as well. All of these symbols were used by Christians in the 3rd and 4th centuries. Eusebius concurs with Lactantius that a new device was added to Constantine's soldiers' shields but does not connect this with

804-473: A cross. Up at the extreme top a wreath woven of precious stones and gold had been fastened. On it two letters, imitating by its first characters the name "Christ," formed the monogram of the Saviour's title, rho being intersected in the middle by chi ... From the transverse bar, which was bisected by the pole, hung suspended a cloth ... But the upright pole ... carried the golden head-and-shoulders portrait of

938-589: A dramatic series of events sometime between his father Constantius Chlorus 's death in 306 and the Battle of the Milvian Bridge on 28 October 312. The battle secured Constantine's claim to the title of augustus in the West, which he had assumed unilaterally when his father died. According to the Eusebius' Life of Constantine , Constantine saw a vision of "a cross-shaped trophy formed from light" above

1072-722: A half centuries. Their refusal to participate in the imperial cult was considered an act of treason and was thus punishable by execution. The most widespread official persecution was carried out by Diocletian beginning in 303. During the Great Persecution , the emperor ordered Christian buildings and the homes of Christians torn down and their sacred books collected and burned. Christians were arrested, tortured, mutilated, burned, starved, and condemned to gladiatorial contests to amuse spectators. The Great Persecution officially ended in April 311, when Galerius , senior emperor of

1206-589: A precedent for the position of the Christian emperor in the Church. Emperors considered themselves responsible to the gods for the spiritual health of their subjects, and after Constantine they had a duty to help the Church define and maintain orthodoxy. The Church generally regarded the definition of doctrine as the responsibility of the bishops ; the emperor's role was to enforce doctrine, root out heresy , and uphold ecclesiastical unity. The emperor ensured that God

1340-520: A protection against the attacks of the enemy. Writing his Church History shortly after 313, Eusebius makes no mention of this story in that work and does not recount it until composing his posthumous biography of Constantine decades afterwards. Life of Constantine was written by Eusebius after Constantine had died, and Eusebius admitted that he had heard the story from Constantine long after it had happened. Lactantius , writing 313–315 and around twenty years before Eusebius's Life , also does not mention

1474-436: A star"); some, such as Rabbi Akiva , believed Bar Kokhba to be a messiah . Up until this time, a number of Christians were still part of the Jewish community. However, they did not support or take part in the revolt. Whether because they had no wish to fight, or because they could not support a second messiah in addition to Jesus, or because of their harsh treatment by Bar Kokhba during his brief reign, these Christians also left

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1608-465: A step further than the earlier Edict of Serdica by Galerius in 311, returning confiscated Church property. This edict made the empire officially neutral with regard to religious worship; it neither made the traditional religions illegal nor made Christianity the state religion , as occurred later with the Edict of Thessalonica of 380. The Edict of Milan did, however, raise the stock of Christianity within

1742-556: A trend that would continue into the Hellenistic period . This power and influence also brought accusations of corruption. Alexander's conquest of the Mediterranean world brought an end to Achaemenid control of Jerusalem (539–334/333 BCE) and ushered in the Hellenistic period, which saw the spread of Greek language, culture, and philosophical ideas, which intermixed with Judaism and created Hellenistic Judaism . After

1876-493: A type of travelling prohibited by the written Torah. Similarly, the written Torah prohibits plowing on the Sabbath; the Oral Torah prohibits carrying a stick on the Sabbath to ensure that one does not drag the stick and accidentally engage in prohibited plowing. As the rabbis were required to face a new reality, that of Judaism without a Temple (to serve as the location for sacrifice and study) and Judea without autonomy, there

2010-600: A vision in the sky. Instead, Lactantius mentions only that Constantine's dream took place on the eve of the climactic battle on the Ponte Milvio across the Tiber , with the crucial detail that the "sign" was marked on the Constantinian soldiers' shields. According to Lactantius: Constantine was advised in a dream to mark the heavenly sign of God on the shields of his soldiers and then engage in battle. He did as he

2144-576: A way meaningful to the vast majority of Jews. Following the destruction of the Temple, Rome governed Judea through a Procurator at Caesarea and a Jewish Patriarch. A former leading Pharisee, Yohanan ben Zakkai , was appointed the first Patriarch (the Hebrew word, Nasi , also means prince , or president ), and he reestablished the Sanhedrin at Javneh under Pharisee control. Instead of giving tithes to

2278-820: Is believed that the "two-man rule of the Sanhedrin" lasted until the early part of the 1st century CE during the period of the Roman province of Judea . The last pair, Hillel and Shammai, was the most influential of the Sanhedrin zugot . Both were Pharisees , but the Sadducees were actually the dominant party while the Temple stood. Since the Sadducees did not survive the First Jewish–Roman War , their version of events has perished. In addition, Hillel's views have been seen as superior to Shammai's by Rabbinic Judaism. The development of an oral tradition of teaching called

2412-522: Is possible that Constantine's mother, Helena , exposed him to Christianity. In any case, he only declared himself a Christian after issuing the Edict of Milan . Writing to Christians, Constantine made clear that he believed that he owed his successes to the protection of the High God alone. In 310 a panegyric , preserved in the Panegyrici Latini collection and delivered at Trier for

2546-702: Is revered as a saint and isapostolos in the Eastern Orthodox Church , Oriental Orthodox Church , and various Eastern Catholic Churches for his example as a Christian monarch. The first recorded official persecution of Christians on behalf of the Roman Empire was in AD ;64, when, as reported by the Roman historian Tacitus , Emperor Nero attempted to blame Christians for the Great Fire of Rome . According to Church tradition, it

2680-500: Is that the present Mishnah was based on an earlier collection by Rabbi Meir. There are also references to the "Mishnah of Rabbi Akiva", although this may simply mean his teachings in general. It is possible that Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Meir established the divisions and order of subjects in the Mishnah, but this would make them the authors of a school curriculum rather than of a book. Authorities are divided on whether Judah haNasi recorded

2814-746: Is the period between the construction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 516 BCE and its destruction by the Romans during the Siege of Jerusalem. Throughout the Second Temple period, Jerusalem saw several shifts in rule. In Achaemenid Judea , the Temple in Jerusalem became the center of worship in Judea. Its priests and attendants appear to have been powerful and influential in secular matters as well,

