BLOG 8/19/15. JOHN OLIVER . . . AND EMPEROR CONSTANTINE
It might seem strange, if not ridiculous, to designate the humorous, colorfully profane, and in-your-face late night talk show personality John Oliver as a prophet, … but I’m willing to risk it. (Actually, I don’t stay up that late, but there are easily available re-runs who I tune-in on regularly.) The other evening he lampooned the contradiction of radio and television religious preachers (empire-builders?) who make a huge personal fortunes off of “tax deductible” and contributions to their ministries. The Old Testament prophets could eat their hearts out that they didn’t have the medium of communication that Oliver has. It has become more and more of a scandal that there is such big money being made by those (I use the word lightly) of those ostensible preachers making such huge incomes upon the sacrificial giving of folk who think that they are serving God by sending in their money to such, often because of promises of blessings and healing that will come their way if they do.
But that reductio ad absurdum exposure by Oliver opened a whole ‘can of worms’ that the larger public takes for granted. Why is any religious institution or church tax-deductible? Where does that privilege come from? Why is it that church institutions can occupy valuable real estate and carry on such expensive enterprises, expect the civil governments to provide them services, and yet not pay their part of the freight that other organizations, corporations, and property owners are expected to pay? Did you ever ask yourself that question?
Or why does one give one’s offerings and tithes to such church institutions and organizations? Is it out of love for God and zeal for the mission of God, . . . or is it because one can write it off as a tax-deductible charitable contribution on next year’s income tax? Or, to whom are those to whom we give accountable for accomplishing some mission, and doing it economically and efficiently, and using them wisely to accomplish Christ’s mission in the world?
Here’s where the 4th century emperor Constantine comes into the picture, a fact that John Oliver may not recognize. For the first three centuries of the Christian church’s existence it was a persecuted movement that found itself growing in the midst of continual hostilities and opposition by the pagan forces of the Roman Empire. It was an alien people, a community of religious exiles. It existed clandestinely often, and in prisons frequently—but it continued to grow at an unimaginable pace into the corners of the empire, and beyond. By the 4th century it was one of the largest and most influential communities in the whole Roman Empire. It was at that time that the Emperor Constantine in a power struggle within the empire, professed to have seen a vision of the Cross and to have been converted to the Christian faith. The veracity of that conversion is a continual point of controversy, but that it became his profession is unquestionable.
Here’s where John Oliver and the church come into the picture. Constantine wanted his newfound faith to have all of the perks and accouterments of the pagan religions, what with temples, priests, choirs, rites, and official status. So the Christian faith ultimately became the official religion of the empire. This is called: the Constantinian-ization of the Christian faith. It was at that point that the Empire co-opted the church for its own advantage. It was a trade-off: “You (the church) support and pray for the empire and we’ll take care of you.” The church became captive to the empire, it became “landed.” And so it has come down through the centuries with: the Holy Roman Empire, with God Save the Queen, with God bless America, and with the dubious claim that any nation is a Christian nation. Ah, but it has its ‘perks,’ and one of those is that religious organizations become recipients of the civil community’s largesse and tax-deductibility. John Oliver may have given the opening shot at the integrity of the church’s present day captivity to Constantinian-ization and its perks. But the church pays a heavy price!
