Constaintine and Consience
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Outsider
Constaintine and Consience
It has come down to us that Constantine- though a believer in Christ- wasn't baptized until he was on his deathbed. It makes me wonder if his conscience informed him that ruling this world was incompatible with living in the Kingdom of God.
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Re: Constaintine and Consience
It's a theory as good as any. Perhaps he looked at the cost of taking up his cross daily, and decided to delay it.
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ohio jones
Re: Constantine and Conscience
Apparently the common belief at the time was that mortal sins could not be forgiven, even with penance, and baptism could not be repeated. So if someone thought they might sin, and an emperor certainly had as much opportunity as anyone, they might delay baptism until late in life. That seems to have been his strategy.
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Joy
Re: Constantine and Conscience
Beat the system, huh? Just a tad short-sighted, wouldn't you say?ohio jones wrote: ↑Sun Jul 28, 2024 6:20 pm Apparently the common belief at the time was that mortal sins could not be forgiven, even with penance, and baptism could not be repeated. So if someone thought they might sin, and an emperor certainly had as much opportunity as anyone, they might delay baptism until late in life. That seems to have been his strategy.
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