If Constantine has not declared himself (and the Empire) Christian, could we have fast-tracked to an "Enlightenment" of some form, without the need to for the intervening Dark age / Medieval age?
If Constantine has not declared himself (and the Empire) Christian, could we have fast-tracked to an "Enlightenment" of some form, without the need to for the intervening Dark age / Medieval age?
Whatever god Constantine decided to worship I would imagine he would still have fought Licinius
What if he had decided to worship Mithras instead??
Whatever god Constantine decided to worship I would imagine he would still have fought Licinius
Whatever *other* God Constantine decides to worship (short of YHVH) will not make an ounce of difference.
If Constantine has not declared himself (and the Empire) Christian, could we have fast-tracked to an "Enlightenment" of some form, without the need to for the intervening Dark age / Medieval age?
It was the rise of monotheism that led to the concept of orthodoxy/heresy, and the consequent persecution. That might not have happened in a consistently pantheistic history..
I seem to remember that Socrates was marked as a hereitic and forced to kill himself by "pantheists". Monotheist Moslems preserved and expanded upon ancient Greek learninig for 600 years, and it can be argued that the development of universal natural laws in the enlightement was made easier by the preexisting notion of a universal natural god in charge of things. Intellectual development in societies can occur in all religious environments.
Socrates was not marked as a heretic,in a lot of Latin monasteries, portrets of him alongside the Saints.
Also,his mystical works paint him as a near monotheist.
Socrates was not marked as a heretic,in a lot of Latin monasteries, portrets of him alongside the Saints.
Also,his mystical works paint him as a near monotheist.
You miss my point. He was not a heretic to Christians, but was to his pantheist/polytheist Athenian compatriots, correct?
You miss my point. He was not a heretic to Christians, but was to his pantheist/polytheist Athenian compatriots, correct?
...and therefore might have quashed Licinius's equally pro-Christian stance.
I thought Licinius was pro-pagan
Could we have fast-tracked to an "Enlightenment" of some form, without the need to for the intervening Dark age / Medieval age?