b.c., the roman empire has been ruled by pagans. then, in 312 a.d., helena s son, constantine, has a dramatic change of faith. the story goes that on the eve of a great battle outside rome, he has a vision. he sees a cross of light in the sky. and he hears a voice that tells him by this, you will conquer. he takes it to mean that by the symbol of the cross and by christianity, he s going to become the lone emperor and the supreme figure in the known world. he wins the battle and becomes the first christian emperor. christianity is very much a minority cult, practiced probably by only about 10% of the population, if that. it s almost impossible to underestimate the impact of constantine s conversion to christianity. before that, the empire had been
is a remarkable woman. we know only a couple of things about the empress helena. we know that she was christian. and we know that she was a commoner. and yet she gets together with a traveling roman and gives birth to the man who will one day become the emperor of rome. since its creation in 27 b.c., the roman empire has been ruled by pagans. then in 312 a.d., helena s son, constantine, has a dramatic change of faith. the story goes that on the eve of a great battle outside rome, he has a vision. he sees a cross of light in the sky. and he hears a voice that tells him by this, you will conquer. he takes it to mean that by the symbol of the cross and by chstiaty, he s goi to become theone emperor and the supreme figure in the known world. he wins the battle and
and yet she gets together with a traveling roman and gives birth to the man who will one day become the emperor of rome. since its creation in 27 b.c., the roman empire has been ruled by pagans. then in 312 a.d., helena s son, constantine, has a dramatic change of faith. the story goes that on the eve of a great battle outside rome, he has a vision. he sees a cross of light in the sky. and he hears a voice that tells him by this, you will conquer. he takes it to mean that by the symbol of the cross and by christianity, he s going to become the lone emperor and the supreme figure in the known world. he wins the battle and becomes the first christian emperor.
but by all accounts, helena is a remarkable woman. we know only a couple of things about the empress helena. we know that she was christian. and we know that she was a commoner. and yet she gets together with a traveling roman and gives birth to the man who will one day become the emperor of rome. since its creation in 27 b.c., the roman empire has been ruled by pagans. then in 312 a.d., helena s son, constantine, has a dramatic change of faith. the story goes that on the eve of a great battle outside rome, he has a vision. he sees a cross of light in the sky. and he hears a voice that tells him by this, you will conquer. he takes it to mean that by the symbol of the cross and by christianity, he s going to
it is so unbelievably far away. in the american context, if new york is rome, jerusalem is something like guam or american samoa. but by all accounts, helena is a remarkable woman. we know only a couple of things about the empress helena. we know that she was christian. and we know that she was a commoner. and yet she gets together with a traveling roman and gives birth to the man who will one day become the emperor of rome. since its creation in 27 b.c., the roman empire has been ruled by pagans. then in 312 a.d., helena s son, constantine, has a dramatic change of faith. the story goes that on the eve of a great battle outside rome, he has a vision.