Church and Empire: Constantine and the Church/State Relationship - Fr Samuel Fanous 

The Christian revolution? Emperor Constantine and the Church/State relationship
The Emperor Constantine famously converted to Christianity and legalised it in his part of the Roman Empire in the early Fourth century, and established many churches. He oversaw the First Ecumenical Council of Nicea in which the heresy of Arianism was formally condemned. For these and other reasons, he is considered a saint by Orthodox Christians.
Yet these events also brought the Church into the sphere of politics and government. Bishops became figures with political power, and the state came to have influence over the Church. Were these developments good or bad for the Church? And what lessons can they teach us about the relation between the Church and the state today?
This month, Aletheia explores the intricacies of the historical details of the life and times of Constantine, and their relevance to our own world with Fr Samuel Fanous, Lecturer in Church History at St Cyril's Coptic Theological College, Sydney.