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2948-414: Is the view of Rabbi Meir" represent cases where the author intended to present Rabbi Meir's view as a "minority opinion" not representing the accepted law. Judah haNasi is credited with publishing the Mishnah, although there have been a few edits since his time (for example, those passages that cite him or his grandson, Rabbi Yehuda Nesi'ah ; in addition, the Mishnah at the end of Tractate Sotah refers to

3082-474: The makshan (questioner) and tartzan (answerer). Another important function of Gemara is to identify the correct biblical basis for a given law presented in the Mishnah and the logical process connecting one with the other: this activity was known as talmud long before the existence of the Talmud as a text. Orthodox Judaism does not accept the scholarly view that Rabbinic Judaism came into being in

3216-680: The limes , east of the Euphrates , the Sasanian rulers, perennially at war with Rome , had usually tolerated Christianity . Constantine is said to have written to Shapur II in 324 and urged him to protect Christians under his rule. With the establishment of Catholicism as the state religion of the Roman Empire, Christians in Persia would be regarded as allies of Persia's ancient enemy. According to an anonymous Christian account, Shapur II wrote to his generals: You will arrest Simon, chief of

3350-596: The tanna would be the means by which the faith of Judaism would sustain the fall of the Second Temple . Jewish messianism has its root in the apocalyptic literature of the 2nd to 1st centuries BCE, promising a future "anointed" leader or Messiah to resurrect the Israelite " Kingdom of God ", in place of the foreign rulers of the time. This corresponded with the Maccabean Revolt directed against

3484-601: The 4th-century process of Constantine's integration of the imperial government with the Catholic Church that began with the First Council of Nicaea. The term was popularized by the Mennonite theologian John H. Yoder . The claim that there ever was a Constantinian shift has been disputed; Peter Leithart argues that there was a "brief, ambiguous 'Constantinian moment' in the fourth century," but that there

3618-537: The Arian bishop Eusebius of Nicomedia in 337; the real reasons behind it remain unknown and are debated also. According to Hans Pohlsander, professor emeritus of history at the State University of New York at Albany , Constantine's conversion was a matter of realpolitik, meant to serve his political interest in keeping the empire united under his control: The prevailing spirit of Constantine's government

3752-482: The Census of Quirinius in 6 CE. The First Jewish–Roman War broke out in 66 CE. After a few years of conflict, the Romans retook Jerusalem and destroyed the temple, bringing an end to the Second Temple period in 70 CE. After the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem in 70 CE, the Sadducees appear only in a few references in the Talmud and some Christian texts. In the beginning of Karaite Judaism ,

3886-740: The Church of the Holy Apostles ; although Eusebius does not mention any Byzantine church by name, he reports that Christian sites were numerous inside the city and around it. Later tradition ascribed to Constantine the foundations in Constantinople of the Church of Saint Menas , the Church of Saint Agathonicus , the Church of Saint Michael at nearby Anaplous , and the Church of Hagios Dynamis ( Ancient Greek : Άγιος Δύναμις , romanized :  Hagíos Dynamis , lit.   'Holy Power'). The reign of Constantine established

4020-479: The Constantinian dynasty Christianity expanded throughout the empire, launching the era of the state church of the Roman Empire . Whether Constantine sincerely converted to Christianity or remained loyal to paganism is a matter of debate among historians. His formal conversion in 312 is almost universally acknowledged among historians, despite that it was claimed he was baptized only on his deathbed by

4154-531: The First Council of Nicaea , effectively the first ecumenical council (unless the Council of Jerusalem is so classified). The Council of Nicaea is the first major attempt by Christians to define orthodoxy for the whole state. Until Nicaea, all previous Church councils had been local or regional synods affecting only portions of the Church. Nicaea dealt primarily with the Arian controversy. Constantine

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4288-610: The Mishnah and Gemara , and is interpreted in rabbinic literature detailing subsequent rabbinic decisions and writings. Rabbinic Jewish literature is predicated on the belief that the Torah cannot be properly understood without recourse to the Oral Torah. It states that many commandments and stipulations contained in the Written Torah would be difficult, if not impossible, to keep without the Oral Torah to define them. For example,

4422-503: The Mishnah . This marks the transformation of Pharisaic Judaism into Rabbinic Judaism. Although the rabbis traced their origins to the Pharisees, Rabbinic Judaism nevertheless involved a radical repudiation of certain elements of Pharisaism, elements that were basic to Second Temple Judaism . The Pharisees had been partisan. Members of different sects argued with one another over the correctness of their respective interpretations. After

4556-512: The Peshitta and Codex Alexandrinus , these are the earliest extant Christian Bibles. According to Socrates Scholasticus , Constantine commissioned the construction of the first Church of Hagia Irene in Constantinople, on the site now occupied by the Justinian church of the same name. It commemorated the peace won by Constantine and Crispus 's victory over Licinius and Licinius II at

4690-456: The Pharisees led a hard life on earth and yet would have nothing to show for it in the world to come . The two sects of the Sadducees and Boethusians are thus, in all later Rabbinic sources, always mentioned together, not only as being similar, but as originating at the same time. The use of gold and silver vessels perhaps argues against a priestly association for these groups, as priests at

4824-533: The Second Temple period , from the second century BCE to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. The Sadducees are described in contemporary literary sources in contrast to the two other major sects at the time, the Pharisees and the Essenes . Josephus , writing at the end of the 1st century CE, associates the sect with the upper echelons of Judean society. As a whole, they fulfilled various political, social, and religious roles, including maintaining

4958-592: The Seleucids . Following the fall of the Hasmonean kingdom, it was directed against the Roman administration of Iudaea Province , which, according to Josephus , began with the formation of the Zealots during the Census of Quirinius of 6 CE, although full scale open revolt did not occur until the First Jewish–Roman War in 66 CE. Historian H. H. Ben-Sasson has proposed that the "Crisis under Caligula " (37–41)

