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mountainman · 01-18-2010, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kcdad

Quote:

Originally Posted by mountainman

The Emperor Constantine (who lavishly published Jesus) savagely executed family members and the Head of the Academy of Plato.

Constantine did that? Or did he order it? And was it his decision or someone else's that he merely assented to or refused to stop? I won't comment on the "lavishly" and "savagely" as part of the 100% factual history you are relating.

http://www.oodegr.com/english/pagani...t_alithia1.htm

Constantine the Great and Apologetic Historical Truth

Quote:

The appropriate use of sources

It is a known fact that the stance of historians with respect to Constantine the Great is a contradictory one. For some, his life is an enigma and he himself is a sullen murderer and opportunist, while for others, his life is a huge miracle of History.

The author of this article then deals with the sources as follows:

Quote:

The Sources

Speaking of Constantine the Great, what are the sources from which we gather information? The contemporary historian of the era, the father of ecclesiastic history, Eusebius was tied to Constantine by personal friendship, and so his information must be judged differently and cross-referenced with other sources. If they cannot be cross-referenced, they remain testimonies but cannot be used to prove a point. Another contemporary historian and friend of Constantine’s son, Crispus, was Laktantios. He wrote The Death of the Persecutors, probably those who persecuted the Christians. But there are also St. Gregory the Theologian who in his epics dealt with the two Romes, the Old and the New Rome. He considers the second Rome as a link between East and West (I will return to this). These are the safest, most trustworthy sources.

Zosimos

On the other hand, the only source that contains anything negative that is repeated to this day about Constantine the Great is the idol-worshipping gentile, the fanatical paganist historian Zosimos (425 to c. 518). He writes about one and a half century after Constantine.

The apologetic author makes it clear that he is separating the sources who were close to Constantine, from those sources -- the the idol-worshipping gentile, the fanatical paganist sources --- who were not.

This is not history. It is simply apologetics in disguise as history.

Toto · 01-18-2010, 08:21 PM

Is there a reason for a separate thread on this? kcdad's source is in fact Protopresbyter fr. G. D. Metallinos, Professor Emeritus of the University of Athens School of Theology, not a professional historian.

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01-18-2010, 08:21 PM	#2
Toto Contributor Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Los Angeles area Posts: 40,549	Is there a reason for a separate thread on this? kcdad's source is in fact Protopresbyter fr. G. D. Metallinos, Professor Emeritus of the University of Athens School of Theology, not a professional historian.

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