VFTB 164: Did Constantine Steal Christianity?

Constantine the Great
Constantine the Great

ARE MODERN-DAY Christians celebrating a faith that was reinvented by the Roman emperor Constantine the Great?

Our format tonight is different.  We welcome two special guests:  Dr. Russ “Pappy” Houck, author of Epidemic: Examining the Infected Roots of Judaism and Christianity, and Cris Putnam, publisher of the website Logos Apologia and co-author of Petrus Romanus: The Final Pope is Here and Exo Vaticana: Petrus Romanus, Project LUCIFER, and the Vatican’s Astonishing Plan for the Arrival of an Alien Savior.

Houck contends that Constantine, among other things, changed God’s Sabbath and established the doctrine of Trinitarianism, adding the word “Christ” to the Greek New Testament hundreds of times and “altering Matthew 28:19 to conform to the heretical Trinity doctrine” (Epidemic, p. 220).  Putnam defends the doctrine of the Trinity as predating Constantine by hundreds of years.  The discussion is in a format derived from academic debate and runs roughly an hour and twenty minutes.

For the record, I accept and believe in the Trinity based on my understanding of scripture and history, but I did my best to limit my participation to moderating and keeping time to give Russ and Cris a level field on which to build their arguments.

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  1. Before we retroactively judge Constantine like some armchair psychohistorians, there’s a few things we should think long and hard about. First of all, we weren’t there; the times were extremely different. Yes, he did bring a lot his mystery school baggage into the state sponsored Christianity that he promoted…but so did the druids who Saint Patrick converted. He did provide a safe have for fourth century Christians, and the Mithraic cults and other pagan mystery schools of the time were driven underground because of Constantine. Who are we to judge? Isn’t God in control. Didn’t God call Cyrus the Great — a pagan King who worshipped ancient Persian deities — His servant! How do we know that Constantine was not really moved by God to do what he did, even if he didn’t have a good grasp on what it meant– at leastas the early Christians did. God can use anyone. The heart of the king is in he hands of the Lord!

  2. I found Dr. Russ Houck quite wonderful and sincere and having been raised as a Catholic and doing ‘everything’ with the sign of the cross , “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost”…….and it clearly states in the Bible to ask everything of the FATHER in the NAME of the SON. No mention of the Holy Spirit. This sign of the cross actually makes a pyramid. Just saying. For sure the Catholic Church has gotten us all on different wrong paths. I think Lucifer’s same method as he did with the Pharisee’s. Diffusing the truth with man made doctrines and practices (for the church, Mary worship, saint worship, rosary, stations of the cross, holy cards and the mass itself that only can be done by unmarried ‘priests’…..I could go on forever.
    Why does the church not, at the least, honor the TRUE dates of the birth of Jesus or His Resurrection and why does the church not study and honor the feasts given to Israel and performed by Jesus? Because we are IN BABYLON and have been diverted by her delicacies. Joanne Thanks Derek for this interview. All you have to do is take a trip by plane or computer to the Vatican and look at all of the statues to figure out if it is ‘Christian’!

    1. Author

      Except, Joanne, that Jesus Himself told the disciples:

      All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

      That’s Matthew 28:18-19, which was a key verse discussed during the debate. Dr. Houck says it was modified by Constantine to add the reference to the Holy Spirit, but Mr. Putnam showed that the verse was quoted with the Holy Spirit reference years — centuries, actually — before Constantine was even born.

      Please don’t condemn all of Christianity by the faults of one particular denomination. Most Christians do not make the sign of the cross, do not venerate Mary or the saints, and do allow their clergy to marry.

      The traditions of various cultures have definitely colored the way the modern church worships. But how far do you want to take this? Do you wear a wedding band? Pagan. The names of the days of the week are all pagan; shall we insist on changing them so we aren’t accused of worshiping the Sun (or Saturn, if you prefer that day of the week)?

      Why do we not keep the feasts? Because we are under the New Covenant. As Paul wrote to the church at Colossae:

      Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to ia festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. […]
      If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations—Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

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