5092-452: The Temple in Jerusalem . The group became extinct sometime after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE . The English term entered via Latin from Koinē Greek : Σαδδουκαῖοι , romanized:  Saddukaioi . The name Zadok is related to the root צָדַק , ṣāḏaq (to be right, just), which could be indicative of their aristocratic status in society in the initial period of their existence. According to Abraham Geiger ,

5226-617: The Tetrarchy , issued an edict of toleration which granted Christians the right to practice their religion, although it did not restore any property to them. Constantine , caesar in the Western Empire, and Licinius , caesar in the East, also were signatories to the edict. It has been speculated that Galerius' reversal of his long-standing policy of Christian persecution has been attributable to one or both of these co-caesars. It

5360-587: The death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE, his generals divided the empire amongst themselves, and for the next 30 years they fought for control of the empire. Judea was first controlled by Ptolemaic Egypt ( r.  301–200 BCE ) and later by the Seleucid Empire of Syria ( r.  200 – 142 BCE ). During this period, the High Priest of Israel was generally appointed with

5494-454: The era of the Judges , and the prophets (most of whom are seen as the "rabbis" of their time), through the sages of the late Second Temple period, and continuing until today. Sadducees The Sadducees ( / ˈ s æ dj ə s iː z / ; Hebrew : צְדוּקִים , romanized :  Ṣəḏūqīm , lit.   'Zadokites') were a sect of Jews active in Judea during

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5628-465: The midrashic form, in which halakhic discussion is structured as exegetical commentary on the Pentateuch (Torah). But an alternative form, organized by subject matter instead of by biblical verse, became dominant about the year 200 CE, when Rabbi Judah haNasi redacted the Mishnah ( משנה ). The Oral Law was far from monolithic; rather, it varied among various schools. The most famous two were

5762-647: The 3rd century BCE, and became a notable religio licita throughout the Roman Empire , until its decline in the 3rd century concurrent with the rise of Gnosticism and Early Christianity . The decline of Hellenistic Judaism is obscure. It may be that it was marginalized by, absorbed into or became Early Christianity (see the Gospel according to the Hebrews ). The Acts of the Apostles at least report how Paul

5896-564: The 80s CE by Domitian as a "Jewish superstition ", while Judaism retained its privileges as long as members paid the Fiscus Judaicus . However, from a historical perspective, persecution of Christians seemed only to increase the number of Christian converts, leading eventually to the adoption of Christianity by the Roman emperor Constantine . On the other hand, mainstream Judaism began to reject Hellenistic currents, outlawing use of

6030-556: The Apostle preferredly evangelized communities of proselytes and Godfearers , or circles sympathetic to Judaism : the Apostolic Decree allowing converts to forgo circumcision made Christianity a more attractive option for interested pagans than Judaism . See also Circumcision controversy in early Christianity . The attractiveness of Christianity may, however, have suffered a setback with its being explicitly outlawed in

6164-467: The Babylonian exile. As the rabbis were required to face two shattering new realities, Judaism without a Temple (to serve as the center of teaching and study) and Judea without autonomy, there was a flurry of legal discourse and the old system of oral scholarship could not be maintained. It is during this period that rabbinic discourse began to be recorded in writing. The theory that the destruction of

6298-661: The Battle of Chrysopolis in 324; its name, the Church of the Holy Peace ( Ancient Greek : Ἁγία Εἰρήνη , romanized :  Hagía Eirḗnē , lit.   'Holy Peace') recalled the Altar of Peace ( Latin : ara pacis ) built by Augustus , the first deified Roman emperor. Two other large churches were dedicated to Saint Mocius and to Saint Acacius ; both worthies had supposedly been martyred in Byzantium during

6432-409: The Battle of the Milvian Bridge, saying only that the "sign of the saving trophy" was marked, but not specifying when. Sometime after 317, Eusebius was permitted by Constantine, probably either in 325 or in 335, to see a standard that was made according to the emperor's dreamt instructions during the civil war. He described it as: A tall pole plated with gold had a transverse bar forming the shape of

6566-510: The Christians. You will keep him until he signs this document and consents to collect for us a double tax and double tribute from the Christians … for we Gods have all the trials of war and they have nothing but repose and pleasure. They inhabit our territory and agree with Caesar, our enemy. Constantinian shift is a term used by some theologians and historians of antiquity to describe the political and theological aspects and outcomes of

6700-545: The Diocletianic Persecution. The Church of St Mocius was supposed to have included parts of a former temple of Zeus or Hercules, though it is unlikely that such a temple existed on the site, which was without the walls of the Constantinian city as well as of erstwhile Severan Byzantium. According to Eusebius, Christian liturgies were also performed in Constantine's Mausoleum, the site of which became

6834-531: The Essenes and the Sadducees. In fact, some scholars suggest that the Essenes originated as a sect of Zadokites , which would indicate that the group itself had priestly, and thus Sadducaic origins. Within the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Sadducees are often referred to as Manasseh. The scrolls suggest that the Sadducees (Manasseh) and the Pharisees (Ephraim) became religious communities that were distinct from

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6968-459: The Essenes, the true Judah. Clashes between the Essenes and the Sadducees are depicted in the Pesher on Nahum , which states "They [Manasseh] are the wicked ones ... whose reign over Israel will be brought down ... his wives, his children, and his infant will go into captivity. His warriors and his honored ones [will perish] by the sword." The reference to the Sadducees as those who reign over Israel corroborates their aristocratic status as opposed to

7102-447: The Godbeloved Emperor, and likewise of his sons. This later description of Eusebius's, written after 324, suggests a more elaborate symbol than does Lactantius's earlier text, involving the Greek letters rho (Ρ) and chi (Χ) ligature d as the c hi rho (☧), a monogram of Ancient Greek: χριστός , romanized:  khrīstós , lit.   'anointed', referring to Jesus . Possibly Eusebius's description refers to

7236-485: The Great (306–337 AD), Christianity began to transition to the dominant religion of the Roman Empire . Historians remain uncertain about Constantine's reasons for favoring Christianity, and theologians and historians have often argued about which form of early Christianity he subscribed to. There is no consensus among scholars as to whether he adopted his mother Helena 's Christianity in his youth, or, as claimed by Eusebius of Caesarea , encouraged her to convert to

