Believe it or not, there are some who think that the Roman emperor, Constantine, invented Christianity. The people who are promoting this absurdity, do so obviously from a gross misunderstanding of Christianity’s actual origins and what it is all about.
Copyright 2021 by H.D. Shively
Why Constantine did not Invent Christianity
The Christian faith was in existence long before Constantine even had the opportunity to soil his diapers.
We know that Christianity was propelled upon the world’s stage with the death and miraculous resurrection of the Lord Jesus, the prophesied Messiah and Redeemer of mankind. This event was the fulfillment of multitudes of prophecies that takes us all the way back to their origins in the Garden of Eden.
It is within the lush foliage of Eden’s perimeters that God instigated the plan of redemption for mankind that eventually became known as Christianity.
When God’s first children, Adam and Eve sinned, instead of exterminating them, God lovingly clothed their nakedness with the soft warm skins of forgiveness through the first sacrifice. This event initiated the principle upon which the foundation of the Christian faith is based which is; man cannot cover his sin by the fig leaves of his own efforts, they can only be covered by a sacrifice made by God.
Since that time primitive peoples all over the world, who were also the decendents of those two firstborn children, have associated sacrifice with worship.
In that Eden scenario, God also promised that a redeemer would come from the woman to deliver mankind. - And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel (Genesis 3:15).
This knowledge also was handed down and interpreted in primitive cultures resulting in various replicas of a mother and child. These ancient relics and statures are also prophecies that originated from the event in Eden that would eventually see their fulfillment in the miraculous birth of Jesus through the Virgin Mary. - Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14).
The instigation of God’s plan of redemption was fulfilled by Jesus’ prophesied death and resurrection. –
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed,(He would live again) he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand (Isaiah 53:5,10).
This is the Christian faith. – For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16).
The pure simplicity of the Gospel (Good News) has been buried over the ages by man’s philosophies and religiosity. It’s time to clean off the clutter so some of the more ridiculous assumptions concerning Christianity’s origins can be removed, enabling others to have the opportunity to receive the eternal life God has provided for us though faith in the Messiah Jesus.