169. Against Coercion

About this episode

This episode debunks the myth that Emperor Constantine forced Christianity on others, highlighting his role in promoting religious freedom and justice.

A popular myth is that when the Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity, he forced everyone else to embrace the faith - or else face deadly consequences. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. It was under Constantine that the very modern-sounding ideas of freedom of religion and “justice for all” were first instituted. These were revolutionary ideals, and they came from a very smart, learned Christian in the Emperor's inner circle. FOR FULL SHOW NOTES - https://undeceptions.com/podcast/ against-coercion / (00:00) - - One of history's great persuaders (06:17) - - Persecution and the Crisis of the Third Century (09:52) - - Christianity and Neoplatonism (17:44) - - Lactantius: The Christian Cicero (31:10) - - Lactantius and Constantine (39:26) - - Constantine and religious tolerance (48:06) - - Arguing Christian ethics from pagan philosophy (51:41) - - Freedom of religion and Thomas Jefferson (56:24) - - Lactantius and justice (01:07:14) - - Five Minute Jesus (01:11:43) - - Lactantius' legacy CREDITS Undeceptions is hosted by John Dickson, produced by Kaley Payne and directed by Mark Hadley. Alasdair Belling is a writer-researcher. Siobhan McGuiness is our online…

People in this episode

Host: John Dickson

Topics covered

• Constantine
• freedom of religion
• Christianity
• Lactantius
• religious tolerance
• ethics
• Neoplatonism

Keywords

• coercion
• persecution
• Cicero
• pagan philosophy
• Thomas Jefferson

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Undeception

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