7370-508: The Great Persecution of Diocletian, and endowed the church with land and other wealth. Between 324 and 330, Constantine built a new city, New Rome , at Byzantium on the Bosporos , which would be named Constantinople for him. Unlike "old" Rome, the city began to employ overtly Christian architecture, contained churches within the city walls, and had no pre-existing temples from other religions. In doing this, however, Constantine required those who had not converted to Christianity to pay for

7504-457: The Jewish community around this time. This revolt ended in 135 when Bar Kokhba and his army were defeated. The Romans then barred Jews from Jerusalem, until Constantine allowed Jews to enter for one day each year, during the holiday of Tisha B'Av . After the suppression of the revolt the vast majority of Jews were sent into exile; shortly thereafter (around 200), Judah haNasi edited together judgments and traditions into an authoritative code,

7638-446: The Jewish people, that accounts of debates between Jesus and the apostles, debates with Pharisees, and anti-Pharisaic passages, were written and incorporated into the New Testament . Of all the major Second Temple sects, only the Pharisees remained. Their vision of Jewish law as a means by which ordinary people could engage with the sacred in their daily lives, provided them with a position from which to respond to all four challenges, in

7772-399: The Mishnah in writing or established it as an oral text for memorisation. The most important early account of its composition, the Iggeret of Rabbi Sherira Gaon of Sherira Gaon, is ambiguous on the point, although the "Spanish" recension leans to the theory that the Mishnah was written. The Gemara is the part of the Talmud that contains rabbinical commentaries and analysis of the Mishnah. In

7906-400: The Mishnah was assembled spanned about 130 years, and five generations. Most of the Mishnah is related without attribution ( stam ). This usually indicates that many sages taught so, or that Judah haNasi who redacted the Mishnah together with his academy/court ruled so. The halakhic ruling usually follows that view. Sometimes, however, it appears to be the opinion of a single sage, and

8040-514: The Oral Law (the Mishnah ). Much rabbinic Jewish literature concerns specifying what behavior is sanctioned by the law; this body of interpretations is called halakha ( the way ). The Talmud contains discussions and opinions regarding details of many oral laws believed to have originally been transmitted to Moses. Some see Exodus 18 and Numbers 11 as a display of Moses' appointing elders as judges to govern with him and judge disputes, imparting to them details and guidance of how to interpret

8174-419: The Oral Torah. Thus Rabbinic Judaism claims that almost all directives, both positive and negative, in the Torah are non-specific in nature and require the existence of either an Oral Torah or some other method to explain them. Much rabbinic Jewish literature concerns specifying what behavior is sanctioned by the law; this body of interpretations is called halakha ( the way ). Originally, Jewish scholarship

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8308-428: The Peace of the Church or the Constantinian shift . In 313, Constantine and Licinius issued the Edict of Milan decriminalizing Christian worship. The emperor became a great patron of the Church and set a precedent for the position of the Christian emperor within the Church and raised the notions of orthodoxy , Christendom , ecumenical councils , and the state church of the Roman Empire declared by edict in 380 . He

8442-453: The Pharisees, as he says that the Pharisees were more popular with the multitude. The Sadducees occasionally show up in the Christian gospels , but without much detail: usually merely as parts of a list of opponents of Jesus. The Christian Acts of the Apostles contains somewhat more information: Later rabbinic literature took a dim view of both the Sadducees and Boethusians , not only due to their perceived carefree approach to keeping to

8576-433: The Roman general Pompey conquered Jerusalem , at which point the Roman period of Judea began. The province of Roman Judea was created in 6 CE (see also Syria Palaestina ). While cooperation between the Romans and the Jews had been strongest during the reigns of Herod and his grandson, Agrippa I , the Romans moved power out of the hands of vassal kings and into the hands of Roman administrators , beginning with

8710-431: The Sadducee sect of Judaism derived their name from that of Zadok , the first High Priest of Israel to serve in Solomon's Temple . The leaders of the sect were proposed as the Kohanim (priests, the " Sons of Zadok ", descendants of Eleazar , son of Aaron ). The aggadic work Avot of Rabbi Natan tells the story of the two disciples of Antigonus of Sokho (3rd century BCE), Zadok and Boethus. Antigonus having taught

8844-442: The Sadducees produced no primary works themselves, their attributes can be derived from other contemporaneous texts, including the New Testament , the Dead Sea Scrolls , and later, the Mishnah and Talmud . Overall, the Sadducees represented an aristocratic, wealthy, and traditional elite within the hierarchy. The Dead Sea Scrolls , which are often attributed to the Essenes, suggest clashing ideologies and social positions between

8978-411: The Sadducees state, "So too, regarding the Holy Scriptures, their impurity is according to (our) love for them. But the books of Homer, which are not beloved, do not defile the hands." A passage from the book of Acts suggests that both Pharisees and Sadducees collaborated in the Sanhedrin , the high Jewish court. Constantine I and Christianity During the reign of the Roman emperor Constantine

9112-410: The School of Shammai and the School of Hillel . In general, all valid opinions, even the non-normative ones, were recorded in the Talmud. The Talmud has two components: the Mishnah (c. 200 CE ), the first written compendium of Judaism's Oral Law; and the Gemara (c. 500 CE), a discussion of the Mishnah and related Tannaitic writings that often ventures onto other subjects and expounds broadly on

9246-432: The Septuagint (see also the Council of Jamnia ). Remaining currents of Hellenistic Judaism may have merged into Gnostic movements in the early centuries CE. In the later part of the Second Temple period (2nd century BCE), the Second Commonwealth of Judea ( Hasmonean Kingdom ) was established and religious matters were determined by a pair ( zugot ) which led the Sanhedrin . The Hasmonean Kingdom ended in 37 BCE but it

9380-443: The Tanakh. The rabbis of the Mishnah are known as Tannaim (sing. Tanna תנא). The rabbis of the Gemara are referred to as Amoraim (sing. Amora אמורא). The Mishnah does not claim to be the development of new laws, but merely the collection of existing oral laws, traditions and traditional wisdom. The rabbis who contributed to the Mishnah are known as the Tannaim , of whom approximately 120 are known. The period during which

9514-449: The Temple and subsequent upheaval led to the committing of Oral Law into writing was first explained in the Epistle of Sherira Gaon and often repeated. The Oral Law was subsequently codified in the Mishnah and Gemarah , and is interpreted in rabbinic literature detailing subsequent rabbinic decisions and writings. Rabbinic Jewish literature is predicated on the belief that the Written Law cannot be properly understood without recourse to

9648-498: The Torah and the Oral Torah but also due to their attempts to persuade the common folk to join their ranks according to Sifri to Deuteronomy (p. 233, Torah Ve'Hamitzvah edition). Maimonides viewed the Sadducees as rejecting the Oral Torah as an excuse to interpret the Written Torah in a lenient, personally convenient manner in his commentary to Pirkei Avot , 1.3.1 1:3. He described the Sadducees as "harming Israel and causing

9782-685: The Torah. The priests were responsible for performing sacrifices at the Temple, the primary method of worship in ancient Israel. This included presiding over sacrifices during the three festivals of pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Their religious beliefs and social status were mutually reinforcing, as the priesthood often represented the highest class in Judean society. However, Sadducees and the priests were not completely synonymous. Cohen writes that "not all priests, high priests, and aristocrats were Sadducees; many were Pharisees, and many were not members of any group at all." The Sadducees oversaw many formal affairs of

9916-511: The Written Torah are recorded only as part of a narrative describing God imparting these laws to Moses and commanding him to transmit them to the Jewish nation. However, as the persecutions of the Jews increased and the details were in danger of being forgotten, these oral laws were recorded by rabbi Judah ha-Nasi ("Judah the Prince") in the Mishnah , redacted c.  200 CE . The Talmud

10050-598: The arrogant," and which is understood as a rejection of sectarians and sectarianism. This shift by no means resolved conflicts over the interpretation of the Torah; rather, it relocated debates between sects to debates within Rabbinic Judaism. The survival of Pharisaic or Rabbinic Judaism is attributed to Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai , the founder of the Yeshiva (religious school) in Yavne . Yavneh replaced Jerusalem as

10184-565: The author of the most extensive historical account of the Second Temple Period, gives a lengthy account of Jewish sectarianism in both The Jewish War and Jewish Antiquities . In Antiquities , he describes "the Pharisees have delivered to the people a great many observances by succession from their fathers, which are not written in the law of Moses, and for that reason it is that the Sadducees reject them and say that we are to esteem those observance to be obligatory which are in

10318-517: The books of Mark and Matthew , describe anecdotes which hint at hostility between Jesus and the Sadducaic establishment. A pericope in Mark 12 and Matthew 22 recounts a dispute between Jesus and a Sadducee who challenged the resurrection of the dead by asking who the husband of a resurrected woman would be who had been married to each of seven brothers at one point. Jesus responds by saying that

10452-655: The culture and language of Hellenism . There was a general deterioration in relations between Hellenized Jews and other Jews, leading the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes to ban certain Jewish religious rites and traditions . Consequently, the Jews who rejected Hellenism revolted against the Greek ruler leading to the formation of an independent Jewish kingdom, known as the Hasmonean dynasty , which lasted from 165 BCE to 63 BCE. The Hasmonean dynasty eventually disintegrated in

10586-475: The dead , but believed (contrary to the claim of Josephus) in the traditional Jewish concept of Sheol for those who had died. Josephus also includes a claim that the Sadducees are rude compared to loving and compassionate Pharisees, but this is generally considered more of a sectarian insult rather than an unbiased judgment of the Sadducees on their own terms. Similarly, Josephus brags that the Sadducees were often forced to back down if their judgments clashed with

10720-462: The destruction of the Second Temple, these sectarian divisions ended. The term Pharisee was no longer used, perhaps because it was a term more often used by non-Pharisees, but also because the term was explicitly sectarian. The rabbis claimed leadership over all Jews, and added to the Amidah the birkat haMinim , a prayer which in part exclaims, "Praised are You O Lord, who breaks enemies and defeats

10854-549: The destruction of the Temple in 70 CE and the expulsion of the Jews from the Roman province of Judea , Jewish worship stopped being centrally organized around the Temple, prayer took the place of sacrifice, and worship was rebuilt around rabbis who acted as teachers and leaders of individual communities. The destruction of the Second Temple was a profoundly traumatic experience for the Jews, who were now confronted with difficult and far-reaching questions: How people answered these questions depended largely on their position prior to

10988-457: The direct approval of the Greek rulership, continuing the intermixing of religious politics with government. King Antiochus IV Epiphanes of the Seleucids began a persecution of traditional Jewish practices around 168–167 BCE, which set off a rebellion in Judea. The most successful rebels were led by the Hasmonean family in what became the Maccabean Revolt , and eventually established

11122-547: The emperor while practising incubation at the shrine of Apollo Grannus in Grand, Vosges . Eusebius was aware of this vision, or reports of it, and refers in his own Panegyric of Constantine of 336 to "tricennial crowns" bestowed by the hand of God in Christianity on Constantine, "augmenting the sway of his kingdom by long years". Eusebius of Caesarea and other Christian sources record that Constantine experienced

11256-401: The empire and reaffirmed the importance of religious worship to the welfare of the state. Most influential people in the empire, especially high military officials, had not been converted to Christianity and still participated in traditional Roman religion ; Constantine's rule exhibited at least a willingness to appease these factions. Coins minted up to eight years after the battle still bore

11390-432: The face of Constantine, does not have an image of Constantine sacrificing to Jupiter, although he is shown sacrificing to Apollo and to Hercules . In 313 Constantine and Licinius announced "that it was proper that the Christians and all others should have liberty to follow that mode of religion which to each of them appeared best," thereby granting tolerance to all religions, including Christianity. The Edict of Milan went

11524-412: The faith he had adopted. Constantine ruled the Roman Empire as sole emperor for much of his reign. Some scholars allege that his main objective was to gain unanimous approval and submission to his authority from all classes, and therefore he chose Christianity to conduct his political propaganda, believing that it was the most appropriate religion that could fit with the imperial cult . Regardless, under

11658-453: The followers of Anan ben David were called "Sadducees" and set a claim of the former being a historical continuity from the latter. The Sadducee concept of the mortality of the soul is reflected on by Uriel da Costa , who mentions them in his writings. The religious responsibilities of the Sadducees included the maintenance of the Temple in Jerusalem. Their high social status was reinforced by their priestly responsibilities, as mandated in

11792-569: The images of Roman gods. The monuments he first commissioned, such as the Arch of Constantine, contained no reference to Christianity. The accession of Constantine was a turning point for early Christianity. After his victory, Constantine took over the role of patron of the Christian faith. He supported the Church financially, had a number of basilicas built, granted privileges (e.g., exemption from certain taxes) to clergy, promoted Christians to high-ranking offices, returned property confiscated during

11926-617: The imperial court, the Eastern court and the major positions in the Eastern Church were held by Arians or Arian sympathizers. With the exception of a short period of eclipse, Eusebius enjoyed the complete confidence both of Constantine and Constantius II and was the tutor of Emperor Julian the Apostate . After Constantine's death, his son and successor Constantius II was an Arian, as was Emperor Valens . Constantine's position on

12060-522: The imperial palace. This is probably because the traditional Roman triumph , concluding with the sacrifice to Jupiter Optimus Maximus at his temple on the Capitoline, was traditionally celebrated after victory over Rome's enemies, rather than after the conquest of the city by a claimant in a civil war. The Arch of Constantine , for which numerous reliefs from earlier monuments depicting prior emperors sacrificing to various gods were re-carved with

12194-478: The independent Hasmonean kingdom around 142 BCE. While the Sadducees are not attested to this early, many scholars presume that the later sects began to form during the Maccabean era (see Jewish sectarianism below). It is often speculated that the Sadducees grew out of the Judean religious elite in the early Hasmonean period, under rulers such as John Hyrcanus . Hasmonean rule lasted until 63 BCE, when

12328-485: The issues of the times that the destruction of the Second Temple was of no consequence to them; precisely for this reason, they were of little consequence to the vast majority of Jews. Two organized groups remained: the Early Christians , and Pharisees . Some scholars, such as Daniel Boyarin and Paula Fredricksen, suggest that it was at this time, when Christians and Pharisees were competing for leadership of

12462-407: The joint occasion of the city's birthday and Constantine's quinquennalia , recounted a vision apparently seen by the emperor while journeying between Marseille and Trier. The panegyricist recounts that the god Apollo appeared to Constantine in company with Victoria and together presented him with three wreaths representing thirty years of power. This vision was perhaps in a dream experienced by

12596-415: The laws of God while carrying out their duties. The Oral Torah includes rules intended to prevent violations of the laws of the Torah and Talmud, sometimes referred to as "a fence around the Torah" . For example, the written Torah prohibits certain types of travelling on the Sabbath; consequently, the Oral Torah prohibits walking great distances on the Sabbath to ensure that one does not accidentally engage in

12730-562: The maxim, "Be not like the servants who serve their masters for the sake of the wages, but be rather like those who serve without thought of receiving wages", his students repeated this maxim to their students. Eventually, either the two teachers or their pupils understood this to express the belief that there was neither an afterlife nor a resurrection of the dead , and founded the Sadducee and Boethusian sects. They lived luxuriously, using silver and golden vessels, because (as they claimed)

12864-531: The miracle. The Greek words Ἐν Τούτῳ Νίκα 'in this sign, conquer' are often rendered in Latin as in hoc signo vinces 'in this sign, you will conquer'. According to Eusebius, Constantine also had a dream that same night. In the dream, the Christ of God appeared to him with the sign which had appeared in the sky, and urged him to make himself a copy of the sign which had appeared in the sky, and to use this as

12998-425: The more fringe group of Essenes. Furthermore, it suggests that the Essenes challenged the authenticity of the rule of the Sadducees, blaming the downfall of ancient Israel and the siege of Jerusalem on their impiety. The Dead Sea Scrolls specify the Sadducaic elite as those who broke the covenant with God in their rule of the Judean state, and thus became targets of divine vengeance. The New Testament , specifically

13132-632: The nation to stray from following God" in the Mishneh Torah , Hilchoth Avodah Zarah 10:2. The Jewish community of the Second Temple period is often defined by its sectarian and fragmented attributes. Josephus, in Antiquities , contextualizes the Sadducees as opposed to the Pharisees and the Essenes . The Sadducees are also notably distinguishable from the growing Jesus movement, which later evolved into Christianity . These groups differed in their beliefs, social statuses, and sacred texts. Though

13266-489: The new city. Christian chroniclers tell that it appeared necessary to Constantine "to teach his subjects to give up their rites ... and to accustom them to despise their temples and the images contained therein," This led to the closure of temples because of a lack of support, their wealth flowing to the imperial treasure; Constantine did not need to use force to implement this. It was the chronicler Theophanes who added centuries later that temples "were annihilated", but this

13400-459: The new seat of a reconstituted Sanhedrin, which reestablished its authority and became a means of reuniting Jewry. The destruction of the Second Temple brought about a dramatic change in Judaism. Rabbinic Judaism built upon Jewish tradition while adjusting to new realities. Temple ritual was replaced with prayer service in synagogues which built upon practices of Jews in the diaspora dating back to

13534-693: The opinions of the Tannaim. The rabbis of the Gemara are known as Amoraim (sing. Amora אמורא ). Much of the Gemara consists of legal analysis. The starting point for the analysis is usually a legal statement found in a Mishnah. The statement is then analyzed and compared with other statements used in different approaches to biblical exegesis in rabbinic Judaism (or—simpler— interpretation of text in Torah study ) exchanges between two (frequently anonymous and sometimes metaphorical) disputants, termed

13668-598: The period after Judah haNasi's death, which could not have been written by Judah haNasi himself). According to the Iggeret of Sherira Gaon , after the tremendous upheaval caused by the destruction of the Temple and the Bar Kokhba revolt, the Oral Torah was in danger of being forgotten. It was for this reason that Judah haNasi chose to redact the Mishnah. In addition to redacting the Mishnah, Judah haNasi and his court also ruled on which opinions should be followed, although

13802-584: The post-Second Temple era. Rather, it sees the Judaism of this period as continuing organically from the religious and cultural heritage of the Israelites, stemming from the Law given to Moses at Sinai onwards. According to this view, while the title rabbi was not used earlier, Moses was the first rabbi (and is commonly referred to by Orthodox Jews as "Moses our Rabbi"), with the knowledge and laws received at Sinai being passed down from teachers to students through

13936-622: The priests and sacrificing offerings at the Temple, the rabbis instructed Jews to give money to charities and study in local synagogues , as well as to pay the Fiscus Iudaicus . In 132, the Emperor Hadrian threatened to rebuild Jerusalem as a pagan city dedicated to Jupiter , called Aelia Capitolina . Some of the leading sages of the Sanhedrin supported a rebellion (and, for a short time, an independent state) led by Simon bar Kozeba (also called Simon bar Kokhba , or "son of

14070-464: The prohibition to do any "creative work" ( melakha ) on the Sabbath, which is given no definition in the Torah, is given a practical meaning in the Oral Torah, which provides definition of what constitutes melakha . Numerous examples exist of this general prohibitive language in the Torah (such as, "don't steal", without defining what is considered theft, or ownership and property laws), requiring—according to rabbinic thought—a subsequent definition through

14204-560: The rabbinic tradition (descended from the Pharisees) is uniformly hostile. The Sadducees rejected the Oral Torah as proposed by the Pharisees. Rather, they saw the Written Torah as the sole source of divine authority. Later writings of the Pharisees criticized this belief as one that strengthened the Sadducees' own power. According to Josephus, the Sadducees beliefs included: The Sadducees did not believe in resurrection of

14338-454: The religions traditionally practiced in Rome evolved during his reign. In fact, his coinage and other official motifs, until 325, had affiliated him with the pagan cult of Sol Invictus. At first, Constantine encouraged the construction of new temples and tolerated traditional sacrifices ; by the end of his reign, he had begun to order the pillaging and tearing down of Roman temples . Beyond

14472-479: The resurrected "neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven." He also insults them on their own terms as knowing neither the scriptures nor the power of God, presumably a claim that even though the Sadducee insisted on the written law, Jesus considered them to have gotten it wrong. Matthew records John the Baptist calling both the Pharisees and Sadducees a "brood of vipers". Josephus,

14606-521: The revolt. But the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans not only put an end to the revolt, it marked the end of an era. Revolutionaries like the Zealots had been crushed by the Romans, and had little credibility (the last Zealots died at Masada in 73). The Sadducees, whose teachings were so closely connected to the Temple cult , disappeared. The Essenes also vanished (or developed into Christians), perhaps because their teachings so diverged from

14740-645: The rulings do not always appear in the text. As he went through the tractates, the Mishnah was set forth, but throughout his life some parts were updated as new information came to light. Because of the proliferation of earlier versions, it was deemed too hard to retract anything already released, and therefore a second version of certain laws were released. The Talmud refers to these differing versions as Mishnah Rishonah ("First Mishnah") and Mishnah Acharonah ("Last Mishnah"). David Zvi Hoffmann suggests that Mishnah Rishonah actually refers to texts from earlier sages upon which Judah haNasi based his Mishnah. One theory

14874-670: The scriptures were commissioned. The volumes were likely gospel books containing the Canonical Gospels of the Four Evangelists rather than complete Bibles with the entire Biblical canon , which were very rare in antiquity. Athanasius ( Apol. Const. 4 ) recorded around 340 Alexandrian scribes preparing Bibles for Constans . Little else is known. It has been speculated that this may have provided motivation for canon lists , and that Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus are examples of these Bibles. Together with

15008-515: The state. Members of the Sadducees: Knowledge about the beliefs of the Sadducees is limited by the fact that not a single line of their own writings has survived out of antiquity, as the destruction of Jerusalem and much of the Judean elite in 70 CE seems to have broken them. Extant writings on the Sadducees are often from sources hostile to them; Josephus was a rival Pharisee, Christian records were generally not sympathetic, and

15142-438: The sun at midday. About the time of the midday sun, when the day was just turning, he said he saw with his own eyes up in the sky and resting over the sun, a cross-shaped trophy formed from light, and a text attached to it which said, "By this conquer." ( τούτῳ νίκα ) Amazement at the spectacle seized both him and the whole company of soldiers which was then accompanying him on a campaign he was conducting somewhere, and witnessed

15276-572: The three centuries following the redaction of the Mishnah by Judah ha-Nasi (c. 200 CE), rabbis throughout Palestine and Babylonia analyzed, debated and discussed that work. These discussions form the Gemara ( גמרא ). Gemara means "completion" (from the Hebrew gamar גמר : "to complete") or "learning" (from the Aramaic : "to study"). The Gemara mainly focuses on elucidating and elaborating

15410-520: The time would typically use stone vessels , to prevent transmission of impurity . Josephus mentioned in Antiquities of the Jews that "one Judas, a Gaulonite, of a city whose name was Gamala , who taking with him Sadduc, a Pharisee, became zealous to draw them to a revolt". Paul L. Maier suggests that the sect drew their name from the Sadduc mentioned by Josephus. The Second Temple period

15544-667: The tradition of the Oral Law and the rabbinic method of analysis. In 332 BCE, the Persians were defeated by Alexander the Great . After his demise, and the division of Alexander's empire among his generals, the Seleucid Kingdom was formed. During this time currents of Judaism were influenced by Hellenistic philosophy developed from the 3rd century BCE, notably among the Jewish diaspora in Alexandria , culminating in

15678-405: The view of the sages collectively ( Hebrew : חכמים , hachamim ) is given separately. The Talmud records a tradition that unattributed statements of the law represent the views of Rabbi Meir (Sanhedrin 86a), which supports the theory (recorded by Rav Sherira Gaon in his famous Iggeret ) that he was the author of an earlier collection. For this reason, the few passages that actually say "this

15812-568: The written word, but are not to observe what are derived from the tradition of our forefathers." The Sadducees rejected the Pharisaic use of the Oral Torah to enforce their claims to power, citing the Written Torah as the sole manifestation of divinity. The rabbis , who are traditionally seen as the descendants of the Pharisees, describe the similarities and differences between the two sects in Mishnah Yadaim . The Mishnah explains that

15946-466: The year 70 CE and the consequent upheaval of Jewish social and legal norms. As the rabbis were required to face a new reality—mainly Judaism without a Temple (to serve as the center of teaching and study) and Judea without autonomy—there was a flurry of legal discourse and the old system of oral scholarship could not be maintained. It is during this period that rabbinic discourse began to be recorded in writing. The earliest recorded oral law may have been of

16080-565: Was a compilation of both the Mishnah and the Gemara , rabbinic commentaries redacted over the next three centuries. The Gemara originated in two major centers of Jewish scholarship, Palestine and Babylonia . Correspondingly, two bodies of analysis developed, and two works of Talmud were created. The older compilation is called the Jerusalem Talmud . It was compiled sometime during the 4th century in Palestine. Judaism at this time

16214-471: Was a flurry of legal discourse, and the old system of oral scholarship could not be maintained. It is during this period that rabbinic discourse began to be recorded in writing. The theory that the destruction of the Temple and subsequent upheaval led to the committing of Oral Torah into writing was first explained in the Epistle of Sherira Gaon and often repeated. The Oral Torah was subsequently codified in

16348-570: Was abolished for reasons of Christian piety but was replaced with hanging , to demonstrate the preservation of Roman supremacy. On March 7, 321, Sunday, which was sacred to Christians as the day of Christ's resurrection and to the Roman Sun God Sol Invictus , was declared an official day of rest. On that day markets were banned and public offices were closed, except for the purpose of freeing slaves. There were, however, no restrictions on performing farming work on Sundays, which

16482-417: Was commanded and by means of a letter X turned sideways, with the top of its head bent around ( transversa X littera , summo capite circumflexo ), he marked Christ on their shields ( Christum in scutis notat ). Armed with this sign, the army took up its weapons. It is unclear from these sources what Constantine saw and what was marked on his army's shields. Eusebius's description of the daytime vision suggests

16616-465: Was considered "not true" by contemporary historians. Constantine respected cultivated persons, and his court was composed of older, respected, and honored men. Men from leading Roman families who declined to convert to Christianity were denied positions of power yet still received appointments; even up to the end of his life, two-thirds of his top government were non-Christian. Constantine's laws enforced and reflected his Christian attitudes. Crucifixion

16750-404: Was divided into antagonistic factions. The main camps were the Pharisees , Saducees , and Zealots , but also included other less influential sects. This led to further unrest, and the 1st century BCE and 1st century CE saw a number of charismatic religious leaders, contributing to what would become the Mishnah of Rabbinic Judaism, including Yochanan ben Zakai and Hanina Ben Dosa . Following

16884-409: Was during the reign of Nero that Peter and Paul were martyred in Rome. However, modern historians debate whether the Roman government distinguished between Christians and Jews prior to Nerva 's modification of the Fiscus Judaicus in 96, from which point practising Jews paid the tax and Christians did not. Christians suffered from sporadic and localized persecutions over a period of two and

17018-959: Was in less danger of polluting his soul with sin and not getting to heaven. He was baptized by his distant relative Arian Bishop Eusebius of Nicomedia or by Pope Sylvester I which is maintained by the Catholic Church , the Coptic Orthodox Church , the Antiochian Orthodox Church , the Greek Orthodox Church , the Russian Orthodox Church , the Serbian Orthodox Church , upon by many other Eastern Orthodox , Nestorian Orthodox , and Oriental Orthodox Churches. During Eusebius of Nicomedia's time in

17152-514: Was one of conservatism. His conversion to and support of Christianity produced fewer innovations than one might have expected; indeed they served an entirely conservative end, the preservation and continuation of the Empire. Constantine's decision to cease the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire was a turning point for early Christianity, sometimes referred to as the Triumph of the Church,

17286-529: Was oral. Rabbis expounded and debated the law (the written law expressed in the Hebrew Bible) and discussed the Tanakh without the benefit of written works (other than the biblical books themselves), though some may have made private notes ( megillot setarim ), for example of court decisions. This situation changed drastically, however, mainly as the result of the destruction of the Jewish commonwealth in

17420-716: Was properly worshiped in his empire; what proper worship (orthodoxy) and doctrines and dogma consisted of was for the Church to determine. Constantine had become a worshiper of the Christian God, but he found that there were many opinions on that worship and indeed on who and what that God was. In 316, Constantine was asked to adjudicate in a North African dispute of the Donatist sect (who began by refusing obedience to any bishops who had yielded in any way to persecution, later regarding all bishops but their own sect as utterly contaminated). More significantly, in 325 he summoned

17554-491: Was supposed to have made man in his image, but only on the feet. Publicly displayed gladiatorial games were ordered to be eliminated in 325. According to Eusebius, in 331 Constantine had commissioned him to deliver fifty volumes of scriptures for the churches of Constantinople, which were to be bound in leather and easily portable. Only three or four churches are known certainly to have existed in Constantine's reign, but others appear to have been planned or established, for which

17688-447: Was the "first open break" between Rome and the Jews even though tension already existed during the census in 6 CE and under Sejanus (before 31 CE). Rabbinic tradition holds that the details and interpretation of the Torah (Written Law), which are called the Oral Torah or Oral Law, were originally an unwritten tradition based upon the Law given to Moses on Mount Sinai . All the laws in

17822-411: Was the work of the great majority of the population. Some laws made during his reign were even humane in the modern sense and supported tolerance, possibly inspired by his Christianity: a prisoner was no longer to be kept in total darkness but must be given the outdoors and daylight; a condemned man was allowed to die in the arena, but he could not be branded on his "heavenly beautified" face, since God

17956-591: Was torn between the Arian and Trinitarian camps. After the Nicene council, and against its conclusions, he eventually recalled Arius from exile and banished Athanasius of Alexandria to Trier . Just before his death in May 337, it is claimed that Constantine was baptised into Christianity. Up until this time he had been a catechumen for most of his adult life. He believed that if he waited to get baptized on his death bed he

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